In his latest appearance on WEEI's Big Show, Peter Gammons opines that the trade deadline isn't as significant as it's made out to be. He cites only a handful of teams over the last decade who have made the World Series after making major deals prior to the deadline, arguing that the idea of pennant-altering trades is "essentially fiction." Here are a few other interesting tidbits from Gammons' conversation:
- Gammons thinks Rick Ankiel could be a good fit for the Red Sox, if he shows that he's healthy.
- The Angels' top priority this offseason will probably be trying to sign Carl Crawford. Gammons notes that the club put Crawford's locker next to Torii Hunter's at the All-Star Game.
- The Rockies aren't eager to trade Chris Iannetta, hoping instead to platoon him with Brad Hawpe at first base as long as Todd Helton is out.
- The Red Sox could try to make a run at Russell Martin, rather than Iannetta, since Martin's price tag may be getting too high for the Dodgers.
- There's still a chance the Sox could be sellers this year if they fall out of contention, though it's more likely to happen in August than before July 31st.
Gammons is biased twoards the red sox, and his comment twoards the trade deadline being insignificant is rediculous.
Very True
He didn’t say it’s insignificant. He said it’s “not as significant as it’s made out to be.” Huge difference. And he’s right. Was 2004 not the last time a deadline deal potentially changed a W.S. outcome?
he also said essentially fiction which is basicly the same as insignificant, the cards picking up holliday was significant last year. its not just for the world series but for the playoff run, and most of the time its not the big names that make an impact at the deadline its the guys who fill in as reserves for injured players. these players help their team make it down the stretch. and you cant forget cliff lee to the phillies
I’m not going to debate word choice. His point was it’s not a big a deal as it’s made out to be, and he’s right. If the goal of a trade deadline deal is to get you to the World Series and ideally win it, he’s well beyond right. Lee was big for the Phillies, so that is another good example.
I have said since last year, Crawford will be a Halo or White Sox.
He is the ideal Kenny Williams player and fit’s exactly what the club has been trying to do for the last couple of years (get faster and better on defense).
As for the Angels, Torri will recruit him, Reagins will sign him, and Moreno will pay him.
I don’t think he would go to the NYY or Red Sox and do that to the Ray’s.
However, the Cubs and Mets could throw a lot of $$$ at him.
And the Dodgers could be in play if the ownership situation is resolved.
theres always a chance that he signs there, i have heard in the past he is heavily interested in the yankees
They’ll have to move Swisher or Granderson. Gardener has earned an everyday job and is relatively cheap.
They will also have to re-sign Jeter and Rivera (which won’t be cheap), and they will be in the Cliff Lee sweepstakes as well.
I know the Yankees aren’t afraid to spend, but nobody’s budget is infinite. They owe a lot of money to a lot of veterans for a lot of years.
At some point they are going to have to realize that they can’t pay 35-40 year olds 20 mil a year and expect to compete. Most of the Veteran’s they have locked up will be paid big $$$ well into their late 30’s.
im sure granderson could be moved to right while swish is the dh. they could move the outfield situation to accompany crawford. and depending on wat happens with haren the yanks might not be in on lee
I don’t think that he wouldn’t choose to play for red sox or yankees just because he has to play the rays 18 teams that year..
However I do feel as if he will sign outside of the division. It will be nice NOT to face the yankees and red sox rotation so much.
Cubs? I guess if they are going to blow their payroll past $160m. Same for the Mets.
The team that makes the most sense in my mind is Detroit.
1. Have more money coming off the books than any other team.
2. They have a need in the outfield.
3. They have a huge outfield and getting a guy like Crawford is huge.
4. There is pressure to win every year in Detroit given their payroll.
The Yanks will be in the mix like they are for every big name player. The Angels will make a push but they already have their outfield of Rivera, Abreu, and Hunter (although I hope two of those guys are moved by the deadline).
