Over the weekend, Bruce Levine of CBS Chicago reported that the Red Sox weren’t willing to include Jackie Bradley in a trade for either Chris Sale or Jose Quintana, and this morning, Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports adds to that a bit. “If they didn’t get Jackie Bradley, there was no way they were doing the deal,” a person familiar with the talks told Heyman in reference to the White Sox. While there’s been plenty of speculation (and optimism from fans of other teams) that the Pale Hose could market one of their two ace-caliber lefties this winter, Heyman spoke to multiple people that indicated owner Jerry Reinsdorf still has little to no interest in parting with either Sale or Quintana, as his primary focus is putting a winner on the field right now. Sale, 28 next March, is controllable from 2017-2019 season for $38MM, while Quintana, who turns 28 in January, is owed $36.85MM from 2017-20.
More notes from the division…
- The Royals are planning to activate All-Star closer Wade Davis from the disabled list on Friday, writes Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star. Davis might’ve been activated prior to Wednesday’s contest, he notes, but a rainout at Triple-A earlier this week delayed his final rehab appearance and, thus, his return to the active roster. Davis has been out since July 31 due to a forearm strain, and the Royals’ fortunes have certainly changed since that injury. At the time of Davis’ placement on the disabled list, he was an oft-rumored trade candidate for a Royals team that had fallen quite a ways out of contention in the American League Central and in the AL Wild Card hunt. However, despite lacking one of the game’s best relievers for more than a month, Kansas City has gone 20-8 since Davis was placed on the disabled list. They’re now 6.5 games back in the division and just three games out of the second Wild Card spot in the AL.
- While Davis is returning, the Royals will lose right-hander Chien-Ming Wang to the disabled list, Dodd notes within that same piece. Wang is being placed on the 15-day DL due to tendinitis in his right biceps. While Wang’s numbers don’t stand out (4.22 ERA, 5.1 K/9, 3.0 BB/9), he’s yielded just two runs in his past 11 innings while working in a multi-inning role. Kansas City is hopeful that he’ll be able to return in the minimum 15 days, though expanded September rosters give Kansas City the luxury of taking things a bit slowly with his recovery.
- Danny Santana’s season is over, as the Twins utilityman has suffered a Grade 2 sprain of the AC joint in his left shoulder and will require four to six weeks to recover from the injury, writes Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. As Berardino notes, Santana once rated as one of Minnesota’s top 10 to 15 prospects, but his struggles over the past two seasons now leave his future with the team in doubt. Santana, 25, burst onto the scene in 2014 with a .319/.353/.472 slash in 101 games, but his production was largely propped up by a BABIP north of .400. Regression was easy to project thanks to that bloated BABIP, but he’s fallen farther than even pessimistic forecasts might’ve indicated. Over the past two seasons, the switch-hitter has slashed just .227/.259/.308 in 525 plate appearances. Santana is out of minor league options, so he’ll have to remain on the active roster or be exposed to waivers before he’s eligible to be sent outright to the minors.
All boston is missing is an ace and some bullpen help. I cant believe Dombrowski wouldn’t part with JBJ to get one of those two. Theyre both in the CY Young race, and Quintana might be the most underrated player in baseball. As well as JBJ hit at the start of the year, it was never sustainable, and was likely a fluke. Hes the definition of a streaky hitter. Aces are hard to come by, and if JBJ isn’t the reason he made a trade, hes dense.
Saying that though, it depends what the other pieces were. My guess on a deal involving Sale would’ve been JBJ, Benintendi and Sam Travis plus some lower level prospects and Nate Jones going to Boston
Glad he didn’t do it. You can always sign pitchers in free agency position players are harder to come by. I wouldn’t trade Jbj and Benintindi for nobody!!
The problem the Sox have anyway, it’s their bull pen.
So i think he made the right move.
They would’ve had 7 starters and only 5 spots. Since it doesn’t look like a pitcher was coming back to the whitesox in the trade.
Anyway, robbing peter to pay paul wasn’t gonna work.
Benintindi is gonna be a super star and JBj is a star and the best defensive centerfeilder in the game and their both controllable players for a long time. Which is invaluable.
Jbj is not the best defensive center fielder in the game, and how do you possibly already know benitendi will be a superstar? Prospects come up and rake all the time, and then most fall off, and Bennitendi also looks very injury prone and doesn’t have much power, he could be very good but not a superstar, if you made a list of all the super stars in the league they all have the power that Bennitendi doesn’t have, and anyways it’s way to early to tell. And if the Red Sox had gotten Sale I would say they would be favorites to at least win the pennant, becuse as you can see they are doing just fine without Bennitendi.
I’m sure there were other players involved, as well as JBJ. The total cost might have been more than anyone in their right mind would want to pay.
In what world are controllable aces easier to come by then position players. And jbj is the third best defensive center fielder in his DIVISION, not best in baseball
I would say Price and Porcello are aces now. Price had a rough start but has a 2.82 ERA over his last 13 starts. Pomeranz is close to an ace with a 2.76 ERA in his last 7 starts. All 3 had adjustment periods on joining the Red Sox. E-rod has ace potential but is not there yet. There biggest need is a better bullpen
As a lifelong White Sox fan, it’s incredibly disheartening to hear Jerry is willing to do what is necessary to win.
I hope it’s just a bluff to get more for one of them in the offseason.
I agree to not trading both, but Sale can be traded
I hope you are right about the bluff; so far, the last two trades, Duke and Navarro, have been for prospects.
