[sharknut]

It may seem counterproductive, but I am going to let 28 year old Candy Maldonado walk. Yes, he won the Gold Glove 2 years ago, but he led the league in errors this year. Yes, he hit 34 HR's 2 years ago, but that dipped to 16 this year. He has still yet to walk more than 49 times or strikeout less than 130 times in a season. But he did just win the World Series MVP, so why?

He is aslking for 9 years and $3.5 million a year and that woulld make him the 4th highest player in the league. He's not even the 4th best 3rd baseman. So, thanks for all you've done for us. Glad you could make the parade. Best of luck.

So now we have a hole at 3b, but I have $10 million to play with. Our budget is massive and we already have a top-5 payroll. So I peruse the leagues top 3rd basemen and see what I can come with.

I spy with my little eye 30 year old Von Hayes in Toronto. He has 5 years left at $2.1 million a year, but that's a bargain to me. His 162 game avgs are:

.282/.361/.414 39 doubles 13 home runs 68 RBI 105 runs 79 walks 47 steals. And he is a 10-10 fielder........at first base. But Jack Clark has 2 years left and he's not going anywhere, so Hayes will play 3rd, where he is a 6-10 fielder for 2 years.

I dealt some good stuff, 28 year old Paul Assenmacher, 29 year old Bill Gullickson and our top prospect, Ruben Sierra. As of now, the Jays have Sierra listed as their DH, Assenmacher their 4th starter and Gullickson their setup man, all larger roles than they would have had with us.

...but the Reds just traded a good but not great package for 23 year old Greg Swindell who led the AL in wins as a rookie and again last year. He also averaged over eight innings a start and has averaged 200 strikeouts a year. Ridiculous trade, total game changer