Should the Tribe trade for Miguel Cabrera, he would be under our control for two more years (2008, 2009). I certainly haven't been a fan of trading for him because we'd likely have to empty our farm system to get him. However, the prospective Santana bidding frenzy made me wonder whether the Indians should consider trading for Miguel Cabrera this year, then turn around and trade him to someone else the following season. A one-year rental on Miguel Cabrera could still net us some decent talent a year from now.
The cons of doing the one-year M-Cab rental are obvious....
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Just thought I'd run through the pros too.....
1. WHO'S ON THIRD?
Runs created by position in 2007,
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2. 2008 LOOKS AN AWFUL LOT LIKE 2007
Put another way, we don't need our minor league system to produce any impact players next year. Last year, Franklin, Perez, Lewis, Cabrera, Carmona and Laffey played significant roles in getting the Indians across the finish line. While we are bound to be dealt a couple of injuries or have someone pull a Hafner, things look a lot more set than they did a year ago. Therefore, we can afford to trade away some minor league pieces without dooming the team in 2008. If things work out well, we should be able to restock the farm system when we trade Cabrera after the 2008 season.
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3. WE HAVE ROOM FOR A $12M PLAYER!
Our payroll figures to be around $65M in 2008 since we're essentially returning the same as we had in 2007. Even if we re-sign C.C, the figure goes up to about $75M at worst. In 2006, the Indians had a $56M payroll and had on operating income of $25M. Payroll went up about $5M in 2007, but we did have a winning season and probably took in a little more in revenue than last year. So expecting $20M in income for 2007 isn't that far fetched. That figure should cover both the increase from C.C new deal and Miguel Cabrera's one year price tag of $12M.
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There aren't going be very many years where we can do essentially next to nothing during the offseason and wake up with a 96 win team going into spring training. Entering a season without having to bank on either (A) a key free agency acquisition or (B) the development of a prospect gives us a unique opportunity to temporarily decimate the farm system in order to field a team better than the one we saw last year.