Nationals trade Austin Kearns to the Phillies for LHP Moises Melendez

 

There are a lot of "ifs" in this trade.  This deal only makes sense if the Phillies fail to re-sign Pat Burrell, and if Washington eats up most, if not all, of Kearns' salary for next year (last year of his contract).  Kearns is owed $8 million next year, about six million more than he is worth.  

If the Nationals are willing to pay that six million, then it makes sense for the Phillies, with their need of right-handed outfielders, to acquire Kearns as part of the solution to Burrell leaving.  I am not saying that Kearns is worthy of being the Phillies starting left fielder.  He's only as good as a fourth outfielder, but he is a good guy to provide power off the bench, and be a back-up in case of injury. 

 

Any team interested in acquiring Kearns (actually Detroit and Toronto are the others I can think of) should understand they have all the leverage in the world.  The Nationals need to get rid of Kearns no matter how much salary they have to eat, and no matter how bad a prospect they get.   The Nats have Roger Bernadina, Lastings Milledge, and Elijah Dukes set to start with Willie Harris, Mike Daniel, and Wily Mo Pena behind them.  Kearns doesn't deserve to be in AAA, but he has no place with the Nationals. 

 

Like I said, the Nationals hardly have any leverage even though they have the player with the bigger name.  Therefore they have to take it easy on their asking price.  The important negotiation process will not be what prospect they get, but rather how much they will pay of Kearns' salary.  I think 75% is enough.  Obviously the more money the Nationals eat, the better prospect they get but they can't get carried away.  Moises Melendez is not trash.  True, he's not a high profile prospect (like Kearns once was) and probably projects as a middle reliever or lefty specialist, but hey, that's the type of pitcher the Nats need more of.  Melendez wasn't used as a lefty specialist this year in Class-A Lakewood, but being a left-handed middle reliever without dominating stuff makes it a likely future scenario.  Melendez would go to Potomac (A+), and maybe get a taste of Double-A before the season ends.

No matter how much salary they he will have to eat, Jim Bowden (who apparently thinks he a Jedi) needs to trade Kearns.  End of story.  I hope Jimmy B can put Kearns' "glory" years with the Reds behind him, and move on to younger, more talented, less expensive pastures.  And while we're on the matter, the talks of the Nats going after Adam Dunn or Mark Teixeira are laughably bad.  If Bowden does all the things he says he's looking to do, I may have to buy myself some new apparel:

Rockies trade 1B Joe Koshansky to the Nationals for RHP Saul Rivera

 

It's very sad (Saul is my favorite player), but the truth is, if this deal were made, it would benefit both teams. 

Saul is extremely nice to fans, but he's 31 years old entering next season.  That's just slightly too old for the rebuilding Nationals.  Plus, Rivera is a perfect fit for the Rockies who need bullpen help.  After the Holliday deal, they acquired Street, but he will probably be flipped over to another team.  I also doubt they will pick up Matt Herges' option for next year considering his poor season and his age (39).  If you add Rivera to the Colorado 'pen, it will most likely look like this:

 

Manny Corpas (CL)

Taylor Buccholz (SU)

Jason Grilli (SU)

Saul Rivera

Luis Vizcaino

Ryan Speier

Steven Register

 

If you noticed there were no lefties in the pen.  That's because the only left-handed reliever the Rockies have right now is Glendon Rusch, and he had a 5.30 ERA last year as a reliever, and lefties have a .334 OBP against him in his career.  A .334 OBP is not bad but to make a team as a lefty specialist, you need to be better than that.

 

Todd Helton, Garrett Atkins, and Jeff Baker block Koshansky in Colorado, so the Rockies need to trade him.  He has shown enough talent and put up good enough numbers in the minors to have legitimate trade value.   There will be other teams interested like the Giants and Mariners or maybe even the Yankees.  Ultimately, I think Saul Rivera will win the Rockies over.

Yes, the Nationals have Kory Casto, Nick Johnson, Dmitri Young, and Josh Willingham.   All that doesn't mean much though.  First off, the Nationals need to trade away Willingham; he just doesn't fit with the team.  Plus, there is little chance Johnson or Young can return completely healthy.  And if they are healthy, GM Jim Bowden should trade them for whatever he can get, and that won't be much.  If they manage to start next season healthy, they better be traded quickly because it won't be long before they go back on the DL.

