Steve Phillips Gets Creative

[MFS62]

This was a transcription of an interview with Steve Phillips on ESPN yesterday.

It actually makes sense in some perverse way.

Comments?

Later

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As Mets fans choke on their coffee and say, ''Oh no! Not Phillips making Mets trades again! No!'' ... Bear with me, try to follow ....

Victor Zambrano to the Giants for Alphonzo. Cliff Floyd to the Cubs for Corey Patterson and Glendon Rush. Then, the Mets spin Patterson to the Devil Rays for Danys Baez. The Mets THEN take Mike Cameron, Edgardo Alfonzo, Danys Baez and Glendon Rush and trade them to the Red Sox for Manny Ramirez. The Red Sox get two right handed bats to replace Manny, they improve defensively at 3B and LF, they add pitching depth with Rush and they get a closer with Danys Baez. The Cubs get the bat they are looking for without any substantial impact to the major league team. And, the Devil Rays get a young high ceiling prospect in Patterson -- the kind of player they like. And the Giants get pitching depth and free up 3b for Pedro Feliez once Barry Bonds comes back to play. It works for everybody!

http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/chatESPN?event_id=8767

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

And the Mets are trading Floyd, Cameron, and Zambrano for Manny Ramirez.

You'd have an outfield of Beltran, Ramirez, and... Diaz?

[smg58]

Zambrano for Fonzie: So Phillips would deal the guy the Mets dealt their best pitching prospect in 20 for, in return for a player he personally kicked out the door while keeping Alomar/Cedeno/Burnitz/Vaughn? Zambrano is worth more at this point. The Giants would have to throw in and eat payroll.

Floyd for mediocre lefty and minor leaguer: This is why I'm glad Phillips no longer runs the Mets...

Said minor leaguer for Baez: If only it were that simple.

Big mess for Manny: The Sox won't deal Manny before the offseason, unless they get his major league equivalent. This deal wouldn't cut it, and I can't see that happening in general. I wouldn't rule out his availability in the offseason, though.

[MFS62]

You folks are right. This was mental gymnastics to the Nth degree. He must be really trying hard to retain his job with ESPN. Unfortunately, he has not learned from actual experience as a GM. A ten year old could probably come up with more equitable and rational deals.

Later

[Elster88]

Yancy Street Gang wrote: And the Mets are trading Floyd, Cameron, and Zambrano for Manny Ramirez.

Another good reason Phillips isn't involved with the team anymore.

[Guest Edgy DC]

]So Phillips would deal the guy the Mets dealt their best pitching prospect in 20 for, in return for a player he personally kicked out the door while keeping Alomar/Cedeno/Burnitz/Vaughn?

Well, I agree that Zambrano/Alfonzo is a bad idea. I disagree that that Kazmir is or was the Mets best pitching prospect in 20 years.

It that, seems when it is said "Best ________ prospect since ________", we always use successful players for analogies. Nobody says "Best quarterback prospect since Todd Marinovich."

[seawolf17]

Steve Phillips is a crackhead. Don't get me started.

However, I would deal Floyd, Roberto Hernandez, and a prospect (Milledge?) for Manny straight up.

[Guest Rotblatt]

Are you guys forgetting about the money aspect? Manny's owed like $65M over the next three years.

That's why no one is willing to touch him. If we're sending Mike Cameron, Edgardo Alfonzo, Danys Baez and Glendon Rush to the Sox, we'd better be getting back the difference between all their salaries and Manny's (~$40M?), plus Shoppach.

And who do the Sox send down for all those players? They'd have to trade Mueller, send down DiNardo & take a relief pitcher off the 40-man roster to make room for Rusch.

That's a tall, tall order to fill.

I suppose we could try and include Mueller and put him in at 2B, but I understand he's not comfortable there.

As WATP go, though, that's a pretty fun one to take apart. Way to keep us entertained, Philips!

