With 8 million left on his contract and an injury plagued 2008, Cuddy has very little if any trade value. If he comes back and plays another season, he would probably have much more trade value next season.

Young and Gomez are cheap and still have tremendous upsides. Gomez really shortened up his swing toward the end of last season. Young was a completely different hitter in the second half versus the first. Both players could be poised for breakthrough years in 2009. I couldn’t bear the thought of seeing them blossom somewhere else.

Of the four, I think Span’s numbers last year were about as good as we’ll ever see. The best we can hope for is that he can maintain that kind of pace. In other words his trade value is about as high has it’s likely to ever get. The big question is the eye surgery. Did it have a real impact on Span’s hitting, or were his numbers last year just a fluke? It’s enough of a question to make a trade worth considering.