Some links for Friday before Roy Halladay tries to restore order for the slumping Phillies…
- Grady Sizemore will miss the rest of the season as he recovers from today's operation on his left knee, according to the team. He is expected to be ready for spring training next year.
- Rogers Sportsnet reported last weekend that the Blue Jays finalized their Fred Lewis acquisition for cash, according to John Lott of the National Post.
- Jon Heyman of SI.com says the Yankees will likely seek a bat with a high on base percentage and wonders if David DeJesus could fit (Twitter link).
- Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe speculates that Mike Lowell and Boof Bonser could be trade bait.
- Jon Heyman of SI.com says it's a "long shot" that the D'Backs deal Dan Haren.
- Cuban player Yadil Mujica could sign soon, according to Jorge Ebro of El Nuevo Herald (Twitter link).
- Ebro reports (via Twitter) that the Phillies are eyeing Dominican pitcher Yunesky Maya.
- Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun presents 12 possible replacements for Dave Trembley, including Eric Wedge, Bobby Valentine and Bob Melvin.
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports says firing Dave Trembley won't be enough for the Orioles. He says the club needs to hire a "high-profile, kick-ass manager."
- David Ortiz told John Tomase of the Boston Herald that he "definitely" hopes to see Lowell traded, since it would be "a wonderful thing" for Lowell's sake.
- As Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald reports, the Red Sox have more high picks than usual this year, partly because Type A free agents Jason Bay and Billy Wagner signed elsewhere last winter.
- ESPN.com's Rob Neyer wouldn't give up more than one 'B' prospect to acquire Derrek Lee if he were running the Angels.
- Freddy Sanchez, who will play in Pittsburgh for the first time since the Pirates traded him last summer, tells Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that he loved playing in Pittsburgh and can't wait to return.
Translation: David Ortiz hopes that he “definitely” hopes to see Mike Lowell traded, since HE WILL GET MORE ABs
Translation: I don’t know what I’m talking about.
You’re too bitter for my city. Move to Philadelphia.
Pointless, misinformed post. Lowell hasn’t been taking at-bats from Ortiz lately. That platoon is long gone. In fact, when Lowell played yesterday during a routine day off for Ortiz, Ortiz came in to pinch hit for him a little more than midway through the game. More likely, Ortiz sees that his friend is miserable as a bench player and hopes that he is traded to a place where he has a better chance to get more playing time. Nice try though.
If the Angels take on Lee with his $13m salary and give up a B level prospect Reagins should be fired on the spot.
Why? If the Angels want to to salvage this season they’re going to have to replace Morales’ production somehow. They’re still a contending team, but they lost a guy that may be the most important hitter in their lineup. Lee has been one of the unluckiest hitters in baseball, witnessed by a .275 BABIP (career .321). Also, his HR/FB% is down almost 8 points from his career percentage. Giving up a B level prospect for someone who, with a turn in luck, could be one of the better hitters in the league? Sounds okay to me. A prime buy low candidate. Last year it would have taken a few B level prospects to get him. And, while I don’t think he can return all the way to last year’s form, he can come pretty darn close. And it’s not like you’ll be paying his salary for the next 3 years. He’s a free agent after the season. I think it’d be a great deal.
.705 OPS.
Enough said.
I always click ‘like’ instead of ‘reply’.
But, his low OPS will go up with a turn in luck as well. I’m not saying it’s inevitable, or that he’ll get his OPS above .900 by seasons end, but he’s well worth the risk if it takes just ONE B level prospect. Especially if you’re a team as good as the Angels that just lost their impact hitter..
.849 OPS.
That would be Mike Napoli’s.
Lee might be a “buy low candidate”, but if you’re looking to get into a race, you don’t go out and bring someone in that’s a downgrade over your existing option, and cross your fingers that he bounces back.
All this being said, I’ve been vouching for Napoli to take over ever since Morales went down. I think that he makes the most sense, being that he wouldn’t cost any prospects and would provide good offense. I don’t follow the Angels very closely, but I’ve always liked Napoli. Not to mention, he’s had some experience at first base in his career.
I was just saying, giving up a B level prospect for Lee wouldn’t be the worst move of all time as bjsguess was making it out to be, and if they were to look elsewhere for a 1B, Lee makes more sense than giving up a chunk of your farm for someone like Prince Fielder, only to DH him next year. Konerko makes the next most sense, but if you want even have a shot at matching Morales’ production, Derrek Lee may be your only chance.
If Napoli takes over, you have Bobby Wilson at catcher until Mathis gets back. That’s the problem. Even when Mathis gets back, you have major offensive downgrade, which is the problem.
Napoli has 1st base experience? he has played like 3 games
He played 68 games there in the minors. Sure, its been 4 years, but maybe all he needs is to refresh his memory a little.
.868 OPS.
That would be Derrek Lee’s.
If you are going to compare OPS, try comparing apples to apples. If you’re going to quote Napoli’s career OPS then you need to compare it to Derrek Lee’s career OPS.
Or try this one:
Mike Napoli’s War 2008-2010 = 6.8
Derrek Lee’s War 2008-2010 = 9.0…including 5.3 just last year. That’s two good years from Napoli.
Lee is not a downgrade from Napoli, he is a significant upgrade.
You make a great argument for how 2009 Derrek Lee would help the 2010 Anaheim Angels.
And you make a great argument about how Napoli’s career numbers are better than Lee’s first 2 months.
Even Lee’s worst years were better than Napoli’s best.
The OPS I cited was Napoli 2010. I’m comparing 2010 to 2010. You’re the one talking about how Lee used to be a better player. The 2010 Angels shouldn’t care how a guy’s career has been, they should care how well a guy is performing RIGHT NOW, because that’s the only thing that will help them RIGHT NOW.
