bush & gamel for james shields & ptbnl?

[Crash2303]

With Hellickson up, it looks like Shields will be the odd man out of the rotation. Bush has actually pitched better this year than Shields and would be an upgrade for them as they continue the pennant chase, especially while Niemman and Davis are on the 15 day DL. and Gamel will provide them with a cheap 1B alternative for years to come.

Shields has been a solid/great pitcher his whole career save this year which has been an off year for sure, 4.91 ERA. But, most of his peripherals are close to what they've been last year. He has pitched over 200 innings each full season he's been in the league. and is likely to bounce back. He would give us a solid #3 guy behind Gallardo and whoever we get for Prince. Bush & Shields make about the same, except i believe Shields would be under contract for 2 more years.

General Contract details below:

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3210698

then we could pick up in free agency either a 1b/3b/of, for 2 years until Lawrie is ready, which'll be easier to find than a SP.

[Crash2303]

we would need to pursue a 1B, OF, or 3B free agent and then postionally move mcghee or hart if needed. these are the FAs that i think could be a decent 2 yr stopgap until Lawrie is ready, in order of priority:

Jayson Werth

Victor Martinez

Jason Kubel

Michael Cuddyear

Brandon Inge

Ty Wiggington

Nick Johnson

Jonny Gomes

Troy Glaus

[And That]

While Gamel is a guy that would probably interest the Rays, the odds of Shields getting through waivers are low, as are the chances they'd have interest in Bush starting games for them down the stretch.

[Crash2303]

maybe hoffman or Riske would be of more value to them instead of Bush.

 

or even after the season: Gamel & ptbnl for Shields

[And That]

Mat Gamel isn't going to come close to netting Shields. The other player would have to be significant, though I'm not sure why he'd be a PTBNL.

[MNBrew]

Don't know how you can trade Bush this winter when he'll be a FA -- I made the same incorrect assumption in a previous thread.

 

With Prince not likely to re-sign after 2011, I see Gamel as a young & potent bat they need to hang onto.

 

I do see Tampa as a team with good SPs to spare, relatively speaking. With Burrell gone & Pena a FA this winter, too (I believe), and therefore a potential opening at 1B for next year, Tampa & the Brewers could be a good match. . . . .Fielder for Garza/plus, which has been discussed somewhere in the massive Fielder trade thread (I think).

[nate82]

I do see Tampa as a team with good SPs to spare, relatively speaking. With Burrell gone & Pena a FA this winter, too (I believe), and therefore a potential opening at 1B for next year, Tampa & the Brewers could be a good match. . . . .Fielder for Garza/plus, which has been discussed somewhere in the massive Fielder trade thread (I think).

The Brewers would have to pay about 75% of Fielder's contract for next year for that trade to work. The Rays are not adding onto their payroll so that eliminates any Fielder trade with the Rays unless the Brewers are willing to eat a lot of Fielders salary. Another team for Fielder would be the Nationals though they could just stick Willingham at 1B if Dunn leaves though that won't be an ideal situation.

[HiAndTight]

While Gamel is a guy that would probably interest the Rays, the odds of Shields getting through waivers are low, as are the chances they'd have interest in Bush starting games for them down the stretch.

I don't think Bush would have any chance to start for them down the stretch. They very well may have 10 starting pitching prospects in the system right now who are better than Bush.

 

It's beginning to be almost a joke with that franchise. To be honest, I thought they were going to be a team with a very short window and once they stopped picking atop the draft, they'd fall off, but man alive they got an INCREDIBLE amount of talented young power arms.

 

Matthew Moore, a guy who led MILB in K's last year and has a career K Per 9 of 12.8, throws 95-96 as a lefty and has three potential plus or plus-plus pitches is probably...what, their 8th or 9th best starting pitcher right now? That teams just going to keep churning out these aces at an heretofore unprecedented rate.

 

 

AS for Gamel, I think he'd have a lot of interest to that team with the impending departure of Carlos Pena and a questionable situation at DH, but I wouldn't trade him for Shields straight up. Not by a long shot. I'm still, despite being in the minority, 100 pct convinced he's going to become a .300/.385/.500 with 25-35 HR potential left handed bat for us. I would love to see him manning 3rd and hitting 2nd for us for the foreseeable future.

 

In fact, the prospect of a Weeks/Escobar/Gamel/Braun/Lawrie/Hart/Cain/Lucroy 1-8. We don't have the Prince bat in there, but I believe that 1-8, we should have a much more consistent lineup without any glaring holes in it.

[Crash2303]

definitely agree with your assessment of the future lineup. much more consistency. especially if Gamel and Lawrie fulfill anywhere near there projections. i actually think it is not unreasonable to think that our team HR total is going to drop that significantly either next year. i could see weeks getting even better offensively, escobar improving, lucroy improving, cain instead of gomez, braun recovering his power stroke, and with gamel in the mix to balance the power loss from fielder.