With David Phelps now officially a Seattle Mariner, the Marlins could look to make AJ Ramos the next piece they deal. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets that while the Fish had about 10 teams express interest in Phelps, they currently have three teams expressing serious interest in Ramos. One of those clubs appears to be the Rays, as FanRag’s Jon Heyman tweets that Tampa Bay is among the clubs with interest in the Miami closer. Ramos has also been linked to the Rockies, and was previously linked to the Yankees and Nationals before each of those clubs acquired two relievers in a single trade. (Though the New York Post’s Joel Sherman tweets that the Yankees never had any interest in him.)
Some more rumblings pertaining to the pitching market…
- While the Nationals are in on Tigers left-hander Justin Wilson, they won’t part with top prospects Victor Robles, Juan Soto or Erick Fedde in a trade to acquire him, tweets MLB Network’s Ken Rosenthal. Per Rosenthal, the Red Sox, Dodgers and Astros are all still in the mix for Wilson. Heyman tweets that the Rays are still looking at Wilson, to whom they were linked earlier this week, but at this point it seems that other teams are likelier to land him. MLB.com’s Jon Morosi, meanwhile, adds the Brewers to the substantial group of teams looking into Wilson (Twitter link).
- USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets that the Royals are closely monitoring Cardinals right-hander Lance Lynn to see if St. Louis makes him available between now and the deadline. ESPN’s Buster Olney reported earlier today that the Royals are looking around for not one but two rental starters to try to make one last run with their current core, and as a free agent at season’s end, Lynn would fit that mold. If the Royals are indeed watching, they probably didn’t mind what they saw today when Lynn tossed six innings of one-run ball against the Mets, though he did allow his 21st homer of the season, which is already far and away a career-high.
- Newsday’s Marc Carig and ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick both hear that Addison Reed is drawing the most interest among Mets trade chips, though Carig notes that there’s nothing close to being completed at this time (Twitter links). The rumor circuit on Reed has been surprisingly quiet, though he’s been linked to the Yankees and Red Sox thus far. The 28-year-old Reed has tossed 45 excellent innings out of the New York bullpen, averaging 9.4 K/9 against a ridiculous 1.00 BB/9 with a 38.8 percent ground-ball rate en route to a 2.40 ERA. He’s logged a 2.02 ERA in 138 innings as a Met and is earning $7.8MM this season.
What would be possible return from royals for Lynn?
A truckload of KC Masterpiece, and a dog eared copy of Field & Stream from the 90s’.
What kind of savage dog ears Field and Stream???
your moms
A mid level prospect. Not much for a #3 starter that’s a rental.
Lynn is better than a 3 starter.
But Cards will likely extend him in the off-season 5/75 range
Which they could still move him and sign him back of course
Lynn isn’t going to be extended. He’s made comments about the front office not approaching him about an extension and it being his last season in St. Louis
Not a chance of extending him. And no he’s not better than a number 3. He, if not traded, might get a QO which he’ll decline.
their best “prospects” are 24 and 25 year olds, so not much.
Not a MLB ready power hitter with more then being a rental. Basically what we need. So I’ll keep Lynn and try to extend him. There is no reason we couldn’t extend him.
Hunter dozier and a pair of Moose antlers ?
Lynn isn’t worth Dozier. To acquire Lance Lynn I could see Ramon Torres and PTBNL honestly.
A proven veteran starter who’s never posted under double-digit wins or an ERA above 4.00 isn’t worth a 25 year old AAA prospect who doesn’t rank on any Top 100 lists? You might be overvaluing your prospects.
With Cuthbert injured and Moustakas a sure bet to leave in Free Agency I don’t see the Royals trading away the closest to a sure future they have at 3B for a Slightly Above Average #3 Rental. Not for a pitcher who’s posted a 0.5 WAR in the NL. We all know how NL pitching fairs in the AL.
Especially without even a full season to show after Tommy John?
If I’m not mistaken, Lynn’s been on a tear recently. Something like one run given up over his last three starts. Looking at his WHIP and BABIP, they’re at career-lows. I don’t think his WAR tells the full story of how he’s pitching right now. Especially given how low of a run scoring environment Kauffman is, lower than Busch, I’d say he would do pretty well. I’m not as tapped in to KC’s long-term plans as you are but when you have your core headed out at the end of the season and you aren’t selling, you can’t worry as much about which prospect will fill the gap after the window closes.
I guess we will all see. I’ve watched them all year of course and they want to be buyers because that’s what you do when you’re three games out but this team could just as easily be 13 games out. I may be biased against the idea of buying just because unless you’ve got a real shot to win it all like in ’15 when we had the best record in the AL all season you can afford to give up a viable every day player for a rental. This team isn’t even .500. We will see for sure in the coming weeks.