Napoli’s career OPS is .849, it’s .838 for the first two months — and even that is due to a red-hot May. And that isn’t a figure that defines who’s better now anyway. That defines who was the better player for the past two months which, apparently for you, outweighs every other career trend.
This is not “enough said”. It’s not nearly enough said. It’s a 2 month sample size that is anomalous to what he has done for the rest of his career. Lee has a career OPS of .868, including .972 just last year. He has never had lower than an .823 OPS. The .838 OPS Napoli carries now would normally be considered a bad year for Lee. Labeling him for an OPS he has in early June is ridiculous. Lee isn’t a .705 OPS guy, never has been. You gotta make a better effort than that.
Age 34 (35 in September). An ample injury history in his own right.
You are aware that aging sluggers aren’t eternally assured to bounce back to their former numbers, right? These things eventually decline. I’m not saying he’s going to hit .705 over the rest of the season; I’m saying that he’s a gamble, and there’s plenty of better options that don’t cost $13m and a B prospect.
Lee’s “ample” injury history basically amounts to a broken wrist in 2006. And yes he’s 34, but Lee isn’t Travis Hafner. He’s isn’t a big lumbering stationary first baseman. He’s an excellent athlete who is in excellent shape. Better athletes age better. His career isn’t going to be over at 34. Odds are he’ll bounce back nearer to his career averages and for him to do that he’s going to have to hit well the rest of the season. Whether he’s worth 13M is a different story, but there’s no question if he has even an average year (for him), he’s an upgrade over anything they can put out there. And putting Lee at first makes Napoli more valuable. His numbers are good for a catcher, not so good as a first baseman. Lee + Napoli is far, far better than Napoli + Mathis.
The only problem is that Mike Scioscia, being a former catcher, starts Mathis there because of his defensive abilities. I’m not sure if he’ll keep doing that, because Napoli’s bat is too good to sit on the bench.
So it would probably be Lee and Mathis. But, then again, I don’t follow the Angels and don’t know if Napoli would become the starting catcher.
Derrek Lee shows little signs of decline. He has weak numbers now, but he seems like a sure bet to bounce back. If he was a few years younger, people would be certain of his resurrgence. Old people get unlucky too. (and he’s not that old, btw.)
This is true. Scioscia does love Mathis so there’s no guarantee Lee and Napoli would play together. It’s hard to believe Mathis’s defense makes up for his lack of offense…but then again, the Angels do consistently make the playoffs, so they must be doing something right.
But with Morales gone, can Mathis’ offensive production be enough? I think Napoli has to start to even things out offensively.
Except it is Lee + Napoli – prospect given up – money paid to Lee. I’m not saying Lee won’t bounce back, just that you’re not really accounting for everything that the Angels will be.
i think the giants should get in on lee. he lives in the sacramento area.
I dont’t that should happen because he is 35 and is only getting older with injury problems. Plus then we would be way to overcrowded in the infield and if Huff produces this year. I’d rather sign him for a two year with a third year option.
one name, sabean. you listed all the attributes of players he likes to sign.
I think they will see what Burrell has first. He was 5-12 with an HR in Fresno.
yeah. i live in fresno and i didn’t even get to see how he was hitting. i think he was 5 for 13 with a HR and 6 rbi’s. not too bad.
I say Xavier Nady will get traded before Lee. Lee, is a captain of the team I expect him to finish this year out as a Cub. I don’t see him back next year. Their has been speculation that Colvin could be sent back down to learn 1B. Lilly, Lee, A-Ram and Fukudome are coming up on their contracts. Lee, Lilly are gone prolly, Fukudome could be traded and A-Ram has an opt out clause after the season. The Cubs might ask him to opt out. I could see the Cubs rebuilding Castro, Cashner, Jeff Stevens looks really good now are up now and if I were the Cubs Vitters looks to be mediocre and doesn’t give much effort so I would trade him. Jackson J.Jackson Gaub will come eventually.
Yeah, Nady should be traded given their crowded OF. Trying to squeeze Fukudome, Soriano, Byrd, Colvin, and Nady in there isn’t going to work. And, correct me if I’m wrong, I think Nady is the only one who has played another position besides the OF.
And I keep hearing that they want to give Colvin more AB’s. All 5 of these guys could be starting OFers, so you may be looking at trading 2 of them if Colvin is going to get in there more often. Maybe Nady and Fukudome? Given that Soriano is basically untradeable (even though he’s bringing some solid offense this season). That would give you Soriano in LF, Byrd in CF, and Colvin in RF.
Or if you want to get better prospects, maybe try trading Lee and slotting Nady at 1B?
By the way, I was just wondering.. Why did they sign Nady in the first place? It seems like they did it just to do it.. Maybe just Hendry proving he can avoid giving someone a contract that doesn’t involve a NTC. I’m sure there’s a reason, I’m just trying to figure out what it is..
Soriano is injury prone and was coming off a terrible year and Fukudome didn’t hit lefties at all. The thought was Nady could platoon some with Fukudome and fill in for Soriano if and when he got hurt without losing too much production. The Cubs also didn’t expect the emergence of Tyler Colvin as a solid 4th outfielder. If they had, it’s doubtful they would have pursued Nady. But then again, this is Hendry, so you never now.
I think the better question is how the Elias Rankings this year will work out for Lee, if he can qualify for type A, hell even type B, he’s worth holding onto for the draft pick.
You think the cubs will risk paying him ~13-16MM next season just for the chance at a mid to late first rounder or sandwich pick? I guess one can never rule out Hendry to be willing to pay someone big money at age 35.
Boof is DFA bait
$75,000 for Fred Lewis LOL… Thank You San Francisco