MAY 23: On the heels of last week’s comments about exploring the trade market early this season, Hahn said in an appearance on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM that his team has “had a lot of discussions” as he looks to strengthen the White Sox’ playoff hopes (links to Twitter). “You’re so much better served getting that guy in early June than late July,” said Hahn, adding that his team “could always use additional pitching” and “could probably use another left-handed hitter to balance the lineup.” Hoping to make a trade and actually striking an agreement, however, are two different stories, and Hahn implied that at this point, there appears to be a lack of motivated sellers: “…but unless we can find a dance partner, then nothing will come to fruition.”
It’s not surprising that few clubs are anxious to sell of pieces just yet. As things stand, all but a few teams around the league are within reasonable striking distance of a Wild Card spot, if not a division lead. And, for the few teams that look like they’ll be definitive sellers in two months’ time, there’s some merit to the idea of hanging onto their top chips for the time being, until there’s a greater market of buyers, which could drive up the price or at least present a wider array of young talent from which to choose.
MAY 19: The White Sox are ready to make a significant upgrade this summer if the opportunity presents itself, writes Bruce Levine of CBS Chicago. Sox GM Rick Hahn appeared on WSCR’s “Inside the Clubhouse” show earlier this week, Levine notes, and expressed an aggressive approach toward improving his roster. “We are prepared to make a big move today if it presents itself,” said Hahn. “Our timing may not line up with the other 29 clubs just yet. It is a little early in the process. A lot of clubs don’t make those moves until June or July. We are having conversations right now hoping it comes together more quickly than that.” Hahn did acknowledge that it may take another three to four weeks before clubs begin warming to the idea of moving players.
Levine writes that the Sox will be looking to upgrade the fourth and fifth spots in their rotation, behind lefties Chris Sale, Jose Quintana and Carlos Rodon. Having already designated John Danks for assignment and having seen Mat Latos struggle to a 7.84 ERA over his four most recent starts, it’s not exactly a surprise to hear the Sox connected to pitching upgrades. While there may be some optimism that Latos can right the ship to some extent, his strong start — 0.74 ERA through his first 24 1/3 innings — was largely fueled by a .167 BABIP, and his continually declining strikeout rate and velocity don’t paint an optimistic picture moving forward.
The Sox have some internal options to cycle through for the time being, including right-handers Miguel Gonzalez, Erik Johnson, Anthony Ranaudo, Chris Beck and Scott Carroll. However, Beck is entirely untested at the big league level, and the others have not enjoyed much in the way of recent success. Last year’s first-round pick, Carson Fulmer, has been a source of hope for some Sox fans, but he got off to a rough start to the season at Double-A Birmingham, and while his ERA has improved of late, Fulmer has also walked 13 batters in his past nine innings (two starts), making it something of a stretch to anticipate that he’d be equipped to step into the Major League rotation anytime soon.
While the back of the rotation is a clear area of current need, Levine suggests that it should at least be considered that the Sox would look to upgrade the back of their bullpen as well, despite a strong performance from the current relief corps. Levine lists James Shields, Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman as possible targets, though it’s not entirely clear how much of their inclusion is speculative in nature. The Yankees, after all, haven’t made a habit of selling off veteran pieces in the past and, for all their struggles, are within a reasonable distance of the division lead (7.5 games) and a Wild Card spot (4 games). If anything, I’d imagine they fall firmly into the mix of clubs that’ll be waiting (at least) four weeks or so before making any kind of decision as to their direction on the summer trade market. As for Shields, he’s a difficult trade target to assess; his 3.12 ERA looks impressive, but his secondary stats don’t support that mark, and the $44MM remaining on his contract after this season, if he does not exercise his upcoming opt-out clause, is a lot to stomach for an 34-year-old pitcher that has not looked as sharp in San Diego as he did in Kansas City.
Sucks to see Latos struggling more now, he started the season pretty strong
he started the season great i agree but he was very lucky. his siera was bottom 10 for starters and currently sits 3rd last in the mlb.
Are you really surprised though? He just came back to reality. I was rooting for him too.
come on….Journeyman at Best!
