Here’s the latest from around the AL East…
- The White Sox have been scouting Yankees prospects in regards to a potential Jose Quintana trade, according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. The two clubs have been linked in Quintana trade rumors though there isn’t any movement as per the latest reports, since New York doesn’t want to part with its top minor leaguers. The Yankees have been seen as a logical target for Quintana due to the lack of certainty in their rotation beyond Masahiro Tanaka, Michael Pineda, and C.C. Sabathia, and even that top trio can’t be considered locks due to each pitcher’s injury history. It makes sense that the Sox would keep doing its due scouting diligence on the Yankees and other potential Quintana suitors should a team make a renewed push for a deal before Spring Training is out.
- The Rays would likely be interested in Derek Norris if the catcher is indeed released by the Nationals, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. The Nats waived Norris yesterday, and obviously the Rays would like to avoid paying the $4.2MM they would owe Norris by simply claiming him. Newly-signed Rays catcher Wilson Ramos will begin the year on the disabled list and will require quite a bit of DH time as he eases back from knee surgery, so Tampa could offer Norris a significant amount of playing time, if not quite a full-time gig behind the plate. Curt Casali, Jesus Sucre, Michael McKenry and Luke Maile are the Rays’ current internal catching options.
- In another piece from Topkin, he looks at the ever-present trade speculation that seems to swirl around Evan Longoria, no matter how much the third baseman insists that he wants to remain with the Rays for the rest of his career. With the Rays front office constantly looking to keep payroll stable and reload with young talent, trading Longoria (who is owed $100MM through 2022) would seem like a logical step if the club ever embarks on a full-fledged rebuild. Topkin notes that Longoria is on track to receive 10-and-5 rights in April 2018, which would give him the right to reject any proposed trade. The Rays could therefore look to deal him before then, Topkin opines, or perhaps they could wait until they finalize a new stadium deal.
- A reunion between Brett Lawrie and the Blue Jays “would be a shock,” MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm opines as part of a reader mailbag. In Chisholm’s view, the only path to Lawrie’s return to Toronto would be if second baseman Devon Travis “suffers a major setback” in his recovery from knee surgery. That scenario isn’t entirely out of the question given that Travis’ availability for Opening Day seems to be in doubt, though Lawrie himself is dealing with some injury concerns and wants to get healthy before pursuing a new contract. The Jays, Rays and Royals all had some interest in Lawrie after his release from the White Sox, with the Mets also linked but reportedly not overly intrigued.
Stay away from lawrie. Goins, Barney, or Elmore can all hold down second for the start and are already under contract and would provide better D.
Goins is awful.
Goins is my boy, I love watching him play defense
Viva La Mexico!
Mexico need your best!
I think the Sox want to move Quintana as soon as possible while his market is hign, he will never have more value than right now. The Yanks and Cashman seem to have what the Sox want in prospects. i think Cashman will come up with a package that Hahn likes. A package of either Judge or Frazier, Mateo, and either Severino or Green, plus one more lower prospect. like Tate. The funny thing is that every day they keep saying their is no trade possiblility and the next day their is a trade. Where their’s smoke their’s fire.
If it’s Frazier, I’d probably pull the trigger on that if I was Hahn. I’d also probably try to switch Mateo for Rutherford, but I doubt the Yanks would go for it.
Either way, hell no to Judge being the headliner.
Actually, that probably depends on what the Astros are legitimately offering… Personally, I prefer Tucker as a prospect over the NY guys. So if they could get him plus a couple other pieces (even if they aren’t Musgrove/Martes), I’d probably lean that way still.
What you want and what you get in a trade is different.,most prospects aren’t a sure thing.while players like Quintana are., sometimes it comes down to need and how a team wants to build a team.. I would think the Astros, Yankees, and Pirates would still be in the mix for Quintana. It just depends on what is offered.
You guys are delusional
Doubt that either Frazier or Rutherford is included in any potential trade for Quintana.
Cuts too deeply in the Yankee plans on rebuilding.
If there is somebody than may be included it probably would start with Judge and Mateo.
And it’d end with Judge and Mateo. Neither one is valuable enough to headline the deal.
I think it’s Frazier or Torres, Judge doesn’t carry enough weight to front that package.
I don’t think Torres gets included. Frazier would be a good headliner, though.
Lol, Yanks aren’t doing that…
You’re right. No way the Yanks throw in Torres or Frazier. Or Mateo. Or Rutherford.
