Trading Deadline Approaches, Pitchers Sure To Go
The Diamondbacks picked up Raul Mondesi hoping that the former big time slugger can recapture his finer big league moments in the Arizona heat.
Mondesi has not been a high average hitter, either in his last years with Tornoto or in New York. The Yankees gave him every opportunity to play, but he never quite lived up to their expectations.
He’s not Richie Sexson and that is who the Diamondbacks need.
Meanwhile today you will see two of the premier matchups in the NL this season. Dontrelle Willis pitches against Randy Johnson in Miami (perhaps more than 10,000 will show up), and Jason Schmidt goes against Kerry Wood in Chicago.
I told Ken Macha back in November when we talked over an iced tea in Oakland that as long as he could write the names Mulder, Hudson, and Zito on his lineup card he would have no trouble this season.
I didn’t realize how prophetic those words would be. The big three are carrying this ball club along with Keith Foulke.
The rotation is set up for the weekend against NY (the A’s pitchers handle the Yankees), Ted Lilly, another lefty today against the Indians, plus Rich Harden on Thursday should make for some happy times around the Coliseum until the A’s head back on the road next week.
How about Bill Mueller? How about Marcus Giles?
Who says the pitchers aren’t getting tired? Mueller, three homers with two grand slams against the Rangers, Giles with nine straight hits going into today’s contest with the Astros.
Click below and let’s talk trades.
The word is getting stronger that rival clubs do not want to trade with the Athletics.
We’ll see how that holds up as the hours dwindle down before the deadline on Thursday.
As long as Kelvim Escobar is in Toronto, and Billy Beane has his best friend running that club, I say any move with Escobar to a new team has to come through Oakland first.
Cory Lidle is a Blue Jay also. His value is minimal so I’m not sure the boys can parlay a Lidle trade through the A’s before he moves on to a new club.
Needless to say Oakland needs two things. A righthanded set up man plus a righthanded hitting outfielder.
The Dodgers are still my choice for the bullpen man, the Rockies or Padres my pick for the outfielder.
Adam Piatt has some value and may bring a bullpen addition if he goes in a trade with a minor leaguer.
Terrence Long has some upside, I think he is likely to go in any move for a pitcher. Come on LA, you need some runs.
Seattle needs a lefty in its bullpen. Someone mentioned Jeff Fassero moving from St. Louis to Seattle, but why would the Cards move him, only if they are getting a potential starter from AAA, is my guess.
Anaheim has thrown the white flag. Scott Schoenweiss is no lifesaver, but if you are in the race you don’t trade your lefthanded set up man. The Sox can use all the help they can get and Schoenweiss is a major league pitcher.
Kansas City needs some more pitching. Jeff Suppan was a Royal at one time, this seems like a good fit.
Damian Moss pitched well yesterday, but wouldn’t you rather have Al Leiter in his spot?
Scott Williamson was highly coveted by the A’s two winters ago. Now he is part of the Red sox bull pen, further annoying the A’s braintrust.
Scott Sullivan would look good as an Athletic, and Cincy is loading up the truck as we speak.
Gabe White, lefty reliever is next out of Cincinnati if he is healthy.
Sidney Ponson seems to still be the big prize of the free agent to be market. Where will he go? Will Jason Johnson go also? The Red Sox can use them both, but will settle for one.
Boston realizes they can win the pennant this year with another top flight starter and actually consider winning the world series for the first time since 1918. Sidney Ponson is that good and pairing him with Pedro and Derek Lowe would be a great move.
How would you like to see the A’s and Red sox match up in the ALCS, a seven game series with the pitchers both teams have. It could happen.
Expect more fireworks in Texas tonight with Robert Ellis who got rocked in his first start against Ramiro Mendoza.
The Devil Rays won their surprise game last night, I don’t see another one tonight. They do hit well, don’t they?
The scouts love Perez, the Tampa third baseman who can really fly, he makes things happen.
Good test for Horacio Ramirez against righty hitting Houston tonight in Atlanta. In the playoffs, Ramirez will see a lot of action unless the Braves pick up someone better.
The Dodgers are four behind the Phillies and send Kevin Brown out there tonight. Big game for LA and Brown is the guy to get it done if he can last until the seventh inning. Just give him three runs and he’ll take care of the rest. With LA, that is asking for a slugfest.
I liked the rumor of Greg Myers coming to the Giants, he is a dead fastball hitter and that is what they throw in the NL. Great pickup if SF can make it happen. Matt Stairs or Reggie Sanders will help the Giants too. How about Reggie Sanders for the A’s?
