In a result that I'm sure is surprising to nobody, Geovany Soto and Evan Longoria have won their respective Rookie of the Year Awards. And in CRAZY BREAKING NEWS, the A's swooped in from left field to acquire Matt Holliday. I'm hearing Greg Smith and Brett Anderson are part of the package, but it's still being finalized.
Another Trade! (9:14PM) The Nationals have just traded Emilio Bonifacio along with prospects Jake Smolinski and P.J. Dean for Scott Olsen and Josh Willingham, according to Peter Gammons.
Update (4:18PM): A few sources seem to indicate that the final A's package consists of Carlos Gonzalez, Greg Smith and Huston Street.
Update (3:57PM): Greg Smith has been confirmed as part of the package. Anderson, Ryan Sweeney, and Carlos Gonzalez are also in the mix per ESPN.
The AL vote was unanimous, while Canuck Joey Votto stole a single 1st place vote from Soto. Edinson Volquez, who as previously mentioned isn't a rookie, finished 4th in the balloting. Michael Young, Nate McLouth and now this? I realize it's a different group of voters for the GGs, but I think we as fans can safely say there are some boneheads in both voting groups.
Here's the AL voting. Alexei Ramirez, The Cuban Missile, finished a comfortable second with Boston's Jacoby Ellsbury third. Mike Aviles, Armando Galarraga, Joey Devine, Denard Span, Nick Blackburn, Joba the Hut, and Brad Ziegler received the dregs of the voting.
In the NL voting, the aforementioned Torontonian Votto took most of the 2nd place votes, while Jair Jurrjens grabbed 3rd place. Three voters decided to give Edinson Volquez support despite his ineligibility, propelling him into 4th place, with the rest of the votes going to Jay Bruce, Kosuke Fukudome and James Loney.
OK, now let's talk about the Holliday trade. It's way more interesting anyway.
At first glance, colour me puzzled. Holliday is a free agent after the 2009 season, so this is a rent-a-player deal unless the acquiring team thinks they can lock him up long-term. Unless Billy Beane forgot about that 100 million dollars he tucked under his pillow 10 years ago, I don't see the A's extending Holliday. And while they have one of the best farm systems in the majors, I can't see the Athletics having much of a chance at the division next year, even with Holliday. Their chances depend heavily, of course, on what the Angels do this off-season, but word on the street is that LA will sign one of the big free agents, with Mark Teixeira possibly the most likely.
So what's the upside of this move for the A's? They could turn around and deal Holliday at the deadline in 2009, which would obviously invite comparisons to the the Manny deal from this past summer, in which the Red Sox acquired Jason Bay. Or, they could hold on to Matt and get a couple of extra draft picks. But I don't think I need to tell you that a first round and supplemental round draft pick are far less valuable than several young players who have already made it to the majors/high minors.
So what's your take here, Bauxites? I'll re-evaluate as the names come in, but it looks like the A's are giving up some pretty good players here. Do you think they can contend next year? Are they even better than Texas? Does Beane have something else in the works? Maybe he'll pull off a Boston Celtics style heist and pick up Jake Peavy later today. He is Billy Beane, after all.
Another Trade! (9:14PM) The Nationals have just traded Emilio Bonifacio along with prospects Jake Smolinski and P.J. Dean for Scott Olsen and Josh Willingham, according to Peter Gammons.
Update (4:18PM): A few sources seem to indicate that the final A's package consists of Carlos Gonzalez, Greg Smith and Huston Street.
Update (3:57PM): Greg Smith has been confirmed as part of the package. Anderson, Ryan Sweeney, and Carlos Gonzalez are also in the mix per ESPN.
The AL vote was unanimous, while Canuck Joey Votto stole a single 1st place vote from Soto. Edinson Volquez, who as previously mentioned isn't a rookie, finished 4th in the balloting. Michael Young, Nate McLouth and now this? I realize it's a different group of voters for the GGs, but I think we as fans can safely say there are some boneheads in both voting groups.
Here's the AL voting. Alexei Ramirez, The Cuban Missile, finished a comfortable second with Boston's Jacoby Ellsbury third. Mike Aviles, Armando Galarraga, Joey Devine, Denard Span, Nick Blackburn, Joba the Hut, and Brad Ziegler received the dregs of the voting.
In the NL voting, the aforementioned Torontonian Votto took most of the 2nd place votes, while Jair Jurrjens grabbed 3rd place. Three voters decided to give Edinson Volquez support despite his ineligibility, propelling him into 4th place, with the rest of the votes going to Jay Bruce, Kosuke Fukudome and James Loney.
OK, now let's talk about the Holliday trade. It's way more interesting anyway.
At first glance, colour me puzzled. Holliday is a free agent after the 2009 season, so this is a rent-a-player deal unless the acquiring team thinks they can lock him up long-term. Unless Billy Beane forgot about that 100 million dollars he tucked under his pillow 10 years ago, I don't see the A's extending Holliday. And while they have one of the best farm systems in the majors, I can't see the Athletics having much of a chance at the division next year, even with Holliday. Their chances depend heavily, of course, on what the Angels do this off-season, but word on the street is that LA will sign one of the big free agents, with Mark Teixeira possibly the most likely.
So what's the upside of this move for the A's? They could turn around and deal Holliday at the deadline in 2009, which would obviously invite comparisons to the the Manny deal from this past summer, in which the Red Sox acquired Jason Bay. Or, they could hold on to Matt and get a couple of extra draft picks. But I don't think I need to tell you that a first round and supplemental round draft pick are far less valuable than several young players who have already made it to the majors/high minors.
So what's your take here, Bauxites? I'll re-evaluate as the names come in, but it looks like the A's are giving up some pretty good players here. Do you think they can contend next year? Are they even better than Texas? Does Beane have something else in the works? Maybe he'll pull off a Boston Celtics style heist and pick up Jake Peavy later today. He is Billy Beane, after all.
