Bruce Levine on ESPN 1000

[beck72]

On ESPN 1000 today, Bruce states that Swisher and Vazquez are the sox trade bait. He mentioned that the sox would like to trade Thome, Pk and Dye but the market isn't there for them.

 

He also mentions Brian Roberts as a guy the sox would like.

 

Take it FWIW.

[wilmot825]

Trade PK to put Swish at 1st

[knightni]

Yeah. Let's trade Swish while he's at his lowest value point.

[GreatScott82]

How does Levine know that there will be no market for Konerko and Dye? I know Thome probably wont have much of a market value, but Dye will have major value. The PK market will depend on where Texiera goes.

[Dick Allen]

How does Levine know that there will be no market for Konerko and Dye? I know Thome probably wont have much of a market value, but Dye will have major value. The PK market will depend on where Texiera goes.

38 year old DH's making $16 million a year usually don't have much of a market value. 1B who run about as fast full speed as Manny Ramirez when he was dogging in with the Red Sox, and is coming off a bad year and is owed $24 million usually don't have much of a market. Dye, I could see a market for, but he's only signed for one more year plus an option at a nice chunk of change. He's also slowing defensively, and probably will be a DH soon, no matter how much Hawk and DJ praised his glove in 2008.

 

BTW, I don't think this is any inside info Levine is preaching, just what he believes.

Edited October 25, 2008 by Dick Allen

[maggsmaggs]

38 year old DH's making $16 million a year usually don't have much of a market value. 1B who run about as fast full speed as Manny Ramirez when he was dogging in with the Red Sox, and is coming off a bad year and is owed $24 million usually don't have much of a market. Dye, I could see a market for, but he's only signed for one more year plus an option at a nice chunk of change. He's also slowing defensively, and probably will be a DH soon, no matter how much Hawk and DJ praised his glove in 2008.

 

BTW, I don't think this is any inside info Levine is preaching, just what he believes.

 

yeah, I mean who wouldn't want Brian Roberts. He is only one of the best players in the game. Anyone here could have told you the sox would explore trading Swish, Vaz, Thome, JD, Konerko. I don't believe anything right now we hear is truly inside information (maybe Stoney though) because the real stuff doesn't start until after the WS.

[Felix]

Trading Swish would be pretty stupid. He's still young and affordable, there's no reason to cut our losses quite yet.

[santo=dorf]

Trading Swish would be pretty stupid. He's still young and affordable, there's no reason to cut our losses quite yet.

So why did the A's trade him?

 

Just saying as I don't think these are valid reasons why not to trade him.

 

If the O's want him for Roberts, I'd do it.

 

We'd get a true leadoff hitter with power and he'll be a Type A free agent after the year. O's have been looking for a first baseman for a few years now and I can't see them land Teixeria

[Chisoxfn]

I think moving Thome could be a very good idea if the Sox could find a way to acquire a good young hitter since you could still have a pretty powerful lineup without an aging Thome. I could make the same case about moving a Dye or Konerko as well. But again, you got to get good market value for them.

[ptatc]

So why did the A's trade him?

 

Just saying as I don't think these are valid reasons why not to trade him.

 

If the O's want him for Roberts, I'd do it.

 

We'd get a true leadoff hitter with power and he'll be a Type A free agent after the year. O's have been looking for a first baseman for a few years now and I can't see them land Teixeria

 

To get young pitching.

[beck72]

So why did the A's trade him?

 

Just saying as I don't think these are valid reasons why not to trade him.

 

If the O's want him for Roberts, I'd do it.

 

We'd get a true leadoff hitter with power and he'll be a Type A free agent after the year. O's have been looking for a first baseman for a few years now and I can't see them land Teixeria

i could see the O's being interested in Swisher for Roberts. The O's don't want to go into rebuilding [taking the 2 draft picks when Roberts hits Free agency], and would get a nice player who had an off year. The sox probably have more faith in the new scouts and those 2 picks would be worth more or equal to Sweeney, Gio and DLS.

[beck72]

Levine did say that the sox weren't finding a market for the big three. It stands to reason, though I could see a team making a play for JD if that team misses on getting a big bat.

[beck72]

Trading Swish would be pretty stupid. He's still young and affordable, there's no reason to cut our losses quite yet.

The reason I could see the sox trading Swisher is Quentin. He's the middle of the order hitter the Sox thought they got when they traded for Nick. If the sox could get a nice player or two for Swisher [or for Roberts], why not.

[chg027]

Yeah. Let's trade Swish while he's at his lowest value point.

 

If Swish 2009 season is a repeat of 2008, his value will be so low you will not be able to give him away. I am not saying that will happen, but the risk is there. Who knows? Management may be willing to get 70 cents on the dollar for Swish and just move on.

[knightni]

If Swish 2009 season is a repeat of 2008, his value will be so low you will not be able to give him away. I am not saying that will happen, but the risk is there. Who knows? Management may be willing to get 70 cents on the dollar for Swish and just move on.

 

I'd be willing to take that risk.

 

By 2010, he will have the 1st base job.

 

.265 25 HR 80 RBI 90 BB is not out of the question for 2009, if he gets a starting job.

[witesoxfan]

I'd be willing to take that risk.

 

By 2010, he will have the 1st base job.

