The newest Yuni rumor
Baker tosses out another Betancourt trade rumor, this time tying him to San Diego and throwing the names Chase Headley and Matt Antonelli out as potential returns.
I’ll just state flat out that there’s no chance – zero, zilch, none – that the Padres would trade Headley for Betancourt. That’s not happening.
Antonelli for Betancourt isn’t out of the realm of possibility, though. It’s at least feasible, assuming the Padres actually would be willing to give up something for Yuni. They’re a statistically oriented front office, so they’re well aware of his UZR, I’m sure. It’s hard for me to imagine that a team that employs Paul DePodesta would be trying to acquire Yuni, but perhaps he’s just getting overruled on this one.
As for Antonelli, he’s a third baseman trying to play second base, and not doing it very well. He’s a patient right-handed bat with gap power who had a miserable year in Triple-A last year and is off to a terrible start this year as well, suffering a leg injury in spring training that cost him the first month of the season and failing to hit in the last couple of weeks since he came off the DL. He’s the kind of player the M’s could use in their system, though – draws walks and plays the infield, but unfortunately, he’s right-handed. He’s a much better fit defensively at third than second, however, where his ability to turn the double play is highly questionable.
He’s a lower upside guy who could use another few months in Triple-A, but he’d be a pretty decent return for Yuni. Would the Padres make that deal? I doubt it, but you never know. Unlike with Chase Headley, it’s not totally ridiculous.
Yuni is an incredibly athletic dude. I think the Padres will: A) move him to 3B, B) Get him evaluated for Anxiety/ADD & ADHD, C) Get him some MASSIVE doses of meds/therapy to manage it, and D)Bench him if the ‘walk talk’ has no effect. His craptastic moments aren’t the result of his athleticism, it’s him up in his head-either thinking too hard or not at all about what’s happening on the field. The guy spent last year on-call as a witness in a court case, he lived here orginally uncertain as to whether he’d ever see his family again. His value, and the only reason he isn’t lambasted by punks like Lou Dobbs is that he can play baseball. He screws up and boom…it’d mess with anybody.
Don’t get me wrong, he’s swing-happy and error prone… However, much of this might be solved. Move him to 3B, cut the area he’s gotta worry about, get him out of his head, get him to take walks and he’s a sleeper All-Star in a couple years…likely as a Padre.
I hope that’s satire.
Jeremy Reed’s a roleplayer for the Mets now, but he’s a useful roleplayer. Shin-Soo Choo was barely a role player when we traded him for peanuts and now he’s an above average starting OF. His wOBA last year was 50 points better than the highest Mariner position player. And then every time I watch nightly league recaps, it seems like half the closers in MLB are former Mariner flameouts. Other teams have done okay picking off the M’s scrapheap.
Come to think of it, Miguel Olivo, Jeff Cirillo and Scott Spiezio spent about 1200 plate appearances being mind-bogglingly horrible as Mariners (collectively well below replacement value)- and then went on to be reasonably decent role players on other teams.
Is Yuni really an “incredible” athlete? I see this statement made sometimes, and I wonder where it comes from. He’s got decent foot speed, with a pretty good arm, but he’s no Adam Jones.
Willie Bloomquist would be 7th on the M’s in WAR so far this year. The M’s would be about 3.2 wins better (for the year) if Willie was our starting SS instead of Yuni.
I can’t get into specifics because the entire four hours was off the record. But anyone who remembers that January conversation with Grifol and the other two Mariners scouting department people (that ended with us giving them a standing ovation) will tell you that, yes, this organization is slowly but surely turning things around. One quote I can give because it’s been posted before, “Our goal is when we get good, we’re going to stay good.” Bavasi has cast a long and terrible shadow but just be patient and have faith. Good times are on the way.
Willie Bloomquist would be 7th on the M’s in WAR so far this year. The M’s would be about 3.2 wins better (for the year) if Willie was our starting SS instead of Yuni.
We can add Carlos Guillen to that list of “Gosh, isn’t it funny how they turned out better once they ditched the blue and teal”, too. Good times.
Crap, I’d almost forgotten about Hibbard…
With the rather hospital-like happenings in the Pads’ MI the last year or so (i.e. one injury after another), Yuni makes some sense for the Padres. A youngish guy who used to show significant upside who badly needs a change of scenery is always a good option in their situation.
