Brewers catcher and eminently valuable trade chip Jonathan Lucroy said Monday that he and the team are not engaging in contract extension talks (Twitter link via Chris Cotillo of SB Nation). “I want to be competitive. I want to be on a team that is playing for a championship,” Lucroy told Jon Heyman of Today’s Knuckleball. “If that’s the Brewers, great. If not, not. It’s a tough situation.” With a relatively insignificant $4MM salary this year and a $5.25MM club option for 2017, Lucroy is currently on one of the most team-friendly contracts in baseball. That should help the Brewers land a quality haul for the All-Star if they deal him by the Aug. 1 trade deadline. The 30-year-old has rebounded from an injury-plagued 2015 to hit .304/.361/.491 with 11 home runs in 324 plate appearances this season. Defensively, Lucroy has thrown out a terrific 39 percent of attempted base stealers while rating near the top of the league in the pitch-framing department.
More out of the NL:
- While the NL West-leading Giants have come up as a possible fit for either Aroldis Chapman or All-Star Andrew Miller in advance of the deadline, the Yankees don’t regard San Francisco as a match for either, according to Hank Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle (Twitter link). Notably, five Giants – right-handers Phil Bickford (No. 50) and Tyler Beede (No. 81), shortstop Christian Arroyo (No. 56), first baseman Chris Shaw (No. 83) and lefty Adalberto Mejia (No. 91) – are on Baseball America’s Midseason Top 100 Prospects list. The lefty-swinging Shaw, 22, would seem to make sense for the Yankees, offers Schulman, though it seems they disagree.
- Cardinals All-Star infielder Matt Carpenter hopes to make a four-week recovery from the oblique strain that sent him to the disabled list July 7, writes Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Carpenter has a “significant” tear along his right side, he said Monday, and the 30-year-old had a similar injury in 2012 that kept him out four weeks. Prior to going on the shelf, Carpenter slashed a tremendous .298/.420/.568 with 14 homers and nearly as many walks (58) as strikeouts (61) in 351 PAs.
- Agent Scott Boras is “happy” with the way the Dodgers have handled 19-year-old phenom Julio Urias, he told Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register on Monday (Twitter link). The Dodgers are monitoring the workload of the left-handed Urias, who is currently with Triple-A Oklahoma City and could factor in as both a reliever and starter in the majors down the stretch. Between OKC and LA, Urias has thrown 78 1/3 innings, which is just 9 1/3 fewer than the career-high 87 2/3 frames he amassed in 2014.
Boras… Who cares what he thinks
Most of his clients are happy.
If Scott is happy, we’re happy.
Wanna buy a bridge?
If he’s a Boras client he could probably afford it.
I agree who gives a rats ass what that jerk thinks
I like how boras is vocal with his players in regards to how teams handle them. He seems to really care, whether that’s for his own gain or the players is up for discussion, but he always wants what’s best for his client. He gets a lot of hate for no reason imo, if you think he’s the reason the markets so astronomical now for players, shouldn’t you blame the owners for being willing to hand out this money. He’s paid to get his guys money, and he does a damn good job at it.
I’m sure the team likes that clown telling them how to do there jobs
I’d rather the Giants pursue Chapman in free agency and we get to keep our prospects and maybe even our pick.
I agree – especially bickford – with possibly losing cueto the year after next, peavy out and the possibility of cain not returning to form we need some serious internal options for starting pitching in the next couple of years and bickford really seems like the brightest spot. Beede could be a trade option as it looks like he needs work but blackburn/arroyo/bickford should be kept internally since they will most likely be needed to fill holes (especially if duffy is shaky as he has regressed this year and as an infield depth piece if they trade shaw).
I’m surprised with how many players the giants have in the top 100 prospects
No hate just can I ask you why that’s your opinion.
Because the pundits consistently rank the Giants’ farm system among the weaker systems in baseball. I’d say they’re doing pretty well considering they haven’t had very high draft picks in a while due to the success of the major league team. While they don’t have flashy blue chip prospects, the current rankings do show off the depth they have in the system, and they have a track record of developing less heralded prospects into successful big leaguers.
I agree with Schulman that Shaw would be a good fit for an AL team, and he’s now blocked on a long term basis by Brandon Belt.
right on with shaw – he is really interesting but barring injury unless he shifts position he doesn’t have a lot of opportunity
If the Giants get out of the Chapman/Miller discussion Shaw is a guy I would love to see head to Milwaukee in a Jeffress or Smith deal. They need a 1B and could get another serviceable year or 2 out of Carter (if they don’t trade him) to bridge the gap to Shaw. Lefty power bat would profile well in Miller Park.
Man, Carp’s injury will surely hurt the Cardinals offense. No doubt, he is their best hitter, so they need Piscotty, Grichuk and Wong to step up.
Bad link for Chris Shaw. Getting Oriole prospect, not Giants one.
Glad to hear Boras is happy….*sigh*