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Monday, November 05, 2007

PB Post: Marlins expected to shop Miquel Cabrera

And quotes from the ever sympathetic and sincere...Steve Phillips.

Steve Phillips, the former New York Mets GM and current ESPN analyst, said any attitude concerns about Cabrera won’t scare off teams.

“Any problems the Marlins have had with him would not impact his value, bottom line,’’ Phillips said. “Nobody would shy away from that at all. In baseball, everybody thinks they can manage other teams’ trouble players if they are a great player.’’

As for joining the A-Rod sweepstakes, unloading Cabrera and pitcher Dontrelle Willis - who could make a combined $20 million in arbitration - might be the only way the Marlins could come close to offering enough cash. Still, with a premium placed on pitching, the Marlins recently have indicated that Willis is staying. Phillips said Willis’ trade value dropped after a disappointing season (10-15, 5.17 ERA) and he doesn’t think it’s smart to trade Cabrera.

“They missed their window to trade Dontrelle Willis,’’ Phillips said. “I don’t trade Cabrera, though. He is the one draw you have on that roster. They know when you come to the ballpark, he’s the guy you come to see hit.’’

As for Cabrera’s behavior, Phillips said, “I’d do everything I could to manage that relationship than trade him.’’

Repoz Posted: November 05, 2007 at 02:14 AM | 21 comment(s)
Related News: General, Florida

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1. Halofan Posted: November 05, 2007 at 01:23 AM (#2605267)

Maybe the Marlins can point out to Cabrera that he could be on a team that has Steve Phillips working for it - maybe that will adjust Miggy's attitude.

2. Gambling Rent Czar Posted: November 05, 2007 at 02:50 AM (#2605274)

Well you knew it would happen one day.
This scribe here goes into quite some detail suggesting the Florida Marlins are actually going to make a run for A Rod. I cannot see that happening, but I can certainly see them dangling Miguel Cabrera for more pitching.
No doubt some GM will give the Fish quite the haul for his services.

3. AJM Posted: November 05, 2007 at 03:03 AM (#2605276)

This scribe here goes into quite some detail suggesting the Florida Marlins are actually going to make a run for A Rod. I cannot see that happening

Yeah, the only two times I've seen the Marlins linked with ARod have both been in the Palm Beach Post.

I can't see him going there for a few reasons:

1) There's no way they pony up the money
2) Florida is a pitcher's park
3) I doubt he wants to have another Texas situation where he puts up MVP seasons and they finish under .500.

The last two reasons are why I don't think he'll wind up in SF either.

4. jyjjy Posted: November 05, 2007 at 03:49 AM (#2605279)

Isn't the whole point of trading Cabrera that he is about to become too expensive?
How does replacing him with a player that will cost 2-3 times as much make any sense?

5. Eddie Gaedel Posted: November 05, 2007 at 05:52 AM (#2605293)

jvjjv,

Yeah, Cabrera's about to get (more) expensive, but based on the team around him and his not-so-great relationship with management, MC seems pretty damn certain to escape South Florida as soon as he can.

If you have the choice of getting a sandwich pick + another pick (bottom of the 1st round or top of the 2nd) OR getting Hughes or Bucholz, which would you pick?

Look at it like this: If the Fish were to trade Miggy for (hypothetically) Melky and Hughes and then sign ARod, they add 2 starting position players and a front-of-the-rotation starter for about $30M per year.

Or, they can keep Miggy for $10M, and try to improve the team via free agency with that $20M--assuming ownership thinks that any non-ARod free agent will increase the team's marketability and make it more likely to get its sweetheart stadium deal. There aren't many quality FA options out there.

An offense with ARod, Hanley, Uggla, Willingham and Hermida is pretty good. A rotation of Hughes, Dontrelle, Anabel, and Mitre, + junk could be league average.

I'm not saying they'd do it, but it wouldn't be completely off the wall in either a business sense OR a baseball sense.

6. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Griffin (Vlad) Posted: November 05, 2007 at 07:00 AM (#2605295)

"If the Fish were to trade Miggy for (hypothetically) Melky and Hughes..."

And how, exactly, are you robbing the Marlins in this fashion? Do you have a gun?

7. jonm Posted: November 05, 2007 at 07:37 AM (#2605300)

And how, exactly, are you robbing the Marlins in this fashion? Do you have a gun?

What non-Yankee package do you think that the Marlins will want for Cabrera?

8. what the hell, just use your initials or something Posted: November 05, 2007 at 07:52 AM (#2605307)

If you have the choice of getting a sandwich pick + another pick (bottom of the 1st round or top of the 2nd) OR getting Hughes or Bucholz, which would you pick?

I guess I'd pick Hughes or Buchholz. But the Marlins won't be getting Hughes or Buchholz. They could get Kennedy or Lester. But they wouldn't take Kennedy or Lester. That seems to pretty much settle things, doesn't it?

9. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Griffin (Vlad) Posted: November 05, 2007 at 08:18 AM (#2605316)

"What non-Yankee package do you think that the Marlins will want for Cabrera?"

