Rumors from MLB’s central divisions:
- The Twins are in the market for a power reliever, writes Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press. Minnesota has long been known for their reliance on command and control pitchers. Their bullpen has a league worst 6.08 K/9. The Tigers are next worst with 7.30 K/9. Twins GM Terry Ryan acknowledged the advantage strikeouts can provide in big situations. If somebody’s got the out pitch to be able to get a strikeout, that’s great. Unfortunately there are pitchers that don’t have that capability as much as others, so it makes those sac flies or putting the ball in play with the infield back … it just gives the other offense that advantage.
- Minnesota has spoken with the Padres about relievers, tweets Jon Morosi of FOX Sports. Morosi lists Joaquin Benoit and Shawn Kelley as possible fits. I would add that Brandon Maurer fits the power pitching profile. However, Benoit and Kelley could both hit free agency after this season. Kelley is unsigned beyond this season, and Benoit has a $8MM club option ($500K buyout). Maurer comes with four more seasons of club control. As such, he’s probably more difficult to acquire.
- The Brewers are drawing plenty of interest in starter Mike Fiers, tweets Tom Haudricourt of MLB.com. However, the club presently plans to keep Fiers. They are more open to trading veterans Kyle Lohse and Matt Garza. Given the performance of both pitchers this season, they’ll have a hard time finding an interested suitor. Garza has a 5.49 ERA in 100 innings while Lohse has scuffled to a 6.29 ERA in 113 innings.
- Prior to being no-hit by Cole Hamels, Cubs GM Jed Hoyer reiterated a need for pitching and bench depth, tweets Jesse Rogers of ESPN 1000. Hoyer didn’t elaborate about any specific talks. Rogers opines (via Twitter) that the club could seek to make some smaller moves for veterans to bolster depth and balance a young roster. The offense has struggled recently, but the Cubs are still in the thick of the Wild Card race. They’re just 1.5 games behind the Giants for the second slot.
- The White Sox are increasingly willing to trade starter Jeff Samardzija, writes Dan Hayes of CSN Chicago. Samardzija has performed below expectations this season with a 3.91 ERA, 6.93 K/9, and 1.67 BB/9. However, he’s posted a strong 2.55 ERA over his last eight starts due to a low HR/FB ratio. While teams may no longer view him as an ace, he has failed to last seven innings in just four of his 20 starts this season. This is my speculation: he could prove to be a valuable innings eater for a club on the bubble like the Orioles or Astros. Hayes also notes that the White Sox have lined up Erik Johnson’s starts with Samardzija. Johnson is in the midst of a breakout season with a 2.59 ERA, 10.05 K/9, and 2.87 BB/9.
- The big story tonight is that the Royals nearly acquired Johnny Cueto from the Reds; read all about that here.
Has to be Duffy or Zimmer failed the medicals for Cueto
I read on Twitter it was Zimmer, but who knows how accurate that info is?
KC isn’t trading duffy…. they need a starter and trading your #2 guy would defeat the entire purpose.
If Danny Duffy is the Royals #2 starter, then that rotation is a disaster. He’s maybe a servicable #4 starter.
Hes their 3. They have Volquez and Chris Young as the 1-2 punch. (who thought we’d be saying that 2 years ago)
awful 1-2 punch
Its not flashy, but they haven’t exactly been awful this year. Obviously they are trying to upgrade, and they sent down (briefly) Venture to get his stuff fixed up and ready to go for the home stretch.
FIP.
FIP is projections, not fact statistics. If Young is pitching extremely well with the Royals defense behind him, his FIP doesn’t mean a ton because hes going to be playing with that same defense behind him for the rest of the year, and into the playoffs.
FIP…
Before you continue your love affair with FIP for a third post, I suggest you read the Fangraphs articles specifically talking about Chris Young and how FIP utterly fails to quantify him.
Nailed it jb226 – beat me to it. Chris Young is the absolute poster boy for outperforming FIP, acknowledged at length by those who understand FIP the most.
joshbresser – you picked the wrong time to try and be condescending.
Hey someone that understands how to use FIP! I like you! When you play in a big ballpark with a great defense, you’re LIKELY to outperform your FIP.
Walt bungles another deal. Unbelievable.
If he took a guy that failed his medicals, THAT would be bungling the deal. This is just postponing the deal.
You may be the most negative poster in mlbtr history! Give it a rest.
That guy is even getting on my nerves. Do we see a spree of mlbtr tourists this time of year?
I’ll take the biased homer fans over the Jackie Bradley jr fan club trolls.
Oh man..no doubt.. This is the time of year that everyone who hasn’t been paying attention starts jumping on sites and going crazy on their home team values
It is entertaining though.. To think people actually are convinced of half the nonsense I have read on here the last week or so.. I also think there is a guy, lets leave his original name out of this, but since I haven’t seen him in a couple of days I have a feeling he is just name jumping with multiple accounts.. That’s the problem with this new commenting system.. You can set up a bogus email account and have a new troll name in just a few minutes.. Some people need to get a life..
