A few rumors on the net

[missionhockey21]

Cardinals Nearing Huge Trade

I've got a source near the Cardinals organization telling me "something big is happening." Apparently, all company employees have received a memo threatening termination if any information is disclosed. Luckily, I'm not employed by the Cardinals, so I'm free to gossip.

I dropped a line to Lboros over at Viva El Birdos, a blogger who has a finger on the pulse of the team. Lboros had an intriguing list of trade rumors and possible signings that have presented themselves within the past few weeks:

Acquisition of Bobby Abreu. It is known that Abreu is on the trading block, although the asking price is sky high. It would be hard to imagine a deal getting done without Major League-ready pitching prospect Anthony Reyes included in the deal.

Trade for Ken Griffey Jr. Lboros speculates that Jason Marquis could be shipped to Cincinnati for Junior. Given Griffey's terrible defense in recent years, a move to a corner would make a ton of sense. The Reds are desperately trying to acquire young pitching, although Marquis will become a free agent after 2006.

Jim Edmonds traded to Yankees for Robinson Cano and Chien-Ming Wang. Sure, it's a staggering idea at first. Considering defense, Edmonds is still unquestionably the best center fielder in baseball even at age 35. He's under contract for $12MM in 2006, and the Cards do have a need for a second baseman and a cheap young starter. Before you call me a crazy, evil Rumor Monger (that's a half-truth), remember that St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bernie Miklasz originated the rumor.

A.J Burnett signing. This one is considered the most plausible by the Cardinal faithful, and Walt Jocketty's wooing of Burnett is well-known. Burnett's agent stated yesterday that a deal could be "one phone call away." Jocketty doesn't seem like the type to go to five years, $65MM for a starter, but he has to be considering it.

And:

Orioles Hot Stove Hearsay

All sorts of interesting hot stove boiling in the Baltimore area. Here's the latest.

Published reports have said that the Orioles have made a two-year offer to 35 year-old starter Paul Byrd. My sources are saying that Byrd is very likely to sign with Baltimore, although it may take three guaranteed years.

Nomar Garciaparra at first base? The Orioles are not likely to sign Paul Konerko according to sources, and Nomar is expected to sign a one year deal with an option with the Orioles. Garciaparra would spell Melvin Mora at third and spend time at first and DH as well.

Erik Bedard is very much available and will probably be dealt this offseason. The team questions his tenacity after a knee injury limited him to 24 starts in 2005. If not packaged in a deal for Bobby Abreu, Bedard may be part of an Adam Dunn trade. The Orioles also have interest in Wily Mo Pena from the Reds if they decide to make a trade of less magnitude.

The Orioles could also make some room at first base for 23 year-old Adrian Gonzalez. The #1 draft pick in 2000, Gonzalez has yet to get the opportunity to translate his minor league success in the Majors. He has just 192 Major League at-bats under his belt and nowhere to play in Texas. The O's would be happy to send soft-tossing Rodrigo Lopez over to the Rangers for him. However, Lopez projects terribly in Ameriquest and wouldn't be enough to get a deal done.

Link

Who know's how much validity there is to these, so take them for what it's worth.

[Wally Mo Pena]

man, that first one, yikes. i like marquis, but i can't think that he'd be signing with us after '06, and i can't stand the idea of jr. leading the cards to world series.

as far as the second rumor goes... i saw bedard pitch early in the year, and he was unbelievable. I was convinced that this guy was the next great. Smooth delivery, striking out everyone he saw. Then it all sort of fell apart. Now looking back over his career, that seems like his MO. I still like him, i think he can still be a good 2 or 3 starter, but if the deal is for Dunn it better just start at bedard, and keep going for a while. I could see cabrera and bedard for Dunn, but obviously the O's aren't going to get rid of both of their young pitchers.

I'm hoping that the Wily Mo deal would be for Cabrera, i think that could be good for both teams. Cabrera doesn't turn us into a powerhouse, but he does change the complexion of the rotation pretty well.

Anyone got any word on Milton? The whole season will be different if Milton remembers how to pitch. If milton can give quality starts, or there about, and we added someone like cabrera, we could be in decent shape.

[Geki Ace]

Considering defense, Edmonds is still unquestionably the best center fielder in baseball even at age 35.

Bye-bye, credibility...

[CincyRedsFan30]

They only think he's good because he turns easy plays into acrobatic catches.

[redsrbetter]

Griffey's terrible defense in recent years? I don't remember it being terrible at all. He is not who he once was and there is an understanding as to why. but terrible?

On to the rumors:

Marquis for Junior- Marquis' slary is much nicer than Griffey's. marquis is much younger as well. he has a 2 seam sinking fastball that works real nicely for him and really put his career into the right path. His career ERA has pretty much stayed the same and I think he looks good as a middle of the rotation kind of guy. For the Reds, he could be our ace though.
As far as Griffey going to St. Louis, he would be replacing Sanders and would be a step up for the Cards. Very scary thought IMO, but if we thought we could pull this deal off, I would not do it unless we could lock up Marquis for at least 3 years. Come to think of it, I believe Marquis is only signed through 2005 with the Cards, so if he came to Cincy, he would demand quite a bit of mmoney and we would likely have to go through arbitration with him. Still I would make this trade if we could lock him up for a while but the likelihood of that is probably minimal.

Altogether I don't like the Bedard for Dunn talk at all. Dunn could command a little better.

[missionhockey21]

Whoever wrote it was probably speaking of Griffey's range which is diminshed to say the least. Although he still has terrific instincts like we all know and he would likely be much more effective with less ground to cover.

As for Marquis, meh. He's got age on his side in terms of the positive perspective if a deal like this were to happen but nothing wows me about him. His career WHIP is 1.40, he saw a decrease in strikeouts per 9 last season and he gave up 29 homers last year. And from 2003 season to the 2004 season not only did a majority of his stats decrease he also saw a decrease in his G/F ratio from 2.17 to 1.59. Sure he has posted a healthy ERA these past two seasons but nothing I see from his stats shows that he can do it again and especially when you factor in that the longball total is bound to rise if he does call GAB home. I dont know, a guy who doesn't strikeout much and seems to be giving up more flyballs sounds a lot like the rest of the Reds staff. (Obviously Marquis is way better than most of our pitchers but other than not getting snot smacked out of the ball by opposing batters for hits, he's pretty close IMO.)

[redsrbetter]

Good points here mission. Would you guys say that this is a S3F no go then?

[CincyRedsFan30]

I'm sure Marquis wouldn't be as good at GABP. It seems like these pitchers do better when Jocketty is the one recognizing their talents. He just knows how to pick 'em.