Blue Jays Trade Rumors
There’s no doubt that the Blue Jays will need to address their pitching staff if they want to make the playoffs, as I detailed in this post. Today I’ve got a source giving us the latest buzz coming out of Toronto.
The Jays have approximately $2-4 million in the budget to compensate their deadline acquisitions. J.P. Ricciardi knows he’ll need more salary room than that, so look for Shea Hillenbrand ($5.8MM) or Eric Hinske ($4.3MM) to change addresses before the deadline. Hillenbrand has an .821 OPS, pretty much average for a corner infielder. Hinske stands at .887 thanks to a strong walk rate and a career high slugging percentage. Hinske has faced righties 80% of the time this year, so that’s given his stats a boost.
Gregg Zaun, in calling out his teammates’ lack of leadership, may have punched his ticket out of town. Zaun’s .908 OPS is 7th among catchers with at least 125 ABs. He makes a million bucks this year, so sending him to a team like the Rockies could clear a little payroll.
When manager John Gibbons brought in Brandon League a couple days ago to protect Roy Halladay‘s two-run lead, League was being showcased for a trade. Two home runs later the game was tied and League’s value went down.
Poor decision-making and several other factors may lead to Gibbons’s replacement this winter. Gibbons’s support of George W. Bush and his team’s perceived lack of intensity are issues. Bench coach Ernie Whitt has been mentioned as the likely replacement.
Trade Candidates Part 2
Last time we looked at players in their contract year and trade possibilities. Today we’ll open the field and see who else could be available.
Dealing Shea Hillenbrand or Eric Hinske would probably make sense for the Blue Jays. It looks like the two will enter 2006 splitting DH duty for the Jays, and Hillenbrand may have twice as much value with the bat as Hinske. The problem is figuring out which team actually has a need for a middling 1B/3B/DH type.
The Red Sox have six starters (seven if you think Papelbon is rotation-ready), but they shouldn’t be so eager to send one packing. Josh Beckett and Curt Schilling are highly unlikely to make all of their starts. Epstein might send Arroyo over to Tampa Bay for Julio Lugo anyway. More likely, of course, is a signing of Alex Gonzalez and a trade of David Wells for a spare part or prospect.
A lot of folks think Carlos Pena still has some good seasons ahead of him. For example, PECOTA projects him to hit .255/.349/.482 in 514 ABs in 2006. The Tigers could probably use some sort of contingency plan in case Carlos Guillen misses time again.
The Diamondbacks have too many veteran OFs and no place for Carlos Quentin. I’m sure Shawn Green and Luis Gonzalez are available, it’s just a matter of finding clubs to take most of their salaries. Both outfielders are still contributors.