Barry Jive wrote:

Monkeyboy wrote:It really is a shame about blanton... he was our trade piece at the beginning of the season. otoh, his absence allowed worley to succeed at the ml level and develop some value

Blanton was never our trade piece

Really? If he had been healthy and pitching the way he did in the 2nd half of last year, you don't think he would have been available for trade? As things turned out, it's the 2nd year of the pitcher, but he was very good in the 2nd half last year once he was healthy and got his mechanics squared away. If he came out throwing that well again this year, I have to think he would have been a trade piece if the other 4 guys were healthy. He's affordable and really not needed for the playoffs on this team.

i don't think he would have been, b/c typically we want to trade with a bad team with an unnecessary asset that wants to get young and cheap. Blanton is 30 and makes $10 mil this year

We could have traded him though and been able to take on Beltran's salary in a trade, saving prospects

idk, i don't think the mets are in enough dire straits that they really need to have a half year of his salary paid, so it won't end up mattering much.

i also don't think a guy like blanton is worth a lot in the last two years, especially at that salary

then you trade him to a team that needs a pitcher for a playoff push and use what you get to package with your own guys for what you want. He's not going to bring you a top prospect, but he has some value. There are definitely teams looking for pitchers and he was pretty solid in the 2nd half the past two years.

But you're right, I think, that a team like Houston or the Mets wouldn't want him.

what do you really think the phils are getting, prospect wise, for blanton? i don't think anything that would in another trade. your best bet is like jersey said, a salary dump type thing, but i don't think that would work either

I'm sure that he was looked at that way on this board by many before the season started. I remember people saying that he could be used at the deadline to help fill any holes we had.

We'll see what happens to similar pitchers around the league over the next few weeks. I'm talking about if he was healthy and pitching like he did in the 2nd half last year. We'll see, but I'm guessing a mid-level prospect or a better prospect at a lower level.

i'm just saying we were thrilled with what we gave up for Lee, so i can't imagine what we would get for blanton

It's hard to tell because it changes every year... probably less this year because the pitching around the league is better. We'll see if someone similar changes hands.

Remember when we could have traded Blanton instead of Lee but wouldn't have gotten any prospects in return, and then we gave him a raise

The Dude wrote:i'm just saying we were thrilled with what we gave up for Lee, so i can't imagine what we would get for blanton

Not to mention it's pretty unusual for division leaders to trade established starting pitchers in-season. You're basically saying, here, take our overpaid problem.

Heard a Manuel quote last night about Baez being a huge influence on Bastardo this year, fwiw

Grotewold wrote:Heard a Manuel quote last night about Baez being a huge influence on Bastardo this year, fwiw

in that case, please extend Danys.

Grotewold wrote:Heard a Manuel quote last night about Baez being a huge influence on Bastardo this year, fwiw

"Look here son, do as I say and not as I do!"

Rudy Seanez had a 125 OPS+ with us in 2008. No idea how.

Grotewold wrote:Heard a Manuel quote last night about Baez being a huge influence on Bastardo this year, fwiw

I think there was another specific instance of this earlier in the season where he said something...maybe to Madson? Either way Baez has some kind of teaching presence in the bullpen apparently

must be why the Mets want him so bad

Barry Jive wrote:

Grotewold wrote:Heard a Manuel quote last night about Baez being a huge influence on Bastardo this year, fwiw

I think there was another specific instance of this earlier in the season where he said something...maybe to Madson? Either way Baez has some kind of teaching presence in the bullpen apparently

Yeah I just saw that. Billmeyer raves about his influence, too, and I'm sure he's helped Contreras some.

Makes me feel a lot less about bad about his awful performance relative to the contract, and mindful that there's often more going on with these situations than we know.

Pretty cool Morosi story on Pat Gillick "scouting" him instantly

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/mlb- ... tor-072111