Brayan Pena's attempt to stretch a single into a double in the 9th inning drew a throw from the outfield and allowed Jarrod Dyson to score from third with the game-winning run in the Royals' 4-3 result over the Brewers tonight. It was Kansas City's second unusual walkoff victory in as many nights, as they won on a bases-loaded walk from Mike Moustakas on Wednesday. The Royals picked up the sweep against Milwaukee, winning all three games by one run.
Here's the latest from around the majors…
- The Nationals' trade for Gio Gonzalez was the "best deal anyone made last winter," a rival scout tells Danny Knobler of CBS Sports. "They didn't get him cheap, but he can dominate, and how many starters can you say that about?" The Nats look like the big winners of the deal thus far, given Washington's first-place position and Gonzalez's Cy Young Award-caliber numbers since joining the team.
- David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News breaks down what the Phillies could possibly receive for some of their top assets on the trade market.
- The Phillies, Brewers, Cubs, Astros and Red Sox are positioned to dominate the rumor mill leading up to the trade deadline, predicts Ken Davidoff of the New York Post.
- Despite injuries to Alexi Ogando and Koji Uehara, Rangers GM Jon Daniels "still feels good" about his bullpen, reports Anthony Andro of FOX Sports Southwest (Twitter link).
- A.J. Burnett has brought both veteran leadership and quality pitching to the Pirates, writes Tyler Kepner of the New York Times. “It was important for our guys to see a guy that’s brought in and it’s not a trading-deadline deal where you have a guy for two months,” said manager Clint Hurdle. “We brought in a guy for two years. He can go ahead and unpack his bags. He’s going to be around, he can be involved, be engaged.”
- Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski outlines his team's pursuit of Roy Oswalt to John Lowe of the Detroit Free Press. Dombrowski said the Tigers were prepared to meet Oswalt's salary demands in the offseason but the veteran just didn't want to pitch in Detroit. Oswalt's representatives contacted Dombrowski again once the season began and Oswalt was without a team, but the Tigers had already moved on with Drew Smyly in the rotation.
Jonathan Sanchez for Melky Cabrera was a better trade, the prospects the Nats gave up are still pretty good. Sanchez is awful and Cabrera has played like a viable MVP candidate through the first 3 months.
He’s also a free agent after the year, and it isn’t clear whether or not he will be retained by the Giants. Gio has some years of control left on him, and in all likelihood, he’ll be pitching like a top of the rotation starter for a long time. For these reasons, I’d have to give it to the Gio trade. It isn’t everyday you pick up an ace, you know?
Thats true, aces don’t come available very often and the Nats did pay well below market trade value for an ace with as many years of team control as Gio has left. But the Giants gave up essentially nothing and even if Melky were to leave they would undoubtedly receive a draft pick as compensation, as they will at least offer him a short term contract with an AAV of 12 mil. Even just one year at as high a level as Melky is playing plus a draft pick for a guy who can’t throw strikes and has been replacement level thus far is a massive steal.
Gio and Melky have been essentially equal in value by fWAR so far, Gio is cheaper and has years of team control left so he gets the edge there. But the facts that the Nationals gave up 4 of their top 10 prospects and the Giants will get a high draft pick if Melky walks tips the scales back in the Giants’ favor. Just Milone alone has been better than Jonathan Sanchez this year, and he’s cheaper and younger. Even without the 3 higher upside prospects factored in the Nationals have already given more for Gio than the Giants did or Melky. Norris has made a pretty good transition to AAA and looks like he could be a decent MLB catcher by next season. Peacock and Cole are both struggling a bit statistically, but are also still very young. Aces don’t become available via trade very often, but then neither do outfielders who field the corner spots well and post .367/.404/.540 slash lines. (I know Melky won’t keep that line all season but I don’t think Gio will either)
I’d still give the nod to the Gio trade. All of your points are valid, and while the Nats did give up a huge package for Gio, they dealt from their strengths to acquire a player that a team can build around. Milone and Peacock would have been part of an already crowded Nats rotation, and as far as I can tell, neither of them project to be an ace. Norris was blocked by Ramos, and although Ramos is injured, he’ll probably be around for a long while once he returns. A.J. Cole is the big loss for the Nats since he does project as a future top end starter, but he’s still very very far from being proven, so it’s a trade I’d make ten times out of ten.
That’s fair, but there’s a non-zero chance that in four years the A’s have a #1 or 2 starter, 2 more middle of the rotation arms, and a starting catcher out of the deal. In that situation the Nationals won’t really have won the deal. Its unlikely all those things happen, but its possible. There’s just no possibility right now that the Giants wind up having lost their deal and they’ve got nearly as much upside. The Giants just gave up so much less for something almost as valuable. I actually gave Gio credit for being cheaper than Melky without realizing Sanchez actually cost a bit more than Melky so the Giants actually saved a bit of money in the deal as well.
Are the Philles and Brewers buyers or sellers? Or a little bit of both?
RAJ is the Kenny Williams of the NL, never met a crusty veteran he didn’t love. One year deal, here, take another.
This could either be an amazing deadline or a horrible one, nothing in between. There aren’t many sellers and the ones who are clear sellers don’t have great pieces to offer aside from Dempster and Garza, and Demp is a rental.
The next 5 weeks should do a lot to establish who the buyers and sellers are. The Cubs, Rockies, Padres, Astros, Mariners and Twins seem like the only teams sure to be not buyers right now, but at least 3 or 4 more teams should join them before the end of July. There is a lot of parity right now though, the only division where the first place team has more than a 4 game lead is the AL East where there are 4 teams over .500 and the only team that isn’t has been an elite team for the last 5 years.
Also, the AJ Burnett trade was a stroke of genius. People talk about change of scenery trades, and this couldn’t have worked out any better. I love AJ as a pitcher and as a person. Seems like he was always a good guy in NY as well and didn’t let his struggles bother him. He and Zambrano surprisingly have bolstered their team’s rotations for next to nothing.
I would also argue that Johnathan Sanchez for Melky Cabrera is also considered a big win.
Burnett was a huge steal for the Buccos
Tommy milone isn’t doing too shaby either, it’s a win win for both teams
tommy milone is doing terrible away from the coliseum
This has nothing to do with the article but Happy Birthday Wade Boggs
I was almost certain that the news about the Phillies was going be, “No new developments between Cole Hamels & The Phillies”. But this “story” was just as pointless.
As a Tigers fan I cringed when I read this about Oswalt. We could use his presence on the team so badly right now. Even at the time he was available they could have signed him, then re-evaluate Porcello.
Burnett is a big surprise with Pirates. In past years he probably would be on trade block b/c Pirates would be 15 or more games back. This year however, they are looking like a potential playoff team. Baltimore is another surprise.
Both team should be looking to improve after All Star break and not sellers as past years