Last summer’s partially deconstructed swap between the Marlins and Padres had far-reaching implications, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports writes. After learning of issues with Colin Rea’s health and discovering that San Diego had failed to disclose certain medical information, Miami considered rescinding the entire deal — which the commissioner’s office offered to facilitate. But due to practical considerations and the apparent preferences of the league, the Fish instead worked out a deal to send Rea back to the Pads for prospect Luis Castillo, thus keeping Andrew Cashner in Miami and Josh Naylor (and others) in San Diego. That, in turn, prevented an alternative deal that would’ve sent Naylor to the Phillies for righty Jeremy Hellickson. There was fallout beyond that, as Rosenthal explains, including the fact that Hellickson ultimately received and accepted a qualifying offer from the Phils that he otherwise wouldn’t have been eligible for.
Here are some more NL East-focused notes:
- As presently constructed, the Nationals have a strong core but questionable depth beyond it, Dave Cameron of Fangraphs argues. The problems are compounded by the health questions facing many of the Nats’ best players. Cameron suggests (as we’ve done here, as well) that Washington ought to have considered adding a quality, left-handed bat to share time with Ryan Zimmerman and Jayson Werth. Though that could still come to pass, the most obvious options are now off the market. Meanwhile, the team still arguably ought to bolster its late-inning relief corps and rotation depth.
- The league’s investigation into domestic violence allegations against Mets closer Jeurys Familia is moving slowly, per Bob Klapisch of NorthJersey.com. With the criminal case dropped — in large part, it seems, due to a decision by his wife not to testify — the commissioner’s office is struggling to obtain information. While that won’t necessarily prevent a suspension, it is creating delay. According to Klapisch, it’s likely that the final penalty won’t be known until late in Spring Training.
- The Mets are hopeful that backstop Travis d’Arnaud can restore his career trajectory after a tough 2016 season, David Lennon of Newsday writes. He’s already working with catching instructor Glenn Sherlock to work out the defensive kinks, though d’Arnaud also needs to prove he can stay healthy and productive at the plate.
dodgerfan711
The Marlins trade for cashner was a huge overpay it makes no sense. And then they didnt even re sign him when all he got was 1 year. What a horrible front office
brandons-3
To the second point, Cashner did not want to remain in Miami due to the facial hair policy. Now I’d imagine had the dollars been thrown enough, they would have.
IACub
Also a reminder that there is a certain prestige your franchise has to reach before you can enforce that type of stuff.
Miami has a hard enough time attracting free agents.
lowtalker1
Kinda like winning two World Series
lowtalker1
Ugly stadium though
Seriously… ugliest thing I’ve ever seen
tylerall5
The Rays beg to differ
vtadave
The A’s say hello.
prich
For all those idiots who claimed Hellickson has no value.
Brixton
I mean.. i thought Hellickson had value, but Naylor is hardly a top prospect
slimjones92
He was incredibly valuable as a mid-season FA pickup for my fantasy team, replacing an injured starter of mine. He was very consistent from that point though the end of the season, with solid peripherals.
reflect
I’m more concerned with TDA’s offense than his catching.
He’s always gonna be mediocre at best behind the dish but if he can get that 2015 slugging back the Mets will greatly benefit.
BrodiesHairisGreezy!
TDA = AAAA Player nothing more…He would rake in Japan or Korea.
kingjenrry
Not if he’s hurt.
kingjenrry
He’s a great pitch framer which means he’s an above average defender even if he never learns to throw out runners. He’s great at stealing low strikes for his staff.
BrodiesHairisGreezy!
I donbt believe he is great at anything. He is so poor at so many things that the Mets have to look for a positive anywhere to justify their decision to get him. He doesnt count anyway, at least we got the great Thor.
reflect
He’s an excellent framer I agree, but that doesn’t make up for the slightly below-average catching (preventing wild pitches/passed balls) and very terrible throwing. Obviously catcher metrics are all over the place but imo he’s overall a negative behind the plate.
