On the Wilson not rumor rumor
Sure, it’s titled “Improving Mariners looking to trade Yuniesky Betancourt to the Pirates for Jack Wilson?” but it’s a lot like when one of those tech rumor sites runs “Google in talks to buy Alaska Airlines?”
Or, to quote the article:
Will this deal happen? Don’t know. But it makes sense on many levels and I’m told it’s been discussed.
Been discussed as “internal discussions about trading Yuni” “internal discussions about trading Yuni for Wilson” “preliminary discussions about what it would take to get Wilson” “heated discussions about what else would need to be included in a Yuni-Wilson trade”?
Unclear. And until that’s clear, it’s not fair to say this is a trade rumor. As he says, it’s Baker’s analysis of why the deal would make sense plus that little “discussions” teaser.
If/when this becomes more substantive, we’ll opine in depth, I promise.
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But it makes so much sense, especially since Google has an office in Kirkland. With regular service between Seatac and San Francisco, it would allow them to easily shuttle employees back and forth from Mountain View.
ARGH As a journalist, these kinds of things drive me up a wall. I guess as a sports fan I’ve come to expect them but there’s standards or at least there should be. Prior to Griffey going to the Reds there were all kinds of stories about it but those at least quoted people, including Griffey. “Stories” like these are why not just anyone can do this.
Oh, and because it was so obvious this was a thought exercise and not even a real rumor, I forgot – Trade Betancourt!
Hey, don’t know if this will be moderated but [moderated]
Mike, Thanks for the laugh.
I have always wondered this. When you look at Yuni the guy looks like he is very young. At 27 one could say that he is losing focus, he is this he is that. If Yuni was say in his 30’s one would say that he is in a defensive decline and he can not get to the balls he one did. There is a list of many players that have fudged on their birthdays coming from Cuba. My comments are just as unsubstantiated as Wilson to the M’s for Yuni but since we are talking in unsubstantiated rumors???
The Brewers could get in on the MI sweepstakes with Rickie Weeks out for the season. I guess Bill Hall could move to 2B giving Matt Gamel everyday AB’s at 3B . . . but I don’t know. Essentially replacing Weeks with Gamel is a huge defensive downgrade.
Juicer, please list the many players who have fudged on their birthdays coming from Cuba.
Methinks the list is not long at all.
Well, I hate to say this for several reasons, among which is starting a discussion on motivation and all that. But ever since Yuni’s family safely escaped from Cuba, he just hasn’t been the same ball player. It’s as though he was “The Magician” who hit a hollow-ish .300 because he needed to be his best to help get his family. Then once that was accomplished, he had no motivation. Dunno. ‘shrug’ But yes, let’s deal him. I was driving home Sunday (after getting stuck in First Avenue South Hell for 45 minutes) and even the radio commentator was discussing his lack of plate discipline and how it cost the club.
Here is one that I remembered that I could find something on the internet. I will try and find a couple more. They never really got this straitened out and they still have him with an 83 birthday.
http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/news/262991.html
Mark Newman, the Yankees’ senior vice president for baseball operations,
confirmed the Yankees were close to signing Cuban defector Juan Miranda, an outfielder/first baseman. Newman said an ESPN Deportes report that Miranda already had signed for a major league contract worth $2 million was premature, but said Yankees GM Brian Cashman was in negotiations to sign Miranda for the Yankees.
While ESPN Deportes calls Miranda 23, several Cuban sources have the former Pinar Del Rio player with a 1981 birthday (some have a March birthdate, some April), which would make him 25. In two seasons for Pinar Del Rio in Cuba’s Serie Nacional (2002-2004), Miranda batted .303 over 459 at-bats, hitting 27 home runs and adding 28 doubles. He also controlled the strike zone, with a combined 73-87 walk-strikeout ratio.
Let’s get back on topic and not go too far down this road, please.
