The Padres are “progressing” on multiple deals, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, and Tyson Ross is a key piece among their trade chips. Rosenthal adds that trading him would be considered a concession on the 2015 season, and while that’s likely, it’s certainly possible that the Padres could acquire some MLB-ready talent to make it more even for 2015 purposes than if they went with an all-prospects package. The Padres could add some pieces as well, he notes.
Meanwhile Bob Nightengale of USA Today chimes in on Ross as well, tweeting that executives from other teams are “convinced” that Ross will be dealt. Nightengale says the Cubs continue to push for Ross. (Earlier today, ESPN’s Jayson Stark heard that Ross is Chicago’s top pitching target.)
Here’s more on the trade market for pitching help — starters and relievers alike:
- The Cubs, Blue Jays and Dodgers are the most aggressive teams pursuing Yovani Gallardo of the Rangers at this time, writes Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. The Yankees and Giants also have some level of interest, he adds. Gallardo started tonight, and things went poorly; the Yankees knocked him around for five runs in six innings, and he struck out just one hitter.
- Despite a record that is well below the .500 mark, the Mariners aren’t planning to make right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma available, tweets Yahoo’s Jeff Passan. While other teams have apparently inquired, they’ve been informed that Mariners ownership prefers to keep him. Iwakuma’s value is down after a shaky, injury-filled season, though given his reasonable $7MM salary and track record, I’d imagine he’d draw no shortage of interest if put on the block.
- Teams are still in touch with the Indians regarding their crop of young pitching talent, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. There’s nothing close at this time, but the Indians remain willing to engage in conversations. To this point, they’ve reportedly discussed Carlos Carrasco with other clubs, and one can imagine that Danny Salazar and Trevor Bauer are of interest to other teams as well. Cleveland did bolster its impressive stockpile of young pitching today — albeit with a future-oriented move — acquiring Class-A lefty and former first-round pick Rob Kaminsky from the Cardinals for Brandon Moss.
- The D-Backs reportedly have an offer on the table to the Reds for Aroldis Chapman, but Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic spoke to a pair of executives (Twitter link) about the asking price on Chapman, with one calling it “high” and the other using the term “ridiculous.”
- Following today’s acquisition of Joakim Soria to strengthen his bullpen, Pirates GM Neal Huntington told reporters, including Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, that he doesn’t plan to acquire an additional starting pitcher prior to tomorrow’s non-waiver trade deadline (Twitter link).
yewed
Cashner and Ross to Cubs ? Kimbrel to yanks ?
Math&Baseball
Cashner and Ross will cost them quite a bit- more than Castro or Baez. Castro could be in the deal, but they’d have to send cash along for his contract and he’s by no means a centerpiece. He’s a buy low candidate hoping he can find his ability to hit again.
If the Cubs want Cashner and Ross and aren’t willing to send money back for Castro they’ll have to add great prospects just to get the Padres to take Castro’s contract. Much like the Dbacks did with Bronson Arroyo and Touki Touissant. Schwarber is untouchable, but Mckinney, Almora, Baez, Cj Edwards, Vogelbach are all on the table to be dealt.
cookiemonster
it’s one or the other unless kyle hendricks is heading back to san diego. which could make sense. 5 more years of control, not even arbitration eligible for 2 years. cashner, ross, gyorko for hendricks, castro, mckinney sounds fair.
yewed
I’m sure Baez would also be involved. Maybe Shields instead of Cashner
but I don’t like that deal for the cubs. That would be the “old Theo”
Cubs don’t need to panic. After their new TV deal in a few years they will be in good shape. I do think they will adding one of those pitchers.
cookiemonster
old theo? you are trading 1 rotation slot for 2. less control but both are still under control thru next year at which point you hope underwood or pierce johnson is ready to replace cashner and you offer him a qualifying offer.
yewed
I was referring to James Shields in particular.
Theo has a history in Boston of giving out some bad contracts.
I consider the Shields contract bad.
cookiemonster
ahh, i thought you were talking about my offer.
batman
Pirates definitely need to add a starter
clutchcutch22
Absolutely. With AJ pitching like this and Locke and Morton never showing any true consistency, they have to add a 2 or 3 starter if they want to be a serious WS contender. Thinking Leake, Ross, Tehran, etc.
YourDaddy
Trading Ross would be a concession of the next 2-3 seasons, not just 2015. The Padres have no pitchers in their system to replace him and since he is unarguably a top 20 pitcher in the game, there are few prospects that have the same potential.
The Cubs are not going to get BOTH Cashner and Ross regardless of what fans may think. Its not even in the realm of possibility. Look at what the Padres turned down from the Astros for Cashner. Just Cashner would mean 4 of the Cubs top 6-8 prospects. Well maybe just 3 of them if they included Baez.
cookiemonster
kyle hendricks is probably worth both.
Papa Bear
Meh we don’t want Cashner really. I’d be very comfortable giving up a good package for Ross/Kimbrel though….
jb226
Four top eight prospects. For Andrew Cashner.