Really, it would be Justus Sheffield and a couple others.
I doubt they could get Quintana if sheffields the main piece. I’d say Torres should be the only untouchable and they’ll probably have to part with one of Frazier/Rutherford plus more
It couldn’t be mainly Sheffield, I know. I think Mateo is probably the most moveable piece.
Not even close it would have to be more than that. The White Sox should just roll the dice and see what starters go down. They could have a bidding war at the deadline.
Wouldn’t it be something if Chicago and NY worked out a trade for Quintana, and one of the return pieces was Clint Frazier……..just days after he cut off all his hair?
Good trade if the Yanks part of the deal has Frazier but not Judge. Also good with seeing Mateo included as there isn’t much opportunity for him in the Bronx. Mateo is a good player but Torres has more potential for the Yankees.
You’d rather have judge instead of Frazier as a Yankee fan?
They say Judge can be Stanton 2.0.
I’m sure Yankee fans do say that.
Well he is sort of like Stanton. Big guy who hits homeruns but strikeouts a lot.
Except for Stanton has always been significantly better at hitting them in games…
He hit fricken 39 homers as an 18 year old in A ball his first year.
I see him more as Chris Carter 2.0.
Those are both bad examples
Though Judge does draw comparisons to Stanton. Just Google the 2 names together and you’ll see many articles come up
I know that Longoria is a very good thirdbaseman, but I for one don’t want my Braves to even think about dealing for him. I think he’d probably be pricey to acquire (in terms of talent) and that contract while decent now, might not be too much of a value as he ages and declines.
Perhaps I’m just wrong, but Longoria has never struck me as that consistent a performer to begin with and his OPS in two of the last three years was not outstanding either (but of course in 2016 he performed quite well).
I will also add that (and not first time I’ve stated it) I feel the Rays need to tear it down as I don’t see them as a serious contender for the next couple of seasons at least.
Why do the Rays need to tear it down? They have a legitimately talented roster with a farm system flush with talent.
Many clubs, even large market teams, operate on a deficit budget. The Rays have been owned by the same investors that were awarded bonus for crashing most of the world’s economic system. They are not accustomed to deficit spending from their own pockets and therefore, won’t.
Baseball is in better shape than it’s ever been. No owner is losing money. You can believe that if you want, but it’s simply not true
SuperSinker, I just don’t see them as a LIKELY contender for the two seasons (although admittedly if a TON of things right it is always possible to sneak into a wildcard spot). Because of that I think it would be better for Tampa if the team dealt away their more expensive but talented veterans to acquire even more near ready high end talent. That way in a couple of seasons when the talent that is already in their organization is more ready the Rays will have even more of a wealth of talent to fill their roster. Right now there is a lot of risk involved with guys like Archer and Longoria especially. A major injury to either would really hurt an organization like Tampa.
Chicago would ask for Frazier, Sheffield and Torres. Not happening.
That might actually be a little bit light… considering Torres’ value took a hit last year
Light? Torres will be the #1 prospect once Benintendi loses his prospect status.
What are you smoking. You think that deal is light? That would be a better offer then what the white Sox got for Chris sale. Torres is ranked #3 and like the other poster said will be number 1 very soon.
Light?? Dream on if you think the Yankees would even offer Frazier and Torres, let alone throw in more.
White Sox fans are delusional
Considering Hahn wanted Meadows, Glasnow and more from the Pirates, Frazier and Torres is likely what it would take to headline that deal…unless gary sanchez is on the table.
What I heard was not Meadows and Glasnow, but Meadows or Glasnow and more, which I think is reasonable. I can’t see the Yankees giving up Torres in this deal. Frazier, though, is a good starting point.
Agreed buddy..Hahn can ask for whatever he asks for which is why Quintana is still with the White Sox.
Anybody talking about a trade beginning with Torres, or even Rutherford is obviously not following the Yanks or is a Yankee fan.
They’ve waited 20 years for guys with this type of potential and they aren’t walking away from that kind of talent regardless of how “dollar controllable, or 200 inning consistent this pitcher is.
Besides, they aren’t quite there yet as far as challenging for the East let alone the pennant so why would they pull the trigger on this type of deal? The days of them making deals just to make a splash seem to be over.
How did Torres value get hit? He’s rank 3rd on top 100 prospects.
