The latest from Peter Gammons of MLB Network (Twitter links)…
- Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria told Gammons that he’s prepared to make additions to his team if necessary. "We still need a couple of parts, and in time we'll go get them," Loria said. The Marlins' offense ranks 14th in the National League in runs scored, so it won’t be surprising if president of baseball operations Larry Beinfest pursues a bat or two this summer.
- Athletics catcher Kurt Suzuki could make sense for the Marlins, Mets or Rays, Gammons tweets. The Marlins have John Buck and Brett Hayes behind the plate, the Mets have Josh Thole and Mike Nickeas, and the Rays have Jose Molina and Jose Lobaton. The A’s called up prospect Derek Norris, so they could be positioned to listen to offers for Suzuki.
I can definitively say the Mets have absolutely no interest in Suzuki.
Sandy Alderson has ties with the Oakland A’s organization. Josh Thole is their starting catcher and has a total of 7 runs batted in on the season. Mike Nickeas is their backup and he is nothing to write home about either. For the right package, Suzuki would be an ideal fit actually. Very solid platoon catcher and an upgrade defensively. Only 28 years old and has put up some good years number wise in the past. The hope would be that he can bounce back. If he comes cheap its a good gamble to take.
Not like RBI’s is even remotely a useful stat…Thole is a solid catcher, nothing spectacular, but he’s doing an excellent job with the pitching staff. Mets need to trade for a good reliever regardless before anything else.
A’s have plenty of relief to trade also. The teams full of odds and ends.
It would be an ideal fit if Suzuki didn’t make 6 million. If the A’s pay almost all of Suzuki’s salary, yes I could see the Mets making a deal for Suzuki
Nickeas really is pathetic though
But he is Dickey’s personal catcher. Alone, Nickeas is pathetic, but with Dickey they make a no-hitter combo.
Fish just need a catcher (any) in a horrible kind of way. Buck was money thrown away on a catcher who had a career season and he is a backup at best and always will be who is still due 10m.
Suzuki has a gun for an arm and is top notch defender at least. Not sure how Loria would see to paying 2 guys at the position who cannot hit however, but Suzuki is a huge upgrade over Buck.
Shoppach can hit for power and is a decent defensive catcher with a good arm, but he is a backup also and won’t hit for any average.
The catcher market is just not good for an upgrade and Fish might be better off letting that position ride for now and looking to find another OF, which would cost far less and they are more readily available if they want more offense.
If you think Nickeas has anything to do with Dickey IMO you’re mistaken. At least you didn’t give Terry Collins all the credit
Funny how Schwinden wasn’t throwing one hitters with Nickeas behind the plate, isn’t it?
The funnier part is that Thole has caught the majority of Dickey’s starts, including 3 of his last 4 starts on his current run, so it’s not even accurate that Nickeas is Dickey’s personal catcher. Dickey doesn’t have one.
Wasn’t aware he was making 6 million. Agreed, if the A’s pay some salary he would be a good option to look into. Ryan Doumit who can play first, the outfield, and catch as well as switch hit (they need a power bat) is the guy they should be pursuing. He likes Minnesota from reports I have read, but will they sell him? Only time will tell.
Oh I just thought you were a typical blank check Yankee fan
No you can’t.
Are you Sandy Alderson?
Why in the world would the Mets want Suzuki, a defensive catcher who can’t hit for his life? They already have one of those. His name is Mike Nikeas. And Nickeas isn’t going to cost Seventeen million dollars, he is league minimum. Plus, the Mets need relief pitchers, not expensive defensive catchers who can’t hit.
