This week in baseball blogs:
- Camden Depot writes that Orioles general manager Dan Duquette is in a bind with respect to superstar shortstop Manny Machado’s future.
- Outside Pitch MLB sees the Mariners as serious playoff contenders after acquiring left-hander Drew Smyly.
- The 3rd Man In proposes a Brewers-Dodgers trade featuring big-name outfielders Ryan Braun and Yasiel Puig, among others.
- Jays From the Couch asks if Toronto would be wise to send high-end third base prospect Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to the Pirates for center fielder Andrew McCutchen.
- Splicetoday has some advice for the Red Sox: Shop American League Cy Young winner Rick Porcello.
- The Runner Sports revisits the Yankees’ decision to let now-Mariners second baseman Robinson Cano leave as a free agent after the 2013 season.
- NYRDCAST checks into a potential correlation between lineup adjustments and wins.
- Chin Music Baseball believes shortstop Carlos Correa will be the Astros’ most important offensive player next season.
- Call To The Pen ranks the highest-impact moves of the offseason.
- Outfield Fly Rule (links here) reviews this week’s Braves-Mariners trade.
- The Redbird Daily argues that the Cardinals shouldn’t extend catcher Yadier Molina’s contract.
- The Point of Pittsburgh wants the Pirates to sign left-hander Brett Anderson.
- BaseballRanks lists and analyzes the Rays’ top 25 prospects.
- Real McCoy Minor News profiles and interviews Yankees right-handed pitching prospect Albert Abreu, while Clubhouse Corner does the same with Reds infielder Josh VanMeter.
- Inside the ’Zona evaluates a couple of the Diamondbacks’ recent transactions.
- Pirates Breakdown expects Pittsburgh’s curveball usage to increase next season.
- Steve Corino of the WWE offers a mock Hall of Fame ballot for this year.
- Pinstriped Prospects regards infielder Jorge Mateo as one blue-chip prospect the Yankees could afford to trade.
- The Runner Sports is wary about several key Astros playing in this year’s World Baseball Classic.
- Notes from the Sally previews the 2017 Delmarva Shorebirds, one of the Orioles’ Single-A affiliates.
- Think Blue Planning Committee is bullish on Dodgers righty prospect Josh Sborz.
- The Runner Sports spotlights young Athletics righty Norge Ruiz, and Wayniac Nation does the same with the Cubs’ Trevor Clifton.
- Rotisserie Duck wonders which of the majors’ highest-paid players are actually worth it.
- Call To The Pen has a piece on the Phillies’ rotation.
- MLB451 (first in a two-part series) details what it was like to work as an intern for the Dodgers.
Please send submissions to ZachBBWI @gmail.com.
Sure trade Porcello. Makes a ton of sense. The Nats, Cubs, Mets and Indians should probably trade their number three starters too. You know for reasons.
It’s a stupid article… trade for MLB assets? So who is around who can give up someone who will contribute enough to offset porcellos loss that needs a porcello on their team more than the asset they are giving up? Same with prospects.. how does that help the Red Sox? Granted they can probably take the loss of their top pitcher last year and still have the best side in the division.. but why risk it?
On top of that they guy seems pretty salty on Porcello. Sheesh. He won. Get over it
Sox need that bull dog mentality.. he has it and led that staff. Now you wanna talk woos Year, Mr Price stunk it up
Gee Porcello is a bulldog.. ask Mr Price for a refund, he stunk it up and then can’t figure out why racial slurs are being throw his way… way dumb comment, cause the idiots to be that do that stuff will really come out of the woodwork now.. buddy you way under achieved so wake up and smell what your shoveling
Are you saying that racial slurs are ok because Price under performed? Not acceptable under any circumstances!
Is he ever going to have as good as season as he did last year? Maybe, but not likely.
I thought I’d make some sarcastic comment that sounds like I’m disagreeing with you but actually supporting your point yet its been a long day and I don’t have the energy.
So yes I agree, I felt the article was just ridiculous.
Trade Porcello and the Sox are relying on Steven Wright to carry the load from the right side and they don’t know how his shoulder is.
Man the O’s are gonna be in for some REALLY dark times
Not really
Yes they have no farm and their good guys hit free agency soon. They either need a World Series in the next two years or a fire sale
Duquette will keep their heads above water, even if they lose or trade Machado/Britton. They’ll just continue to acquire players with a year or two on their contracts or sign mid-range free agents. They’ll only tank if Showalter throws his hands in the air and gives up.
