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Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Bavasi Still Looking for an Ace

posted by Jon

It's been a slow day today, but I decided to poke around and see if I could find anything worth passing along.

KOMO's Shannon Drayer has posted today that Seattle GM Bill Bavasi is still trying to acquire an "elite starter" via trade. (Decent read, check it out)

Nothing too significant in the entry, but encouraging nonetheless. Many fans seem to assume that Bavasi has dropped out of the Bedard race after last week's events, but obviously the talks just stalled and it's back to the drawing board.

Drayer did mention that Cincinnati has seemingly pulled out of the Bedard race, which makes the New York Mets' interest in Johan Santana much more interesting.

Many sources have the Mets as the new favorite to come away with the two-time Cy Young award winner. If they can seal the deal and bring Santana to Shea Stadium then it would appear that Seattle has a better shot at Erik Bedard. The Mariners would be the lone team targeting Bedard at that point and the price could come down just enough to get a deal done. I would expect a final attempt by the Reds, but they have been much more stubborn than Seattle thus far.

The Mets impact is all speculation with a lot of variables, but it seems to add up. Thoughts?

UPDATE (7:02 AM - 1/24) - Prospect Insider's sidebar is saying that the two sides are in a staring contest, as each team is waiting for the other to blink. Churchill mentions than if it doesn't get done this weekend it won't get done at all, so hopefully we'll know once and for all within a week or so.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sell Jones, we have Balentin!

Scott Weber said...

Balentin can't play defense.

Anonymous said...

Balentien is not a defensive liability.

Average range and a strong arm.

Scott Weber said...

The jury is out. Some scouting reports are more favorable than others. I bet you also thought Jose Guillen was not a defensive liability, but he actually ranked 4th worst at his position in the bigs.

Anonymous said...

eh i dunno how much stock i put into those defensive ratings. it is not a perfected science just yet, in my opinion, but interesting nonetheless.

guillen was super slow in the outfield last year, but his above average arm made up some of the difference (not all of it). he was able to hold some runners.

i have also heard that Wlad has average/above average range and a pretty good arm. despite being a big guy he played center field as recently as 2006 (i think.. just off the top of my head). his future is in left field, but at this stage in his career he could be a viable defender.

Anonymous said...

Actually I'd just appreciate you not assuming what I think.

Guillen was a huge defensive liability due mostly to his lack of range. Pretty strong arm, but not all that accurate.

There are scouting reports on Balentien and there are also those, like myself, who have seen plenty of him in Tacoma to form their own opinions.

Balentien would be a better defender than most of the remaining outfield free agents, that's for sure.

Anonymous said...

jp: do you follow a lot of minor league ball?

Anonymous said...

I keep up with the M's prospects and try to make as many games as I can in Tacoma.

Just mainly look at the numbers of guys and don't suscribe to any pay-sites with scouting reports though I do read the freely available ones.

Certainly have zero scouting abilities, and no real desire to do any in-depth writing about them.

I'll offer my opinion on guys I see in Tacoma and what I make of numbers in the lower levels, but I'm no more qualified than anyone else out there.

Plenty of other people out there whose opinions I trust more than my own.

Anonymous said...

Well you read my mind. Fair enough.

Thanks for hanging around and contributing with your comments, both here and over at Caf Confines.

Dustin Shires said...

Jon. I've heard his future is in right. Proto-right field with his strong arm and plus-power bat.