It appears that Mark Teixiera is going to sign with an East Coast Team. He allegedly wants to play there, and his 
family lives in Maryland, so with the kind of high character guy he is, I think he will be in Baltimore, Washington or Boston by next week. When that happens, you are going to see the dominos start to fall. The scorned Angels (who gave up a lot to get Tex) and the Yankees will start bidding for Manny and his price is going to go up, and up, and up.
My advice is get out now! Don’t pay an inflated price for a chump like Manny. With Furcal acepting a $30-33 Million/3 Year deal, Orlando Hudson’s value has to be declining (can you say 3 Years/$24 Million?). Also, Dunn, Burrell and Abreu are the “leftovers.” I say we get aggressive in moving Pierre by packaging him with DeJesus and DeWitt for either prospects, a starter, and/or role-players, and sign Hudson and the “leftovers” of Dunn, Burrell and Abreu. I believe we can DUMP Pierre’s salary if we give up BOTH DeWitt and DeJesus. I also think that the final one of those three players will be signed at 3 Years/$40, which is a lot less than Manny will command.
This would be our lineup:
- Furcal SS
- Hudson 2B
- Ethier RF
- Abreu/Burrell/Dunn LF (pick one)
- Loney 1B
- Kemp CF
- Martin C
- Blake 3B
That is not an overpowering lineup, but it is solid from top to bottom. It would leave us with Jones on the bench and if he could come back, well there you go. Remember, I am just biding my time until Andrew Lambo arrives!
DODGER NOTES:
- Andy Jones was 0-4 last night with 2 BB and is now hitting a robust .188. Hey, that’s better than last year!
- It was rumored that Hiroki Kuroda pulled out of the WBC because of lingering shoulder problems. Well, it turns out that is true and false. According to Tony Jackson, Kuroda is on a shoulder-strengthening program that will continue through spring training and he put the team ahead of himslef by deciding not to play in the WBC. Tony says his shoulder if fine – they just want it to be stronger. Thus the exercises and training.
I pick Dunn. With a bonus for using a maple bat. Abreu would be my second choice, but I fear his best years are behind him. I think he is going to be 35 next year, but he does have a very good lifetime OBP.
And I could live with that lineup if our pitching is strong. Loretta could spell Hudson for several games and we wouldn’t lose that much.
It sounds like panic has set in. Yesterday Mark wasn’t on the Hudson bandwagon and today he’s smack on it. I guess we all change our minds like we change our socks.
I would wait to see what happens with the Manny market for a little while longer but Hudson and Sheets need to be on the Dodgers radar right now. Packaging DeWitt with Pierre should only happen after signing Hudson. I can live with Dunn or Abreu, Sheets and Hudson.
If Manny keeps flapping his gums he may end up with the Yankees on a one year contract.
Ned could start druming up a deal with Toronto. Halladay and Wells or Rios might be had for a package of players from the Dogs. Toronto seems like the kind of team that has what we need and would be a better dealing partner then San Diego.
If Teixeira is smart, we will sign with Boston which will cause the Yanks go get Manny. If Boston loses out on Teixeira, then the Yanks could lose interest in Manny. Just my take.
That’s all for now. Happy Holidays
I don;t know why you guys attribute things I don’t say to me. I’m not on the Hudson Bandwagon – he’s not all that, but his .300 BA in the #2 hole and his defense would be just what we need. He’s an upgrade over DeWitt, but I do like DeWitt. I just think he can be had on the cheap. By the way, the day before yesterday, I wrote this:
I still think Orlando Hudson would look nice behind Raffy and I think he could probably be had for a 3-year/$28 Million deal, but DeWitt probably won’t be that much of a dropoff at 2B.
And it’s not time to panic. It’s time to play it smart!
If we want Halladay and Wells or Rios (I like them all), we would have to give up Billingsley or Kershaw in the deal. I would trade Kemp, Andruw Jones, DeWitt, Pierre, DeJesus, McDonald and Elbert for Halladay, Rios and Wells. This would be our lineup:
1. Furcal SS
2. Hudson 2B
3. Loney 1B
4. Wells CF
5. Rios RF
6. Martin C
7. Ethier LF
8. Blake 3B
Rotation:
Halladay
Billingsley
Kuroda
Kershaw
Schmidt
However, I doubt that Toronto would do that deal.
Comment from Mark
Lawdog,
“OK, I’m off the Hudson Bandwagon. Let’s have Abreu and DeWitt battle it out”.
I didn’t make this up Mark….
Do you forget what you say?
I change my mind also, it’s not a crime.
I am off the bandwagon (although that was said “tongue-in-cheek”), but if his price drops like I think it will, then I’d take him.
I do reserve the right to change my mind however.
I haven’t changed my mind. Hudson is the best defensive and best offensive 2nd baseman available to us. If he checks out physically, he is worth picking up.
It seems like months since many of us said, what we do depends on whether we sign Manny. And here we sit still waiting to see if he is coming back. As soon and he and Borass make up their collective mind, we will know what it is we do. Until then, we will guess and we will predict, and we will present various trade scenarios…… and all of it don’t mean nothin’.
If we go after Hudson we’ll be taking ourselves out of the bidding for Manny and Sheets. I suppose we could just go sign Dunn, Sheets and Hudson and platoon DeWitt with that geezer we overpaid to play third–Blake. At Blake’s advanced age he’s probably only got about a year and a half left anyway.
That would blow Borass’ mind. Go out and sign up Dunn and leave Manny out in the cold with no offers at all.
I don’t see the Yanks going four years for $100 million for Manny . They just committed to over $500 million in guaranteed money for two pitchers. Even George has limits on the amount of m oney he can spend in any given FA market.
Well the Angels pulled out of the Teixeira sweepstakes. It sounds like Boston is holding firm and the Yanks are rumored to be in the mix now along with Baltimore and the Nationals. If the Yanks sign Teixeira, would everyone agree that a change needs to be made in baseball. It is becoming a circus. Then the Angels, Yanks, Nationals and Dodgers can battle it out for Manny. The Yanks may just sign him also. Why not? If I’m the GM for the Dodgers, I put out a 3 year offer for Manny now with a time limit. If Manny wants to take it fine, if not just move on to Hudson and Sheets. If we continue to wait for Manny some of these players will sign else where.
Denver layed an egg today. I can’t believe they let the Bills beat them on there home field.
I hear that the Yanks are about to put 3 years on the table.
OK, Fred, time to put your hat on and get in the game.
Sounds like Manny is heading to the Bronx to be a Yankee. 3 years $75 mil is going on the table Monday or Tuesday. I can’t see the Dodgers matching this one. Boras maynot even check back.
Then if the Yanks can Sign Teixeira next , they should be able to compete next year. If they missed the playoffs in 2009 it would be a crime. There’s something very very wrong with MLB these days. There’s greed and then there’s just pure greed. Can the government bail out the Yankees if they get over their heads with financial problems? Maybe they can follow the automakers to Washington and get in line. What will the Vegas odds look like for the Yankees to win their division? and the World Series? For every $100 placed you would receive $115 back. Sheets and Hudson is the best we can hope for without a trade.