True colors showing through!
FIRE WILLIAMS AND VENTURA NOW!!!
your messed up
May 23: does Sanchez and Ventura have pictures of Jerry, Williams, and Hahn? If not, why the hell are they in the majors? They both suck!!!
Teheran, vizcaino fit well here. Vizcaino gives them an elite bullpen. (robertson, jones, vizcaino 9,8,7 albers/Putnam for the 6th). Still need a ss, cf, and better dh though.
They could Always call up the Braves and trade for Tehran and Vizciano. They might be likely to deal at this point with only 10 wins.
If torontos still struggling into July, they could pick 2 of Saunders, Bautista and encarnacion to fill in at rf and dh.
The Sox would have to include half their starters to get Joey Bats, Saunders, or Birdman.
Come on….stop dreaming.
Not even close. All 3 are free agents at year’s end. If the Blue Jays turn it around, then it doesn’t happen, but, if not, they could have any of them for a top 3 organizational prospect
Agreed. Detroit got Norris, Boyd plus one for Price, and moved Cespedes for Fulmer plus one. Less than half a season of a player, any player, who can not even be given a Q.O., is not going to be as expensive as the trading team would like.
with their bleak minor league system there’s no way the Blue Jays sell short on any of the pending free agents.
That’s the way it works pal.
It’s not selling short, they arent that valuable. EE hasn’t been good, bautista is having his worst year in 6 years. They are getting old.
Ok “pal”, no reason to get condescending. I’m not a White Sox fan, so you don’t have to worry about me “dreaming,” and I’m fully aware of how it works. If the Blue Jays aren’t making a playoff push, and they don’t want to “sell short” on Saunders, Bautista, or Encarnacion, then they end up with a few late first-round picks for them (I imagine they resign one and lose 2). Pretty sure they’d rather take their chances with a guy (or guys) who’s already playing professionally rather than a couple amateurs and some slot money
With big time Timmy Jim coming to the Halo’s, and if he looks impressive early, you could see CJ. Wilson being a candidate. Last year of a terrible contract that the Angels may eat more salary in order to gain a better prospect.
They won’t go Bautista he’ll cost to much as for encarnacion that’s a stronger possibility in my opinion
james shields is an upgrade in the rotation over latos and gonzo/5th spot. you dont put shields in BP
Inter wrong to see a GM stating this early they are open and willing. May pay off for Sox, if nothing else might kickstart the trade season.
Interesting*
If you plan on competing why not improve your roster for as long as you can. More gms should be aggressive early.
Tough balance. Your premise makes sense, but when is the right time to determine if you can contend? I’m not sure teams like the Yankees, Astros, Blue Jays, Diamondbacks, etc. are ready to sell quite yet- makes it tough to buy early
There are several obvious sellers early in the year. The brewers, braves, reds should all be ready to sell immediately.
Problem is, how much is each commodity worth. Braun, great bat, big contract. Teheran, Freeman, and Markakis, Coppy will ask a ton. Reds, not 100% familiar, but Big contracts left to drop.
Yes, but if they wait, there will be more buyers later. If the Phillies are in the hunt at the all star break, their front Office may start looking seriously, and they would have more to offer than Hahn. No benefit for a team to sell early, unless it’s a contract dump. I am sure Hahn could fill his lefty bat need with Ryan Howard without having to wait.
I agree with what you are saying by waiting for market to develop. Guess just depends on what Hahn is willing to trade to get ahead of the hunt.
SD Padres trade P James Shields for P Carson Fulmer, good trade for both teams
That is not even close to good for both teams.
no. not at that salary
get outta here cmon man
Just makes the a sucker for a trade steal by those teams that have pieces they wish to move.
Curious move on the part of the Sox. But then again, they gave a contract to a player allowing him to have his son as the 25th man on the roster.
The Yankees should be willing to deal either Chapman or Miller, if the return is sufficient. It’s an old team, needing youth and athleticism, there’s a weak free agent market coming up, and longer-term assets are really needed. Realistically, the team has no chance of competing for a championship this year–the talent is no longer there. They should take advantage of their financial resources, do transactions, and start the rebuilding process.
