2010-11 Hot Stove League Thread - Grienke is a Baller

[Izulde]

Broke my heart to see Jenks sign with the Red Sox. Still, get for him to get money and I hope he rebounds in Boston.

[Izulde]

Didn't see this posted, but Crain has apparently been signed by the White Sox for 3 years/$13 million. Just hasn't officially been announced yet. Nice to steal a good reliever from the Twins.

[RomaGoth]

Originally Posted by Qwikshot

Greinke requested to be traded out of KC.

Any link to this?

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by RomaGoth

Any link to this?

RotoTimes.com - Fantasy MLB Player News

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by Izulde

Didn't see this posted, but Crain has apparently been signed by the White Sox for 3 years/$13 million. Just hasn't officially been announced yet. Nice to steal a good reliever from the Twins.

This move hurts the Twins more than it helps the White Sox IMO. White Sox have plenty of arms just like him however the Twins needed him as a dependable reliever with all of these injured relief pitchers returning from injury.

Crain isnt really the dominant type but he certainly does a decent job filling the gap from the 5th-6th inning to your setup guy.

[Izulde]

Oh, I don't see Crain as a closer or anything like that. But Thornton and Sale, the most likely closer options, are both left-handers, and I'm not completely sold on Santos as the top righty relief option.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by jbergey22

RotoTimes.com - Fantasy MLB Player News

Zack Greinke Asks For Trade: MLB Rumors - MLBTradeRumors.com

A high-ranking executive from another team says that the pitcher "really wants out" of Kansas City. Separate major league sources confirmed that Greinke has unequivocally asked the club to be dealt. Royals GM Dayton Moore has declined comment on the report.

Yeah, Zack fired his agent and not at a good time for the Royals if they want max trade value. That said, if I were, say, Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos and I wanted to give up less to Zack Greinke in a trade- wouldn't I be a "high ranking executive from another team" who would have a lot to gain by going to Ken Rosenthal and saying Zack wants out?


SI

[miked]

Why would anyone want to stay, unless you are some AAAA player that would get 10 ABs on a real team.

[Dr. Sak]

[stevew]

What are you going to do for the next 7 octobers now that you are on a triple A team?

[DaddyTorgo]

LOL - that's awesome!!!

[lungs]

This fella is saying the Brewers got Greinke. Not sure whether I believe him or not.

[stevew]

I thought Jeffress was addicted to cocaine? Seems sketchy.

[lungs]

Originally Posted by stevew

I thought Jeffress was addicted to cocaine? Seems sketchy.

Nope, just marijuana.

[stevew]

Originally Posted by lungs

Nope, just marijuana.

I didn't realize weed qualified as a drug of abuse. He has a bad head on his shoulders if he's going to miss 150 games due to suspension so he can smoke some weed. I saw where they put him on the 40 man last year to avoid failing another drug test, I guess I assumed it was something hardcore.

[stevew]

that's just a cut and paste of the other thing.

[lungs]

I still want to hear it from another source before I believe it.

[stevew]

Irony of "I want traded to a winner" and "I got traded to the Brewers"?

The Brewers have made the playoffs 3 times in 42 years.

(yeah, I get the whole fact that the pirates suck)

[lungs]

The Brewers beat writer for the Journal Sentinel is looking into it. These are fairly reputable people reporting this but until it comes from Adam McCalvy or Tom Haudricourt, I'm going to remain skeptical.

[Young Drachma]

Grr...we send them Marcum and they get Grienke. AA gets an F on this.

[Comey]

It wouldn't make sense if they're looking to deal Fielder, AND a rumor (that was quickly shot down) was Greinke for Braun.

But, then again, there's a lot of stuff that hasn't made sense this offseason. So, why not.

[lungs]

Originally Posted by Comey

It wouldn't make sense if they're looking to deal Fielder, AND a rumor (that was quickly shot down) was Greinke for Braun.

But, then again, there's a lot of stuff that hasn't made sense this offseason. So, why not.

The market for Fielder is pretty weak. I think they are trying to go for it in 2011 and let Fielder walk.

