The O's Make a Trade.

It's been announced that the O's have acquired former Devil Ray/Astro/Red Sox/Dodger/ Cardinal infielder Julio Lugo for the always popular player to be named later. Chances are that player will be named Cash. To make room for Lugo, Michael Aubrey was designated for assignment.

I wish this was an April Fools joke; not because I think Lugo is washed up (he hit .280 with St Louis and Boston last season), but because this means Brian Roberts isn't as healthy as we're being told.

Roberts has struggled with a herniated disk in his lower back all spring and just returned to the everyday lineup. For the O's to pull in an experienced middle infielder this late in Spring Training means that they are worried that Roberts may miss significant time.

If they weren't concerned then they wouldn't have made the deal and stuck it out with Robert Andino and Ty Wigginton as their utility infielders. I don't see them carrying three spare infielders all season long so I'm guessing the light hitting Andino, who is out of minor league options, is the odd man out.

Lugo wanted out of St Louis when it was apparent he wasn't going to be a starter for the Cardinals. Could Lugo eventually beat out Cesar Izturis for the starting shortstop position? It's possible, but unlikely. The O's like Izturis' defense and feel that they have enough power in the lineup to make up for his below average offensive output.

Roberts has played in the last three games for the O's and is slowly playing his way into game shape. He states that he feels fine, but back problems, like hamstrings and sprained ankles, have a tendency to linger throughout the season. It could also affect the way Roberts plays the game. Will he be wanting to dive after ground balls or slide headfirst into second if it might cause the injury to flare up?

The longest tenured Oriole is a key part of the O's lineup. He is a steady leadoff hitter that sets the tempo for the power guys behind him. Buster Olney from ESPN points out that the O's open the season with 28 of 35 games against teams that had a winning record last season. Sixteen of their games in April are against American League East teams. If they aren't firing at all cylinders to start the season they could find themselves 10 games back by the time May 1st comes around.

Despite all of that doom and gloom there is some good news: The O's won't be spending a lot of money on Lugo. The Red Sox are paying all but $400,000 of Lugo's $8.6 million salary.

So they got that going for them.

Mailbag Monday!

So it’s that time of year, the Super Bowl confetti has been swept up, Drew Brees is going to DisneyLand and the northeast is digging itself out from underneath another snowstorm. College basketball is slumming through its regular season, weeks away from the madness of the tournament. Baseball, and the hope that comes with spring training, is close, but not close enough. So what are sports fans supposed to do?

Well, for me I can write a column about the cards I managed to acquire over the weekend. In addition to breaking my collecting vows of 2010 and purchasing a box of 2009 Topps series II along with some random 2010 packs, I did get some stuff in the mail over the last week. So here’s another edition of Mailbox Mondays


The Ebay Winnings:




Not one, but two Carl Crawford bat cards. A 2008 Allen & Ginter Bat Relic along with a 2009 Topps 206 Bat Relic both arrived this week. I wonder if they were from the same bat? Between the two I think I like the 206 is a little better, something about the blue border makes it stand out.


The Lightning Game:






Saturday night was free Upper Deck card night at the Forum. So I picked up the six card pack and spent $4.00 on a pack of OPC so that I could get the “exclusive” seventh card. The cards are basically the same as their Upper Deck base counterparts with a different numbering system. “TB-1, TB-2, etc) replaced the normal numbering.

When Ben Lovejoy is the highlight of the pack you know there was nothing special in the OPC pack.


Trade with The Real DFG




In exchange for some extra OPC cards I had laying around the Dog Face Gremlin put together a care pack of Lightning cards and some needs from my want list. He did well. A Vincent rookie card that I didn’t have and a Sean Burke Game Jersey card. This is only my second Lightning relic card and while Burke might not have had the most illustrious career with the Bolts it’s always cool to get a jersey card.

Thanks for the trade!

The One Where the Wasteland Trades Everybody - Part I

Since the “Trade Vinny” rumors are running rampant as of late I figured I’d take it to the next level (one more than 10. eleven.) Let’s trade everybody on the roster! Time to blow this puppy up! Scorched earth, baby! Why use a scalpel to trim payroll when you can use a chainsaw?

So after meticulous research (more than 30 minutes!) I’ve come up with trading partners for every current member of the Lightning roster. I took the salary cap into consideration and tried to make sure that the Bolts were left with an actual roster. In other words I didn’t trade everyone for draft picks.

This isn’t serious, so please refrain from the outraged posts. Think of this as of an emotional cleansing. If I trade everybody in my mind, I can’t be surprised if they are traded in real life.

Part I will be the defense and goaltending.
Part IIwill be the forwards.




Defensemen:

Kurtis Foster – To: Buffalo For: a third round pick and Matt Ellis. Buffalo picks up a big blast from the point for their power play (and a sometimes winger). Tampa gets a draft pick and someone who’s a free agent at the end of the season.

David Hale – To New Jersey. For a 3rd round pick. Hale goes back to the team that drafted him and the Bolts stock another pick.

Victor Hedman – To Vancouver for Mason Raymond and a 2nd round pick. The Canucks lock up a fellow Swede to go with the Sedin twins and Tampa picks up a young (cheap) forward.

Mike Lundin – To Nashville. For Cal O’Reilly and a 4th round pick (package with Mike Smith). Nashville gets a young defenseman and the Bolts shed some more payroll.

Andrej Meszaros – To TJ’s Sports Bar of the New Hampshire Center Ice Adult Hockey League. For: a case of Guinness and platter of wings.

