Winter rosterbation: Keep control of your hose

/me did what he came here to do.

Wonder if Redmond would get it done.

“@camcorderhskr22 Why don’t Rockies offer Stewart w/Smith for Prado or is that asking too much?
Braves prefer CF in a deal I’ve been told. RT”

If this is truly the case, then it sounds like the emphasis isn’t so much on trying to obtain a corner OF hitter, but instead to locate a guy who can step in and replace Bourn in 2013… which also implies no concentrated attempt to extend Bourn.

@DKnobler: Rockies still interested in Prado. Braves like Seth Smith, but asked for top [High-A 3B] prospect [Nolan] Arenado too.

Gondee’s take: “Good try Wren”. I would definitely agree — Arenado is perhaps their 2nd best prospect (top position prospect), and could be the real deal.

SS Alex González and his agent tell @FerAlvarezESPN that they have been in discussions with the Giants.

of Mike Aviles, I don’t know if he’s going to be offered a contract by the Sox but if we could get him for a one year 1.5 million deal he might be a good guy to compete with Pastornicky at short. He has some pop and speed, UZR likes his defense okay at short, but then again he might not be any better than Sutton.

What?

#marlins people feeling somewhat optimistic about reyes. dynamic player. but atl, phil, sf seem out, mil, det iffy.

Thats from Heyman’s Twitter.

I find it interesting that the Braves were mentioned at all. Didn’t know we were ever “in” to begin with.

I bet Jays would move him.

Jj, Prado, Salcedo.

As y’all know, I love the idea of multiple team trades.. but on MLBTR I caught this interesting nugget:

“Signing (Aramis) Ramirez would give the Angels a nice trade chip in current third baseman Alberto Callaspo, who posted a .288/.366/.375 line last year and can also play second.”

I don’t dislike his ability to fill a Prado style gap if we ended up trading him… Perhaps w/ the Angel’s depth up the middle and on the corners, we could pry one of them away if they do this and then we’ll have a tasty replacement if our FO is set on moving Prado for something valuable…

Thoughts?

Now on PurpleRow.com:

Morosi: Rockies pursuing Japanese FA 2B
With few options available to fill the black hole at second base [i.e., they’re not getting anywhere in discussions with Atlanta], GM Dan O’Dowd is reportedly thinking out of the box, expanding his search for a solution across the Pacific.
His name is Kensuke Tanaka. He’s 30 years old, plays second base, hits left-handed, has good speed and little to no power. He had more walks than strikeouts in 2010 with a .335/.408/.417 line.

Initial Rankings are from minorleagueball.com (Aug 2011; John Sickels). Second reports and rankings are from purplerow members minorleaguerundown.com.

Rank 1. Nolan Arenado, 3B, Grade B+: Hitting .298/.346/.479 with 14 homers, 36 walks, 45 strikeouts in 413 at-bats for High-A Modesto. Defense at third base is steadily improving. I think a major breakout is possible next year.

MLR: [Rank 2] It’s looking like the third baseman is one of the strongest at the position in the minors after his 2011 campaign. His recent display in the AFL only further solidified the argument that Arenado is one of (if not the) best at the hot corner right now. With great contact rates, a smooth swing, plus power, and the ability to take a walk, he would be a strong prospect in any system. Arenado’s defense is improving steadily; something that represented the only real negative about his game heading into 2011. It’s hard to not envision him as a middle of the order presence with his ability to make quality contact while still hitting for power. Anyone worrying that he’s Ian Stewart part two should not be concerned.

Rank 11. Charlie Blackmon, OF, Grade C+: .337/.393/.572 with 10 homers, 19 walks, 34 strikeouts, 12 steals in 243 at-bats for Colorado Springs. .255/.277/.296 with three walks, eight strikeouts in 98 major league at-bats. He’ll hit better than that eventually.

MLR: [Rank 9] I’m a little hung up as to where Blackmon fits in at the major league level. You would like to give him a shot at center, where his bat projects well, but Fowler and Gonzalez get the bulk of the time there. As a fourth outfielder/bench guy he could certainly have value as his base-running and defense are both worth a lot to a team, while his contact oriented hitting is definitely worth something. His power (or lack-thereof) may ultimately push him to that role, but with enough plate appearances that role may end up being a significant value for not a lot of money, possibly bumping out a Ryan Spilborghs for playing time.

Rank 15. Tim Wheeler, OF, Grade C+: .294/.376/.567 with 29 homers, 49 walks, 117 strikeouts, 17 steals in 446 at-bats for Tulsa. Huge power outburst. Strikeout rate is somewhat worrisome but boost in production is good to see.

MLR: [Rank 6] The 2009 Draftee looked like an strong offensive outfielder, with the possibility of being a value on defense as well after completing three years at Sacramento State. His power potential was in question after a strong 2009 junior year, and remained so after a weak 2010 effort. Wheeler’s most recent age 23 season finally saw some very legitimate power against Double-A Texas league pitching. If he can manage to bring down that 22% K rate a bit, the lefty batting outfielder should be an above-average corner outfielder capable of drawing a walk and stealing a base. I would imagine regular 25 HR power is not out of the question for him, especially playing at Coors. His speed should bump up his value even more if he can be more efficient on the bases

since someone mentioned Cliff Pennington? He has to be one of the most overlooked short stops out there. Over the last two seasons he has a combined 93 wRC+ and derives most of this value through speed and defense. His slash line is ugly, but so is that god forsaken hitting hell he plays half his games in. Has 107 wRC+ on the road.

