Re-signing Alex Gordon would help the Royals hedge against other stars possible leaving in the future, but that commitment could also take away the money needed to keep them, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports writes. Five notable members of the defending World Champs – Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, Alcides Escobar, Lorenzo Cain, and Wade Davis – can hit the open market after the 2017 season. All five can be costly for KC and that is certainly a consideration for the club as they weigh the Gordon situation.
Here’s more from Rosenthal’s column:
- The A’s one-year, $4.25MM deal with Henderson Alvarez takes them out of the mix for free agent Scott Kazmir, sources tell Rosenthal. Alvarez will now compete for a spot in Oakland’s rotation with right-handers Jesse Hahn and Jarrod Parker and left-hander Sean Manaea. On Monday, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale identified the A’s as a finalist for Kazmir alongside the Royals, Orioles, Cardinals, Nationals, and Astros. Kazmir, 32 in January, recorded a 3.33 ERA with 7.7 K/9 against 2.6 BB/9 and a 43.4 percent ground-ball rate from 2014-15 — the duration of a two-year, $22MM contract initially signed with Oakland.
- The Dodgers are staying in touch with the Marlins on Jose Fernandez, but it’s still hard to see a deal taking place, Rosenthal writes. Unfortunately for the Dodgers and other teams after the young ace, the Marlins’ expectations for a return packing only got higher after the Shelby Miller trade, sources tell Rosenthal. Of course, that’s saying a lot since the bar has been set high all winter. high expectations from the start. Conversely, teams are concerned about how many innings Fernandez will pitch in 2016 and beyond. “Makes it hard to price it correctly for both sides,” one source with knowledge of the Dodgers/Marlins talks said. For his career, Fernandez has posted a 2.40 ERA with 10.5 K/9, 2.7 BB/9 and a 44.6 percent ground-ball rate. There’s little question that he’s one of the game’s most effective starters, with his low cost and youth making him one of the most intriguing assets in baseball.
- The Padres sent several club officials to Japan in November, but they won’t be a serious player for right-hander Kenta Maeda, sources tell Rosenthal. The Padres went to Japan in order to “introduce themselves in a market where they previously had only a minimal presence,” Rosenthal writes, but apparently they were not gunning hard for the Hiroshima Carp star.
Why aren’t we hearing anything on Maeda? Who has put up the $20M to negotiate with him? And who hasn’t?
All I’ve heard is people that don’t like him. I think the Diamondbacks had interest but that was before they made a few small moves to better the rotation.
“A few small moves to better the rotation.”
Top prospects being traded and $200 million contracts are pretty minuscule moves if you ask me.
Lol he’s being sarcastic
Lol
Teams will start biting for Maeda once Mike Leake signs
I thought he was a free agent so there’s no posting
No he was posted. The expected fee is $20M, the maximum allowed.
Call me crazy, but the only way I can see a Fernandez trade to LA is if Puig is involved in the trade. He is MLB ready, at an inexpensive price and has three years of control. This is the type of guy Florida is looking for, but with injuries and struggles last year. I could see Holmes and Montas or De Leon also involved… Would I want to see this? Probably not.
The Marlins would want way more than puig Montas and homes or De Leon. They asked for seager, Urias, puig or Peterson, De Leon and Barnes
With what they are asking for Fernandez, Puig would almost be like a throw in on that deal.
The Marlins already stated their price to the Dodgers. They wanted Seager, Pederson, Urias and two more players in addition. So if the package you stated is unattractive to you then just think about what they actually wanted. Will be interesting to see if the Dodgers can shake Fernandez loose with something different.
Hill has to be in some kind of fantasyland with what he things fernandez has trade value wise. remember what leaked out with regards to Boston at the winter meetings? Where he had “high hopes” that they could work out a deal involving Betts, Eduardo Rodriquez, Rafael Devers and Yoan Moncada? It was pure fantasy on his part.. 2 top 15.. Maybe top 20 kids when BA’s list comes out along with 6y of team control for Fernandez’s replacement, along with a 6WAR player in Mookie Betts who has 5y of control himself.