Mattias Ohlund – To Colorado. For Chris Stewart and an unknown prospect. This was a tough one. Finding a team with room for his contract wasn’t easy. Colorado has two veteran unrestricted free agents after the end of the season – Adam Foote and Ruslan Salei. Ohlund would fit in contract wise and provide a veteran presence on the blueline.

Matt Smaby – To Montreal. For a conditional draft pick. He gives the Habs some grittiness on their blue line and they don’t have to surrender too much.

Matt Walker – Part of blockbuster deal that will be announced with the forwards. See that’s foreshadowing- it makes you want to come back for part two!

Goalies

Antero Nittymaki – To: Philadelphia. For: Brian Boucher. Philly gets a goaltender for their playoff run and shed some cap space for next season. Tampa gets a middle of the road goalie to back up Torkarski next season.

Mike Smith – To: Nashville. For: Cal O’Reilly and a 4th Round pick (package deal with Mike Lundin). The Preds now have a goalie for next year in case Dan Ellis bolts in free agency. The Lightning stock up another pick and perhaps a steal in O’Reilly since Nashville is a little center-heavy at this time.

No Problems With This Trade

My trading has slowed down a bit over the past weeks. The holidays have intervened as has the job. After staring at a computer for eight hours the last thing I want to do is stare at my card collection and figure out what I have that other people want.

That being said, I've had one trade offer that I've been putting off for some time, mostly because I was too lazy to check out that person's list of cards needed to see what I had. Luckily for them they posted a card that I really kind of wanted so I knew I had to get off my ass and put an offer together.

The cards I had sitting unloved in a pile on a dresser in the kitchen (remodling a home office had caused some major rearranging) were 30-some Yankee Stadium Legacy cards that I've picked up from various packs and boxes over the last couple of years.

I knew Marie over at A Cardboard Problem was attempting the audicious task of putting the entire set together. I went through her list of needs and was able to put together about 20 cards that it looked like she needed. I wrapped them up and shipped them out and waited for one card in return.

A couple of days ago my mail slot had a nice, little, yellow-padded envelops sitting among the bills and Christmas cards. Inside was this little gem -




My first Adam Jones Relic card. The Gold Glover had a pretty nice second season with the O's and looks to be a cornerstone for the rebuilding team.

It's nice when a trade accomplishes two goals:

1. Acquire a card I want or need
2. Get rid of cards I have no use for, but others do

So a big Thank You to Marie!

And the Wheels Begin To Turn

It was announced today that the Rays made their second off season move today as they acquired Kelly Shoppach from the Indians for a player to be named later. Is this the first move to severing ties with incumbent Dioner Navarro?

The rotund backstop is elegible for arbitration, but the thinking around the blogs is that the Rays will now non-tender him and grant him his free agency. Last season was a major step back for the former Yankee super prospect as his average dipped 77 points from a career best .295 in 2008 to a career worst .218.

Preceding the season long slump was an arbitration hearing last season that the Rays won. Despite the claims that process was fair, it seemed that Navarro was bothered that the Rays didn't think his season was worth a $2.5 million pay day (the Rays won at $2.1 million).

So how does this compare to the Aki! deal earlier this winter? Well, for one I'm not outraged by it. I was never a fan of Navarro. He had a tendancy to have moments of sheer laziness on the field. I've never seen a major league catcher have as many passed balls on fastballs as Navi did last season.

While he does have a strong arm, Shoppach isn't that much of a drop off. Navarro threw out about 27% of would be base theives last season (22 out of 83) while Shoppach nailed 23% (15 out of 64). Their fielding percentages were almost identical (.994 for Navi to .992 for the new guy).

This isn't a case of the Rays dumping a veteran for a young prospect either. Navarro is actually a few years older than Shoppach. Nor is it a salary dump. There's a good chance that the right-handed hitting Shoppach will earn more this year than Navi.

Rather this is the nDRO realizing it's time to cut the strings with a player who rarely lived up to his potential.

The news of this blog's passing have been only slightly exagerated

Wow. I forgot how hard it was to work and blog at the same time. I was spoiled by my recent forced sabbatical. Regardless, I'm back now. What pulled me back in? Why a little, yellow padded envelope in the mailbox of course.

Compliments of Jeremy from No One's Going to Read This blog.

First up. A couple of Rays from the Goodwin Champions Set. These are actually the first Goodwin cards I've owned this year. For some reason I didn't chase this set. Now that I have disposable income again will I buy a box or two? Don't know (especially since UD Hockey is next on the table).



Shields struggled a bit in 2009 and wasn't helped by a lack of run support. However, if he is to be the leaded of the staff he needs to notch more than 11 wins next season.

Longoria motored along in his sophomore year. It looks like he's going to be the perennial all star the scouts pegged him to be since he was drafted.


Next up some O's.





The Markakis card is bad ass. Glad I own it now. Adam Jones looks like he just smoked a 2 iron down the middle of the fairway and Roberts just slapped a double in the gap.

These guys are three of the main components for the future success of the Baltimore franchise. Since it's November we can dream that the glory days are right around the corner.

Reports out of Baltimore are that the O's are looking to spend some money on free agents this season. That's...ummm...great? It figures they have money to burn in one of the weaker free agent years in recent memory. Might they be better off signing some players to one year deals and waiting for the madness that will be the Doc Halladay/ Cliff Lee extravaganza next off-season?