It’s going to come down to the Yankees or Tigers.
who said russell martin was available?
thats wat im saying gammons just throws up names if they seem convienient to the red sox
He’s on a Boston radio program, being asked about the Red Sox. Teams have their names in the hat on a bunch of different players. Gammons, being one of the 5 or so most inside guys of all of baseball, knows all the guys the Sox are in on. You can throw him on an LA sports radio show and he’d have the same info about the Dodgers.
its shotty reporting theres no reason to throw up names when there has been no other confirmed sources. i understand its a red sox radio but its still not justified
There is a difference between throwing names up and informed speculation. Saying the Sox could acquire Brian McCann is throwing names up. Saying they could acquire Russell Martin is informed speculation. The Dodgers payroll issues are well documented and the McCourts’ divorce does not seem to be ending amicably nor is it ending anytime soon. Russell Martin is going to make around 6.5 to 7 million dollars next year in arbitration. They also have to go to arbitration with Kemp, Loney, Broxton, Billingsly and Kuo, and have to add a Left Fielder and 2 starting pitchers. It is not unreasonable by any means to think the dodgers may want to get rid of an underperforming Martin and allocate his payroll space elsewhere.
You’re justifying the difference. but realistically mentioning mccann or martin is the exact same thing.
No it’s not.
Kemp and Broxton are under contract next year.
You’re right thats my bad, I must have been looking at 2009. The point is the same, they are both getting $3 million dollar raises and the dodgers have some holes to fill.
You’re right thats my bad, I must have been looking at 2009. The point is the same, they are both getting $3 million dollar raises and the dodgers have some holes to fill.
I live in LA and when he comes on here all he talks about are the guys who could make the Angels or Dodgers better. So to know that he was on a Red Sox station makes me surprised because he didn’t talk about the Sox more.
He has basically regressed offensively and defensively every year since 2007. He is only going to get more expensive…might be a smart idea to try and move him.
Yeah, plus they have Carlos Santana being blocked in the min…oh wait
if hes regressed how is he going to get more expensive?
Because you get more money virtually every year through arbitration. He has avoided arbitration by signing one year deals, but each year he has gotten a raise.
Gammons should just retire.
Why’s this? He’s one of the best writers/reports in all of baseball, in addition to being one of those most respected. Dude’s a HOF’er.
lets face it hes passed his prime, and thats being nice. hes discrediting himself with these reports
Saying that Gammons is past his prime is discrediting yourself a blog commentor. If you’re going to call out Gammons, who is widely regarded as one of the best reporters on baseball, you have to discredit the entire sports industry. All I need as evidence of this is all the nonsense that went on with LeBron speculation. It’s poor journalism, complete guessing, taking 2nd, 3rd and 4th hand info as fact.
Gammons can call up anybody in baseball and have facts. And I’ll state again, him mentioning that any team, Red Sox or not, is interested in a player, isn’t discrediting himself. Lots of teams are interested in lots of players – and he happens to have almost all of this info.
Do you really believe that? That he can just call anyone and get his information? Pretty naive on your part to think that anyone in baseball likes him that much to show their cards and give any information to him that shouldn’t be leaked.
Do you have any idea how sports journalism works? Gammons is on a short list with guys like Olney and Rosenthal, who yes, can get better info than anyone else. Is he literally calling “anyone?” – no, but he has a contact list that’s as good as it gets.
If you want to debate how rock solid this info is, that’s a different conversation. GM’s intentionally float wrong information (and use the press to do it).
i would say that iff somehow the rangers could retain lee and crawford. that would make them an even better contender in the AL especially because they would be taking to possible targets away from the yankees
I see Gammons aka “The Boston Lap Dog” is at it again.
Says the unbiased Yankees fan.
and im sure if the Red Sox were about to acquire Adrian Gonzalez from the Padres Gammons wouldnt be saying the deadline is insignificant
As much as I respect Mr. Gammons, and I really, really do, his “news” on programs both local and national have almost become parodies of themselves. I have to believe that any time Gammons drops names its informed speculation, but I have to disagree in regards to his favoritism in regards to Boston. There is no way Gammons would bleed Dodger Blue if he was on in LA. The guy is the epitome of being a Bosox fan, and to that extent he is a homer.
With that in mind, is it really news that Crawford’s locker was next to Hunter’s? Whose was on the other side, and where might they be playing next year? And there are dozens of players that could be good fits for Boston if they stay healthy.
