The Padres’ most sought-after player may not be Huston Street or Carlos Quentin, Buster Olney writes in his latest column at ESPN.com. Here are the details from Olney:
- Chase Headley could be the most coveted player of the summer, Olney writes. The 28-year-old third baseman has a .372 on-base percentage, earns just $3.48MM this year and has two years of team control remaining after 2012. Some rival evaluators expect Headley’s power numbers would improve if he played at a more hitter-friendly park in a more potent lineup, Olney writes.
- The Dodgers, Pirates, Indians, Orioles and Diamondbacks are among the teams believed to have some interest in Headley, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reported yesterday.
- The Phillies haven’t decided to trade Cole Hamels, but the Rangers are already viewed as favorites to acquire the left-hander should Philadelphia make him available.
- The Dodgers could consider Russell Branyan, Olney suggests. Branyan, who has 194 career MLB home runs, has 11 homers and a .302/.436/.660 batting line in 133 plate appearances for the Yankees' Triple-A team this year.
“Some rival evaluators expect Headley’s power numbers would improve if he
played at a more hitter-friendly park in a more potent lineup,”
Duh?
NO THANKS on Russell Branyan.
Not when they could lure Casey Blake out of retirement.
Seriously
As long as Amaro doesn’t come out and say “we want to trade Hamels,” and play the “We feel like we can resign him and he wants to be here” card, the return he would get if they do eventually trade him could turn the club around next year.
I still don’t see them trading him without getting a future 3B AND CF that are both ready for next year, plus an arm that could project as a strong reliever. Even if they trade him, I expect Amaro to still try and sign him (probably won’t be successful) in the offseason.
I think the plan is to go with Brown and the two prospects (if he trades Cole) next year in an attempt to lower the payroll. They could even extend Pence for 5-6 years as well.
If they don’t trade him, I think he will def. be resigned. I just can’t see the Phillies (being 13 games back) letting him walk for picks.
Rangers could offer the best prospect who is blocked in Olt, who also plays 3rd. They also have several CF prospects. MY guess is that if he is traded he goes to the Rangers.
If they would offer Olt, L Martin, and a pitcher that is in their top 10-15, I think it’d be a done deal.
Any player is available for the right price. Texas just needs to call with the right players from their end.
Am I crazy or has Texas been the favorite to acquire every player for the past 3 years?
They Have a stellar farm, and have been in contention. Since they let cj walk they could really use another ace
since they let CJ walk and replaced him with Yu Darvish you mean?
Dervish has not been ace like. Wilson was dominant when he was playing for texas and has been even better in la. I think it will be hard for Texas to hold on if haren and Santana ever turn it around. Especially now that the Angels lineup is clicking.
Yu Darvish has been better than CJ Wilson this season. Darvish has been worth 2.2 fWAR and has a 3.69 xFIP while averaging 6.1 IP/start in 16 starts. Wilson has been worth 2 fWAR and has a 4.11 xFIP while averaging 6 IP/start in 17 starts…
so there’s that…
CJ was good in Texas but not dominant, he isn’t CC or Price or an ace of any kind. Everybody in Texas is glad he’s gone, players and fans. No doubt they could use an ace, seems like they have a staff of #2 & 3’s tho. I actually thought Neftali might form into the ace but he’s too inconsitent and now hurt… Funny the guy posted earlier that if they incluede Olt, Martin and a topr 10 minor league pitcher that would get a Hamels rental, seems like that haul should get you an ace that is controllable.
You gotta be kidding us about Darvish not being Ace-like. 117K’s in 102 innings. Have you actually watched the guy pitch and seen the movement his pitches has. Guy can get a strikeout at any time.
Plus this is his “rookie” season. Darvish will get better over the next two years. Now, will he nose dive like the rest of Japanese pitching? Perhaps. He does have the mechanics that Nomo, Matsuzaka, or the rest lacked, so perhaps he will miss the “bug.” Here’s hoping.
I don’t understand why the Pirates are linked to Headley. They have no intention on moving Pedro Alvarez to any other position, and Headley is an above average 3b and below average OF. Sometimes I’d like to know who these sources are.
Unless Headley can play shortstop, he does not upgrade the Pirates in any way.
It just depends if your in the group that thinks Alvarez is a faberge egg that would crack if they moved him to 1b, where the team is getting a terrible line of .243/.303/.395 (82 OPS+). I doubt he’d see much if any increase in miscues making the switch considering he’s an error prone 3b as it is.
McGahee and Jones are each hitting very well this past month at 1B, so it’s not that much of a weakness right now. Jones can always shift over to RF but McGahee can still hit as well. He’s been one of the only Pirates hitters with a great approach at the plate all year long, even when he wasn’t hitting, and it’s paying off now.
I also think Alvarez is playing very good D at third, but I’d love to squeeze Headley’s bat in here somewhere, just not sure how. Quentin would be the fit I believe.
Headley has done nothing in his career to make me desire his name in the line up. Yes he plays in a pitchers park, but his road numbers don’t exactly blow me away.
You’re hard to please. If you look at how all the 3b in the game have faired away from their home parks since 2010 you get the following numbers:
wRC+
Longoria – 134
Wright – 132
Headley – 131
Beltre – 121
Zimmerman -121
Pretty good, no?
Down the road, yes I see Alvarez as a firstbaseman. But considering he has no proffesional experince there, I don’t see the Pirates making that move in the middle of a pennant race. That’s not the time to experiment.