Who knows?

Where in West Palm can a man watch some Hockey!

Stuck in a hotel with no decent sports bars within a cheap cab ride and access to only ESPN. I had to find out about the Aki trade via the ticker, not cool.

The trade was totally not cool either. After a string of successes, Friedman and Co. are struggling to keep the Rays relevant. I'll express my full thoughts a little later, in the meantime check out the Troll's reaction. Hint - it's not good.

Kazmir Traded - Has the Towel Been Thrown In?

According to MLB Trade Rumors Scott Kazmir has been traded to the Angels for two prospects (lefty Alexander Torres and 3rd baseman Matthew Sweeney).

The timing makes this deal more interesting than anything else. The Rays are still in the race and Kazmir has been pitching better since coming off the DL. It will also be interesting to see who takes his spot in the rotation.

At first glance this deal is financial more than anything else. The hard throwing lefthander is owed $20 million over the next two years and the early reports have the Angels picking up his entire salary.

The nDRO has made it known that if attendance wasn't where they needed it to be their could be repercussions. With the talent the Rays have at the pitching position Kazmir was a likely candidate. I just thought it would happen in the off-season.

The good news - this probably keeps Carl Crawford in a Tampa Bay uniform for another year. I haven't questioned too many moves that Friedman and Co. have made, but the timing of this raises eyebrows.

Lightning Trade Artyukhin and an announcement.

I'm done with reading comments on certain sports pages that cover my favorite team. Too much hatred out there. At first it seemed like the comments pages provided information and helpful links, now they're just filled with hate filled invectives at players, coaches or other posters.

In the best interests of my mental health and blood pressure I'm done reading them. I think the internet would be a slightly better place if people weren't allowed to post a comment on a story for 24 hours. Passion is one thing, but the negativity that is overtaking reason is getting out of hand.

Oh, and the Lightning traded the Russian Freight Trane Evgeny Artyukhin to Anaheim for Drew Miller and a 3rd round pick. It seems Miller will be another name in the hat for a spot on the third or fourth line.

The good news is that it frees up even more cap space that can be used to conclude the long courtship of Alex Tanguay.

Mail Call!

Mail day. Is there anything better than having those little yellow envelopes in the mail? Probably, but it’s still pretty cool. The other day I wandered down to the mailbox and saw that Mr. Mailman had dropped not one, but TWO envelops in the ol’ mail slot. Good times indeed.

Envelope #1 -

Courtesy of JD’s Daddy from JD's Wild Cardz




I sent him some Heritage 2009 extras that I had in exchange for a 2009 Icons Scott Kazmir relic card. It’s shiny and Scott looks like he’s pitching from the stretch. Something that he’s done quite a bit over the past two seasons.

Mike also threw in a few Evan Longoria cards. The 09 Topps base is probably my favorite since it features a Ray and the good ol’ Topps All Star Rookie trophy. One of these days I’m going to start collecting all of the cards that feature the iconic trophy on it.

Envelope #2 -

Courtesy of Chris from Nacho’s Grande aka FanOfReds




Chris helped me clear out some 2009 Allen and Ginter extras and minis that were taking up space on my desk. In return he was going to hook me up with a Carl Crawford Heritage jersey card and “some assorted rays/orioles cards”. Nice, that’s right up my dual collecting alley.

Above you see the highlights out of the 28 cards he sent me. I love the Dick Perez sketch cards. The 1993 Topps Gregg Olsen reminds of what it was like back when the O’s had a closer. The 1988 first round pick racked up 160 saves in six years with the O’s including 27 in the magical 1989 “Why Not” season where a rusty nail was the only thing that kept the O’s out of the postseason.

Chris also knocked off two cards from my 2009 Topps wanted list and one more of my 2008 Allen & Ginter (less than 10 to go!).

Thanks a lot guys!

Trade Deadline Rant to begin in 3...2....1...

Alright, perhaps the solution to my problem is to stop listening to talk radio. I’m sure that will keep my blood pressure lower. Forgive me this rant for I am normally a pretty laid back guy. Some might even say a little too laid back, but when I listen to some of the radio hosts and their callers it get’s under my skin.

Yesterday I actually yelled at my radio - loudly. It’s not something I’m proud of and I’m glad I was in the call by myself. Perhaps I should hook my Sirius back up for some nice commercial free music.

So what’s prompting these out of character explosions of emotion? Well Rays fans of course. It’s the trading deadline. The Rays are currently on the outside looking in as far as the playoff races go. That means “Rays Fan” (I.e. the ones who thought they traded Aubrey Huff for Aki!) get to bitch and moan about the team.

All day I’ve heard, from both the radio hosts and the callers, that the Rays have to make a move or the season is done. The problem is - the Rays already made their deadline deal. His name is Pat Burrell. They just did it January instead of July.

Once they inked the deal Stu Sternberg and the rest of nDRO made it clear that they were maxed out in the payroll department. According to a St Pete Times article from April the Rays have raised their payroll over 160% in the last two seasons.

If you had told me in 2007 that the Rays would bump their payroll to $62 million by 2009 I would have laughed at you and then asked what city they had moved to. Let’s get it through everyone’s head that they are maxed out.

I’ve written about it before, if the Rays shell out big money on free agents they can’t afford to make mistakes. I hesitate to call the Burrell signing a failure as of right now. I will say it’s not working out, but you can’t call it a failure until it’s over. Who’s to say Burrell doesn’t bang out 15-20 home runs over the next two months and leads the Rays to an amazing comeback?

