Six years ago today, the White Sox beat the Red Sox by the score of 5-3 in Game Three of the ALDS. The ChiSox swept the ALDS in three games, their first playoff series win since 1917. They went on to beat the Angels in the ALCS before sweeping the Astros to win the World Series, the franchise's first championship since that 1917 season.
You won't have to wait that long for the next edition of BBWI, thankfully. Here is the latest round of links from the baseball corner of the internet…
- Monkey with a Halo breaks down the different types of GMs the Angels can target.
- Red Sox Post listed five candidates to replace Terry Francona as Red Sox manager.
- Royals Review identified Jair Jurrjens as a potential trade target for the Royals.
- South Side Sox looked back at Kenny Williams' decade as GM of the White Sox.
- Capitol Avenue Club tries to figure out what the Braves should do with Martin Prado.
- Pirates Prospects wonders if the Pirates should trade Pedro Alvarez.
- The Beanball looks at the past, present, and future of Cameron Maybin.
- Bay City Ball put together a shopping list for the Giants offseason.
- Giants Nirvana thinks about the Giants and Jimmy Rollins.
- Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness wonders where the Dodgers will get a big bat form.
- Through The Fence Baseball tries to figure out what the Dodgers will do this offseason.
- Call to the Pen says Adrian Beltre is a luxury the Rangers should be happy to pay for.
- Baltimore Sports & Life collected a series of opinions about the Orioles and Prince Fielder.
- U.S.S. Mariner broke down the Mariners current roster.
- Rant Sports Rockies says the Rockies have some options to improve their rotation.
- BoSox Injection says Red Sox baseball is more than just a game.
- Blogging Mets mused about a modified four-man rotation.
- Orioles Nation conducted a study to determine the accuracy of wins above replacement, or WAR.
- Future Closers identified some ninth inning guys with little to no long-term staying power.
- Yanks Go Yard thinks MLB crossed the line with some of their recent Facebook graphics.
If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here. Only one email per week, please.
Jair Jurrjens to KC is interesting if the Braves get the value back for a 4.23 xFIP pitcher, not a sub-3.00 ERA pitcher. Jurrjens is a bit overrated IMO. And wouldnt ATL love to clear a spot in the rotation for the fantastic 4.
It would definitely be an interesting idea even though I don’t see it happening. Just because, you know, the Royals trading prospects seems wrong when they’re at this stage. IF it happened though, I’m sure the Braves would love one pretty good prospect.
It’s kind of interesting to note that that’s twice in four years that he has vastly outpitched his peripherals, and to also note that he was supposedly injured much of his worst year (and now I’m wondering whether or not that knee will be a long term problem). I’m anxious to see whether he can sustain that or not, regardless of if he’s a Brave or not in 2012.
Yea, JJ’s a pure control guy. If he’s 100% healthy he can be tough. However, if his side, or hammy, or knee isn’t right he gets lit up. He just doesn’t have dominant stuff and lives and dies by how effective his control is, which tends to depend on how healthy he is.
You could argue Lowe makes more sense overall. The Braves obviously have soured on him, and KC wouldn’t really have to give up anything major to get him. They probably have a better infield defense than ATL, have the money to spend, could use a durable guy like Lowe to lessen the workload on their young arms, and wouldn’t have to part with any of their guys that they want to build their team with. While Lowe’s ERA was bad, his fielding independent stats were favorable and most of his peripherals weren’t all that bad. He won’t be winning any Cy Youngs, but he could probably help a team with better defense (I guess I have to add that I don’t think ATL’s defense was quite as bad as some stats suggest, but you could argue they were at least bad enough to have a negative impact on Lowe).
ok, so i have to be honest. i just want lowe out of atl asap.
ATL fantastic four?
Teheran, Vizcaino, Delgado, Minor. Alright im playing them up a bit with that nickname but thats a hell of a group of young arms. Tommy Hanson with them could be real, real tough to beat in a few years.
1st 3 are future studs w/ Hanson. Minor looked shaky this year at times. Yes young pitcher and all I get it, but yeah Braves are loaded at SP for awhile
Minor is more of a solid guy with less upside. Nothing overpowering but i think ATL would gladly take him as a middle of the rotation pitcher.
I read a while ago that Vizcaino’s future is in the bullpen, that’s why they moved him up so quickly
Yeah, his stuff suggests the bullpen, but it could be a situation like TEX had with their closer (and former ATL stud prospect) Neftali Feliz, where they wanted to give him a try at starting pitcher in spring training. We need more bullpen help than rotational help, but if we don’t re-sign Hudson (after 2012), with Lowe disappearing, and possibly Jurrjens, we might want the rotational insurance that Vizcaino can provide. From what I gathered, the reason most people suggested he’d have a future in the bullpen is because he wasn’t developing a 3rd or 4th pitch, while having exceptional velocity on his fastball. If he develops some offspeed stuff, those same people that could see him in the bullpen would think differently.
