Reliever, starting pitcher, left fielder who can lead off, sez the rumors.
One stop shopping!
League, Figgins, a starter and cash for . . .
[fill in the blanks, G -- they have a LH hitter in Alonso, a couple of catchers, and a guy in Hamilton with 71(!) steals, all with B+ rankings from Jon Sickles]
Potential for a juicy blockbuster if they buy into a Figgins NL/leadoff rebirth.

I don't get it. Really.
Carp and Ackely have been the big bats in the lineup on this trip...and you sit them for Bard and J. Wilson?  Has Wedge flipped out?  What happened to everyday Carp?  That lasted two games. Sheesh.
You don't have to show off J. Wilson.  Every team in the universe knows what he brings and doesn't bring.
I'll give you the Figgins LF move.  Some kind of trade feeler must have beeen sent. OK, good enough.  But then you DH Carp. Not Bard!
Guti?  Pleeeeeeeze can we see 5 straight games of Halman?
Just give me a week of
Ichiro RF
Ryan SS
Ackley 2B
Olivo C
Smoak 1B
Carp LF
Kennedy 3B
Halman CF
Anybody DH
 
Pleeeeze

I will send along some cash with Figgy too.  And pack his bags.  We can't use him and his brain is now Safeco mush.  I hated Jeff Cirillo, and I hate Jack Wilson and Chone Figgins.  I doubt we can move him for anything, but I'd be exceedingly grateful if we could.
I would take Yonder Alonso in some larger package deal for multiple Ms, but the centerpiece would have to be one of the catchers. Mesoraco is probably untouchable, but Grandal can be had, and I want him.  I'd also try to rip Donnie Joseph, LHRP, from their grasp.
But Grandal's my guy and has been all year.  I would also try to get Matt Carpenter out of the Cardinals, which shouldn't be the hardest thing ever. They want a reliever, and we have a couple. Give em White. Carpenter's a 25 year old 3B with slightly underwhelming power for the position.  He just walks a TON and is a lefty so Safeco won't steal that power.
Greek god of walks: 5.55 plate appearances per walk in the minors
Adam Dunn: 6.45
Carpenter: 6.79
His batting eye is 1:1.  He puts together rock-solid at-bats.  And he's blocked by Freese and Descalso who are club-controlled for many years to come.  Get him.
Then Seager is available for trade to a team that needs a SECOND baseman, where he has more value.
I would want 2 plus vet bats still.  Hard to run out there in 2012 with 5 batters (Halman, Carp, Smoak, Ackley, Carpenter) who could get significant time on the field and all have less than 2 years experience in the league, most with just a couple hundred ABs or fewer, and expect them to also be the best hitters on the team.
Since we're not signing Fielder, however much the idea might appeal to me, it would be something else.  I still feel like Kubel is the guy we'll pick. 
Trade pitching to the Royals for whichever of Butler/Gordon they want to give up, and call it a day.  Wil Myers is coming on for them, and he's got to get into that crowded OF somehow, and Butler's not keen on DHing.  Gordon's getting more expensive starting next year and is a free agent after 2.  It can happen.
Ichiro, Ackley, Smoak, Kubel, Gordon, Olivo, Carpenter, Halman, Ryan, with Grandal and Nick Franklin at AAA and Carp as the 4th outfielder/part-time DH while we wait for Ichiro to complete his last year with us.
I could run with that.  It would be exponentially more interesting a lineup than we currently have.
~G

You pay the rest of Figgins $ this year and some of it next year.  Man, the money is gone anyway.
I hate to see Vargas go...but I might even consider him in a dump Figgy package.  He sure makes the salary investment palatable for Cincy (for example).  Might is the operative word. 
Carpenter?  Nice call G-Money!
Man the guy walked .137 in AAA this year!
Carp walked 80-100 pts on the way up.  I love that kind of MiLB eye.  That's a skill that doesn't deteriorate.
Would be interesting to see just how much EYE transfers from MiLB to the bigs.  More than power and avg, I bet.
Get him for any bullpen arm we have...and you've stolen something!   

And a year younger than Carp.  Smoak, Carp and Alonso are probably redundant, but I won't sneeze at 78 points of iso patience and 201 points of iso power from the left side.  We need bats!

