Joe Sheehan is back from First Pitch Arizona, and has his impressions of some of the players he watched.
Brett Wallace has great power, and reminds me a little of Lance Berkman with extra weight. He’s an awkward third baseman with a stiff throwing motion, but the consensus is that he won’t hurt you over there.
I think we’d all take that kind of production.
Jim Callis shoots down a Rays fan’s notion of trading Rasmus for some of their pitching surplus, but he thinks the Rays would be open to trading Rick Ankiel for Edwin Jackson and Jeff Niemann or Ryan Ludwick for Niemann and Andrew Sonnanstine.
Niemann has nothing left to prove in the minors, and should be solid but not great. I would love to have Andy Sonnanstine. Throw in VEB cult favorite Ben Zobrist, and if I were Mo, I’d be sorely tempted if the opportunity presented itself. As for Ankiel for Jackson and Niemann….myeh. No thanks.
Arizona Fall League
- Brett Wallace went 4-for-5 with 3 RBI and 3 runs scored. After a slow start, Brett is 18 for his last 44 (.409) with 5 doubles and 3 homers. I am the Walrus. Koo koo kachoo.
- Shane Robinson went 2-for-4 with a double and a walk. Box.
Dominican Winter League
- Amaury Marti went 3-for-4. Box. Amaury Marti invented Dipping Dots.
Hawaii, Puerto Rico and Venezuela all were all off.
Entries (RSS)
I would love to see a deal for Sonnanstine. They can keep Niemann and Jackson.
Really?
While clearly Sonnanstine is the best of the three players discussed from the Rays, I would much rather trade away injury prone one year away from free agency Rick Ankiel for two players than Ludwick.
As an aside, Dippin Dots are actually made in my hometown. I took a tour of the plant once, it is kinda cool to watch liquid ice cream dripped into a freezing agent similar to liquid nitrogen. Once the cream hits the other liquid it flash freezes and the temperature required to keep ti frozen is much less then normal ice cream.
Hugo, how cool it must feel to know that Marti has actually been to your hometown. And not just to visit, but to set up a factory to produce his invention, delicious Dippin Dots.
Rome wasn’t built in a day, because Amaury Marti wasn’t born yet. The Dipping dots factory, otoh…
Amaury Marti doesn’t need a factory for things like that; it’s just cover for the fact that he creates them by sheer force of will.
As regards Sonnanstine, it’s interesting that names like John Lackey, James Shields, Kyle Lohse, Bruce Hurst, etc., appear on his comparables lists at BP and Baseball Reference. Unfortunately, so do other names like Jeff Weaver and Kameron Loe, who are not exactly what you want to trade minor-league talent for. Lud or Ank for Sonnanstine and a throw-in might work very well … or it might work very badly. I find myself on the fence about whether the team should make such a high-risk deal, even with Da Raz en route to the major-league outfield.
JMedwick:
I didn’t say I wanted to deal Ludwick for him, but I’d like to see Sonnanstine in a Cards uniform.
Grant,
I was reacting to Erik’s comment (As for Ankiel for Jackson and Niemann….myeh. No thanks), not yours.
My bad, sorry. I’m with you on that one, though. Jackson has turned out to be an OK pitcher (I always thought he was pretty overrated as a prospect), but I’m still not big on him.