I think most of that talk came from worries about him staying healthy.
As a Braves fan, get Jurrjens out of ATL. I was begging them to trade him at the AS Break (really, I was), knowing he’d serve his routine DL stint and miss a few starts. His peripherals suggest he was incredibly lucky considering how below-avg the defense was behind him. His fastball has dropped 3 mph since 2010 and it’s now under 90. No, that’s not the worst thing, but considering he doesn’t really have a great off-speed pitch, that’s really concerning. He’s got only 2 more years until free agency (he’s a Scott Boras client…) and considering the depth we have (you know the list of names), his salary increase because of arbitration, his consistent inconsistencies due to injuries…we need to sell as high as we can for him – and with the free agent starting pitcher pool pretty shallow (Sabathia?, CJ Wilson), Jurrjens could look good for those that can’t afford them and still want high-ceiling potential (i.e. Royals).
I’m wondering if anyone actually read the linked article, which clearly identifies that Jair Jurrjens should NOT be a potential trade target for the Royals.
Yeah, I did. It’s interesting how many KC fans were realistically wondering if Lowe (with ATL kicking in some cash) would be the better trade target citing longevity, playoff success (not that that’s needed in KC), veteran presence, a rebound year possibility, buy-low potential, and lower-tier prospects needed to acquire Lowe.
Wha?
Blockbuster trade NYY/ATL
Yankees get:
Lowe, Jurgiens, Heyward, Prado
Braves get:
Gardner/Swisher, Arod, Banuelos, Romie, Nunez
Thoughts?
walk away
thank you for making my day i needed to laugh after that yankee loss last night.
shocking. overreacting after last night?
Def. overreacting, but isn’t that why ARod got such a big contract to begin with? Lots of overreacting to ONE good postseason?
Players arent solely judged on postseasons. He DID contribute big time to help win the Yanks first WS in 9 years. How about a few MVPs as well?
Plus his results post PED announcement have been fantastic…injuries, lack of power…it is awesome for the $30 million dollar man!
Nobody pulled a gun on the Yankees FO. They did this to themselves and have nobody else to blame. These contracts WILL catch up with them. Do they really have an unlimited budget? I think even they have a cap.
Scratch the NYY FO on that 300m contract to Arod.. that has the Steinbrenner stamp of approval on it and nobody else. Don’t blame Cashman for that albatross.
Not many players, but A-Rod is. When Randy Levine reiterates the team goal of NYY being “championship or failure” and A-Rod carries a team-low ALDS average of .111, he is evaluated on his postseason. I’d venture to say that what he does during the season pales in comparison to what he does in the postseason. Aaron Boone is a god in the Bronx, but what kind of career did he have…? Anywhere outside of the Bronx he’s Bob Boone’s son and Bret’s brother.
…and A-Rod has 6 years/$143M left on his contract…(will he even live until the end of the contract?)
Not many players, but A-Rod is. When Randy Levine reiterates the team goal of NYY being “championship or failure” and A-Rod carries a team-low ALDS average of .111, he is evaluated on his postseason. I’d venture to say that what he does during the season pales in comparison to what he does in the postseason. Aaron Boone is a god in the Bronx, but what kind of career did he have…? Anywhere outside of the Bronx he’s Bob Boone’s son and Bret’s brother.
I’m hung up on the idea of the Braves taking on all that money for all those years in Arod.
Agreed, but figure the Yanks would have to throw in some to supplement. Plus with no Lowe it could make it easier for Braves to add a little payroll
The problem is that the A-Rod contract goes until hes 42 i believe. Correct me if im wrong with the age but hes going to be at least a part time DH by the time hes 40. Braves arent exactly working with a huge budget either. Thats a serious financial handcuff.
6 years/$143M…yeah, that would cause Wren to hang up the phone on The Cash Man. A-Rod won’t be worth half that, which is what NYY would have to fork over even to get talks going.
Sure, right after you put Robinson Cano in the deal and take A-Rod out.
Silly Yankee fan!
A-Rod is going nowhere however, I do think the Yankees will seriously pursue a deal for pitcher perhaps Jurrjens and possibly go after J-Hey if he’s available.