What I’m trying to say is that yelling about something that you knew was going to happen is pointless. If I tell you for 8 months that I’m not getting you a pony for Christmas and I don’t get you a pony, why would yell at me?

All I’ve heard for the last 5 or 6 years is “we want the Rays to be competitive”. Well guess what, they are competitive! They are eight games over .500 and still in the hunt for the wild card. Now all I hear is that they’re not willing to spend enough to go the extra step. I suppose that’s easy to say when you’re not the one writing the check, but let’s be realistic. Small market teams like the Rays are always more likely to be sellers than buyers for the big names on the market.

Could they have offered Cleveland more than Boston did for Victor Martinez? Without a doubt. Guess what happens if they do. Carl Crawford gets traded or his option isn’t picked up in the off-season. So then you’re looking at losing whatever prospects they traded and Crawford for Martinez and his $7 Million option for next season.

Also, this organization is built on sustained competitiveness. They didn’t sell out the franchise last year when they were leading the division and they didn’t do it this year when they’re 4.5 games out of the wild card.

The Rays spent 10 years stockpiling their young talent, and it seems this team is more than willing to actually have these guys play for them. That’s in contrast to teams like the Red Sox or Mets who only seem to develop talent in order to trade it for established players.

There are weaknesses on this team (cough, cough Navarro), but not worth making a trade that could have sever repercussions somewhere down the line. The boys in the front office have proven that they know what they’re doing so stop whining at the moves they do or do not make. Seriously, stop it! Go out and cheer for your team instead.

So everyone in the TBA just relax. Sometimes the best deal is the one you don’t make.

Let's Choose Door Number One in Let's Make a Deal!!!!!

George Sherrill is heading back to the west coast.

Andy McPhail traded Sherrill and his extremely flat bill to the Dodgers for third base prospect Josh Bell and right handed pitcher Steve Johnson.

Bell is a switch hitting power prospect whse swing can get a little long leading to strikeouts. It looks like he could be the replacement for Melvin Mora as rumours are circulating that the boys in the warehouse aren't going to pick up the father of eight.

Johnson is the son of former Oriole pitcher Davey Johnson (the pitcher not the second basemman). From what I can find out in my exhaustive (all of five minutes!) he can touch the low 90's and relies on a sinking fastball to get outs.

Sherrill was a bit of a cult favorite in Baltimore during his realitivly brief stay as the O's closer. However, it never seemed he was part of the future as his name was on the trading block almost constantly since his arrival from Seattle.

How well this trade turns out for the O's is yet to be determined. If Bell makes the roster next year and produces this could be a steal. For those quick to call it a bust remember that everyone thought Luke Scott was just a throw in for Tejada, that seems to have worked out well.

A little bit less than 24 hours to go, we'll see if anyone else follows Sherrill.

My leading candidates would be:

Huff
Baez
Hendrickson
Cla Meredith
Izturis

None of those names would garner much in return, but might provide some young pitching depth.

Time Keeps on Ticking, Ticking....

With about 18 hours to go until the craziness that is unrestricted free agency in the NHL starts and 6 hours to go until Vincent gets a nice boost in his paycheck it looks more and more like he's staying here. Man what a run-on sentence that was. Montreal just pulled off a deal for a high priced center. Luckily for Lightning fans it wasn't Mr. Lecavalier.

Instead the Canadians picked up $7.35 million a year worth of Scott Gomez for Chris Higgans and some defensive prospects (Ryan MacDonagh and Pavel Valentenko) along with Wasteland favorite Doug Janik. The Rangers pick up some younger players and a ton of cap space. Does this make them players for Lecavalier now? I don't think so, but it does make Marty St Louis' $5.25 cap hit more reasonable.

Hopefully this will settle the rumors down a bit, but it's doubtful. Montreal picked up a high price center, but he's not necessarily a scoring center. Gomez's career high in the NHL is 33 and that was 4 seasons ago. The Habs now have 3 solid centerman under contract, but no real scorers. Unless of course they're counting on a breakout year for Glen Metropolit.

They still have plenty of cap room available to make a run at another high price offensive player. The chances of it being Vincent are diminished more by the fact that they traded what few assets the Lightning would want (Higgans and MacDonagh) than by his price tag. They also have the cash to pay for Vincent, which is something that is still in question with Tampa Bay.

Who else could Montreal target? Perhaps they make a run at Dany Heatley or give San Jose a call about Joe Thornton's availability. Phil Kessel almost was traded to Toronto so it wouldn't be unthinkable that Bob Gainey has been on the phone with his counterpart in Boston.

Fortunately all of that is Montreal's problem. As fascinating as it is to watch from a distance its relevance to Tampa Bay is fading. As for the hometown Lightning no news is good news so far. There isn't the trading of assets for the rights of potential free agents and they've made qualifying offers to the majority of their free agents. Commentors on the St Pete Times Blog can put their knives down now - Matt Smaby is staying in the blue and black.

The next day will be fun for some teams, hopefully for the Lightning it's rather ho-hum.

Bring me your prospects, your draft picks, you expiring overpriced contracts! It's trade time in the NHL!!!!!

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! No not Christmas - NHL trade deadline week! We are a week away from the deadline and it’s time for the contenders to stock their rosters and those on the outside to plan for the future. Two guesses as to which category the Lightning belong in.

In anticipation to some wheeling and dealing on Channelside Drive I will breakdown the roster to see who is staying and who is going.

