Winn is actually imo a pretty good defender(eyeball test, not stats). I think he is an ideal #8 hitter or a #2 hitter in an actual offense. He could be considered a pretty good hitter in those slots. Winn always gets super hot for two to three weeks from both sides.

Honestly, how much do we really believe that major league GMs scour local papers from around the country to find out who they might be able to obtain in trade and at what price? If he wants teams to know that they can’t have his vets for crap, wouldn’t the most efficient way to communicate that be to tell them “no, I won’t trade you X for Y. You’ll have to do a lot better than that crap.”

Frankly, the whole notion that Sabean is some inscrutable Svengali who never shows his cards is rather ridiculous. His mid-season trades have hardly come out of the blue, nor most of his FA signings. We knew he was looking to get a premier starting pitcher before both the Ponson and Schmidt deals happened. We knew he thought the ‘97 team was in dire need of pitching help. Listening to him weekly on Barbieri’s show he frequently says of himself that one of the problems he’s had in the business is that he’s so open and honest, and I don’t know that I’ve seen a lot of evidence to dispute that much.

In addition to the $8M this year, he’s also owed $8.5M in 2009. He plays good D in the corners. He’s struggled to be even an average hitter in the last couple years, OPS+ of 81 this year, 105 in 2007, 84 in 2006. His career OPS+ is 101. Kenny Lofton, who’s slightly better offensively, maybe slightly worse defensively, is jobless.

Why shouldn’t other GMs offer crap for Randy Winn?

What, in your opinion, is a fair trade for Randy Winn?

Yeah, he’s merely a mediocre CF, as opposed to bad corner. Maybe someone takes a flyer on him, for some A-ball arm. Molina actually has some trade value… of course, he also actually OK.

which happens to be Winn’s best year, 337, 247, 275, 251. Kenny Lofton’s EQA during that same period, 289, 272, 272, jobless. Winn’s career EQA is 265, Lofton’s career EQA is 277.

Lofton can also play CF. In fact, unlike Winn, even in 2007, Lofton played more games in CF than any other position. Lofton is jobless. Why would a GM trade a couple of lesser prospects for Winn, when Lofton is available?

Assume Winn is a CF. League average EQA in CF in 2008 is 263. CFs with more than 100 PAs in who have EQAs above 263, the average for CFs in 2008:

Nate McLouth
Josh Hamilton
Rick Ankiel
Grady Sizemore
Aaron Rowand
Carlos Beltran
Torii Hunter
Jacoby Ellsbury
BJ Upton
Mark Kotsay
Chris Young
Ichiro Suzuki
Vernon Wells (now injured)
Jayson Werth
Carlos Gomez
Melky Cabrera
David DeJesus
Ryan Sweeney

Now, some of these guys are not “real” CFs, Ryan Sweeney and Jayson Werth, but then, neither is Winn. Also, Curtin Granderson has a 287 EQA, but obviously doesn’t have many PAs, due to missing time early in the season with an injury.

Let’s assume that Winn can get back to his career average. That means offensively, he would be a marginally above average CF. One thing to keep in mind though is that Winn’s has NOT been “unlucky” with BABIP. His BABIP is 322. His struggles are due to his complete loss of power. His home run per flyball is a pathetic 2.8%. It was 9.8% in 2007, 6.8% in 2006. League average is 10%.

Could some contenders use Winn, if Winn gets back to around a 265 EQA? Sure. The Dodgers. But, would Colletti be dumb enough to acquire yet another high priced veteran OF, when his 2 young OFs are playing so well? The Cubs could also use a CF.

The main problem with teams acquiring Winn though, is that Kenny Lofton is still jobless.