Braun/Scooter for Puig/McCarthy/Rhame/Brito instead of the proposed linked article
Done. Deal.
Draw up the paperwork. Or hold off until Stearns calls you and gets better prospects or adds a lower level 5th prospect
Why would the Brewers make that trade? Both the article, and your suggestion imply that the crew needs to dump Braun’s salary, thus no prospects coming back that have high upside. If that’s the best deal on the table, I would rather just hang on to Braun and cement him in as a piece on a contending Brewers team as his value is certainly higher than that.
Agreed
The size of Mr. Braun’s contract and his age make ALL these deals an overpay. Brewers best shot at dealing this guy will be at the deadline when the current glut of sluggers is off the market and a contender is desperate due to injuries or underperformance.
Trevor Clifton eh?
Porcello might not be a top starter in baseball, but he is probably a whole lot better than the writer is suggesting. Porcello is still projected as roughly a 4 WAR starter (which would make him a top 5-10 starter in AL) by statistical projections and is more like a #2, rather than the 2.5 WAR #3 the writer suggests (who seems incredibly biased for whatever reason, Porcello did indeed deserve his award last season).
Trading Porcello doesn’t make sense, unless a team is clearly overpaying. The RS should not trade Porcello because of “regression”. He is one of the top 20ish starters in baseball, even with some regression.
He’s not but ok.
1.7 fWAR in 2015
Of course you don’t extend Molina to a 3/60 deal for his age 36-38 seasons.
That’s not really an argument against extending Molina. That would just be plain stupid.
If in 2018 he wants a 2019 deal for 12 million, then cool. And just do singular year deals until he can’t play any longer. And hope Kelly can carry the rest of the load when he can’t.
I always like Corino as a wrestler, pretty cool that he’s a big baseball fan too.
Typical Yankee crap. You lost Cano so yeah it was best to let him go. Then we will gloss over the fact that his worst year was full of injuries. Then the great deduction his doubles are down a couple so he is in decline. And of course the good old BA can’t leave that out. Maybe it is because the team around him is not as good and pitchers don’t have to pitch to him as much. When they can pitch around 3 players it makes it a bit tougher. I am sure almost every NY Fan would rather have Cano on the team and deal with the couple years he won’t be living up to his contract possibly. Because what he doesn’t do on the field he will be valuable in the dugout and locker room. It’s not like the Yankees don’t have older high prices guys on the team already so why would one of the better ones be worse to have?
That was a terrible article about Cano. Difficult to read, all over the place with lame statistical analysis.
“I am sure almost every NY Fan would rather have Cano on the team and deal with the couple years he won’t be living up to his contract possibly. ”
Lol, Not only am I sure that you are wrong. I KNOW you are wrong. The Yankees have learned from this mistake. He will be A-Rod/Pujols 2.0 very soon and that’s not what they need.
(of course that Ellsbury contract has been a disaster and I’ve hated it. But at least he’ll be 37 when it ends whereas Cano will be 42 and that is a big difference)
Haha the Porcello article called the Sox system “depleted”. It’s not really depleted. It’s not amazingly stacked, but some teams would still trade systems with the Red Sox in a heartbeat. Devers, Groome, Travis, etc.
I usually love baseball blogs, and I don’t entirely disagree with selling high on Porcello, but Splicetoday’s evaluation of the situation was fueled by nothing but personal disdain for Porcello. There were virtually no statistics provided to back up claims being made, not to mention the “…he didn’t deserve to win” line. Felt like nothing but a personal attack on the reigning Cy Young award winner.
Connor Byrne,
I enjoyed reading all of your thoughts on future trade rumors. It really unformed on who some of my favorite players may be leaving their team. Such as if the Blue Jays werw to trade Vladimir Guerrero Jr. For Andrew McCutchen I do not think that would be an awful idea. Josh Donaldson is still pretty young and unless he gets injured he will be good. But the Jays outfield has not haf anyone that solid except for Pillar due to Bautista’s numerous injuries last season and him getting a little bit older. Have a veteran who still has some pop in their outfield woild definitely be a solid addition the the Jays squad. Especially since Saunders may be traded, now it would only cause an issue when Gibbons has to decide who plays Centerfield. Between Kevin Pillar and Andrew McCutchen, I personally do not have any thoughts because they are both Tier 1 players. Even though Cutch had a rough 2016 season, it has been talked how he is going to bounce back and be as good as ever. Not to mention that the Pirates do not really have a solid third baseman to my knowledge and some like Guerrero Jr. May be helpful. Thank you and I will be coming back to this site more often.
-Cullen