Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
November 20, 2007
Trade Speculation

The Angels trade of Orlando Cabrera unleashed speculation that LAnaheim will go after Miguel Cabrera or Miguel Tejada.

The Angels' focus this offseason has been on the Marlins' Cabrera, and they reportedly are one of the front-runners, along with the Los Angeles Dodgers, for landing the slugging third baseman.

But if they can't, Tejada could become a priority in a market that already has lost Alex Rodriguez and Mike Lowell, who are close to returning to the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, respectively.

Today's trade gives the Angels a surplus of starting pitching, and they also have a boatload of position and pitching prospects to use in any potential deal. At this point, the Angels appear ready to hand over the shortstop position to Aybar.

"We're dealing from a position of strength, and we're confident that we'll be able to get the bat that we're looking for," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said from his California home tonight. "We're very confident in the position that we're in."

Truthfully, however, you really can't compare the two. Cabrera is young, and MVP candidate and still has upside potential. Tejada will be 32 and coming off a down year. He's still good, but in two or three years the Angels would be out shopping again. With Cabrera, they could sign him to a big, long term contract and sow up the position for a decade.


Posted by David Pinto at 08:16 AM | Trades | TrackBack (0)
Comments

I'd be in favor of dealing him and grabbing some useful pieces in return. The O's can't really afford to gamble on his health, and they aren't going to win anytime in the next two or three years anyway. Further, he's in his prime now--Bedard will be 30 when he hits free agency--and the only way his value goes up is if he wins the Cy and throws 220 innings next season.

The problem will be finding a suitable swap, because sending him away for less then a ransom wouldn't be wise, either. The Dodgers seem more interested in offense, and the only other teams that match up well in terms of having the prospects and motivation to make a ready-to-win-now move each come with their own obstacles to deal with. The Halos don't really 'need' another starter, the Sox and New York are in-division and unlikely trading partners, and while he'd make some sense for the Mets, they might not have enough organizational depth to stomach the cost in prospects.

The Diamondbacks strike me as a decent fit, though, and I'd love it if Tampa or Florida decided to pony up the cash to sign a front-line starter. If Tampa locked up Kazmir, Shields, and Bedard for anything close to long-term and has some of their remaining pitching prospects pan out, they could make some serious headway...

Posted by: the other josh at November 20, 2007 01:32 PM
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