Not going anywhere (M*A*S*H Unit)

Paul Ranger - It wouldn’t surprise me to learn that Ranger has been playing hurt all season. He never seemed comfortable following off-season surgery. A couple of extra months of rest and rehab will hopefully allow him to come back as the cornerstone of the blue line next season.

Andrej Meszaros - The Slovakian defenseman has suffered through a tough season. Season ending surgery capped off a season that saw him on pace for a career low in goals. High expectations greeted him after the Bolts traded a number one pick, young prospect Alex Picard and Flip Kuba for him at the beginning of the season. Oh yeah and he took a puck to the face that cost him his rugged good looks.

Mike Smith - A concussion (the second of his career) ended his breakout season. Given a chance to be a number one goalie for the first time in his career, Smith proved management right as he was the only reason the Lightning had a chance to win on a nightly basis in the first half of the season. Shutting him down for the rest of the season wouldn’t be a bad idea.

Olaf Kolzig - If he hadn’t required season ending bicep surgery Kolzig might have been moved already. The veteran net minder might have found his way back to Washington or out to Chicago. It looks like he might retire after this season, but it was nice to see my favorite goalie suit up for my favorite team.


Not going anywhere (Future of the Team Unit)

Vincent Lecavalier - The cloud of drama seems to have passed. GM Brian Lawton has said he isn’t being moved. The Canadians had their shot to pick him up and didn‘t pull the trigger. As they fade in the playoffs I don’t see them getting any closer to making the deal happen. A recent slump ( no goals and 3 assists in the last 5 games) isn’t increasing demand for Vincent either. For now, management seems committed to building the team around him.

Steven Stamkos - Since adopting the Tocchet Routine (increased weight training and the occasional healthy scratch to watch the game from the press box) Stamkos has steadily improved on the ice. He will be in black and blue for many years to come, although I wouldn’t be surprised to see him moved to a winger position where he could use his speed and surprisingly hard shot to a greater advantage.

Matt Smaby - He also gets my vote for IronMan of the season award. Playing with an injured right foot for most of the last month Smaby has jumped past Mike Lundin and oft-injured Andy Rodgers as the bright spot on the Lightning blue line for the future.


Not going anywhere (Thanks Big Long Contract Unit)

Ryan Malone - I’m sure the Penguins wouldn’t mind seeing him on their power play these days.

Probably not moving (Who Would Want Them Unit)

Josef Melichar - If it wasn’t for injuries he wouldn’t be on the team right now.

Lukas Kraijeck - “Farmer” Lukas (for his tendancy to pitchfork the puck down the ice instead of actually passing it to someone) is hurt as well, but my dislike for him made me put him in this category.

Ryan Craig - I love me some Craig-ers. Too bad I jinxed him two season’s ago.

David Koci - An unsung hero for the Bolts this season. This converted forward has been logging minutes on the blue line over the last few months. I don’t see a team in contention making a play for an enforcer who would probably be scratched for most of the rest of the season if it wasn’t for the injuries suffered by the Lightning this year.

Mike McKenna - McKenna is proving that he could be a solid back up in the MLB, but a team would have to be desperate to pick him up for a playoff run.

Kari Ramo - Much like McKenna Ramo wouldn’t be a starter on any team in contention right now. However, it wouldn’t be shocking to see him in a package deal. At 22, he is still young enough to develop into a number one goalie and a team that doesn’t need him this year, but might need a goalie in a couple of years might be willing to pick him up. For instance the Devils may be looking at a future without Marty Brodeur pretty soon. Moving Ramo would also free up playing time for Riku Helenius in Norfolk. The Lightning have a glut of young talent in between the pipes and need to figure out what to do with them.

Could be traded (Offer Me Something and They’re Yours Unit)

Matt Pettinger - Quietly putting together a solid year Pettinger could move for a lower round draft pick to a team that is looking for a speedy fore checker who can throw the occasional puck in the net.

Marek Malik - Hey he’s got experience!

Gary Roberts - Hey, he’s a leader! He’s got experience! He’s old!

Evgeny Artyukhin - Arty was almost put into the future of the team category, but much like Pettinger a team looking for some depth might lob a deal the Lightning’s way. As a ferocious fore checker (alliteration alert!) he can definitely be a disruptive force in the offensive zone. Again, I would be surprised if he was packaged with another player.

Now we’re talkin’ (Could Help a Contender Unit)

Vaclav Prospal - Vinny is in the same position as he was last year except for having fewer goals and a reasonable cap hit ($3.5 Million or the next two years). Playing for a contender may light a spark in him, maybe a desperate Ottawa team could be enticed to part with Alex Picard?

Adam Hall - A defensive minded center man with a cap friendly contract? For a team looking for depth Hall may be worth a mid round draft pick.

Jeff Halpern - Rumors abound that Columbus is interested in Halpern. He has never gotten on track this season, but could add veteran leadership to a younger Blue Jacket team.

Steve Eminger - Eminger’s play has made Matt Carle a forgotten man. I would like to see him stay in the Black and Blue, but a team like Washington who is looking for depth on the blue line might dangle enough to talk the Bolts into moving him.

Corey Murphy - A poor man’s Steve Eminger, Murphy has played well since coming over from Florida (a move that the Lightning brass isn’t getting enough credit for) he could be useful for a team looking for a point man on a second power play unit.

