The media has glorified the closer to ‘rock star’ status—stupid

Even if Rockies decline his 5.4 mil, he could get that in arbitration…if they don’t resign him before free agency starts, they will decline arbitration. The Red Sox will not spend 7+ mil on a set up guy like Wagner, so he will be available. Other baseball experts have said more teams will decline arbitration than ever before this offseason, so we’ll have to see what happens.

That said, everyone talks about not trading Brignac for a reliever. I don’t think anyone is suggesting trading him for a Sherril-type reliever. And I understand anyone even trying to trade him for Padres Heath Bell.

But Soria? Seriously? You are not just trading for anyone but a top-3 closer. And not just that, but one that is under team control on the cheap for the next 4 seasons. That has huge value for a team on a budget. The only way you get a player of that talent for under control for that many seasons is typically if you draft him.

If Soria is available, he fills a need, fills it cheaply, then why not? Unless you are getting a top flight catcher for Briggy, then why not get an impact arm? Again, don’t trade him for just any reliever, but if you can get the best…i don’t see how you don’t do it.

where we were in the middle of that three way

sometimes Lady Luck is on your side

Instead of swapping Barnese for bullpen help, could anyone see him being involved in a catcher trade. Any names that pop out for young catchers that might be available? Hanigan, Morales, Ramos, etc.?

Issues with some of the discussion threads.

Rule 1 is colored by which are offered arb – no offer, no comp. And a number of the Type A’s won’t get offered. Then it becomes a question of cost, which rises w/o an arb offer. But I don’t see offers being made to Dotel, Valverde, Hawkins, or Gregg, and maybe not to Wagner, Betancourt, or Soriano.

Rule 2 applies to any small/mid market team hoping to contend – gotta take risk/reward chances.

Rule 3 – largely agree, but lower level prospects don’t carry guarantees, so moving a guy like Barnese for a key piece can make sense. But the lower level guys rarely carry the trade value being espoused here, unless for a guy a team needs to move for financial reasons. For example, the R-Sox just moved a guy for Hermida who arguably was one of the top starters in the NYP league, when Fla clearly wanted to move Hermida’s salary, along with a majors ready LRP.

And to be fair – Josh Bell might turn out to Josh Fields, or worse, Chad Hermanson. He doesn’t carry a guarantee either. Unless you can actually see the future, the analysis of that deal remains TBD, but the Dodgers were thinking in the present. They were going for the big prize, so sometimes such a deal makes sense, long term be damned. If all deals are done with only long term implications in mind, there might not be short term opportunities on which to capitalize.

To me the Rays face 2 development issues going forward. Obviously player / team development. But perhaps more importantly, market development. Since most fans don’t parse moves with the surgical precision we might prefer, always tossing off the iconic players of a franchise when the cost rises can impede fan identification with the club. Winning is the top driver of attendance, but recognizable players contribute. I’m not suggesting keeping expensive non-contributors, but player retention has some value. Few casual fans root for their GM more than their players, unlike some here.

Further, I wonder if CC’s trade value is as high as thought. I’m not saying he doesn’t have significant value, and he should be able to return very useful pieces for the puzzle,particularly C or 1B near ready prospects Sure, he’d make a fine replacement for Damon. But how many places does he fit? He doesn’t profile completely as a lead-off guy, and doesn’t seem to want to be that. He doesn’t have mid line up power. And he won’t be cheap. Great speed, great defense, and solid offense, but…

Rose colored glasses make the world look pretty, but fantasy remains merely that in trade dreams.