And Geary. Now, I don't know enough about Villarreal (I think that's his name) and Geary to have an opinion, but it certainly isn't "the exact same bullpen minues Lidge and Wheeler plus a 40-year old Brocail."
Anyone want Barmes because that is apparently the Rockies' offer for Burke? http://www.denverpost.com/sports/ci_7633441
You are ignoring the fact that: 1. We have made bullpen acquisitions which will help. 2. Brocail, despite being 40, had a pretty darned good season last year. No indication that the wheels are about to fall off quite yet.
the problem i see is that, as bad as Lidge was during certain parts of the season, i dont see Geary/Brocail/Villareal making up for the stretches where he was "close" to his old self...not to mention replacing the "good" we got out of Wheels. In other news...Dontrelle AND Cabrera are headed to Detroit per ESPN....Gammons said deal will be finalized tonight.
Blum wouldn't play the same positions as Barmes though. Ok with the deal, as long as he never gets gifted any meat from hunting trips.
I did forget about Geary and Villareal, but I guess my point is that we lost Wheeler and Lidge from last year's bullpen. These new guys are all decent - but none of them is outstanding. They are all kind of in the same vein as the Russ Springers of the world, and I'd expect them all to have ERAs in the 4's, more or less. On paper, at least, I think last year's bullpen was better than this year's so far. Not as deep, but I'd rather have 3 great guys and 3 scrubs that 6 average guys (or in our case, 1 great guy and 5 average guys). There is definitely still a need to find some kind of reliable/dominant 8th inning or 9th inning guy, whether that be from inside or outside the organization.
Except Williams' decline was at least somewhat predictable because of his home/road splits away from Petco Park. Brocail posted a 1.79 ERA on the road, so it's not exactly the same scenario.
To get all those prospects (particularly two elite ones) for a good third baseman and a declining starting pitcher with an ERA over 5 in the NL... I think it's the Marlins that made out like bandits here. Willis will be crushed in the AL Central.
Calling Miguel Cabrera a good 3rd baseman is an understatement. 24 year olds with 4 straight 110 RBI seasons, 3 straight .320 seasons, and around 75 XBH a year do not grow on trees.
There is no way to make out like a bandit when trading a guy like Miguel Cabrera. None. Edit: Just looked on baseball reference, prospects are awesome but guys like this - Similar Batters through Age 24 1. Hank Aaron (950) * 2. Ken Griffey (917) 3. Frank Robinson (911) * yeah, that guy is a phenom.
I guess I'm just confused at the return they're getting (granted, there's Willis too, but he shouldn't have much value, especially to an AL team) relative to the return the Sox and Yankees are offering for Santana. Cabrera's an incredible player. But Santana is the best pitcher in the game at 28, and in the proposed Lester deal, Minnesota really isn't even getting one legit blue-chipper. Very strange.
yeah, Minnesota's willingness to settle for the horrible deals being offered for Santana puzzles me as well.
I think that's why Minnesota hasn't accepted yet. Cabrera also has an extra "cheap" year. I also think there's got to be some fear in giving Santana the type of deal he's going to get. He's not a particularly big guy, so there's some injury risk on his next contract, especially if he's going to be making ~20+ million at age 35. And I think you underestimate Dontrelle's value. He's still only 25.
