According to Edes in today's Globe...
Wells back to San Diego (possibly with Mirabelli) for Loretta (2B) and Otsuka. I like Loretta. He was my fantasy league 2b two years ago and he was great. He was hurt last year. He's got a good glove and can get on base. However, I think they need more in this trade. Wells was a 15-game winning LEFTY...Mirabelli handles Wakefield and we've seen Varitek give that a go...Yikes...That leaves two large holes...I know Wells is in the last year of the contract, and he might retire if not traded...I don't really have a problem with Loretta for Wells except that I might rather just resign Graffanino...
Other trade possibilities...Soriano for Ramirez...That isn't too bad...It gives us a more than solid leadoff guy if we can't resign Damon. If we can then our top of the lineup looks like this...
Damon
Soriano
???
Ortiz
Who is the elusive number 3??? Of course if we get Loretta than it shapes up like this...
Damon CF
Loretta 2B
Soriano LF (there was talk of moving him there)
Ortiz
That looks really good. I'd do that...
Also, it looks like the Sox might try to bring back Olerud for some platooning with Youk...Nice.
Our infield would be
Youk/Olerud 1B
Loretta 2B
Renteria SS
Lowell 3B
Our outfield
Nixon RF
Damon CF
Soriano LF
Catching
Varitek
Shoppach
DH
Ortiz
Pitching
Schilling
Beckett
Wakefield
Papelbon
Clement
I don't know about Soriano. I really can't get excited about a guy who is a career .280/.320./820, will be on the wrong side of 30 next year (and may even be older than that) and will also hit the FA market next winter. Those are decent numbers for a second baseman. But for a corner OF? Not as sparkling. He's been helped by the park in TEX and the lineup in NY. Hell, his best season does not even come close to Manny's worst. I just don't see it as a good fit.
ReplyDeleteAnd with this, would the Sox have to change the way they play - with almost all the power gone, do they become a running team?
Unless of course they are able to do something with the $$ saved by getting rid of Manny. But even that is how much. Manny is due $20 and Soriano will get $10 in arbitration. What do you get for $10 MM?
I completely agree on Wells. they should be able to get a decent ransom for him. Not only is he a solid lefty, but he is pretty cheap. Only $4MM guaranteed and a max salary of $9MM. Only for one year. And a lefty who won 15 games. If that is what someone is after, your other options include Washburn (4 years removed from a 15 win season - although in fairness he should have won 15 this year). Estimated cost for Washburn? 4 years $35 million is a good guess. So at that price, they really should be able to get some good returns. Although the only west coast teams hurts a lot.
Should be a fun couple of months.
In the end all I want for X-Mas is to see number 24 in LF and batting third next year.
Soriano will be 30...And while I agree that he is no Manny at the plate, he steals 30 or so bases...
ReplyDeleteHe strikes out a ton, and hardly walks...that is not good.
But $10MM saved...Loretta at 2b is a 3MM/year guy...So you save some money on Wells.
You also get to move Renteria down in the lineup which I definitely think benefits him.
I also would think that Fenway's monster would benefit Soriano...I would venture that his power numbers wouldn't be too bad.
Maybe with the money saved they go after Burnett...
And, of course, they'll need some extra money if Boras gets his way with Damon...
I don't think it is the best trade, but it is better than nothing...And I would think they wouldn't try to sign Soriano to a long-term deal...
Like I said - he's the wrong side of 30. and that is if you believe his birthday. Players generally start to decline after the 28 year old season. and we have seen 3 straight down years from Soriano even with a jump from a neutral park to a bandbox.
ReplyDeleteAnd sure the speed is nice, but are the Sox going to turn into the White sox? Even though they would all be over 30, they would have some real burners - Damon, Soriano, and Renteria.
And the money saved is not so significant and more importantly there is nothing out there to spend it on. I don't see how getting Burnett is that much of an upgrade - just for the sake of accumulation. We already have a small stockpile of arms. Further, I don't really care about saving Joh Henry any money. He certainly doesn't care that a couple beers and a sausage cost me more than $20.
Frankly moves like Soriano and to a lesser extent Loretta, these sound like fantasy league moves - they really don't help us construct a team.
Damon should be interesting. Its not so much as the AAV I'm worried about, but these years. If you assume they are on a budget, he already was making $8.25 last year, so even an increase to $12 is not terribly daunting. I just don't want it to be through 2010.