Billy. Wagner.

I like Hawkins and Calero and Betancort if the price is right, although I think he will resign with the Rockies. I doubt Smoltz goes the closer route, but it would, of course, be nice to have him back. I would love Wagner, but if the Red Sox offer him arbitration, he costs us our first round pick. (While we have Class A’s in Gonzo and Soriano, I would guess they are signed by teams that don’t give us a first round pick for them—-i.e. teams who sign a higher priority other free agent and teams that have protected picks.) I think Gordon is finished. Duchscherer is a starter and I don’t think his stuff would translate that well to the bullpen, but who knows? Putz is interesting.

Basically, I want to see us sign a bunch of cheaper live arms without worrying about whether the pitcher has the mantle of being a proven closer. You pay too much of a premium for a proven closer and the results are not necessarily any better.

Kevin Gregg, JJ Putz, and 1 of Fernando Rodney, Kelvim Escobar, and Billy Wagner. Maybe the Duchscherer.

Duchscherer, Escobar, and Putz are all good risk/reward options for us imo. Each has dominant potential and won’t cost a fortune on a one year deal, obviously not the only move you make but it’d be a start

I like Cameron, assuming he costs in the $6-$7 million range, which I would guess he would. I am intrigued by a Lowe for Konerko trade, but worry that Konerko’s $ 12 million dollar deal would constrain us too much elsewhere (i.e. signing Cameron and bullpen arms). Still, it is possible we could squeeze in Konerko, Cameron, and a couple of solid relievers. I would be quite happy with that offseason.

i think Cameron would be the best. He would give us that pop and make our OF defense kinda crazy. We could even move McLouth to LF

Mclouth is average is way to low to be a lead-off man and were not batting lower in the order so to me he just doesn’t not really fit. If he were to bat lower in the order and use his power to drive in more runs I would say keep him. plus Schafer has a really high ceiling, and even if he doesn’t reach his potential he will still have great defense in center field and would get more from him I think.

When he faced the Braves and was healthy he was always pretty scary because you knew that he would AT LEAST get on base. Those times seemed to have come and gone. You can probably only count on him for about 1/3 of a season, and even then we would probably be cringing with every bone crackling step toward the bag.

Also I don’t think I could look at that stache for an entire season. Just sayin’.

YES! THANK YOU!

i’ve been screaming for this, 100% agree

I am guessing that the fact that he hasn’t come up more in 1B FA discussion is because he isn’t expected to be fully healthy or able to perform near as well as he did in ’08. I would love it if the reports were saying that he is expected to be completely healthy and ready to mash. But at his age is he ever going to fully bounce back?

also has a hip problem, and is not young (chipper’s age). Degenerative hip problems are generally a bad sign. I’m not saying that he is a bad choice, but he isn’t necessarily a reliable choice either. And you mention his ’08 season, but most of that was post all-star break. Before that he was pretty bad, and questions of his long-term ability were in question even then. Now with the hip…

If he really only wants one year and is reasonable, I think that’s not a bad risk to take. The Braves have to probably keep KJ in that instance (and shift Prado to 1B for the inevitable downtime), but he does have significant upside. I just don’t think he’ll have to settle for one year. Call it a hunch, but the Orioles have money this offseason and Delgado just seems like the kind of guy they would overpay for.

As I have said many places, I love the idea of signing Mike Cameron. Great defense, should be reasonably priced, and has some right-handed pop.

I am not so thrilled with the idea of trading for Willingham. Streaky but solid hitter, but an absolute butcher in the field. An OF of Willingham, McLouth, Diaz to start the season would be scarily bad.

I would like to get Soria. Being in the midwest I got to watch just about every Royals game this year and the guy is a top 5 closer. The Royals know that he’s very good and he isn’t that expensive yet. He makes only $3M in 2010, $4M in 2011. 2012, 13, and 14 are team option years for him worth $6M, $8M, and $8.75M with a $.75M buyout each year.
The Royals have some pieces in place to contend next year. Their staff isn’t bad with Greinke and Meche at the top. Their lineup has potential with Butler and Gordon. If they have another disappointing year then they might move him after next season.
Right now Moore would have to be blown away to trade him and with so many closers available that’s not likely to happen. Schafer and Medlen might be enough but I would rather go the cheap route for a closer and trade those two for a bat.

If the Astros are really cutting payroll they should just go all out. Their farm system could be stocked so heavily.

Parting ways with Oswalt, Lee and Berkman would help the team so much in the future.

Lee would have plenty of suitors especially in the AL where he could DH at times.

Oswalt is basically what the Mets/Yankees need a solid #2/#3. Thats just the short list you could include the Dodgers, Angels, Brewers, etc…

Then Berkman would get calls from the Red Sox, Braves etc.

Honestly i dont think we could compete with some of the other teams going after Berkman but we could try

He’s not a bad player but he’s really overpayed. For a guy who doesn’t have much power and doesn’t hit for a high avg. Highest HR total for a season 22 in 2006 and only has a .279 career avg. His OBP is solid at .363.
If we didn’t give up much to get him and the Blue Jays sent some money back then it might not be bad. Seems like another Kotchman to me.