They couldn’t get that package if they included Stanton with Fernandez..
Hill isn’t going to be able to shake down LA either, He’s going to have to deal with the Boras imposed innings limit himself, or substantially come down on his asking price. Extortion isn’t going to work. Moreno isn’t a GM any longer.
If the dodgers want to trade for a young ace, How about sonny gray
How about him? It’s been consistently stated he is not being traded by Oakland.
Just saying, if there was a team to make a package for him, It would be the dodgers
Gray is so over rated.
If you watched Gray pitch in person you would know that he’s not. He deserved his place in Cy young voting. He’s also really young and doesn’t have an injury history like Fernandez
Puig is a big big problem for Mattingly their new manager and I am guess he would not approve of a trade with Puig. Puig is like a cancer in the club house and is one big headache plus he is injury prone. He hated babysitting for him last year here in Los Angeles. This was another reason besides the young front office Mattingly did not want to stay here.
You and Mattingly seem like close friends…….
Jose Fernandez doesn’t seem to be the guy leading any clubhouse renditions of Kumbaya either. Tit-for-tat if you’re involving Puig for Fernandez. I don’t think Mattingly approves that deal either, as Fernandez as shown more than Puig in a small sample size.
Nobody wants puig. He’s a cancer.
Don’t we ever get tired of using terms like that? Don’t they grosslyf oversimplify complicated situations?
Welcome to the internet, home of gross oversimplifications of complicated situations.
It’s sad when a 1 year deal for 4 millions bucks for an injured starter takes you out of the running for Kazmir.
As an A’s fan very SAD to hear that!!
I don’t believe this to be true. Rosenthal’s “source” is wrong.
A’s are not out but I bet they are not going to offer a 4 year deal which what Kazmir wants. Royal fans should be worried because of the 5 players listed only 2 will probably be resigned.
I agree with that, I don’t think Kazmir gets 4 years from anyone, and the A’s are more than likely going to give him the most money out of those teams.
Its getting kind of tired having to read all these insinuations about the A’s not spending money – they literally gave a terrible DH who was bad the season before $30M – they have plenty of money and Beane and crew have said repeatedly they are going to spend to improve the rotation and bullpen.
I think it’s more of a roster issue. With Alvarez, they have ten starters competing for five spots: Gray, Alvarez, Hahn, Hill, Bassit, Graveman, Manea, Parker, Brooks and Nolin. Assuming Manean starts in AAA, Nolin starts in the pen and Alvarez and Parker are on the DL to start the season, that’s still six pitchers for five spots.
Seems like Maeda might come at a bargin if the Dodgers don’t want to go too far beyond the luxury tax. Maybe 8~12m / year on for a possible number 2? Could be a bargain. Don’t know much about him but if he’s like Kuroda he could be a steal.
Too much to hope for the second coming of Hiroki Kuroda, but he sure did fly under the radar when he was playing for LA. Almost nobody outside the NLW realized how good he was until he signed with the Yankees. Having painted themselves into a corner the Dodgers really have no good choices but giving Maeda a chance. The problem is he will almost certainly get offers of at least four years maybe five, and the Whiz Kids seem too risk averse to commit to that many years.
I really doubt Alvarez is competing with Hahn for a rotation spot. Jesse’s been nothing but excellent in the big leagues so far and really deserves to be handed the #2 spot in their rotation.
If Henderson proves healthy, I imagine they line up as Gray/Hahn/Hill/Graveman/Alvarez.with Pomeranz in the emergency role and Manaea getting a bit more seasoning.
All things considered, it looks like it could be competitive.staff.
Wasn’t Pomeranz traded?
He sure was to the Padres.
The staff is Sonny Gray and a bunch of questions marks. They’ve pulled this move off before but you’d like to see a Gallardo/Kazmir/Maeda in the mix too.
