While the Phillies are downplaying the possibility of trading Ken Giles this offseason, there’s an expectation among other teams that he’ll be dealt either this winter or in July, according to ESPN’s Jayson Stark. Stark heard that the asking price on Giles is steep — at least two or three high-ceiling prospects — and that the Phillies are willing to hang onto him if their price isn’t met. My first thought upon seeing the Craig Kimbrel trade return was to wonder what type of haul the Phillies could receive in exchange for Giles. While Giles hasn’t established himself to the level that Kimbrel has, of course, he’s still earning just over $500K per season, won’t be arbitration-eligible for two more years and can be controlled through 2020. The Phillies are within their rights to seek a huge return.
Here’s more on the trade market:
- The Cubs and Braves have had talks regarding Atlanta’s controllable, MLB-level pitching, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports (Twitter links). That would appear to involve Julio Teheran and/or Shelby Miller, as it’s hard to imagine Chicago having interest in any other Braves starters for immediate MLB jobs. Rosenthal writes that the Cubs are “doing background work” on somewhere around a dozen rotation options, while colleague Jon Morosi has said that the team is in contact with nearly the same number of free agent starters. Meanwhile, the Braves are looking to get young position players back if they ship out arms, per Rosenthal.
- As we’ve heard suggested previously, the Marlins are asking other clubs for young pitching in return for outfielder Marcell Ozuna, Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com reports (links to Twitter). It’s always seemed likely that Ozuna would be dealt, as MLBTR explained in its post on the club’s offseason outlook, and one of Crasnick’s sources confirmed that the sentiment is held around the league. “I’d be surprised if they keep him,” said an anonymous executive. “Loria clearly can’t stand the guy and everybody knows it.”
- There’s “lots of activity” on Brewers first baseman (and prospective DH) Adam Lind, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports on Twitter. The righty-masher could end up being the next veteran asset shipped out of Milwaukee, says Rosenthal, and that certainly wouldn’t be surprising.
Jordan R.
The Cubs don’t have any prospects at positions of need that I’d feel is worth Miller or Teheran…
jedihoyer
lol because SS’s cant play 3rd? brave have holes everywhere but 1B. u cant count on all ur prospects making it lol. like saying albies and mallex wont bust is lol dumb
Jordan R.
Who are you referring to? I’m simply making an observation. I think there are better teams interested in Miller with better stocked farms than the Cubs.
Out of place Met fan
Dodgers for one….but they haven’t been keen on dealing their top prospects.
A Baez or Soler would have to real tempting to the Braves
Rodger Williams
God no.The Braves do not need players that strikeout every 2 AB’s, they just tried to dump all those dudes
Jordan R.
Took the words out of my mouth.. The Braves just blew up a nightmare situation by getting rid of all the K’s… Every move they’ve made post 2013 has been with high OBP in mind. I’d venture to say they’ll look to continue that trend
Admiral Rusty T. Shackleford
ones with the potential of Javy Baez, they do
Jordan R.
Soler is much more appeasing to me than Baez.. But the Braves already have a crowded situation in their OF.. We’ll see
eek123
Jordan that’s because you don’t know prospects. First off Soler has had injury problems and he could be mid to high 20 hr guy with a 270-280 average. Baez if he plays like he did this year has potential to bat 260-280 with 30 plus hrs. Remember he had 9 hrs in 56 games as a rookie. Those two guys and maybe one other prospect is good enough for Miller and Tehran.
Thegreatandpowerfulsimba
You are thinking wrong ss/3rd base- Baez Castro Bryant candelario- most of their top 10 prospects look ok… JT and Miller would make the Cubs one heck of a club. Shwarber and 3 top 10 prospects for both sounds like a good convo. Save 200 million on the FA market.
Jordan R.
Schwarber = Gattis 2.0
The kid can hit but you’re going to have real concerns with his glove as time goes along
redsfanman
Schwarber is a far better hitter than Gattis ever was.
Jordan R.
