Comments on: Moose Tracks

By: Clark Fosler

Clark Fosler — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 14:10:31 +0000

September numbers do matter – they even count in the overall standings and everything. However, they also need to be taken as part of the whole. Let’s say Johnny G goes 5 for 12 against Detroit, a team in the heat of a pennant race, I’d give those numbers more weight than a 5 for 12 against, let’s say, against Minnesota at the end of the season when they don’t care and two of the starting pitchers and four relievers are two weeks removed from AAA.

By: % (In the UK)

% (In the UK) — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 12:18:24 +0000

I remember staying up late & watching Chen pitch for the Omaha Royals as they were then on milb.tv & being absolutely unhitable,thinking to myself that this guy has such good controll of his command that despite his age he is far too good for the minor leagues!

There must be more veteran types at tripple AAA level that if they have good command may have the experience to manoeuvre & guile the ball around a hitter & eat up some valuble innings as a starter,the Mets have had success with Dillon Gee,its worth scouting around & taking a chance,its not all about youth & a power arm & we only have to look at SOS & Mazzaro to remind ourselves of that!

By: PREGNANT ROLLERSKATE

PREGNANT ROLLERSKATE — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 09:47:08 +0000

so now we are suppose to believe if he produces next month it is for real……what happened to Sept #s don’t matter

By: Greg

Greg — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 20:08:44 +0000

I’d trade anyone on the roster for the right deal (save perhaps Hosmer). I don’t think we can get full value for Billy at this point, but if I’m wrong then, sure, pull the trigger.

By: Wayland

Wayland — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 19:49:09 +0000

So. . . .some people are saying that Billy would not be tradeable to an NL team because of his glove. If we are saying that, we are saying that Butler’s bat will never be good enough to offset his below average defense. If thats the case, what is the harm in losing him if we put him as the main piece in a trade along with a couple of prospects to acquire an ace?

What if 2 years down the road Billy is still hitting for close to the same line as now, and the power surge that we are hoping for never happens. Then we have a pretty good hitter that has no place in the field for us, is not a good baserunner, does not hit for power, has cement shoes, and now he is making more money, and has probably grown tired of his role as a primary DH.

Then we are left in the same position we are in with Soria. We missed our opportunity to get something very useful for him when we had the chance.

Would you rather have Butler, Cabrera, and SOS on the team or Cabrera, Cain, and a #1 starter but not have a couple of “prospects” which may never pan out at the major league level.

What kind of return could we expect for Butler, Dwyer, and Eibner? (Just as an example)

By: mtside

mtside — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 19:45:02 +0000

Eric-In 1999, Baseball America had Bruce Chen as the #4 prospect in baseball, FYI.

By: scott H

scott H — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 18:57:29 +0000

Eric, I don’t hate chen and he HAS been out best pitcher for the last 2 years, ask the white soxs, but I believe his magic is due to run out soon. he is going to be in his mid 30′s and he is a junk ball pitcher, sooner or later that will catch up to you. I don’t think we need to get an ACE per say this off season but a quality #2 would be nice. We do have depth in our pitching right now but you never have enough pitching. It would be nice to see Mazzaro come in to his own next year, the kid has great stuff, but is he going to be another Kyle Davies.

By: Sean

Sean — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 18:42:01 +0000

Neither are tradeable for top starter value at this point (hard to say if they ever were). Butler for reasons mentioned above is a better fit for the Royals than most teams. GMDM destroyed Soria’s trade value the last 2 years by demanding a Roy Halladay type haul and now this year Soria has contributed to diminishing any return.

Dayton will show his true stripes this off season if he can/or cannot get at least 1 to 2 proven major league starters…(he’s shown so far he will take flyers on bodies). I’m ready for at least 1 guy you can hand the ball to and know you can get a quality 7 out of 3 times a month.

By: Zack Daddy

Zack Daddy — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 18:41:35 +0000

I don’t think we can argue that we are selling Butler high right now. He’s only 25. He hasn’t come close to piquing. Rather, we’re trading on potential, not performance. Right now, I prefer his potential and think he is underperforming. It’s gonna come.

But then again, if he’s a clubhouse crybaby…which he might be…and we can get very good returns, do it.

By: Eric

Eric — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 18:05:32 +0000

While I agree that Butler is a good trade option for us, I don’t think he is for other teams. At least, they are not going to give up a decent SP for a DH. As to why trade Butler, I believe he won’t last long with his body type, but more important is the fact that he hates DH. I wouldn’t say Butler is a team cancer, but I also don’t think its a stretch for him to become one if he becomes more frustrated DH’ing.

Also, why all the Chen hate on being a SP? No he doesn’t have electric stuff, no he wasn’t a big time prospect, no he doesn’t strike people out, however he is the BEST starting pitcher for the Royals over his last two seasons. He’s not giving up a ton of runs and he is making it through a good amount of innings per game. Throw out all the other stats, cause those are truly what you want from a SP. A lot of innings, not a lot of runs given up. He doesn’t even cost us much money. I am all for bringing Chen back next year as one of our five. Certainly can’t be worse than Davies, Banny, Hoch, SOS, Mazarro, or any of the other crappy starters we have trotted out to the mound these last two years.