Earlier this evening, Braves General Manager Frank Wren confirmed that he is on the lookout for a shortstop. "We’re moving along. Hopefully in the next day or so we’ll get to the end of it," said the GM, according to David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (via Twitter). Here's more from around baseball..
- The Blue Jays are more focused on improving their starting rotation than their bullpen right now but are interested in upgrading both, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. Toronto is said to be among the clubs interested in Cubs starter Matt Garza.
- Buster Olney of ESPN.com (via Twitter) speculates that Alfonso Soriano would be an interesting get for the Rays if the Cubs were willing to absorb about 90 percent of the money owed to him.
- Angels pitcher Jered Weaver has no regrets about staying with the Halos for less money than he could have gotten elsewhere on the open market this offseason, writes Bob Nightengale of USA Today.
- Phillies assistant GM Marti Wolever isn't “overly disappointed” about not signing second-round pick Alec Rash, writes Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com. “We’ll get an extra second-rounder next year,” he said of the right-hander. “We liked [Rash], but he didn’t pitch well this summer. We made a fair offer. He’s going to school."
Wow Soriano to the Rays for a pair of very very good pitching prospects in high A ball should do it if the cubs paid 75% of his remaining contract money for Fonzie.
He straight mashed the ball today 2 homers 2 doubles and it looked like he was running fine.
I wouldn’t expect Friedman to give up a pair of “very very good pitching prospects” even if it is at the A level. I would expect something more modest. Especially since he’s an aging DH and the Rays already have some in Luke Scott and Hideki Matsui.
I agree that you’re not getting top-level talent for Soriano, but if you use Luke Scott and Hideki Matsui as lineup staples, you’re doing it wrong. Damon’s been the better of the two, and he’s got a .629 OPS. Soriano’s at a MUCH more-respectable .792 OPS.
Two mid-range prospects for him with 80%+ of the contract paid makes sense.
We hardly use Matsui and take away Luke Scott’s 0 for 40 slump and that’s where his numbers truly are. Scott is not that bad.
Umm…it’s kind of hard to ignore what amounts to around 10 (or more) games where he simply didn’t get a hit. Besides, Scott hit .216 in May, .037 in June, and .185 in July.
Yes, July’s just started and June+July only amounts to 15 games, but that’s a total of 42 games where hit hit a combined .179. And what about his sub-par 2011?
He’s already outproduced his 2011 campaign while carrying an 0 for 40 slump at one point this year. So 2011 is irrelevant, especially since he didn’t play a full year.
Early June was when his 0 for 40 started, shortly before he went to the DL. He came back at the end of the month and the slump lasted until July 6th. It’s only been 4 games since he broke out of the slump so naturally his June and July numbers look pathetic (0 for 40 does that). In that 4 game span he has 5 hits and 2 HR. He’s back on track and his numbers should return to normality.
For two very very good pitching prospects, the Cubs should be willing to pay 90%. Soriano is a sunk cost, but a good hitter on a bad team. He would thrive as a DH. I’d love to see the Rays pick him up for a couple of low level high upside pitchers. The Cubs need pitching bad.
That’s the problem however, Luke Scott is DH’ing for the Rays. Soriano would have to play the field to hit on a day to day basis. He would be a liability on defense and that’s something the Rays have been struggling with this year. Plus, can Soriano play RF because Jennings is our primary LF’er ??
Ha… He can barely play LF. Don’t get me wrong, hard worker and good hitter, he just needs to be a DH at this point. I actually think the Cubs should have tried Him at 1st in 2011 before they signed Pena, but at this point it is probably to late to change positions again.
Have you actually seen him play? This year he has been fine. Wise up.
I am a cubs fan, I’ve watched him play plenty. He has a great arm, but a bad knee. I don’t need to “wise up”, everyone who knows anything about baseball believes he should be a DH at this point in his career, it isn’t a knock against Soriano, it is fact. I like Soriano, he is a great hitter and a hard worker, but with a bad contract on a bad team. When the NL starts using the DH you can tell me how great Soriano is, until then he belongs in the AL.
Soriano’s bad rep as an outfielder is sustained more by the occasional highly visible miscue than a serious look at his numbers. Fangraphs has him as fairly decent the last three years and slowly improving. B-R has him as terrible in 2010, but better last year and better still this year.
I’m not going to argue he’s good mind you, only that two sets of numbers going back three years seem to indicate that his rep as a defensive liability is overstated.
The real reason people think he’d be better as a DH isn’t his defense, it’s the negative effect that playing the field has on his badly aging legs. Take that strain away, many scouts feel, and his hitting and health might pick up.
