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Do you believe McBroom leaving to play in Asia means O'Hearn will be spared and kept on the 40 man roster? My hope is he is non tendered and ultimately released. I don't want to see Pratto or Vinnie blocked at AAA.

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Good question I've been wondering about as well. I just don't see the spot for O'Hearn. And with last year's -.9 WAR and career -2.3 WAR I don't know where he'd go. I'm still hopeful for a trade where we trade one or two of our 'sell high' prospects for a proven starter and maybe we throw O'hearn to free another spot.

If as Bob Dylan sang "the loser now (presumably us) shall be later to win" then there must be someone whose been winning who's ready to lose and doesn't have the depth and will need a throw in guy. One can hope!

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I’m split. On one hand, I feel like there isn’t much for the team to do at this point. On the other…I can see them making an impact trade along the lines of the Shields/Davis deal. A lot of avenues are open at this point.

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Reading back through the article - he's almost sure to be released.

We have to finalize the 40 by Nov. 19. The CBA won't be negotiated by then AND no trades are going to go down before that happens, so he'd only wind up in a trade if we released him and somehow he wound up back with us. So this could finally be the end of our two Ryans...

And frankly, that's a REALLY good sign for us as an organization. Instead of holding on to the hope that fringe players suddenly turn the corner and become legitimate everyday players - we're in a position to tell those players "you gots to go!"

Being optimistic by nature, I believe that if the cards fall into place (and I'm talking about good cards, not the McBroom and O'Hearn variety) that we could be a Shields/Davis deal away from becoming a legitimate contender. With a backlog of 'sell-high' prospects in the wings, I'm all for a trade.

Of course when we cut that deal, most thought we got fleeced at the time. Going back, I think we all can agree that back-to-back WS and a Championship do not happen if we did not make that trade.

By my estimate, we are at least two position players heavy and probably two pitchers. Perez isn't going anywhere obviously and we don't need both Gallagher and Melendez.

Dozier is a utility backup at this point. We don't need Santana, but he's gonna stay probably, which means now you have those two, as well as Pratto who can man first - we don't need all three of them.

Nicky, BWJ, Whit, Monde - one of them is an extra outfield Utility/Corner fielder (again along Dozier).

I see an opportunity to move Gallagher (solid backup C's who can play everyday are always in demand), one of each of our field and pitching prospects and clear up the backlog, and not decimate the Minors. If we could move a combination like that for a proven front line starter we'd be silly not to IMO.

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I would imagine O’Hearn is released ahead of the tender deadline to free up space on the 40-man. If he somehow survives that, he’s a good candidate for a non-tender.

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