At least one team has shown interest in left-hander Drew Pomeranz this offseason, but the Red Sox haven’t made him available, reports Rob Bradford of WEEI (Twitter link). Boston subtracted from its starting depth by trading Clay Buchholz to the Phillies on Tuesday, though it still has six quality options in Chris Sale, David Price, AL Cy Young winner Rick Porcello, Pomeranz, Eduardo Rodriguez and Steven Wright. It’s unclear which member of the Pomeranz-Rodriguez-Wright trio will be the odd man out of the rotation to begin next season. While Pomeranz has plenty of relief experience, he was also among the majors’ top starters as a member of the Padres during the first half of 2016. That led the Red Sox to send highly regarded pitching prospect Anderson Espinoza to San Diego in July, but the deal hasn’t yet gone as planned for Boston. Pomeranz wasn’t healthy down the stretch, which caused plenty of controversy, and logged a 4.59 ERA despite a 9.36 K/9 and 3.15 BB/9 in 68 2/3 innings with the Sox.
More from the majors’ East divisions:
- Free agent right-hander Aaron Barrett is drawing interest, including from the Nationals, per Chris Cotillo of SB Nation (Twitter link). The 28-year-old reliever has thus far spent his entire career with Washington, which chose him in the ninth round of the 2009 draft, and has posted a 3.47 ERA, 10.8 K/9 and 3.47 BB/9 in 70 major league innings. Injuries have derailed Barrett of late, unfortunately, as he missed all of last season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in September 2015. He then fractured his elbow last July and needed a second surgery.
- Yankees right-hander Michael Pineda’s numbers were “mind-boggling” last season, manager Joe Girardi told Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. Although he finished seventh among starters in K-BB percentage (20.4), Pineda recorded the majors’ seventh-worst ERA (4.82) across a career-high 175 2/3 innings. Along with the sport’s fourth-highest home run-to-fly ball ratio (17 percent), Pineda surrendered a .339 batting average on balls in play and a bloated .406 mark with two outs. “The average of batted balls in play off of him with two outs [.406] — it just doesn’t make sense,” said Girardi. “You look for reasons. Believe me, we’ll look; I’m sure we’ll look a long time this winter.” Pineda’s issues in 2016 weren’t a first-time occurrence – despite a 20.2 K-BB percentage, he also underwhelmed in run prevention (4.37 ERA), BABIP (.332) and homers (14.7 percent HR/FB ratio) in 2015. He’s now entering a contract year and, along with Masahiro Tanaka and C.C. Sabathia, is one of just three Yankees with significant major league experience from the rotation.
- With outfielders Ender Inciarte, Matt Kemp and Nick Markakis in possession of starting spots, the Braves are leaning toward having Mallex Smith begin 2017 with Triple-A Gwinnett, writes Mark Bowman of MLB.com. “[Smith] is a talented player, but he still needs more development,” president of baseball operations John Hart said. “At the same point, Mallex is interesting because he can do a lot of things for you. He can [play] all three outfield positions and he can run. But the question we are asking ourselves is, ’Are we doing him a disservice and ultimately ourselves a disservice by making him a role or bench player?'” The 23-year-old Smith factored heavily into Atlanta’s lineup during the first half of last season, but he fractured his left thumb in June and didn’t return until September. All told, the speedy Smith hit .238/.316/.365 with three home runs and 16 steals in 215 plate appearances as a rookie. The Orioles reportedly asked for Smith in exchange for reliever Brad Brach earlier this month, but the Braves turned them down.
Blocking a good young player because of Matt Kemp is such a bad way to “rebuild.”
Not if Smith could use more time AAA.
Not if it makes the kid more controllable. Cubs did that with Kris Bryant. Works out well in the long run for the team.
Mallex Smith is not kris bryant. He also doesn’t have the kind of #s that will pay well in arbitration. He’s not the type of player you need to play service time games with.
You obviously do not watch any Braves games.
CT made the only logical comment out of you four. Congratulations.
I wasn’t aware you were the official mlbtraderumors judge on logical comments. Congrats. Your parents must be proud.
Boom! Thank you!
To CT, not realgone.
It would be if Kemp was just an average player. He hit 35 home runs with a .268/.304/.499 clip. I’ll take that even with the low OBP and mediocre fielding.
Matt Kemp isn’t even an average player.
Tell that to Freddie Freeman. If you don’t think a guy who can drop 35 bombs hitting behind doesn’t give a good hitter in front of them better pitches to hit, well, you just haven’t watched enough baseball. Mallex certainly brings a different skill set such as speed and athleticism, but Matt Kemp brings a threat to your lineup which was seriously lacking before his arrival.