That’s all fine, but when you look at positioning for the Rays – where do they fit Soriano in? Luke Scott is our DH (leads the team in RBI’s), so he won’t be removed into solely situational hitting and Jennings mans LF while Zobrist/Joyce split RF. So are we going to give away prospects to aqcuire Soriano as a situational hitter?
depends on how badly you want to catch baltimore and new york… if you’re good with jennings/zobrist/joyce and third place then no need for a better hitter i guess… doesn’t seem like a tampa kind of move anyway, you guys don’t give away prospects for 40 year olds
Joyce and Zobrist are hitting fine. And we’re not going to sit Jennings because he’s our young stud prospect starting his first full year. Also, I’m not that worried of Baltimore, I don’t think their pitching can hold up…the only thing that’s held the Rays back from overtaking them is the Rays.
that’s basically what i was saying… if you’re ok with taking a few losses to develop jennings ( which is pretty much the MO of tampa and most small revenue clubs ) then you stick with what you have… i wouldn’t assume a good team will fall apart though, you’ve seen plenty of young pitchers carry playoff teams in tampa so you know how it happens
You just said Luke Scott is the DH. He sucks dude. Jennings does too. Jennings is young & supposed to one day be a star, but I’d take Soriano on a day to day basis right now over both of them. Luke Scott? Didin’t just go 0 for like, 30?
….And he still leads the team in RBI’s and is tied for 2nd in HR’s while missing a few weeks b/c of injury. You’re going to sit your RBI leader when you struggle to score runs? And why would they sit Jennings? Their young up-and-coming star in LF? It’s only his first full year starting, he doesn’t suck….yet.
i think that says more about the anemic rays offense than it does about scott.
Yes, but Scott’s production numbers are about in line with Soriano’s and Scott missed time because of injury. If you take away the 0 for 40 slump, his average is back around .250 .260 and his OBP, SLG, OPS would look respectable. Soriano has 15 HR 48 RBI and Scott has 11 HR 42 RBI while missing time on DL.
His obp in the first 2 months barely cracks .300 and slg was around 4.5. He had a good april, since then he has been horrible. You can only pick and choose your stats so much.
Soriano isn’t what he once was, but he would certainly be a major upgrade over scott.
You can’t just take away a 0 for 40 slump… Soriano would be a big upgrade
Soriano’s OPS is more than 130 poitns higher than Scott’s, and he has more RBI than Scott, despite the fact that the Cubs are rated as the 28th-best offensive team in baseball.
Also, to point out the REAL flaw in your argument:
You’re using RBI to determine a hitter’s value, and that’s just wrong.
I wasn’t determining a hitter’s sole value, only his run production. And I already pointed out the AVG/OBP/SLG/OPS debacle if you read. Besides, I’m not saying he’s better than Soriano so don’t get all upset as a Cubs fan. I’m saying Scott’s production is just as good without the injury and the immaculate slump.
As I said in the above comment, in Scott’s last 42 games, he’s hitting .179. He’s played a total of 61 games, so that .179 takes up 68.8% of the games he has played in. That slump last AT MOST 13 games, which leaves another 29 games where he clearly didn’t play that well (his average MIGHT have been around .270 over that stretch, depending on the exact slumo).
And if you’re talking JUST about creating runs, then you might look at Scott’s 22 RBI last season. That alone proves that even using RBI for determining run creation is a weak idea, because run creation is dependent on all 9 batters.
If you only view stats for april. The other 3 months he has been instant outs.
Mainly because his stint on the DL and his 0 for 40.
Listen up, Luke Scott’s publicist. 0 for 40 is 0 for 40. It means that he didn’t get a hit in forty straight at-bats. You can’t discount that kind of slump and THEN tell me he’s a good hitter. You take the good with the bad, and Luke Scott, unfortunately for the Rays, is bad.
check his uzr… not a liability, he’s had elite range for 3 seasons… just because he doesn’t make the flashy plays doesn’t mean he’s not a good fielder
I mean compared to Jennings…
They could platoon him with Luke Scott as DH. Scott vs righties and Soriano vs lefties..
Prado is playing SS tonight for an already injured (though day-to-day) Jack Wilson. If he is serviceable out there, why not just keep him in this position for the 4 weeks until Simmons is back. The available SS names aren’t very enticing anyway.
For those of you who will quickly shoot this down, I have another outlandish idea! Keep Prado at SS and trade Minor + prospects for Soriano and Garza. Depending on how much $$ is absorbed by Chicago determines the quality of additional prospects. Then next year you can have Prado full time at 3B and keep Soriano in left.
But then Soriano’s in left.
Indeed
We can afford/do a lot better than Soriano in our OF next year.
A year and two months of a #2 starter for a guy who’s nearly pitched his way back to AAA and spare change? Where do we sign up?
