Didn't see this in any of the other threads, but apparently we are now a player for Bedard?  With Angelos scuttling the deal, the Angels and Indians are making a play.

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I shudder at the thought of who we would have to give up if Adam Jones wasn't enough to get a deal done.

Greetings all.

I have a question for the posters here who are more knowledgable than I am about these sorts of things (admittedly, all of you).  If we cannot sign CC, what kind of package would it take to pry Adam Jones away from the Mariners?  I assume (perhaps incorrectly) that most of us would trade the big man straight up for Jones under that scenario.  But realistically, what kind of package would it take?

After hearing Jones' name thrown around in the Bedard sweepstakes, it occured to me that with their desperate need for starting pitching and Bavasi's desire to win now so as to keep his job, we could poach a kid who had a .968 OPS in AAA as a 21 year old.

I may be way off-base on the perceived value for either side, but I submit it to the rest of you for discussion.

Buster Olney has a nice little piece on his blog (Insider) about Jeremy Sowers.  Not so much a piece, as a copy and paste of a Sowers email.  

Jeremy explains his poor 2007 was from a lack of confidence due to the first real baseball related failure in his life.  A snippet:

"Then I had a start against Syracuse. Nothing special happened that day, nor did something profound ignite my confidence prior to the game. Somehow, someway (probably luck) I managed to strike out the side in the first inning. My pitches were perfect, and the hitters looked overmatched. Eight innings later, I finished a CG.

"After that game, I realized one thing to be true: 'Confidence breeds more confidence.' The only way to end a slump is to get a couple hits, or win a game or two. Personally I never believed in the 'think confident' approach, mostly because I never had to pitch without it.

Pretty good article at USS Mariner concerning Bartolo Colon's free agency.  To be truthful, Bartolo wasn't even on my radar before reading this, but the author makes some excellent points.

I hate to be one of those "let's bring back the team from the '90's" people, but could this be a wise investment for us?  With some uncertainty regarding Byrd and our 5th starter, it seems like a one year deal with a team option would be worth the risk, especially to use as insurance if we don't re-sign CC.

Thoughts?

I was looking through Jay's last Exciting Prospect List (which is an excellent read with the benefit of hindsight), and noticed comments concerning Gutz's power numbers.  Specifically, he quotes a scout saying he is a threat for 40 homeruns (which shocked me).

After an extended look at him this season, I was wondering what people thought his ceiling was in terms of power?  I can't tell much about a guy's swing mechanics or bat speed, but I know when a ball has been absolutely crushed, and Gutz seemed to punish quite a few balls this year.

At any rate, what is the consensus?  20-25 HR?  More?

A little pre-game humor from Curtis Granderson's ESPN chat today

Pete C (Newark De): Down by one, two men on, two outs , bottom of the ninth, who in the game today would you like to see up?

Curtis Granderson: Hitting-wise, I'll say Victory Martinez or Casey Blake (out of the two teams playing today). Those guys always seem to come up big with the game on the line.

I'm sure all Indians fans echo this sentiment.  Casey Blake is definitely the guy I want up.

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