Marlins2003 Posted June 22, 2004 Share Posted June 22, 2004 As the Baltimore Orioles make their annual trek into baseball hell and their plan to compete against the Yankees and BoSox in 2004 becomes yet another edition of the nightmare all to familiar to O's fans everywhere, an opportunity to fix what ails the Marlins arises. Two words. Javy Lopez. Emotionally I want to stick with Mike Redmond and Matt Treanor. I love them both. It's such a great story, the perrenial backup and the journeyman minorleaguer who all his teammates love, getting their chance to shine and lead the Fish to a division championship. It's a shame the baseball gods don't let Hollywood write scripts for major league baseball. You can wax poetic about a fat slob like Matt Stairs or dream about making Beltran a Marlin, but the fact is at almost 10 games under .500 the Orioles no longer need Lopez's services and the Marlins desperately need another bat (or two) in the lineup. Logic tells you there's only two spots in the lineup to add that bat - catcher and possibly leftfield - without turning this team upside down. Anyone who saw Lopez at PPS last season knows the leftfield wall was made for this guy. At roughly $4 million for the remainder of this season and approximately $7 million per for the next two seasons Lopez represents the affordable alternative to the loss of Pudge (both at the plate and from a PR standpoint) and makes the Marlins an odds-on favorite in the NL East. Has Lopez underachieved in Baltimore this season as the team plays themselves out of contention? Perhaps a bit. But what is he playing for, being the best catcher on the worst team in the AL East? Javy needs to be in a fight to flourish. Lopez probably has 15-20 more homer runs left in him this season, continues to bat above .300 and most importantly knows how to drive in runs. If you're looking for a guy to "put the ball in play" Javy's just the guy Jack has been looking for. The question is who can we offer the Orioles that would allow them to trade Lopez? It won't be Nunez or any of the second tier players that many of you want to dump on some unsuspecting franchise. My guess is Herrmida and possibly (gulp) Mike Redmond, leaving Matt Treanor as our number two signal-caller. A scary thought but if that's what it takes so be it. Perhaps there a three-way deal to be made with the Marlins shipping out Treanor and "fillintheblank" to another team who will provide the O's with a starting catcher (maybe A.J. Pierzynski who the Orioles considered this off-season) but in my mind, whatever it takes, short of sending Baltimore one of our five starters, a deal for Lopez makes all the sense in the world. Pull the trigger now Admin Beinfest. Strike while the iron is hot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Fillet Posted June 22, 2004 Share Posted June 22, 2004 Attractive proposal and halfway plausible. Which means it has no place here. I still like the idea of Bonds and Beltran in a three-way for Treanor and a PTBNL. Lopez is only going to get more expensive as the year progresses and more contenders look for reliable power, so if it were to happen it would need to happen quickly. What about his age/health, though? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramp Posted June 22, 2004 Share Posted June 22, 2004 ok Javy is getting older, and the Orioles dont want to give up after 2 months they want Javy for the next few years as they improve and I personally wouldnt give up Hermida for him Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nc marlin Posted June 22, 2004 Share Posted June 22, 2004 Apparently the O's don't think they are out of it yet. See: Jason Grimsley-Denny Bautista Trade Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beastie Posted June 22, 2004 Share Posted June 22, 2004 Apparently the O's don't think they are out of it yet. See: Jason Grimsley-Denny Bautista Trade Ya the Orioles still think they have shot. Why else would they do this trade? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishFanPR Posted June 22, 2004 Share Posted June 22, 2004 who on their right mind trades a big time player that was recently acquired??? I personally don't remember any team doing this kind of move, but if you do, please refresh my memory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ERF Posted June 22, 2004 Share Posted June 22, 2004 the o's are not gonna trade javy lopez they probally still think there in it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rferry Posted June 22, 2004 Share Posted June 22, 2004 Javy is not available. And what the O's would want (immediate starting pitching help) we aren't in the position to give them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJB34 Posted June 22, 2004 Share Posted June 22, 2004 i still cant believe they traded bautista! lmfao!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Moneyball Posted June 22, 2004 Share Posted June 22, 2004 who on their right mind trades a big time player that was recently acquired??? I personally don't remember any team doing this kind of move, but if you do, please refresh my memory. i guess you forgot about the offseason after the 1997 season. :plain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farmer_fran Posted June 22, 2004 Share Posted June 22, 2004 Baltimore signed Lopez and Tejada not to win this year, but down the road. They have no reason to trade Lopez. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flamarlins3 Posted June 22, 2004 Share Posted June 22, 2004 Yeah, I just can't see Baltimore doing this. They put a lot of money into the team, and could not expect any good results with their starting pitching. THey are in it for the long run. The deal would have to be pretty damn convincing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marlins2003 Posted June 22, 2004 Author Share Posted June 22, 2004 Just for argument sake, at what point do the O's throw in the towel? 