Indians president Mark Shapiro says the trade market is slow because of the new rules regarding draft pick compensation and the abundance of teams in contention, particularly in the American League (Twitter links). However, the Indians are "heavily engaged" in the trade market, according to Shapiro. Here are more notes from around MLB…
- Indians manager Manny Acta said the team’s front office has been working aggressively to add an outfield bat or a starting pitcher, Jim Bowden of ESPN.com and MLB Network Radio reports (on Twitter).
- The Red Sox have enough starting pitching depth not to have to rush into the market for rotation help, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports (on Twitter).
- Heyman could see the Mariners picking up Brent Lillibridge (Twitter link). Seattle likes the utility player, who was recently designated for assignment by the Red Sox.
- Ken Davidoff of the New York Post lists some outfield possibilities for the Yankees, including Shane Victorino, Carlos Quentin, Denard Span and Will Venable. Here’s a detailed look at the market for outfielders.
- Matt Holliday, Starlin Castro and Matt Wieters have considerable trade value, Dave Cameron writes in the continuation of his Trade Value series at FanGraphs.
Can Lillibridge play 2B? I could see the Cubs being in on him if they end up moving Barney to Detroit.
Could also see them moving Dempster to Boston and getting back the player who is filling in for Pedroia.
I dont see the sox going out getting a big name pitcher before the deadline. and in all honesty they wouldnt have to if their so called ” aces” would step up and pitch. but im guessing last septembers issues are still stuck in their heads.
There’s some chemistry issues with the Red Sox…it’s obvious when you watch them. The spotlight is bright there for sure. Bobby Valentine doesn’t seem to have the players supporting him. Seems they dealt Youkilis because of the animosity between he and Valentine……that seems more to be the case than the emergence of Middlebrooks.
I see Boston keeping Ciriaco around now. he almost made the team out of ST. Punto was the hangup then, as he is now. Punto has that 2/3m deal. Ciriaco plays good defense in the middle IF, some 3b and has good speed. neither will hit much.
Think they will push to move Punto 1st. Bobby V has this thing for hard working players when he spots them.. Same with Nava.. I like that philosophy also.. Both are retreads, but can help for a season or so.
That’s the kind of player Lilibridge was. When the White Sox first brought him in for an extended period….I thought..”wow…how does this guy have a job?” And….he isn’t a great player certainly..or even a capable regular because he gets overexposed easily. But he DOES have value with a team that can afford to deploy him. He can hit with surprising power and he can play right field. He saved some wins for Chicago last year. He runs fairly decent.
I’m not making a case for Lillibridge as a stellar player or even a necessary player though.
Why yes, of course the M’s like Lillibridge. Mediocrity in human form.
Never thought I’d see Wil Venable’s name on here, he would probably turn into something awesome the day after that trade.
Definitely could see that.
He’s currently hitting .295 with a .364, OBP, .535 SLG, and .899 OPS away from Petco…
I’m loving that Dave Cameron series on fangraphs. I think Trout takes the number one spot. Any guesses?
Yes, Aoki, Capuano, Cody Ross, Colon and of course Matt Wieters. =P
How about Vernon Wells? He was traded for Mike Napoli, after all.
My guess would be McCutchen #1. I’d definitely guess Trout in the top 3 though, and only because the Pirates have more cost certainty with Cutch than the Angels with Trout.
I’m going to say it stays with Longoria. That contract is just silly.
I am guessing Cutch, Trout, Harper top 3 with Longo and Strasburg rounding out the rest of the list. The funny thing is how much these lists change from year to year. There is so much variation year to year in baseball, it’s insane. Can go many different ways with pitching because it’s wildly inconsistent. Kershaw, Bumgardner, Verlander, and Sale are all good choices as well.
Cutch should be #1 because his contract is still very reasonable and he’s more proven than Trout and Harper. I’d also guess Votto and Braun will each be in the mix despite their large contracts. Pretty much any team would pay for that guaranteed production.
Great to see Matt Holiday has considerable trade value, except that he has that pesky no trade clause…
I would actually prefer to see the yankees get Denard Span or venable over Victorino and quentin. Victorino will require way to much for a 2 month rental and he is in his 30’s and quentin is more of a power hitter and the yankees dont need another power hitter. they need guys who can get base hits.
If you think Victorino will require too much for a two month rental then i’m sorry to break it to you but Denard Span will cost much more, especially with that friendly contract and a ton of control.
Victorino is having a bad year and has become a malcontent. I doubt it would take much to acquire him, especially with the new CBA.
If it didn’t take much to acquire him then I’d like Cincy to pick him up. I don’t think that will happen though as it was reported a couple days ago that Philly’s asking price is high at this point.
Keep in mind you are dealing with RAJ here, a guy who loves veterans and will never give up on the season no matter how bad things are looking. He wants 5 prospects for Hamels, I’m sure he will overvalue Victorino as well.
I disagree…. look at quentins’s 162 game averages….30+ HR’s and 100 RBI’s. He is Clutch. And the Yankee hitting coaches always improve newcomers’ weaknesses. Quentin will bat 265+ for the Yankees. Some people say you can’t have too much pitching. So be it. I say, offensively, you can’t have too much power.
Will Venable anyone?
They should move the Indians. You add to their low payroll the fact that players are putting them onto their blocked teams list. Not sure how the team can ever be competitive. their hands are tied at every turn.
If you moved every team that players didn’t want to be traded to and had a small payroll you’d be moving close to half the league.
Move where? There simply aren’t that many decently sized markets out there that don’t already have an MLB team. Portland and Orlando are the only two that are larger (barely) than Cleveland. And given how difficult it’s been to draw crowds in FLA, I doubt that Orlando is a viable option.