I don't know, but I bet it'll be more than one good prospect and a young fourth outfielder. That's less than the Rangers got for Teixeira.

10. JJ1986 Posted: November 05, 2007 at 08:26 AM (#2605319)

What non-Yankee package do you think that the Marlins will want for Cabrera?

I'd try and get the Dodgers to give me Billingsley and Kemp. Anything less than that and it's not worth it.

11. what the hell, just use your initials or something Posted: November 05, 2007 at 08:41 AM (#2605330)

I bet it'll be more than one good prospect and a young fourth outfielder

If Melky Cabrera was the next Willie Mays, the Marlins would have zero interest, since he's only one year away from arbitration. You can almost write off any proposal that involves the Marlins taking back a player who has burned more than one year of service time. That doesn't mean they're going to take crap; it means they want what they got for Beckett -- guys ready to perform at a high level in MLB, but who haven't yet been in MLB.

12. Eddie Gaedel Posted: November 05, 2007 at 08:43 AM (#2605331)

Vlad, that actually reinforces my point.

If the Marlins can get two minimum wage guys ready to play in the bigs, say a #2-type starter and an above average OF, in return for Cabrera, then sign ARod for his ~$30M, they are getting (IMO) better value than giving $10M to a poor fielding 3B who plans to leave the organization ASAP and spending $20M on free agents.

As an aside, could the Fish skip ARod by offering Cabrera to the O's for Bedard and Tejeda, with no $$ changing hands? That seems awfully slanted in favor of the Fish, but Tejeda is coming off a subpar season and is on the block (again). There's talk that the O's won't be able to afford Bedard and are exploring other options...

Cabrera to SF for Lincecom + Lowry + position player? That'd shore up the pitching and free up the ARod money.

I don't know why I'm thinking about this so much--I don't give a crap about the Marlins.

13. Big Red Basketball (NJ) Posted: November 05, 2007 at 08:44 AM (#2605335)

I don't know, but I bet it'll be more than one good prospect and a young fourth outfielder. That's less than the Rangers got for Teixeira.

You honestly believe Hughes + Melky (which I agree would not get the job done) is less than what the Rangers for Teixeira? Really?

14. what the hell, just use your initials or something Posted: November 05, 2007 at 08:48 AM (#2605338)

There's talk that the O's won't be able to afford Bedard and are exploring other options...

If they can't afford Bedard, how can they afford Cabrera? If they can dump Tejada's contract, how can they not afford Bedard for at least a couple more seasons?

15. IronChef Chris Wok Posted: November 05, 2007 at 08:56 AM (#2605345)

You honestly believe Hughes + Melky (which I agree would not get the job done) is less than what the Rangers for Teixeira? Really?

Wasn't Salty regarded as savior of the Catcher position here at BBTF?

16. Big Red Basketball (NJ) Posted: November 05, 2007 at 09:02 AM (#2605355)

Wow...my apologies...for some reason I thought he meant what the Red Sox gave up for Gagne. Carry on.

17. bibigon Posted: November 05, 2007 at 09:02 AM (#2605356)

You honestly believe Hughes + Melky (which I agree would not get the job done) is less than what the Rangers for Teixeira? Really?

It's certainly not an absurd point of view.

18. AROM Posted: November 05, 2007 at 09:05 AM (#2605362)

There's talk that the O's won't be able to afford Bedard and are exploring other options...

Bedard is two years away from free agency. If you can't afford to pay him more than 7 years, 126 million like Zito got that's one thing.

But for the next two years any talk that they can't afford his arbitration price is 100% bullshette. This is a team that has no problem paying Aubrey Huff, Melvin Mora, Jay Payton, and Jay Gibbons, and they can't afford a pitcher who just had a Santana-type season for 1 year, 8-10 million? They just paid that much for Kris Benson and Jaret Wright to sit out all/most of the year. If Bedard is traded for anything less than 2 superprospects the time for revolution will be at hand.

19. Mike Emeigh

Posted: November 05, 2007 at 10:22 AM (#2605433)

The Marlins seem to have a fair number of guys with "attitude problems" at the major league level, for some reason.

All I can say about Cabrera is that the player depicted here is nothing like the player he was four years ago in AA, when he worked as hard as any player I've ever seen.

EDIT: Steve Phillips's last comment is spot-on.

-- MWE

20. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Griffin (Vlad) Posted: November 05, 2007 at 10:45 AM (#2605452)

My big concerns with Melky are that:

a) He never hits anything in the air, which makes it tough for me to give him much future power projection and
b) His physical frame looks like the body of a guy who's going to add bulk as he gets older, costing him his speed.

I'm open to the possibility that I'm wrong, of course, but that's how I see it right now.

21. galaxieboi Posted: November 05, 2007 at 04:05 PM (#2605816)

If I was a gifted, productive major league ballplayer who's relativly young and playing for a go-no-where team in front of 7k in Miami, I'd have an attitude problem too.

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PB Post: Marlins expected to shop Miquel Cabrera

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