It's funny - the amateur draft and the trade deadline are supposed to be two of a baseball blogger's annual highlights. Instead, I didn't really care about this year's draft because the M's were too good to get a high pick, and I don't really care about this year's trade deadline because the M's are too bad to have many movable players now that Lee is long gone. So those are two should-be exciting events that I won't get to experience. Still, I'm sure people are curious about pieces we could theoretically move by 1pm tomorrow, so below please find my brief reviews of each trade candidate, along with their corresponding value in PTBNLs. Each PTBNL is represented by a picture of High Desert's Stephen Penney, because High Desert's Stephen Penney seems like a PTBNL kind of guy.
David Aardsma
The upside is that Aardsma's a Proven Closer with two more years of team control. Also, the strikeouts are still there. His value, though, is lower now than it would've been earlier, given his command trouble, his mediocre ERA, and the flood of relievers on the market. I doubt he's anyone's first choice, and Minnesota had long shown the most interest until they got Matt Capps.
Josh Bard
Switch-hitting backup catcher! A shame nobody wants a catcher.
Casey Kotchman
There's a certain perception of Kotchman out there, one that isn't going to be swayed by a red-hot month of July. The Red Sox got some guy named Ian Bladergroen for Doug Mientkiewicz, which seems about right.
Ryan Langerhans
Ryan Langerhans has cleared waivers approximately seven hundred times, and to boost his value, the Mariners have given him all of 75 trips to the plate. We all know he's good, but other front offices for whatever reason don't really care, and the M's have done nothing to make him more appealing. Not that they really could've.
Brandon League
Two more years of team control, a decent ERA, a bunch of innings, and dynamite stuff. League's a very movable guy, and a very desirable guy, if a guy many other teams wouldn't quite trust to handle important innings. He just has the feel of a future closer, given his velocity and the fact that he seems kind of stupid. He isn't a prize, and his stock is lower than it was in the offseason, but he could return something interesting.
Jose Lopez
Jose Lopez has the second-lowest OPS in baseball among qualified hitters, ahead of Cesar Izturis. Fun fact: he's just behind Chone Figgins.
Jack Wilson
.595 OPS, injury problems, $5m 2011 salary.