[stevew]

I'm not sure who can afford to give Prince a deal large enough to feed his family. Maybe the Nationals or the Mets? There's not many teams that can drop 20m/6years on a 1b.

[lungs]

Originally Posted by stevew

I'm not sure who can afford to give Prince a deal large enough to feed his family. Maybe the Nationals or the Mets? There's not many teams that can drop 20m/6years on a 1b.

You mean a DH?

Actually Prince is looking fairly trim lately, relatively speaking:

[RomaGoth]

Originally Posted by stevew

I'm not sure who can afford to give Prince a deal large enough to feed himself.

fixed

[PackerFanatic]

*hopes, hopes, HOPES these Greinke rumors pan out*

[BishopMVP]

The Brewers are expected to receive another "major league" player in the deal, according to the source.

Really? It already seems like Milwaukee already had the best of the deal.

Jim Breem of the blog "Bernie's Crew" reported that player to be shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt.

Never mind - that sounds fair.

[lungs]

Buster confirms it. I'm jumping for joy!

[sterlingice]

*sigh* I'm hoping that's not it for Greinke- I'm still a bit skeptical. Otherwise, it's the Beltran trade all over again: trading for quantity and position rather than quality.

SI

[DeToxRox]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

*sigh* I'm hoping that's not it for Greinke- I'm still a bit skeptical. Otherwise, it's the Beltran trade all over again: trading for quantity and position rather than quality.

SI

I feel for you SI. I am not a fan of much of what the Tigs do but at least we're still competitive for a majority of the year. You guys are a step above the 2003 Tigers now but not much. At least you have some guys in the system worth a damn. Just hope they're still around when Moore is gone.

[sterlingice]

As it stands, our 2011 rotation:

Luke “I pouted for a year after contract troubles and have never lived up to expectations” Hochevar
Hiram “There has to be a token Braves prospect” Davies
Vin “I was the warm body DDJ was traded for” Mazzaro
Sean “I sound Irish and like an MLB pitcher but am neither” O’Sullivan

Yeah, 2011 is going to suck. Hard. That's all the starting pitching we have right now if we don't want to rush anyone. And our lineup is awful. Historically awful. It could be competent if the lineup included Butler, Gordon, Betemit, Aviles, and Kila every day. But that still only minimizes the damage done at C, SS/2B, and the other two OF spots. In Moore's perfect world, Kendall (injured to start the year, mercifully), Melky Cabrera, and Jeff Francouer would get 3 of those 4 spots while Yuni was thankfully traded away as part of this deal so that means Escobar and Getz will split that time, hopefully stealing very little away from Aviles.

Royals have the #1 rated system in all of baseball which should start arriving late 2011 through early 2013 so GMDM is just trying to plug gaps in what he sees as an awesome wave of talent. However, when you do that, you limit the quality of players you get back- he went out looking for a middle infielder so Escobar was the best in his mind. Never mind, that, say, Kyle Drabek has a lot higher ceiling (tho I'd prefer positional prospects to pitching as GMDM is good at adding a live arm or two to every trade he makes)

SI

[lungs]

Alcides Escobar has made some of the most amazing plays I've ever seen a shortstop make. Question is whether he will ever hit. He has absolutely no plate patience (fits in well with the Royals) so he'll need to hit near .300 to be worthwhile offensively. Gold glove caliber defensive potential though.

Lorenzo Cain ought to be a solid CF. Again, he is an excellent defender and I have a lot more confidence in his hitting ability than I do Escobar. Very good head on his shoulders too.

Jake Odorizzi is the real gem of this deal if you ask me. Only wart he has is that he hasn't pitched above Low-A. He's got a starting pitcher's arsenal and has already proven to be able to get deep into games. I hate losing him, but for Greinke I'll take it.

Rumors also swirling now that Jeffress isn't part of the deal and its a PTBNL. I think the Royals just need to clear a 40 man spot for the PTBNL. Either way, Jeffress is probably a reliever long term but I'm guessing the Royals still see him a starter if he is part of the deal. Absolutely wicked stuff. I think the drug stuff is overblown. He won't have problems as long as he is on the 40 man roster. Not like he is a crackhead, just enjoys a little ganja from time to time.