Torres’ value took a hit? In what way ? I’m wondering if you’re confusing him with Mateo.
Maybe it took a hit when he batted over .400 in AZFL and was named the youngest player to ever win MVP of the AZFL?
Cubs could also use him and have the Prospects to give to White Sox.
No way Longoria gets Traded.
The Cubs would have to give up Eloy, Happ and Cease, which I doubt they want to do.
Cubs and Sox have already commented about how unlikely a deal is between them, just because neither of them want one of their stars selling tickets for the other one.
I doubt the Yankees trade any prospects. Cashman held onto them during the offseason. Why pull a trade now.
I agree and if he was going to move prospects for a top pitcher. Then I think Cashman would have just gone after Chris Sale instead.
100% accurate. What most fantasy owners or specifically White Sox fans fail to realize is Quintana is not changing the fact that the Yankees would still most likely be in the outside looking in and if you are in a rebuild are you trading a big chunk of your farm system, specifically position players for a pitcher who is not going to be the difference from even being close to matching Cleveland, Boston, Texas, Houston, and maybe a handful other teams like Seattle and Toronto?
Why do it than?????
Cashman shouldve just signed a free agent starter to provide depth and insurance to the rotation AND save all his prospects. With all the injury/age/streaky performance concerns in that rotation Jason Hammel couldve been a reliable stopgap til the albatross contracts are off the books and they can go out and get a top of the rotation starter in free agency in the next couple of years while the prospects are still on their rookie deals.
The FA market for SP was awful this year. The only good pitcher on the market was injury prone Rich Hill
Lawrie isn’t healthy right now, so signing him would be premature. Maybe when he recovers.
I don’t get this trade talk, he doesn’t pitch like an “ace” ok he eats innings and durable. Like if he was pitching below 3 era or close to it then he would be worth the prospects that Chicago wanted. I mean the nats give up a lot for eaton that they shouldn’t. Unless your going to contend in the short term than get rid of your farm system if not keep them. The yanks never had a decent farm since the 90s. They should keep guys who they know will keep them going for the long the term instead of trying to get other people.
Jose Quintana would be the best pitcher in probably half the teams in the league. Off the top of my head Baltimore, Oakland, LAA, Seattle, Minnesota, Kansas, St. Louis, San Diego, Houston, Pittsburgh, Philly, Cincinatti, Milwaukee, Miami, and Colorado would all have him as their number 1. I’d much rather have a guy like him who throws 200 innings of 3.30-3.50 era ball instead of a guy who can be amazing one year and then suck the next like greinke or price did.
I think you would get a little grief from some of those teams you mentioned as far as Quintana being their best pitcher.
You’ve continually consistantly posted how great you think this guy is and certainly throwing 200 innings and an ERA of 3.3-3.5 deserves merit, does that really put him in ELITE status?
You probably think it does…enough said. Everyone deserves an opinion.
Excellent chance Cafardo is stirring the pot. This week’s piece offers a lot of warmed-up left-overs. Not much substance
I know it’s just one game but did you watch him pitch against the USA team on Friday in the WBC. He one hit an all star team through 5.2 innings. He gets it done. The dude is good and the contract is even better. 4 more years at 35 million is basically the same as one year of Greinke. It’s worth at least two elite prospects plus Rutherford and another high end. If the Yankees don’t want him then you just keep him and let him throw and then trade him with three years remaining on his very affordable contract. Someone will bite and when they do they will have a great pitcher.
What he said ☝️
2 elite prospects, plus Rutherford and another high end prospect? That’s definitely an overpay. It took less than that to acquire Sale, so why would the Yankees cough that up for Quintana? I do agree that Quintana is good, and although he might not be an ace, he’s most certainly a #2. I’d also agree that his contract is also a plus. However, if the Yankees were going to put a prospect package like that together, they would’ve used it for Chris Sale… and it probably would’ve netted them David Robertson as well.
My only problem with what you said is that it benefits the Sox to suck this year in an effort to get the #1 overall pick. With that in mind, since Quintana definitely helps them win, his presence in a non-competitive season hurts them overall, especially if the plan is to trade him before they return to relevance. I’m hoping that if a deal doesn’t get done this spring, it at least gets done at the deadline, and not just for him, but for Robertson, Abreu, Frazier, and maybe even Cabrera (if they can find a taker) as well.
