Another Trade

[Guest]

I have Jason Kendall and I-Rod, I need homers and ribs real bad. I currently play I-rod at Catcher and Kendall in the outfield. I'd like to move one of them for an OF.


I've been offered:

I-Rod and Ishii

for

Juan Gone and Leiter

[AirTimid]

Hasn't Gonzalez be injured AND awful?

[Arlo]

You can certainly do better for I-Rod. With catcher being so thin, another team is bound to give you a better deal.

[timkell]

I agree with the posts, but I thought I'd point out that swinging Ishii in your deal might be a good idea. With his control problems, it just seems like he's bound to collapse sooner or later. His luck has to run out. Getting rid of Ishii for a great veteran like Leiter would be nice. At the same time, you should be able to get more than Juan Gone for I-Rod. Look at the starting catchers on teams in your league. Anyone sporting a name other than Piazza, I-Rod or Posada would love trade up to them. Don't let them fool you with that injury talk. They want him. They just won't admit it!

At the same time, I expect I-Rod's power to return. You won't get more power at catcher, unless you get Piazza or Posada. He's had his injury for the year. Try to trade him if you want, but I'd shoot for someone on the level of Pujols at least.

[Guest]

Thank you very much and I apprecite your replies.

I truly wasn't expecting that kind of response. I kind of thought Juan for I-Rod was slightly unfair in my favor, so I was making up for it by trading Ishii, for old, tired (but relatively dependable) Leiter. (Doesn't Leiter have some arm troubles?)

Juan Gone, since coming back from his injury, has been pretty productive, whereas Pudge hasn't hit one homerun yet. Doesn't that bother you guys at all? I'm not trying to disagree with you, as much as I am looking for a new insight. It seems to me I-Rod and J-Gonz both have a pretty good chance of either notching big production (with Juan with more HR and RBI potential) or being chronically injured the whole season.

Plus, in a league with only ten teams, catcher isn't that thin. LoDuca, Kendall, Barrett, Fick, hell even, Benito and A.J. Pierzynski havn't been that bad. Yes, I-Rod may offer power for a catcher, but I kind of wanted a true power hitter, a 40-50 HR type. Pudge will probably have about 20 HR's this season.

also, is it just me or does Ishii seem like a time bomb waiting to go off. He has 11 wins but he scares the daylights out of me.

Just looking for you guy's thoughts. What power hitter do you think would be better. What is Ishii worth?

[Arlo]

Well, different appraisals and opinions are part of the fun of this game...

I-Rod and Gonzalez are both question marks, but I'd much rather have Rodriguez. Both seem to be moving in the right direction, but Gonzalez just doesn't seem like the same mvp-caliber player we used to know. With so much talent at of, I'd say he's too much of a gamble. Even if you like the deal, it wouldn't hurt to contact those Pierzynski or Santiago owners (not to mention frustrated Lieberthal owners) and see what kind of return you could get.

I agree about Ishii resembling the proverbial ticking bomb. We knew when he came over before the season that he wasn't a control pitcher (minor aside: why is it that Japan has lots of excellent control pitchers, but the starters who come to the US always bring a reputation for being erratic with them?), but this is more stress on his owners' nerves - not to mention Dodgers fans - than we ever imagined. It's amazing how much he's gotten away with so far. timkell's right - a package of Ishii/I-Rod for a starter and a solid bat would look very good. He could still turn it around, of course - he's shown great smarts and poise. However, if you can find a good offer based on his wins, I'd move him.

Leiter's been on-again off-again, but I'm not aware of any injury. He did adjust his delivery slightly recently, though. I think he'd make an upgrade from Ishii. Finding a solid bat seems more important, however.

[Guest]

you guys would trade ishii for beurhle wouldn't you?

[Arlo]

I'm not quite as high on Buehrle as some, but yes, I'd make that deal.

[Guest]

Arlo, you were right about Leiter, I had read a TSN blurb last week where they were speculating about his "oft-injured" pitching arm, but had no hard evidence of a problem.


Just curious, why aren't you that high on Beuhle?

[Arlo]

Some of the things written about him before this season (including some rankings) were simply a bit out of proportion. I think he's a very good pitcher, quite possibly an excellent pitcher, but not in the top echelon as some were suggesting.