Goin' to Miami

by Nasty N8 on Dec 8, 2011 2:20 PM EST

So, I believe I've had a stroke of genius. The Marlins are in a mood to overpay to get marquee talent that will boost attendance... moreover, they are in a mood to overpay for Latin talent to drive the local Miami market... and they want to get rid of Hanley Ramirez.

We have the fastest pitcher ever recorded, who also happens to be Cuban. You better believe he would put some butts in seats in Miami. Organizationally, we have had (and continue to have) no long-term strategy on how to develop Chapman which we have held to longer than a month or two. Today, he's a starter, tomorrow, he's a set-up man, and the next day, he's the closer. So, here's what I'm offering, we swap and they pay a substantial portion of Hanley's salary. We get a somewhat risky, high-ceiling SS and they get a somewhat-risky, high-ceiling pitcher.

They also wanted Pujols. We also happen to have a Cuban first baseman that is currently blocked in our organization. I have NO idea what kind of deal we could make where we could extract maximum value from the Marlins, but it certainly seems like he would be a huge + to their organization. I don't know the trade rules well enough, can they just send us, say $50M of the quarter-billion they were planning on blowing on Pujols? I think that or some type of crazy 3-way trade could be the best thing for the Reds.

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Nasty....

a straight up swap of Hanley for Aroldis would never happen, and you want them to kick in serious cash too? Sorry man, this is silly talk.

If we added END and Billy Hamilton to Chapman and they chipped in little to no cash that would be closer to a deal.

expectations are premeditated resentments - cheshirecat

by kcgard2 on Dec 8, 2011 8:01 PM EST reply actions

Picked a bad day to quit sniffing glue...

In retrospect, straight-up + cash was probably a tad foolish, but I feel like there is some merit in the madness I previously wrote.

I still think the Marlins seem positioned to overpay for marquee Latin athletes and Chapman would be more valuable to them than he is to us. Frankly, I think it would be nice to get out from that contract before his arm blows up or he’s exposed as a starter (knowing there’s an outside chance that we could trade away the #1/#2 starter we’re looking for. This team has a 1-2 year window to win now. Given the Cards, Cubs, and Brewers are all in the midst of some part of a rebuilding year, I think the Reds organization absolutely needs to win the Division this year or else the fanbase is going to hop off the bandwagon completely. Chapman is still developing and will not be a signifant contribution next year and there’s a possibility that he could be a significant contributor in 2013.

I also think that Hanley has much less value to them than he has to us. He is obviously not happy with how he’s been handled there. He is now officially second fiddle to Jose Reyes. We haven’t had a decent SS since Barry Larkin started to fall apart. I think having someone like Rolen on the team would also help put Hanley on the right path.

I also think there’s merit in trying to shop Alonso to them. Not sure what we could get in return, but they lost out on the Pujols bidding war. I’m willing to bet that Alonso’s next 10 years are better than Pujols AND he will be a hell of a lot cheaper. My understanding is that he’s not even arbitration-eligible until 2015.

So, I agree that I was way off on the surrounding details of the trade, but I do think a deal could be had and it would be mutually beneficial. As to your suggestion, I don’t think we give up END. Not because I like him so much, but because we need depth at 3B. I’m ambivalent about Billy Hamilton. I think it would be pretty special if he develops into an everyday-player, but my understanding is that he’s pretty raw.

by Nasty N8 on Dec 9, 2011 9:34 AM EST up reply actions

I agree, Hanley would be a really nice get

I don’t think Chapman has the trade value a lot of people assume he has. No one else was willing to give him the deal we gave, for starters, and what has he really done to change many minds so far? 2 of the cheaper years on the deal are now gone. The Marlins aren’t going to seriously overpay just because he’s Latino (which Hanley happens to be also, so wouldn’t they require an overpay to move him too?)

Alonso+Chapman+Yorman for Ramirez and $10 million seems reasonable to me. Would you do that? That seems like a little bit of a challenge bet on both sides.

expectations are premeditated resentments - cheshirecat

by kcgard2 on Dec 10, 2011 10:18 AM EST up reply actions

yeah

I think you’re right about Chapman. He was seen as too raw, and I don’t think he’s done anything to change anyone’s mind. Then there’s the arm problem that led the Reds to pull him from winter ball. Hopefully it really is minor, but it’s gotta raise questions in the minds of any prospective trade partners. I think we’d be selling low to trade him now.

That said…I think a Cuban might have more cachet than a Dominican like Hanley. The new ballpark is in Little Havana and all that.

All Things Bubba: Because how can you not love a baseball player named Bubba?

by BubbaFan on Dec 10, 2011 11:50 AM EST up reply actions