Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski discussed his team’s pitching search in an interview with Jim Bowden and Jim Duquette on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (audio link here). Dombrowski said that “any of” the top starters on both the trade and free agent markets “are under consideration for us” as the Sox are casting a wide net in looking for an ace. “The [free agent] market is probably, as flush as it is…an area that we would pursue more, but I think that you’d feel comfortable that any names out there, you could say we have interest in them and hopefully somebody will have interest in us,” Dombrowski said. When asked about Red Sox ownership’s recent reluctance to give long-term deals to pitchers, Dombrowski discussed the importance and necessity of keeping upper management informed about any major signing. “I don’t think anyone really cherishes giving that long term of a contract to any pitcher in particular but it’s a situation [where]…if you’re going to participate, you’re most likely going to have to do that,” Dombrowski said.
Here’s some more from around baseball as we head into a new week…
- “The lines of communication” between Jose Fernandez and the Marlins front office “have been good” as of late, sources tell ESPN’s Buster Olney (Insider subscription required). This could be why neither side seems to be looking for a trade, despite some reports of personality issues between Fernandez and some teammates. As Olney notes, there has never been any doubt of Fernandez’s passion for baseball, and some of the behavioral drama could stem from a franchise-wide lack of discipline caused by the Marlins’ unsettled managerial situation. With a veteran skipper like Don Mattingly on board, things should theoretically be more stable within Miami’s clubhouse.
- If the Marlins did want to deal Fernandez, Olney notes, it might better suit them to wait until next winter when the pitching market is less crowded. The Mets could also be planning this same strategy for exploring Matt Harvey trades in the 2016-17 offseason.
- Unless the Orioles get a huge offer, it probably makes more sense for the club to keep Zach Britton rather than shop him in trades, CSNMidAtlantic.com’s Rich Dubroff opines. Dealing Britton would fetch some sorely-needed prospects for Baltimore, and also open some payroll space given Britton’s escalating price tag as he enters his arbitration years. On the other hand, dealing the star closer would leave a big hole on a would-be contender, especially one that is already likely to lose a big bullpen arm in Darren O’Day.
- Several young players have been mentioned in trade rumors this offseason, and MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince gives an overview of the some of the talents who could be trade chips rather than cornerstones for their respective clubs.
- On the flip side, MLB.com’s Dan O’Dowd identifies Lorenzo Cain, Gerrit Cole, Jacob deGrom, A.J. Pollock and Marcus Stroman as players who have become big pieces of their clubs’ present and future, and all could be targeted for extensions this winter. MLBTR’s Jeff Todd examined Cole as an extension candidate last March, before Cole boosted his value with a superb season.
Cain will not get an extension. No way Kansas City ever locks anyone up
I bet they manage to lock up Moustakas and of course they won’t ever let go of Perez, but you’re right about Cain.
Moose is a Boras client. I’d say it is more likely to get Cain on a fair extension than it is with Moose.
I think it has less to do with the Royals not locking anyone up and more to do with the fact that Cain will be 31 when he hits free agency. The Royals are already getting his best years, they have no reason to extend him.
Idk Jackie Bradley junior makes sense to me in Washington in a platoon role, Tanner Roark to Boston along with another pitcher for Bradley and maybe shaw or cecchini idk seems like a stretch
Roark is pretty much more of the same for the Red Sox. He doesn’t make much sense for them. Now if it is Joe Ross, that’s different, but I doubt the Nats do that.
Wow if the Marlins pay Jose Fernandez his market value they will have 2 albatross contracts on the books for a long long time. Is this a contending team in the near future? Hmm that is the question. It reminds me of when the Rangers had Arod on the books and couldn’t generate anything close to a contending ballclub. It might just be me but I would think it would be tough to build a full contending team with the constraints those two mega-deals would put on team payroll. That said, if you’re gonna spend big, Stanton and Fernandez are who you’ll want to do it on. What do you think, is it better to trade Fernandez now and get a massive haul of prospects to build around Stanton?!
