... so Danny Murphy has gone off to FA and Red Long (yeah, I had to look him up, too) retired.
We're still in 1911 when I make our first move toward shoring up that middle IF
TRADE 1 OF 5 (11/13/11)
P King Cole and P Tacks Neuer traded to Philadelphia (NL) for IF Al Bridwell
Al has spent most of his career at 2B but all his metrics at SS hold up OK as well. Should Pops come on as we so desperately hope he does, then Al becomes Larry’s replacement at 2B. He can also play the hot corner well and I’m pretty sure would have no problem at 1B. Whatever the case, he is a great add for us moving forward and, at just 27, should have plenty of productive years ahead of him. It costs us King Cole, which I'm not 100% happy about given we are still fairly thin in this regard, so I go find us some veteran reinforcement to compensate.
Look, I hear the mumblings and can't say I totally disagree. At 36 Eddie is a risk. But we're still at the stage where salary considerations and budgetary constraints don't play much of a part, so the risk is a manageable one, especially with Year 3 being a 190 IP vesting option. At best, our SP4 problems are solved for a few years. At worst, Ed gives us a strong LHP presence in the pen. The comfort alone of knowing he's there to move into the rotation if needed makes the outlay seem an astute one.