[seawolf17]

I'm not worried about the money. Put Manny's bat in the middle of the lineup and let him hit; he'll sell enough tickets and enough shirts and jerseys to earn his keep. He's only 33, he's from NYC, and he's a MASHER. Hell, I'd just claim him on waivers and eat the money.

I don't think salary is a huge issue for this club. They only have three more seasons at Shea, and as the end gets nearer, they're going to be selling a LOT of tickets. That will offset the salary increase.

DO IT, Omar.

[Guest Rotblatt]

I hear you, seawolf . . . and I think I agree. Not many top-flight free agents hitting the market this off-season. So let's talk shop, then. If we're willing to eat his whole salary, then I don't think we're going to have to give up much. We MAY even be able to unload an albatross or two and fill an 06 hole at the same time.

I'm thinking something like Cameron & Glavine for Manny & Shoppach. I'm sure they'd love Heilman in there, but it would take another prospect from my perspective to make that happen. Cam could fill in for Damon until he got back, then move over to right. Glavine will probably be an upgrade over Miller, and they could move Arroyo back to the pen and send down DiNardo. Or they could send Glavine & cash (buy out his contract, basically) for prospects. Another contender would probably give up a middling prospect or reclamation project for a paid-for Glavine. . . .

Still in the germanation phase, but the idea of Manny at Shea is intriguing.

[Frayed Knot]

Let's retitle this as 'Steve Phillips Gets Fuckin Ridiculous'

I no longer post at another site because it became a place filled with nothing more than rampant postings of WATPs involving parameters like 6 teams & 14 players, each of which depends on the assumption that each of the others goes through exactly as proposed ... yyybbb.
It's stupid and they (espn) should stop catering to it - although I realize that they'd lose most of their audience if they did.




And Just My Opinion:

a) Manny's not getting traded, at least certainly not in-season.
He may have "demanded" a trade but it isn't the first time and he has no official ability to force one. In fact, with a probable no-trade clause now - and 10/5 rights after this year in any case - he has the ability to reject more deals than he can create. So Boston not only has to find some team who'll accept that contract, but they'll have to find one that their fickle prima-donna will approve.

b) If he is dealt ... I don't want him (there, I said it)

His contract isn't just high, it's stratospheric (nearly 20% above that of Beltran) - there's a reason why 29 teams passed on it when it was available for NO players in return! It was one of those inflated "dot-com era" deals that's now simply out of date - particularly so since you've now missed the peak years of it and would be picking it up just in time for the declining phase (he'll turn 34 next spring). And if he was an "AL player" at the beginning of this deal he'll be even more of one later on. He's not just a bad fielder/base-runner, he's a fucking train wreck, and while that's livable at times when he can DH every once in a while and only has to cover a small LF in Fenway, it's another if you've got that with the probable lesser numbers of a 34, 35, 36 y/o who's got to play the field every day.

[Guest old original jb]

Or from some 14 year old rotisserie league kid posting a WATP as "Steve Phillips" on the MOFO?

(If it is actually from Mr. Skill Sets himself, I will never again criticize a message board WATP.)

[MFS62]

]Hell, I'd just claim him on waivers and eat the money.

Seawolf, that's sorta' what Buster Olney said this morning on ESPN radio. he said that if the Mets ate the money, they wouldn't have to give up much (if anything) back to the Sox for him.

Later

[seawolf17]

If it were up to me, I'd say "Hey, Theo. You want to dump Manny's salary? We'll pay the whole thing... as long as you take Kaz Ishii and/or Tom Glavine off our books."

But Theo doesn't return my calls.

[Guest SI Metman]

old original jb wrote: Or from some 14 year old rotisserie league kid posting a WATP as "Steve Phillips" on the MOFO? (If it is actually from Mr. Skill Sets himself, I will never again criticize a message board WATP.)

Actually the number of WATP on the MOFO is way down. About 95 % of our WATP come from the same guy who must be a member of the Phillips clan.