Here’s the latest from around the AL East…
- Born and raised in Tampa, Denard Span is happy to be playing for the Rays, even if his stint could potentially be a brief one, the outfielder tells Roger Mooney of the Tampa Bay Times. “Nothing would surprise me if I get traded or flipped or whatever the terminology is. I guess until I show up to spring training then it will probably sink in that I’m a Ray,” Span said. “There are so many possibilities, but I definitely would love to put on this hometown uniform. It would be a dream come true. It was something I always imagined.” With Evan Longoria now dealt to the Giants for a four-player package that included Span, the outfielder now has the highest salary on the Rays’ 2018 payroll, which likely makes him a trade chip for the cost-conscious franchise. Still, Span also has some value to the Rays on the field and in the clubhouse, so the team could at least begin the season with Span in a corner outfield role.
- While there is a gap in ability between Eric Hosmer and Mitch Moreland, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe notes that the Red Sox may have found value in re-signing Moreland to a two-year, $13MM deal than in spending over $100MM more to sign Hosmer on what would have been a six- or seven-year contract. As Speier observes, Hosmer is the better hitter overall, though Moreland offers more power and he had a higher xwOBA in 2017. Hosmer could hit more home runs playing in Fenway Park, though Speier argues that the Sox would’ve been risking a lot on Hosmer successfully adjusting his swing from his current grounder-heavy offensive approach. Moreland is also clearly the better defender of the two first basemen, at least per the Defensive Runs Saved and UZR/150 metrics.
- While the Orioles have stated that they will keeping Manny Machado, Dan Connolly of BaltimoreBaseball.com guesses that the star third baseman will be in another uniform before Opening Day. A Machado trade is “still under consideration no matter what words trickle out” since the O’s could easily reverse course if another team meets their asking price. While several complications could certainly prevent a trade from taking place given Machado’s stature, Connolly believes the biggest hurdle was the Orioles’ decision to consider trading Machado whatsoever, and “taking that step tells me that they aren’t going backward.”
So basically no new news.
That’s how I read it…
Stocking stuffer News! Ha!
The Orioles weren’t, and aren’t serious about trading Machado. No one is going to match their asking price, and they don’t seem likely to back off.
Feel free to read the article above.
The comment is that “No One Is Going To Match Their Asking Price”…..
That’s probably TRUE. Will they Lower That Price? Doubtful.
That doesn’t mean they aren’t serious, or make him untradable….it just means that they’ll “Try”…….but fail.
If the Cardinals can’t get any other bopper in trade or from free agency, they will meet Baltimore’s asking price. After the past 3-4 declining seasons of doing nothing substantial, it’ll take more than Ozuna to take the heat off of Mozeliak and the Cards.
The Cards will not give up those prized prospects for 1 year of any player! That’s why they wanted a negotiating window, cuz they knew it was gonna be for a 1 year rental .
Hope they like losing him for no return.
Ryan the Grinch
Draft pick.
That could be a nobody that fizzles out in AA when they miss on the pick.
Teams should just pull players out of a magical box that produces established veterans out of thin air.
If a team can’t scout, draft, and develop their own players, they’re screwed.
As could any prospects that they trade for…
That’s the White Sox to a T
That won’t be nearly as good as the prospects they could get if they trade him now.
mitch Moreland is okay if your fine with a player who will occasionally go on hot streaks and will hit home runs. He’s a bench piece being asked to start.
He’s also one of the best defensive 1b in baseball. He’s probably best suited in a platoon role, but I’m not sure where this “bench player” nonsense is coming from. Guy has produced when healthy and has earned a starting role.
Maybe a 2nd division starter in actuality, tho with Boras most likely trying to shake down owners on some preposterous contract ATM with Hosmer which will be regretted, as are all of his clients sooner rather than later? It was a wise decision and then couple that with the payload of far better players set to hit the market next year.
I predict that if he winds up back with KC, or signs with SD? His market belly flopped and the 150-200m Boras was throwing around early on ended up between 75-85m total he over stated so badly and scared off all the potential suitors once again.
