Comments on: More Kotchman

By: maqman

maqman — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 13:43:27 +0000

Jon – very glad to see you back, you do good work and I appreciate it. Conor – with the same name as my great-grandson I know I’m going to enjoy your efforts. I pretty much agree with everthing stated on Kotchman and trust GMZs judgement (although we both wiffed on Cedeno, I thought he had potential too). If the Ms have any functional brain cells at the top level they will sign GMZ to a long-term contract. Every owner with a GM opening is going to have him at the top of their want list.

By: Conor Dowley

Conor Dowley — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 19:25:46 +0000

Yeah, I had a definite case of Achy Thumbs after writing that…

The odd thing about this season is that it doesn’t look like there are a lot of first basemen that could come available around the deadline that would actually represent a significant upgrade. Gonzalez and Fielder are the obvious “big catch” guys depending on how their teams do. Joey Votto of Cincinatti might be available. Maybe James Loney, maybe Carlos Pena. Otherwise? Not too many options, and all of those I listed will be expensive.

By: Jon

Jon — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 17:35:41 +0000

I do find it interesting that the Mariners held a press conference for Kotchman. Not the big jersey ceremony, but they introduced him to the media and gave him a hat for the photo opp etc. I didn’t expect to see that for a minor player, so I guess we should see that as “Zduriencik got his guy.”

By: dmojr

dmojr — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 16:50:47 +0000

Thanks for the post Conor, and doing it on a smart phone.. dear god!

I like the Kotchman trade for the reasons identified above, but also it gives the M’s some wiggle room should someone be available at the trade deadline this year…

By: ajax

ajax — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 15:57:26 +0000

Thanks for coming back Jon. I love your analysis.

By: friedgreensooner

friedgreensooner — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 13:22:08 +0000

Outstanding analysis, Conor and Jon. You have converted me to be positive about the Kotchman trade. How many days until we hear the four magic words?

By: Derek

Derek — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 06:06:19 +0000

Hey Conor, great post! And the same goes to you Jon. You guys are definitely right in emphasizing how we can’t look at this move in isolation. This goes back to what Dave Cameron said about how, with the Lee+Figgins+Bradley acquisitions, the marginal utility of each additional win goes way up. Adding Kotchman and, say, Pagan could take us to what, 86-87 wins? That’s a pretty intriguing number.

By: Conor Dowley

Conor Dowley — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 05:25:43 +0000

Thanks for the warm welcome, Jon.

To build on what you said, the M’s have frankly a rediculous defense. If the roster stays as-is, basically any starting nine defense will have a defender of no less than average defensive ability everywhere except at catcher. That’s just plain nuts.

As far as a potential fit for a left fielder, I like the idea of bringing in Baldelli to create a Bradley/Langerhans/Rocco super-platoon. He’d be cheap, and it’d be another situation where he can add value without a ton of risk. The fact that he’s a fair, though not great, defender doesn’t hurt a bit.