Laika

Certainly this means Dustin Ackley or Michael Saunders are fully on the trade block. Ackley is more likely because of a variety of reasons (2B playing in the OF for the M's because of Cano; disappointing former top prospect). A great trade target for 2B with such a weak free agent crop. Saunders might move because of the relationship damage between him and the M's though. Saunders obviously the better OF.

That's a lot of money for a 34 going on 35 year old without a diverse skill set. They're also giving up pick #21 to sign Cruz - that's a value of about $10M IIRC.

Dirks > Markakis Dirks/Pillar platoon >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Markakis (and Melky, for that matter).

Free agent market largely sucks ass for infielders though. Alberto Callaspo 1B / 2B / 3B / DH Kelly Johnson 1B / 2B / 3B / LF Mark Ellis 2B Rafael Furcal 2B Brandon Hicks 2B Rickie Weeks 2B Josh Wilson 2B Donnie Murphy 2B / 3B Emilio Bonifacio 2B / CF Asdrubal Cabrera 2B / SS Stephen Drew 2B / SS Jed Lowrie 2B / SS Ramon Santiago 2B / SS / 3B Clint Barmes SS Jeff Bianchi SS / 3B John McDonald SS / 3B - Clint Barmes is interesting only because he can actually play short and he'd be super cheap. - Kelly Johnson is preferable to Callaspo IMO because he's actually got some pop, and he might offer a bit more flexibility with the recent OF reps. - Mark Ellis was a popular SABR target last offseason but he's even older than Barmes, and he had a really bad year. - Rickie Weeks can't play the field anymore, so he's not even really an option except in the most dire circumstances. - Lowrie is a pipe-dream. Too good of a fit and he might get like 3/$30. - Asdrubal Cabrera is similar to Lowrie (but worse). - Stephen Drew? Didn't hit in 2014 so he'll probably 100% sign as someone's shortstop, for his own sake.

Maicer Izturis was a replacement level player before his major knee surgery. He's just a sunk cost and nothing more. At least Callaspo is healthy, a little bit younger. He's a marginally better replacement level POS!

puke.

How many keepers are there

Redmond could probably be a decent SP5 in Oakland though, lol.

Donaldson Stroman Martin Reyes Pompey? Norris w/ bible? so many golden boys!

How is this roster in second place? Can Crosby + two decent goalies carry a team that much?

Is ECJF a racist? All these lazy brothas....

holy f***, you're the worst.

You would want to drop $200M+ to create a "buzz" with a guy that you'd already want to be cycling into the DH spot to save his legs, with 9 or 10 years still left on his mega-deal? I love Votto, but he's forever unclean on that contract. No touchy.

- Highly doubt that the Reds give a s*** about locking up Mat Latos right now. - Attendance and viewership wouldn't increase much more than it already inevitably will with Russell Martin coming to town (and he'll have a negligible effect). Winning is the only thing that increases attendance consistently. The hometown Canadian boys maple syrup angle is mostly BS. - 5 year policy - Semi-chronic leg issues on turf = no bueno - Even elite .300/.400; 30/100 hitters tend to turn into goop in their mid 30's. Look at Mark Teixeira. Do you want that situation on a Joey Votto contract? Look at Prince Fielder, Ryan Howard, Albert Pujols, even Adrian Gonzalez... almost all of the top 1B from 4-5 years ago are shells of their former selves at this point. Even Miggy is showing cracks with the bone spurs and stress fractures this past year.

Steamer assumes an awful lot of offensive improvement simply based on age. Watching him play all year, it's obvious that he'll actually have to make some serious adjustments in approach or mechanics to see that improvement. And he's retarded, so that doesn't bode well for his chances to become a more cerebral hitter.

And if they think Kendall Graveman is more of a #3 a la Henderson Alvarez than just a backend SP, that swings things quite a bit. ZiPS doesn't like Lawrie nearly as much as Steamer though:

ZiPS doesn't love Lawrie nearly as much as Steamer:

Guaranteed, Billy Beane did the math on the trade and the Athletics "won" the trade on paper. Lawrie and Donaldson are on the opposite sides of the aging curve - Lawrie should be just entering his prime while Donaldson is just exiting his. Without making any improvements, Lawrie is one of the best 3B in baseball - a gold glove 3B with contact skills and 20 HR pop. Of course, the extent to which you think Lawrie's health is a skill / an inherent trait changes how much exactly that will ever be worth to a ball team. It's easy to dismiss Graveman and Nolin as 'meh', but they have significant value. They hold much more value right now than, say, most first round draft picks. I think they are both starting pitchers. Nolin for obvious reasons - and I loved Graveman's stuff when he was up. Kind of a Henderson Alvarez profile. I think Barreto is being very overvalued in the common deal analysis though. A teenager in A- ball who, by near consensus, won't stick at shortstop... I dunno. I get the impact than an up-the-middle guy with with 5 hit 5 power 6 run could potentially have, but the profile isn't other worldly and he's a few years away from doing anything. So much can go wrong. Donaldson is the best 3B in baseball and he's probably a top ~5 player overall for 2014. When was the last time a player like that with 4 years of below market control was dealt? This is what Oakland does though. In order for them to compete, they absolutely have to be in a constant mode of selling high and buying low. The only real obfuscating factor here is that Donaldson isn't much more expensive than Lawrie, or any closer to free agency. That's the weird part.

Okay, maybe it is Toronto trading for Jaso or Moss or something.

Atlanta for JUpton or Gattis?

I just don't really see a fit for Toronto, unless it's a complicated trade with players coming back to replace players being given up. The Red Sox are such an obvious fit. Texas maybe? Luis Sardinas +?

yes it does.

I'm scared.

What's worse - signing Hanley @ 22M AAV to play LF, or signing him to play SS? Seems retarded either way.

hmmm.