The Mariners already offered him a 1 year deal and he turned it down because he wants at least 2 guaranteed. I think that we could sign him for 2 years $18M with a team option for $10M that would vest if he reaches 525 at bats each year or if he gets traded.
I like him and my only real issue is that he hasn’t ever played a full season. Last year he only played 116 games at 1B. He’s only played 166 games in 8 years.
He’s not going to hit for a high avg. but he has great power. He hit 31 HR’s in 431 at bats last year, and that was playing at SafeCo.

Just wait till the Winter Meetings start. Most reporters are saying thats when the deals will start to come out.

we could get Wagner for cheaper than that. Maybe like 4-5 guaranteed with incentives up to 8 mil, plus a mutual option for 2011. I think he will bite on that. He has the potential to be one of the better paid relievers in baseball and it gives him the ability to go for a higher contract next year.

I believe we should also do that kind of deal with someone like Calero and/or Putz. I would really like Bobby to have a strong 8th inning guy so that Moylan can be used more freely in whatever inning to get that Ground Ball out. He is a good reliever i just would like bobby to be able to use him where he wants and not have to worry about his 8th inning being a question mark.

I was vying for us to get him at the deadline some how. Wagner plus Saito/Calero/Putz puts our BP in a very strong position. Whatever relievers we are signing out of that bunch should be on 1yr incentive deals with mutual options for the 2nd year. Just so if they are injured we arent paying them THAT much and if they are good and the team makes the playoffs they are more inclined to stay for a 2nd year.

Giving guys like Kimbrel and Hyde some time to develop would be great. I wouldnt mind them getting a full season in AAA

…if you want “action” you probably need to check out other websites. :)

It’s almost impossible for the Braves to get Cabrera. Even if we were to move Lowe it would still be very difficult to bring him in and fill the other needs on this team. Granderson is possible but I he would be high on the Braves list of players that they would want.

we’d seriously pay that money for Cab.

while he’s a player (when he’s happy) and i think the change of scenery could be very good for him, giving up Freeman, Teheran/Delgado, Hicks and Hoover (which is the type of package that would take to get Cab) is A LOT. not to mention the monetary issues.

If we could do a:

Freeman
Delgado
Hoover

for Cab and 10 million$

then i would think about it long and hard about it if I were Wren. otherwise, move on to something else.

As much as I don’t really care for Pierre, the money we would save in this deal would be great. He’s owed $10M in 2010 and $8.5M in 2011. He did well filling in for Ramirez. He hit .308/.365/.392 this year in 380 at bats. He has almost no power. In 10 seasons he’s hit 13 HR’s. He is however an excellent base stealer with 459 SB’s in 10 years. While he doesn’t walk a lot he also doesn’t K a lot either and his walks and strikeouts are usually close to each other. He has 340 career walks and 337 K’s.
He’s not a great player but the money we would save would be great. It would allow us to spend in other areas. I would wait until Lackey signs and then see what the market looks like but you could do worse.

…he would be practically free if we took on his salary. He is a true leadoff guy, but doesn’t walk enough. He has to hit for a high average to be a passable player since his defense isn’t that good. (Great speed, no arm whatsoever.) However, he has great contact rates and has had decent seasons based on batting average in the past. From what I have read an all-around great guy, too. Still, that salary is tough to swallow. I just don’t know here.

No way. He is not the answer.
I’d greatly prefer Cameron, who has some decent pop and would give upgraded CF defense.
Swapping over-priced contracts and not significantly enhancing either our offense or defense is simply not very smart.

…sign Pineiro. Yes, I am bitter from liking him in fantasy years ago, but lord, if he signs with the Mets, I’ll get him on a fantasy team and he’ll post an ERA of 15. He is evil, I say, evil on a fantasy team. Second on my fantasy never again list behind Sir. Meatball.

If we sign Cameron and Wagner, I’ll be ecstatic.

Cameron is interesting because everything I’ve heard has him linked to the Padres which is interesting because he’s from Georgia. I haven’t really heard anything that links him to Atlanta. I really like Wagner. He’s a veteran who knows exactly what’s going to be expected from him. Him along with Saito would give us a solid back of the bullpen. We should hear more about who is going to be offered arbitration in the next few hours. It would be great if the Red Sox didn’t offer it to Wagner because then he wouldn’t cost a first round pick.

Obtaining a young power hitting corner IFer like Wood for Lowe would be a great trade.

Here are his minor league career stats.

What makes you think the Angels would let go of him?

Very unlikely that the Angels would take Lowe off our hands and give us a good player in return.

It was proposed a while ago and wasnt met with a lot of enthusiasm.

What about trading J.J.? If we trade him for another cheap cost controlled bat . . . say Justin Upton???

Thoughts?

…but agree with the rest. I am okay with Gregg as another bullpen arm, but I think his career save numbers will make him draw too high a salary. Calero is definitely a guy we should target. Much cheaper and doesn’t cost a draft pick like Wagner.

He’d be nothing more than a bench guy, and to be honest I’d rather give our two open spots to Matt Young and another back-up infielder to complement Infante. Nick Green would be great. A bench of Ross, Diaz, Young, Infante, and Green would give us good defense and a little bit of speed.

…but I think he is now defensively limited and pretty much done.

dont we need power? he hasnt hit more than 15 hrs in his entire career

I don’t really get what people like about Jackson enough to want to make a trade for him unless it’s basically KJ + mediocre prospect for Jackson.

I mean, going by his stats in his full seasons, Jackson will probably OPS around .820 and hit you about 14 HR. Which is pretty mediocre for a 1B and/or a cleanup hitter.