Bobby Abreu and the Aces
It’s time to stop messing around. The Phillies have been way too busy far too early this offseason to delay delving into the moves they have made any further. There have been major trades, free agent additions, and one very loud, highly publicized, and big mouthed defection. These things will be addressed, but for now we'll start with a current Phillies All-Star on the block.The hottest rumor going around (and around and around and around…) puts the bulls eye right on Bobby Abreu’s 53. How about a quick look at the many Abreu rumors of the past few days?
1. Abreu to the Orioles for OF Jay Gibbons and LHP Eric Bedard
2. Abreu to the Red Sox for OF Trot Nixon and RHP Matt Clement
3. Abreu to the Yankees with C Mike Lieberthal for RHP Carl Pavano, C Jorge Posada and 3B Eric Duncan
4. Abreu to the Cardinals for RHP Anthony Reyes and RHP Jason Marquis
5. Abreu to the Blue Jays for CF Vernon Wells
6. Abreu to the Giants for RHP Jason Schmidt
That’s a whole lot of speculation around one guy. What does this all tell us? I think it is fairly accurate to say that Abreu is indeed being shopped. One rumor means little, but a half dozen rumors centered on one player often reveal a little something. It is no coincidence that Abreu’s name keeps coming up. He is being shopped. Will he be dealt? Do I look like Pat Gillick to you?
These deals are all just rumors of course, but it doesn’t hurt to take a closer look at them. I’ll assume the Wells deal is dead considering CF is no longer a position of need for the Phils. That 5-player deal with the Yankees appears flimsy at best; that is a big shakeup for both teams and it just doesn’t seem based in fact whatsoever. I think the
The two most realistic rumors appear to be the deals involving the Orioles and the Cardinals. The deal with
The
The latest trade rumor is Abreu for Manny Ramirez. Jayson Stark has already shot this down, so there isn’t much more to say about it for the time being. I know that’s weak and I apologize, but really what is there to add?
I’ve basically shot down all 6 of the viable trade rumors (I’m not counting you Manny sorry bud) so what is there left to do? I’ll pose a question that I’ve been personally pondering for a good long while. The Phillies reportedly would only deal Abreu for a “number one” starting pitcher. Call it what you want – number one, ace, frontline stopper, whatever. That’s what they are after. The question is simple. Who out there, in all of baseball, fits this description? Since I don’t actually expect anybody to answer this question (but feel free in the Comments section), I’ll go ahead and give a rundown of the way I see things. I’m factoring in pure baseball reasons, age, and economics so if a favorite player has been left off I’d be glad to go into more detail why. Without further delay (which ironically enough delays it even further – funny how that works)
There are plenty of guys that can be argued onto the list, but I think it would be difficult to argue anybody off (my last two additions might be exceptions to this rule - Perez and Francis are both highly debatable choices that I’m still not 100% sure on). Some younger prospects close to the big leagues intrigue me (Francisco Liriano, Jon Lester, Brandon McCarthy, Chad Billingsley) as do some older, established guys with big deals (could adding Pedro to this team put them over the hump in ’06?), but this was my final list. Final in that here it is and not like final meaning unwilling to compromise final – if you really want to get right down to it, my list is not entirely unlike the U.S. Constitution. Both documents are living, breathing, malleable works of literary art fully open to interpretation by anybody willing to think critically. I’m not comparing myself to the great American Founding Fathers per se, but the similarities are rather striking – don’t you think?
More to come on Abreu very shortly. Hang tight.
posted by XXX at 9:02 PM
2 Comments:
You give a list of pitchers which you would consider "ace" pitchers or at least pitchers that you would trade Bobby Abreu for straight up for. My question for you is are there any other players that you would trade for? Say for instance a top of the line starter that isn't quite an ace along with some prospects. Say a Matt Clement like starter and some pitching prospects. Also my second possibility involves Toronto, a team that has expressed interest in Abreu already this offseason, although this is diferent from what they were initially thinking. Bobby Abreu for Gustavo Chacin, Chad Gaudin and possibly Eric Hinske. Hinske has had good numbers against right handed pitchers and could be an even better option than Nunez to rotate with David Bell at third base. Possibly even Shea Hillenbrand. I just wanted to see if you would do any of those trades even though you aren't getting that "ace" that everyone would want ideally, you are still getting valuable players in return that could possibly complete the team better. I'm not sure the players I mentioned would give you equilalent value for Abreu but you get the general idea. Keep in mind that the players I mentioned were just for the sake of arguement and hopefully you get the idea from the players.
All of the pitchers mentioned on that list aren't going anywhere this offseason. So you are very right in figuring that if Abreu is dealt, it'll be for a package of lesser guys rather than any straight up swap of two guys. If Boston included the right mix of young guys (maybe either Lester or Papelbon) in addition to Clement, that deal would be tempting - an interesting comparison could be made between an offer like that an the current St. Louis rumors.
Chacin doesn't do much for me personally, I'm not sold on him quite yet. He did have a very good rookie year and I take nothing away from him. Gaudin was actually dropped from the Toronto 40 man roster the other day. This could be the precursor to a trade by the Jays involving him or it could just be they felt the need to drop him. If things stand the way they currently are, Gaudin could be available in the Rule 5 draft. He'd be a shrewd pickup there. Hinske is a puzzling guy. His performance has really tampered off since winning the ROY in 2002. He'll be 28 in August and is coming off a year where he didn't play a single game at third. There were reasons for this, of course, but it makes his defense there a question mark at best heading into '06. He also has a bad contract compared to his recent levels of performance. Hillenbrand - I'll pass on him.
Like you said though, the exact players don't matter so much as the general ideas. I think the ideas are good ones. Hopefully my next post will address more of what you want to know. If not, give me a yell and we'll get even deeper into it. Discussion is always encouraged.
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