Pitcher Mike Leake is willing to take significantly less to play at home in Arizona, according to sources who spoke with Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Â However, D’Backs COO Tony La Russa says it’s “probably unlikely” that the team will sign him.
“It’s gone back and forth,” La Russa said. “Getting Shelby (Miller) gives us a (full) rotation. I think it’s difficult because when somebody wants to pitch for you and you really like the person, you want to try and work it out. But it’s complicated and probably unlikely.”
Here’s more from Rosenthal’s column:
- If Chris Davis goes elsewhere, the Orioles will look to bring in a left-handed bat. Â Rosenthal hears that Pedro Alvarez, Gerardo Parra and Will Venable are a few of the hitters that interest Baltimore brass. Â The Orioles are also likely to explore the free agent market for a starting pitcher.
- Many have been critical of the Orioles’ farm system depth, but GM Dan Duquette has rejected the notion that they are thin.  Duquette could put his money where his mouth is by trading for one of the Rockies’ outfielders, Rosenthal writes, but they would likely ask for Colorado native Kevin Gausman in return.
- The Cubs are “one of a number teams” that inquired on Ender Inciarte after he went from the D’Backs to the Braves.  Still, they’re more likely to go after a starting pitcher by offering up Jorge Soler or Javier Baez.  Inciarte has five years of club control and can be a strong defensive center fielder, although he also has extensive experience at both corner positions. The 25-year-old was largely unheralded as a prospect but has batted a combined .292/.329/.386 in his first two Major League seasons, including a stellar .303/.338/.408 line in 2015.
- The Padres, Indians, and Rays could all still move a top-of-the-rotation starting pitcher, Rosenthal writes, and the Rays might be the most likely of the three. Â Tampa Bay has three starters who could be solid No. 2 guys in a rotation: righty Jake Odorizzi and lefties Drew Smyly and Matt Moore. Â Alex Cobb could also be conceivably moved, but he is affordable and under club control for the next two years.
Cubs center a package around soler for inciarte and Teheran? Would be real tough but possible. Maybe soler almora mckinney and torres for those two?
Yeah good call, give the braves the whole farm. This coming from a Cardinals fan. That is terrible from the Cubs side.
Together, Inciarte & Teheran might land you one of those four + Vogelbach & a low minors rando or two.
Sorry bro your evaluation of the braves players is offensive. Doesn’t hurt to ask for an over pay when the market dictates an over pay. The cubs are the ones trying to win now. Why would the braves overpay proven MLB players with extremely high ceilings for unproven minor league guys w/ slightly lower ceilings and fewer years of control? We are rebuilding. You want our cost controlled MLB players… get ready to pay for it. I promise theo is the one calling us.
Personally, I’m not all that interested in your cost controlled MLB players, tbh. Of all the young arms the Cubs have been connected to this offseason, Teheran is the one I like the least in a landslide, and Inciarte’s offense feels very unsustainable to me. There are enough other options available (nearly all of which I like more and would be more willing to bet the farm on), and the Cubs already feel like a pretty legit contender even if they don’t make anymore serious moves this offseason. So, in my estimation, Teheran and Inciarte aren’t worth Soler *and* like 70% of the farm. *shrugs*
It’s funny when Braves fans criticize Cubs fans saying they overvalue their players because they do the exact same thing if not more so. Braves are lucky the Diamondbacks are acting like fools this offseason. Miller was DEFINITELY not worth that haul.
You don’t get supply and demand do you chicubbies. Miller was in high demand and the Braves didn’t HAVE to trade him, so if teams wanted him then they had to over pay for him. The Braves now have 5 years of cheap control over someone the Cubs want, so again if the Cubs want him they too are going to have to overpay. If they see someone in FA or someone on another team willing to be more flexible then they will go that route. But why talk smack about the Braves and fans asking for the farm when you ask about a player they aren’t looking to trade.
Are you freaking crazy?
Are you crazy
The Phillies have got to be kicking themselves about Inciarte. They grabbed him from AZ in the Rule 5 Draft, then offered him back to AZ.
