Michaels to Cleveland Close?
Sunday's edition of the Boston Herald includes a story about a deal between the Boston Red Sox and the Cleveland Indians where OF Coco Crisp (and maybe another player) would go to Boston and RP Guillermo Mota and 3B prospect Andy Marte would head to Cleveland. Coco Crisp is a nice player (his most similar batter through his Age 25 season is Red Sox legend Dom Dimaggio, believe it or not), but this is an absolute steal for Cleveland. Good for them. Anyway, if you've been paying attention then I am sure you can connect the dots and see why you are reading this bit of news on a website devoted to the Philadelphia Phillies. Read on...
The deal was agreed upon several days ago under the condition that Cleveland be able to acquire another outfielder to replace Crisp, presumably Jason Michaels from the Philadelphia Phillies. There was some indication that the Phillies and Indians were hoping to complete the deal for Michaels as soon as last night. Cleveland was believed to be sending one of two relievers - left-hander Arthur Rhodes or right-hander Rafael Betancourt - to the Phillies in exchange for Michaels.
If only the Red Sox were as much in love with Jason Michaels as they seem to be in with Coco Crisp. Mota is at as good as any of the proposed relievers in the Cleveland package and Andy Marte could very well be a potential star at third base - a spot where the Phils are more than a little weak at now and in the not so distant future. I think Michaels is a better player than the general public perception (he must be platooned at all costs!) would lead you to believe as he is a dynamo against lefty pitching yet also plenty capable of hitting righties well enough (biggest drop against righties is in his SLG). He also has always played above average defense at any of the three outfield spots not to mention his awesome abilities when it comes to cop punching. He truly does that with startling efficiency.
More to come on all of this as it actually becomes official - assuming the trade talks don't break down between now (middle of night) and tomorrow morning. It really looks like a framework of a deal is in place, so this should get done by Sunday night at the latest. Until then, we wait...
The deal was agreed upon several days ago under the condition that Cleveland be able to acquire another outfielder to replace Crisp, presumably Jason Michaels from the Philadelphia Phillies. There was some indication that the Phillies and Indians were hoping to complete the deal for Michaels as soon as last night. Cleveland was believed to be sending one of two relievers - left-hander Arthur Rhodes or right-hander Rafael Betancourt - to the Phillies in exchange for Michaels.
If only the Red Sox were as much in love with Jason Michaels as they seem to be in with Coco Crisp. Mota is at as good as any of the proposed relievers in the Cleveland package and Andy Marte could very well be a potential star at third base - a spot where the Phils are more than a little weak at now and in the not so distant future. I think Michaels is a better player than the general public perception (he must be platooned at all costs!) would lead you to believe as he is a dynamo against lefty pitching yet also plenty capable of hitting righties well enough (biggest drop against righties is in his SLG). He also has always played above average defense at any of the three outfield spots not to mention his awesome abilities when it comes to cop punching. He truly does that with startling efficiency.
More to come on all of this as it actually becomes official - assuming the trade talks don't break down between now (middle of night) and tomorrow morning. It really looks like a framework of a deal is in place, so this should get done by Sunday night at the latest. Until then, we wait...
posted by XXX at 1:53 AM
2 Comments:
I want to start off saying that I am a big J-Mike fan. That being said his posistion here on this team is not a very significant role with the departure of Loften, arrival of Rowand, and Victorino's strong performance last year at all levels, and trading him could be the best thing for both the phillies and jmike. He can get the chance to start in cleveland and ryan madson can get an actual chance to start in the rotation for the phillies. While im not really thrilled about either guy I think that I would prefer Betancourt over Rhaodes for a number of reasons. One main one is defintely the fact that Rhoades is owed 4.8 next year and i will tell you this much i am NOT interested in paying that.
I don't like the idea of ever signing or trading for middle relief - it just is such a low priority that really can be found internally or on the cheap more often than not. That being said, if the market value for Michaels is a reliever than it may be time to move him for one. The only problem I have with any of these proposed deals is the weakening of an already suspect Phils bench. Losing his on base skills plus his above average defensive play during late game situations is rough. Shane Victorino should fill the void nicely, but the overall bench will still undoubtedly be weaker.
The longer this drags out, the less likely I think it'll happen. There is still time to finish something though and I would still expect some kind of Michaels for a RP deal to happen within the next 2-3 days.
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