Michael Bourn to the Indians per Jon Heyman and Ken Rosenthal

[doublem23]

Originally Posted by 102605

I think the Indians are a sleeper AL Central team. I would not be surprised if they beat the White Sox for 2nd place..

Right now I think Detroit is destined for October and Minnesota for the cellar, but the other three could finish in any order and I would not be surprised.

[blandman]

Originally Posted by doublem23

Right now I think Detroit is destined for October and Minnesota for the cellar, but the other three could finish in any order and I would not be surprised.

A lot would have to go really wrong for us and KC. Cleveland certainly improved, but they're relying on Trevor Bauer to already be the ace of that rotation. And Brett Myers is probably the next best guy. They could just as easily fight for the Twins in the cellar (and I say this also because Minnesota's got some good young players they're working in this year, like they always do).

[blandman]

Originally Posted by Noneck

I wonder if the Sox are even dealing with boras.

If he's doing 4/$48 for elite leadoff guys, they should start.

[ohiosoxfan]

Originally Posted by blandman

He could steal 30 bases a year for the duration of that contract and as long as he still hits over .300 he's worth it. $12 million is not a lot for a leadoff guy. There's so few good ones right now.

Why are people talking about a guy hitting over .300 who has hit OVER .300 (.303) exactly ONCE in his seven-year career and carries a .272 career average. The same guy has turned 30 so the odds of him getting 20 MORE steals this year over last is probably slim. . if you compare apples to apples, his numbers aren't a heck of a lot better than DeAza's were last year (I will admit he's a better CF, though is he $11 million a year better????)

[johnnyg83]

Originally Posted by ohiosoxfan

Why are people talking about a guy hitting over .300 who has hit OVER .300 (.303) exactly ONCE in his seven-year career and carries a .272 career average. The same guy has turned 30 so the odds of him getting 20 MORE steals this year over last is probably slim. . if you compare apples to apples, his numbers aren't a heck of a lot better than DeAza's were last year (I will admit he's a better CF, though is he $11 million a year better????)

Not to be Capt. Obvious, but De Aza hasn't been on the open market yet. I don't think he'd get 12 a year, but he'd get a substantial raise.

[ohiosoxfan]

To be honest, I think he needs to put a couple of full time solid seasons together to get a substantial raise. I just think people may be overvaluing the addition of Bourn. . . I think that was apparent by the LACK of interest in signing him to a $75 million deal like he and Boras were seeking. There are a lot of teams that seemingly could have used a player like him who seemed to be less than enthusiastic about opening the checkbook - i.e. Texas, Phillies, etc. The draft pick may have been a stumbling block, but Texas needed to make a move and didn't seem all that interested in him.

[blandman]

Originally Posted by ohiosoxfan

Why are people talking about a guy hitting over .300 who has hit OVER .300 (.303) exactly ONCE in his seven-year career and carries a .272 career average. The same guy has turned 30 so the odds of him getting 20 MORE steals this year over last is probably slim. . if you compare apples to apples, his numbers aren't a heck of a lot better than DeAza's were last year (I will admit he's a better CF, though is he $11 million a year better????)

Originally Posted by johnnyg83

Not to be Capt. Obvious, but De Aza hasn't been on the open market yet. I don't think he'd get 12 a year, but he'd get a substantial raise.

Good point Johnny. I don't understand why people are comparing him to people we have that are also decent. We're not replacing them, we simply need more talent on the roster. Bourn has some elite skills, something we are sorely missing (and not only for this year). An outfield of Bourn in center surrounded by Rios and De Aza could have been the best in the AL defensively, and one of the better offensive ones in baseball.

[ohiosoxfan]

Originally Posted by blandman

Good point Johnny. I don't understand why people are comparing him to people we have that are also decent. We're not replacing them, we simply need more talent on the roster. Bourn has some elite skills, something we are sorely missing (and not only for this year). An outfield of Bourn in center surrounded by Rios and De Aza could have been the best in the AL defensively, and one of the better offensive ones in baseball.

My point wasn't to strictly make a comparison to our guy. I'm just pointing out that this guy is a decent player, but he's not guaranteed to make Cleveland a World Series champion. . . sure he could have helped us, but I don't think we have room for another $12 million player (unless we would move Floyd, Dunn, etc.) Plus, if we had signed him, we lose a first round pick (it could be debated whether that would really hurt us or not based on our draft history -but we did pick Sale in the first round)

I guess what fired me up was the comments assuming he's going to hit over .300 for Cleveland leading off when he has only done that once and just barely. He also strikes out a lot- his obp is similar to our inexpensive CF/leadoff man.

[cws05champ]

Compare these guys below, both in their age 29 season:

Player A .290/.351/.349 0 HR, 59 SB, 80 R, 25 RBI
Player B .274/.348/.391 9 HR, 42 SB, 96 R, 57 RBI

Player B is obviously Bourn last year, a year in which he had more HR than in the previous 5 years combined. And no doubt that if all things equal Bourn is the better player here.

Player A is Scott Podsednick in 2005. Would anyone give anything close to $12M per to Pods?

[mahagga73]

Originally Posted by 102605

I think the Indians are a sleeper AL Central team. I would not be surprised if they beat the White Sox for 2nd place..

The only thing that would surprise me is if the Tigers don't win the division. I think the Sox could win as many games as last year and finish 3rd in the standings possibly.

[kittle42]

Originally Posted by blandman

Who cares if he's leading off and hitting over .300?

He hit .300? I must have missed that year.

Don't get me wrong, I would love Bourn on the Sox. Just pointing out what I feel the inevitable arguments would be here.

[kittle42]

Originally Posted by ohiosoxfan

Why are people talking about a guy hitting over .300 who has hit OVER .300 (.303) exactly ONCE in his seven-year career and carries a .272 career average.

Actually, he never hit over .300. That .303 was only part of 2011. He ended at .294.

[asindc]

Originally Posted by 102605

I think the Indians are a sleeper AL Central team. I would not be surprised if they beat the White Sox for 2nd place..

Nah. They replaced Choo with Swisher and Sizemore with Bourn. This just puts them in a better position to compete with the Sox.

[ohiosoxfan]

Originally Posted by kittle42

Actually, he never hit over .300. That .303 was only part of 2011. He ended at .294.

You're right -sorry I missed that-thanks for catching that.

[kittle42]

Originally Posted by ohiosoxfan

You're right -sorry I missed that-thanks for catching that.

Easy to do that when just scanning the brick of career stats - I often miss those split seasons.