Call an ambulance. Whatever you are on was laced.
justinept
I still contend that the Castro inclusion would be to off-set salary in a deal that included Kimbrel and Ross. Obviously the Cubs need to offer a prospect package worthy of such a deal, but if they find that match, then SD is going to need to take back salary… The Cubs might be willing to give up the best package, but they’re not going to take on an additional $18 mil in 2016 salary obligations.
libertyfighter
Contend all you want, it would be disastrous for the Padres to take Castro under any condition. If the Cubs want Ross, the package starts with Baez, and the Padres keep Kimbrel. Kimbrel’s salary is not out of step with his value. If you want the Padres to take Castro, then you take Melvin Upton.
yewed
Is it even in the realm of possibility that somebody would take Melvin Upton
again ? That move might be the worst in recent memory.
cookiemonster
yeah its not offsetting salary when their 2 guys are worth it and he is not, bad contract for bad contract is offsetting salary.
justinept
Jesus Christ. You people like read snippets or something…
1) I never once said Baez wouldn’t be in the deal. Seriously, I never even hinted as to what a package might look like. All I said was “A prospect package SD deems worthy.” Do you guys realize that you’re actually arguing w/ me for saying that SD should accept an offer that they consider worth it? Do you realize how absurd that is?
2) This is 2015. Teams do not take upward to $60 million in future salary obligations while giving up elite prospects. There’s a reason that the Phillies took back Matt Harrison in the Hamels deal. It wasn’t because they thought he was going to regain his past success. It’s because they REALLY wanted the prospects Texas was offering, and for Texas to agree to the deal, Philly had to take back salary to off-set some of the Hamels contract. Geez, the same thing happened when you traded for Kimbrel! The Braves made you take back Upton Jr BUT in return, they took back $24 million worth of bad contracts to off-set some of the bad money on Upton’s deal. That’s how this works… If the Phillies didn’t get a pass for trading a superior player, and the Braves didn’t get a pass for trading the same player, then the Padres won’t get a pass either. Heck – the Yankees best offer thus far for Kimbrel was to merely pay Kimbrel’s contract… they wouldn’t even offer Mateo, a Single A shortstop hitting .275.
My best guess is that SD refused that deal because they want actual players back. This isn’t about shedding money. They’re simply in a position where they want to replenish their depleted farm system. Well, the Cubs can do that w/ a package that includes A LOT of talent. BUT they aren’t taking back $60 million in future salary because NO TEAM DOES THAT. If Preller thinks that he can replenish the farm system while making the other team take on all the money, then he’s a worse GM than I thought. But if he’s willing to eat some of the money left on these two deals by taking back the Castro contract, then he’ll get a pretty great return that would include some combination of Baez, Torres, McKinney, Edwards, Almora, Alcantara, etc…
3) Cookiemonster. Your comment just makes it obvious that you don’t actually read the original posts. Who the hell said Castro was worth Ross/Kimbrel? Not me. I didn’t even imply it. Nothing about the phrase “Castro inclusion would be to off-set salary” can be construed by any rational human being to mean that I’m suggesting he has any value past being a salary off-set. You’re ignoring what’s actually written and just focusing on what you feel like you saying. It’s like you look at the Hamels deal and say, “I can’t believe the Phillies traded Hamels for Matt Harrison…” You ignore the totality of the picture for the snippet.
cookiemonster
no but he adds negative value to the trade, why would you do that… it offsets salary next year but gives the padres 35 mil of leverage on you in prospect talks.
cookiemonster
i meant worth their salaries not worth them in trade. lol use some common sense man.
justinept
Bad contract for bad contract is one way to off-set salary, but not the only way. Salary off-setting means just that – one contract helps off-set the money in another contract. Nothing about it says it needs to off-set all the money. You give me a guy with $94 million remaining on his deal (Hamels), but I can’t fit the entirety of that into my budget so you take back $39 million worth of contracts (Harrison.) Seriously, this literally just happened two days ago. The most recent example of a major trade just used this exact scenario. You can’t pretend it’s not a thing.
As for the Cubs, you aren’t taking into consideration that they play on a budget due to the leveraged sale of the team. Their payroll is dictated by a percentage of their baseball related income, and they aren’t legally able to go beyond a certain threshold right now. Yes, they’d have to give back something extra for the Padres to off-set some salary by taking back Castro, but I never said otherwise. So again – if the Padres think the Cubs offer for Ross/Kimbrel exceeds what they’re being offered from other teams, then they’d have to take back Castro simply because the finances might not work for the Cubs. Taking on an extra $18.5 million in salary commitments for 2016 could either 1) push them too close to that budget for comfort or 2) push them past that number completely.
Mark 20
Iwakuma should be moved unless the mariners think they can grab a wild card spot?
mwk89
Did NH see burnett throw another post asb egg? yeah, you need a sp
Matt Galvin
Leake to Giants.