Bay Hard With a Vengeance

Thing is, we don't really match up very well with the Pirates. They're up to their eyeballs in lefty starters, and so are we. They've got catching depth, and so do we (although ours is considerably better).  So the only piece of ours Huntington is going to really, really want is Gutierrez.

I like Bay. But this is too much for a gamble on a guy with declining stats and possibly a bum knee.

To me, that's a much more favorable scenario, and we haven't even done anything with the excess OFers yet.  I think a Shoppach/Francisco package would look good.

"No sir, I don't like it."

I'm all about Shapiro shaking things up and moving Lee (not necessarily in the same move) but this just does not help us at all.

I think the Pirates would get considerably better, though.

Then again, this is probably just a silly, stupid rumor. There's no way Mark would make that deal. Right ... right ... right ... right?

Although I'm skeptical of Gutz' upside, I wouldn't do this deal even if you pare it down to just Gutz for Bay. Throw in Shoppach, and it really stinks (and I think Shop was hitting over his head this season).

Am I missing something about Paulino?

I mean really. We're going to trade our RF to get a worse LF?

"With the Twins in search of middle-infield help, one potential target is free agent David Eckstein. "I've always had a lot of respect for him," said Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire. "He catches the ball. He knows how to play. He's a proven winner."

apparently, it was a pittsburgh beat writer trying to drum something up on his own all along.

Bay may have a more proven track record than Gutierrez, but by most accounts, had a sub-par season in 2007 and is older than Gutierrez.  Not to mention that Gutz's defense is superior to Bay's.  Plus, you don't get an OF in return, and arguably, that might be the one position player we could use (that and 3B, perhaps.)  This trade would not have addressed that.

Nor would have it addressed our bullpen, our other main area of concern.  Paulino is decent to solid enough, but getting him with Shoppach would have been a marginal upgrade at best in my opinion (about equivalent defensively and a year younger.)  

Personally, I like the Lee for Reyes/Anderson or something for Hamilton (Lee + prospect, maybe even Sowers + prospect; I might do Laffey + prospect, but would be less thrilled with that deal - I'd try to sell them on the idea that Lee is young enough to rebound or that Sowers could be solid for them - after all, they did draft Sowers 20th overall back in 2001, but couldn't sign him, so perhaps they might be intrigued enough by his age and their past interest in him to take him instead of Laffey.  My preferred order of trading them would be Lee/Sowers/Laffey.)

Just my 2 cents.  :-)

They also note on page 2 that they are looking for a utility infielder, which isn't a need I've heard before.  This is terribly exciting news that probably deserves its own diary (in opposite world).

Jeremy Hermida?