I think the trade I originally posted is an overpay for sure, but clearly that has been the price of doing business and as a Cubs fan I tried to present a worst case scenario in that specific trade. Realistically soler vogelbach and Torres make sense for those two players in my mind. I find that fair. Adding McKinney is a big piece and it makes the trade a sure-thing, however. That’s why I added him. Braves fans overvalue their players the same as every other teams’ fans but probably more so than average. I like some of the packages of CF/young pitcher from other teams better, but this seemed more realistic
Inciarte = Soler, IMO
For trade purposes that’s very close to accurate. Soler has much more upside in my opinion but inciarte is obviously the more sure-thing. Inciarte is also older, however. Inciarte has a higher floor mostly because of the fielding. But either way, you are basically correct. The rest would be Teheran for Torres and vogelbach. Which I think is fair
If Rosenthal can talk the Orioles into trading for Carlos Gonzalez, I am all for it.
I have been trying for the past year or so.
I would be down with an outfield of Parra (LF) Jones, CarGo.
That would be exciting.
Also, I would take Justin Morneau over Alvarez provided Morneau is healthy and ready to go from day 1 for 2016. I would find that exciting as well.
Sign a pitcher or two and the O’s will fly.
I would take you over Alvarez. You’re both left handed and I’m pretty sure you play better defense than Pedro.
Hahaha, I was a pretty good fielding 1st baseman.
Not sure what I have left though, plus I had to beg on one knee to play 1st base. Drove me crazy, they always put the catcher at 1st on his day off.
We’ll see, what happens though
I doubt arizona will sign leake too. If they do, they’ll have to either trade anderson or de la rosa.
Orioles could use Leake.
I know the MLB Tonight people love him and they convinced me the other night to recommend him to other O’s types to consider him.
Leake will not be going to an AL team. Too good of a hitter.
They should sign leake and then trade Anderson for bullpen help from Texas
I have a feeling he will stay out west since he lives in arizona. Have no clue where though.
I am hoping that Colorado lands him. He is just the type of pitcher that I was hoping the Rox would go for this offseason. I know they are rebuiding, but Leake is young enough and you still have to at least try to win when you are rebuilding.
As a rockies fan too, I would like them to sign him. But I kind of want them to sign kennedy more because of how well he has done athis coors
Javier Baez for Jake Odorizzi could be an interesting trade because they are both controllable and this is a win win for both sides. The Rays simply need a big power guy and Baez would definitely fit that need. The Cubs need a young controllable arm that could learn a lot from a veteran mentor like John Lackey
Baez could be a starting point, but he’s not even close to enough on his own. He’s all potential/projection right now. Odorizzi has already proven himself to be a solid major league pitcher, which doesn’t come cheap.
Saying Matt Moore “could” be a #2 guy in a rotation says more about the acquiring teams rotation than Moore. The hype around him was unreal, but he’s thrown 73 innings in the last two years combined. In the two years prior to the injuries, he was less than stellar. “Could” is absolutely stretching it, and the acquiring team would be paying for the more likely outcome of back-of-the-rotation quality innings. Nobody is overpaying for “could.”
The timing of this Leake/Arizona stuff is suspicious. If he wants to play there so badly, why is this only surfacing after they added Greinke/Miller?
How about matz for Baez?
Baez won’t get you Matz.
Dont underestimate the baltimore orioles.they havent signed their quota of no name never was any good players to fill holes.i love baltimore but i hate em to.chris davis was never gonna take that money and im ok with that.holy sh#t spend it on someone else tho
Well said, that used car salesman of a GM doesn’t help either. What makes us think they will spend when they wouldn’t even give Markakis 4/44 last year. It cost us the playoffs
Markakis was a 1.6 WAR player last year which does not get the Orioles to the playoffs and is market value per war on a depreciating asset. Add in 4.8 WAR for Cruz as well and you get to a borderline playoff team. Starting pitching is what cost the Orioles the playoffs last year,
Orioles aren’t doing anything but mediocrity at best if it wasn’t for Buck Showalter this team would be in the basement every year
Uh Hello Mr. Leake, who do you think you are? Didn’t you express an interest in signing quickly after the season ended? I would say the Giants were interested and probably still are depending on the cost. Are you this years James Shields? Geeze!
Uh….so why didn’t the DBacks just sign Leake instead of giving up their entire farm for Shelby Miller?
