Would you make these moves?

[Remember'97]

Speed is not only measured in stolen bases..It causes IFers to rush throws...It allows you to score on a double from first or get to third on a single.

I want as much speed as possible.

you are dead on.we all know millar isnt scoring from 2nd on a base hit to left with a good arm in the outfield.cpat,rocco,and kakis is one hell of an outfield.All 3 could be batting .300 and have 70 stolen bases.If in fact we are looking towards the future and not just for a stop gap,neither crawford or rocco are a stop gap and with that said I believe Cpat needs to stay with this team to show what he is made of.

[NoVaO]

I don't really think we can go wrong with either guy.

Both are young and can play all three OF positions.

Crawford is faster (though Baldelli isn't exactly slow), walks slightly more (though neither player walks a lot), and doesn't strike out as much. He is also more durable.

Baldelli seems to have more power, and he'll come much cheaper than Crawford in both the players we have to give up and money-wise. I do wonder how Baldelli managed to have a .338 BABIP despite having just 15% of his batted balls become line drives. Maybe he hit a lot of grounders with high velocity, I don't know. Not a big deal I guess.

I think Penn, Liz/Olson, and Hoey for Baldelli is fair. If we could, I would rather throw in Rleal and/or somebody else and keep Hoey. Replacing Ray and Liz/Olson and Hoey is a very tough call. I would probably keep Ray.

[square634]

Yes, speed is useful and we want it if all things are close to equal. But I would take an increase from ~.800 to ~.850 OPS before I would take speed. I guess that's different from the original question about homeruns but the philosophy is similar.

And I would love to have Crawford or Baldelli... just for their OPS and defense, not primarily for their speed. I guess defense and speed kind of go together, but not always.

[UMDTerrapins]

I have a hard time with dealing Penn or Olson. I know you have to give something of value to get something of value. I think in all our "what if" scenarios for guys like Teixeira, we have gotten used to the idea of trading these guys. Penn was 21 this season, Olson 22. Their numbers are pretty good for pitching in AAA and AA so young. To give up both of them and Ray for Crawford is too risky in my opinion...even if I'd love to have Crawford.

[paulcoates]

I have a hard time with dealing Penn or Olson. I know you have to give something of value to get something of value. I think in all our "what if" scenarios for guys like Teixeira, we have gotten used to the idea of trading these guys. Penn was 21 this season, Olson 22. Their numbers are pretty good for pitching in AAA and AA so young. To give up both of them and Ray for Crawford is too risky in my opinion...even if I'd love to have Crawford.

Well you still have Bedard, Loewen and Cabrera as youngsters in the rotation and Ray in the pen. It's not like you gave up your best pitching prospects or even close to all of them

[orioles119]

There are a couple things that Bigbird can't post because it would get his source in real trouble. He does post most of what he hears. Let's leave it at that, please.

SHENANIGANS!

[geschinger]

Crawford is faster (though Baldelli isn't exactly slow), walks slightly more (though neither player walks a lot), and doesn't strike out as much. He is also more durable.

I don't know if things have changed, possibly things have after Baldelli's had some injuries but Baldelli used to be faster. But I remember reading how Baldelli was something like 3.8 seconds from home plate to first base from the right side to Crawford's 3.9 from the left side. It's just remarkable how fast their OF was a while back when they had Crawford, Gaithwright and Baldelli.

[JTrea81]

I have a hard time with dealing Penn or Olson. I know you have to give something of value to get something of value. I think in all our "what if" scenarios for guys like Teixeira, we have gotten used to the idea of trading these guys. Penn was 21 this season, Olson 22. Their numbers are pretty good for pitching in AAA and AA so young. To give up both of them and Ray for Crawford is too risky in my opinion...even if I'd love to have Crawford.

We've got a surplus of young pitching. Penn and Olson are not proven yet and Crawford is. We don't have any Crawfords in our system. You deal from your strength to fix your weaknesses.

["Clank"]

Ya know, Baldelli or Crawford would be great acquisitions, but they are top of the order guys, and well, isn't it more important to go for a power bat to hit behind Tejada and give him protection? We must be very prudent with the few desirable bargaining chips we have-Lopez or Benson, Penn, Ray. I really want to keep Olson, Liz, and Hoey and I think Fiorentino is going to develop into a Steve Finley-like player, [it was sickening seeing the kind of years Finley put up after we traded him.] Some team surely would take a package of Benson or Lopez, Penn, and Ray for a slugging RH OFer or 1B, wouldn't they? I hope the FO covers every possibility. One I'd like to see is those three to the Braves for 1B Adam LaRoche and LF Matt Diaz.