Hypothetical Trade Idea - Grady Sizemore to the Cubs

I mean high upside package. Castro can be a superstar SS. Vitters can be a superstar 3B. Sure, the Indians already have Chisenhall. So what? He’s not a lock to become the next great thing in Cleveland. I’m sure the Indians wouldn’t mind having the luxury of both Chisenhall and Vitters in their system.

Castro – 19
Vitters – 20
Jackson – 22 (just celebrated his Birthday on the 27th)
Cashner – 23

You think he’ll be putting up a .275/.367/.485 (career line thus far) line when he’s 37? What if he never bounces back from his injuries? In comparison, not to talent, just position really, Andruw Jones flamed out after he was 29 years old.

for a variety of reasons, but Starlin seems to be inching very close to Hanley status, if not there, when Hanley was dealt. Certainly, the situations were different (Hanley dropped a bit due to questions, while Starlin’s rising quite a lot on projection).

I mean ,,, we are talking about arguably the top shortstop talent in the minors right now (at worst, he’s top 5).

Again, don’t think the trade happens for a variety of reasons (Cleveland’s gotta give some time to let Acta to see what type of talent he has, Grady’s value is a bit down right now, he’s signed, he’s young, system’s loaded. on the Cubs side, I don’t think they want to give up a rapidly improving farm with their aging core and new ownership’s plan, and my gut feeling is that Starlin would be untouchable from the Cubs front).

i was speaking of value. If I wasn’t clear, I apologize.

I highly doubt, on value, that a team will fork over the package that the OP suggested. I’m not even sold that any team will fork over the package you are suggesting (a B+ player, 3 B guys, or 2 B guys and one of the better young pitchers, a cost controlled pitcher, for Grady – again speaking of value). Look at recent trades on pitchers – it’s hard for me to imagine that any team forks over that amount with the way prospects are protected now, particularly top prospects.

But your suggestion is a bit more reasonable than the OP’s. I just think the OP’s suggestion was a bit much.

In general, I don’t think the Cubs fit that well with the Indians. I also don’t think the Cubs would do a deal that forks over key prospects this offseason, particularly not an elite talent like Castro.

few comments:

a) Don’t think the Jays would’ve accepted this deal either. My comment was simply comparing the two deals. Obviously, team needs should be a factor. I think JP needed to be ridiculously blown away to even accept a deal from the Red Sox, and I think he needed to be blown away to accept a deal from a non-AL East team. Not sure he would’ve been blown away at the trade deadline (Castro was still a high ceiling kid in A+ ball).

b) Don’t think Cleveland deals Sizemore. Just wanted to reiterate that in case people get the idea that I think they will. Nope, don’t think they’ll ponder it. They’ve got to let Acta play out at least a year with this young core, and see how their pitching development goes. If things go well, they could easily be in contention in a relatively weak AL Central. If they ponder a Grady deal, its in the future. Just don’t see it this offseason, and I imagine this topic came around deal to some mailbag that Hoynes had with someone on the topic.

c) Yes, Grady is a different animal from any of the recent top deals. Furthermore, all it takes is one team to go crazy. That said, in general, there hasn’ t been many big deals in recent offseason history that have met expectations that people had, and there’s been far far fewer that have blown past expectations. About the only deal that I can think of that people point to is the Erik Bedard trade.

I’m just not sure why, in a climate where baseball teams have strongly emphasized protecting players, particularly arms, in a climate where the economy is impacting baseball, that there’s going to be a earth shattering deal done in the offseason. Which team, with a good enough farm, is going to sell their farm this offseason? Sure, one can say, and let’s leave Grady alone and this scenario alone, as I don’t think the Cubs would do it, and just speak in generalities for a moment. One can say that the selling team could demand more, and maybe they’d probably be in the right for doing that. But for me, assessing and judging trade value comes down to what might be possible … so tell me, which team sells their farm this offseason, for a non-pitcher? I could perhaps see a team sell the farm for Felix, but even then, the Red Sox pulled the brakes up on their top shelf of talent, and while their system might be on a downswing for a moment, they’ve still got a better system than most organizations out there

That said, I’ve been plenty wrong before, and all it takes is one.

Which team do you see that honestly would fork over a top 10-15 prospect in the game this offseason, in any deal? Add in that the FA market likely will be overloaded, and unless a team feels Grady is the difference between a championship, I’m hard pressed to see which organization pulls the deal.

We can, as fans, talk about what we would do, what we think should be done. I mean, there are easily some guys I would fork over in an instant. But … which organization pulls that trigger? That’s the tough thing for me to see. That said, it just takes one team.

It’s hard to tell on the internet sometimes.

As for Salome, I just don’t see it. I’ve heard very mixed reports on the guy, and having seen him in person, it’s hard to take him seriously as a future star unless he can stay behind the plate. He makes Lenny Dykstra look like an NBA player.

Also, eventually the Indians have to stop accumulating guys who are in real danger of ending up at first or DH without superstar potential. Someone like Gamel or Salome (especially given the catcher depth) is exactly what they don’t need.