Yes but he’s still atrocious in the field. He will be in the American League in 5 years
gopads
Maddon found a spot in the field for him as a rookie, 4-5 years into his career he will still be in the field somewhere & if Maddon has his way it will be with him as his manager
gopads
Schwarber showed he can hit in big pressure, clutch moments – Gattis is a comparison but don’t sell this kid short
eek123
Look it up for whatever reason Cubs were a better team after schawrber came up
bmcc5411
Cubs have Candelario at 3rd if the braves need a 3rd baseman. He can hit for average and has tons of power, and his glove isn’t too bad from what I’ve seen. I think he would make perfect sense for Atlanta. Something like Candelario billy McKinney and maybe another low tier prospect seems to make sense for teheran or Miller
twitchwashere 2
I’d consider it for Miller, but I’m not feeling Teheran at all anymore.
djtommyaces
Lol
You just traded Simmons fool
Jordan R.
Aybar’s bat is worth about 30 points more than Simmons will ever give you per season. For a team that’s anemic on offense it’s not difficult to understand the trade.
justinept
Not sure how to tell you this, but they were pretty similar hitters last year…
Jordan R.
What’s funny about that statement is that was a career high for Simmons and a career low for Aybar. Simmons hitting was atrocious even one year prior. Who knows Simmons may end up being a better hitter in Anaheim. He’ll be far better protected than he was in Atlanta, but I think at the end of the day the Braves hands are tied with so much money tied up in guys that are just sub-par
Frank Richard
That’s a career high for Simmons in the middle of a terrible lineup. Aybar had lots of protection on a much better team and still had that type of year. You think he is going to do better without the protection? So now you have at best the same level offensive production from the position with less defense from the position.
kevb201336
They just traded Simmons, ss is a position. They are interested in Soler RF. They’ve got young center fielders, they traded Maybin today. Braves need help all over the field.
eek123
You are joking right. The Cubs have like a top 5 farm system. Plus you are over pricing Miller and Tehran. Miller has 1-2 potential and Tehran is a 2 or 3 at best. I like Miller better because he doesn’t give up the hr like Tehran. Soler and maybe aa 3b prospect and maybe a pitching prospect would get one. I say Cubs should trade Baez and Soler with other prospects to get both. Sign Heyward on right. The cubs have the system to do it. Gives braves to very solid prospects for two very solid pitching prospects. Baez and Soler and maybe say a Pierce Johnson and that 3b candera or something could get that deal done
TJECK109
Would love to see Lind in Pittsburgh
bdpecore
Would Ke’Bryan Hayes straight up be a fair deal?
David 29
no
bdpecore
Who would you suggest is fair value?
bdpecore
Ke’Bryan Hayes straight up seems fair since the Brewers would be trading within the division.
gopads
saying the same thing in san diego
Admiral Rusty T. Shackleford
Miller & Teheran for Baez, McKinney, Vogelbach & Candelario. Braves then flip Freddie, Markakis & a ton of cash to the O’s for Dylan Bundy, Zach Davies & Christian Walker
Brixton
The Braves don’t make either of those trades.
justinept
The Braves would trade one of those guys with Baez or Soler as the center piece… but certainly not both.
Overbrook
Soler and his .1 WAR as centerpiece of what? Avoid the hype; check the numbers.
eek123
Braves fans are hilarious. You do know soler and Baez are both 23 and younger and project to be all stars. Both for Miller and Tehran would be even. But it won’t happen.
bravesred 2
Miller and Teheran for those players? Not happening. And Davies is with the Brewers now.
David 29
LOL
cardfan2011
“Righty-masher” Doesnt Lind bat left-handed?
Brixton
Yes. That sentence makes sense.
Lefties naturally hit right handed pitchers better.
cardfan2011
Ooooh ok lol didnt think of that
justinept
Yea – it’s a weird way to word that thought…
cardfan2011
Exactly lol
Jeff Todd
I could just write everything in a completely canned manner. Doesn’t really matter which side he hits from so much as the fact that he destroys right-handed pitching and is generally not so great vs. lefties.
justinept
and since Lind is basically worthless against LHP, I’d say that he is, in fact, a righty masher
Jeff Todd
Yeah, what he said!