Hahn is experiencing “forearm soreness” and might not be a factor in 2016. I don’t believe Rosenthal’s “sources” one bit on this.
The problem w fans n sometimes management is they don’t outside the box n get caught up in the moment. I’m a Chicago based Cubs fan so I know this word well patience. The Dodgers don’t need anyone. Maybe a small trade via SD or Clev. Trading your farm for Fern is plain stupid. Their is no guarantee except once your farm gone it is gone. Why trade for him? Will that give you a WS? Doubt it. If Clay n Grez didn’t do it doubt that will. Yes it been a mess this Winter n SF, Chi, Arz all have gone all out. So what. SF n Arz moves are Risky n moves like that better produce a winner. Really if they did get him I doubt they win the WS or even get there. U sell your farm to be competitive? I don’t think so. Not worth it. They have best farm now. cubs were #1 till everyone came up n still ranked #3. So u don’t win. So what. Odds were against you anyway. Fern not a sure bet. Plus you lose your farm, you risk his injury history, n you got pay the dude. Plus he FA 2018. Oh 2018. Super class. Dodgers have money, have a farm, and in 3 years have the “black card” to buy whatever they want. N still can compete over next 3 years. Maybe not win but compete. Don’t let SF, Arz, Chi make you do something you regret later. Plus they have major bucks coming off the books in that year. They also have to think about Resigning Clay or an extension to add balance a lux tax at 40mill Personally just wait, be patience n good things will come. Arz stuck with Grez now n 2018 will come n go for them. SF has money but not LA Boston n NY money. Cubs are there n smart. They still have a farm. They added players to win now. Not saying they will but few teams can plan for winning now n later. They played it smart. They add that pitcher sooner or later but pretty much done. Mean time they spend no money next winter n probably not the next one after that. They have money to resign n extend those young guys. Zorb, Lackey contracts plus few others will be gone. The rest of the farm be ready by then. N even if Hayward oops so what really they wanted now to win now. We save 4 years of bucks. Not add we have booko LA money coming from TV deal. Watch in 2018 what they do. It’s win now n later senerio for the Cubs Theo not stupid. N Zorb that wasn’t planned just worked out. NY laughed n fan haters saying we got robbed for Castrio. But Cubs got last laugh. We didn’t trade for Castro we got scrub, an ok pitcher n Zorb in that deal. Why cause as I said it was never about the players NY sent us. We would took the ball boy. Key was dumping Castro. We signed Zorb for 56 but we saved 40mil by dumping Castro. So we got him for 16mil. Who got the last laugh no matter what happens. Think out the box that y they hired him. Sum it up Dodger just need to wait it out a few years just compete n 2018 if they play it right they prob be WS champs or fight the Cubs for it lol there’s a baby bull n father bull. Baby says pop see those cows let’s run down there n f&@k one. Pop says no son let’s walk down n f&@k them all. I rest my case. Be smart LA
You realize you look like you are on drugs, right? Actual human beings do not write comments like this. Learn how to use grammar, would you?
The grammar was bad, but I do agree with the sentiment of not emptying out the top prospects for Fernandez, Gray or any other single player. I’m a lifelong Dodgers fan, we’ve waited since 1988, if we have to wait another year or so for the younger players to get to the majors, let’s wait. As a matter of principle, I hate the Giants, but I do admire how they’ve built their team through the farm system. If they signed one (or two) of Leake, Chen, Maeda, their starting pitching would be fine. I think this season hinges more on Seager playing well and getting Pederson and Puig on track.
That was brutal.
That’s quite a long-winded post for just basically saying you don’t think it’s smart for the Dodgers to trade their prospects.
Last July at the trading deadline I was in favor of trading one of out top prospects for an ace pitcher or two if we got another ace, but after seeing Seager play, I wouldn’t trade him. Miami’s asking price is too high, which I see as a sign that Miami really isn’t interested in letting Fernandez go. That being said the Dodgers will end up looking at players with a career of injuries adding to the band aid brigade of pitchers we already have.