Already writing their legacy (Most Likely to be Moved Unit)

Mark Recchi - The Bolts best player during the first half of the season (despite his lackluster +/- rating) Recchi personifies the veteran force that teams like to pick up this time of year. He could bring back live prospects that have a chance of cracking the Bolts lineup next year.

Martin St Louis - Man, a year ago I would be all over the “Trade Marty” bandwagon. This year, not so much. Vincent might wear the “C”, but number 26 is the true leader of this team. The hot rumors have had him going to Pittsburgh for much of the year. He would fit nicely on a line with playmaker Sidney Crosby.

However, I wouldn’t be surprised if his old buddy John Tortorella might look for him to join him in New York. St Louis would be a nice fit for the up-tempo style Torts will want to instill. Of course they would have to find someway to fit his salary onto a team that has five players whose cap hit is over $5 Million next season.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Montreal’s name creeps into the discussion as the deadline approaches. With Lawton basically taking Vincent off of the table, a quickly fading Canadians organization may want to bring their other local product back. Would they look to move disgruntled forward Alexei Kovalav and a prospect like PK Subban for St Louis. The Bolts would get a top tier prospect in Subban and Kovalev is a unrestricted free agent after the season so they will get cap relief as well.

By posting this I’m sure I just sealed Vincent’s fate. My reputation for predicting things isn’t great, in fact it’s quite horrible. If nothing else it will be a fun seven days!

Trade Vinny? Sacre Bleu!

So it begins and so it will continue day and night until March 4th. The annual “Trade Vincent Lecavalier to Montreal” rumors have begun. Much like the “Trade Carl Crawford to the White Sox” rumors this has become an annual tradition in the TBA. The Lightning struggles on ice and the current financial situations worldwide have only added fuel to the fire.

So will this be the year that Young Vincent makes his triumphant return home to Montreal? After all he has spent a decade in the hockey wasteland that is Tampa. Well I’m sure that’s how the average Habs fan looks at it. Let’s take a second to ask the virtual Magic 8 ball…it looks like the answer is a definitive “No”.

Well that’s good.

Unfortunately, that doesn’t make for lively talk radio or witty internet banter. So let’s delve into it a little further. There are several signs that point to him being traded and several reasons why he wouldn’t/shouldn’t be traded.

Let’s start with the positive. Why shouldn’t he be traded:

1. He is the Lightning. Mike Smith may be the MVP and Steven Stamkos may be the future, but for now Vincent is the team. If you look at the billboards and the advertising flyers in the area you see Vincent’s face plastered all over them (especially with the demise of the “Seen Stamkos” campaign). He is the captain and the first line center. Even in a down year he’s tied for the team lead in goals and has been named to the All Star team. At 28 he should be entering his prime playing years. Years that should be played in a Lightning uniform.

2. He is going to be making a lot of money for a lot of years. It’s going to be hard for a team to accept a 9 year contract with a salary cap hit of $7,727,273 per year for a player that has topped 90 points only twice in his career? A team would have to decide that Lecavalier is as much as Alex Ovcehkin ($9,538,000) and Sidney Crosby ($8,700,000). A team picking up Vincent would risk losing future payroll flexibility signing onto that large of a contract. So far the Lightning have been lucky enough to deal away two of the highest contracts in the NHL (Dan Boyle and Brad Richards) it would be a lot to expect them to get away with it a third time.

3. Believe it or not the Lightning still have a shot at the playoffs. Halfway through the season they are 13 points out of the 8th and final spot in the Eastern Conference. Flash back to last season when the Washington Capitals were mired in 14th place midway through the season and then caught fire to win the division and make it to the playoffs. Over the past 9 games the Bolts have shown flashes of life going 5-3-1. If they go on a 7-3 or 8-2 stretch they are right back in the race.

Now the negative

1. He is going to make a lot of money pretty soon and have a no trade clause. Once his extension kicks in this summer he has the right to veto a deal to any team. While that doesn’t preclude a deal being done (see Boyle, Dan) it does make it a lot more difficult. It limits the amount of teams they could deal with, although the best fit, Monteal, would presumably be a team Vincent wouldn’t mind playing for. That would add motivation to get a deal done now.

2. For the first time in years actual names are being bandied about on Montreal’s side. Normally the rumors are “Vinny is being traded for prospects and draft picks” with no actual names being thrown out there. Darren Dreger of TSN lists Christopher Higgans, Tomas Plekanec, prospect PKSubban and draft picks as components of a possible deal. Once names are out there it becomes more than an internet rumor (it becomes a mainstream media rumor!)

3. The Lightning aren’t exactly a money making machine. Attendance is down, the owners are restructuring their deal with the Davidson group and the economy in general is, too be optimistic, experiencing a bit of a downturn. Jettisoning Lecavalier’s contract for two soon to be restricted free agents in Higgans and Plekanec would free up a lot of salary next season along with freeing up some cash this season/.

So there are some pros and cons to moving Young Vincent. If I had to hazard a guess at this point I would say he is staying. Right now Montreal is really the only destination that would have interest in him (although that could change as the trade deadline approaches) and with them comfortably in the playoff hunt it would be hard for them to justify blowing up their team just to pick up a hometown boy.

I think this will be a big year for Lecavalier. He is coming off his first major injury, which he admits is still bothering him, he is the captain of a struggling team and he is entering the phase of his career that will define his career. Will he fulfill the offensive potential of a former first overall pick or like he did from 2006-2008 or will he be a mediocre scorer that shows the occasional flashes of brilliance?

