The Dodgers are clearly not done looking for a middle-of-the order bat, and according to the Los Angeles Daily News, two players they are evaluating trade offers for are Houston's Richard Hidalgo and Tampa Bay's Aubrey Huff, among others. Hidalgo, who hit .309 with 28 homers and 88 RBIs in 2003, is owed $12 million for 2004 with a club option for 2005 worth $15 million or a $2 million buyout. http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/n...nt_id=622373&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb
What do the Dodger's possess that would interest the Astros? Getting out from under the contract would be nice, but would the Dodgers be willing to give up a good prospect and get saddled with the majority of Hidalgo's contract? And despite his contract, he was a good player for us last year - not worth his contract - but not an albatross. I have trouble seeing the Astros benifiting from a Hidalgo trade.
*Picks up crackpipe Hey, how about Paul Lo Duca? Or Eric Gagne? *Puts down crackpipe and vows never to do drugs again Seriously, though, what about Odalis Perez? He's been linked in trades for everyone. Dodgers want to give him away, it seems. He didn't have the greatest year last season (4.52 ERA), but the year before that, he was en fuego. Maybe he could turn it around. Having said that, though, I still think that, unless a major offer bowls the Astros over, the team should keep Dalgy.
*knocks crack pipe out of VesceySux's hands. I doubt that Perez would be of any interest to the Astros unless they plan on going to a six man rotation next season. Oswalt, Pettitte, Clemens, Miller, Redding, Hernandez, Robertson I think the only type of players that would come in return for Hidalgo are relievers or minor league prospects. It sounds like management has faith in Lane and want to give him a shot. We'll see, I am still a little worried that Lane won't be able to sustain his production over the course of a full year.
Unless LA is willing to eat all of Richard's deal without Houston taking back salary, forget it. The only guys I would want from LA would be Guillermo Mota, Gagne, and Odalis Perez. Possibly Greg Miller, Edwin Jackson, or James Loney too. I really think Seattle should be the team that trades for Hidalgo, as a swap of Garcia for Hidalgo makes a lot of sense for them. The astros could then use Freddy to get bullpen help, or keep him as a 5th starter and offer redding around for bench/bullpen help. I was stunned seattle offered Freddy arbitration. The only explanation is they so they could trade him, because he got a very generous deal as he didn't have his salary cut at all. One example of a deal with seattle could involve boston. Boston gets Garcia, Houston gets Scott Williamson, Seattle gets Richard Hidalgo. That works if the A-Rod deal ever dies. I'm with pued though. I like Richard. I do not give up a rightfielder with a laser arm and a good bat, who only has one more year on his contract and is young, cheaply. He has value, and as much as I like lane, I have no problem with Hidalgo in right. I think Richard will be more like last year and 2000 from here on out, than the two years in between as he regained his bat speed last offseason. Also if a club eats all his salary and I take little back, which allows me to pursue Vlad, who doesn't want to go to Baltimore but inexplicably no one else wants him, then I do it.
Hmmmmm, on second thought, Perez is slated to make $3.4 million next year (according to ESPN). Might have to pass on that one (unless the realized savings between Hidalgo and Perez pay for Clemens' salary).
whatever happened to Darren Driefort? When healthy, that guy showed so much promise, they signed him to a $10 mil. a year deal. Problem is, he's never healthy. 'Stros might agree to trade one albatross for another (assuming its the final year), with the "hope" that they'll get some better pitching out of it.
I think it'll happen only if we get a quality pitcher...It's bound to happen and I know we can have a lot of flexibility with Dalgy gone...
Fun with letters: Hidalgo - Hi = Dalgo. Dalgo - o = Dalg Dalg + y = Dalgy Dalgy sounds like Doggy, but uses ACTUAL letters from Richard's name. Consequently, when you take the missing letters from his name, it spells out "HI-O!", which can be used in a celebratory exclamation when Dalgy hits a home run. This lesson has been brought to you by the letter "P," as in Pettitte.
Do the Dodgers have interesting prospects that may be major league ready by September or the next two seasons? That would be something to definitely look for if they are seriously interested in Hidalgo. Hidalgo's contract is for two more years, but the club can buy out of the contract and then attempt to resign him for less after this upcoming season. Hidalgo is a good player but for the amount he is slated to make, I'd say trade him without hesitation. Here's hoping to more offseason moves to make the team a true contender.
If we can trade Hidalgo for Odalis Perez, I do that in a heartbeat. Hidalgo is OK, but he has a history of sucking with people on base. Both of the last two years, he hit with no power, and horrible averages with people on. Perez is kinda like Hidalgo - you don't know what you'll get. But the Perez of 2002 was incredible - 220+ innings, 38!! walks, 150+ strikeouts, ERA of 3.00. Do we need yet another starting pitcher? That's questionable - Redding, Hernandez, Robertson, and Clemens are all questionmarks. Worst case, though, he could then be traded again - and he's a hell of a lot easier to trade than Hidalgo (relatively cheap, potentially very good starting pitcher vs. very expensive, potentially very good outfielder). I'd do the trade to get the $9 million in salary flexibility. Put Lane where Hidalgo was, use the $9M to upgrade other parts of the roster, and see what happens.