15 games, twenty games out? At some point, if the Yankees continue to run away with it and Boston continues to win their share, that doesn't leave any room for improvement. It was like us finishing ten games behind the Braves last season, you play for the wildcard. The Orioles don't have that luxury, not with the Red Sox in their division. They are already 9 1/2 games out of the wildcard race. They covet Penny and have for a year and a half. Would I give up Penny? Depends. Trading a Penny would almost by definition broaden a trade to multi-players. You would never trade Penny for Javy, not in a million years. But if Ryan or Rodrigo Lopez was part of the deal it could work for both teams. The O's can afford to do a deal with a Penny (or a Pavano) from a financial standpoint that the Marlins may find burdensome. If I'm convinced AJ is back, really back, then yes, if some other pieces fell into place, I'd fix as much as I could in one big trade. Most of you seem to agree amongst yourselves the O's wouldn't trade Javy having just acquired him and/or that he's there to secure their future. Perhaps y'all are right. But at the end of the day the Orioles have to find a solution to their problems too and perhaps one avenue to explore would be for them to move their new catcher for the starting pitching we they so desperately need now and in the future. Maybe it's Penny or Pavano and Oliver (who seems to be on the road to recovery with his last few outings) for Javy and Rodrigo Lopez or Javy and Ryan or even DuBose, but in each case we'd have to get additional incentive because frankly starting pitching is the coin of the realm. Offensively, the catcher's position is a place to improve our ball team. And I'd like get something of value for Oliver while freeing up a roster spot in the process for more trades. If we could fashion a trade that brought us a hard-hitting catcher, a good fifth starter and we had Beckett, Burnett, Pavano and Willis as our first four, I believe a guy like Lopez would do a terrific job here. This is just me. Maybe I don't have the faces right. But I do know this - we need a helluva lot more production from our catcher and left fielder and Javy Lopez would fix half that problem. The O's have their own unique problems and maybe there's an opportunity here to help both teams. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishFanPR Posted June 22, 2004 Share Posted June 22, 2004 who on their right mind trades a big time player that was recently acquired??? I personally don't remember any team doing this kind of move, but if you do, please refresh my memory. i guess you forgot about the offseason after the 1997 season. :plain I haven't forgotten, but that was something else. Huizenga put up his santa claus custome and started shipping players away. The O's would look like complete a**holes if they trade Javy after only a couple of months only because they might not amount to s*** this year. This is a long term investment, it's a process from which they expect to see results...eventually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marlins2003 Posted June 22, 2004 Author Share Posted June 22, 2004 ...The O's would look like complete a**holes if they trade Javy after only a couple of months only because they might not amount to s*** this year. This is a long term investment, it's a process from which they expect to see results...eventually. At this point in Javy's career you can hardly expect him to be considered longterm anything. The fact is the O's brought in Lopez and Palmiero and Tejera to compete THIS YEAR and that plan has fallen on it's face. If their record is any indication, it is a total failure. Time to try plan B. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clapinski02 Posted June 22, 2004 Share Posted June 22, 2004 ...The O's would look like complete a**holes if they trade Javy after only a couple of months only because they might not amount to s*** this year. This is a long term investment, it's a process from which they expect to see results...eventually. At this point in Javy's career you can hardly expect him to be considered longterm anything. The fact is the O's brought in Lopez and Palmiero and Tejera to compete THIS YEAR and that plan has fallen on it's face. If their record is any indication, it is a total failure. Time to try plan B. No, the plan was to start competing next year (when they are able to go out in FA and concentrate solely on pitching). You gotta figure that when Javy starts to get too old to catch, he moves to DH (which is a big reason why I think he signed with Baltimore). I dont think anyone, not even themselves, expected them to compete this year with all offense and no pitching. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legacyofCangelosi Posted June 22, 2004 Share Posted June 22, 2004 If anything this shows that the royals are beginning to trade, so beltran can be moved soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minus Posted June 22, 2004 Share Posted June 22, 2004 ok Javy is getting older, and the Orioles dont want to give up after 2 months they want Javy for the next few years as they improve and I personally wouldnt give up Hermida for him I rather see the team miss the playoffs than trading Hermida anywhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FreshFish Posted June 22, 2004 Share Posted June 22, 2004 LF is more of a problem than catcher at this point, IMHO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Guapo Posted June 22, 2004 Share Posted June 22, 2004 LF is more of a problem than catcher at this point, IMHO i agree,if it came down to getting a LF or C , i hope we get a good Lf that can bring in some runs....RBI'S WANTED... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TSwift25 Posted June 22, 2004 Share Posted June 22, 2004 ok Javy is getting older, and the Orioles dont want to give up after 2 months they want Javy for the next few years as they improve and I personally wouldnt give up Hermida for him I rather see the team miss the playoffs than trading Hermida anywhere. I agree. Olson, Stokes...I'd hate to see them go (especially Stokes) but trading Hermida is unacceptable. All everyone talks about lately is how inept we are in the outfield, well Hermida will fill that void...perhaps by this time next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishywishy Posted June 22, 2004 Share Posted June 22, 2004 LF is more of a problem than catcher at this point, IMHO Totally agree. Treanor/Red are getting the job done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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