He does seem to be showing signs of coming along with 3 multiple point games in his last 7 played so perhaps his shoulder is gaining strength. It also looks like he is starting to grow accustomed to Coach Tocchet’s style of play. During Barry Melrose’s Reign of Confusion Lecavalier often looked lost and frustrated out on the ice. Lately he is starting to look like the Young Vincent of old, initiating contact and making the tape to tape passed that lead to easy goals for his line mates.

One more minor note. Oren Koules has taken a lot of heat as an owner so far. While he may be finding team ownership a little more daunting then he first imagined he is a Hollywood guy. Which means he knows the importance of publicity. Trading the franchise player in his prime is not the type of publicity he needs in order to put fans in the seat.

Interestingly enough not only do we have to deal with Lecavalier trade rumors now we also are seeing Marty St Louis’ name coming up. According to a report on The Fourth Period, a website I honestly don’t know it’s accuracy, there is interest in Steel City for the sniper. The only reason I mention this is because it’s a trade I’ve talked about with Link, a Pittsburgh native who is 95% responsible for my being a hockey fan.

St Louis would be a nice fit with Sidney Crosby, a superb playmaker who excels at creating opportunities for his teammates. Unlike the Lecavalier rumors there haven’t been any names thrown about on the Penguin side although I’m sure they’d like to pry a young talent like Jordan Staal or Alex Goligoski (hey a fan can dream right?), but would probably end up with a mid tier prospect or draft pick.

In the past I have advocated trading St Louis especially at the deadline for a couple of reasons. T 33 he is the oldest of the offensive talents (let’s call them the Dynamic Duo since Brad Richards is gone now), he is on the downside of his career, but still a sought after commodity. Any team in a playoff race would be willing to take a proven scorer who has scored 25 or more goals in the last 5 seasons.

This year I have changed my tune. In the last few weeks Marty has shown that while Vincent may wear the “C” Marty is emerging as the true leader of the team. He was the first player to call out his teammates and overall is more vocal in the press than Lecavalier. Moving him at this point would be detrimental to the small steps the team has made at reclaiming this season of futility.

The next few months will be nothing if not exciting. Hopefully a lot of talk and little action will be the end result and Young Vincent will continue to skate in the black and blue, not the Bleu, Blanc Rogue of the Canadians.

Since I’m no good at this html thing. Here are the links for the TSN article and the Fourth Period report:

http://www.tsn.ca/columnists/darren_dreger/?id=262963&lid=sublink05&lpos=headlines_nhl
http://www.thefourthperiod.com/news/pit081214.html

Wanted

If you need to donate some cards to the collection (it's greatly appreciated) here's what I'm currently looking for:

Individual Players

Eddie Murray
Floyd Rayford - Check Here To See What I need!
Vincent Lecavalier
Peter Bondra

Teams

Baltimore Orioles
Tampa Bay Lightning
Liverpool

Sets

BASEBALL

2010 Topps Series One

24, 80, 105, 126, 261, 271, 305,



2009 Topps

210, 213

2009 Topps Heritage

7 Tim Lincecum Bruce B
10 Hanley Ramirez
25 Paul Konerko
33 Randy Johnson
35 Andy Pettitte
36 Lyle Overbay
37 Jeff Francoeur
47 Ryan Theriot
50 Curtis Granderson
51 Aaron Laffey
53 Adam Jones
67 Omar Vizquel
74 Marlon Byrd
76 Jered Weaver
82 Scott Baker
85 Justin Verlander
86 Jose Lopez
90 Erick Aybar
93 Rickie Weeks
98 Shaun Marcum
99 Lastings Milledge
109 Delmon Young
115 Jonathan Papelbon Ti
116 Emil Brown
118 Chris Lambert RC
120 Fernando Perez RC
121 Angel Salome RC
128 Scott Elbert RC
129 James Parr RC
130 Greg Golson RC
136 Matt Tuiasosopo RC
141 Wade LeBlanc RC
143 Alcides Escobar RC
145 Jesse Chavez RC
154 Rich Aurilia
155 Jeff Kent
164 Cincinnati Reds
165 Tim Lincecum
173 Brandon Phillips
174 Cleveland Indians
176 Corey Patterson
182 Carlos Zambrano
183 Pittsburgh Pirates
194 Pat Burrell
199 David Purcey
202 Troy Percival
209 Randy Wolf
210 Ryan Zimmerman
211 Manny Parra
220 Tony La Russa
221 Jim Leyland
225 Joe Torre
226 Dave Trembley
230 Josh Beckett Jon Les
231 Mark Reynolds
240 Orlando Cabrera
243 Andy Marte
245 Carlos Guillen
246 Brandon Jones
249 Jon Lester
258 Jack Wilson
262 Mark Teahen
268 John Lackey
269 Jeremy Hermida
271 Lance Berkman
277 Bobby Crosby
282 Chris Volstad
284 Max Scherzer
285 Chase Headley
287 Moises Alou
289 Carlos Delgado
295 Casey Blake
296 Mike Pelfrey
299 Daric Barton
304 Jake Peavy
309 Ryan Sweeney
310 Mike Lowell
312 Aaron Rowand
314 Edgar Renteria
315 Mariano Rivera
316 Wilson Betemit
321 Denard Span
324 John Lannan
328 Jesus Flores
330 Franklin Gutierrez
335 Kelly Johnson
341 Vladimir Guerrero
346A Fred Lewis
352 Joey Votto Edwin Enc
353 Luke Hochevar
354 Chris Snyder
355 Rick Ankiel
360 Gavin Floyd
363 Coco Crisp
367 David DeJesus
369 B J Ryan
372 Brian Schneider
374 Tim Hudson
377 Alex Rodriguez
382 Chone Figgins
384 Brian Giles
386 Eric Bruntlett
394 James Loney
397 Chicago Cubs
400 Magglio Ordonez
401 Dan Uggla
402 Adam LaRoche
406 Dustin McGowan
412 Ted Lilly
423 Brian Buscher
427 Ben Francisco
428 Jermaine Dye
429 Dustin Pedroia Ichir
430 Kevin Slowey
432 Glen Perkins
433 Carlos Gomez
434 Jon Garland
435 Joe Crede
436 Billy Butler
437 Zach Duke
438 Chris Coste
440 Elijah Dukes
441 Fausto Carmona
442 Joe Mauer
443 Marcus Thames
444 Mike Fontenot
447 Adrian Beltre
448 Kevin Millar
449 Nick Swisher
450 Justin Morneau
451 Shane Victorino
452 Placido Polanco
453 Ryan Dempster
454 Frank Thomas
457 Alan Trammell Larry
460 Jeff Datz Luis River
461 Lloyd McClendon Andy
462 Jim Hickey Steve Hen
464 Roger McDowell Terry
465 Rob Thomson Tony Pen
466 Milt Thompson Rich D
467 Tony Beasley Joe Ker
468 Dave Duncan Hal McRa
470 Randy St Claire Marq
471 Brad Ausmus
472 Melvin Mora
473 Austin Kearns
474 Josh Willingham
475 Derek Lowe
477 A J Pierzynski
479 CC Sabathia
480 Jorge Posada
482 Lance Berkman
483 Dustin Pedroia
484 Chase Utley
485 Alex Rodriguez
487 Derek Jeter
488A Hanley Ramirez AS Fl
489 Josh Hamilton
490 Ryan Braun
491 Manny Ramirez
492 Kosuke Fukudome
493 Ichiro Suzuki
494 Matt Holliday
496 Geovany Soto
497 Roy Halladay
498 Ben Sheets
499 Cliff Lee
500 Billy Wagner

