What about this rumble...

"The Royals continue to hunt for a long-term answer at second base. One guy on their shopping list, dating back to last July, is Toronto's Orlando Hudson. But the Blue Jays aren't interested in KC's chief trade bait, Carlos Beltran. When they offered to trade Hudson for intriguing pitching prospect Jeremy Affeldt this winter, the Royals turned that deal down."

Has this been common knowledge?

Last July, the Jays still had Felipe Lopez as an option at second base. I can't see them trading Hudson now, as there's no good young player behind him. (I suppose they could move Catalanotto to second, but that just fills one hole by opening another.)

Mind you, I still hear rumours that the Jays don't like the O-Dog's style. This just might be media speculation, based on the infamous "pimp" remark, but you never know. And J.P. might be willing to trade Hudson if he can get a good pitcher in return - the Jays still have at least two holes in their starting rotation.

If you scroll down near the bottom of the page there's a box with the current salary commitments of each team for this year and next year (including the number of players under contract). The Jays have 3 players under contract for $21 million (do I need to say that's US funds?) - of which I believe most of that is Delgado alone.

http://espn.go.com/gammons/s/2003/0301/1516711.html

Of the teams on that list the teams in the best shape to spend next year are:

Seattle - $45/8 players under contract
Baltimore - $33/9
Florida - $2.4/1
Toronto - $21/3
Montreal - $16/3
Kansas City - $15/3
Tampa Bay - $2.7/2

I like Orlando Hudson, I totally do. I don't see many holes in his game, and I have a feeling that as he ages, he'll gradually grow from ebullient crackup into clubhouse leader -- I really think his character is that promising. But it's also becoming pretty clear to me that in the eyes of JP Ricciardi, Orlando is trade bait.

I don't think it's personality-based, or not entirely, anyway -- Hudson might well rub some front-office types the wrong way, though I think JP's above that. But with both Russ Adams and Dominic Rich coming hard, second base is the one place where this organization has depth. Orlando is evidently coveted by a number of teams, and looking down the road, JP has to ask himself: in spring 2005, will I want three starting second basemen in camp? Or will I want a starter, a backup, and a shiny new #2 or #3 lefty in the rotation?

The guy the organization apparently has designs on is Jeremy Affeldt, a tall, 23-year-old left-hander who's getting a baptism by fire in Kansas City's rotation. Looking at his minor-league numbers, you wouldn't suspect anything special: chosen in the third round of the '97 draft, Affeldt struggled (as high-schoolers so often do) until 2001, when he went 10-6, 3.90 for AA Wichita, throwing 145 innings in 25 starts and yielding 153 hits, 46 walks and 128 strikeouts. Now, those aren't very impressive raw numbers -- the BB/K is good, but the K/IP and H/IP aren't -- but keep in mind this was in the Texas League, where the scoring starts early and often. Then in 2002, after three solid starts for the Wranglers, Affeldt was promoted -- yes -- straight to Kanasas City, yet another reason why this franchise is close to hopeless.

For all he was a 22-year-old fresh out of AA -- think Corey Thurman here -- Affeldt did okay, a 4.64 ERA and a line of 78 IP, 85 H, 37 BB and 67 K (37 games, 7 starts), numbers that were very adversely affected by a recurring blister (or possibly a split fingernail) problem on his throwing hand. The blisters surfaced in mid-May, bothered him through much of the summer, and then shut him down for good in August. However, he's back on the mound this spring, and from all accounts, is throwing darts: a mid-90s fastball, a solid curve and a developing changeup that he throws for strikes and groundballs. If the Royals did indeed turn down a straight Hudson-for-Affeldt deal, they must think very highly of him. And if JP offered that deal, he must feel the same way.

