Dome plays to deep in center, Bradley and Soriano everyday and you think the defense is better this year ? Maybe Vernon Wells in center and let the rest sort itself out………..

But that wasn’t good enough apparently. Nope, Donut Jim Hendry had to go out and piss away even more money on another awful free agent outfielder signing. The right move was to bring back Edmonds. For the type of fair one year contract he would have commanded it would have mitigated any fear of him turning into Gary Gaetti.

CF is certainly a spot that we could use an upgrade in talent, unless Kosuke can turn it around (Reed’s a nice “gritty” player, but playing him every day isn’t ideal). Problem is, find me a CF that

a) Is available
b) Is playing well
c) Is enough of an upgrade to justify making a move (that is, offers a better bat and offers above average defense, as we get about average defense right now, maybe a tinge better)
d) Is likely to fit within our rumored financial range

The likelihood is great that all four of those criteria will need to be satisfied to justify a move.

Look around – it’s a seller’s market. On paper, there’s a limited number of teams that should be sellers right now – San Diego/Arizona/Cleveland/Kansas City/Oakland/Baltimore are too far out to ponder a legitimate run in the West, Washington’s the worst team in the league. Not all those teams will necessarily sell to begin with (for example, Oakland could hold onto Holliday and collect two picks, Baltimore may decide that building confidence with their kids is more important as their moveable assets may not bring enough in return, and so forth. Certainly, there will be some teams that aren’t in the above list that decide to sell. Perhaps Toronto fits into that picture, Pittsburgh seems to have a specific plan in place and are willing to give up this year for the future (the right move, imo). Maybe the next few weeks shake some things out.

Certainly, the possibility exists that a more complex Nomar-like trade could emerge, but those are typically the exception for a reason. Those trades tend to emerge out of no where and surprise. So … let’s look at what’s out there from a more basic “my vet for a couple young guys” deal structure. There’s Vernon Wells/Alex Rios, but neither guy really fits our budget, and both guys haven’t exactly been setting the world afire. Oh, I also wouldn’t swap out Wells for Soriano unless I got a lot of money – Wells from 2010-2014 has yearly salaries, according to Cots of: 10:$12.5M, 11:$23M, 12:$21M, 13:$21M, 14:$21M (compare that to Soriano’s 2010-2014: 10-14:$18M annually). I’d do it for Rios, but anyhow, the reality of a big contract swap like that is slim.

What else? Kansas City can offer the struggling Crisp and DeJesus. Fun … nope. Sizemore is a no (as in no, he won’t be available). Oakland has Ryan Sweeney, who has developed much better than I thought. He has a very solid away line. That said, they don’t have much else in ways of CF talent behind Sweeney, and he’s young and cheap. The Nats and Nyjer Morgan? Maybe a brief thought. Even if the D-backs offered up Chris Young, I’m not sure I’d be interested. The Padres have a Scott Hairston, who’s hitting for more power than I ever anticipated. They aren’t going to fork over a guy like that, cheap and productive, without demanding a lot, though.

Is there a more complex trade idea that we can take stabs at? Typically, it’d come with teams with excess OF talent to try and fit a need. Minnesota? Olney suggested the other day that they may listen on a Denard Span could perhaps get the Braves interested enough in a Yunel Escobar swap. As much as he’s in the doghouse in Atlanta, we don’t have an Escobar like talent to offer. Seems unlikely. Juan Pierre and the Dodgers certainly will get brought up, but I’m not so sure they move him (they can deal chips to get pitching as their system has enough depth to make a move if they so desire – in fact, dealing chips can likely net a better return than Juan). I’m also not sure the Cubs will revisit that route (financial factors as well).

So, we have guys like Ryan Sweeney, Nyjer Morgan, and Scott Hairston that probably top the list of guys that fit all 4 of the above potential qualifications. Hairston’s a different beast from those two, offering some pop. Sweeney and Morgan are nice guys, but it makes me think that we should give Sam Fuld a long look before we ponder another CF move if we pursue that route.

Short of it, slim pickings.