Pittsburgh has pursued a trade for White Sox left-hander Jose Quintana over the past several months, but Pirates general manager Neal Huntington found the asking price to be “well above where it made sense for us” (via ESPN’s Jim Bowden). With the Bucs seemingly out of the picture for Quintana, the Astros and Braves are the “best possibilities,” per Bowden, who notes that the White Sox “continue to work hard” to trade the 28-year-old. No deal is imminent, though, according to Bowden, who adds that the Astros would have to part with both right-hander Francis Martes and outfielder Kyle Tucker, two of Baseball America’s top 20 prospects, to acquire Quintana (all Twitter links). Houston balked at giving up a package of Martes, Tucker and righty Joe Musgrove for Quintana during the Winter Meetings.
For his part, White Sox GM Rick Hahn is content to wait until someone makes what he deems a satisfactory offer for Quintana, who’s reasonably priced and controllable through the 2020 season. “We’ve had conversations even this spring where if our asks was met, we’d make a move,” Hahn told Scott Merkin of MLB.com. “Obviously nothing has developed as of yet, but that could well change early in the season or it could take to the trade deadline or into the next offseason” (Twitter links).
The latest on a few other pitchers:
- Remarkably, after missing almost all of the previous two years because of shoulder problems, Dodgers southpaw Hyun-Jin Ryu is making a strong case to crack their season-opening rotation, writes Ken Gurnick of MLB.com. Ryu threw four scoreless, one-hit innings against Milwaukee on Tuesday, giving him nine frames of one-run ball for the spring. Manager Dave Roberts made it clear afterward that the Dodgers want him in their rotation, saying: “When we look back a year, where he’s come from, he’s done nothing but allow us to be very optimistic. Every time he’s gotten better and we’re building him up to be a starter and break camp with us. That’s the plan on our end. He worked hard to put himself in a position where he’s at right now. We’re a better team if he’s in the starting rotation.” With Julio Urias likely to begin the season in extended spring training and Scott Kazmir looking for his lost velocity, two of Ryu, Brandon McCarthy and Alex Wood figure to claim the Dodgers’ available starting spots.
- Padres righty Jered Weaver is dealing with a dead arm, tweets Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune. Weaver has also battled that issue in previous springs, notes Lin, though it’s not exactly encouraging news for a soft-tossing 34-year-old who’s coming off the two worst seasons of his career. Weaver indicated last week that he’s physically “10 steps above” where he was last year, when he piled up 178 innings with the Angels and logged the fourth-worst ERA (5.06) and second-highest FIP (5.62) among the majors’ qualified starters. The former ace lasted two-thirds of an inning in his start against the Royals on Wednesday and yielded four runs on three hits. He also hit two batters.
- Already sans their best starter, the injured Anthony DeSclafani, as Opening Day approaches, the Reds might also begin 2017 without top reliever Raisel Iglesias, who hasn’t pitched since March 14. An elbow issue has kept Iglesias out of action, but an MRI only showed a bone bruise, according to C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer. “The good news is that it doesn’t look like it’s going to be a huge setback or there are any structural issues at all,” said manager Bryan Price. “The negative is that he’s going to have four more days off before he begins to throw again and we’ll have to see how comfortable we are by Opening Day or maybe before that.” A former starter, Iglesias was among the few bright spots in a historically inept Reds bullpen last year, when he posted a 1.98 ERA, 9.72 K/9 and 3.42 BB/9 in 50 innings as a reliever. Health permitting, the 27-year-old will serve as a high-leverage bullpen weapon this season.
SupremeZeus
I didn’t think an arm could die twice. Weaver must be rolling it to home plate, probably still better than Shields.
lowtalker1
Then the padres should trade him to the white sox
curl16
Weavers arm has been dead for a long time but if some fool is going throw money at u take it
SixFlagsMagicPadres
That sounds like a newspaper’s sports section headline the morning after a game in which Weaver pitched at a place like Coors Field:
“Night of the Living Dead Arm.”
Pedro Cerrano's Voodoo
What’d he average on his FB last year? 84? What’s he doing with dead arm? Rolling may be apt.
sufferforsnakes
Weaver is dealing with a dead arm? Can anyone say that without cracking up?
Joe Kerr
Not me, I read it and laughed and thought hasn’t he been dealing with a dead arm for the last few years.
SixFlagsMagicPadres
Wow Weaver couldn’t even make it through a full inning. At least they have plenty of other “meh”-level starters to take his place in the rotation should he start the year on the DL.
lowtalker1
Cahill is meh ?
SamFuldsFive
Yes.
lowtalker1
Pretty sharp so far
SamFuldsFive
Its Spring Training…
darkstar61
Cahill has started as many games this preseason as he has the last 2 seasons combined (4), and he hasn’t been a full-time starter since 2013
In those 4 starts the last 2 years, he gave up a total of 11 ER over 17.1 IP – a 5.71 ERA (off a 1.50 WHIP and 9 BB to 8 K)
“Meh starter” might just prove generous, regardless of some so-so results this Spring (…results that were anything but “sharp” prior to yesterdays game, btw – in fact, he was sitting on a 5.79 ERA and 1.40 WHIP with 5 BB to only 6K on Monday night)
padreforlife
I don’t get that signing also as a starter. Cahill found life as relief so Padres make him a starter.
