August 3, 200422 yr The front office, if they are intelligent, will do everything in their power to keep Mota. You still have to try to keep Benitez, it's the nice thing to do especially with all he has done for us in such a short time, and who knows. Maybe there are some nice guys left in baseball after all, and Benitez stays. However, if Benitez leaves, Mota steps in as closer. A healthy Spooney and (hopefully) a Koch of sound mind take over the setup roles, and who knows what this guy from KC can do. Patch in a lefty here and another arm and you have a pretty good pen just there. Get one more dominant arm to compliment Mota and Spooney and you have the workings of a stud grouping. And, if for some reason, Benitez stays. Spooney to Mota to Benitez would be off the hizzain.
August 3, 200422 yr some of you talk up Stokes pretty good, but I've also read a lot of reports & opinions lately that suggest he isn't ready either, and may be too much of an all-or-nothing hitter. Hell, Willingham arguably outproduced Stokes in less at-bats, strikes out less, & will take a walk.
August 3, 200422 yr yeah ive been hearing that Stokes does not look ready ... which might be a problem yet LoDuca can play first ... and we still have conine for next year Mota ... LoDuca will hopefully stay
August 3, 200422 yr He wont beat out Stokes for 1B 491588[/snapback] You must be joking, Stokes is miles away from being ready for the big leagues. He can barely keep his average up above .260, doesn't take too many walks, and strikes out once every 3 at-bats. I'm sure Willy could play a better defensive first base than Stokes also. Stokes is terrible defensively.
August 3, 200422 yr I wish we would trade Stokes while his value is high 491868[/snapback] I was for trading him until we dealt Choi.
August 3, 200422 yr Everybody talks about Stokes' power, but Willingham has only 2 less homers than Stokes in 68 less at-bats.
August 3, 200422 yr I wish we would trade Stokes while his value is high 491868[/snapback] I was for trading him until we dealt Choi. 491873[/snapback] I'm still for trading him. :plain
August 3, 200422 yr I had the unerstanding that loduca was arbitration eligible NOT a free agent after this year. Which means we can always trade him before arbitration, we can actually go to arbitration and see if we win (which we prob wont), or he can be nontendered
August 3, 200422 yr You cant non tender him after you go through arbitation you have to nontender before the hearing so u cant find out if u win or not then nontender
August 3, 200422 yr You cant really give Willingham to much time to develop when he is already 25 years old... Stokes is still only 22 and has atleast 2 more seasons to develop. You also NEED to resign Mota.
August 3, 200422 yr You cant really give Willingham to much time to develop when he is already 25 years old... Stokes is still only 22 and has atleast 2 more seasons to develop. 491938[/snapback] why not? Castro's 27 or 28 already & this was going to be his first year as a starter. if we get 4 or 5 productive years out of a player, what's the difference whether those years start at age 22 or age 26? besides, the kind of "development" we're talking about for Willingham isn't really development at all, it's just game experience playing catcher. He's already considered a pretty polished hitter at least in the minors. It's the work at catcher he needs experience at.
August 3, 200422 yr I had the unerstanding that loduca was arbitration eligible NOT a free agent after this year. Which means we can always trade him before arbitration, we can actually go to arbitration and see if we win (which we prob wont), or he can be nontendered 491917[/snapback] Teams win arbitration more often than players do
August 3, 200422 yr of the new people Mota stays Lo Duca stays Encarnacion stays Valdes leaves Seanez leaves Manzanillo stays Koch leaves cordero leaves Easley leaves
August 4, 200422 yr Notable free agents and arbitration eligble players: Benitez - GONE Koch - GONE Doubt he returns if he won't be given first crack at closer. Pavano - RE-SIGNED Valdez - LET GO Beckett - RE-SIGNED to an one year deal with a 20% cut in salary. Burnett - RE-SIGNED to a long term deal backloaded. Mota. RE-SIGNED at somewhere between 3-3.5M. LoDuca - TRADED/LET GO LoDuca is due as much in arbitration as Penny was so we still face the problem of either keeping Pavano or him. All-star catcher and intangibles or not, a 33yo catcher and probably 8th best at his position is not worth $5-8 million. Anyway I have a feeling that LoDuca's agent will demand a high price in an attempt to scare off the Marlins and enter a free agent market barren of decent catchers. And Encarnacion hopefully will be traded somewhere anywhere to clear us from his bad contract. That would leave us with a starting lineup of: Redmond/Willingham, Conine, Castillo, Lowell, Gonzalez, {cheap FA; Aguila/Willingham; or someone acquired from trading LoDuca}, Pierre, Cabrera And a rotation of: Pavano, Burnett, Beckett, Willis, Wayne/Bump If Cabrera continues to progress, Beckett and Burnett stay healthy, and Willis can bounce back this would be a contending team. If Harris and/or Mordi retire we will be able to fill a full quality bench to deal with injuries.
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