Here’s the latest from the Big Apple…
- The Yankees had a scout watching Johnny Cueto’s last start, and George A. King III of the New York Post reports that same scout (Jeff Datz) also saw Mike Leake pitch the next day for the Reds. King adds that Cincinnati has also been scouting the Yankees’ farm system, and he speculates that prospects like Mason Williams, Ramon Flores and Bryan Mitchell could interest the Reds as part of a package for one of the two starting pitchers. The Reds are sure to ask about top prospects Luis Severino and Aaron Judge, though King doubts the Yankees would move either for Cueto or Leake since both hurlers are free agents this winter.
- Also from King, the Phillies had scouts watching the Yankees/Orioles game on Sunday. King isn’t sure the Yankees would want to either cover Cole Hamels’ substantial remaining contract or give up the prospects Philadelphia wants for the ace southpaw. Some in the industry believe Hamels is an ideal fit for the Orioles, who have received some shaky outings from their rotation this season.
- The perception of the Mets around the league is that they won’t be willing to take on salary in midseason trades, ESPN’s Buster Olney reports (subscription required). Club ownership also hasn’t given any indication that it’s willing to extend payroll. It “makes no sense” to Olney that the Mets wouldn’t be willing to spend on some needed reinforcements for what looks like a playoff contender.
- The Mets have been rumored to be exploring infield upgrades, though they may have found an internal solution in Dilson Herrera. Manager Terry Collins told reporters (including Adam Rubin of ESPN New York) that Herrera is likely to retain the starting second base job once Daniel Murphy returns from the DL next week. This would mean that Murphy would play third, which would address the Mets’ need at the hot corner with David Wright out of action.
Don’t see that Yankees package being appealing at all, Mitchell looks like a future reliever based on BB/K rates, while Williams has had a ok bounceback year he still lacks secondary skills most starters have and flores doesn’t profile as a starter in a corner. It will take more upside, even for a rental
Well, are the O’s going to make some sort of move?
As a side note Mason Williams had a nice series in Baltimore.
Told you guy’s in the last thread….the scout was there to see Leake….but also watched Cueto……
Who would the Phillies want from the O’s….at yesterday’s game?….the Yankees should do that deal in a heartbeat….if it came down to Severino & Judge plus pieces…..why is money an issue…don’t they print it than burn it anyway?….
The Yankees want younger players. They have a whole roster of old, expensive, injured, washed up players.
I definitely wonder who it was the Phillies were looking at during the Yanks/O’s series, I suppose both teams could have had potentially intriguing pieces for any number of deals, but I wonder if there was any specific guys of interest.
From the Yankees they probably came to Scout….Williams,Warren,Gardner,Murphy.Wilson….from the O’s ummm I have no idea…..
3B Murphy, SS Flores, 2B Herrera, & 1B Duda is workable I guess. Murphy should be the odd many out (traded), but with the plethora of injuries the Mets haven’t had a steady IF all season. Tejada shouldn’t even been on the roster, but he is still there. Campbell should have never left AAA. Muno has been overmatched since day 1.
Adding a utility infielder would be great, but I think Zobrist would be an overpay w. Beane on the other side. I like Alex Guerrero out in LAD, but I’m not sure how much it’d take to pry him away; currently he is a bat w/o a position…and poor D when he’s in the field.
ps. To clarify since there is no edit function, Murphy would slot in at 3B once he is off the DL, and that assumes Wright is still out…and that is a huge question mark. For right now…it is probably Tejada in there, ugh.
Major League Baseball needs to investigate the ownership of the New York Mets. The well known fact that the organization borrowed $25 million years ago, and has cut payroll year after year, and the puppet general manager Sandy Alderson put in place was Bud Selig. The talented pitchers in the rotation and still expected to come up, including Wheeler is going to be wasted with this insufficient supporting cast of ball players who can’t hit! The only reason Granderson was signed was to shut Met fans up, including Mike Francesca of WFAN. Alderson chasing and signing Chris Young on day 1 of free agency last year was telling to all baseball fans.