He ran a 98 wRC+ last year. He owns a career wRC+ of 98. Last year, the MLB average wRC+ for first basemen was 113. Therefore, his offensive production was 15 percent below league average, relative to his position. Hence the “bench piece” label.
Think the plan in boston is to hopefully have him platoon with ramirez in a lefty/righty and protect him against LH pitching, which he has up until last year been worse against.
last year he was decent up until he hurt his foot in june, then pretty poor from then on and his splits were about the same. *if* Ramirez is able to play 1b any, it might elevate his numbers some just having him up there vs RH pitching, which he historically has produced better against.
^^Yes. I assume this is the plan as well.
The article states “the Red Sox may have found value in re-signing Moreland”. So can I interpret your response to mean that Hosmer is also a bench piece or are you suggesting that Hosmer does not go on hot or cold streaks and is worthy over paying out over $100M more for him?
Look at what Hosmer did in 2012 & 2014. Pathetic and a real bench player.
Thought the Red Sox were looking for HR’s?
In 2017 Hosmer had 25 and Moreland 22.
In 2017 Hosmer had 94 RBI’s and Moreland 79.
So you are suggesting we sould have paid $100M more for 3 more HR’s and 15 RBI’s per year?
Not to mention Moreland is better on defense.
Did it ever occur that we could get 1 or 2 good SP’s for that extra $100M?
Or do we just want to watch those extra 3 HR’s fly out and lose?
Any serious observer would recognize that the Red Sox need SP’s and a left handed RP.
And any serious observer would see that the Res Sox are already near the luxury cap ceiling.
And any serious observer could see that Price, Sandoval, Crawford and Castillo all got expensive annual contracts and were dogs.
And any serious observer could see that a great GM (Belichick) looks for hidden and less expensive talent that is more easily expendable if they fail or get injured.
So my questions to you are why you think Hosmer alone will win us a World Series? If not who else do the Red Sox get? Where do we get the money? Or do you just expect John Henry to just dole it out?
I’m confused. Did anyone above advocate for signing Hosmer? Personally, I think he’s wildly overrated and I wouldn’t pay him 9 figures. I also think Mitch Moreland is a below average MLB first baseman. Those things are not mutually exclusive.
How much do you think good SP cost these days?
Hey George B—I think you are a bit
mixed up about great GM’s however what Trader Dave’s inaction proves is that he lacks disposable assets. W
Either John Henry has taken away his ATM card, or he is now paying the price for empty the minor league cupboards.
All he can do at the moment is resign a platoon and hope that fans forget that he has serious limitations.
Sure they need pitching—especially unsure what they will get out of their $30+ million a year whiz kid.
However if anything from last year was learned, they need a BIG bet in their
lineup. Without Papi their offensive looked more like a Punch and Judy team.
Oh well, and now the Yankees load the gun with another big bat.
He’s ok as a platoon player. A little above average against right handed pitchers – not as good as you’d like to have in a first baseman, but better than paying $100+ million for Hosmer. Let him split time with Hanley to make sure that he never sees a lefty and Hanley doesn’t see 497 at bats and have his $22 million option vest for 2019. Just means they have to convince JD Martinez to sign to be mostly a DH and keep all three outfielders.
No. JDM is out of the question.
Way too expensive and they alreadyhave JBJ who is a fantastic defender.
If they get JDM then 2017 will be a very expensive year and will likely prevent them from getting good pitching.
They need at least 1 SP and preferably 2 and 1 or 2 left handed RP’s.
Don’t get me wrong JDM is a great player but they have very good hitting already that under performed in 2017.
I maintain their need is starting pitching.
Just imagine they make it to the WS.
After Chris Sale who do you feel is lights out?
“After Chris Sale who do you feel is lights out?”
Relative to all of their division rivals, I’m not too disappointed in their 2 and 3 rotation spotters, visa vi Drew Pomeranz and David Price. If we look at the New York Yankees, sure, Severino at the top of that rotation is “lights out” (usually…in the playoffs, his last start was astounding; before that, he was mostly erratic). But yeah, Sev was lights out; he finished third in the Cy Young balloting just behind Sale, and that kid deserved it.
