When you think Major-League Baseball's storied cities..... I can't think of anything less storied than Nashville, which this week hosts its fifth Baseball Winter Meetings gathering.
Hey, it's no Toronto, which just happens to be the last host city that legitimately experiences a real "winter", and that was back in 1979 when the A's stunk (108 losses?); the Coliseum was indeed a mausoleum (653 announced attendance for the April 6 game vs. Seattle, and kudos to every last one of them at the yard); and this was the anthem of a championship baseball team in -believe or not you young folks- Pittsburgh. It was indeed another world.
Since Toronto, baseball takes advantage of climates so warm you can't stay off the golf course, a beach or a pool-side folding chair when not discussing middle relievers for utility second basemen blockbusters. What Nashville lacks in tropical temperatures it compensates with honky-tonk bars and Southern hospitality. And hey, a Hall of Fame is one of Nashville's biggest tourist attractions. But instead of honoring Edward Charles "Whitey" Ford (the baseball player), this one honors Benjamin Francis "Whitey" Ford (the country comedian whose heyday was from the late 1930s to the mid-50's; you may or may not remember him as "The Duke of Paducah").
OK, enough chamber of commerce nonsense. This is about baseball wheeling and dealing. We know there could be some action in Nashville, and not just at the "world famous" Tootsies Orchid Lounge in downtown (I've been there, it was an interesting cultural experience to say the least). Will someone roll the dice on signing Rangers' outfielder Josh Hamilton when his age and personal issues cloud his long-term value? Do the Marlins continue to fish the catch-and-release method and next unhook slugger Giancarlo Stanton with money obviously an object? Do the suddenly underperforming Yankees spend even more money (Zack Greinke? Hamilton? Aubrey Huff? the last one was a joke... sort of)?
But what this blog is most concerned about is where do the A's fit into the Winter Meetings mania? At last year's meetings -in Dallas, which at least fields a big-league team in suburban Arlington- Oakland General Manager Billy Beane stayed incognito before spending the rest of the days leading up to Christmas and New Year's rebooting his roster. Spoiler alert: It worked.
So as the Athletics' MLB.com beat writer Jane Lee reminded, Beane, who traditionally drops his bombshell player transactions with less of a spotlight blaring down, won't be needy or desperate to either shed payroll, change the culture of his roster, or strengthen the farm system via significant trades. But the A's also need to resolve their shortstop vacancy, and even if it's not done in central Tennessee, perhaps Beane's Happy Hour chats with other GM's will pave the way for another trade as Cleveland's Asdrubal Cabrera seems like a trendy name churning on the rumor mill. Or perhaps Beane and Stephen Drew will find a deal that's reasonable and both sides find appealing. If so, Drew will be back in Oakland.
I'm not sure which idea is a better choice. Cabrera looks like the better player over the long haul. But Drew is a free agent and won't cost the A's some of their surplus of young pitching (which the Indians need and would demand as any starter involving a trade for the 26-year-old Cabrera).
Hey, it's the Winter Meetings, so anything can happen, except probably hazardous winter weather (Tuesday's forecast does calls for thunderstorms, but a comfortable high of 68). But perhaps next year's meetings will be in Fiji and Beane can work his tan as well as his cell phone.
Hey, it's no Toronto, which just happens to be the last host city that legitimately experiences a real "winter", and that was back in 1979 when the A's stunk (108 losses?); the Coliseum was indeed a mausoleum (653 announced attendance for the April 6 game vs. Seattle, and kudos to every last one of them at the yard); and this was the anthem of a championship baseball team in -believe or not you young folks- Pittsburgh. It was indeed another world.
Since Toronto, baseball takes advantage of climates so warm you can't stay off the golf course, a beach or a pool-side folding chair when not discussing middle relievers for utility second basemen blockbusters. What Nashville lacks in tropical temperatures it compensates with honky-tonk bars and Southern hospitality. And hey, a Hall of Fame is one of Nashville's biggest tourist attractions. But instead of honoring Edward Charles "Whitey" Ford (the baseball player), this one honors Benjamin Francis "Whitey" Ford (the country comedian whose heyday was from the late 1930s to the mid-50's; you may or may not remember him as "The Duke of Paducah").
OK, enough chamber of commerce nonsense. This is about baseball wheeling and dealing. We know there could be some action in Nashville, and not just at the "world famous" Tootsies Orchid Lounge in downtown (I've been there, it was an interesting cultural experience to say the least). Will someone roll the dice on signing Rangers' outfielder Josh Hamilton when his age and personal issues cloud his long-term value? Do the Marlins continue to fish the catch-and-release method and next unhook slugger Giancarlo Stanton with money obviously an object? Do the suddenly underperforming Yankees spend even more money (Zack Greinke? Hamilton? Aubrey Huff? the last one was a joke... sort of)?
But what this blog is most concerned about is where do the A's fit into the Winter Meetings mania? At last year's meetings -in Dallas, which at least fields a big-league team in suburban Arlington- Oakland General Manager Billy Beane stayed incognito before spending the rest of the days leading up to Christmas and New Year's rebooting his roster. Spoiler alert: It worked.
So as the Athletics' MLB.com beat writer Jane Lee reminded, Beane, who traditionally drops his bombshell player transactions with less of a spotlight blaring down, won't be needy or desperate to either shed payroll, change the culture of his roster, or strengthen the farm system via significant trades. But the A's also need to resolve their shortstop vacancy, and even if it's not done in central Tennessee, perhaps Beane's Happy Hour chats with other GM's will pave the way for another trade as Cleveland's Asdrubal Cabrera seems like a trendy name churning on the rumor mill. Or perhaps Beane and Stephen Drew will find a deal that's reasonable and both sides find appealing. If so, Drew will be back in Oakland.
I'm not sure which idea is a better choice. Cabrera looks like the better player over the long haul. But Drew is a free agent and won't cost the A's some of their surplus of young pitching (which the Indians need and would demand as any starter involving a trade for the 26-year-old Cabrera).
Hey, it's the Winter Meetings, so anything can happen, except probably hazardous winter weather (Tuesday's forecast does calls for thunderstorms, but a comfortable high of 68). But perhaps next year's meetings will be in Fiji and Beane can work his tan as well as his cell phone.
No comments:
Post a Comment