DrBox

While duking it out with the Red Sox in the A.J. Burnett sweepstakes, the White Sox are busy on other fronts, trying to pry outfielder/DH Aubrey Huff away from the Devil Rays, and trying to find a taker for former Yankee Jose Contreras, says the Newark Star-Ledger. From CBS sportsline.. Could you perhaps see a 3 way deal happening with Tampa, Marlins and White sox? That could indeed be interesting to see the possibilities there. Also on a radio station score sportstation 670 supposedly was reportin that AJ and Lowell was part of the deal being discussed recently with the white sox. I wonder what folks could speculate with a 3 way deal here? Perhaps TB Contreras, Prospects White Sox AJ Lowell (cash) Baez Marlins Huff (has a pretty big contract for TB) Marte McCarthy Perhaps something like that? I dont know really just speculating. But it could be interesting to see. 874881[/snapback] I presume that it is the Marlins giving TB those prospects. There is no chance that the Marlins get those 3 players for a mere rent of a good, not great pitcher, and for a stiff like Mike Lowell. Lowell is basically one of those freebie players - you don't have to give anything for him as long as you pick up part of his contract. Considering that there is no way that the Sox would prefer Lowell over Huff, the Sox would make 2 separate deals, instead of a three-way.

example for trading a very good pitcher at the deadline Randy Johnson to Houston from Seattle trade to Seattle Carlos Guillen,Freddy Garcia and John Halama this IMO is what Beinfest is waiting for... 874275[/snapback] If that's what your GM is waiting for, he has irrational expectations and is howling at the moon. The Seattle/Hou trade is an example of trading for a Great Dominant pitcher at the deadline. Burnett is a good pitcher. As it is, that was 2 top prospects and a soft-throwing decent pitching prospect (Halama). And the price for rents has gone down. Let's look at what Houston gave up for a dominant player last year: Dotel and a top catching prospect. Let's look at what Chicago offers for a good player this year: Marte and a top pitching prospect. Pratically the same deal (except that Marte is better than Dotel). I'm a Sox fan and I'm against the trade. But, the Marlins are getting more than fair value, in comparison to similar trades.

If the White Sox do end up making a deal for Burnett they will most likely not include Jose Contreras in any trade. He will be kept for depth. If McCarthy (White Sox current #6 starter) were to be traded along with Contreras they would have nobody to backup the rotation if El Duque went down again with another injury. Most likely Contreras will not be traded. 874126[/snapback] I can't see us accepting a deal that would be just Marte and McCarthy... it seems to little for what AJ has to offer. I think they have to give us Contreras in order to get AJ. 874147[/snapback] It's a rent; Marte and the pitching prospect is top value in return for a player of Burnett's caliber in a rent.

Still trade Burnett, but for a better package, by himself. Last week, we were talking about a .220 hitter. Now we're talking about a .230 hitter. Has anyone noticed his average has gone up 14 points since July 4th? He's hitting better, stick with him, too much upside if he does snap out of it. That's my take. And that .500 pitcher has a 1.27 WHIP, .241 BAA and a 3.68 ERA, with prob the nastiest stuff in the league. 871700[/snapback] The Marlins expect WAAAY too much for rental of a mediocre pitcher with a below .500 record, a decent pitchers' park ERA on a good team. Do you know what the Astros paid to rent Carlos Beltran last year? One top catching prospect, one counterfeit closer (Dotel) and one mediocre prospect. The Marlins have already turned down trades that offered MORE talent than that. Maybe someone will end up paying the ridiculously inflated price, who knows?

lowell and aj to the sox for mccarthy, contras, marte and anderson/sweeney Dump the salary of Lowell and get it replaced by Contras. Marte solidifies the pen and anderson/sweeney and mcCarthy is a top notch prospect. 860040[/snapback] As a Sox fan, that would be a terrible trade for us. I don't see much difference between Contreras and Burnett, and it goes downhill from there. Seeing, that we may get stuck with Lowell, I must ask - any chance he's been on the juice the last couple of seasons prior to this year?