BG921
Atlanta fans go on about “wanting to get past the mess with 2013” and “wanting guys with high OBP” when the team in 2013 finished 6th in the NL in OBP (.321 total and .329 minus pitchers) and second in the NL in walks (542 walks). They also lead the league in home runs, ERA, ERA+, etc. That was a team loaded with young talent and many other prospects waiting in the wings. Not sure why all the fans continue to believe everything the ATL media puts out there, but wow.
I would welcome a trade for someone like Jorge Soler and I feel like he’s on the cusp of taking the next step at the MLB level. He’s still raw, but a .262/.324 BA/OBP isn’t too bad. You just have to assume he’s going to develop his power soon. He would make a decent corner OF in ATL, especially if Mallex can cover the ground in CF.
Jordan R.
Why don’t you go ahead and tell everyone in here the big stat you left out. Who led the league in strikeouts?
vtncsc
Eh, they’re going to make an out anyways. Sure, productive outs are great too – but I think the K stat is a bit overblown. Especially when needed for one side of an argument.
eek123
Dude you’re talking about a team with mostly rookies that stat will go down. They made it to the nlcs with all those ks
Brixton
Mark Appel, Jon Singleton and Tony Kemp for Ken Giles.
Yay or nay? Phillies take on a whole ton of risk, but a whole ton of upside, while the Astros get a elite, young, controllable, cheap bullpen ace.
David 29
overpay imo
thundermug
Cubs have alot of hitting prospects in the system who are you kidding Jordan.
ssimplisticness
If the Braves trade either Teheran or Miller, I’d imagine they’d have to get one of Soler, Baez, Russell, or Schwarber in return(although Schwarber’s probably unlikely unless the Cubs have lost faith in his defensive abilities). Outside of those 4, I could see the Braves trying to get one or two of Almora, McKinney, and Torres. I hope, if the Braves do trade one of the two, it’s Teheran, but he probably wouldn’t bring back as much in return as Miller would. If the Braves can bring back at least 2 of the aforementioned 7, then I’m okay with it. If Castro is the return, then I’m seriously going to have to reconsider my faith in the front office’s vision going forward. Let’s go bravos! Keep calm and watch baseball, friends!
Jordan R.
As a fellow Braves fan I’ll go ahead and say there’s no way the Cubs let Russell go..
Brixton
Russell and Schwarber are untouchable barring a Sale/Gray trade (I would think).
If I’m the Braves, I’d sell high on Miller and keep Teheran.
Baez could be something of interest for the Braves, but then again hes exactly what they tried to trade away (high k%, meh OBP and a ton of power).
ssimplisticness
If I wasn’t a Braves fan, I’d agree with you on trading Miller over Teheran to maximize the possible return. The fan in me would be pretty disappointed to see Miller go though. I’d personally much rather see Teheran leave, and receive less of a return. He’s still got potential if he can put it all together, but I’m about ready to call a spade a spade on him.
I agree with you on Schwarber being pretty much untouchable. Like I said, the only way he gets moved in this deal is if the Cubbies are truly concerned over his ability to find a position defensively, but it would still seem way too early to lose hope. I’d have to disagree on Russell though, I don’t think he’s quite untouchable. I could certainly see him being moved in a straight swap. The Cubs would already have a replacement in Castro, and if they feel Torres has the higher ceiling, why not trade him in the right deal? That’s my personal opinion, but I could certainly be wrong.
marinersblue96
What kind of return can the Marlins expect for Ozuna if everyone knows the owner doesn’t want him? Wish the M’s would of traded for him instead of Martin, though he would look great in RF. Seattle would go from the worst defensive OF to one of the leagues best with Guti, Martin, and Ozuna.
mj-2
“Braves looking to get young position players back”
I think you spelled pitching prospects wrong