He’d still be a top catcher overall though if he just remembered how to hit again.
mikeyank55
He will not remember how to hit again. He had a blip in the radar screen. Time to move on or your wishful thinking will have you dreaming of a Super Bowl with the Jets.
mikeyank55
Hey King-Do you live in Denver? Who says he is a great pitch framer? And who says that this makes him an above average defender.
Back on earth, he is a below average defender. Even with your above average enthusiasm.
And he may never regain the one year wonder offensive statistics.
He’s a Met. Destiny is mediocrity.
prich
Anyway, I take Hoskins all day over Naylor as my first baseman. Tommy Joe can still be a good regular though.
disgruntledreader 2
Just a reminder that the “(and others)” applies to both ends of what the Padres/Marlins trade shook out to be.
Cashner + Tayron Guerrero for Capps, Cossart and Naylor.
Chances are good that a few years from now, that will probably be written as “Capps (and others).”
lowtalker1
You want Cassart back? Lol
User 4245925809
Hellickson will turn back into a pumpkin and a 17m one at that. cashner ain’t no diamond by any means, but a 10m pumpkin is cheaper than a 17m one that Hellickson is going to cost the Phillies and neither is more than a swingman.
reflect
Those non-trades don’t really seem like “fallout.” to me. They are more like “stuff that didn’t happen because people chose to do other stuff instead.”
Doesn’t quite roll off the tongue for an article title, though.
lowtalker1
I trade that prellar tried to and did make to the Marlins isn’t tainting the phils or Marlins.
The players association is what make this bs qualify offer and it’s too much money.
Marlins were able to flip Castillo
pjmcnu
Pretty sure the owners wanted the QO, not the PA. All it does is damage a FA’s value. Teams either don’t want to give up the draft pick to sign the FA, or they want a discount to do it.
Phillies2017
Wow– this is certainly a disappointing development. Would have been nice to have Naylor.
lowtalker1
Why? The way he defends now makes him a prime candidate for dh. He is also hitting about .260 in an offense power league
mrpadre19
He is also the youngest player in the entire league.
lowtalker1
Lol. I follow him. But he is extremely raw.
lowtalker1
Q/o should be the players salary the last year. Not a flat rate.
Ex. jones made 5 million in 2016. He had a great year. He can choose to accept a 5 mil q/o or reject it to get more. The sooner the p/a gets this through their greedy heads the less there would be a problem with “the fall out”
kingjenrry
That would make it harder for most players to find a job with another team. A high bar for the QO means most free agents don’t require the acquiring team to give up a pick. Under your system, every mediocre free agent would require a team to give up a pick.
lowtalker1
Not really
lowtalker1
You don’t have to extend them one
But it would control the greed and corruption of the p/a
pjmcnu
Yes, kingjennry is right. Every team would QO every previously cost-controlled player because there would be no downside for them. Either get them back cheap, or get a draft pick (likely always the pick, since $$ would be low ball). PA not to blame for QO. All owners. Guarantee you that the PA would dump QOs tomorrow. Probably dumping the QO is part of the PA’s initial demands in each negotiation since it was created.
pjmcnu
QO is nothing but a limitation on free agency designed to depress player values. Essentially, one of several creations (luxury tax, etc.) designed to do the job of a salary cap without having an actual salary cap – since they can’t get that done.
pjmcnu
Salary cap “lite”.
TrumpisMyGawd
Could you elaborate on the “corruption” issue?
mikeyank55
Hey King. That would be great for your cheap team as it would get picks for all QO and they have so many mediocre players.
TheBoatmen
There wouldn’t be enough draft picks to cover all the players given QO’s. Why would any player accept what the made last year? Even us pions are supposed to get a cost of living increase.
lowtalker1
Like I said
You don’t have to give them one. It’s called non tender.
lesterdnightfly
TheBoatmen:
Even peons are supposed to get a COL increase, sure — unless the peons are getting Social Security retirement benefits.
Last three years: 2015 0 COL, 2016 0 COL, 2017 003 COL.
That’s a 3/10 of one percent COL increase in three years.
Too bad I”m not 28 and a LOOGY.
tylerall5
Or the players can accept the QO, and then the teams will be more wary of handing them out to undeserving players.
davidcoonce74
What you’re describing is the reserve clause. Baseball did away with that 40 years ago because it’s inherently unfair to the players.
