Dear Frank Wren, WTH?!?!?
In an effort to somehow improve the Braves, Frank Wren is heavily rumored to be pursuing a trade for... wait for it... wait for it... Derrek Lee!!!
Photo Courtesy of Cubs Photos AdminDerrek Lee?!?!?!? No offense to Lee, Wren, the Braves, or anyone else in the deal, but WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?!?!?!?
If anyone can get this to Wren, please forward and let him know I'm begging him not to do it. If you're going to go for a 1st baseman, Adam Laroche has been on the market all season. We know he's a second half hitter and he's tearing it up. Regardless, make the smart move. Go after Manny (hopeless dream of mine) and Manny-topia to the ATL!
We don't need a 1st baseman. We need a 3rd baseman or a solid power hitting outfielder. If you want to make a move for the future, Vernon Wells, Carl Crawford, B.J. Upton, or (as Matty Ice pointed out) Nick Markakis makes a ton more sense and would set the Bravos up for the future without giving away what remains of the farm system for a half year rental player. Besides, Derrek Lee is hardly the answer to Ryan Howard when we're head to head against the Phillies.
If you're going to pick up another hitter, do it right. It's Bobby's last season, go big or go home! The Braves are having too special of a season to go home. If I'm the Cubs, I'm selling as soon as possible. Lee WAS a great 1st baseman. Lee IS not even producing as Chipper nor Troy Glaus has been this season.
I agree completely with Mark Bradley of the AJC (article can be found here and below) so from one blogger to another, 'atta boy!
Another day, another rumored trade. Earlier this week word circulated that the Braves wanted Aramis Ramirez, who’s a third baseman for the Cubs. That was shot down because Ramirez is due to make $14.6 million next season, essentially the same as Chipper Jones, who plans to be back at third base in 2011. (Read Mark Bowman’s nuanced post on MLB.com for the reasons why this rumor never had a prayer of becoming reality.)
But now we move across the Cubbies’ infield. Derrek Lee is the first baseman. He used to be really good. He’s not as good now, but he’s still OK. He also has a bad back.He’s a free agent at season’s end, which means he’d be a rental. (And yet another bridge to Freddie Freeman.)
According to Chicago blogger David Kaplan: “The deal that would send Lee to the Braves has not yet been finalized but MLB sources characterize the trade as nearly done.”
Lee has a no-trade clause and spurned a move to the Angels last month. From Kaplan: “Sources close to Lee tell us that he will approve a deal to Atlanta because the Braves are leading their division.”
Another factor: As Bruce Levine of ESPN Chicago notes, Lee “is out until at least Thursday [after receiving] an epidural shot in his back on Monday to relieve the pain.”
One thing more: Lee hit four homers over the weekend against the Cardinals. That gives him 16 for the season, with 56 RBI’s. Troy Glaus, whom Lee would presumably supplant, has 16 homers and 70 RBI’s and owns a higher on-base percentage.
If the Braves are to make a deal before September — and a player has to be on the roster by Sept. 1 to be eligible for the postseason — Lee makes as much sense as anybody. He has playoff experience. (He was the first baseman on the Marlins’ World Series-winning team of 2003.) He wouldn’t tie up salary beyond November. But I’m a bit uneasy about the wisdom of plugging in one creaky first baseman for another.
Then again, I’m easily rendered uneasy. So maybe I’m not the best gauge.
3 comments:
I don't think the Braves are giving up much of anything in this trade. It makes sense because then you put one of Glaus or Lee on the bench and then you have a more than adequate guy coming off in key situations down the stretch and then hopefully the playoffs. Plus Glaus is on borrowed time right now. His knees are shot to hell. Lee has been tearing it up since the All-Star break too. Hopefully one of McLouth or Kawakami are going back to Chicago in the trade.
I mean, if it's McClouth, Schafer, or Kawakami, you're right, but you're still not substantially adding anything. What good is ANOTHER bat off the bench?!? If you want to improve, go after a position of need, not just a bat that was semi-capable. Instead of adding Lee, call up Brandon Hicks again, it's almost the same scenario.
It is a position of need though. Glaus is hitting less than .200 in the last two months. If he didn't have the hot May his numbers would be down right terrible. Lee got off to a slow start but has been on fire recently. It's not a great move but it's not bad either. Glaus goes to the bench and Derrek Lee-ck my Balls (sorry lame Zoolander reference) starts. Who knows? Maybe he could have a Fred McGriff type impact.
And Freeman is staying down. The Braves have made it clear they don't want to lose a year of free agency for a few weeks. Business decision.
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