Cubs Get Rizzo for Cashner

The Cubs made a smart move for their first base hole, smarter than signing Prince and wasting the rest of his prime trying to compete because they won’t for another 2-3 years and that’s when Rizzo may be hitting his prime.  I do believe Rizzo is a little bit overrated and will need to cut strikeouts, which he can in order to be an all-star.  He could hit 30 homers a year in his prime and he should get some playing time and hit about 20 homers and hit about .265 and do a good job and play some good defense, he may get kind of hot at some point in 2012.  he could rake at times in Wrigley and is a great fit and will do good their.  Cashner will be a decent four starter in PETCO and he could carve out a good career but not as valuable as Rizzo’s should be.  Cashner can be a reliever and  a good one at that if worse comes to worst.  The Cubs also got Zach Cates who may be a bust or a decnt pitcher someday, but not great.  The Padres received Kyung-Min Na, a career fourth otufielder at best who doesn;t have many tools besides speed and some hitting but he’s a bad baserunner.  EDGE: Cubs

Padres Get Carlos Quentin

The Padres got Carlos Quentin in a deal for Simon Castro and Pedro Hernandez.  I like Castro, but his lack of pitches could hurt in the long run and he may have a good year or maybe a few but I get the feeling he will be inconsistent, sort of like a right-handed version of Liriano but I like him and his fastball and if he gets some  more pitches he could be good, although I don;t like him in US Cellular.  Hernandez may be a good bullpen guy or a five starter but he also may never make it, so the return of Quentin is bad.  Quentin’s defense is horrible and it always will be, but Maybin will make up some of his ground and it won’t be much worse than it was as a White Sock.  His power won’t take too much of a hit, I can;t see him hitting less than 25 homers and he will still hit okay and though he’s not the ideal slugger he will do fine for San Diego and he will be their best hitter in 2012 with decent stats.  EDGE: Padres

BOTTOM LINE(Using my gut and sabermetrics): Quentin probably will regress a little but he will still be good and the White Sox are heading backwards with not too many good prospects to show for it.

Padres Top 20 Prospects- 2012

1. OF Rymer Liriano  GRADE: A
2. C Yasmani Grandal  A
3. SP Robbie Erlin  A
4. 1B Yonder Alonso  A-
5. 1B Anthony Rizzo  A-
6. SP Keyvuis Simpson  A-
7. SP Casey Kelly  A-
8. 3B Jedd Gyorko  A-
9. 2B Cody Spandneberg  B+
10. C Austen Hedges  B+
11. OF Jaff Decker  B+
12. SP Joe Wieland  B+
13. SP Brad Boxberger  B+
14. SP Joe Ross  B+
15. 3B Edinson Rincon B
16. SP Anthony Bass B
17. SP Simon Castro  B-
18. SP Juan Oramas  B-
19. OF Reymond Fuentes  C+
20. 2B Jonathan Galvez  C+

Reds Acquire Latos for Volquez and Others

The Reds got a stud and an ace who has yet to get better and go through his prime that being said he may have some struggles.  Latos will see his stats worsen a bit when he’s at home, with homers and ERA but he will improve on that and win games and I believe he can be the ace the Reds want.  I believe these next three seasons he will continue rising to the top and he will become one of the leagues best pitchers and a go to guy for the Reds.  He can keep a sub-3 ERA still and he will have a big year ahead so fantasy players should still go after him.  He makes the Reds a lot better and he’s the pitcher they can build around, plus Latos and Cueto can be a great 1-2 punch.  Latos should have a great career with the Reds and win a lot of games.  The Padres got Edinson Volquez, who had a great rookie season but has had some struggles with control.  He has awesome stuff and he may be able to put it all together in San Diego, if not I know he will improve some and be a decent four or five starter and if he could be a whole lot more if he regains control and San Diego is the place for Volquez to do it.  The Padres finally got a great future catcher who should start-up later this season and have a good 2012 and be great from there, his name is Yasmani Grandal.  He will be a great hitting catcher with power and PETCO won’t let him down and on defense he is okay.  Nick Hundley will be a better back-up catcher.  The Padres also got Yonder Alonso, who is better than Anthony Rizzo but cannot play LF.  Alonso will be a great hitter and PETCO may take a few homers away but he will be a special player who becomes a great first baseman and the leader of the offense.  Brad Boxberger was also acquired, he has the lowest ceiling and he’s a good pitcher who could be a back-end starter or a decent back-end reliever.  Great haul for the Padres and though Latos will be missed and the rotation will take a hit, the team will get better.  EDGE: Reds, Latos is just too good