The Yankees don’t need to deal for Quintana! They have pitching prospects on the team that can do the job! Quintana was a Yankees property and he was a throw in a trade! Yankees can get a pitcher on the waiver wire and they should NOT sell off their prospects! It took so long to get to this point of having a great farm system , why dismantle it?
He was not traded by the Yankees he was let go and the Sox picked home up. The Yankees FO didn’t deem him good enough to make it to the bigs so they straight up let him go.
1) He wasn’t a throw-in on a trade.
2) They made a HUGE mistake in letting him go… Not sure why you’re trying to use that point against him instead of against the Yankees front office…
Frazier, Rutherford, Montgomery, and a throw in prospect I think would be a realistic trade for Q. With that being said it still doesn’t make sense for the Yankees to trade their prospects yet.
If Q is that valuable then why trade him out of town? He sells tickets, and can be a headliner on a team that is in rebuild mode.
Besides the tickets, don’t the Sox need some reason for the sports writers of Chicago to remember there are two major league baseball teams in town and not just the Cubs?
Q doesn’t really sell tickets anyways. Sale sold more tickets and they traded him away so I am not really sure what your point is. The Sox will also always be the ugly red haired step child in this city. They know they aren’t gonna sell many tickets during this rebuild anyways. So you trade your most valuable asset to strengthen the farm and hopefully create long term success. This rebuild gives Chicago writers something to write about, holding on to Q for tickets sales gives them nothing to write about.
Braves have the prospects to deal for Jose Quintana. Braves could send Ozzie Albies, Matt Wisler, and Touki Toussaint to the Pale Hose for Jose Quintana.
Evan Longoria is awfully expensive but the Braves need a strong 3B to improve their team. Braves could send Kevin Maitan, Nick Markakis, and R. A. Dickey to the Rays for Evan Longoria, and Steven Sousa.
I think a Yankees trade actually makes sense. The Yankees are never fully rebuilding and this gives them a cost effective SP for the next 4 years, He’ll help them stay in the conversation the next two years and then still have 2 more years when they are likely ready to make their next push. They also have the depth in the farm system to absorb the cost of trading for someone like Quintana. I could see a trade looking something like Rutherford, Mateo, Sheffield, Refsnyder and Clarkin. Chicago gets a top 50 5 tool OF, a top 100 MI with top of the order potential, a top 100 SP, a young UTIF and #4 SP prospect.
Not even close. It was a good try though. Q will be traded at some point to someone that will pay the price that he deserves and that proposal would not do it.
You say that’s not even close, so what type of package do you think it would take?
I like Jose Quintana and think he is one of the top LH SP in baseball and looked back to a recent top LH SP trade in Cole Hamels. I used the Ranger’s deal for Hamels as a framework for a potential Quintana deal. Hamels’ numbers (638 IP, 3.15 ERA, 3.15 FIP, 3.28 xFIP) in the 3 years preceding his deal are almost identical to Quintana’s (615 IP, 3.29 ERA, 3.19 FIP, 3.64 xFIP) over the past 3 years. Once you take into account the cash that the Phillies included and taking on Harrison’s contract, and their control and cost look much more similar. Hamels had 4.5 years of control at about $12.85 million aav. Compare that to Quintana who has 4 years at about $9.5 million aav remaining. Quintana does have the edge in age, but the Phillies also included Jake Diekman who was a 28 year old, good relief pitcher that had 3.5 years of control remaining.
The Phillies received Nick Williams a top 30 OF, Jake Thompson a top 100 SP, Jorge Alfaro, a top 150 C, and 2 org 30-50 SP prospects. My proposal was a top 50 OF, top 100 SP, top 100 MI, and 2 org top 20 type prospects. I get that you want to maximize your assets, but I can’t imagine there is a team willing to include multiple top 25 prospects, plus more for Jose Quintana and don’t think the value of my proposal is that outlandish.
Not sure where you got those rankings from, but at worst, Alfaro was ranked #67 pre-2015 according to Baseball America (#45 for MLB.com and #31 for Baseball Prospectus). He also had/has the additional positional value of being a catcher, which most teams are desperate for.
Nick Williams wasn’t ranked going into 2015 by Baseball America and MLB.com, but he was #71 according to Baseball Prospectus. That being said, he already had 97 games in AA with an .836 OPS under his belt in 2015 before being moved. He only played 22 games in Philly’s AA system, and his rankings the following year jumped up to #27 for Baseball America, #64 for MLB.com, and #25 for Baseball Prospectus. So I think it’s safe to say that his value was significantly higher at the time of the trade than it was in the pre-2015 rankings.
