The Nationals have had at least some discussions with the Phillies regarding closer Jonathan Papelbon, Jon Morosi and Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports report on Twitter. While Washington is hesitant to take on mid-season payroll, says Rosenthal, the sides could line up if the Phillies covered a big piece of his remaining deal.
While the match is jarring at first glance, and the two teams have rarely matched up on deals of any significance, we’ve seen other clubs eschew fears of dealing within the division in recent days. And with Papelbon’s market reportedly shrinking, it’s not surprising to see the Nationals choose an opportune time to enter the discussion.
Washington’s interest in the late-inning relief market can probably be categorized more as “want” than “need” — Drew Storen has, after all, been excellent — and it seems there could be some limitations on the methods available. But with the Mets announcing their intentions to push after the division title, and the Nationals struggling with a wide variety of injuries, every edge is important. The club’s pen work has actually been rather good, but another shutdown arm would be most welcome with Tyler Clippard long since dealt to Oakland.
From the perspective of the Phillies, while it may sting a bit to entertain the idea of moving Papelbon to the division’s current powerhouse, the reportedly wavering interest means that all options must be considered. Papelbon himself has been increasingly blunt about his displeasure with remaining in Philly, and it’s hard to imagine a smooth August and September if a deal does not get done.
They can get Clippard back.
He’s going some where this Weekend maybe in a 3 way Trade that nets the Braves extra Infielders in their system so they can Trade Chris Johnson.
Lack of infielders in the system is 0% of the reason Chris Johnson hasn’t been traded. They’d send a dog out there for the rest of the season if somebody took a big chunk of his contract off their hands.
WSH Gets: Jonathan Papelbon, Andres Blanco and $15 Million
PHI Gets: Austin Voth and Victor Robles
I can’t speak for the Nats, but as a Phillies fan, sign me up for that.
Braves got a better prospect than either in Toussaint from Arizona for basically 9.5m
So the Phils pay FIFTEEN million and the team gets one of the top avail RP
And everyone and their brother has criticized the D’Backs for that terrible trade.
Papelbon will only go somewhere he will be the closer and I don’t see Washington moving Storen out of that role right now with how he’s pitched.
Of course, I’m assuming Washington is on his no trade list. And even if they aren’t, I don’t see them or any other team trading for Papelbon just to put him in the setup role and having to listen to him complain.
Storen took back seat to Soriano. I think they’ll put him in the back seat for Pap.
Fair point. Hey, I don’t care where Pap ends up if the Phillies get a decent prospect or 2 in return.
true, but storen has been pitching much better than he did when pulled previously; the phillies might just be floating this as I assume the Cubs arent offering much because they figure no other team will take Paps.
I could see the Phillies and Nationals making that deal w/ other mid tier prospects that don’t get a lot of media attention and still having a great season. Another team is the Seattle Mariners in a multi trade by sending Rodney and Iwakuma to the Nationals since they need some help at starting pitching w/ Strasburg still fighting w/ injuries. Papelbon can help the Mariners beyond this season as the team is in buyer/seller mode as the Texas Rangers if the Philies can get good return by both teams.
Storen took a back seat to Soriano and the end result was a disaster. He had to work hard to get his confidence back, they’re not going to destroy it again.
He needs fifteen more game finishes to vest his option. If he goes somewhere and doesn’t close he won’t vest it. Im not even sure the Phillies can guarantee his option. There is no regular option. Just a vestable option.
You can guarantee a normal option (with a buyout). Can you guarantee a vesting one?
Yup and there’s no way he goes to a team where he doesn’t close. And even less than 0% of a chance he agrees to be a setup man without that team first guaranteeing that option
Not sure I follow this comment entirely, but:
1) vesting options generally become club options if they don’t vest;
2) if a team isn’t on his no-trade list, he can be dealt there regardless whether he likes it and what the new team’s plans are (regardless of what that means for his vesting option)
3) teams and players can generally structure things however they wish; there is no rule against guaranteeing a vesting option
I’m a Nats fan I don’t trust Storen closing out playoff games….I also don’t really want to trade for Paps either though. I’d rather have Chapman/Kimbrel
If the Nats want to get to the WS, they need to acquire a much better option than Papelbon (who has become a volatile cancer in the clubhouse). They should bite the bullet and go get Kimbrel. Storen has been excellent, but we’re all holding our jocks, waiting for the implosion to begin (historically, it has always shown up eventually). Chapman’s price is probably prohibitive (at least in actual “value”), and Kimbrel has a extended contract.
Papelbon is outspoken in the media, but he is not the clubhouse cancer everyone believes him to be. He is well respected on the team because he goes out and does his job every time he is asked. He has actually been a great teammate and has been a big help to the Phillies developing their young bullpen pieces (especially Giles).
Plus he is a consistent, proven closer. Chapman and Kimbrel may be slightly better, but not as much as you make them out to be.
The problem with Chapman and Kimbrel is that the Nationals would have to pay them and they have no payroll flexibility. They may be able to get the Phillies to pay almost all of the rest of Papelbon’s contract.