D’backs fans were originally hoping fir Kenta Maeda and Leake. We got Greinke and Miller instead. We’re happy. Could we add Leake? Maybe, but he’d have to give a hometown discount and take deferred money. Every team can always use more pitching. Problem now is D’backs have 3 young starters for two rotation spots. Adding Leake would mean 1 rotation spot and 3 young starters fighting for that rotation spot for the next three years.
“Pitcher Mike Leake is willing to take significantly less to play at home in Arizona”
Pretty sure hes willing to give that hometown discount.
Miller is 3 who can flash 2 stuff when he is on a good streak, and 4 stuff when he is on a bad streak. His ERA was over 4 in the second half last year.
Cubs get Carrasco, Chisenhall, Shaw
Indians get Hendricks, Schwarber, Soler, Vogelbach
Theo and Hoyer would be shot on the spot by Cub fans if they did this…… if they didn’t commit suicide already for being depressed and mad at themselves for making the dumbest trade they could possibly come up with.
Cubs get 29 year old Carrasco, useless Chisenhall, and a run of the mill reliever
for
3, SOLID, YOUNG, major league players all 26 or WAY younger in Schwarber, Soler, and Hendricks. And a ML ready and top prospect 23 year old, Vogelbach.
Are you high?
Carrasco has just recently become a good SP. He was crap the other 4 years he’s played in MLB. and has TJ surgery on his resume. 2015 was the first time Carrasco started 30 games or more in his career…… he started 30.
Chisenhall….. Chisenhall…… are you (insert curse word) kidding me with this?
Bryan Shaw…… a 28 year old who pitched as well in the bullpen as Travis Wood did when he was demoted to bullpen duties in a similar amount of IP in the bullpen 64 IP vs 58 IP for Wood. Both had 2.95 ERAs, both had 1.20ish WHIPs. Shaw is nothing more special than Travis Wood, but I will say Shaw is more special than Chisenhall…… seriously, I laughed my a** off when I read his name.
Kyle Schwarber, one of the hottest young players in the game. Who in his debut season put up a HR pace of nearly 40 HRs had he been on the team all year. Who had a decent .246 batting average for a kid making his debut in the Major Leagues but still had a STELLAR .355 OBP. Even if he just repeats those averages of about .250 BA and .350+ OBP but hits 35-40 HRs he’s pretty much the second coming of Adam Dunn in his prime. That’s Schwarber not improving at all over the course of his career and he’s already playing like a prime Adam Dunn….. yeah, nuff said. Oh yeah, and he RAKED in the playoffs.
Kyle Hendricks. While he gets no respect at all because of his 3.95 ERA in 2015, all his peripheral stats were nearly identical to what he put up in his 2014 debut season when he posted a 2.46 ERA. His 3.95 ERA is likely more of a result of the defense behind him than it is of his own fault. His FIP in 2015 was 3.36. He jacked up his K-rate from over a year ago going from 5.3K/9 to 8.4K/9. He walks VERY few batters. and has a sparkling WHIP for his young career of 1.14. Those peripheral stats aren’t much worse than what Carrasco put up last year. Hendricks is a solid pitcher who is 3 years YOUNGER than Carrasco, and IMO has the potential to be what Doug Fister was the last 5 or so years before struggling in 2015. I think Hendricks for Carrasco in a straight up deal might favor the INDIANS more but at least it would be closer to fair for both sides.
Soler. Yes he had injury problems in 2015. But if he can get a full season under his belt he has already shown the potential to at LEAST be a .270+ hitter, with a .340 OBP and hit 25+ HRs and be a force in the middle of someone’s lineup.
Vogelbach. Likely not a highly touted prospect because he is blocked by Rizzo so the Cubs don’t make a big deal about him. He’s still the 7th ranked 1B prospect in all of baseball. He has superb plate discipline evidenced by his .383 minor league OBP. He hits for a decent average as well and should see that translate well to the big leagues. Oh yeah, drafted out of high school he was touted for having “ruthian” like power, hitting 500 foot bombs as an 18 year old. While the insane HR potential hasn’t been seen much in the minors, getting about 15-18 HRs a year, he still is capable of becoming a 30 HR hitter I believe…. at least a 20+ HR hitter. He looks like he could be Schwarber’s twin physically. Vogelbach has the potential to be as good if not maybe even a better hitter than Anthony Rizzo IMO. .280+ BA, .360+ OBP, at LEAST 20+ HR power…… those are solid numbers and quite honestly low expectations to expect. I’d say Vogelbach’s ceiling is pretty much what Rizzo did this year. .280ish BA, .390ish OBP, 35 HRs, and .900+ OPSes for years to come.
