Duh. Could be good in the middle though and that's all that matters.

This really is like the biggest no brainer of all time. So if he doesn't end up here, it's gonna be really depressing

Wheels Tupay wrote:Getting that feeling that this can only end in complete disaster.

Go big or go home, amirite?

I only wish they'd gone even bigger and signed Castillo, too.

If you think about it, they need him to sell tickets and generate some fan interest/excitement almost as much as they need him to produce on the field.

Seriously, they've become really fucking boring. I think a lot of us are probably hoping they sign Tomas just to give some reason to be interested.

dajafi wrote:Seriously, they've become really fucking boring. I think a lot of us are probably hoping they sign Tomas just to give some reason to be interested.

That's part of why I pushed the Hamilton thing

Grotewold wrote:

dajafi wrote:Seriously, they've become really fucking boring. I think a lot of us are probably hoping they sign Tomas just to give some reason to be interested.

That's part of why I pushed the Hamilton thing

Is there anyone owed less money that scenario could work out for? An extra $29M is a ton of money.

lethal wrote:Is there anyone owed less money that scenario could work out for? An extra $29M is a ton of money.

Olney suggested Ubaldo Jimenez (3/39), which would likely mean eating a good chunk of Howard's money

I really think the Hamilton thing works on a lot of levels, though. Maybe they eat some of that $29M, and/or we throw in something else

I'd rather just cut Howard than have to take on ANOTHER long-term disaster contract just to trade him

Eem wrote:I'd rather just cut Howard than have to take on ANOTHER long-term disaster contract just to trade him

Those are essentially short-term deals in years for which we don't figure to contend or have a high payroll, though. But unlike just cutting Howard you have a chance of a rebound and trade

At the very least you have someone logging innings/ABs who would be interesting

Grotewold wrote:

Eem wrote:I'd rather just cut Howard than have to take on ANOTHER long-term disaster contract just to trade him

Those are essentially short-term deals in years for which we don't figure to contend or have a high payroll, though. But unlike just cutting Howard you have a chance of a rebound and trade

At the very least you have someone logging innings/ABs who would be interesting

I feel like you are more likely to rebound by freeing up the playing time than bogging it down with another waste.

Wheels Tupay wrote:I feel like you are more likely to rebound by freeing up the playing time than bogging it down with another waste.

Who though? There's no one I can think of who needs to be in LF/RF or SP4 anytime soon. I'm all for finding the next waiver Werth, of course, but so are the other 29 (mostly smarter, of late) teams

The one thing we have is money. Use it to flip established players for those other teams' prospects

Grote, ymmv but Hamilton just isn't that interesting to me. Another aging lefty bat with injury concerns? Pass.

(Plus I mostly meant "interesting" in the sense of "hope-giving," though admittedly that wasn't clear...)

Ubaldo, though, is somewhat intriguing. I'd want to know if anyone has a good explanation for why he sucked so badly last year. He's exactly the sort of player they could flip after a good two or three months. If the money more or less netted out, I'd happily swap Howard for him.

dajafi wrote:Grote, ymmv but Hamilton just isn't that interesting to me. Another aging lefty bat with injury concerns? Pass.

(Plus I mostly meant "interesting" in the sense of "hope-giving," though admittedly that wasn't clear...)

Ubaldo, though, is somewhat intriguing. I'd want to know if anyone has a good explanation for why he sucked so badly last year. He's exactly the sort of player they could flip after a good two or three months. If the money more or less netted out, I'd happily swap Howard for him.

Or in 2012 (9-17, 5.40 ERA)
Or in 2011 (10-13, 4.68 ERA)

Since his great 2010 season, he's 38-48 with a 4.52 ERA and 1.459 WHIP. Not good. 2013 starts to look like the aberration, not 2014.

having a starting job open gives you an edge in signing guys like Werth over other teams. And I don't get wanting Hamilton at all. Even if he's good he's still owed freaking $32 million a year and he still can't play defense. You're not going to get anything for that. If you say 'eat the money and trade him for prospects'. You can just spend money and sign more international guys instead of wasting time with Hamilton. And Hamilton has been terrible, I don't think he's ever going to be good again.

Good points, but intl talent is now capped and in demand. I don't 'want' Hamilton so much as some potential return on Howard's $60M and something to watch

lethal wrote:

Grotewold wrote:

dajafi wrote:Seriously, they've become really #$!&@ boring. I think a lot of us are probably hoping they sign Tomas just to give some reason to be interested.

That's part of why I pushed the Hamilton thing

Is there anyone owed less money that scenario could work out for? An extra $29M is a ton of money.

Not trying to be obnoxious, but why is $29 million so much under the circumstances. The first $60m is a sunk cost with Howard or Hamilton, so the marginal dollars are over about 5 or 6 years - $5-6m for Hamilton for each of the next 5 or 6 years isn't that much.

The mistake was Howard - that money's gone so don't think of exchanging it for Hamilton's equivalent money as in addition to the $29m.

Heyman is starting up the Cole-to-Chicago stuff again

Also maybe our GM gets creative an actually acquires an interesting young player that needs some playing time.

JK, carry on.

Shore wrote:

dajafi wrote:Grote, ymmv but Hamilton just isn't that interesting to me. Another aging lefty bat with injury concerns? Pass.

(Plus I mostly meant "interesting" in the sense of "hope-giving," though admittedly that wasn't clear...)

Ubaldo, though, is somewhat intriguing. I'd want to know if anyone has a good explanation for why he sucked so badly last year. He's exactly the sort of player they could flip after a good two or three months. If the money more or less netted out, I'd happily swap Howard for him.

Or in 2012 (9-17, 5.40 ERA)
Or in 2011 (10-13, 4.68 ERA)

Since his great 2010 season, he's 38-48 with a 4.52 ERA and 1.459 WHIP. Not good. 2013 starts to look like the aberration, not 2014.

Fair enough. But if the money is equal, wouldn't you rather have Jimenez? Some chance at upside, and at worst he eats innings like Burnett did last season.