Add new comment

At this point, Figgins, Vargas, Guti, Ryan, Olivo, Millwood, Beaven, and maybe more, are, or soon will be, excess, if things continue (although I now believe Millwood and Olivo will stay for a while). I suspect Jack Z. is waiting for the season to start and teams like the Reds and Mets to have their needs become vivid. Then he'll pick their double -A pockets and move on. The only unknown is what we'll get and what, a la Robles, we might have to include.
My problem with trades of prospects at this point is until we know what we've really got with Seager, Peguero, Catricala, Robinson, Ramirez, Snow, Maurer, Capps, Pryor, Moran, Franklin, Littlewood, even Moore, Martinez, Chavez, and Chiang, we don't really know who we want to trade from that pool. The "sure" ones -- Ackley, Smoak, Carp, Hultzen, Walker, Paxton, .. -- are probably off-limits, but most would have considered Pineda that way until it happened. But we traded him for equal - two prospects for two prospects. No Brett Gardner involved. Gardner would simply block Carp or Saunders -- he's that much better than Saunders has been, but will he be that much better than Saunders now might be when we're playing in October?
If we could get a "can't miss" right fielder for Vargas and one or two of the first list, then fine. But I'd rather gets some AA type like Martinez, or Chiang, or an arm like Noesi. There is still a good chance we can get Byron Buxton, Victor Roache (as damaged goods for Dr. Elliott to rehab), a someone-I-haven't-heard-of-that-Tom McNamara-is-looking-at-at-this-moment, or more in the coming draft (hopefully our last this high). I have confidence that Jack Z. and company can grow us more good ones.
My guess is that we will trade the veterans for lower level prospects to continue to build the farm system, but that none of the prospects will be traded unless there's substantial evidence that one is Cepeda to another's McCovey. As such, Seager and Liddi may go, but I believe Chone and Ryan go first, and that Seager and Liddi are being groomed as our preferred bench MI and corner IF guys. Among Chiang, Robinson, Wells, Peguero, and Chavez - one will play either center or right after Ichiro leaves, with the best arm between them and Saunders in RF. By next year we'll know that - but right now we might be trading Choo, Asdrubal Cabrera, or Mike Morse (names that will haunt the Bavasi era of this franchise) -- guys who would have been better than anything we've kept until Jack Z. Jack is going to earn his money clearing this roster this year.