If the Cubs were to give up this insane haul, Kluber’s name along with others need to be coming back……. and those other names better not be the likes of Lonnie stinkin Chisenhall. I’m talking Kluber, Aiken, AND Bobby Bradley. I must be insane, right. No. The Cubs would be giving up 3 young players who have shown they can hang in the big leagues and all 3 of them have potential to be stars. And the Cubs give up a top prospect. Getting Kluber as the only proven ML player and 2 unproven top prospects in the Indians system. I say Indians system becuase both Bradley and Aiken are only 19 and neither has seen time above A ball…… therefore they should be considered low-level prospects……. Aiken has yet to pitch an inning in the minors. Even then the fact the Cubs are still giving up 3 everyday starters and a soon to be everyday starter in Vogelbach if he pans out, he’s ML ready for 2016 so they won’t have to wait long, I still wouldn’t do this trade for Kluber, Aiken, and Bradley. Again, the ML talent to ML talent is just so off balance it’s not even funny. Aiken has yet to throw a ball professionally so who knows if he’s the next Chris Sale or if he’s the next Mark Appel (don’t get why people are making a big deal that he was traded, he’s blown in the minors). Bobby Bradley is only 19. Let’s say he has as much potential as Vogelbach. He’s still like 3-4 years away from even reaching the Majors. But he is still blocked by Rizzo until about 2021, so he’d be 24 years old by the time he makes his debut….. 5 years from now.
Everything about either of these “no way they’re happening” hypothetical trades screams stupidity on both parts. If the Indians don’t want Soler, McKinney, and Vogelbach for Salazar then a trade is not going to happen.
I think it is in the Cubs best interest to just trade Soler and a small package of others to a team with a top Pitching prospect who is ready to make their ML debut in 2016 or by 2017. I’m thinking since the Rays name keeps popping up in discussions I am hoping the Cubs are talking a Soler or Baez and McKinney trade for Blake Snell. That’s a young ML player and a top prospect for an unproven pitching prospect….. which is always a HUGE gamble. I’d go as far as offering Baez or Soler, Vogelbach, and McKinney but nothing more for Blake Snell. That to me is on the verge of an overpay IMO. Snell is no guarantee. At least Baez and Soler have shown promise at the ML level be it in small doses. McKinney and V-bach are no slouches for prospects either and both are at least more optimistic options at 1B and the OF over Loney and Souza.
The Cubs front office has shown interest in Chisenhall due to his elite defense he showed in RF (albeit in a small sample size), but he also showed elite defense at 3b this year. He could be a very good role player that has potential with his bat. He’s been inconsistent but has shown glimpses of his potential. Still young and controlled through the 2018 season. Heck, Chisenhall posted a WAR of 2.3 in 2015.
I think you vastly underestimate Carrasco’s value. If Miller brought back Inciarte, Blair and Swanson Carrasco will bring back much more. He is controlled for 2 more years and has shown to be a true TOR pitcher.
We will agree to disagree on Vogelbach. He has zero value to the cubs because his best position is DH. He has had injury issues this past year and has only played 76 games in AA. He needs another full year in the minors and will not help the Indians in 2016 and probably wouldn’t until the middle of 2017 at the earliest.
Schwarber also is purely a dh, whether cubs fans want to admit it or not. He might be able to play 1b at close to league average level but Rizzo blocks him. He sucks in the OF. He has no position with the Cubs. He has a great bat with great power but his defense is not good. He is essentially big papi light at this point with the potential to have a very similair career.
And Soler is another player we will agree to disagree on. He didn’t even perform at replacement level this year. He is all potential at this point.
This is the only way the Indians would consider dealing Carrasco or another one of their top pitchers. They need a deal that they know they are coming out on top for. You want a true TOR pitcher plus useful pieces you have to pay the price. Have to give true MLB value in order to get true MLB value back. The Cubs get far and away the best player in this deal. Having said all this, I don’t think this is a deal the Cubs make. They will not give up Hendricks, Schwarber and Soler.
