Buy or sell? Lending advice for teams on the fence

2009-07-23T13:21:45-04:00

2009-07-21T11:55:42-04:00

2009-07-21T22:31:51-04:00

Zman Michigan

Midland 10476

25 I love the Mets fans. Last time I checked, you were all telling us that Willie Randolph was the problem. LOL...somebody please tell Willie to "stop messing with the Mets".....LMFAO 6181472

2009-07-21T21:45:05-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/365/56/thumb/logo.gif 108 GA

SkinsWin

Cumming 36676

24 The Mariners aren't stupid enough to mess with MacPhail again - you can have Mora, Sherrill and Huff but I would keep Luke Scott (he is a solid piece to add to Roberts, Markakis, Jones, and Wieters - we will just keep stockpiling pitching and, when the studs in the minors finally make it up, look out for the Orioles. 6180993

2009-07-21T17:39:23-04:00

MadCasey

De Forest 754062

20 I am not sure I have much to say except, Is everybody out there a Mets fan? I love NYC and I am sure that in many ways NY sports fans are fine people, but PLEASE the rest of us are sick to death of your aparent belief that every team in NY should compete for a title every year in every sport! OK. Now that that's out of the way, I am a Brewer fan. Too many guys are having bad years (Hart, Hardy, whoever plays 3rd, Cameron, we have no catcher) it is silly to think that one study pitcher is going to cause a repeat of last year. Lopez was a great pick-up. We need to focus on small changes; say another middle reliever and DON'T DESTROY THE FUTURE. 6179062

2009-07-21T19:26:38-04:00

kkuczma14

East Stroudsburg 671500

I am not sure I have much to say except, Is everybody out there a Mets fan?I love NYC and I am sure that in many ways NY sports fans are fine people, but PLEASEthe rest of us are sick to death of your aparent belief that every team in NY should competefor a title every year in every sport!

23 You're right, we should just not want to win anything in NY, ever. The only sport I follow religiously is baseball, but I will defend my right to want to win every year. The Mets haven't been to the WS since 2000, haven't won the championship since 86, and you have a problem with wanting to compete? You, my friend, are a complete idiot. p.s. we're sick of idiots from Milwaukee making stupid comments on message boards! 6179842

2009-07-21T18:59:59-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/366/94/thumb/images.jpg 141 CA

Celtics Beat

Studio City 36814

22 I agree with fuzzy 6179622

2009-07-21T18:29:31-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/531/24/thumb/FZ2.jpg 286 TX

Fuzzy

Houston 53364

21 Woefully incomplete article. 6179405

2009-07-21T17:39:23-04:00

MadCasey

De Forest 754062

2009-07-21T17:26:49-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/805/834/thumb/pinkskirt8gl2vx0.jpg 154 CO

Jagz

Colorado Springs 806494

19 Braves need to get another bat. Then it's game on. 6178867

2009-07-21T16:57:57-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/881/81/thumb/shakes_cobbe.jpg 6350 MD

Rickapolis

Annapolis 88481

18 Yes, the Orioles should sell. But not their players. Their owner. They will never contend on the field while Peter Angelos is the owner. He's a disaster. 6178505

2009-07-21T16:44:38-04:00

ILB

Emerson 815799

16 The mets were offered so the rumor goes,,Roy Halladay, for Bobby Parnell, Jonathon Niese,fernando Marinez and another player whom i cant remember...MAKE THE DEAL!!! Are they nuts turning that down????? 6178357

2009-07-21T15:48:33-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/936/47/thumb/ifb_logo.jpg 4 NY

eddiedanger11

Rochester 93947

15 Ted Keith is an idiot. The Mets would love to sell of some spare parts. But what could they get in return? If they can give Luis Castillo away they should. 6177343