The New York market will never allow the Yankees to throw in the towel. They gotta be able to sell those seats at absurd prices and they would never be able to justify the cost of the seat by announcing they were throwing in the towel.
It’s crazy too because they could get so much for Tex, Beltran, McCann, Gardner, Miller or Chapman and have in house replacements on the cusp of being ready.
Maybe not. They watched the Red Sox tank, when it made sense for them to do so, and I don’t think the fanbase enjoys watching the team they have now.
there’s got to be talent to be had and there is none in Atlanta.
Funny, no talent?
First and foremost, there has to be some return for the Yankees and from what I see there is none. There is no rebuilding with rejects and has been’s and never was guys.
If your’re thinking of the Julio kid…..think again…this is the AL East and his ERA will go up at least a run with the big dogs.
When you say things like this Julio kid it makes it hard to take what you say serious. At least act like you seen the guy pitch before.
Oh and you’re a Yankee’s expert?
And talking about serious, stop with the ridiculous trade talk you spurt!
Nah not a Yankee expert but I live in the NY area and that’s all the sports radio around here talks about and the name of the site is mlbtraderumors and I didn’t know bringing up trade sceneries for discussion is so rediculous gotta love the Internet gangster tough guys
Funny thing, all the idiotic arguing over Teheran being a 2, 4, or 5 starter. The write up says the Sox are looking for a back end starter. Yes, Coppy will ask for more than Teheran is worth, pretty sure that is how trade talks start.
Trades depend on needs. Sox need a reliable starter: Teheran – 200 innings eater with a sub 3.50 ERA. Young, controllable and relatively cheap. Braves need a C prospect (Alfaro) and maybe an OF (Adolfo).
His e.r.a won’t be sub 3.50 in the a.l. but I think high 3’s low 4’s is possible, he mainly gives you innings. He’s in a pitchers park in the n.l. the jump to a.l is roughly .3 runs, he is also moving to a hitters park so his unsustainable homer rate will jump.
Still with your estimation, that .3 jump still puts his current ERA best of that rotation.
Huh? What rotation are you talking about? Did the Sox all of a sudden lose Chris Sale and Jose Quintana? Both of their ERA’s are almost half of Teheran’s…
IF the Sox traded for Teheran, I’d assume they’d slide him into the 3 spot in between Q and Rodon (and that has more to do with splitting up the 3 lefties than Rodon’s struggles).
Priggs89, my bad was mixing up Sox with another rotation (Yanks) I looked at in the previous statement. My overall point is trading for Teheran gives the Sox what they are looking for a 4/5 starter.
The sox can have shields cashner and villanueva for essentially nobody. Take shields contract and call it a day.
Those are more realistic options except I don’t see them taking on Sheilds contract.
Wait a week until LIncecum’s arm falls off, and then try to get Hector Santiago back. He’d be a great addition to the back of the rotation.
im sure all the people who say the sox dont have the farm to get a deal are the same people that said we didnt have the farm to get frazier.
What does it matter if Teheran is a 2,3, or 4? He’s pitching like a 3 right now. And he’d be the #4 for the CHW. If you want to compete for a title. You better have a dang good 3 and 4 starter
Agreed.
Hey when’s talk Steve
Hey Jerry, get some balls and fire Williams and Ventura. Then clean house on your player development because you haven’t produced a non pitcher starter in years. Your attendance is dropping and will continue to drop when the sox fall out of 1st. Might as well dump your marketing director because he obviously sucks also.
The questions are:
Do the White Sox have the assets to pull off any significant trades?
Would the front office be willing to deal any of their top prospects from among the top three of Carson Fulmer, Tim Anderson and Spencer Adams?
Would Jerry Reinsdorf approve any substantial increase to the payroll to accommodate the contract of a Carlos Gonzales or Ryan Braun?
I believe the answer would be yes to the last two questions but a big maybe to the first.
those 3 would get a deal done – but do they want to move them
Those 3 prospects basically equal the Cole hamels package.