Please stop calling Vogelbach a top prospect because he isn’t. He is a 20 runner and 30 fielder at first base. He is a DH only who still hasn’t shown he has that elite power he would need to be playable, evidenced by his .156 ISO over the past 3 seasons. BA just recently released their Cubs top prospects for 2016 and he wasn’t in their top 10. He is a mid range prospect at best, who only has any value to AL clubs.
And it come to block bust trade for Braves still left I think there one with the pirates that I said for weeks . So I’m not going to repeat my self again.
Great you did us all a favor. If a trade like that ever happens I will literally come find you and hand you $10000 in cash. Never ever in a million years will something like you are proposing it’s not even realistic
Maybe substitute in Salazar for Carrasco or add in another prospect like McKinney or Zagunis or Edwards. After this deal Cleveland would then flip Soler and Urshela for Frazier.
So essentially in this scenario Cleveland would be giving up Carrasco, Chisenhall, Shaw, Urshela to get back Hendricks, Schwarber, Frazier, Vogelbach and McKinney/Zagunis. Makes a lot of sense for Cleveland. Huge upgrade at 3b and 1b/dh. Hendricks is a solid MOR arm that would slide into the 3 or 4 slot in the rotation depending on how Bauer, Tomlin, and Anderson do in the spring. Also brings in a solid 1b/dh close to ready spec and solid OF spec. However in this market Cleveland may hold out for an extra prospect and want both Edwards and McKinney.
Completely agree. However trading Carrasco would give cleveland the biggest return and upgrade multiple positions at once.
Oops that was supposed to be in reply to the comment below
If the D’backs can’t work it out with Leake, then I suggest they trade Aaron Hill and Chase Anderson to the Angels for C.J. Wilson and $4M. Angels fill their 2nd base hole and free up $4.5M to put toward filling their other needs. D’backs get another starter for the back of the rotation, but for only one year. And exchange a bad 2nd base contract for a bad starting pitcher contract, while only increasing payroll by $4.5M.
Dan Volgelbach, Oscar De La Cruz, Billy McKinney and Hextor Rondon for Alex Cobb, Jake McGee and Luke Maile?
Rays get a good power hitting prospect in DB, a major league ready reliever in HR, another good outfielder in BM and a good pitching prospect in Cruz,
Cubs get another solid piece for the rotation although I think they could use a lefty (Moore or smyly) a good reliever in McGee and depth at the catchers spot. Just a suggestion seems do able but I’m sure I’ll be told otherwise
If the Cubs did this trade everything Epstein and Hoyer have done goes out the window and should turn in their resignation papers immediately. In no way does this improve the team over what they’ve already got. The centerpiece in their return on this trade is a guy coming off Tommy John surgery and who won’t pitch until July at the earliest since he just had the surgery in May this year. a reliever not as good as Rondon, and crappy Catcher prospect in Maile. While they give up a top 1B prospect in MLB in Vogelbach. A top OF prospect in McKinney, and a top MLB Closer in Rondon. This is laughably one sided waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay in favor of the Rays. Replace Alex Cobb with Odorizzi and you’d have a better shot at convincing me on this….. I’d still probably laugh and hang up the phone if I was Epstein and approached with this trade.
Alright so take out rodon, the only reason I put in what prospects from the Cubs I did is because all of them seem to be blocked in the majors, the Outfield is Jammed now with heyward in the mix and if they keep Soler then they have a ton of outfielders because they also have almora, and they won’t move rizzo for Volgelbach unless rizzo falls apart completely. Cobb has great upside if he has a healthy return and if they dot take him then snag odorizzi, Maile gives them a youthful option behind the plate where there depth in a good catching prospect is lacking, I don’t think he’s as bad as people think and McGee makes the bullpen solid all around. I don’t think this is as lopsided as you do but it was just a suggestion. Any pitcher the Rays shop they will want a decent prospect out of it
The Indians are not both trading Kluber and Carrasco. In fact, they probably won’t trade either. And the Dodgers are not trading Seager. If the Indians trade any of their SPs, it will most likely be Salazar, but they will want a top-shelf MLB-ready prospect/young player, as they should.
Whoops…meant that for the commentator above.
Soler, McKinney, Vogelbach for Danny Salazar. yea or nay.
