Some late-night reading surrounding baseball's two Central divisions…
- Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer tells Doug Padilla of ESPN Chicago that he's already had dialogue with several teams in advance of the GM Meetings. Hoyer expects the offseason to unfold more quickly thanks to changes to the CBA. The team's biggest need will be starting pitching. Third base is an area of need, but the team wants to determine Ian Stewart's health first.
- The Reds have yet to decide whether Aroldis Chapman will be a starter in 2013 or continue to serve as the team's closer, writes MLB.com's Mark Sheldon. The decision, according to GM Walt Jocketty, will be tied to whether or not the team can re-sign Ryan Madson and/or Jonathan Broxton.
- Madson wants to pitch as a team's closer in 2013, writes Bob Brookover of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
- MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince writes that while the Indians didn't acquire Mike Aviles as a precursor to an Asdrubal Cabrera trade, the team should entertain the concept of dealing Cabrera while his value is high. The Tribe's farm system has several talented shortstop prospects — most notably Francisco Lindor — and Aviles could serve as a stopgap, in Castrovince's opinion.
With as random as dominant relievers are, the Red should start stretching Chapman out regardless.
Risky proposition nonetheless.
Exactly my thought and what they should have done from the start. Let him stretch even if he loses 5 mph on his fastball that’s still the 94-96 range. And if he fails at starting he can always go back to the pen
y do they insist on putting him in as a starter. we already have least 7 arms as starter . the 5 last year made 30 starts a piece. . some fans giving up on Mike Leake to soon. look at bailey the same ones wanted his head for the past 2 or 3 years. after this year what r they saying now. same will go for Mike Leake but mark my words the best will be soon.as like Homer Bailey .Bronson Arroyo on the other hand fans ants him traded, if so n he approves of the deal the reds will get the short end of the stick, per say, since they will be responsible for all the deferred money asap or up front, they aint that stupid. this is his last year but than we have Tony Cingrani n hes almost ready there is few others Robert Stephenson,Daniel Corcino. they are real close if not closer. keep him there as closer he has that intimidating factor which gives hi a very good advantage over any others who is out there. move him in rotation n even if hes a shut down one we still need a shut down coser.
Granted, Chapman is a hundred times better, but when someone says if a pitcher doesn’t cut it as a starter, he can go back, I keep seeing Daniel Bard’s face. Chapman is so hugely valuable as a closer. They should just focus on rounding out the tarting staff.
What would the cardinals have to give up for asdrubal
Have to think the conversation starts with Shelby. I could see Lynn and Matt Adams being an interesting package. Definitely one of your young SP + +
Asdrubal Cabrera is not worth Shelby.
I like how the only one who put a down arrow and then replied with even a thin shred of opposition opinion was a ten year old child. If those teams talk, if you think Cleveland does not say Shelby’s name first then they are not doing their jobs correctly. More likely Adams (as Cleveland has a hole at 1B) goes with a young power pitcher (Kelly, Lynn, or Rosenthal-esque) and one of the Cards lower MI prospects like Jackson or even Kozma. That being said, I think the Cards will surprise by picking up a decent SS this offseason.
I’m a Indians fan and no way the tribe gets Shelby in a Astro deal but I do believe they could very well tap into the Cardinal prospect depth Adams / Gast & Ryan Jackson would be a nice package for a talent like Astro signed to a club friendly contract.
Or could the indians pry Allen Craig for Astro even up Cardinals deep in outfielders Craig would solve alot of issues for the Indians as they could play him in LF they could then sign Youk to play 1st solving 3 huge issues.
Or could the indians do the following offing up Masterson in a package to the Dodgers for Either solving the outfield issue dealing Astro for Craig play him at 1st signing Grady back to a league min with incentive 1 year deal to serve as a DH slash 4th . 5th outfielder with a option that auto kicks in if He reaches certain incentives.
Just a thought since the players with the most trade value on the Indians who may be available to improve the team are Astro / Masterson / Choo & Chris Perez.
Than we could use Choo and Chris Perez to deal for pitching IMHO.
Dempster is a pitcher or Haren I think the indians should go hard after JMHO.
IMHO they could add 4 or 5 pieces and contend or win the division and still have a payroll of 75-80 mil or less.
This is not going to happen by talking about the following as a key piece of the roster in 2013 like Canler / LaPorta / Hannahan / Kotchman / Domald / Lillibridge / Ubaldo etx type guy JFHO.
50 year Indians fan about to switch to a new favorite team.
Cards will not trade Craig, the guy hit over .300 with 92 rbi and 22 HR’s even after missing almost 1/3rd of the season. He also hit .400 with runners in scoring position, best in majors and has 4 more years of team control. If the Cards make a deal it will come from their pitching depth.
I wouldn’t get rid of Craig for anybody.
Here’s hoping the offseason does “unfold more quickly” for the Cubs. They have a lot of work to do and a lot of money to do it with. The younger the player, the better.
I think they almost have to just toss Vitters into the deep end of the pool and see what happens. I wouldnt be surprised if Stewart was released since even before his injury he wasnt doing much. Ultimately i dont even think Vitters is the long term solution at 3rd. I think that label belongs to the kid they got in the Dempster deal Christian Villanueva. Vitters though should get a fair shot this year as the everyday guy and just see what happens. If he hits theyll find a spot for him (LF?) if he doesnt go back to stop gap solutions until Villanueva is ready in a couple yrs.