Remember that year that Chipper almost hit .400 towards the end of his career? If you don’t think that having a power threat behind him in a lineup (I.e. Mark Texiera) didn’t give Chipper more fastballs to hit and more pitchers challenging Chipper instead of walking him…?
Believe me, I’m a Mets fan, I watched a lot of years where David Wright was the only threat in a line-up and watched him get first pitch slider, 3-1 sliders, etc. and watch the Mets’ season end by the beginning of August.
A guy that can drop a bomb on you behind a good hitter makes all the difference in the world. Just look at what the Braves did after acquiring Kemp (along with get healthier), they were a much better team.
As a Mets fan, the Braves are scary this coming year. The couple of veterans they added to their rotation, coupled with their position player depth, makes them a decent threat. I don’t like their bullpen so much, but they’ll win games this year.
I actually see their lineup as good as any in the NL East.
Matt Kemp had a 109 Wrc+ and can’t run or play defense. That is not an average mlb player.
I have gained respect for some Mets fans out there. It just makes a world of difference when someone actually sees a team play often, even if you are from a division rival. All these people who don’t ever watch games from other teams and only look at WAR or other saber metrics for info will miss these untangibles that really make a difference. Matt Kemp may be bad in the field, but he made our entire lineup much better after his arrival on top of hitting his 35 HR’s. I love Mallex, but I wouldn’t replace Kemp with him. At least not at this stage.
chicks dig the long ball, and apparently so do Stan and logan, shame they ignore literally every other at bat, base running and fielding.
Mallex had 84 Wrc . Isn’t 100 Wrc by definition league average. Therefore is Kemp not slightly above league average (though certainly not worth the $), and Mallex well below the mark?
is baseball played in a batting cage or do they have to you know run and field after a ball is hit?
If lineup protection was actually a real thing Myers would have just started walking a bunch after Kemp got traded. He didn’t.
The dude had less errors than markakis did so I think he will be alright, and if someone starts sucking or gets injured bring up mallex
Will Myers was an all star with Kemp behind him hit over .290 and after the trade of Kemp hit under .260 and after Kemp was traded he hit .280 and 12 bombs with 39 RBIs. Kemp is going to make this team better. As they contend this year.
I’d buy your premise if pitchers were actually pitching around Will Myers after Kemp got traded. They weren’t pitching around him. They were getting him out. Whatever pitchers were doing against Will Myers after Kemp got traded, it was working. So they would have to be idiots to not keep doing that when they face Will Myers, regardless of who is batting behind him.
As far as Kemp making the team better, you don’t seem to realize how bad his defense really is. He is going to be a detriment to the stats of the Braves’ young pitchers next year. Just you wait and see.
Myers wore down because he’d never played a full season before. If protection was a real thing then the guy batting in front of Myers would have had a great season, right?
Honestly, I hear what you are saying. Its like when Rick Porcello won the Cy Young over Verlander because people like flashy wins (I’m a Red Sox fan by the way, so not upset about it!).
But the bottom line is, even with the resurgence in the long ball in 2016, there are still only 32 guys who hit 30 or more home runs last year. Every team has guys who are baserunning and defensive specialists that you can slot in when you need a steal or to protect a lead. There are not many players that you can count on for 35 hrs (17 to be exact).
Building a team is not about sabremetrics. Building a team is about balance. Many teams have gotten too math heavy (including the A’s in my opinion). Sometimes you have to look at what you have and what you don’t have and go with what you need over metrics like WAR. For example, look at the massive overpay the Nationals paid for Eaton. Time will tell if that works out for them, but clearly they dug a little too deep into analytics to come up with that valuation at face value.
Studying numbers will never substitute for knowing the game.
The Braves will be lucky to win 75 this year.
The went .500 the last 100 games of the season. If they don’t have one of the worst starts in franchise history to start the season, they should surpass that. And take in mind what will be different this season from the start of last season: no Fredi Gonzalez (can I get an amen?!), Dickey/Jaime Garcia/Colon over Wisler/Williams Perez/etc. in the rotation, Matt Kemp (and no Hector Olivera), a fully-healthy Ender Inciarte, Dansby Swanson (no Erick Aybar – the least valuable MLB player before the All-Star Break 2016).
