Saturday, January 28, 2012

Phillies trade Valdez for Horst

Not really a big deal, right?  I guess unless you have been one of those in love with Valdez saying he should play over Rollins and Polanco.  He's a backup infielder with a poor bat and very nice arm.  I think the main here isn't looking at this trade, but looking at what this trade means.

First, I'll take a short look at Horst.  His number have kind of been all over the place.  It seems like he struggles a little bit when he is moved up a level but then starts to figure it out.  Doesn't appear overpowering or a total control guy.  The important thing to note is that he is a left handed reliever.  May get a shot to be that 2nd left hander out of the pen after Bastardo.  He will have to battle D. Willis and J. Savery.  More than likely he spends some more time at AAA.

So onto what this trade means.  Prior to the Phils signing Rollins, the main thought was that Freddy Galvis may be the one to come up and have to fill the spot.  That really doesn't make sense, since he only had 121 at bats at the AAA level.  Now the Phils may go make a move to get a backup SS, like Edgar Renteria, but I wouldn't like this move.  I think this shows that they like M. Martinez enough to have him back up SS and 2B.  Now that they have Ty Wiggington, they have the guy that back up Polanco at 3B.  So really it makes Valdez expendable.  The hope is that Martinez gets over the Rule 5 draft playing in the big leagues and playing closer to his minor league numbers.

This does set Galvis to step right in as the backup SS for 2013.  They love his glove, his bat just needs to develop a little bit more, so there will be a lot of people watching Galvis this year in 2013.

Saturday, January 14, 2012

2012 Lineup

So I'm not sure if I overreacted with my last post or not.  I will have to figure that out over the next couple of days.

I do like the idea of a middle of the order bat for the next 6+ years.  I don't really care if he plays catcher or not.  If that is going to hamper his bat, then just keep him at DH.  With this acquisition, I'm not interested in signing Fielder what so ever.  I would like to see Smoak stick at 1B.  I still believe.  The offense all of a sudden may be exciting to watch!!

I'm guessing the M's brass are very confident in the progress of Walker, Hultzen and Paxton. 

2012
Ichiro - RF
Ackley - 2B
Smoak - 1B
Montero - DH
Carp - LF
Guti - CF
Seager - 3B
Olivo/Jaso - C
Ryan - SS

2013
Ichiro - RF
Ackley - 2B
Smoak - 1B
Montero - DH
Carp - LF
Guti - CF
Franklin - SS
???? - 3B
Jaso/Moore - C

Friday, January 13, 2012

Nooooooo!!

Pineda for J. Montero. 

I don't like this at all. 

Young Impact Hitter???

According to Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com, the Mariners are close to a trade for a "young impact hitter."

I'm already tired of the "According to Jerry Crasnick" updates, but if there actually is a trade brewing I would love to know who this hitter is.

You know who I would love.... Billy Butler.  We don't need him to field and even though he is a right handed hitter, he is more in the mold of Edgar.  Which is the type of RH that works in Safeco.  But he does ground into way too many double plays!  I'm just not sure why KC would be interested in trading him.  They do have a logjam in the infield.  Hosmer at 1B, Moustakas at 3B and Clint Robinson ready to be promoted. 

So what package could the Mariners put together that would interest the prospect rich Royals?