I have no reason to believe this is even possible, but how do people feel about a Luke Scott for Ryan Garko switch?

Baltimore has expressed interest in Garko before, he plays 1B for them and relegates Huff to DH.  Scott isn't needed in LF with the acquisition of Pie, whom they have declared will start in LF. 

Luke Scott is a plus defender in LF and a better hitter than Francisco (in my opinion).  I think Scott improves our lineup, but maybe I'm wrong.  However, maybe this trade is better in June when LaPorta needs to play 1B.

Thoughts?

The Indians don't have a lot of left-handed relief depth.  Rafael Perez is beyond fine, but then it drops off to Rich Rundles and Tony Sipp.  Sipp has potential, of course, but it is a position of need for the Indians.

A couple of links that demonstrate the Indians interest in Ohman can be found here, here, and here.  The quality of the links aren't high, but lots of outlets keep including the Indians in a laundry list of teams that are in on Ohman.

Do you think the Indians still have the cash available for another signing?  My guess is Ohman could be had for 2 years, 5-6 million.  Bill James and Marcels project him as a decent lefty out of the pen, he looks even better a second lefty behind Perez.

Are there other LHRPs you'd rather the Indians target?  Do you think Shapiro has access to a little more scratch to get another signing like this done?

Wood
Betancourt
Perez
Smith
J. Lewis
Kobayashi
Ohman

That looks like a pretty solid bullpen, with big arms like Miller, Meloan, and Sipp a phone call away.

Well, the Indians are getting closer to being finished this offseason.  Does the FO really see Valbuena as the immediate solution to 2B?  Is the FO satisfied with Marte and Barfield battling it out at the last chance saloon in Goodyear?  Is the FO ready to go with their surplus of 4th and 5th starters as the 3/4/5 in the rotation?

What direction do you think the FO should take with the remainder of its offseason resources?  Lets cover the options:

1. Sign an infielder to play 2nd or 3rd in 2009.  The options include Joe Crede, Ty Wiggington, Craig Counsell, Juan Uribe at 3B and Ray Durham, Jerry Hairston Jr, Mark Grudzielanek, Damion Easley, or Aaron Miles at 2B.

2. Sign another starting pitcher.  The affordable and semi-affordable options include Freddy Garcia, Jon Garland, Randy Wolf, Chuck James, Braden Looper, Brad Penny, Odalis or Oliver Perez, and Tim Redding.

3. Trade for another starting pitcher.  The most likely scenario involves Kelly Shoppach.  The Red Sox seem like a likely suitor with Justin Masterson a potential target.

4. Trade for another infielder.  I heard one person throw out a Shoppach for Jed Lowrie trade, but I don't like that scenario any more now that Valbuena is in the fold.

5. Stay put.  This option means you are comfortable with having 3 of the following names in the rotation for 2009: Anthony Reyes, Jeremy Sowers, Scott Lewis, Aaron Laffey and Zach Jackson.  This also means you are comfortable with either Barfield, Marte or Valbuena breaking camp as an every day starter.

Please vote in the poll and then use the comments to discuss your answer.  Personally I would prefer to sign a starting pitcher and keep Shoppach for a mid-season acquisition that could put us over the top.

I know it isn't Shapiro's style - but why not make a splash in the FA market?

Would 3 years - 40 million get you any of the following starters?

AJ Burnett - no, the Yankees will go higher
Randy Wolf
Ryan Dempster - will the Cubs go 4 years?
Oliver Perez - do the Mets out bid?
Ben Sheets - surely he'll get more, but maybe he's in play for this amount
Derek Lowe - is he a 15 million dollar man in this market?

If you could splash the cash on one of these starters, who would it be, and for how much?

Though perhaps Brad Penny or another injury reclamation is more Shap's style.

I guess I'll open the bidding on second tier guys like Jon Garland, Kyle Lohse, or Braden Looper.

I've been thinking about this lately and wanted to get some feedback from you all.

Is there any data to suggest that draft-eligible players hurt their long-term earnings potential by signing with Scott Boras?  Sure, in the short-term they will probably get paid 'over slot' and maybe even secure an MLB deal in addition to their signing bonus.  However, do the negatives outweigh the positives?

For instance, do these players tend to struggle with the weight of expectation in the minors?  Is there any way to find out which agent has the highest success rate in terms of getting players to the majors?

I understand why Manny and K-Rod would want Boras as their agent, but why would an MLB first rounder?  Surely the difference in signing bonus is negligible and possibly outweighed by the pressure of being a Boras client.

Also, don't Boras clients often slip in the draft so that teams can pay them less?  Maybe a player slips down to a lower slot, so that a team ends up paying them for the higher slot anyway?

Has anyone seen any good articles/research on this?