 

            There is almost as little hope as Johnson and Young both staying healthy as there is a chance Kory Casto can finally start producing in the bigs.  In 82 career games, he's had 14 extra base hits and a measly .264 OBP.  It's worth noting that Casto's horrendous MLB stint in 2007 really drowned his career numbers, but even though he improved greatly in 2008, he still wasn't all that impressive.  This last spring I had faith in Casto.  I truly thought it was not too late for him to turn his career around.  But now it's time to move on and try something else.  That means it is time to finally give Koshansky a full-time major league job.

 

Maybe Casto can still make the team next year.  After all, he can play left field and both corner positions.  Who knows, maybe Casto can capture some of his minor league power and bring it to the bigs. 

 

Acquiring Koshansky doesn't mean Washington is lacking future first base options.  Chris Marrero has dealt with injuries and slumps since he was drafted in the first round two years ago but he still has big power potential.  Bill Rhinehart doesn't have the same big upside as Marrero but he put together a good 2008 and should next year in Double-A Harrisburg.

 

Nationals trade 2B Ronnie Belliard to the D-Backs for RHP Josh Ellis

 

Let me first start off by saying that I don't think Anderson Hernandez will ever develop into an adequate starting major league second baseman.  But with the way things are for the Nationals, they need to at least give him a chance.  Despite his AAA .262 OBP he did hit .407 after joining the Nats.  He also seems to have brought his hot bat to the Dominican Winter League as he holds a 1.055 OPS there.

 

As for Belliard, he is one of the oldest players in the team and needs to be traded this off-season. 

I'll give Bowden credit for signing Belliard.  Ronnie was the starting second baseman for St. Louis when they won the World Series in 2006.  Weirdly enough (well, he only had a .297 OBP with St. Louis), Belliard wasn't signed until February 18^{th to} a minor league contract by the Nats.  That was only five days before spring training started.  Belliard has done everything Washington could have imagined and more.  The reality is the only way the Belliard signing can truly help the Nationals is if Bowden trades him for some prospects.  Despite landing on the DL and missing almost 40% of the season, Belliard's trade value absolutely soared this season.  Not only did he have his best offensive season of his career, but also he increased his versatility by playing both corner positions as well as his natural position at second.   The Mets, Brewers, and Dodgers may hold some interest in Belliard as well, but Arizona appears to be the best fit for Belliard and the Nats. 

 

Chris Burke and Augie Ojeda didn't have good enough years to warrant consideration for a full-time gig at 2B.  Jesus Merchan had a nice year at Triple-A and holds a good spot to take over Chris Burke's spot on next year's 25-man roster.  That will allow Burke to gather up some time at Triple-A at bats after his disappointing 2008.

 

Josh Ellis is the prospect that makes the most sense for this specific deal.  The two main needs the Nationals have in their system are middle infielders and relievers.  Since the Arizona system is weak on middle infielders, relief pitchers are the best way to go.  Ellis had a 2.40 ERA this year in Visalia (A+) in his first professional season. 

You can see, he pitches sort of like Brian Shouse or Cla Meredith.  Too bad the Diamondbacks are moving their AAA affiliate to Reno (the Reno Aces) because Ellis could have had a chance to be a sidewinder on the Tucson Sidewinders.  The Diamondbacks are stocked with young relievers, so if pitchers like Abe Woody, A.J. Shappi, Kyler Newby, Jeff Dietz, and Scott Maine were offered for Belliard, it would be a fair and beneficial trade too.

Although it is time for Belliard to leave Washington, he will always be remembered becuase of this and this.

In other baseball news, the iconic Oriole Bird has quit his diet.  He has gone from this:

To this (maybe it's just perspective):

The diet obviously wasn't working because ever since the Bird started the diet in 1998, the team is 98 games below .500.  Ouch.  They need change.  And that change should come in the form of the logo and mascot getting a beer belly like Wild Bill Hagy.  Thumps up to the Orioles front office.  This is their first sign of intelligence since they designed Camden Yards.

TB trades Andy Sonnanstine to NYM; NYM trades SS Reese Havens and CF Ezequiel Carrera to SF; SF trades Randy Winn, RHP Keiichi Yabu, and LHP Geno Espineli to TB

 

Got that?  So this is a three-team deal.  And yes, the Rays trade away one of their starters in the playoffs Andy Sonnanstine.  Still, this trade makes sense for every team involved. 