Young power lefties with blister problems will raise back-of-the-neck hackles on any Blue Jays fan who remembers the Jesse Barfield trade. And if you don't go back that far, last winter's acquisition of Luke Prokopec is evidence enough that even pitchers with clean bills of health can blow up in your face. But JP is a talent hound, and he's clearly thinking about the 2005 season, Toronto's likeliest first championship-calibre club. If the Jays had a top three of Roy Halladay, Jason Arnold and Jeremy Affeldt -- each with two or three years of solid major-league service time -- and Russ Adams leading off at second base, to go along with the rest of that projected team, I think he'd be a very happy guy. So if Affeldts cools down in spring training and Carlos Febles hits .185 in Arizona, Allard Baird might just place a call to the Skydome come the end of March. Agreed, Dave Berg and Howie Clark aren't attractive options at 2B for 2003, but 2003 probably isn't JP's chief concern.

Watch out -- this guy is not yet done remaking this team, and I suspect he's not going to do it the way a lot of fans, including us, might expect or prefer.

"JP has to ask himself: in spring 2005, will I want three starting second basemen in camp? Or will I want a starter, a backup, and a shiny new #2 or #3 lefty in the rotation?"

If this is true then, why not wait until the off-season or next year to trade Orlando? We'll have more information about the middle-infield prospects we have and about the pitchers that might come our way in a potential trade for Hudson.

The Jays have rarely developed good second basemen - Orlando might be the very first one (if you count Damaso as as Yankees product, then the best so far was Nelson Liriano) outside of Jeff Kent. The Jays viewed Kent as a 3B and of course traded him to bring in a quality veteran to try to put the team over the top - that situation does not obtain this year.

Adams might be a more valuable as a shortstop (much as I like Woody, I think he's a stopgap). Rich looks kind of like Brent Abernathy, don't you think? There's no reason, yet, to think he'll be an all-star. Let's wait for more evidence to come in before jettisoning a guy who is pretty close to becoming an All-Star himself.

I don't think JP is going to trade Hudson just for the sake of trading him. Unless he gets exactly what he wants (ie. young pitching) he's not going to bother. If the trade was Hudson for Beltran, just on a talent level it would be foolish not to. But Beltran doesn't fit in with what the team needs right now, position or salary wise. I think JP feels that the upside on the return he'll get for Hudson is greater than what Hudson can offer. If Hudson becomes an All-Star, it will be because of his personality and the lack of quality 2B in the AL, not because of his numbers.

I agree that Woodward is a stop gap. He's the SS until Adams shows up. Woodward seems adequate, but he's injury prone.

"I think JP feels that the upside on the return he'll get for Hudson is greater than what Hudson can offer."

It's hard to see this as anything other than pure speculation on your part - unless you have info from a source close to JP.

"If Hudson becomes an All-Star, it will be because of his personality and the lack of quality 2B in the AL, not because of his numbers."

I don't think this is an accurate assessment at all. Orlando has excellent power for a 2B, good strikezone judgement, has hit for a high average, has above average range and is good on the DP. He has all the skill to be a top flight 2B - a kind of Ray Durham with better D. Those guys are pretty rare.

It's hard to see this as anything other than pure speculation on your part - unless you have info from a source close to JP.

He said it last week on the Score when talking about the rumour. To paraphrase, he likes Hudson, as do other teams, and he would be foolish not to consider a trade which could improve the ballclub. It's a pretty stock answer, but clearly Hudson's name wouldn't be mentioned in trade talks if he wasn't available. JP mentioned the fact that so much information is available out there that sometimes things get out which they would prefer didn't. So he didn't deny the fact that Hudson was being mentioned in trade talks. Obviously, JP feels that Hudson is expendable, for the right price, which is young pitching with a high upside.

Hudson is an above-average 2b, but he's not All-Star calibre.

Don't get me wrong, I like Hudson. But with the team's weakness at pitching and their ability to develop middle infielders (Woodward, Lopez, Izturis, Young, Abernathy), the emphasis should be on obtaining as many quality arms as possible.

"Hudson is an above-average 2b, but he's not All-Star calibre."

That's what he is now. But it doesn't take a great leap to suppose he can improve a little bit more and become one of the best 2B's in baseball.

Of course, everyone is expendable, for the right price. I don't think this means anything, other than JP could trade anyone on the roster other than a certain slugger with a no-trade clause.