It does seem to be bad….it was bad right when school let out as well…like the high school shut in baseball fan boys were on a spree. It’s just easy to tell when a young kid is commenting… They revert to crass insults
My question of who’s been trailing me downvoting everything has likely been answered
Have an upvote.
Conducting a physical, finding a player is injured, and rejecting the deal for that reason is hardly bungling a deal. The Royals bungled the deal by offering a ‘healthy’ player who couldn’t pass a physical.
Any Reds fan should remember the Gary Majewski acquisition (before Jocketty’s time with the Reds) – that’s what he just saved the team from.
By waiting Johnny Cueto was able to make a strong start, only increasing his trade appeal.
I’d say he decreased it. Bad velocity.
Hitting 95 in the 8th is bad velocity?
averaged 91 for the game.
Back under the bridge
Give it a rest, troll..
You can say that, but you are mistaken. He was throwing at his normal velocity. He was hitting 94-95mph, when he wanted to. Although it’s not like he was exactly being challenged by a team that got 5 runners on base against him, and… one? … to second base.
He wasn’t throwing his normal velocity.
There’s no mention of a failed physical…I,doubt they sent anyone in for that…it could just be a difference of opinion on a medical report
Zimmer medicals didn’t check out FWIW via @mlbrumorville on Twitter….
Maybe Lamb,Brooks,other starters that are in Triple-A along with Marin/another Bat if he was the other Royal going back.
I think they really want to keep Starling.
THey will dump starling, Lamb is the guy they want to keep.
Why keep Lamb been blocked to the Majors. Maybe get Byrd or Bruce or Phillips also in deal. Say it happens Overnight or sometime Tomorrow so they can then Trade Leake,Chapman.
That would be a coup but I am not convinced that the Royals can afford Phillips.. Maybe if they got the Reds to take Infante off their hands.. Cueto and Phillips would drastically improve 2 of the Royals problem areas.. OF course including a prospect like Lamb they could probably get the Reds to include some cash.. Phillips also would not be just a rental and would take a bit of the sting out of including Lamb..
Starling for me projects as maybe Drew Stubbs…I’d deal that.
I hope the Brewers are just playing the market and are not as motivated to keep Fiers as they make it seem. If a good offer comes he should be on the next flight out.
I’m not sure how the Brewers get it done, but I wouldn’t mind seeing them bring in Baez from Chicago. They have a perfect opportunity in the next few seasons to give him an extended look and hopefully strike gold
Baez isn’t a bad pick, but I don’t see the Cubs in the market for Mike Fiers, he wouldn’t be much better than what they already have. Lester, Arrieta, Hammel and Hendricks all have been better (Hendricks slightly).
I think they go big, or hold pat, and go big in the winter.
I don’t see the Cubs trading a prospect with the ceiling of Baez within the division.. Unless it brings back someone like Gomez..
Gomez for Wheeler have traction?
I think the Brewers would want more of a sure thing. No telling whats gonna happen with TJ. If Wheeler is the next Ryan Madson or Jonny Venters, then they have a major problem.
I don’t think Baez in Milwaukee poses a threat…especially considering they’ll lose some guys to trades
Only if they get a good offer. It’s understandable why they would want to keep him, he’s controllable til 2020 and unless they’ve pro ready pitching back someone is going to have to pitch next year.
Mike Fiers is already 30 years old though. The Brewers don’t figure to compete the next two years so why not trade him instead of sitting on an aging starter who barely hits 90 on the gun?
His K rate is great for his velocity though, suggesting there won’t be as quick of an age drop off as there is for power pitchers. Im not saying don’t trade him, but they don’t need to be motivated to move him unless they get a good deal. He’s a quality mid rotation guy and could still be in demand in the off season or next year.
Padres won’t trade Maurer.
They trade Benoit Maurer is the 8th inning guy. They trade Kimbrel he becomes the closer.
Manseea,Lamb,Starling,Colon and for Hamels,Revere or Utley if they can’t get Cueto or Leake or another starter on market.
I’m still very curious as to why people continue to put Utley’s name into trade talks. The guy isn’t going to be off the DL before the deadline, and hasn’t played well since the AS break in 2014.
Not to mention the fact that he has 10-5 rights which means he can block any trade and has said multiple times that he doesn’t want to leave Philly.
