Trade WHO for a bat?
One thing that we fans *consistently* do is assume that if a name doesn't look glittery to us, then the player doesn't have much value to other GM's.
To us, if a guy hasn't been on the Baseball America org top-10 for MULTIPLE years, then Theo Epstein and Kevin Towers don't know who they are.
That's just not the case. Who in Seattle had ever heard of Freddy Garcia, Carlos Guillen, or John Halama before Houston used them to acquire Randy Johnson? Carlos Guillen's name hadn't come up a single time anywhere on the internet that I ever found -- but after the fact, we discovered that he was a 5-tool prospect who was considered an impact minor leaguer *only* by people inside baseball.
Had you heard of Maikel Cleto or Mike Carp before the Mets used them to acquire a superstar closer? Be honest, now. Would you have, one year ago, put these names on a chat board as minor leaguers who could be packaged for a superstar?
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A very important national internet writer once asked Bill James disdainfully, "do the Red Sox have ANY prospects right now who could ever make an impact in the major leagues?"
James, working for the Red Sox at the time, replied acidly: "Dozens."
Reflect carefully on that. The internet "expert" evaluated the number Sox' important prospects as 0. The Red Sox' VP evaluated that number as 25-50.
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Alex Liddi is hitting .340/.390/.619. He's 20 years old and has 16 homers in about 40% of a season. With Mario Martinez and Jhamidy de Jesus (not to mention Tuiasosopo), the Mariners have a 3B traffic jam of players whose ceiling is ML regular.
Dennis Raben, to name one player that nobody has talked about, is a #1 draft pick with outstanding K/BB walk skills and high power potential. He hits left-handed. His ceiling is All-Star cleanup hitter. Being an ex-college star, he could be close to the major leagues. Granted, he's got the surgery on cartilege in his knee, so isn't going to be traded this summer. But he illustrates the point: Why is it an absolute that the Mariners keep Jeff Clement and Mike Carp together with Raben?
Tyson Gillies, the CF at High Desert, has a .454 OBP -- on the road.
Joe Dunigan, a big LH first baseman, is a bit old for the league but is slugging .700 vs RH and has a 1.000 OPS vs LEFT hand pitching. Dunigan is catching a lot of attention around baseball this year. Home park or no home park, this kid is raking, home and road, and blasting LHP's for a .600 SLG. He's conjuring images of Ryan Howard.
... did I say these kids would all become stars? C'mon, now. The question was whether the Mariners could trade if they wanted to.
Adam Moore as you know is a catcher very close to the majors who was developed for his extra-class defense -- but who is now showing a much stronger-than-average bat. Do you have projectable power if you're a catcher who stands 6'3", 220?
Last season he hit .320/.400/.500 with an ISO near .200 -- and he's a defensive specialist.
That doesn't even touch on the guys that fans are hot on right now, such as Michael Saunders, Jeff Clement, Greg Halman, Mike Carp, Matt Tuiasosopo and Carlos Triunfel.
How many players can start in Safeco at any one time? Nine. How many Clements, Carps, and Rabens do you need?
Have we mentioned any pitchers yet at all? What do you know about Maikel Cleto, Ezequiel Carrera or Michael Pineda? Never mind Aumont, Fields, Ramirez or, let's say, Brandon Morrow.
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The problem is, you bring up somebody like Joe Dunigan or Dennis Raben or Alex Liddi and fans go, "Hey, we can't give that guy up!" LOL.
Don't trade if you don't want to. :- ) But any team in the major leagues can give up 3 quality prospects and do little more than clear playing time for another hotshot.
There's a draft every year, homies, and only 9 starting jobs in Safeco. And some of them will be filled from the FA market.
The idea is to convert the energy from 175 org playing slots into the top 25 with maximum molecular density. To do that, you've got to trade 3-for-1, 4-for-1, 6-for-1.
Cheers,
Dr D