Good point Jeff. I guess it was just a thought. I looked around and could not find anything else besides him and Orlando Hernández. I might find more. He born on October 11, 1965 or 1969, depending on the source, claimed to have been born in 1969 when he defected from Cuba in 1997 to pitch in Major League Baseball. The Smoking Gun published what was purported to be his divorce decree from Cuba, which gave his year of birth as 1965. 4 years is quite a big difference. In Yuni’s case he goes from 27 to 31.
Trade. Him. Now. For the love…
I hope that the post was not confusing the “He” I was referring to was Orlando Hernandez not Yuni.
3 win uprade at short, but why? Cedeno can do that. Bats are all about the same.
but sometimes not rumor rumors are all we have!
Yeah, but the problem with putting Cedeno as your starting shortstop is losing one of your outfielders. It’s another reason this roster needs a bit of, um, tweaking.
It may be a rumor, but it makes sense for both clubs. Just the thought he could be dealt anywhere for anything considering how bad he has performed at short, and how many years he is signed up for, makes my baseball day.
And I’m sure those 23 innings of outfield greatness will never be forgotten by the likes of Wlad Balentien, Endy Chavez, Ichiro Suzuki, and Franklin Gutierrez.
Branyan is also league average as a RF/LF if need be. Griffey is not good anymore but he can be used in an emergancy. Then you have the OF’s in AAA.
4 years older than Yuni, and doesn’t walk a whole lot either.
His range has fallen even further than Yuni’s, and he has injury problems.
I mean, a better defensive SS who is offensively worse, and 4 years older doesn’t seem like a winner of a trade to me.
Especially when you factor injuries in.
I don’t want Yuni as our starting shortstop, either, but Jack Wilson isn’t a very good solution.
What are Wilson’s contract details? I can’t imagine their very team-friendly, given his age, and term of service.
Plus older NL infielders make me twitch when I think about them coming to the M’s.
Wilson is on the last year of a 3 year deal that pays him $7.25M this year (plus up to $300K in performance bonuses), and then a $8.4M club option for ’10 ($600K buyout). However, he does have a limited (6 clubs) no-trade clause.
MLB Trade Rumors made it seem like a win for the mariners. I’m one of the few left pulling for Yuni. I’ll miss the guys, but Jack would probably make me forget pretty quickly with some real defense; though granted i don’t know much about Wilson other than he isn’t much of a hitter.
For salary reasons if nothing else this be a win for the mariners. Yuni has 3 or 4 years, where Wilson would be a half year rental. Cedeno could start 2010 if we had no replacement, and Truienful (i’m sure i spelled that wrong) would likely be ready 2011, if not 2010.
If the Pirates bite i will be all for it, Yuni’s value can’t be all that high, Wilson would be fine to me.
Around the same time Yuni’s play started dropping way off defensively was not only around the time his family escaped from Cuba but also when he signed his multi-million dollar multi-year deal. Could be coincidence in both cases, but you never know. He doesn’t exactly have the reputation as a hard worker.
Another thought is the M’s coach ??Garcia?? leaving a couple years back. Shannon Drayer used to comment a lot about how Yuni and Lopez would be slacking off a lot and Garcia was always riding them getting them to put in extra work (extra fielding practice especially). Once he left, Yuni stopped doing the extra work. Any extra practice previous managers had guys doing voluntarily, Yuni never took part and could often be found watching soccer and/or lounging in the clubhouse during those times. One prime example Shannon used was once where every single other player except the starting pitcher for the game and Yuni was out doing voluntary extra work at the request of the manager as the M’s were struggling and making a lot of mistakes. Yuni spent that time lounging in the clubhouse.
If it’s just a lack of work ethic, all the M’s really need to do is send him down to AAA and let him know everything he has to do to make it back up to the Mariners and until he does all of them he’ll stay in Tacoma. If that wouldn’t make him work hard nothing will. [putting a smileyface after something offensive doesn’t make it okay. maintain some level of tact, please]
Thing is, Wilson’s last 850 innings at SS have been pretty good defensively, about +1.5 wins for a season (if he played a full season). Now, granted, that’s not much more than half a season’s worth of data, so it could be an illusion, but it’s a nice looking one at least.