There are more Adrian Gonzalez trade rumors floating around and this time they involve the Chicago Cubs in a 3 team deal with the Boston Red Sox.
The rumor seems to have started when Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune posted the following on the 27th of this month:
"Worth watching: If the Red Sox wind up with Matt Holliday or Jason Bay, the Cubs immediately would make a major effort to land Jacoby Ellsbury to fill their center field/leadoff hole, according to sources.
That scenario helps explain why the Cubs have been so patient in studying their options. The best way to do such a trade might be for GM Jim Hendry to facilitate a three-team deal that sends first baseman Adrian Gonzalez from the Padres to the Red Sox by packaging a group of prospects, possibly including one or two of their top ones, such as third baseman Josh Vitters, shortstop Hak-Ju Lee and pitchers Andrew Cashner and Jay Jackson."
There have been several blogs including Bleacher Report that have talked about Ellsbury going to the Cubs and Adrian Gonzalez to the Red Sox and the Padres getting multiple stupid packages. Almost all of the trades I have seen in those blogs involve both Anderson and Vitters, both of who the Padres don't need.
I have read a couple of trade propositions on a Cubs blog that I thought the Padres might just say yes to.
They included :
Cubs getting Ellsbury and Lars Anderson.
Red Sox getting Adrian Gonzalez from the Padres and Jay Jackson or John Gaub from the Cubs
Padres getting Buchholz, Kelly, and Kalish or Westmoreland from the Red Sox and Cashner or Samardzija, and Hak-Ju Lee or Castro from the Cubs.
This trade probably has WAY too many moving parts to ever get done, but it would make sense for all 3 teams.
Buchholz moves into the Padres starting rotation immediately. Blanks then moves to 1B for the Padres. As far as the other pieces go, Castro could be a Padre before the end of 2010, but Kalish, Kelly, Cashner and Lee are all several years away from being major leaguers.
Ellsbury fills the Cubs hole in CF and gives them a true leadoff hitter. Anderson provides the heir apparent for Derrek Lee.
The addition of Adrian Gonzalez makes the Red Sox the favorite to win the AL East.
Is this a trade you think the Padres brass would move on?
Do you think a package of those players would improve the Padres team enough to justify moving Adrian Gonzalez now instead of at the trading deadline?
I really think the Pads are going to hold onto Gonzalez until they see how this team is developing.
ReplyDeleteIf they are approaching the All Star break and the team is way off the pace then they can move him. They will certainly have more leverage then, since there will not be any free agents out there competing with Adrian for contending teams interest.
I hope Adrian decides he wants to stay a Padres and is willing to take an extension in the range of 6 years/$100 million. Say start in 2012 at $12 million and then ramping up to $22 million in 2017.
And with an average salary in the $16-17 million range, Gonzo is still a good deal to other teams if the Padres decide to trade him in a few years.
Yes its a Padres discount, but only by about $2-3 million per year and how much money do you really need to make? It would keep him at home and playing for the team he grew up rooting for.
Am I dreaming here?