But after Sev, who do the Yankees have that are supposedly more impressive at the 2 to 5 slots? I assume that Tanaka is their 2? Who had an ERA of around 5 last year? Then, I assume their 3 guy in rotation is Sonny Gray? Who hasn’t looked very sharp at all since 2015 when he was with the As? And, despite his pretrade stats in 2017 with Oakland that showed a decided turnaround from his 5 ERA mess in 2016…am I the only one that noticed his huge drop in velocity, as well as being largely a 5 to 6 inning guy night in and night out instead of the innings eater he was in 2014-15 (his short stature versus his style of pitching are looking like a long term conflict… as well as a breakdown in his velocity).
Throw in the fact that Boston has a surgically repaired and rehabbed number 4 with a great knee now and a number 5 who won the Cy Young just one year ago (and a knuckleballer who was an all star two years ago who is also now healthy available as a spot starter), and things really look darn good in my opinion in relation to their starting pitching.
I am personally okay with Boston’s rotation. Their inability to produce extra base hits is the more bothersome sticking point. However, I am not in favor of overreacting at this point by caving in to Boras by immediately slapping down 200 million dollars to a true hitting talent whose destiny nevertheless seems to be DH since he cannot play the field well. If I were Dombrowski, I’d top any offer from other teams, but since Boston looks like JDMs only match for a truly substantive contract (and I don’t mind him getting a substantive contract…but that contract of 200 million being bandied about by his agent needs to be much closer to half that), we red sox fans should just wait this out.
That is an amazing imagination George. And though I agree with you that you cannot have too much starting pitching, the offense is deficient more than “underperforming”.
When you plugged Papi into the lineup all those years, it made other players better hitters. Taking him out really hurt. Not replacing him with at least one HR hitting slugger makes the rest of the offense fun for a good pitcher as there is no fear factor hitter.
Thank you David for your great response.
I guess the issue is how we perceive Boston’s current SP staff.
I honestly have faith in Sale that he will get us 20+ QS’s
I genuinely like Pomeranz and think he can get you 15+ QS’s.
I honestly have faith Porcello will get you 15+ QS’s.
But that’s it. Thats 50 QS’s and they need 90+ wins.
How do you get the other 40+ wins?
Price has 7 QS’s in 2017
ERod had 12 QS’s in 2017 and now has a bad knee.
Wright had 1 QS in 2017.
You can “hope” for Price getting 20+ QS’s but I think it’s unlikely.
Who know how ERod, Wright or Kelly will do?
I say get a SP like Lynn who can get you 15+ QS’s.
Also get Vargas who can get you 10+ QS’s.
Spend the money there.
Quality starts don’t always equate to wins either!
The Red Sox will wait out JDM. They are not going to add any new starting pitchers unless one of them falls in their lap at a low cost.
The Red Sox offense will be just fine. I would argue that there Key offensive players had really down years last year and are primed for a return to form.
I think DD will add JDM just isn’t going to pay a ridiculous price for him. If someone steps up and pays the stupid price that Boras is asking then so be it he won’t be a Red Sox.
Teams, at times, have down years offensively and bounce back. I totally disagree that this offense will be a Punch and Judy offense even without JDM.
The Red Sox pitching, on paper, looks elite. Anybody that thinks the Yankees are going to run away with the East are in for a rude awakening I believe. It should be a great dog fight all season between the Yankees and Red Sox.
There are times I feel the Orioles just go through the motions. They set unreachable and unrealistic standards just to say they tried. After one of many failed deals they’ll claim they didn’t get the offer they wanted. Yeah sorry a team isn’t going to part with their 1-10 top prospects for one relief pitcher. I keep getting the feeling that Manny is gonna walk and all the os will get is the compensation pick, if they even offer the contract that gets us a pick.
It’s such a cluster. Once Pete dies and DD is fired released or whatever they’ll stand a chance but with that dumpster fire duo in charge the os are f$/)ed.
The O’s are not “F, dash, dash, dash.” ed!
Umm check cubs trade for Chapman and that was only for half season
Please do not compare the deadline trade of one of the rarest commodities in baseball, a left handed POWER pitcher, to any other type of trade. Armando, Donaldson, Bryant, Bregman, Turner, Lamb, Seger, Suarez, and Moustakas are among the many reasons that a Machado doesn’t possess the scarcity that Andrew Miller and Chapman had that season.