I would love to see them acquire Jay Bruce, not sure if they have enough to give
He would be probably one of the better options with stats and contract mixed that could be available.
I’m going to do my once every two months comment and apologies if someone else already mentioned these names, but good lord, it would be such a windfall for the White Sox if they could get a package of Brett Gardner, Nathan Evoaldi and Andrew Miller. Those three players would undoubtedly lift the team to seriously make it the team to beat in the AL. Those three players, for all their traits, would be absolutely perfect matches in more way than one for the Sox. Dollar for dollar, I don’t think they could find more perfect matches. Now, that said, there is no need for the Yanks to do that deal. It would require most likely, the Sox #1 and #2, prospect and maybe something like #8 or #9 on top of that. Here is the problem though. I am one of those who doesn’t like the “trade for prospects narrative” since almost all prospects these days seem to flame out or go through serious growing pains. So for the Yankees, what do they get? Maybe a couple blue chip prospects and how does that really help them. They have their own blue chip prospects and frankly, the Yankees are looking somewhat competitive again. It’s one of those weird deals that won’t happen, but you have to admit, there probably isn’t a better arrangement of players out there for the Sox than those three. We’ll see….
But a seemingly equal trade that you have proposed. Hal has generally said he wants to go cheaper, granted Gradner and Miller are not their highest paid, but both effective, even given Gardner’s early struggles. From most Yankee fans I have talked to, at least you know what you get in Gardner.
I’m not necessarily advocating the Yankees trade those players, In most respects, they are irreplaceable at this moment. With the pitiful free agent pitching class this coming off season and if Eovaldi continues his assent, his value is very high. Same for Gardner as you said. You put him on any team in baseball and it’s instantly better and not for the reason of a Trout or Harper and mashing the ball, just an overall perfect game. Did anyone see that play at home yesterday to the tie the game. That’s freaking baseball man and why Yankee fans love love love Gardner. And Miller speaks for himself. I was more so insinuating that for the Sox, if they could get all three, they would be well advised literally speaking, mortgaging the future. I revise my proposal as well. #1, #2 and #8 or #9 is actually far too light. Don’t know what, but the cost would be high.
Well not the package you requested is “too light.” Gardner will also cost $11M a year average over the life of his contract for a .260 15 HR 60 RBI guy that averages about 145 games a year. Everyone knocks Markakis (granted his D is not Gardner), but still a lot of money for no plus defense or offense. But yea, great baseball mind. You surely know what you get with Gardner. Miller is seriously worth every penny in my mind. But overall Sox would be adding $21M to this year’s payroll, $29M next, and $31 for 2018.
Interesting to see what they do.
Duda out 4-6 for Mets, injuries are starting to occur all over.
Sorry, my point was NYY is saving a ton and probably would not require the huge return over what you proposed.
Gardner has a 117 wRC+, offers plus baserunning, above average corner d and can play center if needed. So he is better in every facet of the game and offers more versatility, see the difference?
Theo can you out that in dumber translation for me, I don’t think I understood it as well with my small IQ?
living in the NY area I catch a bunch of Yankee games. Not enough to draw my own conclusion but also living here and hearing sports radio most ppl say Gardner is not a very good base runner and is actually a very bad base stealer so I am interested in how you say he is a very good base runner ???? Not an attack just a question cause I hear this from guys that watch him play in and out on a nightly basis.
He’s a career 81% base stealers, that’s better than billy Hamilton. Most likely just radio callers are dumb. The%, the metrics, and his actual speed speak for themselves.
Ellsbury, Pineda, and Chapman for Fulmer, Adams, Peter, and Davidson. Money would have to be exchanged obviously.
Jonathan Lucroy and Ryan Braun from the Brewers might be a better return combo for the White Sox. They could use another decent starting pitcher but those two bats in their lineup might make the back end of their current rotation passable.
Gordon go the D.L. May bring the Royals out to make a move. I could see them interested in Markakis. Won’t expect much in return other than salary relief.
May be willing to give up a top prospect for Inciarte though if the Braves would be willing to move him.
Jay Bruce!!
Throw in Cozart, and you’ve got yourself a deal.