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July 5, 2009
I received a call from Jack Rigsby, GM of the Queens Drivers, he wanted to let me know that Vincente Valentin is on the trading block. Valentin (28 yrs old) is a 2-time best fielder winner who can play 2B and SS at the elite level. As a hitter he is a career .293/.352/.406. In 50 games in 2009 he is hitting .289 / .338 with 2 HR, 16 RBI. He has a price tag of $18 million and is a free agent aver this year, so he would cost us about $8 million for the rest of the season. It would really shore up the infield for the rest of the year and would cost us virtually nothing, we could do a straight up swap for first basement Orlando Vallejo, who is holding the place until Al Hill comes back in three weeks (granted he will only have four fingers, so I am kind of expecting a set back in his recovery) but Nishikawa has proved a serviceable first basemen.
Although BNN does not indicate that I have any weakness at this time the bullpen is making me uneasy, we are currently 15th in bullpen ERA at 5.38. I asked Jack if he would be willing to add Charlie Miller who is having the best year of his career (3-1, 2.53, 64 IP, .217OBA) to sweeten the deal; Jack didn’t even bat an eye and said that would be fine.
I thanked Jack for the heads up and said I would certainly think this over. Will a deal like this be enough to push earn me the Wild Card, given the power house that Tampa, despite the loss of their ace, I don’t think I can overcome to take the division.
A deal like this I will need to mull over. I sat at my desk and wrote down the negatives of the deal:
• Lose a potential Gold Glove at first base in Vallejo who is under club control for three more years (although he will never have the power that one would like from this position)
• We are soaking up about $8 million in salary for a rental, to make a run for a Wild Card spot
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