He will bring 5yr /100 mil 5/125 in free agency. If a team thinks he gets them to promised land bidding war will get cards very good package
Dozier is out for the year, can’t be traded. Cheslor has a sprained wrist, not something that career threatening.
Could trade from the middle infield prospects that have gotten buried by Mondesi, Nicky Lopez and Jeison Guzman. So Torres, Toups, Artaega or Jack Lopez.
Royals fans overvaluing prospects? Never
Dozier is currently active at AAA Omaha. He was on the 60 day but has since been activated. Got injured in spring. Reinstated July 1.
He injured his wrist but wasn’t placed on the DL as a result.
I guess Hunter dozier, Jorge Bonifacio and a prospect in the 15-20 range with the royals extremely weak system
Bonifacio isn’t going to be available in any deal that doesn’t land a top line Ace I think.
Matias, Guzman, and Rivero.
So the Nationals are assuring themselves of not getting a reliever that can actually help them win now in order to keep prospects that cannot help them win now and they can’t be assured will ever help them win. The number of top prospects that never make it is staggering. Make the trade Rizzo. Take the chance to become a championship organization, not an also ran.
They can get any non-elite arm and keep their top 3 guys. Kieboom is more than a good enough headliner for Neshek, anyone on the Marlins, Reed, or Hand
Kieboom is more than a good enough headliner for Hand? Please pass whatever it is that you are smoking. Feede would be the headliner with Kieboom and another in the bottom of WAS top 30 prospects list. Stop kidding yourself.
Hand should not be paired with the others you mentioned. They have nothing in common. For one, he is left handed when none of the names you have mentioned are. Neshek is old and a rental, Reed has had a nice year but was horrible as the closer for the white sox and D-Backs, and nobody on the Marlins compares to Brad Hand.
I don’t think Brad Hand is going to be traded. The Padres are basically asking for Aroldis Chapman/ Andrew Miller deal for Hand. He is not that pitcher. He is a very good left hander but not at that level.
For Washington, I think Neshek fits is the best fit. He has been as dominant as any reliever in baseball this year
First off, you’re looking at the wrong Kieboom. Carter is a top prospect borderline top 100, who was trending that way before he suffered a bad hamstring in May. Second Hand isn’t going for near the asking price currently… too many cheaper options in a buyers market.
Nope not looking at the wrong Kieboom.
In comparison to the Wil Smith trade last year which is the best comp for Brad Hand, Milwaukee received Phil Bickford who was the #50 overall prospect at the game which would represent Feede and Susac had just graduated from prospect status would represent Kieboom. So if that isn’t matched then Hand stays put.
The Giants did that with what was and still is a weak farm system, the Nats don’t have that issue.
Reed has 2 Amazin years…including closing for most of 2017. And with the in-division premium, if he’s the last pen arm available, it will be VERY pricy.
Yeah but Bickford doesn’t have near the ceiling Fedde does. Prospect rankings can be indicators but they don’t dictate a player’s trade value that often.
Why would there be an in-division premium for a rental reliever? The Mets aren’t competing this year – they’ll take the best prospect(s) they can get from any team. I understand a “premium” for a longterm asset, but not if the guy is a rental.
Bickford was top 50 on one list but many scouts feel he is destined for the bullpen. Fedde is viewed as a much safer bet to stick in the rotation. Comparing Susac to Kieboom is nonsense….Susac was like 26 and was never viewed very highly. Kieboom is considered a top 2-3 prospect for the Nats by some evaluators. A better comp for Susac would be Bautista.
Still don’t see Nats trading Fedde for a reliever unless he’s a legit closer.
In 3 yrs with the Mets Reed has a 2.01ERA, 6.45k:1BB, and 10k/9. He is a shutdown arm.
No way the Tigers are interested unless the return is huge.
Especially now that Al Avila has been skewered for the JD Martinez trade.
We’ve seen the kind of return Avila will accept, and it’s underwhelming.
I can understand not parting with Robles but nats hanging onto Soto makes no sense. They’re just assuring another team would outbid them and they can say “well, we tried.” Soto should be the centerpiece for a package.
Soto is a top overall prospect depending on who you ask. Either BA or BP had him in their top 20 at the mid season update
BP had him at 12 I believe.
The only reason more people don’t know about Soto is because he’s been out since early May with a bad ankle injury. Rizzo isn’t going to trade Robles or Soto for any RP, fbow.
And Rizzo will continue to watch his team be an also ran in the playoffs. It’s all good. No one really thinks Dusty can hold a team together long enough for them to win it all anyway. even if they have superior talent. He has never done it before and no reason to think he can now.