The Rays predictably will use their starting pitcher depth to acquire a bona-fide starter in right field.  In this case it would be Randy Winn. 

It's true, the Rays have a lot of players who play right field.  Eric Hinske, Gabe Gross, Ben Zobrist, Fernando Perez, and Justin Ruggiano all are capable.  But Hinske and Gross are not exactly the type of guys you want starting every day on a team that is expected to compete for the championship again next year.  Zobrist and Perez are bright, young players but at least at this point are most valuable being on the bench because of Perez's ability to play every OF position, and his blazing speed.  Zobrist also is very versatile and is a valuable guy off the bench.  He might even have a reasonable chance to overtake Iwamura as the Rays starting second baseman.  Ruggiano has done everything you could ask from him in AAA.  Yet he just can't seem to bring the same game to the majors.   He had a .911 OPS in 66 AAA games versus .576 with the Rays.  So, with Winn coming up, in it can put all of the right field questions to rest while adding a veteran presence that can fill the #2 spot in the Rays order.  That way Iwamura can move down in the order where he should be. If Crawford continues to struggle, Iwamura could easily come back to the top instead of a guy like Upton having to be taken out of the heart of the order.

Although Winn will obviously make a huge mark on the Rays, I think Andy Sonnanstine is the biggest impact player involved in this deal.  Simply put, to have a Sonnanstine in the Mets rotation would be fantastic for them.  Even if, at his best, Sonnanstine is only as good as a #3 starter, his ability to eat up innings without eating payroll is a quality invaluable to the Mets at this point.  This way the Mets can afford not resigning Oliver Perez.  In my opinion, Jon Niese is ready to be the Mets' 5^th starter next year.  However, if the Mets do re-sign Perez their rotation would be dynamite.  Whether or not Perez comes back, the Mets would have, for the first time in a while, a young rotation that can last a long time.  To have a rotation where every pitcher in under control until 2012 is a huge advantage over the other NL East clubs. 

Of course since Sonnanstine is that valuable, New York will have to give up a lot.  The big sacrifice that the Mets will have to make is their second pick of the 2008 draft, slugging infielder Reese Havens.   

Havens (left) was drafted 22^nd overall as a shortstop but is expected to wind up as third or second baseman by the time he gets to the majors.  Ezequiel Carrera, a High-A outfielder, didn't put up great numbers this year but if you start thinking about his age (21) and the fact that he completely skipped A-ball, his .344 OBP, 28 steals, and seven dingers are pretty impressive.  The Giants have a fair amount of outfielders like Fred Lewis, Aaron Rowand, and Nate Schierholtz and some nice prospects like Antoan Richardson, Ben Copeland, and Eddy Martinez-Esteve.  And yet, with the decent chance that Rowand and Lewis could get traded in the near future, Copeland's and Richardson's non-overwhelmingness, and Martinez-Esteve's and Schierholtz's sudden lack of power, there is a reason to why the Giants might want to add another outfield prospect.

Now when you think about it, Tampa Bay would be trading Sonnanstine straight up for Winn, and that obviously wouldn't favor them.  But if you add Yabu and Espineli to the deal, it evens out.  Those two will add depth to the bullpen.  And although Espineli (right) probably will find himself spending some time in Durham, he provides a lefty arm and the credentials of 2.66 in Triple-A last year in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.  Yabu (below) is pretty old but if he can be effective when he's 40 (3.57 ERA), how much much worse can he be at 41? 

SO, when it's all said and done, here's how it would work out for each team:

 

Rays

Receive                      Give Up

Randy Winn             Andy Sonnanstine

Keiichi Yabu

Geno Espineli

 

Giants

 

Receive                      Give Up

Reese Havens          Randy Winn

Ezequiel Carrera      Keiichi Yabu

                                    Geno Espineli

 

Mets

 

Receive                      Give Up

Andy Sonnanstine  Reese Havens

                                    Ezequiel Carrera

So, what do you think?  Fair all around?

