"One or more of the following are surely available for trade if the the right deal came along: Motte, Salas, Sanchez, Lynn, Boggs, and the slightly more expensive K-Mac."

Between pitchers' injuries, variable performance and maybe even karma, getting a bullpen right is a tricky thing, and as we've just seen in 2011, you can cover weaknesses with a good bullpen, but you can't be a good team if your bullpen is a weakness.

APRTW wrote:

I think in the winter meeting Boggs and McCellan will be shopped.

I think you're probably right about those being the guys they are most willing to shopp, but my thought is that all will be available if the price is right.  Value will be an issue with those two, however.  K-Mac might be the best pure pitcher of the bunch, but he's also the most expensive and I'm guessing he won't be cost-controlled much longer.  So, if you trade for K-Mac, and he fulfills his potential, you must pay up.  With Boggs the issue may well be that he has had enough big league exposure without showing evidence that he will fulfill his potential, such that people might ultimately see him as a Tomko-like pitcher in the very best scenario.  The guys with real value will be Motte, Lynn, Salas, and Sanchez, and if we want to get anything good, we might have to give up something good. 

I can also see them packaging some position players--like Jay, Desclaso, Greene, or a backup catcher--into a deal, if it lands a starting CF or middle IF.  Hard to know what is going to be available at the meetings.

Max wrote:

I believe that you were making 'homosexual acts as metaphor' comments long before I referred to your Florida-sized boner for Rasmus.  For example, I remember comments by you about sloppy wet blowjobs. So do not feign outrage.

Feigning outrage? Hardly. What this amounts to is that you needed an excuse to pick a fight with me, so you made a homosexual reference with me as the punchline to your lame-ass joke. Don't try to pass off that you were making a serious comment on how St. Louis fans feel about a specific player.

And I've never used "sloppy wet blowjobs" (which doesn't really sound like something I would write anyway) in reference to another person here. Heck, I couldn't stand Tin Cup for about a year and I don't think I made a homophobic joke at his expense. I wasn't even 20.

So, once again, I'll congratulate you on your ability to successfully troll a message board that contains 6.5 active members. And I'll congratulate you on finding another way to say something about Colby Rasmus; for finding a new way to make a homophobic joke at my expense and for being an ass in general.

You earned it.

Early transactions

*Cleveland Indians signed free agent C Matt Pagnozzi
*Oakland Athletics signed free agent RF Brandon Moss.
*Los Angeles Dodgers signed free agent 2B Adam Kennedy
*Philadelphia Phillies signed free agent OF Scott Podsednik.
*Philadelphia Phillies signed free agent LHP Raul Valdes.
*Chicago Cubs signed free agent RF David DeJesus
*Kansas City Royals signed free agent RHP Jonathan Broxton
*Minnesota Twins signed free agent C Ryan Doumit.
*Cleveland Indians signed free agent CF Grady Sizemore.
*Pittsburgh Pirates signed free agent SS Clint Barmes.
*Colorado Rockies traded Ty Wigginton to Philadelphia Phillies.
*Philadelphia Phillies signed free agent RHP Jonathan Papelbon.
*Houston Astros signed free agent 2B Joe Thurston
*Arizona Diamondbacks signed free agent 2B Aaron Hill.
*Los Angeles Dodgers signed free agent 2B Mark Ellis.
*Houston Astros signed free agent RF Nick Stavinoha.
*Arizona Diamondbacks signed free agent SS Willie Bloomquist
*Kansas City Royals traded CF Melky Cabrera to San Francisco Giants; San Francisco Giants traded LHP Jonathan Sanchez to Kansas City Royals and Richmond Flying Squirrels traded Ryan Verdugo to Northwest Arkansas Naturals.
*Philadelphia Phillies signed free agent 1B Jim Thome
*Washington Nationals signed free agent RHP Chien-Ming Wang.
*Marlins sign Health Bell

"wasn't heath bell the closer who was going to command a king's ransom in prospects at the trade deadline."

Yep.  The Padres didn't get their king's ransom, and with the revised free agent rules, they only get a single compensatory pick for him.

forsberg_us wrote:

ESPN reporting that Marlins signed Reyes. 6 years, $111M guaranteed.

