Even with his question marks, Kim's a great arm for a not so great bat.

Assuming this deal goes through, I'd be inclined to keep Kim in the rotation, and move Wakefield back into the pen. (Wakefield is notoriously inconsistent as a starter, but has generally had success in the bullpen. He seems to alternate great years as a starter with mediocre ones. He was awesome last year... guess how he's doing so far this year?)

That said, Kim might be the perfect pitcher to test out the Bill James Closer Hypothesis. I doubt he'd have the same ego problems about it as, say, Benitez or Williamson, and Brenly would frequently throw him out there for two innings of work. Intriguing...

Anyone know Colangelo's e-mail address. I'd like to advise him against this trade.

I would normally rather have owners stay out of personnel decisions but I hope he blocks it.

Maybe Ricciardi can jump in and offer Dave Berg for Kim. Berg's is .306/.338/.444 while Shea is .303/.335/.443. Of course Hillenbrand has 38-9 lead in RBI.

And they were tied in HR until last night. =)

After last nights 10-2 loss to the Giants...

"We got to start doing something offensively, this is getting to be a (expletive) joke."
-- Mr. Manager and all around Erubiel fan, Bob Brenly, The Arizona Republic

What is a Durazo anyway?

I don't see how one player, Hillebrand, is supposed to revive the D-Back's offense. If you are going to trade Kim, one of the few young arms you have, you are better off trading for 2 or 3 offensive prospects in my opinion. That would seem to make sense especially for the rapidly aging D-Backs.

Considering that Hillenbrand absolutely sucks at Fenway, I'll wager that he'll do much better in Arizona than people think. As well, he's way cheaper and under Zona's control for 2 years longer than Kim would be. That's the D-Back's chief concern right now, not talent.

All the more reason to just trade for some prospects.

All the more reason to just trade for some prospects.

You're right, but Garagiola has probably been given the mandate to win now AND later. I'm not saying this will allow them to win now, just trying to understand the motivation a little better.

Yeah, I know they have a crazy owner who doesn't see this year's writing on the wall.

Kim has had injury problems because he's only 24 years old and the Diamondbacks have piled a ridiculous workload on him as a reliever the past two or three years.

If Boston uses him correctly and doesn't overwork him, chances are he'll be ok.

And I'm sure Hillenbrand's RBI total will be terrific in Arizona's high powered offence.

Rotoworld is reporting that its offical and Kim will be starting.

Though Kim would have more value if he were a successful starter, I'm with Jordan: he's never pitched more than 100 innings, so it's questionable he'll help Boston's rotation. Healthy, however, sure, he'll help them.

But even if the Sox threw him in the bullpen, Boston wins this trade, if for nothing else because their crowded 3B/DH/1B is that loess crowded; Jeremy Giambi and David Ortiz should both get more at-bats. As some of you may know, I'm not a fan of Little G., but at least now one would assume he will get the chance to play nearly every day. Let's see what he does with it.

Is Boston collecting little guys who can't stand the rigours of an entire season in the rotation.

Maybe JP should trade them Sturtze. I hear he's a workhorse.

Now who's it going to be that comes out of the rotation. I think it oughta be Fossum not that he's the deserving choice. Burkett is the vet and won't do it, Wakefield is no longer going to be jerked around and will post a more than decent campaign once the warm still days are here. I have a hunch though that they are concerned with pitcher breakdown. Pedro has had assorted niggling injuries the past two seasons and Burkett is no gaurentee. I figure they have great depth now if they play it right with the vets. Lets not forget Lyon could still start before the seasons out. Great trade, as Gitz notes addition by subtraction. If Giambi gets some steady work watch for him to crank about another 15 hr before the seasons done.

I don't buy the cynicism that Kim won't be able to pitch 200 innings He'll be a huge addition at the top of the rotation. (Of course, I also thought Matsui would be hitting like Edmonds.)

It's a big upgrade, and not just because of the addition by subtraction. It's addition by addition. Even the worst case scenerio is good for Bosotn: if he goes to the bullpen, he gives them the stopper they're lacking.

Wow, I just got a taste of just how in-the-dark Joe Fan is. There's an online poll on ESPN asking who won the trade... I cast my vote for the Sox, mostly wanting to see how silly Arizona looked in the public opinion. Turns out it's the public opinion that looks silly: 59.6% pick the DBacks as winners, 1,910 votes thus far.

Ok, now how is Steinbrenner going to react to this?
Ouch!!

Jonny, you're just now figuring out Joe Public is clueless? Clearly you don't live in the United States.

