It’s not going to be that easy to trade Tim Hudson even though the A’s will try their hardest to move the heart and soul of their pitching staff.

You see any team that trades for Hudson and meets the A’s price, which by the way should rival what Arizona is asking for Randy Johnson and not a marquee player less, has got to sign Hudson long term or else lose him after one season.

The market is still not clearly defined for a pitcher of Hudson’s caliber. Is Pedro’s 13 mil the standard? If Carl Pavano gets 11 million what’s Hudson worth?

So, a new team needs days to negotiate with Hudson before pulling the trigger. These deals don’t happen over night. I don’t expect the A’s to move Hudson at the winter meetings because the logistics of such a move will take more than 48 hours.

What can the A’s expect?

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With the winter meetings beginning on Thursday this should be a week of baseball transactions instead of one highlighting grand jury transcripts and steroid use.

Jason Giambi’s days in New York appear to be over. Not only are the Yankees letting the press run wild over their 120 million dollar first baseman, but they are intensifying their efforts to sign Carlos Delgado to replace Giambi at first base.

This means Seattle will be all over Richie Sexson as they try to upgrade the offense.

So where does this leave Giambi? Right here in Oakland, the only franchise in America that will take him back and allow him to recover the baseball skills that were evident, steroids or not, here in the Bay Area.

The Yankees will pay the bulk of his salary and the risk for the A’s will be minimal.

Right fielder for Oakland? How about Reggie Sanders? Juan Gonzalez will sign for peanuts, no down side. Go after Kevin Millar, he would be great in the clubhouse too.

Will Tim Hudson be moved?

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It seems that this scenario has played out before in Oakland with Jason Giambi, Miguel Tejada, and Eric Chavez. Finally one of the big three is on center stage. What value does a pitcher have? One considered to be a leader of the team. What should the A’s do? Is Rich Harden ready to be the newest member of a revamped big three?

Click below for my thoughts!

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Marty; The story in this morning’s Chronicle, by writer Henry Schulman, who covers the Giants, is disconcerting, to say the least. Schulman quotes the Giants’ assistant general manager, Ned Colletti, as saying “We’re more focused on a closer and fixing the bullpen than we are on adding an outfielder right now. If we go into camp right now, we’re fine with the outfield we’ve got, with Bonds in left, Grissom in center and a combination of Tucker and Mohr in right and Pedro Feliz might get some time out in right field as well”. Colletti is the well thought of assistant to Sabean. There is no reason to believe that he doesn’t express the thinking of management.

Click Below for more from Ed, it’s right on the money.
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Free agents who are anxious to get the process behind them will sign by Thanksgiving. It happens every year.

The White Sox thought they had Omar Vizquel locked up, but the future hall of famer (?) decided that he’d rather play on the west coast and chose the Giants instead.

So what does this say about the Giants? One, they won’t have a first round pick again in the amateur draft if Vizquel is a type A free agent as my colleague Bruce Grimes points out.

Two, they are casting their lot with a 37 year old shortstop with a history of knee problems. They better get healthy years from both Vizquel and Barry Bonds (40 yrs) if they are to be serious contenders in the west. One misstep by either spells trouble for the Giants. How many years can they get by with Bonds at his age leading the way?

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Bruce Grimes is a regular in the press box at Giants and A’s games during the year and I respect his analysis. I asked him to give me his thoughts on possible moves that the two teams might be thinking of making over the next few months.

Bruce also writes a weekly baseball column in Palo Alto.

His thoughts follow:

Marty:

Good to hear from you. Have given off season moves a lot of thought.

At this point, and it’s still early, some of the following just might happen:

Giants

Outfield

They’ll as Sabean puts it, “kick the tires” on Beltran and quickly move on; next they’ll go after Finley (again!) and be rebuffed; they will back away from Drew because of injuries; they’ll realize Alou is not a good defensive fit in right-field, at least at SBC, and wants too much money anyway; they’ll inquire about Guillen and then get cold feet (defense and attitude) and finally: they’ll work out a one year deal with incentives with Magglio Ordonez, with a mutual option for a second year. He wants to prove he’s healthy and if he is, it would be a terrific signing. Fall-back position: Jeromy Burnitz. Since he’s around 38 and has been “up and down” as to production, he sadly fits their “MO”.

Starter

Radke would be perfect but I bet he’ll either stay in Minnesota or go to Cleveland; Milton’s intriguing. Even though he gave up 43 homers, it was in a hitters park; Ortiz would be perfect, but he’ll have a lot of money waved in front of him, especially by Cleveland, the Rangers, maybe even Tampa Bay (you can bet Pinella loves him)– my guess he signs with the Rangers or possibly the Mariners will add to their depleted staff, especially if they fail to land a power hitter (Delgado)

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Tim Hudson will stay if the A’s put money on the table. Clear and simple, his agent knows the game and will see where the A’s want to go in the negotiations. Seeing Mulder and Zito struggle last year might swing things in Hudson’s favor since he is the most reliable of the three. His propensity to break down is disturbing as well as his avoidance to throw a split finger pitch last season. He is Pedro like in that he wants the ball in the big game and will deliver. I’d sign him before the other two. It’s a gamble but he’s married and a more mature man. If I was investing my millions in the future I’d put it on Hudson. Plus I wouldn’t wait around if I was convinced he is healthy.

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Each year the story of baseball plays out like a captivating book. We don’t know how the story will turn out, but every day we read another chapter, then try to predict the next twist in the plot.

Such is the life of a baseball columnist.

Some forecasts are right on the money, others not so close.

Here’s a few of my favorite analyses from “Batter Up” 2004:

2/21: “A Rod is a loser folks.” It took the NY fans about two months before realizing that A Rod won’t produce when it counts. Joe Torre even batted A Rod second in the order, in a desperate attempt to awaken his bat. A Rod’s pathetic swipe at Bronson Arroyo while running to first base in game six of the ALCS brought the boo birds out in full force.

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They call it the World Series, not the World Season. The series is 7 games, the season 162.

You can have a four game losing streak during the season and nobody notices, have one during October and you are remembered as a loser for all time.

No doubt the Red Sox clobbered the Cards, but St. Louis will be back in the hunt next year, I’m not so sure the Red Sox will, especially if they aren’t careful this winter.

Boston should think twice before letting their top free agents walk without a fight. It takes some special nerve to play on the big stage in October, especially when that stage plays in New York 19 times during the year plus the playoffs.

Click below for more! Check out the new forum section in the upper right hand corner of the home page for interesting comments on the game.

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The baseball season unfolds slowly. Amazing plot lines develop as we watch the 162 game season plus the playoffs, play out day to day.

When the season is over, and it happens this way every year, the two best teams in baseball end up playing for the championship.

The World Series is the most memorable week in sports. Whoever is the hero or goat in the series will be memorialized for baseball eternity.

My favorite Series memories:

Johnny Podres beating the Yankees in game seven in ’55 2-0 for Brooklyn’s only title,
Boston’s Carlton Fisk’s 12th inning game winning homer in ’75,
Bill Mazeroski’s 1960 9th inning walk off homer in game 7 against the Yanks,
Sandy Koufax beating Minnesota in ’65 in game 7 on 2 days rest 2-0,
Reggie’s 3 homer game against LA in ’78,
Jack Morris 10 inning 1-0 shut out of Atlanta in game 7 in ’91.

Every great October moment, still clear as day.

Who’s going to win the series this year? [Read more →]