Anyone working for the Cardinals organization has been told to keep all mouths shut as there apparently is some big news on a couple of fronts ready to happen in St. Louis. According to mlb trade rumors.com and espn though I have not confirmed a source, the Cardinals are one phone call away from securing and signing AJ Burnett as a free agent. Also, even bigger, the Cards have 3 trade rumors on the table with 2 of them I have found to be legitimate. Cards and Phillies have been in discussion about Marquis and Wainright to Philly for Bobby Abreu and cash. Thought to have no merit, this rumor has been confirmed and discussions have been made. Also, a second trade rumor that is legitimate is sending su Marquis to Cincinnati for Ken Griffey Jr where Cards would move him to a corner spot. Third rumor out there is Cano and Wang to Cards for Jim Edmonds which as of now has been proven to be credible. It looks that AJ may sign sometime this week with Cards pulling trigger on 1 of 2 above trades or variations of with same results as another trade discussion is 4 team with Phils,Cards,Texas, and Oakland with Abreu to Cards, Zito to Phils, Marquis to Rangers along with top pitching prospects, with A's getting Anthony Reyes and Soriano. Also rumor Cards will sign Dotel to set up for Izzy. If any of these things actually happen, I know as a Cards fan I would be ecstatic except for Edmonds as hope he retires with the birds on the bat.
might be a fun battle in the central if the Cubs can secure Furcal and add another arm and an OFer or 2. Cubs have addressed the Bullpen problems with the signings of Eyre and Howry and all of a sudden the Bullpen goes from a weakness to a strength. Cards are the top dog, 2 straight division titles. Hopefully the Cubs can compete with them next year and make it a race to the finish. Astros likely right in the mix as well.
Journeyman said:
If his deal is anything like most deals, than he is making a ton of cash this final season.
The A's have traded away Jason Giambi, Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder, Miguel Tejada, and countless others because they do not want to have big contracts. I just don't see them taking on even a year of Soriano's massive contract.
Mark Ellis is still young and hit .316 last season with a great BB/K ratio which Beane loves.
I would put a -5000 on this trade not happening.
Its not that they don't want to pay players, they can't afford to, simple as that, this team does it with smoke and mirrors better than any organization in sports.
MLB refuses to address the fact 5 or so teams have a huge advantage over the Oakland A's type teams...and rob these teams of their star players.
Soriano was playing under a one year contract with an option, this is his final season before he can become a free agent. No way does it make any sense for the A's to make this trade they will never re-sign him, although they do very well with draft picks that they will get in return once he leaves them.
Give them credit, they do what they can to win....and don't be surprised when they go 30-5 again this july and august, at some point.
MLB refuses to address the fact 5 or so teams have a huge advantage over the Oakland A's type teams...and rob these teams of their star players.
Soriano was playing under a one year contract with an option, this is his final season before he can become a free agent. No way does it make any sense for the A's to make this trade they will never re-sign him, although they do very well with draft picks that they will get in return once he leaves them.
Give them credit, they do what they can to win....and don't be surprised when they go 30-5 again this july and august, at some point.
Journeyman said:
Hey I love the A's. It would be nice if they could get Soriano get he's not an A's type of player and doesn't have an A's type of salary.
I actually was being paid to do a preseason writeup of Oakland this past season for a big name sports site. Anyway, I did it very well and very detailed and then the guy stiffed me and said they couldn't put it on their site because I predicted the A's to be over .500 and compete for a wildcard spot and all the "experts" at the company KNEW that there was no chance of that happening.
Bastards. Anyway, it would be nice but I doubt it will happen.
jakethompson said:
Soriano salary figures<TABLE cellSpacing=2 cellPadding=2 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>2001</TD><TD>New York Yankees</TD><TD align=right>$630,000</TD></TR><TR><TD>2002</TD><TD>New York Yankees</TD><TD align=right>$630,000</TD></TR><TR><TD>2003</TD><TD>New York Yankees</TD><TD align=right>$800,000</TD></TR><TR><TD>2004</TD><TD>Texas Rangers</TD><TD align=right>$5,400,000</TD></TR><TR><TD>2005</TD><TD>Texas Rangers</TD><TD align=right>$7,500,000</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Journeyman said:What??? I admire the hometown fan in you...but you just listed several huge ifs.
""might be a fun battle in the central if the Cubs can secure Furcal and add another arm and an OFer or 2""
far from huge if's. Furcal will be Cub. They love Ronnie Cedeno at 2nd Base, so Todd Walker will be on the blocks. Just like Kojak has with the Cards, there are alot of rumors surrounding the Cubs for OF (Wilkerson, Bradley, Gathright, etc.) They have a very solid bullpen and 6 starters (Zambrano, Prior, Maddux, Jerome Williams, Rusch, and Wood). The extra arm would be added insurance for Wood or if Jerome Williams is included in a trade.
edub69 said:
I cannot disagree with this. Cubs pitchers were supposed to be the strength of this team, but it hasnt worked out like that.
While Prior has been injury prone, some of those injuries have been flukes. Running into Marcus Giles put him on the DL for a while. Last year he took a linedrive off his pitching arm that put him down for a while. Still think he could be a 20 game winner.
You know what your going to get from Maddux. He will keep in you in most every game, have an era around 4, and win 12-16 ball games.
Jerome Williams is still very young. I loved the way he finished out last season, 2.39 era over his last 6 starts. If the Cubs dont use him in a trade, he could be a fine #4 starter, winning 15 games wouldnt be out of the question.
Rusch/Wood is the major question mark. I dont trust Rusch as an everyday starter. I think he is perfect as middle relief/spot starter. Not sure what will happen with Wood. Cubs shouldnt be relying on him for anything. If he does come back healthy, and is somewhat successful either as a starter or reliever, then great!, but it shouldnt be expected.
cubsmac I dont doubt whether or not he becomes a Cub, was just joking...you listed like 3-4 things as if it were that easy...Cubs fans, of all people should know better.
BTW- the Atlanta fans seem to think he's staying put....so we shall see.
Maddux is a .500 pitcher now, Woods and Prior add up to 20 wins , total!
Jerome Williams hasn't done much, he looked like he was going to be a solid starter wen he came up with SF, and Rusch is iffy at best.
BTW- the Atlanta fans seem to think he's staying put....so we shall see.
Maddux is a .500 pitcher now, Woods and Prior add up to 20 wins , total!
Jerome Williams hasn't done much, he looked like he was going to be a solid starter wen he came up with SF, and Rusch is iffy at best.
