A few things......

[lovetoaster]

The Brewers bullpen hasn't been stellar since their GM mentioned he had no plans to acquire Sherrill. Hopefully they continue to blow games through Thursday and possibly cause Melvin to rethink that position. Sabathia pitched a nice game last night only to have <b>Rickie Weeks</b> blow it.

Fixed that for ya.

[davearm]

He's been a lot better this season and his range has been above league average for the games he's played there.

14 games, RF = 2.79 (LgRF = 2.42) RF9 = 2.94 (LgRF9 = 2.74)

Range factor is a crappy stat.

[davearm]

I agree. Count me in the group that says trade him unless you can't get a good return. As AM said when he dealt EB, "better a year too early than a year too late." That is my feeling with George. I don't necessarily believe he is going to regress significantly next year, but I really can't see the "stars aligning" like this year to boost his vaule to what its should be right now. My gut says AM is asking for the alot now but will come down some to make a deal by Thursday.

I don't see MacPhail coming down.

[Shopay]

I don't see MacPhail coming down.

You may be right, but if the other teams come up some then I would expect him to come down some. It seems too early in the negotiation process to be entrenced in a position.

[cbm5042]

I don't see MacPhail coming down.

I think right now his asking prices are enormous with the intent of never getting it and he has set the floor at everything he wants which is probably much less than current asking prices. He will negotiate and probably drop to somewhere between his floor and their ceiling, netting more than he really wanted in the first place. Now, as far as that Rosenthal article, like I said its a conflicting report or he just forgot about Jason Donald. Last night we were told that the Orioles have scouted him heavily along with several other SS prospects. I'm going to need to see an update on that because it makes no sense and is contradictory. Did you all know it was members of the current Phillies office that discovered Sherrill in the Independent League? Thats interesting, I didn't.

[JTrea81]

I don't see MacPhail coming down.

And why should he? Sherrill is the best LH closer on the market.

[davearm]

You may be right, but if the other teams come up some then I would expect him to come down some. It seems too early in the negotiation process to be entrenced in a position.

Early? The deadline is like 48 hours from now.

[JTrea81]

Early? The deadline is like 48 hours from now.

Remember the Wieters negotiations...

[Shopay]

Early? The deadline is like 48 hours from now.

In a negotiation process nothing drives deals like deadlines, so yes, 48 hours is still plenty of time. I've been involved in sizeable negotiations in which neither party would budge from its position until essentially the midnight hour, but the deal got done. Granted, if you wait too long your suitors could go elsewhere. That's part of the game/strategy.

[Peace21]

Remember the Wieters negotiations...

Dont forget the releasing of Gibbons too.

[Lucky Jim]

And why should he? Sherrill is the best LH closer on the market.

This assumes other teams that value him value him as a closer. Is this the case? Definitely?

And simply being the best option in a sour market doesn't really drive the price up that much. There still has to be a return on the upgrade in order for a trade to work (the on-field value of Sherrill [over and above the value of what he replaces] has got to be worth the outlay it takes to get him.)

[PoorMike]

I'm not quite on this bangwagon of Ramon hate. Yes he's overpaid for what he's giving us......maybe it's age...maybe it's focus...maybe it's both.

....but he's NOT going to clear waivers and I would not give him away just to have someone take his salary. Other teams (Mets earlier, now Marlins) want him for a reason.

The Marlins have the 'need'. We don't 'need' TT. If they want us to pay Ramon's salary, give us TT and Coghan for instance.

[tywright]

Somehow we have to get the Marlins to give up Coghlan in a deal for Ramon. Coghlan's blocked by Uggla and has very nice upside. If he's knocking on the door next year, we can then afford to trade BRob.

[JTrea81]

I'm not quite on this bangwagon of Ramon hate. Yes he's overpaid for what he's giving us......maybe it's age...maybe it's focus...maybe it's both.

....but he's NOT going to clear waivers and I would not give him away just to have someone take his salary. Other teams (Mets earlier, now Marlins) want him for a reason.

The Marlins have the 'need'. We don't 'need' TT. If they want us to pay Ramon's salary, give us TT and Coghan for instance.

Ramon will most certainly clear waivers. Don't forget he's owed 8 million next season as well...

[davearm]

And why should he? Sherrill is the best LH closer on the market.

I don't recall saying he should.

I happen to think Sherrill is providing the O's valuable production in an area of weakness, and furthermore I (for one) don't think his trade value will be much different this time next year. At that time he'll still be 2+ years from free agency, and I'd anticipate his numbers probably will be fairly consistent with what they are now... which is to say, decent but not overwhelming.

If you can get good mileage out of the guy while he's here, and still trade him for roughly the same return sometime down the road, then there should be no rush.

Now if you're of the opinion that the guy's getting by on smoke and mirrors and is due for a big falloff, then obviously there should be a sense of urgency to sell high.