Did you think Duke or Navarro were going to fetch a major league player?
They got pretty much what should’ve been expected. I do like the kid they got from St. Louis. Unfortunately, he fell victim to the White Sox rookie curse.
I did not want a major league player. I want prospects and Ricky got prospects.
I think JR still thinks it is 2005. Reinsdorf should just sell the team at this point and get someone in willing to make the best choices for the ball club and stop playing favorites. You would think that KW won 4 straight WS titles with the way JR treats him. Any other Org would have fired KW about 2-3 seasons ago when his lame brained decision to bring in a guy with no experience to manage this club (and consequently set back this club from getting anywhere for the past 5 years). Toronto fans should kiss JRs tookus for insisting he stick around the Sox to keep making poor decisions in Chicago instead of Toronto.
I would think that Betts,Bradley,Boagarts, and maybe Leon ( because he’s a catcher) would be absolutely Un touchable . I might include Benedicti ( probably spelled wrong) if thought I could get away with it. The BoSox have some GREAT young talent that I feel could make them a power in the AL East for the next 8/10 years! Why would I trade great talent that play well together, get along in the clubhouse ( thank Papi) and still havn’t reached their full potential. Getting them under contract control now would be my #1 priority. And if Moncada plays like he did in the minors!!Remember the Bronx bombers of the 50’s,60’s and 70’s? How many championships did the Yankees win? 17? A clubhouse like the Sox have could win a few of their own. So no Sale, ( get it? ) if I’m the BoSox Owner or president of baseball operations as they call it today. But that would mean I have full and complete confidence in my scouting, my minor league coaches, managers and medical personnel..
Sadly I don’t remember the Yankees of the 50’s,60’s or 70’s
Did i read Sandy Leon is untouchable
With our luck on catcher’s injuries this year and the way Leon is hitting makes the statement both funny and a little true.
If the Sox traded Sandy Leon right now, the team would get significantly worse because who would even be the other catcher.
Boston has a tendency to overrate their prospects and big league position players. Hoarding position players does them no good with mediocre pitching. They’ll get the wake up call eventually, but their window of opportunity is closing fast.
Closing fast? Window of opportunity? I can only assume you are referring to Ortiz and his impending retirement. And if that is the case then you are incredibly short-sighted and have failed to witness the wealth of talent they have graduated to the majors the past 2 seasons, and that doesn’t even include the highly regarded prospects at all levels of the minors they have. And by “overrate” I can only assume you are referring to boggaerts, Bradley, and Betts. Or roughly a WAR of 14, under control for 4-5 more years. Or are young, winning ball players not your thing?
Or perhaps I’m just missing something that leads you to believe this Red Sox team is in complete shambles after 2016 without Ortiz.
A thin pitching staff, yes, I can agree. But to say the window is closing? That’s just careless
Window of opportunity has just begun you mean…
Highly regarded prospects are just that, Highly regarded PROSPECTS.The Cubs hit on a whole bunch of them at virtually the same time, a rarity.
way to pick out the one thing I said, prefaced by “that doesn’t even include…”
These posters are getting worse and worse each day.
I think it was a wee bit a rarity and a lot of the good decisions by Epstein and Co on trades as well. they did their homework and the Sox org is so inept that it appears they finally have a decent college/draft scout for the first time in forever. Other than that, KW has no idea what he is doing, JR plays too many favorites, Hahn tries to do his job with one hand tied behind his back (with KW lording over him), and the Sox have an inept manager that is only around still because KWs ego will not allow him to admit he messed up royally in hiring Ventura in the first place… The White Sox org is a clown show.
Danny Santana is the latest example of the Twins mis-using him. Twins have continually shifted him from shortstop, his natural position, to all over the outfield. Polanco came up through the minors as a second baseman but is now playing shortstop. Obviously the test with Sano in the outfield was also a flop. Put these young players in there natural position where they are comfortable and let them play.
The Pale Hose sounds like an adult film star and not a baseball team…
I agree! And the adult film star comes at a guaranteed rate!
He’s still prone to the long ball.
BRADLEY IS GONNA BE A BUST IDK WHY WHITE SOX ALWAYS GO OVER STUPID PLAYERS TRADE SALE AMD JONES FOR MONCADA, DEVER, SHIWART, OWENS, GROOME
Pfff
The White Sox are a clown show and JR apparently thinks this team is still only one or two pieces from winning it all when it is nowhere near that reality. JR needs to go, his loyalty is admirable, when the guys in the spots are doing a good job but have one bad season. The problem is this is 5 years (at least) of mediocrity but KW is still around, Ventura is still around, Buddy Bell (director of player development) is still around, but yet the teams are horrible. Most of these guys would have been gone after the 14 season, but nope still here and the Sox are still mediocre with no accountability anywhere in the org, and enabling poor play on the field due to a guy who has no business being a manager for this club.
THE problem with the White Sox is the total lack of accountability. They’ve had ONE playoff appearance since they won the World Series, which indicates either they were extremely fortunate to win the Series in 2005, or the management somehow found a way to screw up a good thing. In either case, clearly there is something wrong with the way the team is managed. Either the scouting is awful, the development staff is incompetent, the major league staff doesn’t know how to get the most out of the talent they’ve been given, or the owner is a fool. I tend to agree with nrd1138 that the fault lies with Mr. Reinsdorf. Therefore, there will be no marked improvement on the South Side until he sells the team himself or he dies and leaves the sale to his heirs and partners!