A Haren In Blue (and Red)?
Ken Rosenthal has put the Tribe squarely in the mix for Haren:
"The trade of Haren could happen first — and the Diamondbacks and Indians, two clubs deep in young talent, are in the best position to make a deal, according to major-league sources...
The Diamondbacks' offer for Haren is believed to include Class AAA outfielder Carlos Gonzalez, Class AAA second baseman Emilio Bonifacio and Class AA left-hander Brett Anderson, among others.
The Indians' advantage is that they can offer superior major-league ready pitching, including righty Adam Miller, who projects as either a top-of-the-rotation starter or closer, and lefty Aaron Laffey, a sinker-baller who could develop into another Mark Buehrle.
Haren, the starting pitcher for the American League in the 2007 All-Star Game, could form a potent trio with C.C. Sabathia and Fausto Carmona in Cleveland — and protect the Indians against the loss of Sabathia as a free agent at the end of the season."
To secure a pitcher like Haren, the Indians would surely have to part with Atom Miller, would likely have to include Aaron Laffey, and would have to try to convince Oakland not to hold their breath unless Asdrubal Cabrera were included.
If the deal is Miller, Laffey, and Cabrera, I would back away from the table mainly due to the fact that very few 21-year-old middle infielders (who have excelled at every minor league stop along the way) arrive in MLB and thrive the way that Asdrubal did to close out 2007. The ones that historically have debuted that early put Droob in some pretty good company.
As was pointed out back in August, “recent Middle IF who made their first real contributions in MLB at either age 20 or 21 is a pretty impressive list with players like Alan Trammell, Roberto Alomar, Lou Whitaker, Willie Randolph, and Ozzie Guillen offering a range of players with varying degrees of success.
Expand it to age 22 and the list doesn’t have much of a drop-off, with the likes of Barry Larkin, Omar Vizquel (yes, Omar), and Ryne Sandberg dotting the high end.”
Take into account that Cabrera hasn’t even played his natural position (one which most scouts feel he will become an elite defender manning) and that he’s been exposed to the playoffs– and it’s fairly easy to ascertain that Asdrubal is a keeper and a legitimate deal-breaker for Haren, or anyone else at this point.
Take Cabrera out of the deal and replace him with a player like Jared Goedert or Wes Hodges (any lower level position player not named Weglarz) and it remains a hefty price to pay and one that would give pause (truthfully, due more to the inclusion of Laffey than Miller for me) - but Haren, particularly for the money over three full years, is just too good to pass up.
Think about the rotation:
C.C.
Fausto
Haren
Westbrook
Byrd
Lee and Sowers are still there as depth starters and those top 4 could go against any 4 starters west of Beantown.
This is still just a rumor, but would serve as a nice move to allay some fears created by the moves in Motown of the past week for 2008.
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10 comments:
All I want for Christmas is Haren or Bedard, Haren or Bedard, Haren or Bedard...
PC, I'd say 2010 at the earliest on Porcello. That would give him three full years in the minors coming out of high school. I'll post something if I hear sooner from any Tiger fans, but I'd think that would be wishful thinking.
all that link did was remind me how good fausto is.
i agree pc, i hate the deal with asdrubal. i don't even really like it too much with miller and laffey involved, we could essentially be trading fausto and jake away before they were fausto and jake. oh yeah, and they are really cheap and will be around long term.
while our staff with haren would be scary for 2008 and 2009-10 (if we re-up with CC), i feel it compromises our future to some degree. our pitching is good enough to beat anyone in any series, provided they don't pitch like the studs did in the playoffs. adding haren makes it ridiclous, but if CC and Fausto pitch like they did in the playoffs and our bats go cold like they did, i don't necessarily think having a 3rd #1 pitcher is going to help all that much. that being said, it sure would be fun to watch that rotation mow down the tigers.
imho....Fausto, Westbrook, Miller, Laffey and someone else (CC or Sowers) is not too shabby either. And obviously more economical and built for longevity.
There is a rumor floating about that the Tribe is offering Laffey, Sowers, Francisco and Barfield. This seems a little bit like some Indian fantasy but who knows.
If it's that deal (Laffey, Sowers, Francisco, and Barfield), I'm jumping over the table for a handshake. Sounds like wishful thinking on the part of the Tribe.
I've heard that the A's are more interested in Gutz and may hold out for Cabrera.
Cabrera's a no-no to me.
I'm not sure about including Franky as it would create a hole in RF (unless another trade is afoot or Francisco is going to be given RF until Choo returns).
Gutierrez's inclusion in the deal certainly is worth some thought, obviously depending on who else is involved.
Why does Haren have a #24 jersey in that pic? Was that his number when he first came up? He is #15 now...anyway, I would trade the Astrocab, Miller and Lee for Haren. No questions asked. I believe the window for a championship with this core group of players could go out the window after CC leaves. If you pull the trigger here you are telling your fans that you are giving it a run. Then look for additional offense before the trade deadline if you need it.
Are we sure that serious talks are underway? The original Rosenthal article just sounds like him speculating that the Indians are in a "good position," which is entirely different than "are looking into."
V-man,
Not sure if everyone's just picking up on the Rosenthal thing but the PD and ABJ both had pieces in today's editions (though that could simply mean that Hoynes and Ocker read Rosenthal).
The SF papers picked up on it too, though that could be the same thing happening.
A part of me thinks that where there's smoke - there's fire and the repeating of those same names (Miller, Laffey, Cabrera) must be based on something, right?
The other part of me thinks that it is December and people need something to entertain themselves without baseball to do so.
Rick,
The A's wouldn't want Lee and I couldn't disagree more on Asdrubal or our "window closing if C.C. leaves".
Cabrera is probably as close to untouchable as Carmona and Sizemore are at this point, even based only on his short time in MLB last year. His youth, success at levels at an absurdly young age, high ceiling, and forthcoming years under club control are too good to give up at this point...even for Haren. Perhaps that high opinion will eventually be proven wrong, but that's the feeling in the organization.
If C.C. leaves, we still have all of the other pieces locked up through 2010 and longer with more help on the way. No way does this thing just blow up if C.C. walks - the organization is just too deep and young. This young team almost made the WS essentially without C.C. in the playoffs. How does it all go away if he does?
To make a move just to make one run or giving a message to the fans would go against the stated purpose of building a sustained contender.
i couldn't agree more, pc, especially on Cabrera. i think he's going to become a fixture of this organization. last year he was basically cleveland's own jeter...seriously, think about his plays and bat. i honestly think he's gotta be in the top five on the team for sound jersey investments.
Hey PT,
This one makes a lot more sense to me. I have heard a lot of rumbles that their is a deal on the table for Miller, Laffey and Sowers. This sounds a lot better than what looks like an Indians fantasy I posted earlier.
I doubt Shapiro cares but I would be upset if AsCab winds up part of this deal.
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