O. Cabrera Willing to Move to Third for Tejada

[NJOriolesFan]

I have not watched him play but knowing that SO MANY Angels hitting prospects have fizzled because they weren't as good as their inflated minor league stats tells me a lot.

Also he strikes out quite a bit and never walks for a minor leaguer. Plate discipline is one thing that RARELY improves at the major league level.

Personally, I see Jeff Franceour with barely adequate defense and no real position. That is not bad, but let's not make Kendrick out to be the second coming. He isn't likely to be a consistent .850 OPS guy. I see .325 OBP and .475 SLG in his future. That is good but not special.

[markpolis]

I have not watched him play but knowing that SO MANY Angels hitting prospects have fizzled because they weren't as good as their inflated minor league stats tells me a lot.

Also he strikes out quite a bit and never walks for a minor leaguer. Plate discipline is one thing that RARELY improves at the major league level.

Personally, I see Jeff Franceour with barely adequate defense and no real position. That is not bad, but let's not make Kendrick out to be the second coming. He isn't likely to be a consistent .850 OPS guy. I see .325 OBP and .475 SLG in his future. That is good but not special.

I guess we just agree to disagree on Kendrick. Only time will tell.

But why Mathis? I like him but why trade for a guy who will be a backup catcher?

[hoosiers]

Are you saying that you would turn down a Santana, Aybar, and Kotchman deal for Tejada?

IMO, I do not see how we turn this down. Aybar is an outstanding SS prospect - and perhaps we should concentrate on him more than Kendrick - who is more 2B.

Frankly, I bet we could flip Santana for another mother-load - like Abreau and a top Phil's prospect.

[erb8472]

IMO, I do not see how we turn this down. Aybar is an outstanding SS prospect - and perhaps we should concentrate on him more than Kendrick - who is more 2B.

Frankly, I bet we could flip Santana for another mother-load - like Abreau and a top Phil's prospect.

We could easily flip Santana for Abreu and a prospect, but I think that would be crazy.

Santana is the guy I covet from the Angels. If we traded for him it's on the basis of going with him and Bedard as the 1-2 punch for the next several years.

Abreu is going to be essentially a salary dump. To trade someone of Santana's talent and success already at the ML level for him would be a big step backwards.

Especially when we could sign Lee to around the same contract as Abreu has.

[rolliefingers]

We could easily flip Santana for Abreu and a prospect, but I think that would be crazy.

Santana is the guy I covet from the Angels. If we traded for him it's on the basis of going with him and Bedard as the 1-2 punch for the next several years.

Abreu is going to be essentially a salary dump. To trade someone of Santana's talent and success already at the ML level for him would be a big step backwards.

Especially when we could sign Lee to around the same contract as Abreu has.

Abreu is a much better player than Lee. But I agree that Santana is the centerpiece of a Tejada deal.

[rp0806]

I have not watched him play but knowing that SO MANY Angels hitting prospects have fizzled because they weren't as good as their inflated minor league stats tells me a lot.

Also he strikes out quite a bit and never walks for a minor leaguer. Plate discipline is one thing that RARELY improves at the major league level.

Not true. Kendrick doesn't walk much, but he also doesn't strike out much. In 1200 career minor league ABs he's struck out 140 times. He's walked 65 times, so in a full season that's a 70/30 K/BB ratio. That's not bad at all, esp. if you're hitting well above .300. He's also got decent power (.200 isolated slugging).

Personally, I see Jeff Franceour with barely adequate defense and no real position. That is not bad, but let's not make Kendrick out to be the second coming. He isn't likely to be a consistent .850 OPS guy. I see .325 OBP and .475 SLG in his future. That is good but not special.

Francouer is not a valid comparison. In 1400 minor league ABs, Francouer had 260 Ks and 90 BBs. And he's on pace for one of the worst K/BB rates in baseball history this year.

Kendrick's #s might be inflated by his parks and leagues, but there's no question that he's a special prospect. There aren't many guys who can hit .360 in the minors.

