Happy Hot Stove everyone!Clearly, my only wish is for Joe Mauer to realize he's madly in love with me and propose, so I don't need to resort to getting on one knee with a Rolex. As far as the Winter Meetings go, we're unbiased. We love the rumors, the trades, the drama, etc.
Anyways... We've compiled a Wish List for this season's Winter Meetings consisting of our Twitter followers, Facebook friends, and a few baseball bloggers' hopes and dreams for their respective MLB teams. See if you can spot a pattern... Enjoy!
First, some tweets from our baseball-loving pals on Twitter...
@DannyPace: "My wishlist is for the Braves to unload Kawakami. I'd also like to get rid of Mclouth but don't think it'll happen."
@JessicaLovesCrew: "PITCHING! Ol' Dougie is already on it."
(Editor's note: Jessica loves baseball, beer and having fun. A girl after our own hearts.)
@TwinkieTown: "An iPad!!!! I hear there's an app that lets Jason Kubel hit left-handed pitching."
@BaseballismyBF: "Cliff Lee, naturally. Everything beyond that would just be icing."
@funkyball77: "Cliff Lee going anywhere but New York."
Here are what some of our Facebook friends are wishing for...
Sharon Richards: Cliff Lee in Texas.
Nikki Otto: Cliff Lee in Boston! But since that probably won't happen, I'd rather see him in Texas.
Pat Gordon: Adrian Gonzalez was on my list, but Santa Epstein took care of that. Next, I'd like to see Carl Crawford on the Sox.
Wes Wilson: Cliff Lee, Zack Greinke and Carl Crawford in Texas.
Chris Koenig: Cliff Lee to Texas... that'd be pretty nice.
Dan Norman: Greinke, Pena and Crawford to the north side of Chicago.
Finally, here's what other baseball bloggers we know and love to work with want to see happen with their teams...
Rum Bunter wants a starting pitcher that isn't a reject or a project.
Ed Carroll from Deep Left Field thinks it's looking like a lean Christmas in Cleveland, so his wish list will remain rather modest. He'd like for the Indians to sign Shin-Soo Choo to an extension, and avoid the arbitration process (and preferably lock up one of his free agent years, but let's not get too greedy here).
He also wouldn't mind seeing the Tribe take a flier or two on some scrap-heap arms both in the rotation (John Maine is an interesting name that's out there) or in the bullpen (he'd give spring invites to Manny Delcarmen or Zach Miner), although those arms may not be signed till after the meetings. Please, no stop-gap third basemen signings.
Nick Nelson from Nick's Twins Blog has two wishes. First, he's hoping for a reliever or two that can keep Ron Gardenhire from being forced to lean on Pat Neshek or Alex Burnett in meaningful innings. Second, he hopes for some definitive sign that the team plans on keeping J.J. Hardy, unless they're absolutely blown away by a trade offer. However, Twins fans haven't been receiving many reports to that effect.
Bryan Douglass from Gunaxin says that Carl Crawford needs to be in Boston. He needs something to bring him back to baseball passion, and Crawford would be a quick remedy since Bryan's love for Ellsbury has been burned to the ground and pissed on.
He was pleasantly surprised to see his favorite NL team, the Padres, getting Jason Bartlett back. Not sure if it really makes much difference...
but beggars can't be choosers, huh? He also wants to see where Brandon Webb, Jeff Francis, and Zack Greinke land.
Matthew Orso from Lasorda's Lair would like the Dodgers to add some left field help. He says if they can't sign Carl Crawford, they should sign Johnny Damon and platoon him with a young outfield prospect. Also, if they are going to sign another starting pitcher, just go and trade for Zack Greinke. They've got the prospects to trade for him. DO NOT SIGN VICENTE!!!! Go for someone better!
The guys from Tomahawk Take said that first and foremost, they hope someone notices the "Return To Sender" label they have put on Kawakami! They'll even pay part of the "freight" for someone to take him off their hands. Japan? America? Doesn’t matter to them!
Next, they’d really like a ML caliber centerfielder. Heck, they aren’t all that picky at this point; league average would double the team's current production.
If these two things happen, the only other thing they'd ask for is a Coke Zero, as they're a bit thirsty!
Anthony from Paneech wishes for the Pirates front office and ownership to get traded away or fired. He says after all of the talent they have let go, they do not even deserve coal in their stockings.
Wally Fish from Call to the Pen is a Royals fan who wishes for his team to hang on to Zack Greinke. Don't trade him. Don't shop him. Instead build around him and give him another extension. Overpay if you must, Dayton!! Just make sure Zack stays at the front of the Kansas City rotation.
He says it's time to plant the flag in the ground and declare that the Royals are once again a major league baseball team capable of keeping their elite talent. Signing Carl Crawford to a long term deal would be a nice touch too! As a baseball fan in general, all he wants is for Cliff Lee to wind up somewhere other than New York.
Mathieu Germain from Jays Journal has a wish list for the Blue Jays which includes the following:
- Russell Martin who could split time at catcher with JP Arencibia and alternate with him as DH when not catching, potentially moving to 3B if needed in the future
- Matt Guerrier to replace Scott Downs
- Jesse Crain to replace Brian Tallet
- A signing of Bobby Jenks or Kerry Wood to compete for the closing job.
Justin Klugh from That Ball's Outa Here thinks his Philles are just kind of going to sit there this year. Ruben Amaro will more than likely keep his mouth shut, but that's not going to be much different than usual, as even when he opens it, not a lot of information falls out.
What he's saying is, if they're anything, they're sellers, and if they do buy anything, it'll be some cheap trinkets to fill out the sagging bullpen, like buying a handful of superballs from the vending machine on the way out of the supermarket. Not to contradict everything he just said, but one of the payoffs of Amaro's perpetual smug silence is that when he does pull something off, it comes out of nowhere, so his hope of a major transaction lies in hidden agendas. But for the most part, he says they're off the radar, especially now that Jayson Werth is Scrooge McDuck-ing into a pile of the Nationals' money.
Hopefully these guys are all on Bud Selig's Nice List! What (or who) is on your Winter Meetings Wish List?
4 comments:
How about a healthy Justin Morneau? And that app thing that allows Jason Kubel to hit left handed pitching.
"Clearly, my only wish is for Joe Mauer to realize he's madly in love with me and propose, so I don't need to resort to getting on one knee with a Rolex."
Ha! You would, Sooze. :-)
If Cliff Lee was smart, he'd clone the shit out of himself.
Awesome list!
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