The Tigers are interested in Yankees left-hander Justin Wilson and have, in fact, had trade talks with the Yankees about their lefty setup man, reports Marly Rivera of ESPN (via Twitter). It’s not clear how far talks between the two sides progressed, but the Tigers have a known need for a left-handed reliever, and the Yankees have been open-minded about dealing almost any player on their roster. Wilson, who has three years of club control remaining, is in his prime at 28 years of age and has a lifetime 3.03 ERA with 8.7 K/9 against 3.7 BB/9 in 199 1/3 innings between the Pirates and Yankees.
A few more notes on the relief market…
- The Nationals had dialogue with the Pirates about closer Mark Melancon, though nothing is serious at this time, Bill Ladson of MLB.com tweets. Before Washington could even acquire Melancon, they’ll probably have to move at least one of Jonathan Papelbon or Drew Storen to free up some room.
- Twins GM Terry Ryan says the team is unlikely to bring back relievers Brian Duensing and Blaine Boyer, as Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com writes. Minnesota is eyeing left-handed relief help in Nashville and is interested in both Tony Sipp and Antonio Bastardo, per Bollinger. The Twins also checked in on veteran Matt Thornton, but their preference is a more strikeout-oriented arm, says Bollinger, so Thornton may not be a fit.
- Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press hears that teams have reached out to the Twins about All-Star closer Glen Pekrins in their search for left-handed relief, but talks didn’t get far (links to Twitter). Perkins is owed a reasonable $12.8MM over the next two seasons and has a $6.5MM club option for the 2018 campaign. That option becomes a player option if he’s traded.
- The Cubs meeting with the agents for Bastardo, according to Robert Murray of Baseball Essential (on Twitter). The Cubs have been very active over the past 24 hours and are known to be seeking bullpen upgrades.
- Shawn Kelley’s agent, Mike McCann, told Joel Sherman of the New York Post (on Twitter) that his client has yet to pick a team. The Nationals are among “multiple clubs” in “active discussions” with McCann.
- Right-hander Joe Blanton is drawing interest from a wide number of teams after a strong 2015 showing in the bullpen, tweets Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith. Blanton could be a candidate for a multi-year deal after his excellent bounceback campaign.
- Multiple reporters, including J.P. Hoornstra of the L.A. News Group, have tweeted that Todd Coffey is in Nashville hoping to latch on with a club as he eyes an MLB comeback. Coffey, 35, hasn’t pitched in the bigs since 2012 but was excellent at Triple-A as recently as 2014.
IMO, Coffey should just retire
why do the nats think they need another closer? they already have 2 and that is 1 too many.
Because they want to get rid of the headaches that is known as Paplebon and Storen relationship with Nats is sour. Rather get something for him then let him be a distraction to the team.
storen is fine though and they won’t be able to dump papelbon unless they just release him and eat the contract at this rate – I never understood the pickup in the first place –
I don’t understand why the yanks want to trade their strength, their bullpen I get they want starters but trade prospects or non essential players to get what u need not your key players.
I agree with adshadbolt. NY has a really solid bullpen in place, no need to mess with it regardless of how many bullpen arms the system has produced. And, with Detroit seeking a lefty, I can’t help but look back on: Phil Coke and Austin Jackson to Detroit, Granderson to NY.
Detroit also received Max Scherzer in that deal. Still think Detroit got the better end of that deal between the 3 teams(Tigers, DBacks, Yankees)
He said Bastardo.