Baseball Thoughts

Yeah, yeah, I know, more baseball....... But so what, it's my blog and I'll talk about whatever I want.

1) Trade - In regards to the three team trade with Philly, Seattle and Toronto. I like this deal a lot by the Mariners. Picking up Cliff Lee (even if it's for one year) was huge..... They have substantially upgraded their roster this winter. Pairing Lee with King Felix gives them as good a 1,2 as there is in baseball. They gave up a former number 1 pick (French Canadian closer Aumont) and a pair of good minor league position players but nobody that'll cripple their farm system and their team down the road. Philly. Don't really like this deal by them.... Going from Halladay to Lee is, at best, a slight improvement (debatable) and they have to give up Kyle Drabek who is potentially a near future number 1 starter. Halladay is good, I'm not saying he's not, but still, he's a year and a half older than Lee (Doc will be 33 in May) and in order to keep him, the extension contract is probably 5 years, $100 million (initial reports now have it at 3years, $60 million with a 4th year vested at another $20 million). Why not just keep Lee (and I love my lefties!), try to resign him but if you don't you get 2 number 1 draft picks..... Call me crazy, but I don't like this deal from the Phillies side. Toronto? Well they received a lot of young inexpensive talent which their team needs. We'll know in 3 years how good a deal this was for them.

2) Lackey to Boston - I'm on record as saying I'm not a big Lackey fan, but he is what he is and what that is is a winner. He won't be a number 1 in Boston but a number 3. Name a better number 3 starter in baseball....... I'll give you a hint. There isn't. Yes it took a lot of money, but it gives Boston a great rotation. He's a good club house presence and wants the ball. Kind of reminds me of Curt Shilling when he came to Boston, changed the mentality of the pitching staff and I think Lackey will do the same.

3) Angels - Wow, they've taken a blow this winter so far... Lost Figgins to Seattle and Lackey to Boston. Figgins, in my opinion, they didn't want back at the money he was looking for (and got). I think they're confident they can replace him (like they did last year when they lost Texeira and replaced him with Morales). They have a young Brandon Wood that they're going to give a shot to. Obviously they hope it works out like Morales and not McFearson.... However Lackey is another story. Reports I've been reading is they really thought they'd be able to eventually resign Lackey but if not, they thought they had a great shot at getting Halladay, now both are gone. They need another top notch starter. My guess is they start looking at Ben Sheets and Erik Bedard and depending upon health, try to sign one of them to a one year deal with incentives. Again, keep in mind here, I love my lefties....... Personally I'd love for them to sign Bedard. Back in 06 and 07, he was in Baltimore pitching in the AL East and was at times dominate. If healthy and motivated, this guy is a number 1. (Fun facts here about Bedard. From Canada. Never played high school baseball. Was 5'4", 120 when he graduated from high school. Grew 7" and gained 30 pounds in the summer before entering Jr. College in Connecticut. Gained another 30 pounds and put 10 miles an hour on his fastball in college... He'll be 31 in March, but due to the fact he wasn't a pitcher growing up, I think his arm still has quite a few years left in it.

4) A Frustrating Rant - The rumors keep swirling that Boston is still trying to trade for Adrian Gonzalez from the Padres. I have no idea whether that's true or not (although I hope it is!), but I keep reading on the internet from baseball fans saying the Padres would never trade Gonzalez. The reason they give? They keep saying if the Padres traded "AGon" no one would ever go watch their games.... When I hear someone say that I think it's the most ridiculous statement...... Look I like Adrian Gonzalez a lot and think he's a great player but here's the deal. Let's say you're a Padres fan. Are you seriously telling me that your getting up on a Saturday morning and saying to the wife "yes I know our Padres suck but lets pack up our 2.5 kids, drive to Petco Park and spend $75 dollars (Gas, Parking, Tickets, Concessions) because we want to watch Adrian Gonzalez have his 4 at bats"? No your not going to do that no matter how much you "love" Adrian Gonzalez. You go to the game for the experience, atmosphere and hoping your team does well that day. If the Padres put a winning product on the field, they'll draw a hell of a lot more people than if they suck and Adrian Gonzalez gets 4 at bats. If the Red Sox offered a package of Clay Buchholz, Casey Kelly and Lars Anderson (or Casey Kotchman), the Padres would be better this year and potentially substantially better in 3 years, than they would right now with Gonzalez at 1st base. If Buchholz turns into the number 1 stud a lot (not all) think he will, isn't that a better way to go for the Padres and if that happened, do you think people wouldn't show up to Padre games because Adrian Gonzales got traded? Anyway, irritates me when I hear people say no one would go to games if such and such got traded. That's just crazy talk.......

Bill