Why is it surprising that the Phillies would trade Pap to the Nats? Phillies won’t be good by the time his contract is up there, and I don’t see them resigning him with his attitude.
Philadelphia should eat all the money and try to pry Reynaldo Lopez from them. Probably won’t happen though.
I’d not he suprised if the Nats got him. The Nata have been trying to be the Phillies since 2007.
why won’t pap be good when his contract is up? Hes already excelling with 88-92 MPH.
I didn’t say pap wouldn’t be good, I said Nats won’t resign him. At least I don’t believe they would.
Ah, i missed read that as “papelbon won’t be good when his contract is up” my bad.
Funny, but I misread that sentence the exact same way that you did Matt………lol
I didn’t say surprising, I said it would sting a bit. Doesn’t mean they wouldn’t do it.
Why would it sting? The Phillies don’t want him and they would be happy to get anything for him at this point. He’s not doing anything positive for the Phils. I’m sure they would love to let the Nats deal with him and at the same time get something useful in return.
If they were happy for getting anything for him, he would have been gone a year ago.
Hes done tons positive for the Phillies. 16-for-16 in saves, and believe it or not, hes been a leader in the bullpen.
They were still in denial a year ago, hence the AJ Burnett signing. They should have gotten rid of him but they didn’t, and that’s what makes their front office bad.
The best thing the Phillies can do is lose and see what the young guys can do. Paps doesn’t do any of those things.
No one is gonna say they shouldn’t trade him, but you said they should just take what they should get, which is wrong.
Yea they should take the best offer they can regardless. Phillies do not benefit as a team by employing him.
17 for 17 in saves now
He would be an upgrade over Fernando Rodney in Seattle if the Mariners are interested in him to teach Carson Smith the ropes of being a successful closer and try to get the team back into the race for the last wild card spot.
That Nats are the Nats. They’re not trying top be like any other team.
If you’re a rebuilding club, you shouldn’t care about dealing in the division.
One could easily argue that it’s a really smart move, too. You’re going to be bad this year anyway, so what does it matter if a division rival wins a WS? You’d be extracting a division rival’s prospect(s), which would hurt them down the line.
Flop the Nats.
from my sources in neil huntington’s trashcan…all teams are exhausted trying to make a deal with the phillies..teams are wondering if there is a gas leak in the offices…hamels and papelbon will still be phils unless owner steps in..
When the Phillies realize that they shouldn’t care about one of another teams top 3 prospects, but rather one that would be a top 2 on their own team, they will make the Hamels trade, but that won’t happen until after cueto is off the table.
I think Papelpon goes by the end of Monday. Phillies won’t risk waiting and get nothing for him.
Papelbon is always an option to trade in August too. I think someone (LA) would claim him if they have the money to take him on, but there’s always a chance that option gets him to slide through.
I also think Harang will be an August trade candidate if he comes back healthy. Not that he’ll bring much of anything back.
Yea Gillick is the king of those post deadline deals. I wouldn’t be surprised if several of the phillies were moved after the deadline.
The Phillies top two prospects in mid-season rankings were #4 and #7 with Baseball Prospectus and #5 and #12 with Baseball America. I’m sure they’d be very happy if they got a prospect that was better than Aaron Nola.
Yes they should be very happy if that happened. But it wasn’t long ago that they were asking for two of those guys.
It’s crazy how many pitchers have been added to the block in the past few weeks, so I don’t know what they are going to get for Hamels. Most of these new so called sellers aren’t as motivated to sell as the Phils are, so I don’t see players like Teheran or Shields or anyone on the Indians being moved. They are just casting out their lines to see if they get a nibble.
If Price is moved I can see him going to the Cubs – they are clearly not willing to offer the Phillies enough for Hamels and I am sure they want a chance at resigning Price in the offseason anyway. If they can give up Baez for Price they would be stupid not it.
The Dodgers are going to get Cueto or Hamels. If the Rangers get Hamels first, then the Dodgers are going to get Cueto. I’m sure the Phillies would love to buy low on Profar. If they could get Profar and Alfaro by paying as much as is required to get it done, that’s the deal to go for.
Dodgers want Hamels I just don’t see them giving up as much as the Rangers. It’s tough to do when you have two of the best prospects in the game. They would have to do De Leon and Holmes + and I don’t think thats as good as Alfaro and Profar.
With that being said, I’m rooting for Cole to go LA because he would love it there.
Papelbons pitches are moving which has allowed for a dip in velocity though the gun at Wrigley had him at 94 mph yesterday. He’s been terrific, his only problem is his mouth.
Please don’t bring Clippard back, Rizzo. He was solid between 2011-13, but in the past two seasons he has been significantly worse when pitching in 1 run differential games (up 1 run, tie, down 1 run) than games in which his team was up/down by 2 runs or more. Call it “clutch” or whatever you want, but he is nowhere near reliable as he once was when the game is on the line.