Frenchsoup

So what does everyone think the cost is going to be? 5x18 mill +20m post?

Yeah i don't even think sierra is in the conversation right now, he can't help as defender and that's a problem.

Yeah but Rasmus is an enigma could give you 4 war or 1.5 war.

lol Serious?

The only difference is that the rangers have an amazing defense and good pitching. They do have Arencibia though that will definitely cost them a few games.

I can't get over this play

I've been thinking to myself about the trade possibilities and who lines up with us and i think that the Phillies are a perfect match. There in a state of flux and want to win but seem to be running out of money and have a lot of holes on there roster(bullpen,starting pitching). So here is my proposed deal that would help both teams. To the Blue Jays: Cliff Lee (25M)- Lee has a no trade clause to 21 teams which makes this a little difficult but he would serve as our ace and clear a ton of payroll for the Phils in the process. Ben Revere (1.5m arb eligible)- Revere is a gold glove defender in CF and a prototypical lead off man with team control through 2017. With this move it would change our lineup sliding Reyes in the 2hole which would be a beautiful thing. Kevin Fransden(1.3 arb eligible)- A utility man who crushes LHP and would be a nice cheap platoon mate for Lind. Also gives a little insurance at 3rd base in case Lawrie goes down. So that's about 28M coming to the Jays. To the Phillies: J.A. Happ (5.4m)-Happ has a history with Philly and the need some good depth at the mid-back of there rotation. Colby Rasmus (6.5m)- Rasmus coming off a very good year has never had his value higher. Saying that, his inflated BABIP looks like it was a key ingredient to that, also the almost 30% k rate is really troubling. Steve Delabar(500k)- Delabar is a cheap valuable 8th or 9th inning guy and with Philly ready to move on from Papelbon he could be a nice piece for them. He's also been a beneficiary of the weighted ball program with the likes of Mcgowan,Cecil,Jansen*. I asterisked Jansen because of the shoulder and elbow problems he was having last year i don't think the program took full effect. Sergio Santos(3.75m)- I love Santos stuff and think he turned a corner with his control to become an elite closer. But there is the injury history and he will get big raises in the next 2 years of 6m and 8m and that's a risk reward i don't want to take. Kyle Drabek(500k)- Another past Philly native with great stuff and stepped up his command also. He has options which is always a bonus and has great upside, i think the Phils would love to snag him up Sean Nolin(prospect)- Nolin had another great year in the minors. He will eat innings and has good command but the stuff might not fit for bluejays in the AL East or at Rogers Center. Daniel Norris/DJ Davis(prospects)- I am giving Philly the choice of the arm or the speedy CF, Norris had a strong finish to this year and is closer to majors whereas Davis is really far off but has a ton upside. So that's about 16.5 mill going to Phils so there saving 11-12 mill along with filling a bunch of holes on there roster. Where does that leave the jays? VS LHP VS RHP Revere Revere (1.5m) Reyes Reyes (16m) Bautista Bautista (14m) Edwin Edwin (9m) Melky Lind (7m) Lawrie Melky (8m) Navarro Lawrie (500k) Fransden Navarro (3m) Izturis Goins (500k) Starters Lee(25m) Dickey(12m) Morrow(8m) Buerhle(19m) Redmond or FA (500k) Bullpen Jansen(4m) Jeffress(500k) Loup(500k) L.Perez(500k) Cecil(1m) Esmil(1m) Mcgowan(1.25m) Bench Izzy(3m) Thole(1.25m) Fransden(1.3m) Reed Johnson(1.5m) Depth Stroman Hutchison Deck Wagner Jenkins Juan Perez Stilson Rob Rasmussen Total Payroll 139.8 M I really like Reed because he can play all 3 positions and smash leftys and would probably come back to Toronto. Also if there were an injury you can form a nice platoon of Gose and Reed. This overall trade destroys a bit of our depth but saying that i don't expect Nolin to be effective at the major league level and both Happ and Drabek have some injury problems. There would still be a little a room to play with as to, you could still go after a Ubaldo if u wanted to commit to 152-155m payroll.

The only smart move by the M's was to give a QO to Morales and they were lucky he turned it down.

i actually remember seeing something about AA wanting to go after Raf Soriano but Beeston saying that was enough. Imagine how bad that would have been? 14 mill onto our payroll plus a draft pick.

Yeah he's all over the place. I think he has his favorite players he obsesses about and when he has the chance to get them he overpays. Now he has to prime candidates to sell high on in Rasmus and Lind but he will probably overvalue them when they both have serious flaws in there games.

i actually really like what we've done so far this off season upgrading our catching. I still think we should go and get Tanaka he would be worth every cent on the field and off the field. I also believe things will start to open up a bit on the trade market once teams get a little desperate, i can see our bullpen pieces gaining a lot of value for a team that thinks there close but need that shutdown reliever.

that like 7 ab's lol

except Montero he's terrible

Phillips is an option as well, Beckham also interests me.

i think your living in a fantasy world if you think Tanaka can be had for that, plus he's going to choose where he wants to go.

Is it though? I'd rather have 2 Marcums for that price but probably won't happen.

when did he have his surgery?

just saw on twitter that Tanaka won't be posted. http://www.lonestarball.com/2013/12/13/5209100/rakutan-president-says-tanaka-will-not-be-posted

Also if you sign a guy like this it makes Mark B a little more expendable

The guy put up 2.7 war last year and is making the same as Lind. There was also nothing else on the market, it's a good deal for them.

For a team that was so freaking terrible last year they have a lot of sell high players. Rasmus,Lind,Sierra,Mark B, and the entire bullpen lets hope AA sells some of those pieces.

i think syndy would be the keeper of the bunch now that his curve has developed.

I feel like Gomes would have been able to catch the knuckler to. I think we are going to find out in these next couple of years that JPA is the only one who can't catch it.

I'd like us to get Ellis over Infante. You can probably get him for like 2/12.

Why does he say stupid things like that! (2nd base) yeah u got an all defense stud up the middle but Reyes is still pretty bad defensively.