Al Avila appeared “risk averse” when trading JD Martinez. They went for players they have scouted (cashed in on $5MM in salary relief). They probably could have at least got more quantity if not quality from the D Backs, but probably panicked a little because of JDs back trouble and Arizona’s poor record over the last 10 games. Indians were runner ups in the JD sweepstakes. Aliva probably did not want any part of a JD Game Winning HRs in Comerica when they are still just 5 back.
Justin Wilson is different. They do NOT need to move him. There is little downside risk to just keeping him until the offseason. Take it to 5 minutes left in the trading deadline and work best deal you can at that minute. If it is not good enough wait for 2 minutes left. If not, just wait.
And then he turns into 2016 Justin Wilson and they’re screwed again
Why would he regress?
Because non elite relievers are all fickle??
It’s no different than Martinez. I don’t think he will regress, but he could. Relievers are volatile, and he could lose a significant amount of value in two weeks, much less in two months.
If I am Rizzo, I’d be willing to give up a Robles or Soto. However, not for Wilson. Wilson is a nice pitcher, but not the difference maker to warrant a Robles of Soto. If I am going to give up one of the big guys, it is going to be for Iglesias or Britton. I still contend that Pat Neshek is the guy who would make the big difference in the bullpen
I wouldn’t part with either for a RP with injury issues. Both Iglesias and Britton have injury issues that would prevent me from parting with Robles or Soto. If a Jansen guy were on the market then sure I’d part with either and Fedde but there just isn’t that guy available this year.
What do the Royals really have that the Cardinals would want? Hunter Dozier? Kyle Zimmer? All of the Royals prospects are around 25. I don’t think the Royals have anything that good to get Lynn
Chase Vallot is 20. Mondesi is 20. Staumont is 23. Donnie Dewees is 23. The Royals have guys, im just not sure they have the exposure or fit the Cardinals well. And Lynn honestly isn’t close to worth Mondesi or Dozier.
Yeah I think this is a homer take on this. Lynn is probably about what those two guys are worth individually. This coming from a Cubs fan, Lynn unfortunately has that kind of value, and Dozier probably doesn’t have the value you think he does.
Matias, Guzman, and Rivero.
Knowing Mo we will give him away for a no name prospect
Well he is a non-great rental pitcher so you shouldn’t be expecting much
To me, excluding Yu Darvish, Lance Lynn might be the most desirable SP on an expiring contract out there. He cleared 3.5 bWAR during each of his last two full campaigns & has a decent shot of coming close again.
This is simplistic, but I would say it should likely be a lot closer to what Oakland got back for Rich Hill (although Josh Reddick was part of that deal so it is difficult to parse it) than what the Yankees got back for Ivan Nova from Pittsburgh.
I’m with Rizzo, don’t trade Robles, Soto or Fedde. They can get a closer without including any of their top 3. Werth is getting old and a FA this offseason and Harper will be gone after next season. If they pan out our future OF will include Soto and Robles with Eaton and Fedde could slide into the rotation by next spring.
A good #3 starter is often worth more than a closer and look what rental Chapman brought. Not saying Lynn is as good as Chapman but not that far off on overall value to a team. Reason Chapman got so much as rental is he brought Cubs their first ring. So if Lynn can help contender get over the hump he’s worth quite a bit. Cards do not in any way have to trade Lynn, so if not much coming back then no trade.
That’s not true at all. Look at other middle of the rotation rental pitchers traded recently. One of the best closers in the game is way more valuable than lance Lynn
Lynn isn’t bringing back anything close to a Chapman type return…if he never had TJ – or – if he had TJ a few years ago and you knew you could get 200 innings plus solid contributions in playoffs then he could get a top 50ish prospect. Since that is not the case I think it’s more likely he brings back a deal that has 2 of the acquiring teams prospect in their 6-15 range.
The Royals inflated the reliever market to insane levels when they won it all with their lights out bullpen. Then the Cubs made it even higher by what they gave up for Chapman. A top 3 reliever is way more valuable than a “good #3 starter” in today’s market. And Lynn has been slightly good. Not even a sure bet.
I don’t think you can even expect a fraction of the return for Lynn compared to what Chapman brought back. That’s a silly notion.
Chapman is an anomaly. The yankees didn’t get as much for Andrew Miller, even though he’s arguable as good and had more team control
I would say….. “I can’t believe the Cardinals are throwing in the towel!”
But, with this bunch in command, it figures. They Need Stanton, and a closer and they can contend, and they are available!! “IF” Mathaney doesn’t screw up the line up card and batting order.
Lynn is more valuable to the Cardinals. How about paying some team to take MO’s last 3 signees, Leake, Fowler,
i think the headline was the royals were interested, not the cardinals
Dodgers should try to get Lynn with Smith and Oaks . They say no then they say no. But it’s not far off what Leake was traded for a couple years ago. Leake was numbers wise the same pretty much as Lynn is now.