Over here, over there, Overbay...trade rumours

[Schad]

It's always pretty much speculation, but I've read that too. Seems quite likely that he was a big part of the player mutiny. Which is really fair enough.

If I lost playing time to Kevin **** Millar, I'd mutiny, too. Hell, I tried mutinying from here, but the distance between Halifax and Toronto meant that it went unnoticed.

[Michael Bradley]

Cito platooning Overbay is one of the few things he (Cito) actually did well last season, IMO. Overbay had his best season since 2006 and may have even become a trade asset again, whereas last year at this time he was unmovable. Lyle can't hit lefties anymore. Unfortunately, neither could Kevin Millar, and that was the problem. I guess if Gaston did not communicate to Overbay that he was going to be platooned, then I can understand Overbay's frustration.

Overbay will definitely be moved. It's just a matter of where he goes and how much salary the Jays have to pick up (if AA is anything like JP it will be at least half). Word is the Jays want to move Lind to 1B where his lack of defense will be hidden a bit, but I don't know how wise it would be to have Lind at 1B with Encarnacion at 3B next year. That is a lot of throwing errors waiting to happen, which Overbay would be able to prevent.

[Modern_epic]

I don't care if Cito did tell him that from the beginning. Millar wasn't hitting lefties much better than Overbay's career numbers (and 80 ABs is not nearly as predictive as his career numbers) and is 10% the defender.

The Jays won't have to eat any of his salary. I don't think I've seen anyone claim that the 400 ABs (and corresponding innings in the field) you can get him against righties aren't worth the $7million he's owed.

[Michael Bradley]

I don't care if Cito did tell him that from the beginning. Millar wasn't hitting lefties much better than Overbay's career numbers (and 80 ABs is not nearly as predictive as his career numbers) and is 10% the defender.

The Jays won't have to eat any of his salary. I don't think I've seen anyone claim that the 400 ABs (and corresponding innings in the field) you can get him against righties aren't worth the $7million he's owed.

As I said before, platooning Overbay was 100% the right move. He has looked awful against them for two straight years; not just statistically but by watching him helplessly try to hit them in the actual games. Using Millar as his platoon mate was the absolute wrong move. Millar has inconsistent splits from year to year and has never been a lefty masher to begin with. I said even back in ST that Cito should have platooned Overbay with Bautista and played Snider everyday. Millar should have either been a pinch hitter off the bench or Inglett should have taken Millar's spot on the roster.

As far as trading him, do you honestly think a team is going to spend $7 million on Lyle Overbay during these economic conditions? Buster Olney predicted that a ridiculous number of good players are going to be non-tendered or dumped due to financial reasons (most likely those guys will be making less than Lyle). The chances of AA being able to peddle Overbay's $7 million contract without offering some financial help are not very high. A platoon 1B? In a market that includes Nick Johnson, Adam LaRoche, Russell Branyan, Carlos Delgado, etc? Hey, I hope it happens, but I highly doubt it.

[Modern_epic]

Bautista has played 5 games in his career at first base. I have no idea if he is any good at it, but given that it matches the number he has played at 2B, this makes me doubt it. But maybe you're right, and if you are I doubt Lyle would have been nearly as pissed about it.

Don't discount that Lyle is only a one year commitment. The only one of those 1B you mention who likely signs for a year is Delgado, and coming off surgery at his age, he's a crapshoot. Nick Johnson will play at most as many games as Overbay, except you don't get to pick the hand of the guys he is batting against. Branyan seems almost certain to going back to Seattle. The only FA 1B likely on the market who you can say with any certainty will bring more value than Lyle is LaRoche (who, by the way, also sucked against lefties, though not as much, and played in the NL), and I suspect he gets more than Lyle for considerably more years.

It seems likely at this point that trading Lyle will be AA's first move, and I would be shocked if his first move involved moving a useful player with cash. The rumours in the Snyder deal had them sending us money, and Snyder isn't that overpaid. Everybody in the world save kenny-ken-ken rosenthal thought the Bradley rumours were a joke. I will be surprised if he's eating any money in a deal, despite the bad economic climate.

[Schad]

Re: Overbay, I don't have a problem with him being platooned at all, so much as I can see why he would have a problem with Kevin Millar taking his at-bats (and batting higher in the order to boot), given Millar's performance.

And the Mariners just signed Jack Wilson for 2 years, $10m. It would appear that, for the second time in two years, they've been tricked by an aberrant record (they outperformed their expected W/L by 10 flippin' games) into thinking they're good, because that's a fairly hefty contract for a good defensive shortstop and lineup black hole. It's also a good start to the off-season...the sillier the contracts, the better chance someone will take our moderately silly contracts.