Headley is not worth our top prospects….
disagree. Kemp & Ethier need help. We can’t rely on the Ellis brothers to be the third and fourth best hitters if we want to contend.
By WAR, since 2010 Headley has been the third best at 3B and his numbers at Dodger Stadium (small sample size of 127 PA, but still) have been stellar.
Some humorless person is bound to tell you that AJ and Mark are not brothers, so let’s get that over before it starts. I’m not sure that an over reliance on Kemp and Ethier in the middle of the lineup translate into the Dodgers needing to give up a huge ransom to get Headley. I can see a sturdy starting pitcher with some upside and under team control, such as Eovaldi, but not a couple of first-rounders as has been suggested. The problem is that Eovaldi can’t be traded unless the Dodgers acquire another starter somewhere since Lilly appears to be out for a long time.
“I can see a sturdy starting pitcher with some upside and under team control, such as Eovaldi, but not a couple of first-rounders as has been suggested.”
I’d suggest moving on to the next target, whomever that may be. Trades have to make sense for both teams, and players like Headley, who according fWAR was a 5 win player in 2010, on pace for 4 wins in ’10 before his injury, and 6 wins this year, don’t get dealt to division rivals at bargain prices.
With all the Padres bad luck in the injury department on “sturdy starting pitcher with some upside and under team control”, your probably expecting too much from the wrong team.
Guys with good, not great numbers in the minors are nice and all, but when your talking about an established 4-5 win player under team control for 2+ years, it’s going to be costly. I love the idea of Colleti getting Headley cheaper then Casey Blake two months before he was a free agent.
Arguments based on WAR get no traction with me. All of that aside, trading a major league player under team control for another is the kind of deal that could actually happen. Eovaldi isn’t even arbitration eligible yet, so he’s a low budget option. I don’t get what you are saying about San Diego being the “wrong team” for a starting pitching trade, since inexpensive starting pitching is exactly what they need. The fly in the ointment is that the Dodgers can’t let Eovaldi go right now.
1. yeah i know they aren’t brothers
2. i think it’s clear over the past couple of weeks that we absolutely do need to give them support.
3. 3B & 1B are our two weakest positions at pretty much every level, and there are not going to be any decent 3B FA in the off season
4. dude is under control for the next 2.5 seasons – this isn’t a rental
5. to be clear, i would not want to trade Lee for Lowrie, but i would certainly take Headley
I’m sure you do. I got browbeaten a few days ago for joking about the “Lee brothers.” Just trying to stop that before it happens again. I understand the team’s need and Headley’s contract status, but then again the price can still be too tall.
Headley would actually be a good fit for the Phillies since they have no one worth mentioning at 3B. With him under control for a few more years it helps them get younger but still compete
Would also be nice if the Braves found a taker for Dan Uggla and acquired him
If the Rangers are to acquire Cole Hamels, how about a package centered around Jorge Alfaro, a single-A catcher the Phillies can groom to replace Carlos Ruiz in a few years? Maybe Alfaro and a close to ready pitching prospect gets it done. Giving up Jurickson Profar or Mike Olt isn’t worth a two-month rental.
Not even close. Phillies have Valle as their future catcher and Rupp in single A. It’d have to be centered around Mike Olt or the phillies aren’t listening
Alfaro is a nice piece but not enough for Philly to trade Hamels. It will take 2 TOP 10 prospects and at least 2 more top 30 guys with upside with maybe 1 MiLB filler.
Due to the new CBA trades will only affect players that will not EARN in the top 125 next year. If Tex did trade for Hamels it will be a hard pill to swallow because there is no compensation for them but Philly has to get what they will lose in next years draft. Which is 2 additional picks in the top 60 and near $2mil in draft pool cash! (Sry the second additional pick doesnt start till 2013 so Philly only stands to get 1 pick)
Russell Branyon? wow Buster…..
Branyan Branyan Branyan! Russell the Muscle on the Dodgers would be ….. Legendary.
I totally agree.
The Rangers need hitting. They have 4 good starters coming off of the DL within the next 2-3 weeks or so in Holland, Ogando, Lewis and Feliz. With Michael Young and Napoli hitting so poorly this year they need more hitting. It would make no sense for them to trade top prospects for pitching. This isn’t the 2010 Rangers who were starved for a top quality starter.
If obtained by the Dodgers before or after the break and given the opportunity to play that’s been given to Loney[2 homers,23 ribs in 230 at bats]Russell the Muscle will give L.A.some power at 1st.Not the 125 at bats he got last year with the Angels&Diamondbacks.
Someone rescue Branyan from AAA.
So from what I’m reading here, the Rangers should be ready and willing to give up the #2 prospect in baseball(Profar) for two months of Hamels, but the #27 prospect(Hamilton) is off limits from the Reds to the Padres for two and a half years of Headley. What am I missing here? I see alot of people above talking down Headley, but in GABP hitting either in front or behind Votto he would be amazing. Hamilton is at single A and is no sure bet to make it to the bigs, let alone be a star. If the Reds don’t at least think about dealing Hamilton I think they are hurting themselves.
Sorry Chase does not get Zach Lee.. What is all the extra hype on him any way? Great defender. Good OBP. Career .269 hitter who has now been in the Bigs for 5 years very little power. If he “needs” to be in a hitter friendly park to be successful then Dodger Stadium isnt a right fit either.