Sure, you can make arguments stating how bad ATL will be, but I would side with their 2nd half as closer to the team than the 1st half of 2016. They should be treading .500, if not 5-7 games under. That’s without making any more moves, which would be surprising knowing Coppy. I could see a catching upgrade happen if Wieters market continues to fall.
You’ve hit the nail on the head with the balance factor. Rebuilding is as much sculpting as it is anything. With Kemp (although one could argue he his overpaid) you’ve added a veteran bat to a young group at the plate. The same applies for our rotation.
“Mediocre fielding” is a huge understatement. He has a legit case for being the worst defensive outfielder in the league. Low OBP, terrible baserunning..he’s not good. He’s not average. He’s poor (besides being horrendously overpaid).
And Matt Kemp was my favorite ballplayer for many years.
Does everyone realize that we traded a convicted domestic assualter in Hector Olivera for Matt Kemp? Yes, we will be paying roughly $8M for 3 years for Kemp, but when you consider the alternative, anything from Kemp is better than what we had in Olivera.
That being said, Kemp will not play out the contract in ATL in a starting role. With how some of our OF prospects are maturing (Acuna, Dustin Peterson, Mel Rojas Jr., etc.), someone will be ready before Kemp’s contract is up.
“Mediocre fielding.” LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Trust me. The Braves WILL be trying to trade Matt Kemp to an AL team during the summer. You don’t want his arthritic hips patrolling your outfield. Especially not with all the young arms the Braves have coming up.
But that is to say he is truly ready. He did was slow to progress even before the injury, maybe Kemp being there gives him further opportunity to develop.
Agreed. I don’t like leaving Smith in the majors to platoon or be a late inning sub. That’s crazy for the kid’s development. He just doesn’t pass the eye test yet either. He’d have to bat 8th or preferably 9th if you believe in such, and he’s maybe better than Markakis but Markakis is a pro earning 12-15 million. Don’t see wasting Mallex’s service time when he can regular reps in AAA.
Yeah because the Braves are so loaded with cash they can just afford to bench a guy making more than 20 mil a year…. smh
The braves are only paying 5 mill of Kemps contract. The padres are stuck with most of it.
The Pads are paying most of it. And they are paying their portion whether he starts or whether he’s on the bench – it’s a sunk cost.
No sense in further destroying the on-field product for the sake of money you’re gonna have to spend anyway.
Although I remember the drama Kemp and his Agent stirred up when the Dodgers tried moving him off CF. Maybe for clubhouse harmony, they should just keep trotting Kemp’s shell/corpse/shadow out there.
The Padres are NOT paying most of it. The Padres are paying Olivera’s remaining contract. When they swapped Olivera and Kemp, it did not mean the Braves are only on the hook for 15 million of Kemp’s remaining contract. They still have to pay what they would’ve paid to Olivera. Call it sunk cost, doesn’t change the fact that it impacts what the team can spend in a single season.
Besides Mallex missed most of last season. Starting in AAA would be good for him.
No but when the Padres got him from the Dodgers the Dodgers were paying some of that contract as well but all of that is irrelevant because he does what a clean up hitter is suppose to do and he does it well. And he does what a LF needs to do. You could use your goofy WAR analysis and give me the best defensive players for every position if none of them fit their roles in the lineup it’s all irrelevant. Matt Kemp hitting behind Freddie Freeman is fine.by me did you see the numbers Freddie put up after Kemp got here ? I watch the games and anybody who watched would tell you Kemp’s presence meant a lot more than his numbers.
the people smarter than me are wrong!
Kemp was a clubhouse cancer in San Diego and when he got to the Braves his own GM said in a radio interview that Kemp was “not in shape.” His defense and baserunning were nonexistent last season. If that’s a winning baseball player then I’m Ethel Merman.
And protection is a myth. If it were a real thing then whoever was batting in front of Freeman would have been amazing, right?
Isn’t that what everyone says?
I agree with everything Jon said, because he is correct.
I like watching Mallex patrol center and run the bases. Problem is he doesn’t get on base much, and the Braves have a pretty dynamic centerfield already. Let him season more in Gwinett.
Malley needs time in AAA to avoid platoon role in the future. 4/50, 15k in 57 PA versus lefties
Nothing a mid season trade can’t resolve.
People knock on pomeranz but when he came to the red sox he was one of the top pitchers in the NL but also was near his inning limit of his career(wich he surpassed) and had arm issues, when healthy at the start of the season he might be really solid number 4 with im sorry but e-rod as the 5 i do not want wright as the 5 simply because he is the reason why people knock swihart (our catchers cant handle him)
Wright is not the reason why people knock Swihart. Swihart is going to have a hard time winning the starting job with such good defensive catehers. I like wright a lot, but I think he willl go to the pen, but not for anywhere close to this reason.
