K-Rod (and cash) acquired; The cost? LH reliever Daniel Ray Herrera and low-A RHP Adrian Rosario

[yoshii8]

I figured Melvin would go after a reliever, but wow, this has definitely exceeded my expectations. I love it, much better than the Scott Linebrink trade.

[BrewerTerp]

gamel isn't a player to be named later. he is a player that would be named now.

[razzzorsharp]

On the Cards forum Thornburg was mentioned but it's just speculating.

 

http://interact.stltoday....&postorder=asc&&start=24

[topper09er]

Bottom of this article makes me doubt that there are ANY names on a list right now...

 

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/125465823.html

Best part of the article is the moron with the first comment:

 

"Sounds to me like there wont be a controversy. Axford get's the 8th inning. K-Rod is the new closer.

"

 

who doesn't understand the only reason we have him is so the Mets (and us, and every other major league team) can avoid vesting his option by not letting him finish games anymore (that often)

[FVBrewerFan]

They don't understand what this trade is about, thats why all these top prospects are being thrown out there. No way the PTBN are top prospects.

[Mr QL]

I'll wait and see what we give up. Renting him for 20 games kinda scares the crap out of me, Roenicke will probably use him that much in a month.

[endaround]

Think more along the lines of Farris, maybe Gindl. It will be someone not on the 40 man.

[azcheesehead]

Best part of the article is the moron with the first comment:

 

"Sounds to me like there wont be a controversy. Axford get's the 8th inning. K-Rod is the new closer. "

 

who doesn't understand the only reason we have him is so the Mets (and us, and every other major league team) can avoid vesting his option by not letting him finish games anymore (that often)

Harold Reynolds and Dan Plesac said the same thing. And Reynolds doesnt know that Ricki Weeks wont be a free agent after the season.

I thought Harold's head was going to explode.....

[bucksman4]

Bottom of this article makes me doubt that there are ANY names on a list right now...

 

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/125465823.html

Best part of the article is the moron with the first comment:

 

"Sounds to me like there wont be a controversy. Axford get's the 8th inning. K-Rod is the new closer.

"

 

who doesn't understand the only reason we have him is so the Mets (and us, and every other major league team) can avoid vesting his option by not letting him finish games anymore (that often)

Agree 100%. Ax has been awesome as closer and the vesting option withstanding, he would have remained the closer based on his performance thus far IMO regardless.

[Glennron]

Kind of funny to me that (I'm guessing) the main/only reason Kotsay is kept around is cause of the "good clubhouse guy" and veteran presence and all that, but Melvin doesn't mind bringing in a guy who punched out his girlfriend's dad.

[ecjimg]

Best part of the article is the moron with the first comment:

 

"Sounds to me like there wont be a controversy. Axford get's the 8th inning. K-Rod is the new closer. "

 

who doesn't understand the only reason we have him is so the Mets (and us, and every other major league team) can avoid vesting his option by not letting him finish games anymore (that often)

Harold Reynolds and Dan Plesac said the same thing. And Reynolds doesnt know that Ricki Weeks wont be a free agent after the season.

 

[FVBrewerFan]

Now I'm greedy. I want more than Furcal at SS.

[And That]

I'm hearing Mat Gamel is one of the PTBNL

I'm hearing crickets, because that isn't happening.

 

I'd guess two guys along the lines of Chris Dennis and Dan Merklinger.

[azcheesehead]

People on here weren't too much better on the first few pages of this thread.

[jerichoholicninja]

Let's say Axford blows out his shoulder the first game after the break. Does K-Rod close?

[FVBrewerFan]

Think more along the lines of Farris, maybe Gindl. It will be someone not on the 40 man.

Farris maybe, not Gindl. Melvin likes him, and I don't think he needs to give up someone that good. Maybe Katin? Always been surprised nobody wants him in any of these deals. He could put up some numbers for a few teams.

[DatHoser]

A tweet by Jim Bowden of ESPN brings up a great point - Heath Bell's value just went up. Not only do we get quality pitching, Melvin just raised the price for our competitors. Nice....

[Raw Biz]

Sometimes (well usually) the casual fan really annoys the hell out of me. Obviously the jsonline comments are full of uninformed people but there are those over there hoping we didn't have to give up Jungmann or Bradley. That obviously wouldn't be allowed. Also, like others have said, this trade is about finding someone to take on the salary so that in itself is the most valuable part of this trade for the Mets. I highly doubt a Green/Gamel/Thornburg is included. Most likely low to mid-tier prospect like Farris/Gennett or one of our 43 LF/1B types.

[HiAndTight]

No, no,no. It won't be anyone near the level of Thornburg or Rivas. As others have said this is about cash. I would be doing cartwheels if KRod was a lefty. As it is, we have another guy who can't get LH hitters out. As with Loe, if he's used right he can help. Still think they need a lefty in the pen.

 

By the way, I was downstairs and my son was shouting down "the Brewers just got ARod!!! the Brewers got Arod!!! Its on ESPN!!!" You never saw a 44 yr old out of shape guy jump and run to the laptop as fast as I did....lol

He's been pretty damn tough on lefties for his career. Not sure why you think he can't get them out.

He can't this year, and that's far more relevant to me. I could see him improve though with a change of scenery. Going from a team dead all year to a team in a pennant race may help.

Well, I'm not going to take a tiny sampling of games and put more stock into that than a pitchers entire history.

 

He's got what, 30-35 innings in this year? Pretty insignificant when you're talking about his splits.

[endaround]

Let's say Axford blows out his shoulder the first game after the break. Does K-Rod close?

No. Not unless Saito and Hawkins also get injured.

[topper09er]

gamel isn't a player to be named later. he is a player that would be named now.

This is the key, whenever you see PTBNL it means a team is really making a move for money reasons but doesn't want to it admit to their fan base, or they want to acquire a player currently injured but don't want to admit that to their fans either. If Gamel/Thornberg was the player the Mets would have named him right away and taken it back to their fans and say here look, we got this great guy in return.

[Yeti73]

I did not see this coming. It was easy to predict that the K-Rod deal at the outset was a team overspending for a reliever. We're getting to cherry pick here and I am impressed. The only worry is that this probably wouldn't have been done if they were confident in Saito's health. I think they are betting either Hawk or Saito is probably going to breakdown, so depth is huge.

 

He's not the model citzen, but it is only three months...

[Rob]

Let's say Axford blows out his shoulder the first game after the break. Does K-Rod close?

That is an awesome question. My head just exploded.

 

 

[bucksman4]

Can't wait to hear the Brewers' players reactions to this move. Prince and Braun will be pumped!

[Tbadder]

I don't mean this to be sarcastic in any way. If we just got K-Rod on the cheap, how does that make Bell more expensive? Doesn't taking a team who needs a reliever out of the equation create a smaller, less expensive market?