We CAN get something done.  It all depends on what we want to swap.  If Paxton and Taijuan Walker are on the table there's very VERY little we can't get done.  If we're willing to trade Fister, League or any of our other Non-Felix, Non-Pineda arms, we have serious possibilities.
Other teams have pitching needs and blocked hitters.  Grandal and Alonso are blocked (or in Alonso's case, not trusted as a LF either).  So's Carpenter, IMO.  KC's hitting prospect boom hasn't yet been replicated with all their minor league arms and they need some immediate starters to hold down the fort and help their young offense win, instead of the raft of 80 ERA+ guys they do have.
I don't know what Jack WILL do, but the roster makeover is not impossible.  It just requires agility and derring-do, both of which Jack seems to have.
And at some point it will require cash.  I don't think Fielder will be included in that cash, but trading for a Butler or a Gordon and then extending them is a nice alternate use of funds.
Having Ackley and Smoak helps a lot.  Having a ton of pitchers who can (in theory) succeed in the Safe helps too.
Paxton right now is Morrow with a curve instead of a slider.  Hultzen is one of the most majors-ready arms in the draft, again in theory.  Beavan, Carraway and Erasmo are all contenders for the #5, and Robles is a dark horse as he gets his bearings after his surgery.  The M's rushed him back to AAA, so they believe he'll find it soon.
We have mobile assets.  We just need to move them for the right rewards, and be willing to look at a pitcher we traded and think "Man, that guy is good..." while our new offense is winning us a pennant behind our own great pitching.
~G

As a LF/1B/DH type with decent but not startling power, a decent but not startling eye, decent skills all around at the plate...
But he's not a centerpiece to a deal that I do.  I'd get him in a package of dudes, but if he doesn't work out as Ibanez he's basically not worth anything (See Carp, Wilson et al that we've already got or tried).  A bat-first catcher is worth something.  Even if his bat falls off a bit he can still contribute as a catcher.  There's some room for something other than requiring 90% of max from the hitter's potential.  That's why Carp was the 2nd hitter in the Putz trade and the best-fielding CF in the league was #1.  Short of an unexplained, wasting illness (...)  Guti has value because he's a glove position that doesn't need to hit 25 HRs a year to be valuable.
I'm not in love with Alonso, but I would definitely take him.  I might take him just to flip him for Butler or that other bat I DO need, but he's a useful piece.
Just not the one that my theoretical deal lives or dies by.  As the saying goes, always make sure you're getting back the best player in the deal.  :)
Though there's no arguing that we need bats - at ALL.
~G

His insane lineup coincided with his challenge to the veterans to pull this team out.
His worst decision was letting Figgins hit late with 2 on and Ack on the shelf.

Here.
Ms might move pitching for offense, and the Reds are the "ideal partner."  Sounds familiar.
Apparently Fister and League are considered the most attractive, and only Felix, Pineda and Dusty are off-limits. 

Apparently they want help for 2012 not just 2011 - Which is funny, cuz we have several relievers with multiple years left, including an All-Star closer.
Problem is they don't have a lot of bats they're willing to give up who are any good.  Matt Davidson is basically Alex Liddi from 2 years ago except he's not tearing up the Cal League like Liddi did.  Ditto Borchering, though he's a switch hitter. I don't like Krauss.
Paul Goldschmidt I do like, but he's a strict DH for us. Still, he's been VERY impressive in AA and is one of those "easy to find bat-only" guys Sandy wants us to keep the DH slot open for. .300/.420/.610 in AA with 21% Ks and a .8 batting eye interests me.  If he was the Halman-esque batter this year that he was last year in A+, I would be less interested, but he certainly seems to be growing into himself as a power hitter.
AJ Pollock is a former first rounder who lost last year to injury...so the team bumped him 2 levels to AA and he's posting an .800 OPS there as a center fielder. He's right-handed like Goldschmidt, but without that power he's gonna get hurt by the Safe.  Still, an interesting player with Guti on the fritz. Cowgill is actually more interesting to me as a 25 year old CF with a .9 eye who is ready now (tearing up AAA, though from a hitter-friendly park).  He's more of a patch on our CF wound. Eaton's another CF option who just got promoted to AA with a great eye, so they have a lot of these backup CFs lying around while we have basically none.  Wheeler is another adequate 3B option, I guess.
They DO have some pieces I'd talk to them about (haven't even talked about any arms we might get back).
They were already on my list of teams to talk to, so it's good to hear they might want to buy what we're selling.
~G

Goldschmidt would be the prize there. Could be righty Ryan Howard if everything pans out.
I've heard that the GM is extremely high on him though, so I don't think they'd trade him for someone like League or Bedard.