 

.265 25 HR 80 RBI 90 BB is not out of the question for 2009, if he gets a starting job.

 

.265 is pretty unreasonable seeing as how he's hit .260 just once in his career

[sircaffey]

.265 is pretty unreasonable seeing as how he's hit .260 just once in his career

 

I wouldn't say unreasonable. He is entering his "prime" and spent his career hitting in Oakland. I definitely could see Nick hitting .265 or close to it. I really think last year was just one of those outlying years, and Nick gets back to where his performance trends were going before the trade (up).

[ThunderBolt]

If Swish 2009 season is a repeat of 2008, his value will be so low you will not be able to give him away. I am not saying that will happen, but the risk is there. Who knows? Management may be willing to get 70 cents on the dollar for Swish and just move on.

We've done this dance. Swisher's 2008 was a statistical abnormality, and we fully expect him to reverse this, and continue along his traditional career norms. And they are, (through an entire season)

AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG *OPS+ TB SH SF IBB HBP GDP

 

561 94 137 31 1 28 86 2 2 91 143 .244 .354 .451 112 253 1 6 7 8 14

 

[greg775]

On ESPN 1000 today, Bruce states that Swisher and Vazquez are the sox trade bait. He mentioned that the sox would like to trade Thome, Pk and Dye but the market isn't there for them.

 

He also mentions Brian Roberts as a guy the sox would like.

 

Take it FWIW.

 

Is this reporter reliable? I mean I would think Swish and Vas are trade bait because they stunk this year. Why wouldn't the Sox want to dump their asses?

But it's still very early on the other 3. You wait, when it's snowing and sleeting and the memory of this season is gone, Thome and Dye are going to sound good to teams and their fans, maybe Paulie as well. s***, Jose Guillen sounded great to Royals fans last offseason.

Paulie actually finished pretty strong making me wonder why the f*** he couldn't adjust and turn it around earlier in the season.

Edited October 26, 2008 by greg775

[beck72]

Is this reporter reliable? I mean I would think Swish and Vas are trade bait because they stunk this year. Why wouldn't the Sox want to dump their asses?

But it's still very early on the other 3. You wait, when it's snowing and sleeting and the memory of this season is gone, Thome and Dye are going to sound good to teams and their fans, maybe Paulie as well. s***, Jose Guillen sounded great to Royals fans last offseason.

Paulie actually finished pretty strong making me wonder why the f*** he couldn't adjust and turn it around earlier in the season.

Levine has been around baseball quite a few years. While he has more inside info on the Cubs, he does have many contacts around the league. That he would be privy to some information about who and what names might be available, makes sense.

 

I think right now names are out there so other GM's know who might be available. A guy like Levine should know some of those names.

[beck72]

If Swish 2009 season is a repeat of 2008, his value will be so low you will not be able to give him away. I am not saying that will happen, but the risk is there. Who knows? Management may be willing to get 70 cents on the dollar for Swish and just move on.

That's a good point you raised. I'm of the mind that Swisher will improve. Yet Kenny already pointed out the "hole" Nick has in his swing. What if that "hole" isn't fixed? That might just have been a talking point to prospective GM's to take a chance on trading for him. The sox would then be stuck with a #8 hitting, good glove 1b, poor CFer, weak corner OFer.

 

My question is, why was/is Swisher's swing only correctable in the offseason [which Kenny stated in the media]? If his "hole" was recognized, why waste months of the year, losing games and making out afterout, without trying to remedy the swing? The sox probably tried to fix Swisher's swing and didn't have much luck, for whatever reason. That wouldn't bode well going into 2009. By the end, Swisher looked worse than Juan Uribe out there. If there is any chance on that happening again in 2009, no way should the sox "hope" he regains form. If an injury was responsible for him hitting the way he did, sure, chalk it up to that and give him another chance. But if it was mechanical or mental, no thanks.

 

To me, it sounds like the sox will cut bait on Swisher. Esp. with Quentin and Alexei breaking out the way they did. Some team will likely take a flier on him and the sox should get a decent return on him.

[BearSox]

How about Fields, Swisher, and Poreda for Matt Cain?

[Dick Allen]

I just think the "Swisher is signed to a reasonable contract" posts need to stop. Unless he picks it up, $5.3 million in 2009, $6.75 million in 2010 and $9 million in 2011 isn't reasonable for a guy who hit .189 on the road with an OPS of .595. His home stats seem right in line with what you would except or even exceed what you would expect. He was brutal on the road. Post All Star average .191 with a .298 OBP. This guy might be Brad Wilkerson.

[3E8]

Not only does Cain have one of the lowest GB% in baseball, but also continuously has one of the lowest HR per fly ball rates because of the home run suppressing NL West parks (sans Coors) he pitches in. If Cain pitched half his games in the most homer-friendly park in baseball, his numbers would not look nearly as nice. He's not a guy you trade Swisher, Poreda, and Fields for (not many guys in baseball I would trade so much for.)

[sircaffey]

How about Fields, Swisher, and Poreda for Matt Cain?

 

Yes please. Sure his flyball ratio was high last season, but it was much lower the season before. And besides, pitchers are not robots. They do not pitch the same way in every stadium. Cain would not fail at US Cellular Field. He just turned 24 a few weeks ago and is a legit ace in the making.