I guess since Monday marks the beginning of baseball's hardware week, I  will give you my picks for each major award (with the runner-up in parentheses):

 

Again, these are my picks for who deserves each award, not my predictions for who will win:

 

Rookie of the Year

AL - Evan Longoria -- (Jose Arredondo)

NL - Geovany Soto -- (Joey Votto)

 

Cy Young

AL - Cliff Lee -- (Roy Halladay)

NL - Johan Santana -- (CC Sabathia)

 

MVP

AL - Kevin Youkilis -- (Mark Teixeira)

NL - Wily Mo Pe, I mean, Albert Pujols -- (Manny Ramirez)

 

Manager of the Year

AL - Joe Maddon -- (Ron Gardenhire)

NL - Cecil Cooper -- (Charlie Manuel)

By Dayton, I mean Dayton Moore, the GM of the Kansas City Royals.  And by "what were you thinking?", I was referring to the trade of first baseman Mike Jacobs for right-handed reliever Leo Nunez with the Florida Marlins. 

It's not really that Nunez is that much better than Jacobs.  In fact, I'd rank their talent pretty much even.  However, Mike Jacobs just doesn't fit all with the Royals team.  The Royals are not a very good team, but the have one glaring strength: first-base depth.  The Royals are stacked with hard-hitting first basemen like Billy Butler, Ryan Shealy, and Kila Ka'aihue. 

 

The Royals simply didn't need Jacobs.  Although he doesn't deserve it, he will be the Royals starting first baseman next year.  That's the worst part of this whole deal.  This blocks Shealy, Butler, and Ka'aihue from the major leagues or will at least force them into a reserve role, which will be bad for their development. 

 

Ryan Shealy had a great year in AAA, hitting 22 HR with a .376 OBP in only 400 at-bats.  Billy Butler struggled in the bigs this year but is extremely young (23), and more importantly, has been extremely good in the minors.  I still will continue to believe that Butler (below) will develop into one of the best pure hitters until he turns at least 25.

Ka'aihue is the most intriguing player in the KC first-base glut.  Kila (not to be confused with his brother Kala) absolutely destroyed minor league pitching in both AA and AAA this past season, and held his own in very limited at-bats with the Royals in September (21 at-bats, .804 OPS).  But it's those minor league numbers that have you really wondering why the Royals felt they needed Mike Jacobs.  Would you want a player that had a .299 OBP in 2008 to be the reason that the guy who put up the numbers below doesn't get

to play?

(Yes, he does in fact hit with his eyes closed)

Level      G      OBP      HR      RBI      SLG      OPS

AA         91     .463      26       79       .624     1.086

AAA       33     .439      11       21       .640     1.079

MLB      12      .375      1          1        .429      .804

In case, you would like to visualize Kila better, here's the video of his first ML homer.  He almost has as sweet of a swing of Jacobs.  Almost.  (If you watch the vid, notice that Billy Butler has fallen victim of the Bazooka Trick.)

 

This is just one of those deals that makes so little sense it actually makes you think that the Royals are in the process of working on another trade that would include either Shealy, Ka'aihue or Butler being dealt away.  A example of this type of deal is the Randy Wolf-for-Chad Reineke trade at last year's deadline.  It made so little sense for the Astros, I was convinced Houston was going to trade Wolf to another team before the deadline ended.  It didn't happen.   Yet, it would not surprise me to see Dayton Moore trade away at least one of the Royals remaining first baseman.

And since the Royals made this deal with the Marlins, it's obvious that they were not giving up some overpaid veteran for Jacobs.  No, the Royals had to sacrifice a bright, young, already successful reliever in Leo Nunez.  He had a 2.98 ERA in 45 games (all in relief), and he's just 25 years old.  Nunez is a great pick-up for the Marlins, and I agree that he was a guy they should have asked for from the Royals.  Still, when I heard of the likely probability of Jacobs being dealt, I sort of envisioned more in return than just a guy like Nunez.  If the Royals threw in a guy like Gilbert de la Vara I'd be a little more happy.  I think I may be overvaluing Jacobs a little becuase of his sweet swing, but what's pretty is pretty, and when he connects it just looks nice.

 

Bottom Line

Talent wise, this trade pretty much evens out for both clubs.   It made sense for the Marlins to trade Jacobs, but I felt they could have gotten a little more.  For the Royals though, it was just completely unnecessary, and leads me to speculate Dayton Moore is simultaneously working on another deal to trade away another first baseman from his team.

 

Grades

Marlins -    B

Royals -     D+

Trade Melvin Mora and Chris Waters to the Brewers for Alcides Escobar

 

I really dig this deal for both teams involved.  It's no secret that either Escobar or J.J. Hardy will probably get traded, and the Orioles are a perfect fit. 

They need a shortstop badly, and Escobar should be ready for the majors by next year.