I can see trading League and Vargas. Non-elite closers are still as overrated as ever and Vargas is the least dominant SP in our rotation with 2 years of control left. The Reds have the goods to make a deal like that happen starting with an elite C prospect.
Fister I'd hold onto and really would like to buy him out on a long-term deal including club option years.

Towers loves him.  But I think Towers would love a pennant too.  I think that's why the key phrase mentioned in the tweet was "Not JUST for this year."  I think Goldschmidt can be had, it just has to be for a multi-year pitching solution, which we should be able to offer.
Unless he's asking for an Upton price level for an unproven right-handed 1B/DH, which is unlikely, I'd talk with em about it. He's the only bat I'd want from their system as a centerpiece.
This article has the quotes from Towers on him, as well as some pub for Cowgill. 
"Goldschmidt hit a ball about 500 feet in his first at-bat on Thursday night against a left-hander throwing 95," Towers said. "That's one of the longest home runs I've seen in a long, long time, and it was to dead center in Birmingham, which is one of the bigger ballparks I've seen. The center fielder didn't even move."

Practically gushing.  Now, the D-Backs need a reliever more than a starter (our old friend Heilman is doing a Hindenburg in their pen, leaving them with basically Putz and Hernandez who are reliable).  That could hamper things, but getting 2 pennant chases out of League (or flipping him next year for another good prospect if they're out of the race) might help.  They do have a 1B need, though, which makes it harder - he's not blocked.
Still, they're a team on my watch list for sure.
~G

Had not considered the implications of Ichiro missing from the off-limits list.
May not mean anything, but it gets the wheels turning.  Reds definitely want a leadoff hitter.  Lots to contemplate there that would previously be unthinkable.

This always amuses me. Someone will say:
"if you're looking for an impact lead-off hitter who plays the outfield... have I got the man for you!"
And then say:
"Anything and everything we can do to jettison the dead-weight should be done, even if it means tossing useful pieces into the deal. Ichiro..."
 
Can't have it both ways. He's either $18 million worth of dead weight, in which case he's untradeable...or he's an impact lead-off hitter who plays the OF. It's kind of one or the other. Regardless, nobody is trading anything for Ichiro right now. The M's would have to eat the contract and then replace him with...Peguero? No thanks.

Ichiro's the only surprise on that list for me, though from my early season expectations.  Well, and how bad Figgins has continued to be.  I didn't think he'd have his career year again, but I thought he could be Brendan Ryan.
At the other end of the spectrum, Brendan Ryan is a 2 WAR player so far, just after the All-Star break.  Thanks for that trade at least, Jack.  If Guti was still Guti instead of Charles Gipson, we might dig out of this mess.
A quick summary of our 2012 payroll situation at the start of the season:
The Mariners' 2012 payroll obligation, according to Cot's, is $59.513MM.  If the major arbitration eligibles are retained the team could be around $75MM, roughly $20MM short of their '11 payroll.  The club's payroll situation is tough to project, though, because we don't know who will be traded or whether they're planning a serious contention push for '12.

We've got 7 arb-eligible guys, and Aardsma is one of em.  I'd cut him and save the money - if he pitches again it won't be til 2013 anyway.
Laffey will cost basically nothing, and the 5-6 million saved on Aardsma gives us 25ish million to play with. Trading League or Vargas gives us around 30 (not counting whomever comes back in trade) as they should make 4+ mil each as well in arbitration.
Bradley and Wilson coming off the books helps a lot.  Ichiro's 19 million will be off after 2012, though we'll probably hate ourselves enough to retain his services afterward.
But that's FIFTY million dollars over 2 years coming free even if we keep Vargas.  We're freeing up more salary before 2013 (in theory) than half a dozen teams started with for their whole roster this season.  This is what the waiting was for, the 3 years to build the farm and clear off the ridiculous contracts.  So we missed one (stupid Chone...).  I can live with it.
Now's where Jack earns his money.  He screws this up and he's out of a job.  He adds Kubel for 4x12 and he tanks?  Goodbye Jack.  Or maybe the Ms don't even let him get to that point.  He's done his job of rebuilding the farm, the part we know he's good at.  Maybe the FO replaces him this offseason with someone who can select free agents. Gillick's still in town.
But the idea that we can't spend money this offseason or risk too much is strange to me.  If you spend 36 months building toward something, and you HAVE to spend the money (which we basically do, or at least will) then you don't wimp out just because you have an extra hole to fill than you thought you would.  That's what trades and NRIs are for, to get a Kennedy or a Laffey to patch a hole.
I'm very curious to see how the next 10 days go, and how we set up for the offseason.
In the meantime, Ackley, Smoak and the pitchers can keep entertaining me - I hope.
~G