I’m surprised he didn’t announce that George Costanza would be a nice fit in the Boston front office if he could only be pried away from the Yankees.
We don’t want ankeil!!!
Typical Gammons propping up Doubrount and Stolmy Pimental in an attempt to help Boston dupe another GM into trading stars for them. You notice he also subtly put Casey Kelly down a notch to take the heat off his name in potential trade talks.
Glad to see the Red Sox PR machine is at work here, although I’m stunned he didn’t tell the world that Josh Reddick is the next Josh Hamilton and Bowden is ready to dominate as a top of the rotation starter any second now. In that respect, he showed an ounce of restraint.
Still trying to wrap my head around his ESPN column a few years back where he declared that Manny Delcarmen was the best reliever in baseball.
You got to love his homerism though. He actually thinks if the Red Sox have their rotation back they will win 4 out of 5 starts. Uh huh. That means Bard and Papelbum will be closing 4 out 5 nights a week. Yeah, that’ll work.
I agree. I am sick of GMs ignoring their scouts and front office staff and basing their entire player evaluation on Peter Gammons’ Boston Radio Interviews. He is a nuisance to the game and must be stopped!
As far as the ESPN column goes, I am pretty sure he said that Manny Delcarmen would be a good closer in the NL. I wouldn’t let your irrational hate get in the way of facts though. Fun with small sample sizes, Delcarmen has a 3.30 ERA and 1.167 Whip in 32 inter-league games. Get him to the Diamondbacks.
LOL
Yeah, it’s my irrational hate….I mean, it’s not like he compared Daniel Nava to Todd Helton, Chase Utley and Lance Berkman in a recent column.
The same Nava who is currently playing in Pawtucket.
Yup, the same Nava who hit .286/.381/.451/.832 in 105 PA’s over 29 games in the AL East. The same Nava with an +119 OPS. The same Nava who made no errors in all 27 defensive appearances over 216 innings in the field. Here’s Todd Helton’s 1997 slash-line (his 1st 35 gms in the bigs): .280/.337/.484/.821 +96 OPS. Helton also made no errors in his first 35 games. Eerily similar, don’t ya think?
Then why is he in Pawtucket?
Also Helton was MUCH younger his first season in the bigs than Nava is. Nava’s not a prospect. He’s triple A filler.
But he’s better than the immortal Josh Reddick who every time he gets called up is back in the minors before you can photograph him.
Quite simply he’s in Pawtucket because we gave Jeremy Hermida a $3MM+ major league contract, Hermida just came off the DL, we needed a roster spot for Hermida and Nava still has options remaining. So we optioned him to Pawtucket in order to avoid having to release or DFA anyone. I’m sure he’ll be back. Yeah, Helton was 23 at the time he broke into the bigs. Nava is 27. If Nava can put up the same numbers throughout a hypothetical 9 year career (until he’s 36), he’d be one hell of an asset to any team. I think Nava is a legit prospect, but I do admit he needs to demonstrate he can consistently maintain those kinds of numbers before he becomes a prospect of any significant value. There’s a difference between “being a prospect,” and having “substantial value.” For now, I think most GM’s wouldn’t mind having Nava thrown in a deal as an add-on, but he’s not going to be a centerpiece just yet. If he maintains or improves his numbers throught the next half-season, then perhaps, even at 28, he could become the centerpiece for someone who is a type-B level; keeping in mind, Nava’s cheap and under team control for nearly 6 more years. But lets face it. If Nava becomes that consistent, we probably won’t be wanting to trade him off, anyway.
Nava is more of a Bill Mueller than Todd Helton. Mueller was a solid player, but had limited power potential, as does Nava. Nava is a doubles hitterm not a power hitter like Helton was.
Found the quote, it loos like you were right, and he said that Daniel Nava is just as good a baseball player right now as Utley, Helton and Berkman, if not better.
“The Cape League has a history of players going through development pains. Todd Helton played two years and did not hit a home run. Lance Berkman hit one — an opposite-field job off a foul pole. Chase Utley as a UCLA freshman was a skinny kid, a year off not being drafted out of high school. The majority of scouts put Kevin Youkilis in as a non-prospect. Brewster manager Tom Myers was an assistant at Santa Clara when they cut a 100-something-pound freshman named Daniel Nava and made him the equipment manager who also kept Myers’ pitching charts.”