As for Jake Thompson, he was ranked #43 according to Baseball America, #83 for MLB.com, and #47 for Baseball Prospectus pre-2015. To be fair, he wasn’t doing anything special in AA at the time of the trade, but he still entered 2016 ranked #75/#55/#34, respectively.
PS – I’m not saying I’m opposed to that package, I’m just pointing out the actual rankings. Depending on what else is on the table from other teams, I’d be perfectly fine with one of Frazier/Rutherford, one of Mateo/Judge, and one of Sheffield/Kaprielian with another lower level lottery ticket arm. Some combination of those three duos would be perfectly fair IMO – not over the top from the Yankees side and not too little of a return for the Sox side. I’d prefer Frazier and Rutherford over one of Mateo/Judge, but I don’t see the Yankees doing that. Of course this is assuming that Sanchez and Torres are off the table.
The rankings I used were from BA’s 2016 top 100 list. The trade happened right at the deadline in 2015, one month before the minor league seasons end, so I used BA 2016 rankings. They had Williams #27, which is why I said top 30. They also had Thompson #75 and Alfaro fell out of their top 100 list, but figured he was probably pretty close so I said top 150. I so agree catcher is always a position of need, but SS is also a position teams desire. Plus, catchers have a huge failure rate, while SS can usually move down the defensive spectrum if they end up struggling with the glove.
I used specific names more of convenience than an exact package since the Yankees have very similarly valued prospects at similar positions. I wouldn’t be surprised if a potential deal switched say Frazier or Judge for Rutherford or Kaprielian or Adams for Sheffield. The Yankees have a bunch of top 100 types and think a deal around 3 of them not named Torres could definitely work. I doubt the Yankees would include 2 of their top OF, but I could see them letting the Sox choose which one they like the best and go from there.
Assuming that this story isn’t just the media pushing this trade, the Yankees would have to give up one of Frazier or Torres. It’s really not toing to get done with the rest. Guys like Refsnyder are just throw-ins. There needs to be a pretty clear cut future big league contributor, someone that Hahn can look at and say, ‘Ok, that spot in the lineup is penciled in for 6 years.’
It’s a similar situation to the Red Sox fans pushing trades for either Sale or Quintana that were headlined by Devers and not Moncada or Benintendi or Cubs fans suggesting that Candelario could get one of the Yankees big relievers last deadline. You have to give up big to get big.
Obviously Refsnyder is a throw in. At best he is 4th best option in that package. If you need the headliner to be Frazier instead of Rutherford, switch them out. They basically have the same value. The same could be said with Sheffield, so if you like Kaprielian or Adams better switch them out. Other than Torres, I don’t think any of the Yankee prospects are off limits and think a deal could definitely be reached.
From what I’ve seen and heard, Yankees are high on these four guys excluding Sanchez for obvious reasons, and won’t trade them:
Torres, Frazier, Sheffield, Kaprielian
Let’s hope this remains the course. But if we can get Quintana for anyone else I’d be all for it, but don’t think it’s possible.
If I’m a GM, I’m offering Mateo, Judge, Refsnyder, Clarkin or Montgomery (assuming sox want a lefty prospect), wade or garcia, AND chase headley FOR Quintana and Robertson. Sounds crazy, but only move I’d make. Only trade I could think of where I’d be happy either way from the get go.
Please bash now.
Oh gee, you’d even take Robertson off the Sox hands AND throw in Chase Headley? You’ve got a deal.
Quintana to the Yanks for Frazier, Rutherford, and 2 mid to low level guys
Yankees fans need to realize that they need to give up talent to get it. You could always switch Rutherford out for someone else but Frazier would have to be the start of the deal
I agree 100%. But they shouldn’t trade frazier. Boy can rake. Which is why a deal won’t get done in my opinion.
“They” also called Avisail Garcia, “Little Miggy”
I absolutely want nothing to do with Quintana. I think he’s a great pitcher, but I’d rather keep Frazier, Torres, Judge, and Sheffield. I think the White Sox want to trade Quintana as soon as they possibly can because his value will never be higher, but I hope it’s to the Astros or Pirates. Let the Yankees keep building without sacrificing multiple upper tier prospects.