Sunday Rockpile:

So Willy Taveras was claimed off waivers, and the team seems disinclined to trade him to whomever it was that made said claim, wisely, as the benefits of having a player like Willy T (limited that they are) will almost certainly be better sold on an open market than to one interested, but likely not desperate, party. What are we going to get for Taveras in an open market? It's sort of debatable, Taveras has enough AB's in the majors now so everybody knows exactly what he is, a middle of the road contact, relatively low OBP speedster with plus defensive capabilities in center field. He's not the type of player that would get a significant Coors Field boost (none this year, in fact) and that's probably skewing his OPS+ and other field adjusted stats (59) down from where they really should be. Still, any adjustment won't suddenly make him into a positive force for any lineup on a regular basis, and it seems his starting days should be numbered. Any right-minded acquiring team would likely be seeking him as a quality defensive backup, pinch hitter/runner for late game strategy. In this role, Taveras should have some value. The wild card could be that there's not a right-minded team (or one that's in rebuilding phase) out there that really does feel he's a starting caliber player, and then maybe we could get a premium. I don't know. I'm not expecting much for a Taveras trade, I don't think the team is either, and that's why it's almost guaranteed to be a better deal in the offseason when 29 teams capable of bidding allows more of a chance for a pleasant surprise.

Also noted there is Yorvit Torrealba's DL stint, and I should have brought this up when he got injured earlier in the month, but the team's decision to use Adam Melhuse rather than Edwin Bellorin is a pretty clear lack of confidence vote in the latter. Melhuse is anything but a long term solution, even as a backup and this leaves an open door for guys further down in the system to take advantage and climb the depth charts to be CDI's backup. I've been high on Mike McKenry, but he's not even out of A ball yet and a breakout by any of our young catchers in 2009 could result in a shake-up of the order we have things.