Will the Marlins deal Miguel Cabrera or are they just fishing for offers?

The Top Ten Deals We Expect To Go Down In Nashville

Catchy title, no? We thought so.

1. Johan Santana
Clearly, the Twins are going to have to move him. Why? They will for multiple reasons, with the first reason being Johan Santana. Santana is a free agent after this upcoming season and he has essentially ended talks with the Twins in regards to an extension. Further, as the owner of a no-trade clause, Santana has pledged that he will not accept a trade during the season. Therefore, if the Twins are going to receive anything in value for Santana beyond draft picks, they need to trade him now. Secondly, the Twins have too many needs to simply sit on their hands. With the trade of Matt Garza and Jason Bartlett to the Rays, the Twins need a starting shortstop and added depth in the pitching. The Twins have pitchers in their minors, but none that looks ready to make an immediate impact if thrust into the rotation, and the shortstop acquired from the Rays, Brendan Harris, is best served as a utility player instead of a starter. The Twins will not fill those holes by free agent signings, so a trade is the only way to go. Fourth, the Yankees and Red Sox are both offering far too much at this point for the Twins to pull out now. The offers the Twins have received from both are substantial, both including some of the top prospects in the game. For the Twins to pull out at this point and say they are not getting enough would be ludicrous. Look for the Twins to go home from Nashville with a suitcase full of prospects and one less staff ace.

2. Miguel Cabrera
The Marlins love playing games like this. The Angels want Miguel Cabrera. The Dodgers want Miguel Cabrera. The Angels thought they had the offer the Marlins wanted in place, with every request from the Marlins filled, only for Marlins’ general manager Larry Beinfest ask for more. The Dodgers too have found themselves in the same situation. The Marlins will insist on getting at least three stud prospects, and possibly four, for Cabrera and, really, why should they not? We are talking about one of the most feared hitters in the league, one that will not even turn 25 until mid-April. This is a player a franchise can be built around for the next six years, just not the Marlins’ franchise because that would imply putting money into the team. Beinfest will find an offer he likes eventually, because the teams bidding for Cabrera need Cabrera more than the Marlins need to move  him.

3. Andruw Jones
Somewhere in Nashville is Scott Boras. One likely can find him lurking in the shadows, clamoring on about his precious. Oh, excuse me, that would be Gollum, not Boras, but close. His precious, with Alex Rodriguez signed, would be Andruw Jones, who, despite an off year in 2007, is the best center fielder on the market. The Red Sox are shopping Coco Crisp, but all dealing with the Sox is on hold until the Santana trade is complete – either to them or elsewhere. The White Sox, Royals, and Rangers all need a center fielder, amongst others, and all could be bidding on the services of Jones. The Royals could be an interesting sleeper here to watch, as they have money to spend for a change and general manager Dayton Moore has a previous relationship with Jones from Moore’s days in Atlanta.

4. Miguel Tejada
Andy MacPhail came to the Orioles to fix the team. MacPhail does not do small fixes, and he will not be afraid to do what is clearly needed – which, in this case, is blowing up the club. To start that implosion, the Orioles need to move Tejada, who has overstayed his welcome in Baltimore and is no longer the feared power hitter he was when he first arrived. The Angels, who are feeling jilted in the Miguel Cabrera talks, are the most likely suitors here, but the Giants and Astros also have interest.

5. Érik Bédard 
This one is a little more difficult, but as we said with Tejada, to fix the Orioles, one will need to essentially start over. The Orioles are losing with their ace, Bédard will be ready to leave, if not gone, by the time the team is ready to win, so the Orioles should trade him and speed up the rebuilding process. Contract extension talks with Bédard have not proceeded as the Orioles have wanted, and they realize what must be done, so look for them to be fielding serious offers. The fact that Bédard spent time on the disabled list during the 2007 will temper offers somewhat, but one should not be shocked to see Bédard command a price not too far off what the Twins will fetch for Santana.

6. Dan Haren
You really think Billy Beane is content to see teams shopping studs without him shopping one of his own? Beane and the Athletics would rather trade a stud too soon instead of too late, and Haren’s value might never be higher. As we said with the previous two aces on this list, the list of prospects that it takes to acquire Haren is going to be long and good, and the Red Sox and Yankees are clearly players here. There is every reason to believe that the Sox are simply trying to drive the price up on Santana to a point where he does not leave Minnesota, only to then turn around and surrender to Beane what they would have traded for Santana, thus keeping one ace from the Bronx Bombers while netting one of their own. Machiavellian, perhaps, but just about everything involving Theo Epstein and the Sox has that feel of late.

7. Aaron Rowand
Whoever loses out on the Jones bidding – and, regardless of the hype after one season, Jones is the better option – will be aggressively calling Rowand’s agent. The White Sox have expressed a strong desire to bring their former center fielder back, clearly regretting dealing him.

8. Mike Cameron
The 25-game drug suspension to open 2008 means that he will sign at a discount, but who is willing to pay for that month off? The last of the quality center fielders on the market, Cameron will find a taker.

9. Joe Nathan
The Twins are blowing everything up. The Brewers desperately need a closer after their idiot ex-closer decided that one million more per season for three years was worth leaving a winner for a team with no hope of winning in the next ten years. (Sounds like we think Francisco Cordero made a mistake, doesn’t it? Yep – he did, big time.) The Brewers have significant quality still in their minors that they can trade, including Mat Gamel, a third base slugger in the mold of Ryan Braun that will not have a position opening for him anytime soon despite his studly numbers. The last quality third baseman the Twins have had was Gary  Gaetti

10. Eric Gagné
There are teams still in need of bullpen help, and Scott Boras will remind everyone of how good Gagné was with the Rangers, and of course ignore what Gagné did with the Red Sox. Some team too will ignore that second half and sign him to be their closer. Maybe the Rangers, who have insisted that their internal options are not the way to go and have shown they have no problem with signing Gagné to a one-year deal and trading them when their season is over in July. History repeats  itself…