Keep in mind that Eddie Guardado is STILL pitching in this league. There’s been the occasional Reitsma, but no, really, since 2004 the team’s realized your farm system can give you an arm or two a year.

” This isn’t that difficult guys. If one team needs help now, then they’ll often give up more talent than they get back if the player they get back helps them short term.”

The problem with that argument is that Beltre is not 35. He is not someone impossible to resign and in the last year of their contract.

If you were really, really lucky, what you traded Beltre for MIGHT someday grow up to be… Beltre.

I would love to see the Ms aggressively get younger and jettison vets that are in their way… but Beltre is one of our biggest assets at this point. The Ms would be insane to trade him (for anything they could realistically get, of course).

Also… Beltre hasn’t stunk for the last three years, which seems to be part of the premise of the trade him argument. He has been overall very valuable to the team.

Again. Um, you’re creating a hole in the defense. AND you’re creating a hole on the offense. Unless you’re going to be filling at least THREE holes, I don’t think you’re gaining anything with a trade.

Much of the problems with the 2008 Mariners are easy fixes, given competent management, simply by understanding the concept of “replacement level”, especially as applied to DH/1B/corner OF, and the back end of the rotation. They’ve actually correctly understood this when it comes to the bullpen, so this isn’t TOO much of a stretch.

Except I’m not sure that wasn’t an accident — the bullpen was just the bottom of the priority list. I guess we’ll have to wait and see if they really have learned the lesson now that the replacement level bullpen has been taking wins away from the starters. Will McLaren whine for another veteran like Parrish/Mateo/White? Will Bavasi give him one? Will he then get used in game after game to demonstrate veterans can repeatedly lose games just like replacement level kids?

normally reliable bullpen melts down

That reliable bullpen was last year’s bullpen. It had its share of luck (in case you don’t remember Morrow’s walk-the-bases-loaded tightrope outings) and since then a key piece went to Baltimore.

Balentien – He has all the tools, let the kid play. Great arm in RF and he hits for power the other way, a big key in Safeco.

What? By every account he is a pull hitter.

cha right brah!

I’ve never seen that written before but, whoah, dude, you just channeled every Spicoli-esque surfer directly into my brain. Khalil Greene is in there hanging with the Weaver brothers. Make them stop!

Also, can we not talk about “gritty feces” — veteran or not? Owwwww.

165/244/253

18k/8bb

and 0 steals vs. 1 CS.

done.

If one team needs help now, then they’ll often give up more talent than they get back if the player they get back helps them short term.

Never minding that this is an incredible leap of faith… who out there has an extra quality MLB-ready 3B sitting around, that they are perfectly willing to deal to us, and how much talent are they going to want? And why would they have such a player in their org that they have no intention of playing?

It is NOT as easy as you think it is to replace a top shelf 3B. Matt Gamel is not going to come close to match Adrian Beltre’s production at 3B, and you can’t even guarantee the guy will give you anything much above replacement level. And that assumes the Brewers, per your hypothetical scenario, are even willing to talk turkey on a deal… which of course precludes you can and will deal Beltre.

And making a deal just to ‘rebuild’ isn’t as simple either. Who do you intend to pick up by dealing Beltre? Do other GM’s agree with your assessment? If your expected return is a bunch of prospects, what happens if they don’t pan out or several aren’t nearly ready for the bigs?

There are a lot of unanswered questions that would need to be answered, that would require some sort of battle plan, before a GM even gets on the phone to entertain such possibilities.