Are the contracts really “albatross” contracts when they’re to players at the skill level that Stanton and Fernandez are?
yeah stanton’s more of an osprey imo
I was thinking that myself, but Stanton still has 12 years and $318.5MM (assuming the buyout on the final year) left. If he doesn’t opt out after 2020, there’s 7 years and $218MM remaining for his age 31-37 years. It’s an OK deal now, but it could get ugly in a hurry.
So the Red Sox should trade JBJ because they already have a center fielder and sign a free agent corner outfielder. Has Castrovince seen the size of right field at Fenway? He also knows that typically it’s best to play the guy making the ML minimum over trading him and paying 30 times that for someone else right? It’s not like JBJ gets you that ace you’ve been looking for. There is also something to be said for fielding an outfield that can all play outstanding defense.
I think JBJ could be a good 2nd or 3rd piece in a deal for a TOR arm. If that is the case, I wouldn’t mind the Red Sox exploring trading him. I would consider that selling high to a certain extent. It also depends on the budget of course. I’d love to see them add two TOR arms. One via free agency and another via trade. If they trade JBJ, then they obviously have to fix that hole too. Depending on the budget, I would then probably sign either Heyward/Upton (I prefer Heyward) or if that is too much, sign Chris Young and go with a Holt-Young platoon in the OF. I think that would be the best option if they aren’t sold on JBJ (I’m not either). Benintendi could be ready soon anyways so going with a Holt-Young platoon for the short term isn’t a bad idea I don’t think.
If JBJ was possibly the second piece in a proposed deal for an ace, the Red Sox would have made that trade already. JBJ is a nice piece since he’s cheap and has some upside with a high floor thanks to his defense, but I seriously doubt that he’d be a core piece in any deal for a top 3 starter.
Yeah, I don’t think he would be 2nd piece in a deal for an ace, but for a #2 (which I still consider a TOR arm), I could see it. I think he makes sense as the 3rd piece in most trade scenarios though.
Not that they would do it, but Swihart and JBJ could probably land a #1 starter, and Vazquez is coming back…
I think they would do it for the right guy. The Red Sox could make due with Hanigan and Léon until Vazquez comes back. I think the pitchers they’d trade him for is very limited, but I could see him being packaged with other prospects for a guy like Carrasco, Sale, or Fernandez.
Carrasco, Sale, and Fernandez would require multiple premium players and JBJ as a 3rd piece. The Sox need a legit #1, can probably settle for a #2, but have too many #3/#4/#5s already.
Benintendi won’t be here until at least 2018… Maybe 2017 if the Sox are way out of contention again.
Agreed. Yaz, Lynn and Evans were not pretty good trio just for the bats, but all 3 were GG winners at one time or another. A total of *18* between the 3 of them in the OF playing in Boston.
Other than Evans in his younger heydays.. JBJ is as good, or better than any of them and think his arm might be close to as deadly as his was.
Still, the Sox are probably better off signing Cueto and keeping their prospects.
The Red Sox should have signed O’day and traded they prospects they used in the kimbrel trade for a frontline starter.
There are simply no frontline starters available for the 4 prospects that Boston gave up for Kimbrel.
Yeah don’t think that package would have netted Sale or Gray.
He probably meant as the third and 4th pieces depending on the players involved. That said I’m confident they will get one of the big pitchers out there.
Dombrowski isn’t known to covet Chris Sale He could probably be obtained for Betts and swihart and three top ten position player prospects. The White Sox one strength is a deep number of minor league arms. So he wouldn’t necessarily have to give up his best young arms like you’d see in most deals for an ace. But make no mistake. A deal for Sale would be costly not only for his talent but he’s in the middle of a very team friendly contract
That seems like a lot to give up for Sale. Mookie Betts alone would be barely even.
Sale is one of the 10 best pitchers in baseball on a cheap deal, It would take more than Betts alone.
True but Betts is too valuable to be traded.He is beyond amazing.
Dave Cameron ranked Betts as having a higher FV than Sale. I’ll take 150 game 6 war guy over a 28 start 5 war guy
There are far more elite position players than elite pitchers, so WAR doesn’t tell the whole story.