Hard to judge a game in MLB without getting all angles from a pitcher.. It looks to me he shows the ball a bit much with his delivery, as in his high arm angle.
Minors games that go see it’s easy.. Can move around and look at from every vantage. Never saw him in person tho. Others with that hi slot and show the ball like that and left handed.. I dunno in the AL East.
He might have problems and need to head back to the NL, or relief role. Hope am wrong, or just missing something.
Because of options swihart gets much needed time in aaa to preserve depth either way. This rotation thing has a way of working itself out pomeranz has had injury history and erod and wright missed time last season if all are healthy I’d have pomeranz the odd man out just because he’s the most unproven in Boston erod has 2015 and looked really good once he got healthy. Wright was great up until that baserunning fiasco. The wbc might also have something to say about this they might skip an erod start or limit his pitches a few games just to make up for the fact that he’s ramping it up sooner than usual.
What a number of people fail to see, is that Pomeranz producing as a 4/5 starter in the Majors, statistically, is likely to be more than what Espinoza produces at the MLB level. I understand the infatuation with “upside”, but the bust rates on prospects are extraordinary – especially when projecting them while they are so far away.
Just sayin’.
You can get 4/5 production anywhere. You don’t give up front end of rotation potential to get it. It was a bad trade. Said so then say so now. Most can’t miss prospects make it. They may not live up to the ridiculous hype placed on them and surely not to the expectations of fans who deem anyone who isn’t a mega superstar a bust. Go look at the last 15 years top prospect lists. It’s a whose who of MLB talent with a few exceptions. We just remember the busts. The ones that make it its ho hum they were supposed to.
Just sayin’
Actually it does make sense. Hanging sliders have a high average on balls in play for obvious reasons. And no pitcher in baseball hung more sliders with two outs than Michael Pineda
Pineda throws more helicopters than we used in Vietnam!? Agree totally.
A Brad Brach for Mallex Smith trade looks entirely fair to me. That is if Atlanta were a competing team. Brach was one of the best relievers in all MLB last year and Smith projects as a Ben Revere type. Again if Atlanta were a competing team that looks like a trade they make in a heartbeat.
Totally agree. Maybe they can build Smith’s value, and trade him at the deadline.
We have a better idea what Pineda s trade value is now since Buchholz was traded.
I think getting him out of Yankee stadium could do him some good but when you’re giving up a .400 average with 2 strikes, you’re either incredibly unlucky or you lack some serious focus. You don’t succeed if you pitch a guy that’s got 2 strikes like it’s a 0-0 count!? He’s got to be way too much around the plate.
Pineda has way better stuff than buchholz
Pinhead has the stuff but is a mental midget when it comes to bearing down. May as well be tossing BP against most with two strikes.
The odd occasions when he has dominated for more than five innings and gave up less than two or three runs have been few and far between.
He may be an excellent candidate for the Ray Searge (apologies for misspelling) down the line.
NY is stuck with him and he’s fairly useless unless he has some sort of epiphany on the mental aspect of pitching.
True but Buchholz was a salary dump. He also made made almost 5 mill more then Pineda. I doubt the Yankees will trade him in the off season. They will probably trade him at the TD where he will have more value and salary will be much less of an issue.
If anything it is will be a similar return to novas deal. Two players to be named later. Pineda has a much higher upside and could get one quality prospect back. I actually thought the Phillies would try and get Pineda. Buch is very close. Now if they would only trade for Gardner to platoon with Kendrick or even play left if they can trade Hernandez
Freeman went nuts at the plate with a power hitter behind him in the lineup. Not saying Kemp is the answer, but some protection clearly helped Freeman a lot.
Word!
No it didn’t. Freeman helped Freeman. If lineup protection was a real thing Will Myers would have just walked a ton after Kemp got traded.
Anybody that thinks Matt Kemp is a league average player over values defense over offense.
And Mallex Smith is unproven.
I can’t believe this is actually a conversation. You have Kemp that’s a middle of the order bat (albeit for how much longer, I don’t know) to a guy that has been overmatched quite a bit, doesn’t get on base yet which makes his speed play at the end of a lineup.
This shouldn’t even require energy to justify.
And hilariously, he still had a better OBP than Kemp last year.
Nonetheless, Kemp is terrible. And he’s a known quantity as terrible.
