Young/Vazquez Trade a Good One for D-Backs and White Sox CF Chris Young of the Diamondbacks looks to be a stud prospect boasting speed, power, and outstanding defense. Much has been made of the former White Sox farmhand, who, on December 20, 2005 was traded along with Orlando Hernandez and Luis Vizcaino to Arizona for SP Javier Vazquez. I've heard general comments from White Sox fans saying that it was a mistake to trade Young, and recently Foxsports.com's own Ken Rosenthal quipped that this past offseason's acquisition of Carlos Quentin from Arizona would finally help ease the pain of losing out on Young to Arizona. What seems left out in this talk every time is that the White Sox acquired a bona fide #1 or #2 starter in Vazquez, who is MLB's second leading strikeout pitcher since 2001 and went 15-8 with a 3.74 ERA in 2007 while playing his home games in hitter friendly U.S. Cellular Field for a 4th place team that lost 90 games. Sure, the White Sox could use the speedy CFer in their leadoff spot right now, but something tells me that their GM Kenny Williams wouldn't be willing to give up Vazquez to re-acquire him. A potential 30/30 OFer is about the going rate these days for an Ace.
Rays' Seeason a Pleasant Surprise But... This in response to Foxsports.com's Dayn Perry'scolumn that the Tampa Bay [Devil] Rays winning season is great for baseball. It sure is nice to see somebody besides New York and Boston atop the A.L. East, but I greatly fear a Tampa divisional title would give MLB execs a false sense of parity in baseball. (By the way, they will always be the Devil Rays to me, just as the Angels will always be the Anaheim Angels, or occasionally, the California Angels). Before this season, I'd have given the Devil Rays a 0% of ever making the playoffs under MLB's current structure. I now see that they are a legitimate contender for the not only the division, but the pennant. However, these types of seasons are few and far between. MLB is in desperate need of a salary cap that would give other small(er) market teams a more fair chance more often. All top notch free agents have three teams that can afford to sign them: the Red Sox, Yankees, and Mets; once in a while the Cubs, Dodgers, or Angels will join the mix. In a couple seasons when the Devil Rays' players hit free agency, they will let them walk and they'll stink again... that is if they don't head towards Marlin-i-zation and trade them all before it even gets that far. The Red Sox and Yankees will never stink so long as they are allowed to throw money around like it's candy.
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"In a couple seasons when the Devil Rays' players hit free agency, they will let them walk and they'll stink again"
I don't believe that to be true at all. The Rays have already given long term contracts to Scott Kazmir, James Sheilds, Evan Longoria. What makes you think this new administration will let their best players go?
The Rays will be in contention for a long time. Just read this. http://www.raysindex.com/2008/05/sc ott-kazmir-kazmir-extension-adds.ht ml
Thanks Sal, that is good to see. Most of the core is "under control" for several years to come. A few of the core guys are only 1 or 2 years though, but some of them are also expendable. I have a hard time envisioning the Rays giving Carl Crawford the 12-16 million he would command per season. But we'll see. As the article states, there is room to trade a few guys and add more prospects to the pool.
Even though the Rays look like they have set themselves up for sustained success, my points about the Big 6 MLB teams (Yanks, Red Sox, Mets, Dodgers, Cubs, and Angels) still holds true. Plus there are still teams like Royals, Pirates, Reds, Marlins, A's, and Twins, who can't afford to keep their good players once them get them. That has just got to be extremely frustrating.
JC - It's funny how the Rays will always be the "Devil Rays" to you. I live in their market and the "Devil" part of the name fell away about 3 years ago to many, is not most, locals.
I love to watch Carl Crawford. But I don't think he will ever deserve to be a $12-$16 million player. He doesn't do well in the leadoff spot. He can't bunt, he strikes out too much and doesn't make consistant enough contact to be a good #2 hitter. He is on schedule this year to hit 9 or 10 homers, which eliminates him from the 3, 4, or 5 spot. He can run like a deer but he appears timid at times in steal situations.
I wouldn't pay him $12+ million. If I couldn't ink him before the start of next season to a reasonable contract, I would trade him before I get nothing for him.
bosox - Alfonso Soriano doesn't deserve to be a $17 million per year player; but he is. I'm just going by what some team with deep pockets is going to throw his way, and my prediction is at least 12mil. I also think he's going to pick up the pace and hit more than 10 home runs.
Jim Scheffres was born in Elmhurst, Illinois and, after attending college at the Illinois State University, he now resides in Rockford, Illinois. Jim's first love was hockey, but has since grown to love baseball and football. He casually follows college sports, the NBA, and the NHL, and roots for all Big 10 teams.
Favorite Teams: Kansas City Chiefs, Chicago Bears, Chicago White Sox, Michigan, Illinois, Texas, Miami, Florida, Illinois State.
Favorite Players: Tony Gonzalez, Frank Thomas, Tom Brady, Ken Griffey Jr., Albert Pujols, Barry Sanders, Joe Montana, Shaquille O'Neal, Micheal Jordan.
Least Favorite teams: Chicago Cubs, New York Yankees, Pittsburgh Steelers, Denver Broncos, Oakland Raiders, Notre Dame, Duke, North Carolina
Least Favorite Players: Ben Rothlisberger , Barry Bonds
