With Wade looking to make a bunch of deals, I thought I'd make a thread specifically for trade talks and rumors. According to Peter Gammons, White Sox offered Ryan Sweeney for Chad Qualls...I would not have done that deal either. Sweeney is a very young RF with upside, but we needed a CF and a leadoff hitter. Indians made an offer for Lidge, but we didn't reply. Cleveland's system is pretty mediocre. Article didn't say who was offered, but I can guess it involved OF Trevor Crowe as the centerpiece. He had a tough year, but he has skills. A CF/LF type who projects about 10 homers and 25 steals a year. Knows how to draw walks and doesn't strike out. He might be more polished than Bourn as a hitter, but Bourn has the higher upside and is a much better defender.
I thought we had the offseason thread! of course I'm kidding, I started the D-Train thread because this team needs characters who don't just grind through the season. Pence/Bourn/Backe is a good start lets add some more and pump life into this club!
Mets were interested in Lidge as well, but weren't willing to give any of their top guys (Fernando Martinez, Carlos Gomez)
Bagwell/Biggio/Berkman/Ensberg/Everett/Ausmus/Burke = boring the only starter from that world series team with any flair on the field was Willy T.
NOT SAYING THAT RUN WAS NOT GREAT just saying I want guys like Backe and Willy T who get fired up and PLAY IT LIKE THE GAME IT IS
Because...with the writer's strike, it appears that somebody needs to be entertained. Personally, I'd prefer guys without a lot of flair who just go out and win ballgames...but that may just be me.
This team needs talent. I always laugh about how fans rationalize poorly performing teams with "not having enough fire, not trying hard enough, etc."
Same thing can be said about the rockets. Why you think the rockets got players like james, wells, scola, and francis.
I may be in the minority, but I'm not willing to part with Pence except for *maybe* Santana. This team has struggled with offensive droughts for years, and finally we have a young player with a strong bat. I think Pence's bat in our lineup everyday would outweigh the advantage of a stud pitcher every fifth start. My question is though - how high are people on Towles? Within the organization and outside of it. I think people cling to him because of all the Ausmus hate. Would you be willing to suffer through Ausmus for another year if Towles gets you D-Train? Obviously not Towles alone, but he'd be a significant piece.
