Chone Figgins...A Brewer in 2008 ???
by South Side Rob
Let the debate begin. Thanks to a friend of mine, the latest on the rumor mill in major league baseball is that the Brewers are targeting Chone (pronounced Sean) Figgins in a trade with the LA Angels. With the surplus of pitching that the Brewers have, one would think at least one starting pitcher would have to be included in a deal to acquire Figgins.
Figgings and Bill Hall are about the same defensively at 3rd base, however, Figgins would be our lead-off hitter. Last year, Figgins hit over 300 and had an on base of almost 400. He has stolen between 30-60 bases per season over the last 4 seasons. He is also a switch-hitter and just a few years older than Bill Hall.
I say, throw Bill Hall and one or even two pitchers (depending on who they are) and get Figgins in a Brewer uniform. Just think of the power and speed balance this team could have.
Brewer Nation, its your turn to sound off on this possibility...
That is an incredible idea, but show me the validity of it before i get excited. I checked all of my normal sources, and I have not seen any legitimate indication of talks even occurring.
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Aaron, Validity? I can't give you a level of validity you know that. What the Brewers are aiming to do is never really made public until they are certain a deal will be made.
My friend Roseee has a lot of colleagues that are in or near many professional sports organizations. If you read the post, I used the word rumor and tried to make the column a "what if" with fan participation. What would you give up if you were the G.M. in order to obtain Chone Figgins? I'd give up as much as two starters (Vargas and Capuano) along with Bill Hall in order to get back a Chone Figgins...
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Understood. How do I get one of these sources? I don't have those networking skills yet. In any case, you give up a Bill Hall, Chris Capuano, Claudio Vargas, Dave Bush, Craig Counsell, Gabe Gross or Vinny Rottino. These guys are all available to be pushed off and have small contracts. Surprisingly Chone Figgins is only going to make some $3.5 million dollars this year. If the Brewers did sign him, I would call for an immediate lock up for the next 2 or 3 years. He's a young talented player.
Best bet, Bill Hall, Bush or Capuano, with Gross or another prospect for Figgins and a low-league mid-level prospect. I'd pretty much give up anything that doesn't include our core guys. It's an exceptional idea, but I'm not quite sure how adept the Angels may be. My guess is they don't care to have Vargas, so plan on Bush and/or Capuano to be involved in the deal, leaving the door open for Manny Parra to take that 5th spot from Vargas. We can get away with a 4-strong rotation and a reasonable unproven 5th starter. Let's hope we hear stuff that validates this suggestion soon.
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There is no way the Angles and Mike Sciosia or whatever his name is are parting with Chone Figgins...but I love the rumour on a winter day. And if somebody spiked the kool aid in Palo City and they are considering a Figgins for Bush or Capuano and Bill Hall, I'd even be willing to throw in forty bucks and an un-opened box of twinkies to make the trade happen. I prefer holding onto Bush....but after watching some Capuano 2005 games this past week, I'm convinced somebody out there in Brewer land has a technical suggestion that would return Cappy to form....His speed hasn't changed a bit. Either way, if the Angels want to deal us Figgins for one of our starters and Bill Hall.....let's hope Mr. Melvin has a new pen to sign away....Thank you Roseee for making my Brewers day!!!
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If they could pull this off, I'd do it in a heartbeat. Heck, I'd give up two of the pitchers plus Hall to make it happen. This team needs speed and a threat to steal bases they haven't had since Podsednik was dealt. Their ability to play small ball might be the deciding factor in the division this year. While this is probably just a dream it's still good to hear on a frigid Wisconsin winter day.
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Like most fans they come up with some player they want then create an obtuse trade scenario to get them. Bill Hall really does not fit into the Angels plans or needs. They already have 6 outffielders in Vlad, Hunter, Anderson, Matthews, Rivera and Willits that had a near .400 obp as a rookie.
Just as the Brewers may want a leadoff hitter, the Angels have turned their team upside down just to accomodate Figgins being the leadoff for all of the reasons you know. He is not the best glove, so the Angels have basicly hid him at 3rd having no other place to put him. If you want Figgins you have to look at trading Ryan Braun and I doubt anyone in the Brewers office would agree to that.
The other part of the deal that would garner little interest is a pitcher. At this point the Angels have 6 starters and a full and effective bullpen. By the end of Spring Training one of the pitchers currently on the roster will either need to accept a demotion to the minors, be traded or just plain waivered.
Sorry, but the Brewers and Angels just don't align for being good trade partners.
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Theres no way Figgins comes here for Hall unless alot more is loaded in by the Brewers. The Brewers should have gone after Blalock or Inge to answer the 3B issues. If we did, we could have avoided the whole signing of Mike "Strike me Out" Cameron . An outfield of Hall, Braun and Hart aint so bad.
Inge or Blalock will give a team 20+ HRs as a regular 3B.
I'd take Jenks back over Cameron. So much for Brewers tradition.......
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