And he makes league minimum this year.

He isn’t a household name, so some may shirk at offering Jurrjens for him, but what does the Chopmind think?

Jed Lowrie, Will Middlebrooks, and Brandon Jones.

Gives us a SS/UT that can play multiple positions, a potential replacement for Chipper, and a potential replacement for Bourn.

For Boston, they lose their #1 prospect in Middlebrooks, but have a highly rated 3B prospect in Vitek that should start at AA and move to AAA by end of the year. Their stud SS prospect makes the major league team. They acquire a #2/#3 starter behind Lester/Beckett and a pitching prospect that should start at AA or AAA.

My allegiance is to the Braves, but Boston is my 2nd favorite team. This helps out both teams.

1:15pm: According to an executive familiar with the international market, the Yankees, Tigers, and Marlins have been the clubs with the strongest interest in Cespedes, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.

Well, this won’t percolate until … maybe even the first of the year, since Cespedes won’t be a free agent until the end of next week at the earliest. But, as we know, if the Yankees want something they usually get it — and I would strongly suspect that the agent and the player will be more likely to lean toward New York (how many players do you think grow up in Cuba thinking that one day they might be able to play for the Marlins?).

If this were to happen, then I would imagine Nick Swisher becomes expendable. In fact, I would certainly go after any of the starting three that they would be prepared to let go. Give ’em JJ and whatever else it takes… within reason, of course.

Laynce Nix brings the unnecessary “y” the Phillies have missing since Jayson Werth left.

We can’t sign Reyes any more.

WE ARE DOOMED TO BE CELLAR DWELLERS THIS YEAR

how about JJ for him and Petersen?

Rasmus?

He’s basically a younger version of Willingham with more power.

Also, it was reported today that Wren told the Yanlees that he’d want Gardner+Nunez for Jurrjens.

Rockies talked to Braves people this morning regarding Prado

Selling Edgar as a utility player and says he has been working on 3B and 2B over the offseason. Does this make him more attractive to us?

If that’s actually the case, I wouldn’t mind having him on the bench. If he’s in shape he could actually fill in a bit at 1B, 3B, and maybe LF and the guy is capable of putting up an upper .300s OBP with power.

Jair Jurrjens and Martin Prado continue to be “as sought after as any players” on the trade market. Atlanta has received calls from 8-10 teams on Jurrjens and “half the teams in baseball” on Prado. Most see Prado as a second base upgrade. The Braves continue to say they don’t need to move either player.

Wren insists he hasn’t mentioned names… and whether that’s true or not, everybody else certainly has. Given the apparent interest, we seem to have gone from “Aren’t we ‘Selling Low’ on these guys” to the point of “Wow, with all this interest, we oughta go ahead and move ’em since the interest may never be higher.”

Interested in Prado: Rockies (most often mentioned by far), Tigers, Blue Jays. Other teams that should be interested: DBacks, poss. WSox, Twins, Royals, Indians, Giants, Orioles, Mets, Cubs, Padres (prob. not likely).

Interested in Jurrjens: Reds are actually the only team linked to him publicly so far. Other teams that should be interested: Yankees, Red Sox, Angels, Rangers, White Sox, Marlins, maybe Rockies to name a few.

As you might expect, the Marlins’ ten-year offer exceeds $200MM, tweets Bob Nightengale of USA Today. The Cardinals are expected to counter today.

There is optimism that the Marlins and Lozano will work through the no-trade clause hurdle, tweets ESPN’s Buster Olney, though Ken Rosenthal says the Marlins will not relent completely on the clause.

I don’t get the ‘no-trade’ clause hangup. Here’s why:
1. Beyond the 5 year point, Albert would inherit 10-and-5 rights, so any discussion about a no-trade deal must involve the first 5 years of the contract.
2. Prior to this, if Pujols’ production were to decline notably, then who’s going to want that contractual Albatross of 5-6-7 years of premium-priced uncertainty?
3. Let’s say Pujols continue to put up great numbers in those first five years. Would the Marlins even want to move him at that point? Obviously, he would be a big ticket draw, which is exactly what they need… even if he were to decline after that (likely), he’d have built enough of a legacy to continue to sell tickets through the end of the deal.
4. The only scenario I can concoct in moving Albert before his next 10-5 date is this one: Boston or New York. Teixeira’s deal runs through 2016 – exactly five more years. The Yankees could then take Albert and actually save money.

In spite of the logic presented above (I know, we’re talking about Jeffrey Loria), the only reasonable purpose in not giving him a NTC is because the Marlins expect to trade him sometime before 2016 ends. They make the splash, but then get out of the pool early. They figure they must offer 10 years just to pry him out of St. Louis, but that’s merely the ploy – the club doesn’t have any intention of keeping him that long.

But good luck with that 2015 trade, guys. You’ll have to eat $50-60m.

is if Pujols gets to narrow down the list of teams he can be traded to and has a player opt out clause after the 6th or 7th year.

ARod had the 7 year opt out specifically written into his big contract, and he exercised it

What about Prado+ for Soriano, lots and lots of money, and Darwin Barney as a utility infield guy? Not a huge fan of the guy but if we’re looking for outfield thump Soriano still has that and his defense has been looking slightly less atrocious as of late.

Although I’m still kind of partial to a deal that brings in Dexter Fowler from the Rockies, think that kid has all the tools to break out soon.