 

The Brewers get Melvin Mora (left) who is coming off a career year, driving in 104 runs, 23 home runs, and a .342 OBP.  He has a no-trade clause in his contract but I think he'll wave it to be able to escape a re-building franchise and a join a playoff team.

 

            The Brewers are desperate for a third-baseman after the atrocious year Bill Hall had.  Plus, the Brewers could keep J.J. Hardy as their shortstop of the future.   Since Mora becomes a free agent after next season, he won't interfere with Mat Gamel's progression up the system, as he will likely be the 2010 Brewers starting third baseman, and Mora will move on to another team.

           

On the other end of the spectrum, the Orioles get a shortstop for the next six years or so, that can deliver a very good OBP, a fair amount of home runs, a lot of speed, and stellar defense every single season.

            Unless Mora hits like he did in 2004 (.921 OPS), Mora-for-Escobar will slightly favor the Orioles, so they probably will need to throw in a pitcher like Brian Bass or Chris Waters.

 

            If I were Doug Melvin, I'd choose Chris Waters as the extra player, just to add depth to the thin rotation Milwaukee has.  If Milwaukee can't resign Ben Sheets or CC Sabathia, then Waters may even may even be competing for the 5^th spot in the 2009 Brewers rotation.  

There's not a great chance that Waters will be win the battle considering he's competing with Mark DiFelice, Chris Capuano, and Seth McClung.  It's still very likely the Brewers will send Capuano to Nashville (AAA) since he missed all off 2008 after having Tommy John surgery.  DeFelice and McClung could make the team as relievers or as starters, but both are fully capable of pitching adequately while eating up some innings in the rotation.

 

            Does this mean the Brewers should trade Bill Hall?  I don't think so.  He can serve as a super-utility man.  With Hall being able to play left field, center field, third base, shortstop, and second base, he should be able to rack up at least 350 at-bats in a full season.  Oddly enough, out of all the positions Hall can play, the one he would probably play the least is third base.  Russell Branyan had such a solid season he is probably the one who will be tabbed to fill in on Melvin Mora's off days.

 

Trade Aubrey Huff to the Indians for Scott Lewis, Mike Pontius, and Niuman Romero

 

I believe the Indians will be good enough next year to make the playoffs, but they will need to replace Andy Marte at third base.  I know Aubrey Huff isn't the best defensive third baseman but he played 33 games there in 2008, and has racked up 361 games at the hot corner in his nine-year career.

In return for Huff, the Orioles should ask for the blatantly obvious: a starting pitcher.  Scott Lewis succeeded at every level he played in; AA, AAA, and ultimately the majors.  These were his minor league stats this year:

Level      GS      ERA      W      L      IP      WHIP 

AA           13      2.33      6       2     73.1    0.97

AAA         4        2.63      2       2     24       0.96

MLB         4       2.63      4       0      24      1.08

Lewis will fit extremely well into the Orioles rotation, and could be one of the cornerstones of the team's pitching staff. 

 

Scott Lewis is good player, but obviously it will take at least one more player to acquire Huff.  Originally I thought the Orioles should target Jared Goedert, because every single Orioles third base prospect had a rough season, and Goedert was ready to play in AA, so he wouldn't block any other the other prospects.  Later I realized that I was being hypocritical because Goedert, like the rest of the third-base Orioles prospects, had a very disappointing year after a promising 2007.

 

First off, is Tyler Henson, who had a good first stint in professional baseball with the Low-A Aberdeen Iron Birds in 2007:

Level      G      OBP      HR      RBI      SB      SLG      OPS

A-           67    .353       5         31       20      .449     .802

But then went through struggles in his first full season with Class A Delmarva:

Level     G      OBP      HR       RBI      SB       SLG      OPS

A         127    .310      11        62        19      .392      .702

Even though Henson had a rough year, it's not bad enough for him to repeat the level, so he should attempt to rebound in High A Frederick.  That being said, with Billy Rowell (drafted 9^th overall in 2006) having another disappointing in Frederick, Henson will be forcing Rowell (right) to first base. 

