@J Daniels: you might also want to proofread your posts. Attention to detail is a quality I would expect from someone who wants to ne the GM.

That trade will NEVER go down and if have half a frontal lobe you will agree. GEEEEEEEEEEEEE! The things I have to deal with as GM. Elvis for a MLer? That sounds like something that Nolan would suggest.

*MLer+minor leaguer

Excuse me, I'm laughing so hard I mistyped. MLer=minor leaguer

Elvis for a MLer?

Yeah, because a star player has NEVER been traded for some minor leaguer. Like in the history of ever. How could we all have missed that?

And what's with the hyper-linked adds all of the sudden? Did Joey sell his soul for more revenue streams after hit went big time?

The Henchman,
Why don'y you wake him up and ask him?

Was that supposed to be a comeback JonJon? You must have sucked at childhood.

Henchman,
From what I hear you still suck. LITERALLY & FIGURATIVELY. OUCH!

Two top ten (and probably untouchable according to most) prospects were packaged WITH OTHERS for James Shields and RA Dickey. I have a hard time believing the Cardinals would scoff at Tavares for EA straight up. They may not want to add much to it, but one for one is pretty close to a no brainer for them I'd think. But, I dont think JD does that if hes not even willing to move EA for upton. Honestly, I'm not really sure what JD's plan is.

I get what you are all saying about the RA Dickey and James Shields trades. At face value, sure that makes sense. But most of you aren't accounting for the biggest motivating factor in all of these trades...2 desperate franchises tired of losing and wanting to win now. That trumps any and all logic.

If the Cardinals said "Taveras for Elvis straight up", I highly doubt there would be any hesitancy in that trade happening. I make it with zero second guessing. The cost surplus could/would be huge with Profar and Taveras in the lineup together. Here's to hoping Furcal hits the injury bug early.

If you think the Rangers would trade Elvis head up for Tavares you are delusional. From all reports they wouldn't do it for Upton. THINK

Taveras > Upton when you take into account ALL facets of the player, contract and control. The odds of you comprehending that are pretty slim though.
"THINK"

An Andrus for Taveras trade is a possibility, that The Cardinals are trying to avoid. The scenario for the Cards is that Furcal is not ready for 2013, then a top of the line shortstop is needed for the Cards to go to the WS. Andrus fits that scenario, and would be costly, and Taveras is a good fit. To avoid this happening, the Cardinals just signed Ronny Cedeno. So Plan A [Furcal] and Plan B [Cedeno] would have to be unsuccessful first, but it is not hard to see Plan C developing over the 2013 season. Offer Taveras for Andrus to make it to the playoffs for 2013. From both sides, this would not be their Plan A or B, but doing a long season Plan Cs often mature. The greater risk is for the Rangers, especially those who remember Ruben Mateo {whose numbers at AA look very similar to a 2012 Taveras}, for a prospect is a prospect until proven at the MLB. Taveras has huge upside as does Olt and Profar, so did Mateo; however, Andrus has already proven himself as an all star and debatable, one of the 3 best shortstops in the MLB. ALL-STAR LEVEL SHORTSTOP > ALL-STAR LEVEL OUTFIELDER??

So I am curious about this tiny E 4 for taveras. I am curious because if tiny Eve were to come out and say he wanted an expansion would we be talking about a trade? The main fuel behind this trade idea seems to be the thought that tiny Eve will leave here in 2 years and the fact that we have the top prospect in the game who happens to play his same position. What happens if we trade him and our prospect does not pan out? People may get upset but profar may not pan out. If we trade tiny E and profar does not pan out where would we be the in.

@not that eric: in regards to "Perez is what he is. A maybe #4-5 pithcher whose value has declined to half of what it was 1-2 yrs ago. A reasonable comp would be Edinson volquez. He should be the lesson we learn from hoarding rather than trading prospects."
Ummm, I'd be ecstatic if Perez is the 2nd coming of Volquez... but Perez isn't an emotional, immature jackass like Volquez and his mechanics are more fluid and repeatable than Mr. "Through Your Whole Body At The Batter" Volquez. Have you ever seen Volquez pitch? He was an injury waiting to happen.
We cannot pass judgement on Perez's small sample size (in the big leagues). I know he also struggled some at AAA but he was one of the youngest kids pitching at that level... a level in which most of the hitters are 27 or 28 yr old journeyman that know how to work a pitcher. They may not be as talented as what he saw in AA, but they are way more crafty and savvy in making a young pitcher earn his keep.
When Perez came up he did struggle...but c'mon, he's a pup. I have a 21 yr old son that God help us if he was ever in charge of pitching in front of 40,000 people in the heat of a pennant race. Like 99% of all 21 yr olds, my son is immature and irresponsible... but just because Perez is pitching to 30 yr olds doesn't mean he has that same level of maturity. He is going to need time.
I believe his career path will be very similiar to Holland's in that he's going to have his ups and downs, especially for the next year or 2... or even 3, but he will figure out how to pitch and I would be shocked if his long term career has him at the back end of a rotation. If JD and co. really thought that Perez projects to be a #4 or #5, they would have traded him when he was still considered a top prospect ... but they know they have something very rare and very special and I trust their judgement... and more importantly, I trust the Maddux brothers will get the most out of him and teach him the nuances of pitching at this level. In other words, they will teach him how to pitch. Look what they've done with Harrison and to a lesser extent, Holland. Holland's problem is between the ears but he will soon figure it out too. The same could be said about Harrison, and Maddux has turned him into a legit #2 or #3.