Yep.
You’re forgetting the part where Kemp was the worst defensive OF in the league while Smith gives you plus defense in center.
And as Cam astutely pointed out, Smith gets on base more than Kemp.
Great but that’s not what the Braves need in their lineup. Ender, Swanson, Freeman, and Markakis all can get on base. We need someone to get them in. Hello Mr. Kemp who, when healthy, drivers in 100 rbis.
Look I love math. The advance stats are cool but this is a sport played by people. At some point people need to put down the computer and watch the game and you can tell the Braves were a better team with him in the lineup. Period.
Yes his defense is bad, but that’s not why we need him. Yes he is not a speed threat on the base path anymore, but that’s not why we need him. Yes he is only good for an OBP roughly .2-.3 above his overage, but that’s not why we need him.
We need him to hit the ball over the fence and to drive in runs.
anyone who thinks that matt kemp is more than a 4th of/bench type player doesn’t value base running or defense enough and severely over values hrs. See, I can play this game too.
Only difference is the game you are playing is wrong. Kemp proved last year that his power plays a role in the lineup with the production from Freddie Freeman after Kemp got here. I think u stat geeks over value defense a little to much. Especially LF. You can be the weakest defender on the team and hide out in LF. At the end of the day when the season is over how does 500 AB with the opportunity to make a difference in games equal to maybe 300 total chances in the OF on the defensive side. That to me is the problem with WAR they hold offense & defense at the same level and it’s not especially if it’s not the SS/2B/CF/C positions.
The Yankees won how many WS with Jeter/Bernie/Knoblauch/Posada up the middle ???? All below average defensively but all played their parts in the lineup extremely well.
you realize they have done studies on lineup construction right? it has almost literally no effect where in the lineup someone hits or who is behind them, the high end of the study is about 8 runs over 162 games. true talent is really all that matters. by the way knoblauch was a great defender until 1999 when he got the yips and couldn’t throw the ball to first, the Yankees were only winning when Posada and williams were 140 wrc+ hitters, hitting like that makes up for bad d and baserunning, a 109 does not. but it doesn’t matter who the braves play they aren’t a good team so who cares.
Lineup protection is a pseudoscience
It doesn’t matter whether you, me or anyone else believes in the potential impact of lineup protection. The players seem to. Especially Freddie Freeman. Until every player in the league is replaced by robots then the traits of humans can and will have an impact. This includes comfort, happiness and confidence.
Denying that these things exist is foolish at best. And those that do are no better than the managers that consistently ignored the merits of defensive players, or the teams and fans today that think advanced metrics are a joke.
Balance is key.
Four, three minus Blochead.
Advanced metrics aside, the guys on those teams believed in each other to get things done.
You’re right up the middle, but don’t forget lineup wise there was also O’Neill, Martinez and either Boggs, Brosius, Raines, Strawberry, Fielder, Ledee, Spencer or whomever the util (Sojo, Duncan etc.) was.
Granted, not much to strike fear in any opponents’ heart statistically, but dedicated to one another and the group.
Must be one of those intangibles.
Then why aren’t GMs beating each other over the head to sign Chris Carter? He was better offensively than Kemp last season and hit 41 HR. Yet, the Brewers couldn’t find another team to offer anything in exchange for his 1/$8mm contract and chose to just cut him instead. You would think these professional GMs who are being paid millions to run their teams, who are worth billions, would know better.
If lineup protection was real then why didn’t the guys batting in front of Freeman have stellar seasons. Because they didn’t.
Because it’s not the same situation. Just like just because a psychiatrist is widely credited for turning John Smoltz’s career around doesn’t mean that the same psychiatrist could’ve done the same thing for someone like Todd Van Poppel. It worked in that situation. Doesn’t mean it can be replicated easily. Because that’s not how humans work. They’re not robots.
There’s no guarantee that Chris Carter being added to a team would have the same impact that Matt Kemp seemed to have. He’s not the same person coming into the same situation. But there was a very obvious change to the Braves after the arrival of Matt Kemp. And a lot of that came from Freddie Freeman, who sang the praises of Kemp more than anyone.
If the Matt Kemp experiment proves to not work nearly as well next season, then it makes sense to reduce his role. As of now he’s providing a boost to the casual fan base, and he seems to be making their best player perform better. No reason to alter that until it no longer proves to be true. Especially for a young player who still doesn’t appear ready for the majors.