Agreed. Im not an O’s fan so im just an outsider looking in, but they seem to be content with mediocrity. They had such a good core a couple years back {minus good starting pitching} but didnt do anything other than resigning Davis and Trumbo, which will be regretted if they havent been already. This is basically a franchise run like the Pirates, but the O’s have the money to spend while the Pirates can’t add much to their core via FA.
The Pirates at least are rational and not at all emotional with their decision-making process. The orioles are not (never investing in free agent starting pitching and bringing back 1 tool players on large contracts in Davis and Trumbo, respectively.)
Machado needs to be traded and the O’s need to sign Moose the Royals free agent.
My hope is he goes the the Diamondbacks!
Anyway, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone
Whether or not they trade Machado they need to sign Moose. A lefty bat and someone to play third (if they let Machado play SS). He would be a nice fit in OPACY.
Where’s that two year deal for Matt Albers at though
it’s a secret
This offseason will be one of the worst for free agents as it’s already showing next years free agent class is way to big to put all you money into one of these fluke players Sox’s should save their money and joe they get some power from a full yr of Rafael D at 3rd and maybe take the money this a get another starter never can have enough starters
I think the biggest thing is that the big money teams are getting smart. They’re realizing that there’s other avenues to get talent besides purchasing other teams players on the FA market.
There are only a few teams that occasionally spend the big bucks on free agents and their foolish long term contracts.
One of the big problems has been the coddling of these athletes. .
When a team signs a contract they have big bucks on the line.
Players often dictate the shots.
Case in point look at how Stanton dictated where he would and wouldn’t go.
The managers have minimal control over these players.
They get away with things other players wouldn’t be able to.
This sets a bad example for the rest.
If you don’t spend the big bucks the manager has more control.
Examples include: running out a ground ball, making an effort to make a defensive play, running and sliding hard into 2nd, 3rd or home on a close play, sacrificing, bunting, hitting to the opposite field.
Often games are won or lost by a run so these issues really matter.
Prima dona’s are bad for a team.
Eager young enthusiastic players are what a team wants and needs.
It’s far easier to cut a player with a poor attitude that’s making less money than a prima dona making millions.
David Price is a perfect example of a prima dona.
I don’t blame Price as much as I blame the system the owners have created for themselves.
I’m not naive enough to ever think this prima dona culture will ever stop but I think MLB teams can take a lesson from the NE Patriots Coach Belichick. He has a great scouting system, he pick up players from the trash heap and gets a few games out of them, he has coaches like Dante Scarnecchia that can get the most out of a player and teach him what is expected of them. He doesn’t usually pay a player big bucks. and he has had a winning formula for decades.
It’s surprising to me the way teams blow money and think and hope that money will buy you performance.
Quite to the contrary, it’s “the hope of money and reward” that gets you performance, the hope they will be on a winner that gets results.
The pride of seeing themselves on national TV.
The need to show they are the elite.
Do you think David Price feels that way?
Maybe he does and I’m being too harsh but I need to see it fast.
David I need to see you give the Red Sox 20+ quality starts in 2018.
That’s the minimum expected of you each year and 200+ innings.
If you blow out your elbow you blow out your elbow but at least the fans and the media can see you gave it your all.
NFL players run the risk of concussion and all of it’s issues.
Yet they play their hearts out.
So please help me out here members of the media.
Stop looking just at stats and look at attitude and effort.
Write about hustle and grit as well as stats.
Doesn’t every team, fan and media reporter want to see a player with the heart and effort?
So realize that money alone won’t get that for your team.
Punctuation, please use it.
Back in the day I used to go to the batting cages span went to. I was a twins fan and my friends hated on me for it. It had a 90 mph cage. I’d be so happy just fouling balls off and could imagine him aiming em wherever he wanted.
Loved the guy on the twins. Could slap the ball anywhere and a great clubhouse guy. I think the Nats weren’t a great environment for him. Slowed him down.
Does anyone out there think David Price may have had anything to do with John Farrell losing his job?