Umm…I don’t think anyone in the Cubs camp actually wants Mike Minor. The only way they’d take him is if he’s one of the MUCH lesser pieces in the deal. Sorry if people aren’t interested in buying into a 5.97 ERA, 5.42 FIP, and poor attitude for maybe having to be in the bullpen because he’s a crappy SP.
Yet all braves fans eem to think he is extremely valuable. He is 24 and has alot of talent, but if i am a gm, i’m not going to see him as valuable because he hasn’t gotten it done in the majors for 3 straight years. I’d rather take a card on someone younger.
Minor always has ONE bad inning. That’s his problem. Doesn’t have an attitude problem.
We have one of those already, his name’s Chris Volstad.
I thought for sure Volstad to the Cubs was a sure win for them over Zambrano. He was someone always liked and had that issue with the Fish as well.
Maybe he just needs to pitch somewhere like Safeco, SanDiego, Citi Field, or at LA to keep his “long ones” in the yard.. Hard to see also.. Good curve, fair FB, just like you said and probably seen.. He will be cruising and just lose it all at once.
Minor’s best performance, imo, was his 12-strikeout (1 BB) at Wrigley in 2010 during a spot start. Striking out 12 Cubbies as a rookie. I thought he was good for doing that, but I’m just thinking CHC was that bad.
I don’t know why everyone is so down on the guy. He has flashes of greatness and if he can just limit the walks, which he’s done up until this year for the most part, he’ll strike guys out. He’s had a problem keeping the ball down and it’s affected his BB/ER via HR. Personally, I wouldn’t be surprised to see his 2012 ERA end up below 4.
Garza has a 4.32 ERA, he isn’t exactly an ace, but he has a track record and his xfip is 3.69.
Look Minor is a good pitcher, but as most young starters are, inconsistant, if he had a 3.00 ERA why would they need Garza. They are in the middle of a playoff run, so they are willing to sacrifice some of the future for present performance.
Randall Delgado is another option.
A legitimate consideration with the Cubs would be to see if they’d cheaply trade Darwin Barney. He’s normally a 2B, but he can handle short for a few weeks, then serve as a decent-enough utility MI off the bench for the rest of the season.
Buster Olney of ESPN (via Twitter) speculates that Alfonso Soriano would be an interesting get for the Rays
Boy, I tell you Buster, that’s exactly what the Rays need another strike out king!
The Rays were leading the AL in strike outs (hitters) with the Orioles 4 behind.
The O’s might have caught up tonight.
Which is really impressive considering the O’s have both Chris Davis AND Mark Reynolds.
Ah thats cause Marky hasn’t played in 25% of the games. Something about how he strikes out too much.
Soriano is not as bad of a leftfielder as people say he is. He’s just not, go look at the stats, at the analysis done by the different statistical organizations. Bloggers just repeat what they read or heard without knowing a thing. Acting like they know something. That being said, he doesn’t look like a natural outfielder at all. He’s late on his jumps occasionally, he looks a little uncomfortable catching line drives. But he makes almost all of the plays and at 36 is actually improving. Seeing him throw Chipper out at the plate the other day was awesome. Also, earlier this year, he started using a lighter bat. Wow, who’da thunk it, his bat speed improved dramatically, and his numbers are approaching a level he hasn’t reached in years, and he’s healthier than he ever has been as a Cub. If the Cubs are willing to pay a considerable portion of his future salary & can’t get at least 2 decent lower level prospects for him, they should just keep him. It’s not like he’s a clubhouse cancer like Zambrano was for them, and they don’t exactly have loads of OF prospects waiting to take his spot.
Maybe not this year, but Soriano has made some terrible, bone head plays in left field over the past few years. He’s better fit for a DH spot in the AL. The issue is that he is blocking Brett Jackson, but he hasn’t exactly shined in Iowa this year. If they can get a taker, I still think he’ll be traded.
He is not blocking Brett Jackson. Brett Jackson is blocking himself by averaging 2 K’s a game in AAA!
And that’s fine, let Tony Campana play in left!
Thank God Im not alone. Move Soriano and most of his money to tampa for a C level arm and start Campana. Tony plays his absolute hardest everyday, and his speed is exiting to watch. He could be a poor mans Juan Pierre. If he were to ever develop his bat a little more, he would be invaluable at the top of a promising lineup in 3-4 years.
I would put Campana in CF, Lahair in LF and Dejesus in RF!
that’s the thing though… fans see the errors and assume they make him a bad fielder but he has way above average range and takes away a lot of singles and doubles that the average left fielder doesn’t get to… doesn’t look fast but his long legs and long stride over a lot of ground… fans don’t notice the 3 plays he makes look easy by covering ground they only notice the one play that he drops a ball that got in the wind and hold onto that all season. i’d take him
Just think, the Braves had Elvis Andress
…and the Rays had Josh Hamilton. Get over it.