Yahoo is reporting 106 over 6 years.  Also reporting that this signing doesnt take them out of the running for Pujols.  Stating that they would like to sign Pujols or Fielder as well as a frontline pitcher like Buehrle.  This move repositions Ramirez to third base.


Not knowing the Marlins situation this is a stab at what their lineup might be.

SS Reyes
2b Infante
1b Pujols/Fielder
3b Ramirez
rf Stanton
c Buck
lF morrison
cF Bonifacio

sp Buehrle
sp Nolasco
sp Sanchez


Closer Bell

APRTW wrote:

forsberg_us wrote:

ESPN reporting that Marlins signed Reyes. 6 years, $111M guaranteed.

Yahoo is reporting 106 over 6 years.  Also reporting that this signing doesnt take them out of the running for Pujols.  Stating that they would like to sign Pujols or Fielder as well as a frontline pitcher like Buehrle.  This move repositions Ramirez to third base.


Not knowing the Marlins situation this is a stab at what their lineup might be.

Kudos to the Marlins.  Spend some money, hopefully wisely.  I wish them success.

Craig likely to open season on DL.


http://www.stltoday.com/sports/baseball/professional/cardinal-beat/craig-has-surgery-unlikely-for-opener/article_9371905e-2036-11e1-a036-001a4bcf6878.html

Tk, as a person living in St. Louis (now take this with a grain of salt, I work for Enterprise Fleet Management, in the middle of a bunch of desk chained mechanics), Rasmus was blessed with the middle name of "goddamned". Outside of this board, I haven't heard anyone say anything complimentary about his play this season. I did hear a lot of "could have been" discussions that were laid at the feet of Colby "Goddamned" Rasmus. I respect that you liked the guy, and will happily agree he had the talent to become quite a ballplayer. Beyond that, I'm glad to be rid of the underachiever.

Max, St. Louis is a bit quirky in it's own right, and prides itself on being the best and most knowledgable baseball fans in existance. Whether this is true or not is a matter for debate, but within St. Louis, it's the Biblical mantra of the town. They will also greet strangers with, "Hi I'm Jon, how are you? So, where'd you go to high school?" Your answer to this falls into 1 of 3 catagories. Say a school they liked/went to, you've just met a best friend. Say a school they hated, or looked down on, and you will never hear from them again, or mention an unknown (mine is Andrews High School, in Andrews Texas) and they have no idea what to make of it, so they proceed with caution.

artie_fufkin wrote:

Max wrote:

APRTW wrote:

Yahoo is reporting 106 over 6 years.  Also reporting that this signing doesnt take them out of the running for Pujols.  Stating that they would like to sign Pujols or Fielder as well as a frontline pitcher like Buehrle.  This move repositions Ramirez to third base.


Not knowing the Marlins situation this is a stab at what their lineup might be.

Kudos to the Marlins.  Spend some money, hopefully wisely.  I wish them success.

According to Rosenthal, the Marlins are refusing to offer no-trade protection to Pujols. Now why would that be?

team policy.  they don't do it for anybody.

Max wrote:

artie_fufkin wrote:

Max wrote:

Kudos to the Marlins.  Spend some money, hopefully wisely.  I wish them success.

According to Rosenthal, the Marlins are refusing to offer no-trade protection to Pujols. Now why would that be?

team policy.  they don't do it for anybody.

My question was rhetorical. It's "team policy" so they can reserve the right to ship off the pieces once the allure of the new stadium dies down and the devoted and loyal baseball fans of Greater Miami move on to the next shiny object. Pujols better insist on a no-trade clause, or he's going to find himself playing in Pittsburgh, Kansas City or Vladivostok in two years.

If dotel is headed to the Tigers and Buerhle to he Marlins I am disappointed.  It is unrealistic expectations but both would have been awesome.  Buerhle really interested me.  A second lefty in the rotation and another top flight pitcher would have given the Cardinals a clear advantage for best rotation in the league.

Last edited by APRTW (12/08/2011 8:38 am)