Ellsbury’s talent level is about equal to that of Damon’s in my opinion. I think Damon has more current power, but Ellsbury is as good on the bases and will be a better defender with a better arm.

Where Damon is superior for me is in plate coverage and discipline. But Ellsbury is a legit center fielder who won’t hurt clubs with his range or his arm.

Neither guy belongs in the same conversation with Jones when it comes to natural, physical tools and power potential.

I’d disagree that Ellsbury might have a Lofton-level ceiling. Lofton’s best 10 seasons has him hitting .320 with 40+ doubles/triples 10-15 homers, great range in center with an average to above-average arm… but his name was made by getting on base, not striking out and wreaking havoc on the bases.

Ellsbury is a really good basestealer, but not to the level Lofton has been since 92. And if Ellsbury gets on base the way Lofton did in his best 10 years, I’ll be shocked.

.372 career clip, five times above .390, four above .400… It’s difficult to see Ellsbury putting those kinds of OBPs up more than once or twice, if ever. And Kenny has done it consistently for 15 years.

But Jones, and Ellsbury to a lesser extent, have the physical skills and athletic tools to be more than that. Jones has a shot to be an 10-time all-star.

re: Jones/Ellsbury

Ellsbury is simply closer to being ready to perform at a starter’s level… that doesn’t make him a better overall talent.

It’s like this: Jones is probably a Hunter-Cameron- level player with a chance to be somewhere between Vernon Wells and Andruw Jones offensively.

Ellsbury is probably a Kotsay-to-Rowand level player with a GOOD chance to be Damon with better defense. He has very little chance to be a whole lot more than that, though that’s a pretty good player.

Would you prefer the guy who’s more likely to be Damon over a guy who’s a little less likely to be Wells-Andruw Jones?

I wouldn’t.

In fact, AJ’s probable of Cameron-Hunter is better than Ellsbury’s ceiling.

Ellsbury is going to be a solid player. Jones is going to be a solid player, but has a much, much better shot to be a whole lot more than just solid.

“If I had to venture a guess on who the Mariners end up with this winter, I’m only comfortable saying this.

It won’t include anyone named in the Mitchell Report.”

Price is down if less teams are interested. I really doubt Roberts gets traded at all, unless ownerships love for him has suddenly diminished due to the report. It didn’t seem very likely to happen before he was named, but now I doubt there’s a team that would value him enough to get him.

It has more to do with Ellsbury than it does Jones. I understand Jones’ upside/potential so don’t try and act like I don’t. But Ellsbury just got done hitting .353 and 3 HR in 33 games last year in the regular season, and he hit .438 in the WS. And I don’t think there’s any doubt Ellsbury is the better fielder. Adam Jones is going to have to prove to put up numbers in the MLB before he’s clearly sure better than Jones. Ellsbury is a guy that could win batting titles for crying out loud, and he’s already shown he’s capable of doing it.

Now that Roberts has been named as a chemically enhanced player, any chance that the price for him has dropped a slight amount where it makes it feasible to go after him? I’d package Lopez and a mid-level guy for him in a second, maybe even Balentien.

Bedard and Roberts is what I was all for, but I don’t think a deal for Bedard alone would be worth it from the packages I’ve seen. Teams really shouldn’t have to trade players that are ML ready for an All-Star, but then Bedard hasn’t even earned that honor yet, so really, why does anyone think he’s worth 3 ML ready players. When the crack runs out in Baltimore maybe there’s a deal to be made, but so far I haven’t even liked the rumored M’s offers.

Signing before playing here? I wouldn’t want to sign a long-term deal with the M’s right now. There’s really no convincing me that the average ballplayer doesn’t know the difference between Soriano and Ramirez. They have seen how bad Bavasi does in trades and that gives an obvious disadvantage to the team going anywhere. You’re surprised that there’s no trade + extend deals for TOR pitchers???I’m really not. Silva’s the best we can do? Unless there’s a Player/Agent combo that’s not paying attention I don’t expect much better with Bavasi at the helm. I think his horrible trades have undermined the teams ability to acquire good talent through anything but the farm. Good idea to reap and sell the fruits? I don’t think so.

I’m on record saying I would not trade Jones for Bedard straight up, even with a two-year extension (meaning he’d stay for four years).

I stand by that.

It’s just as much about Bedard as it is Jones.