YourDaddy
Pretty obvious that Preller was not at fault in the medical records issue that he was suspended for because Dee was fired and Preller was given more responsibility for and control of the Padres baseball operations.
I know baseball didn’t look into Dee’s complicity in the medical records issue, but it doesn;t take a rocket scientist to figure out who was behind it since Dee is now jobless and no other organization in any sport has hired him in any capacity.
mrpadre19
None of Prellers failures to document the taking of oral medications had anything to do with Rea’s injury anyway.
YourDaddy
Preller wasn’t responsible for documenting anything personally. Training staff in baseball operations were and Dee was in charge of baseball operations. Go read a few of the comprehensive articles on what happened.
YourDaddy
So many inaccuracies in the article by Rosenthal.
The main one is that Rea was injured prior to the trade. Rea has said that he had soreness, but that he had not reported anything out of the ordinary to the Padres. Because of the Red Sox issue, according to the official annnouncement by MLB and subsequent press conference on the Marlins trade, the Padres offered to send back a player for Rea and the Marlins chose Castillo. MLB has never said anything to the contrary and un-cited sources are not enough to go against what MLB has released.
Naylor is not a top 5 prospect for the Padres in 2017. MLB has not released their individual team rankings yet, but they have released the top 100 and the Padres have 4 on that list and Naylor is not one of them. Baseball America has Naylor ranked 10th in the Padres system, but in a subsequent chat session, Kyle Glaser said that there were multiple other players that they could have been justified in ranking 10th. Baseball Prospectus did not rank Naylor in the Padres top 10. Keith Law also did not rank Naylor in the top 10. Naylor is a called a gifted hitter with suspect defense at 1B, but he only hit .252/.264 with a .353 slg in the California League which is a hitters paradise. Overall he hit .264/.302 for the season. Not exactly overwhelming hitting.
Cosart is not projected to be in the Padres starting rotation in 2017. Richard, Chacin, Cahill Perdomo and Friedrich are the projected starters and if the Padres add another veteran starter as expected, Cosart will be pushed even further down the depth chart. He is now a swingman.
pjmcnu
Padres should be forced to spend 2017 playing in the Pacific Coast League. Then apply to be reinstated next winter.
iamhector24
They still wouldn’t finish 1st.
AndThisGameBelongsToMySanDiegoPadres
Adding onto what Pads Fans said, all 29 teams will trade with Preller if they get a deal they like just like they would with any other GM.
halos101
what a horrible trade by the marlins. And they had the chance to undo it!?!? It’s mind baffling to me
Travis’ Wood
Marlins had a chance to undo the entire trade and refused. Red Sox had a chance to undo their trade and refused. Phillies put all their eggs in one basket by telling teams they were only trading Hellickson to Miami. Marlins moved on anyways and traded for Cashner/Rea. The injury to Rea happened AFTER the Phillies had tried to trade Hellickson to Miami meaning it was their fault for not finding another suitor by the deadline. This is much to do about nothing.
metseventually 2
Definitely a make or break year for TDA. Has to come out hitting on fire in April.
mikeyank55
Don’t wear your Mets fireman’s hat in April Mr. Eventually. He will be cold as ice until your genius manager “TC” finally gives up and plays one of the low level minor league catchers for your shallow depth team.
boltzmann98
This article really bugs me. Purely speculation and Preller bashing. Come on now Ken. To keep this narrative alive from both the Boston and Miami perspectives is getting ridiculous. Especially when they both had options to void the trades. The fact is they didn’t. To suggest that this trade (that that did happen) is still impacting other teams is insane. Yeah it probably did impact the clubs that didn’t make a good enough offer and got rejected but the same can most likely be said for EVERY OTHER TRADE IN HISTORY. If anyone should be getting negative press over this it should be the Boston or Miami FO not the GM that capitalized on their incompetence.
davidcoonce74
Baloney. Preller lied. No doubt about it. Boston couldn’t “undo” the trade because it would have made their roster one man short with no way to fix that as it was after the trade deadline.
padreforlife
Of course he lied and GM’s won’t forget. When it comes to making real trade he will pay price.