Still, it is an interesting offer. Ankiel is a free agent after 2009 and I don’t see him as a good center-piece for any Putz trade. The only exception is that he could probably be spun-off to a team like Atlanta or the Yankees for a decent return. Still, I don’t know that I would pull a trigger on that offer without knowing whether Ankiel could be spun-off, and what for.

I’m not saying that Bautista is good at closing ball games (there is little evidence other than one season in Arizona) but wouldn’t it make more sense to keep Morrow in the rotation, and than move Miggy to closing out ball games? Does anyone have any idea on how Miggy would project as a closer (I’m assuming not that well)?

Granted, the best solution would be to trade Bautista for a ham sandwich, clear his salary, and sign someone cheap on the up and up, but if we are stuck with his contract would this be the best possible situation for the whole of the team?

Zduriencik has made it no secret that his goal is to add some LH power

I’d like to remind everyone that Bavasi often thought he needed to add “left-handed sock” to the team, but he utterly failed to do so.

So this isn’t new in terms of strategy, but it’s certainly new in terms of execution.

That’s nice that you don’t buy it, but since Dave’s shown his work going into why he values K-Rod the way he does and you haven’t, why should I care what you think?

You seem to think making unsupported assertions is a good way to win an argument. Perhaps you should reconsider that.

Mather is 2 years older and is RH, but has plenty of other similarities with Joyce (good defense in small sample size, good power, plenty of K’s, under team control through 2014).

Looking a little deeper, Mather’s BABIP (.258 with a 21.6 LD%) drags down his overall numbers, but with more even luck his numbers would look pretty good. And he has more defensive versatility than Joyce (the Cards gave him some time at 1st, 3rd, and CF, in addition to LF and RF). Might give the M’s another option at 3rd, plus the OF corners. Age is the biggest problem though. Even if you buy that he is a late bloomer, his is 26.

A .750 OPS with ++ defense is Ichiro! There’s nothing grim about Ichiro!

So the average OPS for a LF was .766. Probably higher still for RF. A .750 OPS with ++ defense seems a little grim to me for Putz, that is my primary point.

And it’s STILL not very well supported. At best, it’s anecdotal, without looking at the empirical evidence (which Dave has kindly supplied) of what the market is actually offering, and what statistical methods are saying.

Nope. Ankiel is an FA after 2009. Joyce makes the league minimum until 2012. The difference in present value is overwhelmed by the difference in future salary.