The Phillies have shown interest in Blue Jays left-hander Scott Downs, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. Teams have had interest in Downs all year, though it has picked up recently, according to one of Morosi’s sources.
Downs projects to be a Type A free agent after the season, according to our latest Elias rankings. This means the Blue Jays will have the chance to obtain draft picks for him after the season. Downs, arguably the best left-handed reliever on the market, has substantial trade value.
The 34-year-old has a 2.65 ERA with 7.0 K/9 and 1.9 BB/9 in 37.1 innings this year. He earns $4MM in 2010, about $1.9MM of which remains.
Would Tyson Gillies and Scott Mathieson be a reasonable package? Two Canadians should please the Jays, though neither of them have the big upside that the two draft picks might return.
The Jays don’t really place any extra value on Canadians.
You’re right, but it can’t hurt. It’s the talent of the players moreso than their nationality I was getting at.
Yeah let’s see if we can get Phillipe Aumont too! Who cares if the players are mediocre, as long as they’re Canadian!
yuck. I would not trade Gillies for a 34 year old reliever. Bastardo for Downs is fair
I don’t think AA would take the package that Amaro got for Cliff Lee back for Scott Downs. That’s how awful that trade was.
Don’t really see the jays biting back. I think they need a guy they really want in return or they’ll just try for the two picks.
abraham, you must have no idea who downs is, or no concept of elias rankings. i’ll choose ‘all of the above’.
Downs isn’t any better than anyone they currently have out there, he has no saves this year and only 16 in his entire career (in 31 save opportunities). To give up Mathieson would be a terrible deal, the Phils have stood behind him for so long and he’s finally looking like he might have something to offer the the big league team. Instead of wasting prospects on a guy like Downs they should be focusing on a temporary infield replacement and a proven front of the line starter.
A) Downs is better than every single Phillies reliever. The numbers back that up.B) He has no saves this year because he isn’t the closer. Just like Vernon Wells has no saves this year.C) Please don’t tell me you just quoted his career save opp…Finally, the Phillies don’t have any good prospects to deal for a “proven front of the line” starter.
Oh and before you say JC Romero’s ERA IS LOWER WAHHH.. Dude has a WHIP near 1.5
They have plenty of prospects, just not any they’d be willing to give up easily.
They have plenty of prospects, just not any they’d be able to get a front of the line starter with.
They could but they’d have to package 4 of the young kids together to get it done Cosart, Singleton, Gose and Aumont could potentially get something done. Oh and Dom Brown straight up could get it done too, so the ability is there but like nm344 said it’s if they’re willing to.
Except Dom Brown is untouchable obviously so there’s no point in bringing his name up and Aumont has zero value. If you think that Cosart and Singleton bring you back Dan Haren when Detroit is offering Rick Porcello; good luck to you sir!
Clearly joking about Dom
are you serious or just an idiot?
Downs is better than any pitcher in the phillies pen, and next time you base a relievers ability on saves please just continually punch yourself in the face until you realize your an idiot or you knock yourself out, thanks
Wow, intense guys, my point was that Scott Downs does not answer the back end of the bullpen question, plus being a type A the Jays will inflate his value. So why give up prospects which we don’t have many of of for an 8th inning guy for half a year when Madson just came back? It’s dumb, and to answer the question for looking for the starter see the Jayson Werth rumors which by the way are very real.
Downs is solid but doesn’t close games the career stats were simply to prove that point. As a pitcher he’s about as reliable as the likes of Madson and Durbin even Contreras at this point. Yes, Madson just came off the DL and Durbin is on the DL but don’t overpay for a rental when you have guy more than capable of doing everything Scott Downs would do for you. Durbin will be back and ready to go after the break. The problem with the pen is that there are no defined roles with all the injuries everyone is pitching out of slot. Now these guys are getting healthy and setting things up the way they need to be. Last night’s game was frustrating and Brad threw a pitch down the middle to our old buddy Miguel Cairo but the 8th inning was the flukiest play I’ve seen in a long time and was no way shape or form Madson’s fault. He came off the DL and struck out 3 batters, not a bad come back.
Also easy on the J.C. Romero stuff he’s always allowed hits and worked out of jams that’s just who he is, I never said he was better than Downs so don’t mistake that.
You started off your rant with a fallacy: “Downs isn’t any better than anyone they currently have out there”. This is factually incorrect. Durbin and Madson are not better options and the stats back that statement up. Downs doesn’t close games because he isn’t the closer.
Haha, okay perhaps I didn’t come across clearly the first time. I am not ranting at all and i never suggested Downs close but if a deal were made for him people would suggest he close games for us. Which would be a mistake because he is not a closer. Honestly if the Phils made a deal for a very, very solid reliever true or false majority of the fan base would call for him to close games? That’s unfair to Downs and to the Phillies because they know as well as you and I that he cannot do that. Simply put a Scott Downs acquisition accomplishes nothing and it would be “making a move to make a move”.
Why Scott Downs when there are other problems? The set up role in my opinion is pretty stacked right now with options from Madson, Contreras, and Romero. While they may not be as great as Downs they are still just as capable, so why move the limited “close to MLB ready” prospects for a set up man when you need an infielder, starting pitcher or a true closer if you have lost faith in Lidge.
Always love when people insult someone with “your an idiot” haha
Downs is not a closer, he is an elite lefty set-up man. If Phillies want a closer, they should look elsewhere.
