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Blog*Spot ArchivesContactRichard Ceccarelli Josh Mandir |
Monday, November 15, 2004RundownRumors, rumors everywhere, but not a news story to be found: Angels and Mets in Piazza talks: The New York Daily News (which is like the fourth or fifth biggest newspaper in all of New York!) is pushing the Mike Piazza-to-the-Angels story pretty hard, but with an interesting addendum:Angels/Marlins/DBacks in three-way?[An] intriguing player for the Mets might be Anaheim first baseman Darin Erstad, who recently became the first player ever to win a Gold Glove as both an infielder and an outfielder. Erstad, who won the award as a first baseman for the first time last season, would appear to fit the Mets' criteria of a defensively responsible player to anchor their young infield. Erstad, a career .289 hitter, is slated to make $8.25 million in 2005.Hmmm... I'd go for that. That is assuming we're talking about a straight swap here. If you think of Erstad's departure as a salary dump, it would cancel out $8.25 million of Piazza's $16 million deal. Although I suppose you would be taking a gamble that Kotchman's production would at least match Erstad's (and that Piazza's decline would be slowed somewhat by playing DH everyday). But that's a risk that I'm willing to take... You probably saw this one over at Rob's yesterday. From the LA Times:Not a rumor, but just as fake.The Florida Marlins have expressed considerable interest in troubled Angel outfielder Jose Guillen, but an inability to consummate a two-team trade has motivated executives to be more creative by formulating possible three-team deals, one of which could net the Angels pitcher Randy Johnson.A lot of that contract is going to have to get eaten by someone for the Angels to go for Johnson. And the DBacks's insistence on a package of top prospects is shocking to me. At this point Johnson - and his ridiculous, crippling contract - are impediments to the rebuilding process. But they're still treating him as some great commodity. Take what you can get, clear as much salary as possible, and be in contention a year earlier than you would be otherwise! Now I know how Billy Beane must feel. I've been involved in a sim league for the past couple of years, and during that time we've simmed through about 6 seasons. In all six of those seasons I've had the best starting pitching in the league and the worst bullpen. It's not for lack of trying- I've gone through at least a hundred different bullpen combinations, but it seems that when a reliever pulls on that Detroit Drive jersey, he completely loses the ability to get outs. |
