If I Was The GM…
Tony DiVincenzo, BaseballInsights Analyst
Anyone playing fantasy baseball isn’t just in it for the
money, or the love of baseball, or the competition. There’s a part of each and every one of us that
believes we could be the General Manager of a baseball team. Each one of us questions trades, laments
ill-advised free agent signings, and glows at the promise of the
prospects. With that in mind, we’ll
dispense our own advice for those 30 ‘lucky’ real-life GMs out there, with one
eye on fantasy implications, of course!
Mets, Omar Minaya
– I would infuse some youth into the Mets rotation before the inevitable
breakdown of one or more of the starters.
No, I’m not talking about dumping Glavine or Pedro from the rotation! I would go with John Maine, Mike Pelfrey, and
even Jason Vargas, without entertaining the possibility that Aaron Sele or Chan
Ho Park could win a spot on the roster, let alone the rotation. Looks like Chan Ho will be parked in the
bullpen with Sele not far behind – needless to say, unless either pitchers
breaks into the rotation, neither should produce any positive value in ’07.
Padres, Kevin Towers
- I would trade Scott Linebrink for some offense. Linebrink is a luxury on a team that needs
more offense. IMO, any time you can get
an everyday starter for a setup man, you pull the trigger (and that holds for
Fantasy as well!). Several Linebrink
trades were floating around in Jan.-Feb. including a swap for Aaron Rowand, but
it seems to us that Linebrink plus a Paul McNaulty might have upped the ante a
bit.
Brewers, Doug Melvin
- Here’s something that probably makes too much sense, Kevin Mench to the Twins
for one of their second tier pitching prospects (no, not Garza, Perkins or
Slowey, but maybe Neshek or Durbin).
With a need for power in the Twinkies lineup, Mench would be more
valuable than the law firm of Tyner and White, and Mench is clearly out there for
the taking. Mench will earn 3.4M for
2007, which should be negotiable for the budget conscious Twins.
Marlins, Larry Beinfest
- If the Marlins had a legitimate player in CF, they would have a very solid
lineup. I’ve always had a soft spot for
Joe Borchard’s power, but it doesn’t look like the Marlins really consider him
an option there. That leaves a host of
light hitters such as Eric Reed, Reggie Ambercrombie and Alejandro De Aza who has made a strong case for playing
time. Now with Hermida out, Borchard and Ross will see a lot of time in RF
anyway. As spring training comes to a
close, perhaps the long-rumored trade between the Marlins and Devil Rays for
one of Tampa’s
surplus outfielders (Dukes, Gomes) will finally go down. We’re big fans of Reds CF Chris Denorfia who
has been major league ready for over a year and clearly has a (much) higher
ceiling than any of the current contenders.
Marlins have plenty of arms to trade (Sergio Mitre, Yusmiero Petit) to a
Reds staff that needs bullpen support as well as 5th
starter candidates.
“GM Seeking Closer” -
I would not trade for Armando Benitez to be my closer. Apparently, several teams are considering
such a move. The Red Sox, Marlins and
others are looking at him as a potential closer, but there are too many health
questions, and Boston needs to look no farther than the Mets experience with
Benitez to see that he may not have the make-up for a pennant contending
team. The Marlins have other internal
options, and he would be an expensive stop gap to bridge to the eventual
closer, Taylor Tankersley, Matt Lindstrom, Kevin Gregg, Henry Owens or of
course, Kent Tekulve (might as well throw anyone of interest into the mix!).
Happy Trading!
As always, what do you think? Let us know at GM@baseballinsights.com or www.baseballinsights.com
