The Rockies should kick the tires here. They need right-handed power. Against lefties, Barmes could play 3rd and Uggla would of course play 2nd. Against righties, Stewart plays 3rd and you go with the hot bat between Barmes and Uggla (probably Uggla 80% of the time). I don't know if the Rox can take the payroll hit, or what the Fish would want in return though.

Toldya they were going to offer to Marquis. Toldya toldya toldya. (This is the happiest moment of my week so far.)

The Rockies will offer to Marquis. Him and the Mets have been making eyes at each other since last summer, it's more or less a done deal that he'll end up there. It wouldn't be the end of the world if he accepted, anyways, since they intend to non-tender Atkins and trade Hawpe for salary relief which will take a lot of money from last year off the books.

"If the Cardinals fail to re-sign Holliday, DeWitt said they would use the money set aside for him to improve other areas of the roster, depending on the player(s) and if it makes sense." Whoa! That's some top secret, insider information there, Dewitt! You've got to keep your cards a little closer to your chest than that! In other news, every team in the league might make some trades this offseason or might not, depending on which players are involved and what kinds of contracts are being swapped.

Rockford- we need to trade Hawpe for a player that will make the team better in 2010 and beyond. Jeff Stevens does not fit that description. Francis will be back but there's no way you can assume he'll be effective.

Torrealba wouldn't be a bad idea for the BoSox, then, if Martinez is going to catch most of the time. I didn't know that was the case. I'll also say that the Rockies fan in me really wants Giambi back... but the realist in me says we won't be able to get him the ABs he wants and he'd probably prefer to go elsewhere.

Torrealba can't throw anyone out. He shouldn't be a full time starter anywhere. I also don't think Smith should start full time. He can't handle soft stuff or lefties. He needs a right handed hitting OF to platoon in LF with him (try to trade Hawpe for someone decent who fits this profile). Move Gonzalez to RF full time to take advantage of his arm.

Whew... I was worried for a minute there that this wouldn't turn into a pointless argument about Yankees and Red Sox prospects. Thanks to everyone who made sure that ended up happening! Roy Halladay discussion, anyone?

My favorite part about this comment thread is how focused it is on Roy Halladay.

To everyone who keeps playing the "Holliday is overhyped" card, his OPS+ (which adjusts for park factors, so you can leave the Coors Field garbage out of your analysis) for the past 5 seasons: 114, 137, 150, 140, 125 That's pretty good any way you slice it. Sure, he's down this year, but as much negative press as he's gotten would you expect him to still be 25% better than a league average hitter? Plus he's good for 15-25 steals a year and plays good defense. I'm not saying the Cardinals didn't overpay, but Holliday is properly hyped. He's pretty amazing.

Cards now have the same problem the Cubs did last year- too many right handed hitters, not enough lefties. If they run into a team in the postseason with three solid RHPs like the 2008 Cubs did with the 2008 Dodgers it could be trouble.

That's very interesting. Too bad it's not true. They both started in high A at 22 and AA at 23. Ellsbury got promoted in the middle of each of those seasons, but he wasn't "a year younger each step of the way." He was sort of a half year younger. Young outslugged him at high A and AAA, and had a better walk rate at AA and AAA. You were close though. Although it's far from a sure thing, all I'm saying is I hope Young ends up being more than a massively overhyped (probably due to his 2007 WS performance, not to mention the uniform he wears) 2 tool guy. That's all.

It's cute that you guys heart Ellsbury so much, and he's a great defender and SB guy, but the fact is he's not good at the plate. His walk rate is too low for a leadoff guy and he doesn't have the pop to hit effectively anywhere else in the lineup, other than maybe 9th in an AL lineup. He's not a good hitter. EY Jr. may never be as good an overall player, but I'm not going out on much of a limb to hope he's a better hitter. Also, hilarious comment from scribbletone about the AL somehow being the "harder league"... for hitters. Very creative.

"This isn't Jacoby Ellsbury at second base." As a Rockies fan, I sure hope not. I'd like to think that Young will be able to at least crack a .340 OBP over the course of a full season at some point in his career. I would be extremely disappointed if he ends up with Ellsbury's numbers at the plate. (I'll take Ellsbury's SB numbers, of course.)

Sorry, misquoted you- you dismissed the very reasonable idea as "stupid," not "dumb." My fault.

bballrox- Morrow was not great, but reasonably good in 2007 for the Mariners. He's hardly the reason they didn't make the playoffs. And given his 1 pitch arsenal I'm guessing his career plays out with him in the bullpen anyways. McDonald was adequate for the Dodgers last year too. What does Price's call up date have to do with whether or not he was a top prospect who succeeded out of the bullpen before becoming a starter? Nothing. So how about this- don't flippantly dismiss an idea that has worked with varying degrees of success in the past as "dumb," and I won't call you out on it. Great.

You're right bballrox, that would be stupid. I'm sure the Rays are still kicking themselves for doing that with Price last year. And so are the Cardinals with Wainwright in 2006. Dumb idea. You're totally right.

It's a trade for Halladay (1% chance) or he's being called up to the big leagues to strengthen a recently pathetic bullpen (99% chance). Nothing inbetween.

Doesn't make sense for the Rockies either, they have plenty of SP depth. The logjam in their OF can be solved by sending Dexter Fowler back to AAA.

You're missing the point, nrmax88, but thanks for trying to read what I wrote earlier. Read a little closer next time. Of course I realize Boras is the best in the game... if you qualify "best" as "best for the high-budget teams towards which he directs all his elite clients." It really is more of a systemic problem than a problem focus squarely on him, of course. But he's the one exploiting the system to its most hideous end (particularly the draft stuff... that's the absolute worst thing he does, IMO) and thus he's the one I'm going to rip on. I do hate the game, but I also hate this particular player because he is the best example out there of everything that is wrong with it.

Wow, what a surprise- a site whose commenters largely are fans of teams who can actually afford Boras clients has a positive opinion of him. I'm totally shocked. For the rest of us, though- you know, people who don't cheer for the Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs (who, to their credit, don't have any big Boras clients... yet), or Dodgers- the guy is a disgrace. I'm all for "doing your job to the best of your abilities," but everyone knows Boras goes beyond that. Gets teams to bid against themselves by claiming that there are phantom offers coming in from non-existent teams, messes with the draft by forcing the best talent to fall past the high-picking teams which actually need it, etc. That's the kind of crap baseball doesn't need. You can also put the blame on teams for the skyrocketing salaries, but which teams are you talking about? I don't see the Pirates or the Twins or the Padres or the ______s (insert pretty much any team not from Chicago, New York, Boston, or LA) offering anyone gargantuan deals because Boras says that's what his client deserves and if they don't pay it, someone else will. Where's my bias? I'll be up front about it- I'm a Rockies fan. We couldn't even begin to think about keeping Holliday this season, because we flat out knew we couldn't afford him. Not "weren't sure whether or not we could afford him-" flat out knew it was not going to happen. He's a Boras guy, and the $100 MM, 5 year deal we floated got laughed at. If Holliday's 2009 ends up looking like his 2006-2008 (which might be a long shot at this point, but you never know), "someone" (read: Yankees or Red Sox) will give him $150 MM, 6 years. If you're not a fan of those "big money" teams I just named, and don't think Boras is ruining baseball, you're a moron. He's a slimeball. There, I said it.