If the Boston Red Sox were offered sale straight up for mookie, there is no question they make that trade. Realistically, the white sox would want more to move sale, but that’s why the bosox haven’t traded for an ace yet. They’re better off acquiring ace via free agency, where they can keep their core together.
Betts and Swihart AND 3 additional top ten prospects for Sale (who will earn $47MM over the next 4 years – a great value but not chump change) would likely go down in history as one of the worst trades ever. It would be compared to the Hershel Walker trade.
That is too much, I totally agree. Just goes to show, for the “right package” anyone can be had
You are missing a piece to the equation. It would be Betts, Swihart, 3 top ten prospects and $150m that you have left to spend (assuming you could get $200m approved for Price/Greinke minus the ~$50m due to Sale).
I’m not saying it justifies the deal but it does impact the perspective.
It doeesn’t impact the deal at all. Betts is already worth almost five WAR. He is not going anywhere.
He has played a bit over 1 full season in the majors, compared to a proven commodity in Chris Sales who has 6 full seasons in the majors. I’m not saying Betts can’t put up a 5WAR again, but ASSUMING he will be able to is premature.
Thats a huge overpay. Betts is already worth more then Sale. Hitters are pretty much always safer Betts.
I strongly disagree that mookie is more valueable than sale, but even if you believe that he is, you also have to take into consideration who the better player is. Even though Mookie’s cheaper, I’d rather have sale on my team any day of the week. Especially with how big of a market Boston is, money is (while still important) less important. Even though the white sox would never accept the hypothetical trade of mookie for sale, I would be floored if Dombrowski wouldn’t make that trade.
A good test (especially since they’re both cost-controlled long term) is if they were both free agents, who would make more money? Sale or betts? Just look at the price/heyward markets for example. Price is leaving his prime and heyward is just entering his prime yet price is projected to get waaaaay more than heyward. Sale would probably be looking at a kershaw type deal if he was a free agent. The same can’t be said for betts
What if your team is Tampa Bay? They don’t need pitching, they need offense. Betts would help them more than Sale. You can’t discuss value, without discussing need.
It doesn’t matter whether Bett is worth more than Sale. The question is which is more needed by Boston. The Red Sox are not lacking for offensive talent. They need a TOR arm. That being said, I don’t see either of those players being moved.
Why spend the 200plus it would cost to Grienke or Price. Sign position players and trade for pitching that’s younger and more likely to get thru a long term contract without injury That’s the way to go
Problem is that nobody wants to trade their good young pitching. The market for Starting pitching has always been a seller’s market because everyone needs it and very few are willing to give it up.
Mets should not sign DeGrom to an extension. Trade Harvey next winter, DeGrom the following winter, then Wheeler after that. Keep the flow of high level prospects coming into the organization. Signing these guys long-term shrinks the window of competition. Follow the Tampa/Oakland model.
Not a fan of this strategy. Harvey’s and deGroms just don’t come along because they are highly rated prospects. Dylan Bundy is an example. You are lucky when one of your pitching prospects pan out. Mets are amazin with all 5 Leave them as is and continue to draft smart so that you have back up
I strongly disagree. I would entertain trading Harvey next winter..maybe even Wheeler ( If he dont move in July). But I would keep DeGrom, Noah, & Matz together for as long as possible.
The 2016 FA class for pitchers will be barren. I think there will be 1 good arm (name escapes me). Harvey makes sense bc of a weak offer of arms, though only for a king’s ransom. I’d prefer the Mets hold onto all of their arms, but if things continue to point to him not even trying to sign an extension, the Mets can’t afford him long-term and should trade him before he walks.
Not a fan of that at all. I can see them trading Harvey next offseason, and maybe deGrom after that, but imo it makes much more sense to just keep deGrom. He’s in the unusual situation of hitting the FA market for the first time when he’s 33 (in 2021). That’s a ways away for a power pitcher, but I’d advocate just holding on to him and getting all the performance value you can.
Wheeler is a total unknown right now; not sure you can even confidently say he’ll have a lot of value in 2018, when you propose trading him.