Pierre, Mench, Soriano on Thier Way To The Windy City...

Hard to believe, most likely because we don't want to, but it appears that these three players may be making their way to the North Side of town sometime next week. In what was a hard-to-believe article posted on yahoo.com it was reported that not only were the Cubs imminantly signing Rafael Furcal to a 6 yr deal worth up to $100 million, but that they were going to deal for both 2B Alfonso Soriano and OF Kevin Mench from Texas. In this deal the Cubs would be sending 2B Todd Walker, SP Jerome Williams, RHP David Aardsma, SS Ronny Cedeno, and another minor league prospect to Texas for what is possibly the most overrated 2B in Major League Baseball and overall average outfielder. Soriano is a below-average defender - even worse than Todd Walker - and Mench is just average, meaning we would actually lower the quality of the fielding for next season. Instead of going into alot of stats I'll just look at winshares for these two: Soriano had 16 and Mench 13 last season. In comparasion, Todd Walker had 14 and Jer-O-my Burnitz had 17. Imagine my shock when I found out that there apparently are players less valuable than my buddy Jer-O-my.

I, in all honesty, cannot believe that Trader Jim would be dumb enough to push this trade through as the Rangers would be getting a hell of a deal here. The only thing Soriano is good for is hitting HR's and stealing bases - he doesn't walk, his BA has dropped every year since 2000 to .268 last year, he strikes out over 120 times a year, and he's gonna be making $10 million plus a year. Having only 16 win shares while hitting 36 HR's and stealing 39 bases seems impossible but it's true(tops in MLB was Kent with 30). The last comment is the worst of all. At around $5 million a year, Soriano is a good sign, but at nearly a $10 million a year multiyear deal when his batting skills have been on the decline, well....

On top of everything else in this deal, they are both righthanded bats meaning the Cubs would put out a lineup of all righties minus patterson/pierre, whoever is playing CF. Talk about being one-sided, although that type of lineup did not hurt us in 2003. However couple this trade rumour with the outrageous talk of giving Furcal $100 million, even if only in possible incentives, this leads me to believe that this article is bogus and that the author is just trying to float a rumour without legs - something which will make him look like he had the scoop.

Now a trade which appears to be near completion is the trade for Florida CF Juan Pierre. In this deal minor league pitcher Renyel Pinto, A major-league ready reliever (Novoa, Van Buren, etc.), and another minor leaguer not named Pie, Hill, Murton, Cedeno, or Guzman will be going to the Fighting Fish. This deal was reported on the Score during this last week as being near completed, however AM 1000 did the same thing earlier this month and nothing came of that.

Let me get this out right now, I do not like Pierre as a major league baseball player. He is subpar defensively with one of the worst outfield arms in the league, if not the worst. For a guy with his kind of speed he managed to maintain the worst CF zone factor in 2005. His OBP also dipped to .326 this year which is not very good - especially for a leadoff hitter. The major question is if his decline last year was a fluke or a trend. If we had to take one of the top of the order guys from the Marlins I would much rather have Luis Castillo, but he probably will not be available. The only way I like this trade is if Furcal is signed so Pierre would bat second coupled with the signing of Giles to play RF as someone will have to have an arm in the OF next year. I do like that Pierre has shown past ability to get on base, and can steal once he's on, but his atrocious defense makes me wary of adding him to an outfield that already has an average at best defender in LF.

Now if we miss on Furcal that changes everything as the need for a leadoff man will increase. Florida also seems to be waiting on pulling the trigger of this deal because they think once Johnny Damon signs the market will go up for Pierre. While probably true they won't be pulling any better prospects than they're already getting from the Cubs as they appear to already be overpaying for Pierre's services. Florida was also rumored to be ready to not offer aribtration to Pierre on the Dec. 7th deadline, but that will probably change with his new market value.

Toronto getting a BJ'

The Blue Jays just overinflated the closer market the other day as they signed B.J Ryan to a 5yr/$47 mil deal. Now I realize that Toronto usually has to overpay to get guys to cross the border and play in Skydome, but jeez, this is a huge deal. Maybe it has something to do with the $4 mil deals Hendry handed out last week as well, but this will most likely up Billy Wagners demands of his new deal. This contract is the largest ever handed out to a relief pitcher in overall terms breaking the record of Mariano Rivera's 4yr/$39.95 mil deal 5 years ago. Although Ryan had an outstanding last few seasons he only closed last year and hasn't proven over time to me to garner such a large dollar amount per year. Even with this contract Toronto is looking to add a lot more payroll, offering A.J. Burnett 5yr/$50 mil and seeming very interested in trading for OF Kevin Mench and Brewers 1B Lyle Overbay. Former Closer Miguel Bastita will now hit the trade market and was rumored in a deal to Texas for Mench (also making that above article seems like garbage).

Chuckling wildly....

I can't get enough of Scott Boras. Not because I think he's great, but because he always throws himself into the idea that his free agents are Gods among men. Check out this article where he compares CF Johnny Damon to FA OF Brian Giles and then to the immortal Cal Ripken - stating that Damon was the new Ironman even though hes only played in more than 155 games twice in his carrer and has never played a full season (although he does play a lot of games every year).

I just wonder how this guy sleeps at night, I mean besides on piles and piles of money and next to many beautiful ladies.

Roundup...

- Guillermo Mota was added to the Beckett deal while the Red Sox sent another minor leaguer Florida's way, giving Boston an even better deal than before.

- Japanese Catcher Kenji Jojima finally signed with the Mariners a while back and I forgot to mention it. He got 3 years and a bit over $16 million.

- David Kelton has apparently signed a minor league deal with Atlanta after he was granted free Agency

- The Bobby Howry signing I talked about came to fruition, to the same terms I had previously mentioned.

- Carlos Delgado and $7 million was traded to the New York Mets for NY's top pitching prospect Yusiermo Petit and 1B prospect Mike Jacobs. Great deal for the Mets unless Delgado sulks and demands a trade after one season ala Javier Vazquez. One reason Delgado didn't sign with NY last season was that he felt slighted and degraded at the way early negotiations went.

- The Palehosers picked up 1B/DH Jim Thome and $22 million from the Phillies for OF Aaron Rowand and two lefties minor league pitchers, Gio Gonzalez and Daniel Haidwood. This is an iffy trade and can go both ways. I'll have more on these last two deals in a different column.

Obligitory Brian Giles Request...

Speaking of win shares, guess who lead all MLB outfielders in that catergory this past season. That's right, you guessed it, Brian Giles(ironically only one better than the man San Diego traded for him, Jason Bay). Why we don't have a standing 3 yr/$30 million offer to this guy I do not know. I guess Trader Jim won't be happy till he signs Preston Wilson to play RF and I kill myself.