This coming from a person who went to Vancouver on Canada Day last year without knowing it was Canada Day, so I lump myself in with the Joe Clueless crowd.

Ok, now how is Steinbrenner going to react to this?

Cross your fingers and hope he likes Kelvim.

This last little bit of banter from you cats is the first time i've smiled in about seven innings.

Ok, now how is Steinbrenner going to react to this?

Cross your fingers and hope he likes Kelvim.

Do you think that JP can really dump worthless salary on a panicked George two years in a row? If so, JP, I bow before you.

Gitz, don't bait me like that... Canadian-American relations are strained enough as it is. You're right that I should have seen this one coming, Hillenbrand did get a lot of hype for his hot start.

Andrew,

Spot on. Kelvim is not going to the Yankees.

Mondesi doesn't look like wasted salry to me this year. His gun,club and running would look pretty fine to me. We Canadians seem to always bow before the neo con economists. And thats what the Jays brass is feeding us, Corparate downsizing. Cripes the Finacial Post oughtta cover this team the way we talk. If management wants the fans out they have to have the product, and I don't buy the theory you sell all your decent parts. You build and mature the team in an atmosphere thats is built on trust. Nobody should trust JP. His strength is also his weakness. And the players know it. He has to dispell that notion.I also dont buy the 2005 prognostication and projected lineups either. Fairy tale.I dont see any Dalgado's or Mike Mussina's there. Baseball is a game of percentages and 2005 are long odds. Right now is the time. This is a very good team as it is. Add to it now and take a run. The fans will come out for a wildcard race. Or are we the Royals or the Angels type team.

One more blast before I go.

Last season we heard all year long about the weak Canadian buck, well this baseball season its %14 stronger and we haven't heard a peep about that.
And did the Jays go out to get Liddle till the July trading deadline? Well if they did they should have made that clear to season ticket holder and kids before the season started.

More snake oil anyone?
See ya tomorrow. I'm out ;)
Lefty

Over at CBS Sportsline, Scott Miller says the Hillenbrand-Kim swap is a classic win-win deal:

Boston, which ranks 10th in the American League with a 4.92 staff ERA, could not match the pitching of the New York Yankees (4.11, fourth in the AL).

Arizona, which ranks 12th in the NL in runs scored and 15th in on-base percentage (.323), lacked offense.

Wow. I don't even know where to begin. It's like when people throw around big words without really knowing what they mean.

Someone really needs to talk to Scott, though, and explain to him that OBP isn't supposed to get lower.

I was checking out David Pinto's archives, and saw that Kim had 19.7 Win Shares in 2002 as reliever, better than Gagne (19.4), Smoltz (17.2), and Dotel (16.7). [I keep harping on this, but Houston really should trade Proven Closer Billy Wagner for another bat or perhaps another starter to make their playoff run.]

In fact, Kim had as many Win Shares as Oswalt, and more than Maddux (19.0), Millwood (18.9), and Glavine (18.4).

Only the Dynamic Duo had more (Johnson with 28.7 and Schilling with 23.7).

If that's the worst case scenario, sounds like a slam dunk for Theo and Co. to me.

Mondesi doesn't look like wasted salry to me this year. His gun,club and running would look pretty fine to me.

So after his horrid performance last year, you would have been perfectly content to pay him another $13 million this year? You do realize that the Yankees were trying to trade him and eat most of his contract all off-season don't you?

If management wants the fans out they have to have the product, and I don't buy the theory you sell all your decent parts.

So the Jays would have no decent parts left? What about the young players coming back in trade? What about the salary freed up to spend on other veterans in the off-season? Are you saying the Jays' offence has suffered? Surely Mondesi's strong arm isn't worth THAT much to you. Without clearing his salary, there is no Cory Lidle this year.

You build and mature the team in an atmosphere thats is built on trust. Nobody should trust JP. His strength is also his weakness. And the players know it. He has to dispell that notion.

I'm not sure I understand a word of that. Why shouldn't people trust J.P.? Because he wants to build the team around certain kinds of players? Because he wants to stay within the budget he's given? Please expand.

Baseball is a game of percentages and 2005 are long odds. Right now is the time. This is a very good team as it is. Add to it now and take a run. The fans will come out for a wildcard race. Or are we the Royals or the Angels type team.

So it's a bad thing to plan ahead for the future? Have you learned nothing from the past 8 years where Gord Ash tried to "go for it" year in and year out without a long term strategy?

The Jays are neither the Royals or the Angels. They have to do what makes sense for them given their pool of talent and their financial constraints. Frankly, they are much better off than either of those teams for the long term.