I'm not a scout but I do know how to read... and I have been following Perez for as long as everyone else on this website and everything I've read for the past 3 or 4 yrs now says he has the stuff to be a stud. There's no way that everyone that knows baseball a hell of alot more than me, are wrong. The only thing that scouts, bloggers, radio hosts, etc... can't judge is confidence and will/determination. If Perez's pschye is fragile, then he may be a bust... but I don't think that's the case at all. He just needs to learn how to pitch.
If we rewind to the beggining of the 2011 season, he was pitching in A ball. He quickly moved to AA and then into AAA at the start of last year. Again, he's just a kid. Give him time. One day, maybe this year, maybe next year, maybe even the year after that, it will click and he will be the heir apparent to Darvish... just be patient... he's too good for it not to happen.

P1 Stefen, I agree with most of what you say regarding the Royals and Jays. But, I can't really put those two in the same boat... After their trade with Miami, Toronto is clearly all in for this year... and with perceived weakness in the yankees and sox, they have a very legit shot for the post season..

In addition, while D'arnaud has much higher upside than Arencibia, Arencibia along with Thole is respectable...

The Blue Jays I just can't justify... who the heck knows what they are doing.... and I think that trade was one of the stupidest in recent memory...

The chances of the Cardinals a smart disciplined organization trading Taveras are pretty thin... he probably needs six months to a year more of seasoning and then when Beltran leaves there is a perfect spot for him...

I would say the best hope for a trade between the two clubs, is a Furcal injury, and a breakout season by Matt Adams to the point where they may think they need Elvis more than Taveras for a year or two down the road...

oops.. i meant the "royals i can't justify"

Pablo;

Go back to your tacos.

Im starting to think that half of yall don't know who Oscar Taveras is. People keep saying that JD turned down 3 years of Upton for 2 years of Elvis, and I think thats untrue. I guarantee you that if the trade was Upton straight up for Elvis that Justin Upton would probably be here. It was Elvis PLUS for JUps and thats why JD didn't trade him. Put this in perspective, Oscar Taveras will probably be the best prospect in baseball this year or the next, If he is still in the minors. A package of Profar, Taveras, and lets say Martin Perez can probably get you Giancarlo Stanton or David Price. Or you could keep Profar and Taveras and have one of the most exciting SS/CF tandems in the game. Taveras hit 20 HR with a 950 OPS last year in AA at 19. Elvis for Taveras is a legit possibility on both sides. Im not a GM and I never said I was, but personally I would take this deal if the Cardinals were willing (which I dont think they are). (Its not like Elvis will be here in 3 years anyway, might as well have Taveras for at least 6)

Jurickson, by all accounts, Taveras is a COF and not a CF...

If the rangers got taveras for elvis, I can't envision a Profar, plus Taveras, plus perez for Stanton or Price... then you don't have a shortstop...

Maybe Olt, Taveras and Perez..

And Taveras could just as well be the next RUBEN MATEO. Interesting, Mateo had numbers at 34 that looked similar to Taveras. Ruben playing at Ciudad del Carmen in the Mexican League last year batted .323 with 29db, 25 hrs, 83 rbi and a decent rate of K [65] in 370 at bats. The Rangers could do worse in inviting Mateo to Spring Training as a hedge in the Cruz situation as the right handed outfielder. Do like the thought of Taveras, Profar, Martin and Olt in the same lineup, with a quick rise behind the plate of Alfaro and Deglan, and Guzman, Gallo, Garcia, Odor and Sardinas in the infield and Belte, Beras, Brinson, Mazara and Williams in the future outfield. Taveras's most impressive attribute is an incredible plate discipline, which often translates to the MLB, as we will see with Martin. But they are all unproven at MLB level, Andrus is a proven all star level shortstop. So a Taveras even up for Andrus trade is a greater risk for the Rangers.

Thank you juricksoon. Well said.

As of right now Taveras is a CF, MM. Not a COF.

Taveras has a strong arm but mediocre speed, when he makes it to the MLB he will fit best in as a corner outfielder. He has played more center then the corners in his minor league career, but aside for the Card's position needs, he will come up as a right fielder. He primarily played center field for Springfield last year, however he also saw playing time in both corners.

Thanks for that info aHokie. Some scouts say he has speed that is a like that of Josh Hamilton, and we all know that Josh was a very good CF for a while. He would have more value at center but yeah his bat profiles as a RF well also, so he could play both.