Well, in the case of the Royals he would be worth taking a flier on.. Infante would and should be replaced.. If Utley is a throw in with Philly picking up the salary there isn’t much risk for the Royals.. Amaro made it seem like Utley would ride the bench when he returns.. So, including him as a throw in while picking up most of his salary doesn’t hurt Philly at all.. If he continues to be awful on the Royals they can just release him.. But as we have seen the last couple of years in New York with Soriano and Chris Young among others, dropping a slumping player into a playoff race can sometimes snap them out of it.. I am just worried how Mac would take the news of Utley getting traded..
Would the Twins be able to get any of the Padres relievers for OF Adam Brett Walker II? Benoit, maybe?
I have a feeling the Padres are preparing for a fire sale on the scale of the Marlins after they won their world series championships.. It was fun watching Preller make all of those moves and it is unfortunate that it didn’t work.. I would have liked to see the NL West turn into a powerhouse division..
Now its to the point of getting value back for them.
Shields isn’t going to bring you much unless you eat a ton of salary.
Kimbrel, Upton and Norris is where most of your value is going to come from.
Good luck getting value for Matt Kemp or Ian Kennedy.
I still wouldn’t trade for Tyson Ross or Andrew Cashner, but thats my person view, and is up for debate.
I feel like a reshuffle is more likely. Move on some of the expensive and expiring contracts and try and get ML or close to ML talent in return. Similar to what cherington tried with the Sox last yr. They just started getting fans back to the ballpark and a fireslae would only hurt their attendance and ability to sign FA’s
How many expiring contracts do they have?
Kennedy, Benoit and Upton aren’t going to retool you to the point of being significantly better next year.
Even if you move some players who are 2016 FA’s. A turnaround from Myers and Kemp would make a big difference. The rotation is still a strength despite a down year. After that you really only need someone for the left side of the INF and someone who can play CF and maybe a back of the rotation arm away from being significant. I’d probably move Kimbrel cos he’s an expensive luxury
I understand that pitching depth is good, but I don’t think the Cubs need to break the bank on pitching. They already have one of the best staffs in baseball. They’re first in WHIP, second in opponent batting average and fourth in ERA. A number 4 starter upgrade and a better lefty reliever is really all they need.
Agreed.. They already have a solid 1-2 in Lester and Arrieta.. I would disagree slightly in that I think they need a solid #3.. I hope they go after Samardzija this off season.. His price should have come down quite a bit and should be half of what Price will command.. A better lefty reliever for sure and maybe a top notch closer.. Soriano will work this season but I am not sold on him for next year.. Since he will be only pitching half a season I think he will be very solid and will fool several teams into thinking he is still a viable full time closer..
I think Jason Hammel has been a lot more consistent than Lester. Lately Lester has been lights out so he’s not a problem. I would love Samardzija back, but I don’t want them to give up too much. I would like to see them pursue Papelbon and have Soriano set up for him.
That’s what makes me think if I’m Milwaukee I don’t sneak in and offer a deal centered around Mike Fiers for Baez. Baez is just not getting bites it seems outside of being padding on other deals. Milwaukee could give him a run
SHOCKER! Zimmer has not had a clean bill of health in forever.
Reds should get Raul Mondesi Jr in a deal, if the Royals want an ace their options are slim (Cueto, Price, maaaaybe Samardzija).
In no world is shark an ace.
Cueto still ends a Royal before tomorrows Game and Hamels is Traded before midnight tomorrow and a OF is also moved tomorrow.
I think Cueto ends up a Royal rather soon. If they were so close on a deal that 1 players medicals was the stopping point, they’ll just renegotiate something. If something on Hamels was in the works, we’d hear it by now. The Phillies still want Schwarber, Seager, Mazara, Judge and Swihart, while teams aren’t willing to part with them.
Yeah it should be very soon. Not tonight obviously, but the renegotiation for new terms or pieces should be fairly easy. Sometime tomorrow.
Or they bring another team in possibly to make the difference
I’m not sure I can see them moving Hamels is stupid as it is. I just can’t see any team giving up what they’re asking
Just what I was thinking.
The deal gets expanded where Royals also get an OF from Reds. Hamels will end up with Dodgers or one of Texas Teams. Chapman with Nats.
FYI, I’ve moved the Cueto-Royals stuff to its own post:
mlbtraderumors.com/2015/07/royals-johnny-cueto-tra…
Twins trade for Kimbrel. Give up Kohl Stewart, Adam Brett Walker, and Arcia. I know Padres are looking for long shortstop so maybe switch palanco for walker. Kimbreal is controlable thru the 2018 season and twins get a top setup guy in the form of current closer glen perkins. Fair enough?
Lind a Met so Duda to LF with Smith,Wheeler among going to Brewers?,Gomez,Segera in a Blockbuster to like Pirstes for Henson,Kingman,Bell and others? Braun to Angels for Cron,Nick Smith? Howard to,Angels? Revere or Bruce or Alonso to Astros? Phillips to Yankees? Morse or Prado to Cardinals?