The Case for Joe Blanton

Cross your fingers and hope he has a great spring.

However the Angels need someone at the top. Aybar can’t cut it and I don’t think Abreu will be considered at leadoff. Between the two, I’d pick Damon. Better OPB and gap power, even if he throws like a girly-man.

They’re both old. Our outfield is already littered with aging veterans. I sure hope Bourjos can hit, cause if he can he could be our solution at leadoff. If he could hit .275 I’d be happy. He’ll be good for 30 SB if he gets a full year in, with potential to be 40 to 50.

What are you – a pragmatic realist or something?

I bet we could get Zito too. But then I’d have to ask myself…WTF would I want Barry Zito?

But it definitely wouldn’t be a top prospect, maybe just a fringe piece or two. The Phils don’t need to add any more salary, so anyone else at the ML level is out.

If all it would take to land Blanton is the frosted tipped 4th outfielder I’d do this deal tomorrow. I don’t think it would include a guy like Trout but maybe for some prospects, who was the Giant Dutchman we acquired from the Twins?

How is the catching situation in Philly? Blanton, for Rivera and Mathis or maybe Wilson and a low pitching prospect. I think that would be mutually beneficial.

And it wasn’t intended to. However, it does exchange a useful piece that really doesn’t fit as the lineup currently stands (Rivera) and adds to a position of strength (SP), If a starter goes down or stinks it up, who comes in? Trevor Bell? Hisanori Takahashi? I say keep both of them in the ’pen.

It also opens a spot for a OF Free agent or an in-house solution, like the previously proposed Willits/Pettit combo. Trumbo is basically a younger, cheaper, and more powerful Rivera anyhow, albeit worse defensively.

Unless someone was offering coupons to Del Taco or something like that. I hope beyond hope that Kaz turns it around, but like everyone else and justifiably so, I doubt it.

And Rivera probably has more value than Pierre. Why would we do this?

Yankees aren’t giving him up unless they would have somehow signed a better OF like Crawford. There is no need to trade for Juan Pierre when there are comparable players sitting out there in free agency who would cost less and cost nothing in trade or draft picks. Pierre will cost $5 Million next year and who knows what he would really cost in trade with Kenny Williams and the White Sox.

Doubt it, but right now I’d rather have Ellsbury than Crawford based on overall value. Don’t get me wrong, Crawford is better. But Ellsbury is also getting paid just above the minimum, and he’s a true leadoff hitter.

One hundred years ago, when I was a high school teacher/coach, I’d always use the joke…
“Just because you’re the valedictorian at (insert school name of this week’s opponent here), doesn’t mean you’re smart.”

always eager to PLEASE

Any meal.

 As you pointed out, he would not be to benefit from the switch of Leagues. The question is would he be effective in holding down the opposition’s offense enough to give the offense we have (such as it is) to wake up enough to score enough runs to have a shot at winning on a regular basis in the AL or would he revert to his previous AL performance levels?

Is there any history to go on relating to pitchers who go from the AL to the NL and back to the AL and what their performance looks like the second time around? Any examples that would be worth looking up? I can’t think of any is the reason I ask.

The only thing that improved was his win total, a very deceptive stat. His ERA, ERA+ (adjusted ERA), and WHIP were all better in Oakland compared to Philly. Do we attribute that dropoff to a regression or to the ballpark? Maybe both. But Blanton isn’t a #1-3 guy in anyone’s rotation, however he could capably fill the 4th or 5th spots as the traditional “innings-eater”, at worst.

I would hate to see us give anything more than a bucket of baseballs for Blanton.

Blanton isn’t athletic at all. He does pitch half of his starts in a hitter’s paradise. He has an inflated contract that was signed before the market corrected itself. He should have a contract similar to that of Jon Garland, approximately $5 Mil a year. If Blanton would be acquired, it would cost approximately $13 Million for two seasons if you factor in the offset from dealing Rivera, who is looking more and more like a spare part to the Angels, considering their need to find a leadoff hitter. He’s only signed through the 2012 season and could be an effective replacement for Pineiro and Kazmir after this coming season. Blanton’s ERA+ of 84 in 2010 was the lowest mark of his career, and if you remove that one year, he’s an above-average pitcher whose career would look more like his 2009 season…making this a trade that I’d make.