Jack told the radio folks that there were four young hitters that he would have parted with Pineda to get. Montero was one. Who are the other three?
Mike Stanton I would be pretty confident about.
Freddie Freeman maybe next?
Jason Heyward? Logan Morrison? Mike Moustakas?
***
Twice he compared Hector Noesi to Pedro Astacio. Astacio ate over 2000 innings in his MLB career and was just about smack dab average all the way through. There are worse things.
***
Six guys will be competing for the two slots that will eventually belong to Hultzen and Paxton (who appear to be long shots to get them right out of spring):
Beavan, Noesi, Millwood, Furbush, Erasmo Ramirez and Forrest Snow
I'm not sure if I don't like Snow the best. I sense there will be some trades along the lines of Lueke-for-Jaso as things develop. Can't put them all in the bullpen.
***
They had 10 guys come in for winter conditioning and to check on their progress.
Guti has gained 19 pounds, which Z said was great. Smoak has lost 12, which Z also liked. He said Olivo had "trimmed" some "thickness" or something. Said Figgins has been conditioning like crazy and will be in great shape. I think he mentioned Ackley, Seager, Jaso and Wells among the others that were part of the group.
Comments
Other three
Stanton for sure. I wouldn't give Pineda for Freeman, but I would for Hosmer. I like Morrison, but no Moustakas and Heyward are maybes. Jennings? Posey? I suppose you have to include Harper and Trout as possibilities too.
The Astacio comp is interesting
Looks good at first blush ... lanky, moderately-tall, 2+ BB, kitchen-sink Latin guys with command ....
Noesi actually brings more tools, it seems, better velo and more pitches, but probably Astacio was also 92-95 mph when a rookie ...
And whether Astacio is the perfect comp or not (he may be) ... the fact remains that Zduriencik was thinking Astacio when he made the deal ...
If the Mariners got six full years of 100 ERA+ out of, um, Astacio, that's a whale of a lot of value -- about $50-60M in on-field production for, probably, $15M or so in salary -
Whether the M's are going to have a spot for a 100 ERA+ pitcher, or whether they'll have to flip him again in two years, we'll see ...
Lawrie?
From BJOL:
If you had to pick one position player to build a team around who do you pick?Asked by: FlorkoAnswered: 1/25/2012Jacoby? I dunno; might be Jacoby, Braun, Kemp, Longoria. Brett Lawrie, maybe..Bringing up the question... if the Sox are so hot on Felix, maybe their trumpeted package of 5 players could start with Ellsbury....