Can he?

I would have thought Putz alone could get us some serious return.

I have to ask if one could envision a better trade that involved Putz. It would seem logical that other teams would line up to top each other's offer.

mmmmm....I don't like that part. But GAAWWWWD it would be fun to have Manny's bat. Lowry would be a must in that deal.

or a great deal, parting with Putz would be really tough.

I wouldn't give up Jones even by himself for Manny. And there's no way Boston would do that, anyway.

I'm not even sure if I'd take Manny for free if it meant four-year guaranteed contract.

Fact #1:  Manny has a no trade clause.
Fact #2:  Manny is currently guaranteed $18 million next year and $20 million in 2008.  ($4 million of each salary is deferred until 2011 at the earliest).  He gets $1 million if traded.
Fact #3:  Manny has two club options at $20 million each for 2009 and 2010.

Manny being Manny and all, speculation has that to waive his no-trade clause Manny would require one or both club options to be picked up.  Two years of Manny are great, but that third and fourth year (ages 37 and 38) don't look so hot.

Wow.  

That is one hell of a trade rumor.  

I would hate to see Jones and Putz go, but Lowry and Manny would be a pretty sweet package.  

Wow.  

One question: Suppose that this package was acceptable to all parties, and the deal was waiting on the M's.  Would a deal of Lowry for Sexson straight up be a better deal?  

I am just wondering.  

But Manny would be pretty sweet.  

Also, why would Manny necessarily have to play LF for the M's at all?  Couldn't they stick him at DH, move Ibanez to 1B, and have Snelling in LF?  That seems like the best overall lineup to me, although it is quite righthanded.  

Wow.  That is a pretty crazy rumor.  

Aren't the winter meetings fun?  Even if this doesn't go down, it is still fun to talk about.  

My prediction- Adam Jones will be worth more than Manny by the time Manny's original contract is up, when you factor in salaries and defense. And that's BEFORE any extension Manny insists on having guaranteed as a result of the deal come into play. (BTW- isn't Manny a 5/10?) Pass.

Coming up on 35 years old.

Does this not worry anyone else?  I know he's a first ballot HOF'er, but there's got to be a potential for decline, right?

Granted, he won't fall to replacement level or anything.  But if he goes from amazing to just good, at the price of $20M no less, the loss of Putz and Jones will really, really hurt.

It also seems like too many eggs in one basket -- if Manny gets hurt significantly, then guess what?  We gave up our best prospect, the best closer in baseball and $20M for an ass on the bench.  OUCH.

ALSO, what if he walks after two years?  We gave up all of that for just two years of Manny?  Because honestly, I could totally see him wanting to jump into the nutso free agency waters.

I like Putz.  

But I think that biggest loss in this deal could be Adam Jones.  He is a much better prospect than people in the mainstream prospect pundits seem to acknowledge, mainly because the M's have rushed him at a breakneck pace through the minors.  

Losing Putz would be a bummer, but relievers just aren't that hard to develop.  At this time last year, Putz was a very mediocre pitcher.  

If the M's did pull the trigger on that deal, they could probably go after a guy like Octavio Dotel to hedge their bets.  He is healthy and looking for a job where he can close.  Bring him in, and, with Soriano, the M's would still be OK with power relievers.  

You know what?  The more I think about this, the more sense it makes.  

Eh, big bat, big contract, big deal.  Dunno why, I can't get excited about Manny rumors.  It's like the story of the boy who cried Wolf (no, not Randy), and it feels like it's been going on for years and years.  You know, two days from now there'll be another rumor of "Manny hates coffee, fish, Ballard, and everything else about the Pacific Northwest."

I really like Adam LaRoche and Noah Lowry, though.

Mariners interested in Zito

Dear god, let it be a Boras ploy.

I am really not interested in a guy like Manny.  I am not talking about hitting here, because he is one of the best around, of course.  I am talking about everything else!  He can't field (or doesn't want to).  He can't run the bases (or doesn't want to).  He can't get his act together enough to urinate at the right time...
He doesn't even want to DH, so it isn't wise to pencil him in there...
He isn't likely to waive his no-trade to come here.  But let's say he does, and he does so because he likes Hargrove.  CRAP!, why do we want that kind of relationship?  The team's biggest flake married with the manager we all want fired??!!...
No thanks.

Get out your flannels

"I'd say with Richie and Adrian [Beltre], they're brought up more," Bavasi said. "We get a lot of hits on both of them. But we're trying to get better ... not worse. We have not seriously entertained one inquiry on those guys."

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sports/2003462175_mari05.html

Try Putz, Jones AND Clement.

AND a pony.

And the source code to Windows Vista.

Clearly Theo wants to see who's going to fall for this. No thanks.

Manny Ramirez could be traded to the Dodgers or Mariners on Wednesday, according to an ESPN Deportes reports.
The report states that the Dodgers are willing to part with Brad Penny and two prospects, while the Mariners have offered both Richie Sexson and Adrian Beltre. There's little chance of the Red Sox taking back both players from the Mariners, but they could conceivably take one along with J.J. Putz.

Source: ESPN Deportes

I can't imagine Boston having a need for Sexson but with Lowell getting old it's not hard to imagine them coveting Beltre...

Given that our current back-up third baseman is Willie Boom-Boom I'm feeling somewhat worried at this present moment.