Advanced metrics are a great tool that every team should utilize. Relying on them to make every decision in baseball though is just flat out ridiculous. Sometimes the GM has to look at what is going on with their team past what the stats are telling them. And most successful GMs are still doing that.
you are using a 50 game sample to justify a metagame theory? 162 games isn’t even long enough for babip to stabilize and you think you can take 50 games as evidence of impact?
Do you actually watch baseball games? Or do you solely look at fangraphs? Honest question.
I watch baseball games and watching Kemp in the outfield is just embarrassing.
I’m sensing a bitter Pads fan, no? Although the question wasn’t directed towards you, I’m glad you actually watch baseball. I fear some fans choose to only watch fangraphs.
As for Kemp, I’d say it’s pretty well known that he’s not an exceptional defender. He knows what he is, the Braves know what he is, the fans know what he is. He’s a bat first power outfielder who plays below average defense in left field (the outfield position that genrally requires the least amount of defensive ability). So discussing his clear lack of defense is merely spinning wheels.
I hope for your sake the Braves have a bunch of groundball pitchers. Their outfield defense is going to SUCK.
Only smart to keep smith , needs seasoning in minors , and insurance if needed for injury
Go Dawgs!
I am normally a person who heavily favors On Base Percentage when weighing a player’s offensive worth, and obviously that is not Matt Kemp’s strong suit, but he is a really good fit for The Atlanta Braves. Right Handed Power Bats are pretty rare. They are usually locked up to long term deals, cost a ton in prospects or in cash. So for The Braves Kemp’s power right handed bat helps balance out the lineup even if he doesn’t offer anything else. The Braves have no real power threat from the right side (Adonis Garcia is the next in line). So Kemp’s presence in the lineup means that much to this Braves team that he is worth more than his negatives even if it means leaving Mallex Smith in the minors for a little while longer. Markakis will be gone more than likely between now and next season anyways, so there will be a spot open for Smith even if by then there is some competition.
“Right Handed Power Bats are pretty rare.”
You lost me there.
There is a RH power bat available on the FA market who has averaged 33 HR over the past 4 seasons and is coming off of a 41 HR season that was better offensively than Matt Kemp. There was so much demand for him that his current team couldn’t trade him and ended up cutting him instead of paying him $8mm on a one year deal.
Strikes out more, walks a tad bit more, career .218 average, and doesn’t drive in runs.
Not the same player and is a 1st baseman. (In a league full of 1st basemen)
Would love to see the Pirates make a move for Pomeranz. Rumor is, they are pushing hard to get Quintana, but that may drain their farm system. Pomeranz will come much cheaper, and it’s honestly better for his career. Pomeranz is going to have a hard time pitching in the AL East and will most likely end up a reliever. He would fair much better coming back to the NL, working with Ray Searage. But what would the Red Sox want for him?
The Red Sox can’t trade Pomeranz after getting rid of Bucholz. They would have no depth. You can’t expect your entire rotation to make it through the season so you need to have a ready starter in your bullpen. The trades they have made drained their system of starting pitchers so they would need to have major league capable arms coming back in a trade.
Stop with the Kemp bashing. I do hate him but WAR is for GMs and fantasy players. Freddie gets more pitches to hit with Kemp behind him. He is part of the reason Freeman’s WAR is high.
Anybody see the Yankees willing to give up Headley to the Braves for Garcia & say Blair ????
Why would the Braves want Headley?
He’s clearly on the back end of his career and Garcia has been more productive recently.
Oh, and just throw in Blair?
What am I missing?
I would have loved to have seen them offer Mallex or Ender up in a deal to get Sale but that didn’t happen because of the White Sox wanted Swanson and couldn’t move on the fact that the Braves weren’t gonna give him up its the White Sox lost because i would have given Mallex along with Blair Wisler Dylan Moore and what ever would it to have landed Sale without giving up Swanson.
Trade with Bosox/////Braves send Wisler,Blair,R.Sanchez and Demeritte for Swihart,Pomeranz and K.Bautista!
Problem is Eduardo Rodriguez is already showing minor injuries the Sox need depth and having 6 starters helps the red sox alot more than that trade would. Not to mention the need for depth @ the catcher position knowing all the guys they have @ that position have question marks it kinda seems like quantity is their best ally and hoping one of them proves they can produce consistently.
Giants need LF. Braves should trade Markakis and Blair for Miguel Gomez(25 year old catcher,switch hitter)and Joan Gregorio(6’7” hard throwing rp). Solve catching void and free up $ for other transactions. Rodriguez could play RF.