Zuk is a great catcher but he couldn’t hit a ball if his life depended on it. He has 0 HR this year and just 16 RBI. That’s just isn’t going to do. Especially on a team like the A’s who need production from anywhere they can get it. Derick Norris was called up yesterday and looked great for his first game in the majors. He hit the ball hard a couple times and threw out dee gordon at 2nd. That alone is more than what zuk has done in a couple weeks
Well in his first couple years in the majors, he showed some power and was clutch in key situations. However, the past couple years for him have been an opposite. As much as I like Suzuki as a person, if Norris can prove his worth with the A’s, then I think Suzuki’s time with the A’s will be done. However, it wasn’t as if Norris was tearing it up in AAA, so I think the A’s will want to see whether Norris can adjust to major league pitching and keep Suzuki for now. I could see Suzuki serve as a mentor to Norris, just like the scenario back in 2007 where Jason Kendall served as a mentor to Suzuki before he was traded that trading deadline. Not only that, but as the A’s post game show mentioned, this could push Suzuki’s motivation and finally spark him into hitting better. Norris wasn’t expected to be called up until late in the season, but with the way Suzuki was swinging the bat, I think Melvin felt as if this was needed.
Going into the season people had the Marlins offense near the top of the NL…crazy to think that a line up with Stanton, Hanley, Reyes, Bonfacio, Infante, and LoMo have problems scoring runs. I guess they expected a little more out of Sanchez, huh.
Reyes has slumped, Bonifacio has missed time, LoMo has been pretty disappointing/borderline terrible, and Ramirez is only slightly better than that. Oh yeah, and they are 4-14 in June. What a disaster.
The problem with this team is that they are very inconsistent. At the beginning of the season, the team was not clicking and it seemed as if the chemistry in the clubhouse wasn’t where it should have been. However, once they started to click as a group, then they started to play much better ball. Now, they’re slumping again. Of course one of the biggest problems with their team is their slumping offense, especially from the likes of Ramirez and Stanton. It hasn’t seemed as if Ramirez has gotten past the woes of last year due to his long swing and his inability to adjust it, and with Stanton, after a torrid May, has pulled a full 180 with the way he has struggled mightily. Not to mention both Morrison (as you mentioned) and Sanchez haven’t been as key as the Marlins would like them to be. Point being, if the Marlins continue to play inconsistently, in a tough NL East, I doubt they clinch and move on to the playoffs. However with the talent they have on the team if they can put it together they will be contenders.
The Marlins went through an awkward stretch where they lost every single close game they were in, literally, and then another awkward stretch where they won every single close game they were in, again literally. I’m not sure if you can classify that as inconsistent, just a strange artifact of random chance. But now in June they seem to lose everything. Blowouts? Check. Close games? Check. Early leads? Check. Late leads? Check. It is pretty amazing, really. And then there is the pitching. Zambrano with an ERA over 8, Nolasco almost 7, Sanchez almost 6, Buehrle almost 5 (speaking last 30 games). Where would they be without JJ right now? Not too much worse, I guess.
To me, the most telling thing is their run differential of -60. That is.. not acceptable. They are 25-19 in games where the margin of victory is =3. They aren’t winning at home, they aren’t winning on the road, they aren’t winning blowouts. That is not the best situation.
Suzuki would make an excellent Angel, we have been lookin for a solid catcher for awhile. Ianetta is injured, we can trade them Conger + decent prospect.
Conger would just be AAA filler at this point as they’ve already got two back-up catchers that are major league ready. I could see Beane trading Suzuki for a couple of AA relief arms and positional prospect
A prospect like Travis Witherspoon should be more than enough, although Beane may raise the price since you know, you guys are kinda in the same division.
Basically, a >top 15 prospect, maybe even >top 20.
I’d love to see a top 15 for the A’s no-hit catcher, but I doubt it happens. Pretty sure Zook’s salary and remaining contract years will have something to do with compensation.At about $5 million per season I’d let him go for nothing. Same with Fuentes. Balfour is one of the best set-up relievers in MLB and has been for while. Rather keep him unless the A’s can do better than they usually do mid-season trades with almost always end up like the Blanton and Harden trades.
If Billy Beane will take Buck for Suzuki, great. Drop the deadweight Buck. But knowing Beane, he’ll be out of his mind and ask for either Stanton or Morrison with Buck.
There’s no way the A’s would take Buck back seeing as how they’d trade Suzuki with the idea of making Norris the starter and have Recker (Barelyknewher!) and Donaldson as their backup C’s for much much cheaper than Buck.
I assume the “barely knew her” tag has been applied to Doug Fister at some point, right? (I have to ask).
Maybe a change to the national league east will help Suzuki. I’d give them Parnell for him and reliever and Suzuki