Livan Hernandez to St. Louis, he threw well enough yesterday to warrant the chance to upgrade his address.
No question the teams with the pitchers are holding out until the last minute to extract the highest price they can for their moundsmen.
Will the A’s be players on July 31st, I say yes, as long as Toronto is still in business.
0 comments
Excellent analysis. The Red Sox got lucky with thw Addition of Bill Mueller. He was a fan favorie here
and a hard luck guy when he went to Chicago.
The Giants are probably grinding their teeth for
letting him go. Edgardo Alfonso would not be playing. But, that’s the beauty of baseball. Another success story when you least expect it.
For me an A’s – Red Sox plaoff would mean that I would have to use a llot of airline miles. Great pitching against a great hitting line-up and we will see how the left handers fare in Fenway
later this month. The Red Sox now feel that they can win the division and hopefully the evil ones
will not make the wild card.
The Giants had a rough night last night. The old adage that good pitching stops good hittiing
came into play last night. The Giants have
been shut out just 3 times this season and
hopefully will right the ship today.
Jerry F
The Rangers want to move Juan Gonzalez but
can’t because he is on the DL. He would have to placed on waivers and I don’t think the A’s can get
him. Reggie Sanders would be a help . The A’s
may do a 3 way deal with Toronto as you suggest
we still have about 36 hours left.
Jerry F
Hey Marty,
I was wondering why the A’s didn’t try to go after Williamson. Or did they? I didn’t know that the A’s like him. His price didn’t seem steep at all. Was Billy snubbed cause of his book? If so, then the A’s chances of acquiring Guillien (spelling?) from the Reds probably isn’t too good. Guillien’s price is similar to Williamson’s.
At the minimum, the A’s need some bullpen help. (I hope the A’s can acquire both a bullpen pitcher and outfielder. It doesn’t look good though). Mecir’s health is an obvious issue and even days he does pitch he doesn’t bring great stuff. Trading Long for a quality reliever would be an excellent idea. I think Long would do much better in the NL where he’d see more fastballs.
-Mike
Well, my speculation was wrong. A’s just acquired Guillen. Marty, what do you think?
-Mike
I like it because it is an upgrade over what they have and they didn’t give up much. I saw Joe Valentine Sunday night in Sacto, he was wild with a plus fastball, not ready for the big time. Guillen has been a classic underachiever until this season with Cincy, he is not afraid to swing the bat, it should be interesting to see if he tries the A’s patient approach at the plate, I think not! Thank goodness for the rudderless ship in Cincy, they weren’t afraid to trade with BB. All in all, a good trade.
Marty
Harang will be missed. Thankfully, the A’s have enough pitching prospects to last the team a substantial amount of time.
I’ve heard that Guillen is a nutjob, and frequently throws tirades, whether publicly or privately. Hopefully that doesn’t alter the team chemistry or shake things up. Thankfully, Guillen should be playing the rest of the season, so it may be less likely to hear of complaints from him.
Jose Guillen should be judged by what he does on the field. He fills a need right now and ,hopefully,
Jermaine Dye will be back next year. The pitchers that BB gave up were marginal. Maybe playing for a contender will be helpful to Guillen but he has
a.337 average and 23 dingers. These are good numbers and his bat will help this ballclub.
Jerry F
kevin appier released by halos. Is there any gas left in the tank. Can he be used as a setup guy
to replace mecir. Is he too costly. what’s your
feeling about this development
Jerry F
Wouldn’t I rather have Leiter than Moss? The answer is “no”. Leiter is overrated. In 109 innings he has given up 118 hits, and 69 bases on balls, with an ERA of 5.12. The Giants are waltzing into the playoffs with their present pitching. LA and Arizona fall further and further behind daily. They can’t hit and Mondesi isn’t going to make the difference for Arizona. The playoffs are a different ball game. I am assuming that Williams is as good as he appears to be. If that is the case the Giants have two strong starters. That may be enough in the five game series. I prefer to pick up the remaining slack with either Rueter or Foppert. I know that going into the playoffs with two youngsters who have never pitched in serious, must win games, might be considered asking for trouble. but I like Williams and Foppert. They might just confound the experts. What the Giants need is not pitching but a strong bat for the outfield. I don’t know that Hammonds is the one. Ed
what a day on the dish-you guys are great
jerry f
You must log in to post a comment.