[lungs]

Dola, Gammons saying that the Nats had a deal for Greinke but Greinke nixed it as the Nats are in his no-trade list. So are the Brewers though.

[sterlingice]

That's kindof the consensus that RR is coming around to (from kcscolony):

"This appears to be the best deal
Rangers- Hunter, Holland, Profar or Beltre + toss in
Blue Jays No go on Drabek and Snider
Yankees not really interested
Nationals Greinke said he wouldn’t agree to deal."

Sorry about dumping "Batter Nine, You Sucky" on you guys, lungs. It's one of the most apt anagrams ever. The favorite Alcides Escobar anagram so far is "Lace Disco Bears"!

People are now speculating on the PTBL.

SI

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

I'm not a huge fan of Dayton Moore, but I'm liking this deal. Really fills well what was already a great amount of upcoming talent.

[lungs]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

That's kindof the consensus that RR is coming around to (from kcscolony):

"This appears to be the best deal
Rangers- Hunter, Holland, Profar or Beltre + toss in
Blue Jays No go on Drabek and Snider
Yankees not really interested
Nationals Greinke said he wouldn’t agree to deal."

Sorry about dumping "Batter Nine, You Sucky" on you guys, lungs. It's one of the most apt anagrams ever. The favorite Alcides Escobar anagram so far is "Lace Disco Bears"!

People are now speculating on the PTBL.

SI

Yeah, Betancourt is just awful. Hoping we can do something else at SS, or bring back Craig Counsell and give him the lion's share of the ABs even though he is older than dirt.

I'm a little nervous that Carlos Gomez is starting in CF now. Theo Epstein can we please have Mike Cameron back?

[lungs]

Dola... I bet Ned Yost had some input on the Royals' end. Escobar didn't play in the big leagues under Yost but he's well familiar with at least Escobar and Cain as he always brought them to big league camp in spring training and has been high on both for a long time.

[lungs]

Double Dola... Read that the PTBNL is hinging on some medical records and such. Leads me to believe it could be Mark Rogers. Unless it is a true PTBNL wherein the PTBNL can't be on the 40-man roster which Rogers is on.

I'd like Rogers better than Jeffress for the Royals (likewise I'd rather trade Jeffress than Rogers). Rogers has a horrible injury history but he's been healthy for a few years now and still has filthy stuff. His control problems in the minors are related to the Brewers forcing him to throw his breaking stuff more. They let him loose midway through 2010 and he really shined. Good upper 90's fastball.

If it's somebody not on the 40-man roster it could be Kentrail Davis, another guy with some injury history but a very toolsy outfielder.

I'll be delighted if it's not Rogers or Jeffress.

[sterlingice]

Guesses on RR were Kentrail Davis or Zack Braddock but they were just blue skying based on the claim that it was an injury-history person

SI

[sterlingice]

Lungs (et al), if Zack had to be traded, I'm glad it's to you guys. It's a good situation for him and I went to a game at Miller Park last year and the atmosphere was really fun. You guys deserve a winner and he'll definitely be able to help you there.

SI

[lungs]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

Lungs (et al), if Zack had to be traded, I'm glad it's to you guys. It's a good situation for him and I went to a game at Miller Park last year and the atmosphere was really fun. You guys deserve a winner and he'll definitely be able to help you there.

SI

Thanks... I'm glad attendance hasn't plummeted since the 2008 playoff appearance. Smallest market in baseball 11th in attendance in MLB during a losing season isn't too bad. We've been in the top half of MLB for attendance since 2007 and drew over 3 million in '08 and '09.

Pretty low stress situation for Greinke (if that's what he's even looking for) but one that he'll be showered with love from the fans if it goes well.

[lungs]

Jeffress' agent just said on brewerfan.net that it could still be Jeffress as PTBNL

[jbergey22]

Well done Brewers. Hes going to be a beast in the NL.

[lungs]

Jeffress is the last guy his agent confirms.

[sterlingice]

Yeah, they just wanted to double check that rule about putting him on the 40 man roster so there are no more pot tests

SI

[Young Drachma]

Snider and Drabek for Grienke was too much to give up, so I guess as much as I wanted him...it wasn't that serious.