66TheNumberOfTheBest
Whew.
tylerall5
My reaction exactly.
padreforlife
Why Padres guaranteed so much $ to Weaver? Since no other team was interested because they are the Padres guaranteeing Josh Johnson etc. “Hero” Jake Peavy is prob next up for 3 mil
bigkempin
Guaranteed so much? He was signed for $3M and made 31 starts last year. The JJ deal was questionable but even that only cost them $10M over 2 years. If Peavy was ready to pitch, his market value would probably be around $2-3M…..you sure are a padres fan
padreforlife
How about having brain in their head like Braves who go with Dickey, Colon, and Garcia who could all be flipped at deadline if good. Weaver has disaster written all over him.
slider32
Hahn will have to hold on to Quintana at this point, nobody will give him what he wants for him. Musgraves value is up and Glasnow value continues to go down after his spring. The Bucs aren’t giving up Meadows and the Astros aren’t giving up Tucker right now.
66TheNumberOfTheBest
I don’t like what the Pirates are doing with Glasnow.
He wasn’t ready last summer, they shouldn’t have brought him up. He’s not ready this spring, he shouldn’t be competing for a starting spot. All of this is just distracting him from what he should be focused on…fixing the weak spots in his game. He’s not a finished product.
I’d like to see him spend most of the season in Indy, barring swift and sustainable improvement. Nick Kingham should be ready by June, they shouldn’t need TG. The only reason to bring Glasnow to the big leagues is because he’s ready, not because he’s better than Drew Hutchison.
tylerall5
I said this before and I’ll say it again, Glasnow will be a lights out reliever in this league. It’s unfortunate but it’s true. His command is awful, probably because he doesn’t know what to do with his gigantic frame, and he can’t seem to find a quality 3rd offering. Using him in a one inning can allow his stuff to play and not have to worry about losing control later after 3 innings.
biasisrelitive
big guy that takes a long time to warm up not a good combo for a reliver I don’t think he will be a good reliever because of that
slider32
Glasnow is just going to take some time, he is tall and similar to a Randy Johnson type. Johnson took some time with the Expos before he got good. It is just the fact that teams look at prospects different today!
texas69
1) Gomez-8
2) Choo-0
3) Beltre-5
4) Napoli-3
5) Odor-4
6) Lucroy-2
7) Mazara-9
8) Elvis-6
9) Profar-7
Rangers over Cubs in 7.
jdgoat
1. Not one point about the Rangers.
2. That lineups not very good.
3. They aren’t even the clear cut favourites in their division, how do you think they are the top team in the AL?
texas69
Ill take my Ranges hat off and say they aren’t the best team in the AL on paper right now…. Bos and CLE both better rosters. The only way Rangers win AL is if Cashner/Perez/T Ross perform as the average pitchers they are and if the pen reaches their potential. Rangers feel like a national league team with all the versatility and limited HR guys, Should be a very fun season but ill take Boston over Cubs right now
chesteraarthur
what do the numbers next to the players mean?
biasisrelitive
position
bravesfan
OMG chester, the stat king! COME ON MAN! smh…
darkstar61
@chesteraarthur
Fielding position
1 (pitcher), 2 (catcher), 3 (first baseman), 4 (second baseman), 5 (third baseman), 6 (shortstop), 7 (left fielder), 8 (center fielder), and 9 (right fielder).
thegreatcerealfamine
@darkstar that’s just pretty basic baseball knowledge..how does anyone who follows baseball not pick that up?
SixFlagsMagicPadres
I’m not going to lie, for a moment when I first glanced at that post, I thought the numbers next to the players represented service time/ team control for each player. Then o realized it stood for field position. I wonder what that says about me as a baseball fan…
chesteraarthur
Because I’ve never seen anyone on here list out a batting order then position number next to the player vs. using the letter designations.
darkstar61
@thegreatcerealfamine
If I had to make a guess, I think it might stem from people moving away from using score cards. I saw the post and instantly knew what they were, but I occasionally fill out scorecards so… If I didn’t, I can see being taken aback by them.
At this point I imagine many (most?) fans can probably go weeks without having any contact at all with the fielding position numbers outside of likely hearing “6-5-3” a couple times; and you hear that so fast and so reflexively that it might not even register what is being said.
I’d also point out that I posted the number definitions themselves because I didn’t think it odd some might not know them and it was easy enough to provide that info for those people. Indicates to me that even I reflexively think they are probably a bit of a thing of the past these days
bravesfan
chester embarrassing himself yet again… He trolls so often that you learn to just ignore his crap and move on. This is basic baseball knowledge. Bravo darkstar for calling chester out.
lesterdnightfly
bravesfan1:
15-post penalty for Piling On.