Blue Jays Acquire Sergio Santos, Padres Acquire Huston Street

• The Blue Jays traded prospect Nestor Molina, who has a decent to good future to the White Sox for their new closer Sergio Santos.  Santos a good closer who may ne day even be an all-star and he fits well in that role and with the Jays.  He’s not your ideal closer but he gets the job done and he did well minus a few bumps last year.  He will never be the best but he will be good and will be a consistent 30 save pitcher for the Jays.  They got a good pitcher in Santos and he will be a good closer for many years for them, especially in 2012.  The White Sox received Nestor Molina, who has torn up the minor leagues but probably won’t be just that good in the majors, but he could be a pretty good number two or three starter in about three years and will be  a great young talent when he comes up.  EDGE: Blue Jays
• The Padres got Huston Street for a player to be named later, now Street isn’t the best closer but expect a huge 2012 from him moving from Coors Field to PETCO Park.  He will have a few tough times but he’s a solid closer and should do much better as a Padre.  It was a great trade for the Padres and they get the edge.  If he stays in San Diego for a while he could be a good closer for them for a while.

MLB Power Rankings 8/19/11

1. Phillies- The best, no question
2. Red Sox- Really Good, easily better than the Yankees
3. Braves- I can’t find many negatives
4. Yankees- Starters and Injuries a concern but a good team
5. Brewers- Hottest in baseball and Weeks isn’t even back yet
6. Rangers- Ready for another deep postseason run
7. Diamondbacks- Look better than the Giants but not very established yet
8. Giants- Lincecum has been a n ace as has Cain and Vogelsong and Sanchez have been a great supporting cast.  No offense though
9. Tigers- If the starters can come around they are a pretty deep team
10. Rays- The wrong division, one of the most talented teams in the MLB, bright future
11. Cardinals- Berkman, Holliday and Pujols won’t make it easy on Brewers but Garcia struggles are big trouble
12. Indians- Ubaldo will help but just aren’t THAT good
13. Angels- Wells is killing them but Santana is hot and Trumbo is a very talented player
14. White Sox- If Dunn comes around, watch out, Humber being out hurts though
15. Blue Jays- Above average but this isn’t their year to shine
16. Pirates- A .500 team, finally.  If Alvarez comes around and they stay healthy could be much, much more
17. Reds- Could climb up the list and come back very strong
18. Rockies- Another team that had just one bad year and Tulo could light up September
19. Marlins- Should being doing a lot better but dumb moves like demoting Morrison hurt
20. Mets- Not a bad team but not a contender, yet
21. Nationals- Could be next year’s surprise team with Strasburg back, both Zimmerman(n)s and a good year from Werth, don’t forget Harper, at the end of the year, either
22. Twins- Need to come out the gate better but Nishioka is a bust and an easy out, the double play combo needs work
23. Athletics- They look very good and I can’t see them not improving a lot next season
24. Padres- Have some young and promising players but still a few years away
25. Dodgers- Kemp is an MVP candidate and Ethier should come back strong starting this year
26. Mariners- The starters look good and Wells and Carp look like future players but after that it’s hazy
27. Orioles- Not a really good team and still years away from contending
28. Cubs- With Hendry gone it could get better from here
29. Royals- Their outfielders all look good and prospects are bright a better record is ahead
30. Astros- Not much other than Altuve

Mike Adams Traded to Rangers

The Rangers have acquired Mike Adams for Robbie Erlin, who is a top 5 prospect and has done nothing but solidify that and he will be pretty much a number two or three starter and Joe Wieland, a guy who has broken out but is worse than Erlin but he should still be an impact starter.  Adams is the best setup man in all of the MLB and now that the Rangers have him they will have a successful 7-8-9 with Uehara and Feliz will really show up as a great closer.  Adams isn’t a couple year wonder, he will do really good and pretty much the same in Texas and could do even better there.  He will do just as good down the stretch and provide the Rangers with tons of quality innings and a lot of holds.  Adams should have just as good of a second half as he did a first half and I don’t see any way he would be a bust for the Rangers and for what they gave up it was good value, he will be a top-tier setup man for many years.