ITT: people will underrate Scott Downs
wow some phillies fans are seriously misguided..judging scott downs’ ability based on the number of saves he has. wow haha
I’d be surprised if the Jays didn’t try to bundle Downs in with Buck or Bautista in order to get a proper stud prospect back.
I’d be surprised if the Jays traded Bautista at all. They need someone to play 3B next year, and it seems like they’re reaching the end of their rope with Encarnacion.
I don’t think the Jays necessarily need Bautista to man third base as they probably are not competing next year. It would be much wiser to cash in on a fantastic first half by Bautista and let Emaus handle third in the interim until a more viable long term solution presents itself.
The best way for the Jays to not compete next year is to decide now that they’re not competing next year. 2012 isn’t actually any better than 2011 in terms of who could get called up.
I don’t remember stating that they would be competitive in 2012 either. The point of my post is to say that the Jays should cash in on Bautista’s hot start as I don’t think he will be near this type of offensive player come next year.
The free agent market for 3Bs is super sad. They need someone to play the position.
They do, but then, they are not expecting to contend in 2011. And no 3B could realistically be a downgrade on Encarnacion.
So if the option is there to get back somebody really hefty in a Bautista package, the Jays ought to consider it. They have an abundance of pitching they can think about trading for a 3B later down the line. There’s no rush.
There is a bit of a rush–young, cost-controlled players aren’t young and cost-controlled forever.
Encarnacion will be a straight release at the end of the season. We can’t give him away, let alone trade him out. I agree that the Jays are reluctant to let Bautista go, but I definitely think it’s feasible if he’s the dealbreaker between a good package and an outstanding package (especially if it’s a top 3B prospect…)
How’s the Phillies’ farm looking these days?
Decimated.
You’ve got to wonder how Pat Gillick is feeling about his protege at this moment in time.
You dont know much about the Phillies farm then. They have THE #1 prospect in all of baseball and 3 guys overall in top 50. Please dont make assanine comments.
Phils have 3 in the top 50 for Baseball America’s Midseason Prospect Rankings, including the untouchable Dom Brown at number 1. Apart from Brown though, the bulk of the most exciting talent is in the low minors.
I can definitely see that as an option. Would be really interesting to see how that plays out. With teams like Phillies and Red Sox that are in the hunt, but have a bunch of needs at the moment, I can see it working out, too.
So would Philly be looking at Downs as a closer, or as a LH set-up man? You don’t see a ton of lefty closers…
Probably as a lefty set-up man. That’s been his role in Toronto all year.
I’d assume setup man, but it’s not like anybody would be really surprised if Lidge hurts himself again and somebody else needs to step up. Part of Downs’ value is his ability to pitch in tight spots though — as a Jays fan I’m glad he’s not the closer; if somebody needs to come out to hold a one-run lead with runners in in the 7th or 8th, Downs is the guy I’d want out there.
What could Phillies give up to acquire Downs?
Leandro Castro + another decent prospect wouldn’t be that bad.
I like Downs, but a team that suddenly can’t hit its way out of a paper bag should probably be looking at upgrading the infield on the off chance that Utley needs more than 7 weeks to heal. Back-end bullpen arms should be 3rd on the wish list (IF, SP, RP).
Its more like IF, RP, SP; their starting pitching has been fine, its the lack of run production and blown leads late in games that is hurting the club.
BTW, are they still starting Aumont or have they permanently made a closer or reliever? I wouldn’t mind acquiring Aumont + and making Aumont into a full time closer. We don’t really have a closer-type prospect right now except for maybe Collins but he just be a set-up in the future.
Aumont is back to starting and his line last night was 6IP 13K 2BB
Let’s overlook the 7+ ERA he posted in AA before he got demoted and the 5+ ERA after he got demoted in favor of ONE START shall we?
The same Aumont that just got demoted? Pass. I’ll stick with Collins, Magnuson and Zach Stewart (if he doesn’t pan out as a closer) thank you very much.
Aumont starting, went 6 innings, struck out 13 the other night for Clearwater.
Can we package Jason Frasor too? Please?
Frasor is not that bad, he was pretty bad early on but he’s settled down. He still has good value especially since he’s a type B making reasonable money and I think he’ll likely decline arbitration so a supplemental pick is pretty good for him.
I don’t think he’d decline arb if he his numbers look similar at years end, I’d much rather trade him and get something back now.
ignore me, I was in Downs mode, not Frasor
People are forgetting, the trade could be…
To a Contender:
2 plus months of Downs
2 high draft picks (1st round and a sandwich pick)
For the Jays to trade Downs they need to be getting equal or better value than what they are giving up. So the Jays will need to get a deal that is better than two ok prospects for them to justfy dealing Downs, if not then we keep him and take the picks. The two months of Downs means absolutely nothing to the Jays, but to a contender that is the most important part of the deal. In the end the Jays will get two high picks and or prospects, so what they get in the deal needs to be pretty good.
That’s assuming that Downs turns down arbitration, which is by no means a sure thing, especially if he’s been paying attention to what non-closers are getting if a team has to surrender a pick.
It’s Amaro and Anthopoulos. Who’s to stop a 3 team deal from happening? Downs and either Buck or Bautista to Phillies, Werth elsewhere, and that team throws elite prospects to Toronto.
So the Phillies are trading Jayson Werth for Downs and Buck/Bautista?
He could be a terrific addition to the Phillies but then again it could also be a bad one. My assumption is that the Jays want some prospects for him and my guess is they will give them good prospects. Time will tell if the those prospects will pan out but god only knows how good they could turn out to be. This would then bite the phillies in the ass.