Buzz: Teams could be looking to Trade
Mark Feinsand and Bill Madden of the Daily News say that due to the uncertainty in the economy, teams might choose to delve into the trade market rather than fill their needs via free agency.
Both Feinsand and Madden say that most teams are looking to trim payroll, thus making many big names available via trade.
…at this point, it’s hard to determine what the Mets course is going to be since it’s still so early and no free agents are even available except their own, but ownership has said they will have among the highest payrolls in baseball once again…of course, they could trim payroll and still be among the highest, but i think teams like the Mets, who are in big markets and still have a lot of capital will be looking at both and trying to take advantage of some bargains that might be available via trade and free agency…
The report says players like Lance Berkman, Carl Crawford and Brandon Phillips could be made available by their respective teams.
…i’d be surprised if Crawford is traded this winter, only because i feel the Rays want to win and feel they can win, but Crawford is an integral piece to their puzzle, but if Berkman is made available, he is an interesting piece because he can play the outfield or first base, hits for power and is a good on base guy, however he will be 34 at the start of Spring Training and will probably want a contract extension beyond 2010 if he is traded…
…Phillips is ideal but only if the Mets can trade Luis Castillo…he will be 29 in June and has already established himself as a five tool player…i’d be surprised if the Mets were able to acquire him, only because at this point, i think they would be looking to use their top prospects in deals for pitching, first base or the outfield…despite hitting over .300 i think Castillo is a weak link, but when a team loses 92 games, there aren’t just a couple of problems…
For more on the trade and free agent markets, check out Feinsand and Madden’s article in the News here.
Updated by Matthew Cerrone, at 10:00 am:
…the buzz around baseball suggests teams are probably going to hold off doing anything major until around the middle of December, to see who exactly ends up being non tendered, because it is expected that there could be up as many as 100 additional free agents to hit the open market… additionally, it sounds like the Mets are very focused on that end of the market, seeing it as a way to build out the edges of the bench, bullpen, rotation, etc… in fact, every time i talk to anyone connected to the Mets, it seems they use the words non and tender at least once...
