I want to start off by saying that, before this article and the ones that are likely to follow this start a war on Twitter, I understand this may be all a dream. I do fully understand the waiver trade deadline and understand there is a great possibility that Hiroki Kuroda and others would likely be claimed rather quickly and would not clear waivers. I get it, I do, but I also would have thought that Adrian Gonzalez would have been claimed last season with or without that monster contract. Maybe it is wishful thinking that guys like Kuroda would clear waivers but even if he didn't we could still trade him to the team that claimed him albeit losing some advantages and leverage at the negotiating table but at this point what choice do we have?
Hiroki Kuroda will be a free agent after this season and does not seem willing to sign with anybody after this season not named the Yankees, the Dodgers, or his former team in Japan so he would be a true rental player. Kuroda would be eligible to play on the post season roster of any team he is acquired by as long as he is acquired by September 1st so I decided to look at playoff teams, whether contending or pretending, as the only possible suitors for Kuroda.
The Arizona Diamondbacks are selling off pitchers, see Ian Kennedy, the St. Louis Cardinals are content standing pat and relying on their farm system, eff the Texas Rangers, and it would be extremely painful to see us trade Kuroda within our division. That leaves one contender and possible suitor for Kuroda in a perfect world and that is the Cleveland Indians. Kuroda could give them an ace to go with Justin Masterson and may be just what they need to get them over the hump we call the Detroit Tigers (or just Prince Fielder and Miguel Cabrera because they are a set of pretty big guys). I do not claim to be an expert on the Cleveland Indians system but they have had a nice run of developing players lately, perfect example being an Asrubal Cabrera or a Carlos Santana for instance, and should have a nice two or three players we could acquire.
Again I realize this is probably just a pipe dream but at this point so is the chances that the New York Yankees will make the playoffs this season so don't judge me. Get it done Cash, or something, hell get anything done. Anything would be an improvement at this point.
The Arizona Diamondbacks are selling off pitchers, see Ian Kennedy, the St. Louis Cardinals are content standing pat and relying on their farm system, eff the Texas Rangers, and it would be extremely painful to see us trade Kuroda within our division. That leaves one contender and possible suitor for Kuroda in a perfect world and that is the Cleveland Indians. Kuroda could give them an ace to go with Justin Masterson and may be just what they need to get them over the hump we call the Detroit Tigers (or just Prince Fielder and Miguel Cabrera because they are a set of pretty big guys). I do not claim to be an expert on the Cleveland Indians system but they have had a nice run of developing players lately, perfect example being an Asrubal Cabrera or a Carlos Santana for instance, and should have a nice two or three players we could acquire.
Again I realize this is probably just a pipe dream but at this point so is the chances that the New York Yankees will make the playoffs this season so don't judge me. Get it done Cash, or something, hell get anything done. Anything would be an improvement at this point.
If you are going to sell Kuroda surely it makes sense to offload as much as possible. Do you include guys like CC and Cano?
ReplyDeletewell, spoiler alert, I have more of these scheduled to post so no worries its not just Kuroda. CC has a NTC and Cano I would because I think we have a good shot at re signing after this season. Although I think it might be a disrespect towards Cano so I lean towards not doing it just for that reason alone.
ReplyDelete