Are the Dodgers looking long term and if so will mean that a WS team built around Kershaw will not happen while he is in his prime. The signings San Fran and Arizona made has hurt LA’s chances of winning the division and made it almost impossible if they can’t find at least one ace. Friedman said LA has a championship caliber core but I think he’s having a pipe dream.
I agree. The first big failure was not trading for a legitimate #3 starter at the deadline. It wasn’t like KC gave away the store to rent Cueto. That’s a deal the Dodgers could have done without breaking a sweat. The second failure of course was coming up short on Grienke. All that having happened I also say no to trading Seager, Urias or De Leon for Hernandez, which basically means no deal. Instead make a run a Maeda and hope that works. When Friedman talks about the core he is really just papering over his own failure to make the kind of deals that others have been able to complete. Bottom line is this season is probably a lost one, but that being the case, sacrificing the future is not going to help enough now to make it worth doing. This frustrated Dodger fan is already thinking about 2017 and hoping the boys don’t mess that up too.
Fernandez. Groan, Bring back the edit button!
I’m wondering what you would have done on Greinke? Attempt to outbid someone already offering a record breaking contract? I think that’s what you are suggesting. I don’t claim to know the Dodger’s financials, but continuing to spend a crazy amount on payroll doesn’t seem to be a sustainable business model.
And you seem inconsistent when you say you wouldn’t spend the prospects now to acquire a starter but you would have spent those same prospects last summer for a different starter? That’s confusing to me.
I would have given Grienke the six years he got from Arizona, but then I would only be following the advice of Rick Honeycutt, who advised them to do the same. I’m not worried about the Dodgers’ business model and wonder why any fan would.
No insistences. The price for renting Cueto was nothing remotely like the cost of trading for Fernandez, and at that time, it was a matter of putting the Dodgers over the top in the postseason, something not really in play this season I suspect. But I said that already.
Well you didn’t really answer my question. Merely offering 6 years probably wasn’t going to cut it considering how much money Arizona was offering. It’s the money I was asking you about. And I am worried about the business model because I would like the team to continue to thrive and being in good financial standing is an important part of that. If you are not considering the business side of a business decision, I’m not sure how you have a leg to stand on when it comes to criticism of that decision.
Well, the cost of renting Cueto would have cost at least Seager or Urias plus probably more. Which are the players you are saying you would not trade. And from his performance at the end of the season, I’m not sure he would’ve been the one to put the team over the top.
And whether I care about the business model is irrelevant anyways. We were talking about the signing of Greinke and whether the Dodgers should have tried to give him a record breaking contract or not. The simple fact is that I am considering all information I have available when evaluating my opinion of their actions whereas you are apparently purposefully ignoring some information for some reason (because you are a fan I guess!).
I’m not ignoring anything. Somebody was going to give Grienke a “record breaking contract” because (year after year) that is what premium players get. So yes the Dodgers would need to have committed to six years at around the same annual or maybe a little more to retain him. They were under the market, which is why he will be playing for a division rival instead. Again am not the team’s CFO so I won’t worry about their business model. They know those numbers, we don’t, and in either case, as a fan I am not in the business of rooting for Dodgers Inc profits.
You might take a look at how much the Reds actually got for Cueto, if you think he’d have cost the Dodgers a Seagar, Urias and more. Then consider that the Dodgers gave up something for what they did get, all of which proved useless in the postseason.
It’s good that the Padres a staying away from Maeda, especially considering how they are already stretching payroll as it is.
Had a thought but what would the Marlins look like today if they
Did not trade
Anthony DeSclafani for Matt Latos
Andrew Heaney for Dee Gordon / Dan Haren
Dee Gordon worked out to be a steal but
DeSclafani could have helped the rotation drastically