While I prefer Holliday, I want Bay as a back-up option. I can’t see the Yanks letting Holliday sign anywhere else.

Buzzy, bc Felix’s agent is stupid enough to extend the next MLB player to break the 20 million/year threshold? Really, you are still holding to that theory?
 
Felix will not extend unless the deal is better than CC’s and the business reality is 1) Felix is one of the most coveted arm in MLB 2) CC’s deal is now the standard for top FA arms 3) only a handful of teams, Red Sox, Yankees, Detriot, CWS, LAD (possibly), NYM, Phillies and LAA, have the resources to sign him and 4) the nation’s recession is not letting up anytime soon, in fact its gonna get worse when the Credit Card issue hits 2010.

I just love how you assume Felix’s agent is not smart enough to understand that his client is going to become the highest paid pitcher in the MLB. He would lose upwards of $10-20 Million in commissions depending on years. But whats a few millions if Felix can stay in a baseball rich community with such a vibrant Latin scene like Seattle for a discount no less. I mean whens last potential FA took the money? Has not happened since way back in 2008….

I wonder what would Scott Boras do?

1) A pitcher: They will be major players in the Harden sweepstakes and the Edwin Jackson trade.
2) A 1st baseman: Branyan did not accept the one year deal offered, if they don’t resign him, I’ll expect them to be very interested in signing Nick Johnson.
3) A power bat
They don’t need Bay because they have a cheap, promising OFer in Saunders who was posting some ridiculous numbers in AAA (.400 wOBA this year, .384 in AA and .387 in A+) and played great defense in LF (19.6 UZR/150) when he was called to the big club and they have that kid Aukley that they took as the 2nd pick in this year draft waiting in the wings.
And like you said, their LF is not helpfull for a power RHH, just ask Adrian Beltre.

I don’t think that Theo would want to deal with another headcase after the Manny years especially for that kind of contract. But from a fan stand point, I’ll do that deal in a heartbeat! Oh and you don’t wanna take Bates as a replacement: Lars Anderson is a better option ;)

because while he is a great player, he is also paid like a great player, so I don’t think the economics of giving up 2 great, cost-controlled-for-years-to-come pitchers makes sense to pick up 6 years of $20 million for Cabrera.

His arm in left was very good, but his range was not, he doesn’t play acceptable defense in the outfield, which is why he’s at first now. His recent indiscretion also probably lowered his value a decent amount.

The problem when evaluating trades is you have to factor in more than the quality of the player. The media does a poor job of really educating the general public about that. So my point is Miggy is a great player but he has a gigantic contract and is actually paid what he is worth or around that. Check out this link:
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/miguel-cabreras-trade-value

The Red Sox would have very little competition in a trade, lets be serious who can handle that contract? Yankees have no need, Dodger are cutting payroll, Angels have Morales etc. So there are very few teams that A) have a need for Miggy and B) could take that amount of salary. The only teams i can think of right now, where he might fit: Red Sox, Mets and maybe the Giants.

Allthough the fangraphs article basically says he should be given away for free i’d be willing to part with a Top Prospect and 2 not so high prospects. So just as a pure example: Kelly +X+Y with X,Y not being: Bard, Buchholz, Westemoreland, Kalish, Reddick and Anderson. Would a deal of Kelly+X+Y of that combination get him? I doubt it, trades for Topplayers are still very unbalanced in my eyes. For example Halladay, when i hear what they want and what they got offered last year and declined, I have to laugh, I think it would be similar with Miggy.

His off-field issues became on-field issues while his team was contending for a playoff spot. That’s a huge problem – much bigger than anything Manny pulled to my memory, with the possible exception of committing a battery on the traveling sec’y. Consider also that those problems manifested themselves in Detroit – which is not Boston in terms of media spotlight.

Plus, Detroit is one of the so-called Rust Belt teams whose attendance figures and revenue are supposed to be suffering from the economic downturn. There are legitimate questions as to their ability to afford Cabrera, who is not cheap – particularly with Verlander approaching free agency.

Finally, Cabrera seems like he might age into the DH position by the final two years of his contract. Meaning we’d be paying a DH $ 22MM a year for two years, which is tough to swallow. This also undercuts the competition for Cabrera, since the Yankees are going to need their DH slot at that point, since they have a lot of bats who are not great in the field.

Anderson, Reddick, Bowden and maybe something else of note…

but I probably would for Miggy. I’ve heard somewhere that Bard is “untouchable,” so I’d be surprised if we traded both he and Buch.

Can I interest you in Tug Hulett? He’s got a dyno-mite name.

something like 89 vs 76- I recall Figgins barely made the Type A cut.

I’m dreaming of the Mariners #18 pick.

Word at the moment, I believe, is that Jack Z isn’t really seriously interested in Bay but rumors are rumors and I can dream

Johnny Damon sold his soul. The only way I want Damon back in Boston is under a bus.