What It Will Take To Get Heath Bell

THE PHILLIES: SP Vance Worely, RP Phillippe Amount
THE BLUE JAYS: C Carlos Perez, SP Asher Wojciechowski
THE YANKEES: C Austin Romine, SP Graham Stoneburner
THE CARDINALS: 3B Matt Carpenter, SP Lance Lynn
THE RANGERS: SP Robbie Ross, SP Joe Wielend
THE ANGELS: SP Trevor Reckling, 3B Kaleb Cowart
BEST DEAL: I say the Yankees and then the Phillies, because Worley is over perfroming a bit but would do great in San Diego and is sstill a really good starter who puts up good numbers, but Stoneburner is available and is very underrated.

Analysis and Opinions: Rodriguez, Coke, Rizzo

• Ivan Rodriguez would be a great fit for the Giants, the best they could find and he wouldn’t hit as near as good as Posey would but Rodriguez will do really good on all sides of the ball.  he would look good in their line-up too.  I would stick on to Miguel Tejada a little longer because Brandon Crawford might not cut it all year.
• Phil Coke will have quite a few more good starts then bad but when he’s off the Tigers won’t have a good shot.  COke should stay in the rotation for now though and he will slowly get better and better
• Anthony Rizzo will make his debut tomorrow.  I wouldn’t expect too much out of him right now but the power should slowly come and he has a shot for a good average this year.  He will develop into so much more someday but he needs to get used to PETCO now and it may take a while.  He should still make some contributions and he’s the best option at first for the Pads right now.  Hawpe should start in the outfield more now and i can see him doing better.

5 Tigers Trades That Could Work

5. Tigers Get: OF Josh Willingham   A’s Get: RP Lester Oliveros, RP Jay Voss
Willingham will do a great job in Detroit and the A’s get two quality relivers who could have good careers.  Willingham would do great as a Tiger and it’s worth the deal

4. Tigers Get: OF Ryan Ludwick  Padres Get: SS Gustavo Nunez, RP Lester Oliveros
Ludwick could revive his career and be very successful in Detroit and play really good the rest of the season.  Oliveros is a good guy for the Tigers to trade and he could do great in San Diego and Nunez could be a good top of the order guy when Bartlett leaves.  Nunez would be mostly a singles hitter for the Padres

3. Tigers Get: RP Mike Adams  Padres Get: RP Kenny Faulk, SS Cale Iorg
Adams would do just as good in Detroit and if Perry and Benoit can pan out the Tigers will have one of the best bullpens in the AL.  Iorg might pan out in San Diego and Faulk does a pretty good job and could be some nice help if he makes it to the MLB.

2. Tigers Get: RP Joel Hanrahan  Pirates Get: RP Bruce Rondon, RP Lester Oliveros, 1B Rawley Bishop
Hanrahan will also give the Tigers a huge boost and he’s a fireballer which will make the bullpen even better and I think he can be a great setup man and could fill in for Valverde if Valverde leaves, which hopefully Valverde stays.  The Pirates get two middle tier relief prospect who should do okay and a very underrated first baseman who has the potential to do some good things.

1. Tigers Get: SS Jose Reyes   Mets Get: SP Jacob Turner, SP Andy Oliver, OF Avisail Garcia, 2B Brandon Douglas
Out of all the big names Reyes make the most sense for the Tigers, he will do awesome and would be a great leadoff guy.  They could move Perlata to third and Inge to the utility role.  Reyes would be explosive and upgrade this team in a huge way, easily making them better than the Indians.  The cost of getting and keeping Reyes is high though and I think the Tigers should keep Turner and Oliver.  If they start to win a lot then I would make this deal if I could though.