Not that we want to go back completely on our stated fears about trading Alex Rios for Tim Lincecum, but with a little time to consider it, we're coming around to understanding the idea. (Sorry Joanna!)The main thing to like about this is the fact that the Jays would control Lincecum for the next five years, while Rios is on the cusp of getting priced out of their range. Trading to get those four or five years of control over a key cog in the organization certainly makes a lot of sense.
Moreover, there are always corner outfielders to be had in a pinch, while potential front line pitchers don't come around every day. While giving up Rios for Lincecum would leave a significant hole in right, we're guessing that reasonable replacements like Austin Kearns, Kevin Mench or Michael Cuddyer (we're just spitballin' here) could be had at a much more reasonable cost to fill that void.
Of course, now that the Tao has given its assent to the deal, you know it will never happen.
What if Rios stays?
Since these rumours around Rios have sprung up, we've been asking ourselves what sort of frame of mind will Rios have if he comes back to T.O. next year. His quote to Robert MacLeod at the winter meetings betrayed a certain petulance about the whole ordeal. (""I don't care about anything. If they want to trade me, so be it. It's up to them. There's not anything I can do about it.")
In some ways, if there are hurt feelings over these rumours, it might be better at this point if the Jays moved him rather than having a grumpy Rios in the room all season.
5 comments:
Don't be sorry. I'm kind of coming around too. Can't they just have both? That would solve just so many problems.
But if Lincecum is not the shit, but is instead just shit, this conversation never happened.
I'm pretty sure Mench could be acquired now that he's been DFAed.
Exactly.
Does a multi-year deal heal all wounds?
I've gone back and forth, but yeah, I'd love to have a guy like Linecum in the mix. He and McGowan can be a legitimate 1-2 punch in the post-Halladay era (which is not as far off as we like to think). In the shorter term, Linecum can take Burnett's place when he walks next year.* Or, if Riccardi is really lucky, he gets someone to take Burnett for a serviceable outfielder.
Of course, all of this is kinda moot because, let's face it, with Riccardi and Gibbons' philosophy on offense and baserunning, any lineup is going to look like it's trashing around in molasses, Rios or no.
*The Jays are screwed on Burnett either way. Either he has another mediocre year (or worse) and stays, in which case we're stuck with dead weight; or he pitches the lights out, the Jays still finish in 3rd place, and he walks (though I bet he walks even if he has a mediocre year). The upshot of this scenario is that it would likely cost Riccardi his job, and maybe then things could start to change for real.
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