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"I had a dream last night.  Jim was in a hotel I co-own with Satan.  Check-in time immediate.  Checkout time NEVER." - Dwight Schrute

"So in your own FANTASY.  You don't own the hotel?" - Jim Halpert

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Steve Adams at MLB Trade Rumors was pretty impressive on Tuesday.  Seems that he has systematically memorized the needs of all 30 teams, as well as the situations of the top 50-100 free agents.  Guy must do it for a living.

This snippet was interesting:

Locally, we're used to hearing something more along the lines "Taijuan, KPax, Zunino, Miller and Iwakuma might open discussions," so Adams obviously has paid some attention to actual market prices paid over the past ten years.

I also like his feel for the fact that a proven MLB youngster, say Kyle Seager, is worth far more than a hyped top-100 prospect.  (On the interwebs, an unbeaten-untied-and-unscored-on Wil Myers is worth several Kyle Seagers.)

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"A good, young MLB player with some team control," that would be referring to Kyle Seager or perhaps Brad Miller, depending on that particular MLB executive's comfort zone with Miller.  

(Mine would be pretty blinkin' high.  Miller's approach at the plate is diamond-hard.  But your comfort zone on Miller, and mine, is not at issue here.  Brad Miller is a player who will provoke differing reactions from differing exec's.)

"Some" team control with Seager?  He's not even arb-eligible until 2015, and he's already got two years under his belt as a 3-4 WAR player.  Fans constantly underrate the value of this kind of player, and underrate it a ton.  Even the Red Sox and Yankees drool over proven MLB quality with 3-4 years of club control remaining.  I'll GUARANTEE you that Kyle Seager is one of baseball's most marketable assets.

The M's TV crew went into one city after another last year, and marvelled on-the-air how much that team's execs thought of Kyle Seager...

Seager for Scherzer, sez Adams, might require a decent prospect back.  But in this case you've got one year of Scherzer's arb compared to four* years of Seager's.  If anything, Detroit sends value back the other way.

Granted, you'd need a salary commitment to Scherzer.  As we noodle about when we talk Cliff Lee.  If you're dealing for Scherzer, he becomes a franchise player, a $20M+ type.

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Detroit obviously wants to move Cabrera back to 1B, and justly so.  His legs can't take the strain any more, and the Tigers are (it says here) aggressively shopping Prince Fielder.

Here is a -- shocker! -- wonderful article from Jeff Sullivan, illustrating the issue of Cabrera's legs.  It's a -- shocker! --  gif-rich environment.  The Tigers can't get Cabrera back to 1B/DH soon enough.  Like, by Opening Day.

(Corollary idea:  if the Tigers would chip in on the salary at all, the M's might want to move on Fielder.  Then their "two frontline power hitters" become ... Fielder and Ryan Braun! HEH!!)

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Jhonny Peralta is headed out the door, and Jose Iglesias had a 4:30 EYE in part-time play behind him.  Their top-ranked SS prospect, Eugenio Suarez, hit .238 in AA.  Brad Miller, if they're high on him (as most teams undoubtedly are), would be juicy and crunchable.

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If you part with Seager this winter, who plays 3B for a year until D.J. Peterson does?

• Nick Franklin, mayhaps
• Stefen Romero
• 1-year, Beane-style import
• Who gives a rip, if Scherzer and Fielder are M's.  Put Smoak at 3B for all we care

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Under normal circumstances, this kinda hot stove shtick would be edging toward "P-I board" territory.  But, hey, if you're talking a #1 starter and two frontline power hitters, I'm talking Scherzer, Fielder, and/or Braun.  

Ryan Braun makes $10 and $12M the next two years, and only $18-19M thereafter.  His political situation in Milwaukee is comparable to what Edgar Martinez' would have been if he'd been caught with a ... well, we'll leave it at that.  Braun's situation in Milwaukee looks completely untenable to me.  He is damaged goods, with a capital DG.

With the Tigers' looming desperation over the Fielder/Cabrera situation, dealing them quality prospects might chip away at the $24M annual salary; remember, the M's were willing to pay close to that in the first place.

Scherzer will also want the big money, so yeah, yeah, yeah, we know.  This ain't the Dodgers.  Picking 1-2 of these 3 players is probably more appropriate even in a Seattle fan's fantasy.  

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You don't want to own the hotel in your own fantasy, Seager for David Price would be an analogous, more budget-friendly, fantasy.  Jerry Crasnick recently polled GM's and 17-of-21 predicted that Price would be in a different uniform next Opening Day.

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Adams finishes,

Cheers,

Dr D