Stewart was injured dating back into Spring training and really for the last several years. His wrist problem went un-diagnosed and he struggled his way through it. That said you may be right that they release him because of the healing time on wrist injuries. They may attempt to non-tender him and then sign him on a lower contract, maybe with some incentives.
Wrist injuries are tricky. But my reasoning was more to see what they have in Vitters than a knock on Stewart. I think letting Vitters sink or swim so to speak should have been done the second half of this yr but the immortal Luis Valbuena got in the way.
As awful as Vitters looked last year, I would assume the Cubs are hoping Stewart looks healthier and will agree to be non-tendered and re-signed for less. There’s really just not a lot out there at third worth having. Healthy Stewart with Vitters as plan B isn’t exciting, but it’s better than just throwing Vitters in to play every day after putting up a wRC+ of 4 during his stint last year.
That’s not a misprint. his wRC+ was FOUR. He had a 395 OPS and was worth negative 1.2 WAR in 36 games. Essentially, if Rizzo and Vitters play every day next year and perform as they did in 2012, they will cancel each other out, giving the Cubs zero or negative WAR from the corners.
i think that even with the numbers being what they were last yr they should still see what they have with vitters. You have to remember that Vitters never really got a chance at playing every day once he was called up. The immortal luis valbuena kept getting playing time for whatever reason. While a non tender then resign agreement would be nice with Stewart. Stewart should not get the bulk of the PT.
The cubs lost over a 100 games this year and i think they are still a 90 loss team coming up in 2013. giving someone like stewart or valbuena another chance to hit .210 is not the way to go. Give Vitters 500 plus ABs and see what he can or cant do.
Baez is the Future at 3b imo if not Villanueva will get his chance.
what would the indians want from the red sox for cabrera? he would be a solid fit at SS and he is young an not expensive. maybe igleasis and some pitching propsects otherthan barnes.
We’d gladly give you Cabrera for Middlebrooks or Ellsbury. Anything less would be an insult.
I would do ellsbury for cabrera in a heartbeat. Even would thrown in a pitching prospect other than barnes. But i think if cabrera is traded it will be for multiple prospects.
If Stewart is released I’d like to see the phillies take a chance on him. Or even trade a c prospect bullpen piece for him. Couldn’t hurt and there isn’t much else out there. Has the talent but has been hurt. Maybe we could catch lightning in a bottle.
there isnt much out there but i dont think that stewart is a fit considering he is pretty much consistently injured and the Phillies are already very left handed in the middle of the order. However someone like Jeff Keppinger would be a pretty good fit for what is available if they dont want to go after Youkilis.
Youk scares me with his age something the phillies don’t need more of. Kepp had a great year but it was extremely lucky looking unto his stats. Stewart wouldn’t hurt on a minor league deal.
Keppinger is a guy who makes a lot of contact and has some postion flexibility. I think regardless of who they bring in with him that he should be someone that they take a serious look at considering Utleys injury history and rollins advancing in age.
Currently there is really no good option that is available. I think their best bet would probably involve a trade although there arent really many options that way either other than maybe a Chris Johnson from arizona or a Trevor Plouffe from the twins. You could also maybe take a look at moving Utley although idk if he has the arm strength for 3rd. Or send a pen arm out to anaheim for Alberto Callaspo.
like i said none of these are real attractive options but that is about the best of what is out there
The Cardinals should send the Indians Furcal, Schumaker, Adams, Kozma/Jackson, and 6M for Cabrera. Furcal would be a solid (low cost with the cash) stopgap at SS for Lindor while Schumaker provides OF depth and Adams slots into the 1B hole for Cleveland. Kozma or Jackson are stopgaps for any extra years Lindor may need in the minors but then serve as utility depth. The Cardinals get a solid SS, remove the logjam of bats at 1B (Craig, Adams, Carpenter), and remove the logjam of utility type players (Jackson, Schumaker, Descalso, Kozma).
Why would the Indians take that collection of junk? Furcal has no appeal. Schumaker is a throw away. Kozma is no better than just running Aviles out there at SS all year. Adams is the only one that holds any appeal. I think that any deal would have to center around pitching. If they dont want to give up Shelby miller it would probably take 2 of the Lynn, Rosenthal, Kelly, Martinez along with likely a 1b guy too
Honestly I feel like Cabrera is being a bit underrated by these boards. He’s 27 and will make an average of $8.5M the next two years. He’s averaged 3.3 WAR/150 games the last four years (3.0 from Fangraphs, 3.6 from BR) and has been ever better the last two years. Sure he’s an awful fielder which scares you if you’re Oakland but his bat is clearly doing something to make up for it in the way of value. I sense some undervalue because of his inconsistency (yet to break .800 OPS, two seasons over 6 HR, two seasons over 10 SB, one season over .280) but still, clearly he’s getting it done somewhere every year.
As the world series showed, defense wins championships combined with timely hitting and Asdrubal is good with both. when will the dolans step up to the big leagues instead of farming talent for them ?