Nay for me. Or the indians for that matter. They wanted more than what the Dbacks gave the Braves fir miller. Inciarte is more proven and shown more than Soler has to this point and both Swanson and possibly Blair are considered better specs than what McKinney is and for sure Vogelbach who is essentially a dh only. He is purely a throw in in any deal. Would need to add another of the Cubs top 10 specs for me to really think about it.
Inciarte has shown more? Really? While he has more ABs than Soler at the ML level, Soler still has 455 ML ABs.
.268/.325/.433/.758…… 15 HRs
.292/.329/.386/.716….. 10 HRs
Which slash line is supposedly waaaaay better than the other for a ML player?
Sure Inciarte plays better defense but Soler’s power potential and run production with the bat more than makes up for that. He also should hit way better than he did in 2015 if he can avoid nagging injuries that plagued him last year.
Vogelbach is the 7th ranked top 1B prospect in all of baseball. He’s got excellent plate discipline as evidenced by his career minor league .382 OBP. He has above average power. And he plays a decent 1B. He’s not ONLY a DH. He can only likely be a 1Bman or DH, but he is hardly just a DH. He can play at the very least a similar quality defense as Carlos Santana, while being a better hitter. And that’s a pretty low defensive bar. If anyone is a sole DH candidate it is Carlos Santana.
McKinney was a top 100 prospect pre-2015. He had another STELLAR 2015 season. He’ll likely be a top 50 prospect in baseball or close to it for 2016.
However. I just looked at what the Indians have to work with in their system. They seem to have decent OF prospects already in Frazier and Zimmer. Hmmmmm. Maybe the Indians aren’t a good fit for a trade even though Soler, McKinney, and Vogelbach is a huge haul for 1 player regardless what you think. McKinney would be in the top 3 among Indians prospects and Vogelbach would flirt with their top 5 since he’s ranked higher than Bobby Bradley (among 1B prospects) who is the Indians 7th ranked prospect who plays 1B. At the very least Vogelbach would be the Indians 6th best prospect if acquired. That’s a good, 24 year old OFer with a HIGH ceiling in Soler and 2 prospects who’d flirt with the top 5 of the Indians prospect list. So in other words, it’s a young ML outfielder and TWO top 10 prospects for SP Salazar. That’s about what you should expect if you’re an indians fan……. but like I said, I don’t think the Indians are a good fit seeing they already have OF and 1B prospects ranked fairly highly in their system…. even if Vogelbach and McKinney are better than them, it just doesn’t address a need….. like 3B or catcher.
The Indians would probably have to throw in someone else, someone small for guys the Cubs would give up, although the I do think the Cubs need to shop them all because Dan V is blocked at first and McKinney is
Blocked if they keep Soler because they also have Amora in the system so if the Indians add another player maybe urshela or Chisenhall I see it
The Indians want someone that can help in 2016 and has shown that they can at the big league level. Soler has not shown that to this point. A deal as Soler as the center piece won’t work imo. It’s not what the Indians are looking for in return for one of their top 3 starters. The more and more I look at it the less I see a match between the two clubs.
Inciarte had a WAR of 5.3 this year. And 3.7 in 2014. Soler had a WAR of -.1 this year and 1.0 in 2014. Inciarte’s defense is not just good but elite. He is Heyward defense elite. If Inciarte keeps his league average bat he showed this year he will be a 5+ WAR player for years to come. Even if he doesn’t he will post a 3+ WAR. Soler has not come close to showing that type of potential because his defense is below average. Sure he has more potential with his bat, but that’s just it, it’s potential. Even if he does live up to his potential he likely won’t post 5+ WAR seasons because of his defense.
We will have to disagree about Vogelbach. He has a 30 grade glove. Well below average and likely won’t be able to play 1b at league average and may not even come close. He is a dh. Good bat but provides nothing else.
McKinney is a very good prospect. Along the lines of Frazier in the Indians system. However Frazier has a higher power potential. McKinney is ranked 34 while Frazier is 35 in the top 100.
Those 3 players are not enough to get back Salazar. I do agree that the Cubs and Indians don’t line up very well with a trade. The only way is if multiple peices are involved from both sides. I’m personally not a big fan of Soler and feel his value is way down from what it was a year ago after not being able to even post a replacement level year this year. I don’t think he is good enough to be a centerpiece of a TOR starter deal But that is jmo.