I read this right after you posted it and I LOL’d so hard I knocked my laptop off the desk….it has taken me this long to get it working again and reply…
This makes no sense for the Braves. No sense. Swisher is a free agent. A-Rod alone is injured, declining, and has a ton of money left on an insane contract that ATL could/would not afford. And kicking in the few top pitching prospects NYY has? If there’s one thing ATL has…it’s top pitching talent. I love Gardner, but so does NYY brass…and we have Michael Bourn, who is a more developed player than Gardner. Plus, we’d be selling low on Heyward, and frankly, Prado. Both are All-Stars in the past 2 years and have more All-Stars ahead of them than Swisher and/or A-Rod. I don’t know which club would be least likely to do this.
This makes no sense for the Braves. No sense. Swisher is a free agent. A-Rod alone is injured, declining, and has a ton of money left on an insane contract that ATL could/would not afford. And kicking in the few top pitching prospects NYY has? If there’s one thing ATL has…it’s top pitching talent. I love Gardner, but so does NYY brass…and we have Michael Bourn, who is a more developed player than Gardner. Plus, we’d be selling low on Heyward, and frankly, Prado. Both are All-Stars in the past 2 years and have more All-Stars ahead of them than Swisher and/or A-Rod. I don’t know which club would be least likely to do this.
I think CAC is full of it. Prado just had a bad year, it happens to everyone.
Prado was pretty bad though. I’m all for giving him plenty of time to see if he gets back to ’10 form, but if his next season is as bad as this last one was, the Braves are gonna have some decisions to make.
Considering he made the transition to LF (from 2B) and was asked to sporadically take 3B, not to mention hitting everywhere from leadoff to 2nd to 6th, Fredi Gonzalez’s always-changing batting order added to a situation for Prado where he couldn’t be in one place long enough to have much consistency. Throw in more injuries than he’s had in his young career, and I can imagine why he had such a bad season. Hopefully, heading into 2012, we can leave in 1 position long enough for him to build. Yes, I know he’s a professional, but baseball is all about routines when the season is that long and I don’t think he ever had one since taking over LF.
Considering he made the transition to LF (from 2B) and was asked to sporadically take 3B, not to mention hitting everywhere from leadoff to 2nd to 6th, Fredi Gonzalez’s always-changing batting order added to a situation for Prado where he couldn’t be in one place long enough to have much consistency. Throw in more injuries than he’s had in his young career, and I can imagine why he had such a bad season. Hopefully, heading into 2012, we can leave in 1 position long enough for him to build. Yes, I know he’s a professional, but baseball is all about routines when the season is that long and I don’t think he ever had one since taking over LF.
But playing multiple positions is what Prado has always done, and he hasn’t really had anymore instability in the lineup than previous years. I don’t really think those things have anything to do with his struggles this year. Personally, I wouldn’t mind trading him, but his value probably is low at the moment and we really don’t have anyone to play third for an extended period of time when Chipper inevitably gets hurt.
Prado played 2B/3B when he was a super-utility guy, but rarely, if ever, was he thrown into the OF. The Grand Canyon divides playing defense at 2B to LF to 3B. Add that with the fact that Prado’s offseason was cut short due to lingering health issues and you can see why he looked so weak for much of the 2nd-half of the season (also went on the DL for a staph infection). I can’t see why you would want to trade an All-Star a year removed who is affordable knowing that the 3B market shows there’s no one available (ask COL/FLA about this…), also knowing that Chipper will only play 120 games, at most, and only has 1 year left on his current contract (not including an option year for 2013). I think the question should be: is there someone we can replace Prado with (in LF), allowing him to go back to super-utility duty? I know Josh Willingham could be a decent LF option, but he’ll be more expensive, carries health issues (maybe even more so than Prado had last year), and is defensively worse than Prado. We have SS-prospect Edward Salcedo coming up at 3B, but he’s very young and should be a long-term solution if he keeps progressing.
I’d like to keep Prado, but if you can get something useful for him, or package him for something, I wouldn’t mind trading. But I wouldn’t mind keeping him either. The fact that Chipper is going to need days off often makes Prado valuable to the Braves, and I too would like to see him in a super-utility role. As for Willingham, I like him, I just am not sure I’d want him due to the fact that he’s almost assured a DL trip.
But playing multiple positions is what Prado has always done, and he hasn’t really had anymore instability in the lineup than previous years. I don’t really think those things have anything to do with his struggles this year. Personally, I wouldn’t mind trading him, but his value probably is low at the moment and we really don’t have anyone to play third for an extended period of time when Chipper inevitably gets hurt.
I dont know if the armchair video game GM’s should make any more noise than comments on mlbtraderumors. Prado had a freakin staph infection and they had to cut it out of his knee! He couldnt even exercise for weeks!! you gotta be kidding me if you dont know hes a big part of the team.