Getting Headley for Yuni, though? No way in hell. Unless, maybe, they start serving Frostees there…
The list of players that any team lets go and the player does better elsewhere is endless…
I can’t get into specifics because the entire four hours was off the record. But anyone who remembers that January conversation with Grifol and the other two Mariners scouting department people (that ended with us giving them a standing ovation) will tell you that, yes, this organization is slowly but surely turning things around. One quote I can give because it’s been posted before, “Our goal is when we get good, we’re going to stay good.†Bavasi has cast a long and terrible shadow but just be patient and have faith. Good times are on the way.
Yeah, I don’t want to get too far into “man, Bavasi sucked and we’re doomed”, because, well, we’re not. The history of baseball shows that organizations can spend a decade being terrible and then bounce back pretty quickly once they figure things out. For example, the Red Sox basically spent the last half of Ted Williams’ career slowly disintegrating from one of the best organizations in baseball to being terrible, full of closeted racists, alcoholics and baseball good-old-boys networking in management, all the way through the mid-1960’s- and then in 1967 went back to being a good team again once they got a clue. It really doesn’t take a lot of time to turn the corner… once you realize you need to turn the corner, and the new management has clearly done that.
I might have to get this quote blown up and posted on my wall. If this is truly the approach that would be awesome.
I tend to agree. I mean we did get Bret Boone for his best years and Branyan this year is looking like an all-star and every team in the league could have had him for nothing last summer or this off-season.
[off-topic]
The gist of the quote was that they weren’t planning on trading long-term success for an immediate gain. They were going to build up the farm pipeline to the point where once those prospects started to contribute at the MLB level the team would be good. And then keep the pipeline stocked so that as players left, aged, etc., new players would be ready to contribute.
Looking back on that meeting, if the team is out of contention I’m sure they will pull the trigger on trading any assets that:
a) Are not likely to resign with the team if the team would like to resign them.
b) Do not fit into the team’s long term plans and have the ability to bring back anything that the management does value (see Putz, JJ).
Baker seems baffled that nobody wants an epically lazy player whose whole value depends upon “untapped potential”.
Well, I dont know about overall terrible, but the way that Morrow’s “development” has been handled is borderline criminally negligent.
Leaving the players out of it,have the higher-ups hired the managers and coaches that can make the pipeline better? Is this everyone on the same page or does it take time?
Peavy nixed the trade, so maybe the Pads do need a SS with terrible plate discipline and defensive lapses.
Where is Baker hearing these rumors? They seem pretty wild. Out of curiosity, how good is Headley? I know he’s better than Yuni, but what would be a reasonable projection on him? .4 wins so far in about a quarter of a season. It’s only his first full year, but he’s not as young as most first year players. How much upside does he have left? Is he likely to be more than a league average player? I’ve heard talk of him being moved back to third base. Is there any chance of that happening? If he can put up solid defense at third base and the Padres are considering trading him, it seems like he’d be a pretty good addition.
The simple fact that there are even rumors makes me want to do backflips…
Call the Mets! SS Jose Reyes is probably headed to the DL. Backup MI, Alex Cora, is out a minimum of 8-10 weeks. 1B Carlos Delgado will miss 10 weeks. The Mariners can offer a pair of band-aids in the form of Yuni & Branyan, and the latter can be a lethal weapon off the bench once the starters get healthy.
Branyan isn’t going anywhere. Offer them Yuni and Shelton.
He sees dead people.
Branyan isn’t going anywhere. Offer them Yuni and Shelton.
If the Mariners want to pluck one of the young MI’s out of the Mets system, they will have to do better than Yuni/Shelton.
Depending on the M’s chances, I could see Branyan being a nice sell-high candidate for the M’s if they start to tank at the deadline. And I fully admit I was wrong about him. 🙂
One thought I have on the Peavy trade being nixed by Peavy himself:
Maybe, just maybe, Zduriencik should have Kenny Williams (ChiSox GM) on the horn.
Williams is aggressive by nature, and it’s now very clear he’s going to go for this year. And he needs better, more experienced guys in his rotation.
Names like Aaron Poreda and Clayton Richard would look quite good in Mariner blue, if we can formulate a good enough enticement.
I don’t hold much hope for the Gordon Beckhams to be had, it would take more than what we would part with in all likelihood….but without breaking into a full rosterbation post, this might be a match as a trade partner.