you really think JD didn’t ofer some other pieces? The issue is that Boston doesn’t want to give up Buccholz at all.

and this has been brought up many times over the weekend

It’s going to be pretty frustrating if he turns out to be a valuable ML starter. Boston has apparently tried to deal him to us twice and we just don’t seem interested in him at all.

Sunday AM things

He’s probably just Theo’s mouthpiece here.
“Oh, I can’t believe that the child Jon Daniels would ask for so much for the sorry excuse for a catcher, Salta-whatever. He should be happy to get Coco Crisp and middle reliever.”

I think we get him.

If Boston sees itself as a contender these next few years they’ll look to solve their catching vacancy now.

Texas is where you go for that.

The only caveat is it’s probably not Saltalamacchia that gets you Buchholz.

I think it gets done, though. Pitching is their strength, catching is their weakness.

until a catcher is traded, just so we can stop fretting over every rumor.

are Catcher and maybe 1st base if the Get Teixeria and move Lowell, which looks rather difficult unless it is a salary dump. The rest of the major players in the division stand to make larger upgrades.

NYY with their spending spree of SP and most likely at least 1 more position player.

TB will add a DH/OF and possibly a mid tier closer that will see the most improvement with just age.

Tor has the pitching to compete in that division, they just need a SS and maybe 1 more bat and some health.

Time is on JD’s side.

As teams in their division start making moves, the pressure to get something done at the C position will mount. Most teams have already shown interest in the Texas quartet and rightly so. Any of the 4 are the best on the market, with Schoppach and his K rate and age a serious concern, B Anderson has problems behind the dish and at the plate, Snyder is a Laird clone with worse defense.

Boston could just sit there and do nothing, which is possible in all trade discussions, or even go another direction, but it seems unlikely with their division rivals closing the gap if not surpassing them in the AL East.

JD SHOULD BE asking for the moon. It’s early. It’s not even Thanksgiving yet. Do you want him to say, “We’ll take Bard and a mid-level prospect!”

Baseball trades are often about who blinks first or a compromise is worked out. You don’t get to a compromise just by starting with the minimum you would accept.

but whatever.

Like I said there, Gammons quote could very well have been the following:

“The Rangers insist on getting one of Bowden or Masterson for Salty, but the Red Sox are insisting that they include another prospect to let go of one of their future star pitchers” or something like that. Far too many times have the Rangers players been marginalized by the national press like this.

The fact that the dialogue coming from Gammons is on terms that would make us happy is a VERY GOOD THING. This means that we should expect something good for Salty. Maybe not one of those packages, but something more than Bowden or Masterson alone.

both project as # 3’s. That would be quite the coup if these projections are accurate.

http://www.minorleagueball.com/2008/4/21/446769/prospect-smackdown-justin

dianagramr (NYC): Nady to the Rangers for one of their catching prospects perhaps? And speaking of the Rangers, Milton Bradley would look nice in the Mets or Yanks outfield, but I doubt he’d hit it off with the media.

Steven Goldman: You’re not the only one to suggest Nady for a Texas catcher, but I figure the Rangers would say, “Big hat, no cattle.” They’re going to get better offers, even for Laird, who is a good defender but not much of a hitter (IE a pretty good dictionary picture of a reserve catcher). Again, the problem with Nady is that he’s just a stopgap as a starter in an outfield corner… Milton Bradley was probably the best pure hitter in the AL this year. I have no idea where he’ll go. I could really see Joe Girardi rubbing him the wrong way, alas.

Ranger catchers are the new black. Everyone wants one!

from some random guy in the comments section at MLBTR:

The thing that makes me nervous about Buchholz is that his personal life seems to be mirroring Craig Hansen’s to a startling degree. Both were highly valued prospects who got themselves into a lot of trouble overpartying. The results for Hansen are already pretty clear, I’m just hoping Buchholz doesn’t fall apart in the same way. There’s a difference in claiming you’ve realized the error of your ways and actually doing something about it.

I graduated from UT. Lived five minutes from Dish-Faulk and saw plenty of games Teagarden caught. No one questions his defense but there are legit concerns about his health and his bat. I love Taylor but not enough to say no to Buckholtz. Make the deal JD, keep Salty, sign a cheap backup so Max can work on his defense in AAA then by mid year bring him up to backup/DH, after we’ve dealt Blalock at the deadline.

If they pick up Buckholtz then you can deal Laird for whatever, it doesn’t even have to be pitching. If the requirement is they’ll only deal Bucholtz for Teagarden, you have to make the deal. Salty is by no means a bad consolation prize going forward.

Rangers had to exercise option before they knew Wood would be available.
No brainer if they knew a little earlier.

Im down on what the rangers are doing this offseason, but I definitely question the accuracy of that one.

the more I like this line of thinking by JD. There is still a lot of time to make a deal and imo JD should be asking for a ton in return for TT, Salty, or MaxRam. If a team wants to settle on a more realistic offer or will only give up a lower level prospect this early then they can have Laird.

In honor of it being rivalry week for my beloved Utes, and their quest to go to a BCS Bowl again, I will be ending every post this week with:

Beat those Cougs.

Keep plugging away at a Salty for Buchholz deal, then sweeten it by replacing Salty with Teagarden and adding a younger arm or if you must, Andrus…could they use a SS prospect? Keep Laird, the better defender, for 2009. IF another team wanted Salty or Max bad enough to give us fair value, trade one – otherwise, hold 3 catchers and either DH Max or have him catch AAA to refine his receiving. At worst, you’ve got a good defensive catcher that hits well in a platoon and can help along our young starters, a very patient offensive catcher backing him up or starting ahead of him with upside behind both the plate and at the plate, and then you have Max at DH that can catch in a pinch. Trade Millwood or Padilla for a future 3B or OF prospect, start the other with Buchholz, Harrison, McCarthy and Hurley, put Feldman back in the pen and allow our younger starters to fluorish. Call up Hunter and Diamond to the pen after half a year, call up Holland if we lose a starter to injury or after half a year in AAA, call up Feliz when the roster increases, and roll into 2010 with Buchholz, Holland, Feliz, Harrison, McCarthy/Hurley (alternating righties and lefties…) and a dominant pen with Frankie, CJ, Benoit (if he’s still around), Madrigal, Diamond, Hunter or even Kiker and Feldman in long relief. I would say that could be an extremely exciting team to watch, and with an infield of Smoak, Kinsler, Andrus/Free Agent and our return from the Padilla/Millwood trade at 3rd, and an outfield of Murphy, Borbon, Hamilton, Boggs and Mayberry/Cruz, I think that could be a very competitive team for years to come with more prospects approaching on the horizon.