The Cubs also had ’em
No they didn’t, for the 1000th time. They drafted him in the Rule 5 for the Reds. The Cubs never had him.
Actually, yes, they did have him, but traded him to the Reds.
No, they didn’t.
He NEVER signed with the Cubs. His rights were traded in a pre draft trade.
Thank you, TTT OOO.
I had just lined up in front of a brick wall and was ready to start slamming my head repeatedly against it. You just saved me from a lot of unnecessary pain…
But the Cubs still had him
and the Phillies had Gio Gonzalez.
Should I keep this going? The Red Sox had Jeff Bagwell. The Tigers had John Smoltz. The Mariners had Shin shoo-choo and Michael Morse. The Mets had Scott Kazmir. And those are the big ones I can think of right now.
And the Mariners had Derek Lowe, Jason Varitek, David Ortiz, Adam Jones, Shin Soo Choo, Asdurbal Carbrera, and…oh god kill me now.
hahaha hindsight is one of the worst things available to a baseball fan. I look back on who we have passed up in the draft or traded away….Why god why!?!
Derek Lowe is a garbage pitcher. You can have him if you want. Varitek was overrated just because he played for Red Sox and Ortiz would not have been the hitter he is if he hadn’t taken steroids. The other 3guys are pretty good though
Baltimore, KC and Pittsburgh all had Jose Bautista at one point
The Cardinals had Pujols…
Luckily they got rid of him at the right time. He’s no more than an average 1B right now. And he will be stinking in 3 years from now.
150 wRC+ since may with fantastic defense
he’s human now, in that he is capable of slumping. it’ll be many years before he’s anything less than elite, though
Yeah and the Reds had Josh Hamilton.
So did the Cubs… Until they traded him to Cincy right away.
No they didn’t. Not for one second.
Just stop. Please.
Who the hell is that?
They also had Yunel Escobar. Thanks Braves for spreading the SS love around the league!!!
I’d say a guy like ryan carpenter and a lesser prospect for soriano would be fair
Ok, before anyone thinks this is gonna become some big thing…I think the Braves will acquire some decent player tomorrow and he’ll be the starting SS until Simmons comes back with Jack Wilson coming in every now and then when Simmons is back, decide whether to release either Wilson or whoever we acquire.
Release Wilson, the answer is always release Wilson.
Hell, I can play a better SS than he can.
Cubs fans are delirious if they think they will get anything valuable for Soriano. He’s having a bounce back season and he is still one of the worst every day left fielders in the league. I guess they can always hope for a Carlos Santana for Casey Blake level bonehead decision.
I bet them Dodgers wish they still had Santana right about now lol.
We aren’t looking for anything of value. I will be happy with one C level prospect. Anything better than that and we will have robbed the other team. I just want Soriano gone.
You are the only one I’ve seen say anything about a high return.
Strange post.
Jared Weaver sounds like a great all around guy, Angels are lucky to have him
While I agree, he does seem a little too attached to his family. For all the talk about Greinke’s “anxiety disorder” it makes me wonder if Weaver could handle pitching in a city like New York if his mom and dad aren’t there. Weird how attached players are to their parents. When Hamilton’s parents left him alone, that’s where his downhill troubles started a decade or so ago.
Yeah it’s totally weird to be attached to your parents….freaks
When you’re a grown man and can’t go somewhere for yourself, because your parents might not be there or w/ in 10 miles, yeah.
Could they be a match for the Twins? Maybe Brian Dozier for one of the Braves pitching prospects in the minor leagues. They wouldn’t have to give up the farm for somebody like Drew, Reyes, or Escobar. Hasn’t Teheran’s stock dropped, or is he still one of the Braves top pitchers? Dozier/Teheran?
Yeah that’s what we’re going to do. Trade our best pitching prospect for a stopgap ss
Yes, Teheran is still a top prospect. The Braves won’t be trading him for a fill-in shortstop.
Is Jared Weaver Jered Weever and Jeff Weaver’s evil brother? Like Peter Griffin’s brother Thadeus?
Alfonso Soriano and Matt Garza for Gary Brown, Kyle Crick and Clayton Blackburn. Seems to be a good deal for both sides. Cubs find the CF of the future since Brett Jackson is stinking up in AAA (Ks every AB) and get 2 young high ceiling pitchers. Giants get a SP they need (since Lincecum is washed up) and a pop hitter in Soriano.
Throw in Zito, and neither side puts down any money, and I call that even.
Would the Pirates absorb 30% of Soriano’s contract?
Sure… if the Cubs throw in Starlin Castro!
He’s got a solid bat for less than 6 million. Plus, what would it cost in prospects? I doubt much… Seems a better plan than upton.