Podsednik has certainly been impressive. But the man truly making Wily expendable is of course Spilly.
Current 25-man and DL 'roster fat,' IMO (players who are some combination of redundant, grossly overpaid, and/or below replacement level):
1. Torrealba
2. Tavares
3. Wells
4. Vizcaino
5. Redman
6. Grilli
7. Baker
8. Castro
Needless to say, way too long of a list.
--Herrera I don't think will be here long enough to count.
--Barmes and Q may be redundant, but neither really needs to go anywhere. Both are acceptable garden-variety extra infielders who are glove-heavy in their value. They're completely overmatched as starters, of course, but their role isn't their fault.
Of the above, I could see Torrealba, Grilli, and Taveras as tradeable commodities. No one will take Viz off our hands this early in the contract. The best you'd get in return for Redman or Wells or Baker is last years' 32nd round draft pick.
I could see us being able to convince someone that Taveras actually has moderate value. We can sweeten any deal with Koshansky, Chris Nelson, EY Jr, Hynick, Morillo, Strop, and Roe from the high Minors.
I'd prefer hanging on to: Smith, Stewart, Reynolds, Weathers, and Fowler from our high-Minors group. Certainly none of them are untouchable; I just don't think we'd get enough value for what they could be worth to us.
Taveras for Ronny Cedeno would be a great deal. Taveras, Torrealba, and Fuentes for Cedeno, Pie, and Rich Hill would be an absolute dream. And considering the current regard for Hill and Pie in Chi-town, I could actually see some version of that happening.
|