Oh wait a second. In an article about a kid in the cape league who needs to get bigger, stronger and improve his game, he mentions baseball players who at his age had to get bigger, stronger and improve their game. How dare Chase Utley be built similarly to Daniel Nava when they were the same age! And how dare they now both play professional baseball when scouts didn’t think they would at age 19! But hey, don’t let reading comprehension get in the way of your irrational hate.
Found the quote, it loos like you were right, and he said that Daniel Nava is just as good a baseball player right now as Utley, Helton and Berkman, if not better.
“The Cape League has a history of players going through development pains. Todd Helton played two years and did not hit a home run. Lance Berkman hit one — an opposite-field job off a foul pole. Chase Utley as a UCLA freshman was a skinny kid, a year off not being drafted out of high school. The majority of scouts put Kevin Youkilis in as a non-prospect. Brewster manager Tom Myers was an assistant at Santa Clara when they cut a 100-something-pound freshman named Daniel Nava and made him the equipment manager who also kept Myers’ pitching charts.”
Oh wait a second. In an article about a kid in the cape league who needs to get bigger, stronger and improve his game, he mentions baseball players who at his age had to get bigger, stronger and improve their game. How dare Chase Utley be built similarly to Daniel Nava when they were the same age! And how dare they now both play professional baseball when scouts didn’t think they would at age 19! But hey, don’t let reading comprehension get in the way of your irrational hate.
Considering Nava is 27-28 years old, I think you’re off a few years in his development compared to the other actual greats he lumped him in with.
The fact is, he lumped him in with other great players as he always does with Red Sox prospects.
They are always compared to all stars. You never see him say, “wow, this kid could be the next Geoff Jenkins”. It’s always an all star he uses as a basis for comparison.
Whatever. It’s pointless arguing with Red Sox fans as they can’t see the forest from the trees.
Gammons is a Red Sox shill. You don’t think he is? You’re blind.
Just because their names in the same paragraph doesn’t mean he is saying their ability is comparable. You clearly don’t understand the quote itself or the how it fits within the context of the article from which it came if you think gammons is saying nava was/is/will ever be as good as the 3 all stars. Does he like the former 130 pound team manager turned pro ball player too much? Probably. But to say gammons thinks nava is as good as utley, Helton and berkman or will be as good is uninformed.
The Angels can recruit Crawford all they want. Recent offseasons show the Angels will stop at a certain price, when the Yankees and Red Sox will keep going. And for the person who said he won’t go to Boston or NY because he wouldn’t do that to the Rays, LOL. He wants to be paid and have a chance to win. Those two spots are his best options.
I wonder whether the Angels actions constitute tampering with Crawford. If an AGM talked to him about coming to LA, it certainly would be. If LAA sent Torii Hunter as an agent to talk to him, is that Kosher? I suppose it would hinge on the intent of the front office, but it facially seems inappropriate. I don’t think Crawford is going to LAA or coming to BOS. I suspect he will be a Yank. Nevertheless, I’m looking for input on the rule because I’m interested in learning more about it.
As far as Gammons, you have to take everything with a grain of salt. Rosenthal may have a tremendous contacts list, but he is most often very wrong. Gammons has F/O connections with the Sox and is certainly at times a waterboy. Sometimes, he’s downright close to Gunga Din in terms of carrying water.
I’d love to see the BoSox acquire Russell Martin. That said, the Dodgers show no signs of needing or wanting to decrease payroll. This may be nothing more than a trial balloon being floated. Something to think about.
I wonder whether the Angels actions constitute tampering with Crawford. If an AGM talked to him about coming to LA, it certainly would be. If LAA sent Torii Hunter as an agent to talk to him, is that Kosher? I suppose it would hinge on the intent of the front office, but it facially seems inappropriate. I don’t think Crawford is going to LAA or coming to BOS. I suspect he will be a Yank. Nevertheless, I’m looking for input on the rule because I’m interested in learning more about it.