Rowell's year was bad enough that he'll repeat the Carolina League, but I wouldn't label him a bust just yet.  He's still extremely young (20 years old entering Opening Day 2009).  However, he hasn't even come close to what everybody thought he would do.  He was drafted as a raw power guy; a guy who wasn't even expected to have a high OBP, but he's only hit 19 home runs in 922 career at-bats.  It may be a concern that learning how to play first base will effect his hitting, but I think in the long term it will probably help his offensive production.  Another aspect of this move is that it potentially has set up Brandon Snyder to block Billy Rowell.  However, I don't think we can look at this switch in those types of terms because Rowell has not had one good full season yet since signing with the O's.  Worry about Snyder blocking Rowell when Rowell finally becomes a good player.

 

And lastly, let's talk Mike Costanzo.  He had a great season last year at AA Reading, but since switching organizations (twice), and getting promoted to AAA, his production has seriously slipped.  These are his numbers last year at Double-A:

 

Level        G       OBP      HR       RBI      SB       SLG      OPS

AA           137    .368      27        86        2        .490     .858

 

And here are his 2008 numbers at Triple-A Norfolk:

 

Level        G      OBP      HR       RBI       SB       SLG      OPS

AAA         129  .333       11        63         2        .395     .728

Despite Costanzo's bad season, if Melvin Mora gets traded he'll get every chance to be the starting third baseman in Baltimore.  He'll have to produce though, because Oscar Salazar (probable starting first baseman) and Scott Moore (probable DH) also play the hot corner. 

 

Anyway, back to the Aubrey Huff trade... I decided that despite the 2008 struggles of Orioles third base prospects not named Tyler Kolodny, the O's shouldn't pursue Jared Goedert.  Instead they should switch their attention to adding depth the bullpen and second base (I didn't forget about Ryan Adams and his 52 errors).  The Indians have a wide array of young relievers like Josh Judy, John Gaub (100 Ks in 64.1 innings), and Vinnie Pestano.  But the one young reliever I believe the Orioles should first ask from the Indians is Mike Pontius. 

Pontius is only 21 entering next year, and had a microscopic 0.82 ERA in Class A Lake County.  Yes, he had 6.26 ERA in Class A Advanced Kinston, but so what?  He'll start back there next year and pitch against players at his same level (2007 high school draftees in their second full season).

As for Niuman Romero (not Newman), he had a solid year at Class A Advanced Kinston and should be ready for Double-A Bowie.  I'm not speculating that the Orioles should or will trade Brian Roberts, but when you think about, there is not that great a chance the Orioles will finish their rebuilding process by the time his contract expires.  So, it obviously makes sense to fill up on depth especially when you only have one other legit prospect at 2B, Adams who is only in A-ball.

 

All in all this trade works out great for both teams, and should help the Indians compete for a World Series next year, as well as add more talented, young players to quicken the O's rebuilding process.

 

Trade George Sherill and Luke Scott to the Mets for Dillon Gee, Junior Guerra, Eric Beaulac, and Shawn Bowman

 

This deal is a no-brainer for both GMs Andy MacPhail and Omar Minaya.  The Mets may be hesitant to give up a worthy relief prospect in Junior Guerra, but he's at least two years away and the Mets need relief help now.  Sherrill would be a great addition to the Mets shaky bullpen.  Sure, he may be overrated because of his 31 saves, but he will pitch better than his 4.73 ERA indicates.  Although it's theoretically possible that Sherrill can serve as the Mets closer, he would be much better suited as a 7^th inning set-up man.  With lefties Scott Schoenweis and Pedro Feliciano already in New York, Sherrill won't go back to being a specialist like he was in Seattle.   Expect his ERA to go down to around 3.60 with another year of throwing at least an inning per outing rather than just facing one or two batters like he did with the Mariners.  It's possible he may also pitch better in the less pressurized role of a 7^th inning set-up man.  I don't think that Sherrill's bad stats were completely because of facing a lot right-handed batters.  He had a 3.68 ERA through June.  I think it was just the new workload that ultimately pulled Sherrill's numbers down.

 

Luke Scott can be Mets starting left fielder in 2009, and provide more power and good on-base skills.  Nick Evans didn't hit much in 2009, and is probably better suited too start 2009 in Buffalo (AAA).  Dan Murphy hopefully can make a clean transition to second base for 2009.  Murphy's switch is crucial as this deal only gets done if the AFL experiment is successful and the Mets are confident Murphy is ready to take over for Luis Castillo next year.  This whole trade seems much better when you realize Luke Scott is essentially replacing Luis Castillo in the Mets lineup.

As I wrote earlier, the Mets probably will feel a little antsy abo