Your obsessive battle with chester is tiresome. Each of you can be mistaken and too eager to be “right”, yet won’t let go.
Make like the legendary Snodgrass — and drop it.
jdgoat
He’s often more right than wrong, and uses facts to prove it.
BlueSkyLA
The position numbering system is probably becoming less widely used and understood, perhaps in part because it’s more difficult to use now, with all the infield shifting in the game today. Is a 6-4-3 double play still a 6-4-3 if the 6 is playing the position normally occupied by the 4? I don’t know that we have a definitive answer. I won’t say it’s obsolete but it probably isn’t of much use these days unless you keep a scorecard. Even then it presents a problem.
bravesfan
If by facts, you mean random words and numbers that he pulls out of his backside, then I would agree with you. But in reality, it’s pretty clear he has very little understanding of baseball in general. Evidence provided above…
lesterdnightfly
bravesfan1:
Again, please just drop it. The more you attack others, the more petty you look.
All the down votes are a good indication that people don’t care for your negative personal slams.
darkstar61
@bravesfan1
I didn’t call him or anyone else out. In fact, had you actually read my post, I defended him by saying I don’t really expect people to quickly recognize the numbers anymore; they just aren’t used by hardly anyone
So I’d say, be careful you don’t become the very thing you are insisting someone else is. If someone only read this specific comment section, they might just come to the complete opposite conclusion than the one you want. Lesterdnightfly’s advice is also sound, you might want to ponder it
pplama
Hope Quintana gets traded before every sports site is forced to change it’s name to JoseQuintanatraderumors.com
jdgoat
At least it moved on from Teheran rumours
bravesfan
Braves shouldn’t go after Quintana. It doesn’t make much sense for us right now.
billysbballz
White Sox are desperately trying to deal Q before any setbacks, injuries, or even regression! They are asking the world and teams are telling them no thanks. It’s refreshing. I hope the White Sox are forced to keep him and lose a ton of trade value for there overzealous asking price. Maybe the Yankees can deal for him at the deadline for a much reduce price tag!
Other then that as a Yankee fan watching a beautiful rebuild I would not deal Frazier, Rutherford, Torres, Kaprielian, Adams, Mateo, Severino, Andujar, Judge, Montgomery, Acevedo, or any of the other high end top prospects that are very close to the majors.
Makes no sense for the Yankees or for that matter a team like the Braves to gut the system when one pitcher doesn’t change the fact that they aren’t beating Cleveland, Boston, or a handful of other teams as presently constructed.
Steven P.
Jose Quintana is worth a hefty price tag, especially given his very affordable contract
Free agents of his caliber would cost 3-4 times as much to sign
takeyourbase
Weaver’s dead arm is only news to the Padres.
rocky2395
Wonder who the sox would get from the braves. Maybe albies, allard and newcomb then one lottery guy? Sounds like a lot but that’s still less then what they got for sale and some people value Q higher because of control. Not sure why the braves want him. Only way it makes sense for braves is if they start fast and are looking for a final piece to push them over the top.
texas69
If the sox could dump Quintana/Fraizer for a total of 4 very good prospects, imagine what their club could look like in 4-5 years. Will also draft high in next 3 drafts. Could have a Cubs/Wsox WS in the making…
rocky2395
I agree white sox can get a lot of prospects for the players they have. Trading Frazier, melky, Robertson, and jones could get the sox a lot of prospects but if they pan out or not will determine if the sox can meet the cubs in the WS.
Didn’t list abreu because I think they will keep him to help moncada grow and adapt to like in Chicago and in the show
cwsOverhaul
Think it is less fear than Hahn is just anxious to get perfect outcome of a haul now of new toy high end positional player prospects they sorely lack for their last “major” trade piece. Q departure also makes them a likely bottom 5 mlb team to help rebuild further even with keeping veteran bats that they can’t move for anything of value now (Frazier, Melky, Abreu?). Problem is he probably has to wait until the summer like your Yanks did with the stud relievers in adding Torres/Frazier from contenders. They’ll probably keep Q rather than settle since the wish list of high end bats to join Moncada aren’t being offered now.
slider32
I think that Frazier, Robertson, and Melky will be deadline moves, I’m not sure about Quintana he is just over evaluated at this point.
bfolls
I think the Astros are willing to part with tucker, it’s the Tucker AND Martes AND a third piece that makes them say no
astros_fan_84
Martes and Tucker for Q is fair. Adding in a third major piece is where the Astros say no, especially if it’s Musgrove.
bfolls
They have their hands full making the playoffs
bfolls
I think only overevaluated in the sense that every seller tends to win trades in terms of surplus value. Given the going rate for starting pitchers he’s valued pretty fairly.
padreforlife
Ryu would be serious shot in arm for Dodgers kid is clutch