[hoosiers]

We could easily flip Santana for Abreu and a prospect, but I think that would be crazy.

Santana is the guy I covet from the Angels. If we traded for him it's on the basis of going with him and Bedard as the 1-2 punch for the next several years.

Abreu is going to be essentially a salary dump. To trade someone of Santana's talent and success already at the ML level for him would be a big step backwards.

Especially when we could sign Lee to around the same contract as Abreu has.

I was more pointing out an option that would improve the current and future offense if we moved Tejada and netted Aybar, Abreau and Kotchman plus another prospect or two. Perhaps the Phillies are so eager to move Abreau and receive Santana that we would net one or more of their top prospects.

I have no problem keeping Santana, most scenarios would leave the offense pretty thin until a big bat was acquired for the OF or DH.

[Mackus]

I was more pointing out an option that would improve the current and future offense if we moved Tejada and netted Aybar, Abreau and Kotchman plus another prospect or two. Perhaps the Phillies are so eager to move Abreau and receive Santana that we would net one or more of their top prospects.

I have no problem keeping Santana, most scenarios would leave the offense pretty thin until a big bat was acquired for the OF or DH.

We could most likely get Abreu as a salary dump without giving up anything even remotely close to Santana in terms of talent.

If we do trade Tejada, then I think we absolutely HAVE to trade for Abreu, or at the very least sign Carlos Lee (I prefer trading for Abreu). I think we could get Abreu and a substantial amount of his contract for Kris Benson.

[Flosman]

If you get Santana he becomes untouchable in my opinion on day one. I would move Benson in the right deal after that, but offense would be much less of a problem becuase with that rotation your not going to give up very many runs.

[hoosiers]

Two things - first, if Abreau could be had so cheaply, it would have been done already. Second, I suggested flipping Santana because he could bring a substantial haul as well - whether he was used in a deal for Abreau or someone else.

[Mackus]

Two things - first, if Abreau could be had so cheaply, it would have been done already.

I don't know if Abreu for Benson would be considered cheap on our end. Benson would probably be the best established pitcher they could get for Abreu. I think a lot of people are going to be wary of taking on Abreu's contract, especially with his diminishing HR numbers. I'm not very worried about that though as he's still hitting a lot of doubles and drawing a ton of walks.

It'll be interesting to see if Philly goes the salary dump route with Abreu. If they do, then I'd be all over him. If they want top prospects for him, I'll pass.

[NJOriolesFan]

Not true. Kendrick doesn't walk much, but he also doesn't strike out much. In 1200 career minor league ABs he's struck out 140 times. He's walked 65 times, so in a full season that's a 70/30 K/BB ratio. That's not bad at all, esp. if you're hitting well above .300. He's also got decent power (.200 isolated slugging).

Francouer is not a valid comparison. In 1400 minor league ABs, Francouer had 260 Ks and 90 BBs. And he's on pace for one of the worst K/BB rates in baseball history this year.

Kendrick's #s might be inflated by his parks and leagues, but there's no question that he's a special prospect. There aren't many guys who can hit .360 in the minors.

Rick Short did and more.

Also, you have to believe that 30/70 translates to 20/90 in the big leagues. So while I am wrong about his "ton of strikeouts" he does have less plate discipline than Jay Gibbons and less power. But he might hit close to .300. I just don't know about a corner hitting outfielder who hits .300 with poor plate discipline and "above average" power for the position.

[rp0806]

Two things - first, if Abreau could be had so cheaply, it would have been done already.

Yeah...I made the same point yesterday. I just don't buy that Gillick would trade him for McPherson and Mathis. If that deal was on the table Stoneman would have pulled the trigger already.

[rp0806]

Rick Short did and more

Well, I didn't say that no one ever had. Just that "there aren't many." Of course there's no guarantee that Kendrick will turn into Rod Carew, but he's definitely a terrific prospect.

[Mackus]

Rick Short did and more

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/S/Rick-Short.shtml

You wanna ammend that statement?