Lieber Now Rumored To Pirates

[Big Reed]

ESPN had a headline as part of its insider that said the pirates are now trying to obtain Lieber. Wow, the brewers and pirates in a bidding war for Lieber! I don't have ESPN insider, so I don't really know what the pirates may be offering. however, this is obviously why the other deal with mench and turnbo for lieber didn't go down as planned. the phillies are now playing the brewers against the pirates for the best deal possible.

 

So do the brewers ante up? or do they allow the pirates to acquire Lieber?

 

EDIT: Please don't put titles in all-caps.

-PF

[splitterpfj]

Pittsburgh is a team that has young starters and is looking for an outfielder, Philly kept Rowand and appears to be stuck with Burrell...maybe the Pirates would deal a pitcher to Milwaukee if this happened.

[sbrylski]

I think that the Lieber to Milwaukee trade (if the rumor was even true) would have been contingent on Rowand going back to Chicago. He didn't, so the Philles now have a full OF (Burrell - Rowand - Victorino) and probably would no longer have interest in our package.

 

I think the Lieber to Milwaukee "dream" is over.

[Big Reed]

here's the link from the pittsburgh paper.

 

www.post-gazette.com/pg/0...593-63.stm

 

it basically says that pittsburgh has $17 million to spend this off season, and is looking at trying to acquire a right handed starting pitcher. they have had zero luck trying to sign a FA, so they are now trying to trade for one. they plan to use their relief pitching depth to obtain Lieber- probably offering Gonzolez.

 

pittsburgh had offered gonzolez to the braves for first baseman laroche , but the deal fell through supposedly bcause pittsburgh was too slow on something and Atlanta filled their hole trading for Soriano.

 

so now - you are the phillies - wh would you rather have ? turnbow? or pittsburgh's Gonzolez?

 

the article said texas is another team after Lieber.

[billyhallfan]

I can't see PIT wanting to pay someone that much money for only one year. It makes sense for Milwaukee because they only need him for one year, but PIT could use him for a lot longer than that.

[bsglorydays]

This one appears to be dead. Philly supposedly asked for Mike Gonzalez and Solomon Torres. Too much to give up for one year of Lieber.

[TooLiveBrew]

From Rotoworld (Source: Philadelphia Inquirer)

Quote:

---

Although they haven't found a match so far, the Phillies still expect to trade Jon Lieber at some point. Assistant GM Ruben Amaro Jr. said it's unlikely the Phillies would carry six starters into spring training, and it seems like Lieber is the only one they have interest in moving. The Pirates were considering him, but they wouldn't give up either Mike Gonzalez or Salomon Torres. The Phillies would love to have the Twins involved because of the relief help they can offer, but Minnesota GM Terry Ryan isn't interested.

---

Ok, so why can't a deal be worked out between the Phils & Crew here? They want to move both Burrell and Lieber, and the Crew need a corner OF & SP. The Phils want relief help. So why not this deal? ('07 $$ in parentheses)

 

Jenkins (7 mil), Mench (appx. 3 mil), Turnbow (2.3 mil), &/or Aquino (380k)/Capellan (373k) (highest total $ = 13 mil)

 

for

 

Burrell (13 mil) & Lieber (7.5 mil)

 

 

That's a net savings of $7.8 million for Philly if it only took Aquino. If Capellan had to be added, it's $7.45 mil in savings for Philly.

 

This would give us two pieces to fill needs, and would result in getting two puzzle pieces at a cost of roughly $7-8 million. Lieber's contract expires after 2007, and Burrell's after 2008 (he's owed $14 mil in '07).

 

The only roadblock I see is Gillick wanting more value for Burrell, perhaps a SP. But I think the deal I've proposed is objectively fair, and based on the rumors of what Philly desires (for both players). The perception out there is that Gillick wants to move Burrell primarily for salary relief, but I know he won't just give him away.

[dadofandrew]

Doug is looking to add a reliever, not lose a pair.

[TooLiveBrew]

I know dadofandrew, but this is the kind of deal for which I would take that risk. Adding bullpen arms is the perhaps the cheapest form of player signing, and pen guys are easily inked to one-year deals. In addition, we'd still have Brady Clark to deal for a relief pitcher.

 

If, between Clark & a FA, we can add two arms back to the pen -- preferably one of them LH, this deal gets even better. I know this leans towards 'Everything falls into place', but I think I'm being objective & reasonable about the players involved

[tyguy20204]

All reports are that Burrell won't waive his no-trade clause except for a trade to a select few teams (I forget which ones, I imagine large-markets).

[TooLiveBrew]

Oh! That's right, thanks tyguy. In any event, from benmaller.com (a foxsports guy)

Quote:

---

The Phils thought righthander Jon Lieber might be able to fetch them a competent setup man, but so far nothing has been attractive enough for them to pull the trigger.

---

I find it hard to believe that if they're after Salomon Torres, that TBow as, at worst, a starting point in a trade, isn't "attractive"

[TooLiveBrew]

This from the article that both Rotoworld & benmaller.com cited

Quote:

---

Amaro (Phils Ast. GM) said it's unlikely the Phillies will carry six starters into spring training, an indication they think they will be able to get something done. Phillies general manager Pat Gillick often talks about trading from depth

---

So if they wanna shop Lieber for a reliever, why not TBow? I'm again confused.

 

Also, if they do trade Lieber for a reliever, does that make said player a relieber? Or does it just make me an idiot....