I think Fister is better than Vargas. Based on FIP Fister is on pace for a 4 WAR season and Vargas on pace for a 2.5 WAR year after last year's 2.6. Still, Vargas runs xFIPs over 4 which suggests that he gets a decent boost from Safeco and the D. 
Vargas is a 2.5 WAR SP in Safeco thats likely league-average in a neutral park. With 2 years of control left after this year, he could be a good sell high candidate to package with League.
That said, Fister may not be this good either, but theres more upside. We have yet to tell whether or not he is going to continue to run very low Hr/Fb% rates. Its possible this is boosted because of his command, and its also possible hes getting lucky. Hard to say, but either way hes better than Vargas with 2 extra years of control.

Actually the Ms have had a ton of dead weight nearly every year since 2004. After this offseason, Ichiro and Figgins will be the only immovable salaries left on the payroll. Either than Guti.. Its really important for us that he gets healthy.

I just wonder sometimes if it would make more of a difference if we'd been watching a guy like Fielder since he became able to legally drink.  We let A-Rod go because he got a ridonkulous contract from Texas...but If A-Rod had taken our $126 million dollar offer (say there was no Texas bid) would we feel bad about it?  We'd have had a 1.000 OPS hitter for his absolute prime, and he played a glove position besides.
Fielder does not play a glove position, but he can be a 1.000 OPS bat and he's in his prime.
I think those guys are the ones you sign up.  It's just so rare to see one hit the market at this age and for nearly all the big-market teams to already be set at his position or out of funds (thanks Dodgers).  Now, the Angels might not wait any longer on Kendry Morales and his brutalized ankle, but they have Mark Trumbo who might win rookie of the year.  Abreu is old, though, so they could move around the DH slot and make something happen.  The Cubs are trying to hook Pujols, so they'd fall back to Fielder in a heartbeat, I'm sure, and the Cards might be interested in Fielder if Pujols leaves...but I dunno if Fielder is interested in replacing Pujols.  We can still get in the mix if we choose.
But not only haven't we watched every game with him, we've barely seen him since he plays in the NL.  As fans I think that makes us very nervous. Jack has seen him.  Jack knows him better than anybody.  So I'm very curious to see if that familiarity lets him talk the front office into it in a way they haven't been willing to pursue since A-Rod.
~G

is finally catching up to the pitching staff.  No matter how well a pitcher is going they know that it's not going to be good enough.  The M's are scoring more runs but the lack of trust in the offense is wearing on the pitching staff.  As long as the team was winning as much as they were losing the focus of the game could keep the pitchers mentally engaged but now that they are out of the race it's getting harder and harder. 

Yeah, trading Ichiro would be a minefield for Jack, even if he could find someone that wanted him. He would have to get the approval of Lincoln, since Lincoln would have to be the one to gain approval from Yamauchi. Yamauchi, one presumes, would only consent if Ichiro approved the trade. So to trade Ichiro, Jack would have to a) find a club that wanted him that b) Ichiro wanted to play for and then c) talk Lincoln into having a difficult conversation with his mentor. And even then Yamauchi might say no.
 

And now this:
The Reds scouted Jason Vargas and Doug Fister when the Mariners visited Toronto this week, a source told Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (via Twitter).

A League + Vargas/Fister + Figgins package deal could make a lot of sense, with Reds taking on Figgy in lieu of coughing up more prospects.
It was also in Toronto with Fister pitching that Figgins played LF.  *More Twilight Zone music*

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2011/07/ubaldo-jimenez-trade-unlikely.html
Rockies beat writer Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post counters Morosi, saying "chances remain slim" of a Jimenez trade.  He says the Rockies "continue to listen and negotiate with multiple teams regarding Jimenez, with the Reds receiving the most attention," but in general Colorado's demands are so high that no team is expected to bite.  Renck says the Rockies have asked the Reds for Devin Mesoraco, Aroldis Chapman, and Chris Heisey, among others.  In an email exchange with MLBTR, Renck clarified that the Rockies asked for Mesoraco and Chapman together while Heisey is simply another name that has come up in talks.

Or we can trade you a starting pitcher that won't cost you Chapman.  If you wanted Bedard and League, we might not even require Mesoraco.  Let's talk...
~G