As far as Gammons, you have to take everything with a grain of salt. Rosenthal may have a tremendous contacts list, but he is most often very wrong. Gammons has F/O connections with the Sox and is certainly at times a waterboy. Sometimes, he’s downright close to Gunga Din in terms of carrying water.
I’d love to see the BoSox acquire Russell Martin. That said, the Dodgers show no signs of needing or wanting to decrease payroll. This may be nothing more than a trial balloon being floated. Something to think about.
That crooked tooth fuckhead is always going to sway towards beantown in any of his trade rumors. He is the most biased of any so-called expert on the game. It doesn’t even matter where Crawford is going, he’ s not that significant of a player. Almost like Granderson on most levels, and see where Curtis is at this year. Crawford will end up a Yankee, like most sought after free agents. And GOD bless him… Make that money Nugga
You’re comparing Crawford to Granderson? LMAO.
Red Sox fan here, and you are all right. Gammons is super biased toward the sox, his rantings are idiotic. Red Sox fans have to suffer through his pre and post game ramblings which are sometimes just short of incoherent.
As if that is not enough, he is siding with yet another Boras client on how he would fit with the sox. Ankiel would not fit with the sox, he strikes out 25% of the time, his career obp of .308 is not what the red sox want, nor is his boras inflated salary what we need. He has never managed 500 plate appearance in a season, how does Gammons even have a job?
You are so right, I feel your pain. Gammons is annoyingly biased. It’s heartfelt, but it’s painful to watch and hear. I think the main reason he has a job, is because he’s always talking about the Red Sox, and that’s good copy. It’s the old adage, Popular Team, Popular Story = J.O.B. He needs to polish his crystal ball and envision that he only needs braces for his teeth.
** To dc21892, I’m not comparing Crawford to Granderson. I’m just saying he’s another fast guy, that probably will sign with the Yankees. Take it for what it’s worth. They sign everyone they want. I’m not particularly happy with that, but what are you gonna do? Crawford is not going to make any team an automatic World Series contender… He has speed, that’s it!!! He provides no power, doesn’t drive in that many runs, he’s just a fast guy. He’s not a player like Holliday, Hamilton or Braun. They’re studs that produce, as well as play great defense. He will not help the Angels chances of doing anything. The Angels need starting pitching, relief pitching, corner infielders, reliable DH, and some much needed bench strength… Carl Crawford provides none of what the Angels need. Let him go to the Yankees, to help out Curtis in that overpriced stadium, with those overpaid players…
Do you really believe that? That he can just call anyone.”
———-
Yeah I really believe that. Name me someone who wouldn’t take his call?
People call him all-day every day. He doesn’t have to phone them. Does it mean they are always telling the truth? No.
Those who knock Peter sound childish. I could rant about network types who favor the y’s/mets. It’s pointless.
I for one wouldn’t take his call. Maybe a dentist would take his call. I don’t believe he calls anyone. He just makes this crap up. He’s like a weatherman saying, it might rain, it might not. Nobody knows what’s going on behind closed doors, especially behind MLB teams closed doors. Not even Peter Gammons. Give me a break. If you actually believe that the people that are calling him to report stuff about their trades and offers are truly legit, then you’re as whack as Peter… If they are calling him, it’s to bluff the other teams. Nobody’s going to give anything as much as a lost shoe in the locker room…
As for you “it’s pointless” statement of crap. Gammons is the most biased of all the persons reporting on the MLB. He doesn’t hide his love for the Red Sox. He’s always loved that team. Reports from the town, on the team, for the team. My displeasure is that he needs to be a lot more professional. He works for ESPN. He’s supposed to be reporting on the happenings in MLB. Not just what the Red Sox will attain. Not just what the Red Sox will lose in a trade. He’s supposed to be reporting on the game of baseball, not the state of Red Sox baseball. Take a perspective from someone on the west coast… Then you’ll see what I mean. It’s pathetic!!!
I could be wrong but I don’t believe Gammons works for ESPN anymore. I believe he’s with NESN, the Red Sox’ network, and an occasional contract commentator with MLB.com.