Well, Shiner had a very nice run and is still alive for a 2nd championship, but it all fell apart for 2014. I mean, wow. How does a team lose so much value in a year? I didn't really want to think about the offseason after taking a close look at this abysmal roster, but will at least make a token attempt at caring.
Realistic Trade Bait:
1) Cole Hamels (33 GS, 3.60 ERA) - Not his best season, but still pretty damn good. Coming off A contract and still only 30 years old somehow.
2) R. A. Dickey (34 GS, 4.21 ERA) - The move to TOR didn't go so well, but he wasn't terrible. 39 is still young for a knuckleballer and he's affordable, so I'll keep him if a good offer doesn't come along.
3) Grant Balfour (38 SV, 2.59 ERA) - Stud closer with fun Australian accent
4) Casey Janssen (34 SV, 2.56 ERA) - Another stud closer. Too bad SHI won't have many leads to protect next year.
10) Nick Markakis (770 APA!, 685 OPS!, perhaps he'll get his great RF D again, what happened to this guy?
11) Gordon Beckham (449 APA, decent vs. RHP, presumably still a good defensive 2B)
12) Brendan Ryan (unlimited PA with maybe a SS-1 again. SHI won a lot of games with that this season!)
Less Realistic Trade Bait:
1) Albert Pujols (487 APA with 767 OPS and in last year of bloated A9 contract, who wouldn't want that?)
2) Long list of veteran batters who cratered: Willingham, Izturis, C. Young, Melky Cabrera, Cedeno, Youk)
3) Aaron Harang!
Basically, I'm willing to trade everyone but Molina, Corbin, Ogando, Thornburg and the better minor leaguers. I guess you can try for Molina, but don't expect it to work.
Shiner obviously needs young talent pretty much everywhere. Given the wasteland of their major league roster, I prefer guys who can play now, even if they aren't ready to really contribute yet. Bring on the fabulous offers!