<div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/39121/george-sherrill-721.jpg" alt="George-sherrill-721" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align: left;">Orioles closer George Sherrill has converted 20 of 23 save opportunities and owns a 2.35 ERA. Mark Goldman/Icon SMI </div> </div> Andy MacPhail, the Orioles president of baseball operations, is not kidding himself about where his team is in the trade market, even if he himself is not sure yet where his team is in the standings. "Clearly, we're in a seller's position," he said by phone Monday from his office in Baltimore. "We're nine games under .500, 14 games out or whatever it is, I'm not really sure. " MacPhail was right about the team's record and place in the standings, and its place as the trade deadline approaches. But even though he is looking to deal, he cautions, "We're not going to be a farm system for everybody else, though." Few teams figure to have as many intriguing parts as the Orioles do. One O's person said it should be "an interesting few days" for the franchise as they wait to see which (and how many) players will be sent off. Closer George Sherrill seems like the most likely to go. Other possible departures include first baseman Aubrey Huff, outfielder Luke Scott and perhaps pitcher Danys Baez -- who has asked MacPhail to inform him (rather than his agent) if he's about to be traded -- and infielder Melvin Mora as well. Already, the team roster posted on the visitor's clubhouse door at Yankee Stadium had one adjustment to it. The typed name of Oscar Salazar had been crossed out and the name Cla Meredith had been written by hand above it (the O's added the sidearming reliever from the Padres in a minor deal on Sunday). That almost certainly won't be the last adjustment to the team's roster before these next two weeks are done. As for the players whose names have popped up, Sherrill said, "A few guys [on the team] have joked with me, being like, 'What are you still doing here,' " he says. "I definitely don't want to leave, but there are positives and negatives to it. The negatives are I wouldn't be on this club anymore. The positives are I would be going to a contender. It wouldn't be as a closer, so that would be a job change, but it wouldn't be anything that would affect me." Huff has grown so tired of the constant questions about him being traded that he's threatening to post a sign over his locker with his pat answer of "I don't know" and just point to it and say, "Read this" whenever he's asked about it. "I've been in trade rumors six of the nine years I've been playing," he says. "I don't want to hear about it, I just want to play baseball. [The rumors] are annoying. I don't care. I can't wait until this is over and done with." Huff will have to hang on a little longer -- MacPhail said teams have mostly "kicked the tires" about his players and that "lots of teams aren't prepared to commit" to a deal since so few know for certain if they should be buying or selling yet. Entering play on Tuesday, nine of the 14 American League teams were within 4 1/2 games of a  playoff berth and 12 of the 16 National League teams were no more than 6 1/2 games out. Here's a look at what some teams on the fence should do: Toronto: SELL 46-47, 9 1/2 games back in East, 9 1/2 games back in the wild card. General manager J.P. Ricciardi said he wanted to hear the best offers before deciding whether or not to deal ace Roy Halladay, but this is certainly the best time to do it. Teams may be a little more desperate now than they would in the offseason, since they are chasing a playoff berth, and would be more interested in having a pitcher like Halladay for two runs at the playoffs rather than just one. As a point of reference, the Twins waited until the winter to trade Johan Santana and didn't get nearly the haul they might have if they had traded him during the 2007 season, a year in which they missed the playoffs anyway. And if they can dump the contracts of Vernon Wells and/or Alex Rios in the process, all the better. Mets: SELL 44-48, 9 games back in East, 6 1/2 games back in wild card. The Mets held on as long as they could without Jose Reyes and Carlos Delgado, but once Carlos Beltran joined them on the disabled list, their season was lost. Since all three will not be coming back anytime soon, it's highly doubtful the Mets will be able to make a legitimate run at the postseason. There may not be much to sell on this team -- the core is still very impressive -- but dealing prospects or taking on salary with a team going nowhere has burned the Mets before, like in 2005 when they traded stud prospect Scott Kazmir to the Rays for the middling Victor Zambrano. Mariners: HOLD 49-43, 4 games back in the West, 6 back in wild card. When MacPhail mentioned several teams that are still uncertain of what they'll do at the deadline, he might well have meant the team with whom he made a big deal before the 2008 season when he landed top-prospect-turned-All-Star Adam Jones in exchange for lefty Erik Bedard. Now Bedard, and fellow lefty Jarrod Washburn, are pitching well for the Mariners, but they have a large roadblock in front of them in the AL West in the form of not one but two quality teams in the Angels and Rangers. The M's would be wise to wait as long as possible to see if they can make a real run before deciding whether to deal. If they're still within four games of first at the deadline, they should stick it out and try to make it to October. Brewers: BUY 47-46, 3 games out in the NL Central, 4 games out in the wild card. GM Doug Melvin made the deal of the year last year in getting CC Sabathia, and has already added Felipe Lopez to be his new second baseman. He isn't likely to stop there. Milwaukee is only a game over .500, but the underwhelming NL Central is there for the taking with four teams within three games of first. The Brewers have a terrific core of players that went to the postseason last year and may need just one more big push, like they got with CC a year ago, to get them back there this season. 70882 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/375/513/thumb/keith_ted.jpg 0 NY

Ted Keith

New York 375953