Comments on: MLB Trade Value ’08: #16 – #20

By: Dave Cameron

Dave Cameron — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 18:42:27 +0000

We’re running a #11 to #50 post tomorrow that will be up through the 4th of July weekend, and then I’ll do the top ten on Monday.

By: Bodhizefa

Bodhizefa — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 18:27:48 +0000

Dave, when you finish, I’d like to request a final column from you with the entire list and a chance for us to comment on it in perspective of its entirety.

By: Dave Cameron

Dave Cameron — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 18:07:53 +0000

Phillips isn’t on the list. He was one of the very last guys I cut.

The main reason is that Phillips has essentially made his career the last two years by utterly destroying left-handed pitching while being a mediocre hitter at best against righties. There’s certainly value in having a player who can dominate southpaws, but if I’m giving up one of the guys on this list, I want to get someone in return whose career mark against RHP is better than .249/.293/.397. 3/4 of the pitchers in baseball are right-handed, and Phillips is significantly less valuable against that population.

He’s a valuable player, and if I extended the list to 55 players, he’d have been on it, but I couldn’t get him past any of the names mentioned so far.

By: NickP

NickP — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 17:54:15 +0000

I think Brandon Phillips (slightly above league average hitter, premium defender at 2B), just entering prime (27 years old) and BJ Upton should be in top 15.

By: Dave Cameron

Dave Cameron — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 17:33:16 +0000

Two of the guys on your list will show up in the top 15. The others aren’t on the list.

By: NickP

NickP — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 15:06:41 +0000

Billy Butler is a DH without a ton of power. How much value can he possibly have? Hes certainly not among the top 50 in MLB.

By: Bodhizefa

Bodhizefa — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 13:17:56 +0000

I’m surprised that neither Billy Butler nor Alex Gordon have made an appearance yet. I would’ve thought they would at least be below Upton and Bruce due to their lack of defensive abilities (Gordon has an awful RZR and Butler, is, well, he’s a good hitter!) Perhaps you won’t have either of them on the list at all, which would be an interesting choice.

Other players who may not make the list but are still arguably very excellent trade values: Chris B. Young (his defense has been unbelievably good this year — maybe he really IS the next Mike Cameron), Chris Davis, Joe Mauer (although I still expect to see him), Conor Jackson, Brandon Phillips, Joey Votto, and B.J. Upton. I’ll be very intrigued to see if any of these guys land on your list.

Lastly, I’m very excited to see where you deem Josh Hamilton’s trade value lies. He’s top five for me and probably top three overall, too.