Good morning.
The Chicago White Sox have traded outfielder Adam Eaton to the Washington Nationals in a deal that brings
two top prospects, RHSP Lucas Giolito and RHSP Reynaldo Lopez, to Chicago. In addition, the White Sox
get Washington’s 2016 first round pick, RHSP Dane
Dunning,
As we have discussed on other posts this week, only
teams with deep, talented minor league systems can pull off a trade like this
and not hurt their overall ranking of talent in this game.
Let’s get this over with… I’m in love with Giolito and
still don’t forgive Sandy Alderson for not
picking him with the Mets with the 12th overall pick in the 2012
draft. I also think that Lucas will turn out to be one of the premier starters
in this game. That being said, I stand by my beliefs that a bird in hand is
worth more than a prospect in the bush… you know… bush leagues… get it?
The recently turned 28-year old Eaton has really
turned into one of the stars of the game. He hit .284/.362/.428 last season
with 14-HRs, 6.0-WAR, and 14-SB. He’s also considered one of the top defensive right
fielders in baseball.
He’s also already locked up for the next three years
at only a total of $19.9mil over the length of the contract (+ two options).
The only downside here for the Mets is the fact that Eaton
hits from the left side of the plate, but are you telling me that this guy
wouldn’t be a better corner outfield option than Michael
Conforto, who could be the lead chip in a package to the White Sox?
The White Sox seem to be interested this week (see Chris Sale trade) in securing team controlled
prospects and targeted pitching in this deal.
Fine, throw in two Mets prospect pitchers like Robert Gsellman and Chris
Flexen.
Would the White Sox be interested?
Well, how the hell would I know unless the offer was
made!
19 comments:
We are never a bold team. Re-signing Cespedes, when he wanted to be here, was too obvious. How about something "Red Sox" bold, or Yankees bold, or Nats bold? Keep waiting. We're good.
I am happy we weren't in on Eaton, they gave up way too much for him. We can't make a move till they trade one of Bruce or Granderson, which is BS. Just invest some of that SNY money into the team and then it wouldn't be so difficult.
Also was thinking the other day that we should make Gavin'Cecchinis brother a minor league deal. Garen is a free agent and was a high prospect not too long ago. You have nothing to lose by putting them together in Las Vegas?
Maybe having the Cecchini bros together would help Gavin, Zozo...interesting. I also agree - what is this "we have to unload salary before further moves" stuff? Do the right moves at the right time, the salary dump will happen in due time.
Zozo -
I agree with Tom.
Don't worry about what you have under contract if it's not making you happy. Go out and solve that problem regardless if it still leaves you with the problem of dumping someone.
Re Cecchini: where would we play him? he hit only .271 last year in the PCL playing first base.
Put him in Vegas and try him in the outfield. We may hit a diamond in the rough?
We didn't lose anyone in major league portion of the draft, YAY
Yankees I believe lost 4 guys?
I'm starting to wonder if we can ever determine if one of our AAA bats, playing in the PCL, is ready for the pros
Look at the Danny Muno numbers... Eric Cmpbell... Michael Conforto last year.
I will be very happy if we sign both Ziegler and Greg Holland, so SANDY WAKE UP!!!!!
How about that Chapman deal? Insanity! What is Addison Reed going to command next year. Is Familia also a FA? Hopefully we nurture some other guys into the dominate relief role this year and have answers for the future.
We didn't lose Evans for Seward from the rule 5 draft, so yay!
Hmmn...more coming around to what I've been saying for some time...that the Mets are too timid in their dealings, too passive and waiting for the market to come to them menas all the good choices are off the table.
As far as Holland, I keep saying they should look at Koji Uehara who would likely fit the Alderson one-year-deal mold without the health risk.
I can see wanting to move Bruce or Granderson first to know you have the money. The issue is NOT doing it. If you're holding out hope for getting back an All-Star caliber player and that's unrealistic for one of these players then you're likely going to be shut out. Right now the fact that Fowler and Bautista are still out there make these power hitters a lower priority to other teams. You either take a lesser package to get the salary relief and continue your agenda or you hold out hope that the returns increase when the other resources are off the table.
Love the fact everyone is starting use the "BOLD" comment...
Eh-hem Heard it here first...lol
Anyway Yes i want the Mets to be Bold but Adam Eaton? Pass... Evan Longoria, Machado, JD Martinez, Heck Miggy... Sure... Don't waste time with someone who is not the "Monster" or as I like to put it "Can wreck a game"... Remember the difference in the lineup between 2005 and 2006... The difference was Delgado...
He was a wrecking Crew by him self... That's the type of Guy i would look for... Yes Cespedes is that Guy... But who is his running mate? Who can protect him or who is he protecting... the only guy on the roster that I can see with that potential is Conforto...
Walker, Grandy (at this stage) and anyone else are 6-7-8 hitters... cabrera i belive a very solid No. 2 hitter... But the heart of the line up when you are down 2 runs in the 8th and 9th when your going against the best parts of a bullpen... who do you want up... Cespedes and ???
Mets management would answer Wright and Duda can carry a team on their surgically repaired backs.
Alderson and I just have completely different ways of looking at team construction.
I look at the starting pitchers that the Mets have under control for the next 2 to 3 years.
I look at Cespedes being signed for the next 4 years.
I look at Familia being controlled by the Mets during this same time period.
To me, this screams to me that the Mets should be focused on building the best possible major league roster during these next 2 to 3 years.
In examining the current position players there are a few concerns:
Age concern: Granderson
Injury concerns: Wright, Walker, Lagares, Duda, D'Arnaud, Cabrera, Flores (obviously all of the pitchers- but focusing on offense)
These are significant concerns that affect a major portion of the Mets offense.
This brings great concern that this mix of players will through circumstances just not be able to perform at their potential.
The question then becomes, in order to maximize the potential of the next 2 to 3 years of the Mets pitching and Cespedes, changes need to be made.
As many of the injury/age/performance concerns need to be replaced as possible with more reliable options.
Obviously Wright is not going anywhere unless he retires early due to his injuries.
All of the others however are possibilities to be improved on.
I would identify centerfield, right field, and 1st base as my most impact- full opportunities due to the current make up of the Mets.
At this point given the importance of the next 2 to 3 years, I would identify a list ordering my preferred wanted players (whether free agent, on the trade block, or nit even mentioned on the trading block) at each of these positions and give effort in acquiring them by whatever reasonable means necessary.
From what I see Alderson does not identify his ideal team as players. He operates more from a conceptual idea. He doesn't identify his preferred players. He focuses more on identifying his concept of the.type of player he wants.
He also seems to settle too easily for what is available AFTER he does something else first.
This leads to missed opportunities, settling for imperfect fits, and constantly searching for improvement.
Or....take Fowler and/or Bautista off the table yourself....
Eliminating them from the other teams options....forcing Granderson and Bruce higher on their options board....
"Corporate" thinking here... create the monopoly
So, in order to match what the Nats gave up for Eaton, we would have traded Gsellman and Flexen?
Not sure about that......I think it would have been a package that started with Steven Matz and also included Dunn and Gsellman, perhaps. That still may have come up a bit short, to be honest.
On top of that, we already have a logjam in the outfield, so gutting our farm system to add another OF'er is crazy, IMO.
The Nats are going for it, which I cool I guess. However, they have some pitching depth concerns that will be problematic in the coming seasons. Eaton will be seen as Harper's replacement, once he gets to free agency.
Bob, your post would have made a good article! That said, this team is brittle until proven otherwise.
Feel free to cut it out of this thread. And expanding it into a post adding in anything you would like to contribute.
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