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So:
-- if you really believe in Stewart
-- if you really believe you can be smart in finding the right free agent pitcher (Ted Lilly and not Jeff Weaver)
-- if you really believe Atkins would be at least average defensively at 1B
-- and if you really believe someone will assume half of Todd's contract, at least in the first couple years. After that, you'll probably have to pay at least 2/3 of his contract, so you're mortgaging the future a bit (not much though) to make a run for it now ...
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I'll add one more:
... if you really believe that Atkins' 2007 BP numbers are the best estimate of his future defensive performance at 3B. Which you shouldn't. Using ZRs, I have him projected at -6 runs per year right now. Chop off another run due to age, and he's at -7 for next year... still ugly, sure, but nowhere near as bad as he looks by the numbers you're using. That right there cuts one win off the potential benefit of a Helton deal.
So we're at a gain of 1-2 wins, assuming that a) Stewart is ready and b) we find the next Ted Lilly. Which means that in all probability, it doesn't really matter whether or not we trade Helton. That may be anticlimactic and boring, but it's the truth.