2008 Topps Series One and Two

Number Name



428 Jair Jurrjens
431 Delwyn Young
451 Brian Giles
452 Kevin Slowey
594 Mike Morse
623 Trey Hillman



HOCKEY

2008-09 Upper Deck Hockey Series 1

45, 50, 105, 110, 127

Welcome To the Swap Meet

Never before have the cries of “Get Your Programs! Can’t Tell The Players Without a Program!” rung quite so true in the hallowed halls of the Ice Palace. Just twelve games into the season and the revolving door hasn’t stopped spinning yet.

On Friday it was Matt Carle’s turn to become an ex-member of the Lightning. Traded along with a draft pick to Philadelphia for Steve Eminger and Steve Downie Carle’s career with the Lightning was spectacular only it’s briefness. The centerpiece of the off-season Dan Boyle salary dump, Carle was supposed to be the heir apparent in terms of free wheeling, offense sparking blue liner, and at 24 a much younger option.

Through 12 games Carle had spent almost 22 minutes per game patrolling the ice, but had registered only one goal and one assist. Neither one of those marks on the score sheet came with the man advantage and that more than anything made him expendable to the new regime.
With Carle leaving there has been almost a 100% overhaul of the blueline. Only Andrej Meszaros remains from the squad that started the season in Prague. It has yet to be determined if that is a good thing or not. The defense was a question mark going into the season and remains so now a month into it.

Speaking of the new regime it’s hard to see where they’re going with this team. It’s still early to claim that there isn’t a plan. After all, a full season hasn’t passed, but it’s starting to look that way. Moving Shane O’Brien who had failed to impress under the former regime or Dan Koci an enforcer with a whopping 41 seconds of playing is one thing. Moving a 24 defenseman who was supposed to be a cornerstone of the new look Lightning is something totally different.

This was their guy, not a Feaster guy or a Tortorella guy or even an Art Williams guy. He “fit with our plan of trying to get to younger and better”, Brian Lawton uttered those words just after completing the deal for Carle. So dealing him away must mean they want to get older and worse. Trying to justify dealing him away Lawton said that Eminger and Carle are “very comparable in a lot of ways”. Apparently points isn’t one of those comparable ways. In 61 more games Eminger has 11 less goals and 20 less points.

The regime has been branded “cowboys” by the ex coach and rumors of an owner diagramming plays during an intermission haven’t been put to bed yet. Moves like this tend to show a lack of faith in the players, the staff, the scouts and even in ownership. If a key piece of the defense can be moved for an underachieving 3rd line defenseman and cap space than who is safe? Will the next two game losing streak cost Jussi Jokinen his spot on the team? Maybe a free fall into last place will result in Vincent getting moved to Montreal. That should free up plenty of space for new acquisitions. In the end, they have to play the cards that have been dealt. Constant change for the sake of change is no way to go through a season.

There could, however, be a much simpler explanation for the recent moves. The new regime could be planning a reunion. Maybe they were big fans of the 2003-04 Washington Capitals. Olaf Kolzig, Jeff Halpern, Matt Pettinger and Eminger all skated for that squad. If the next transaction notice is the Bolts signing Kip Miller or Ivan Ciernik we’ll all know what the plan is.