This week in baseball blogs…
- Chin Music Baseball ranks the top five trade destinations for Manny Machado.
- Camden Depot makes cases for and against the Orioles trading Machado.
- Fish Stripes weighs the pros and cons of a Christian Yelich trade for Miami.
- The Point of Pittsburgh wonders whether the Pirates should make a run in 2018 with Gerrit Cole or trade him now.
- Pirates Breakdown tries to find the best fit in a Cole trade.
- The Runner Sports (links: 1, 2, 3) looks at Cole and other starting pitchers the Yankees could acquire, responds to the Astros’ addition of Hector Rondon, and evaluates the Twins’ signing of Fernando Rodney.
- STL Hat Trick and Nyrdcast offer pieces on new Cardinal Marcell Ozuna.
- District On Deck forecasts the Bryce Harper sweepstakes that could take place in a year.
- The Sports Tank believes the Red Sox must attempt to sign both J.D. Martinez and Eric Hosmer.
- Outfield Fly Rule analyzes this weekend’s Braves-Dodgers trade.
- The Loop Sports projects the Cubs’ 2018 pitching staff in the wake of their recent moves.
- Good Fundies and Mets Daddy react to the signing of Anthony Swarzak.
- Kennedy’s Commentary argues that long-term contracts are bad for baseball.
- Jays From the Couch explains how Toronto can contend in 2018 without mortgaging its future.
- Pinstriped Prospects details how Jacoby Ellsbury’s presence could hurt the Yankees’ farm system.
- Collegiate Baseball Scouting Network interviews MLB.com prospect guru Jim Callis about two-way players and 2018 draft prospects.
- The 3rd Man In profiles and talks with left-handed pitching prospect Ryan Weathers, the son of former major leaguer David Weathers and a potential top 10 pick in next year’s draft.
- World Series Dreaming contends that the Cubs are in an enviable position from a payroll standpoint.
- Reviewing the Brew writes a letter to Santa from Brewers general manager David Stearns.
- The Giants Cove doesn’t have much hope for the club heading into next season.
- Think Blue Planning Committee assembles a Dodgers All-Prospect bullpen.
- Baseball Essential says it’s time for a couple AL East teams to rebuild.
- Diehardnyy asks if the Yankees should pursue a trade for Josh Harrison.
- Jays Journal isn’t encouraged by Toronto’s offseason thus far.
- Call to the Pen could see the division-rival Phillies and Mets lining up as trade partners.
- Bat Flips & Nerds breaks down the players coming over from Japan this winter (besides Shohei Ohtani).
- The K Zone points out that pitchers tend to post worse results upon switching from the NL to the AL.
- DiNardo’s Dugout (podcast) discusses their trip to the Winter Meetings and some of the key moves made during the festivities.
- North Shore Nine (podcast) was also on hand at the meetings, and chats about various Pirates rumors.
- Bronx to Bushville (links: 1, 2) focuses on the Yankees’ Giancarlo Stanton acquisition.
- Everything Bluebirds highlights a few Blue Jays prospects who could be in for bounce-back years in 2018.
- The First Out At Third revisits their 2017 bold predictions for the Brewers.
- Rotisserie Duck names some highly touted 1990s prospects who didn’t pan out in the majors.
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The Martinez AND Hosmer idea has to go away now. Ridiculous.
The idea of either shouldn’t exist
How does ellsbury hurt our farm ???
Read the article
I did but the Yankees can just banish him to the bench and keep their prospects. They will be under the luxury tax even with him on the team
I know right! His comment was so dumb.
Which one are you talking about ? Lol
Anyway to this day I still don’t know how Boras managed to hypnotize cashman into signing that contract
I wonder why they never link to Viva El Birdos for a good quality Cardinals blog. These others they always reference are horrible
Links have to be submitted. MLBTR doesn’t scour the internet looking for blogs to post.
Right?! That nyrdcast article is a waste of bandwidth!! Oh and yes,yes they do scour the internet for articles! That’s was the basis of this site from day one.. Tim in an interview said himself that he reads 200+ articles a day finding stuff to share with the readers.. not sure why people are so adamant about it not being mlbtr job to find good articles most of the content here is them gathering others info into one consolidated place.. again the reason this site was founded in the first place.. and we get crappy cards blogs cuz Tim’s a cubs fan duh
You’re right. Half the article was comparing how many games Ozuna and Ellis Burks played on a season.
Ranking Manny Machado’s 5 Possible Trade Destinations
I think Chin Music is a bit outside, they totally neglected to mention the Arizona Diamondbacks. They would be a great fit for a year
Lamb, Machado, Drury, Goldschmidt would be off the charts if it worked!!!!
Lamb would honestly probably be going back in that deal
If they trade for Manny and sign JD and Avila, AZ roll out a
Pollock-Machado-Martinez-Goldschmidt-Lamb-Peralta-Avila-Drury
they’re definitely postseason bound.
Wonder how much cash a team would need to eat for Domingo Acevedo
No way should Acevedo be packaged with Ellsbury. He is a legit pitching prospect who will probably be on some top 100 prospect lists.
The one distinct advantage the Yankees have is money. No way in the world should a top prospect be included in any deal to move Ellsbury. I can see a fringy guy who is either out of options, had injury concerns, might be on the 40 man bubble or still has talent but needs a change of scenery.
Tyler Austin, Luis Cesa or Jake Cave are the kind of guys we can afford to love because of our depth, although Austin is the current back-up to Greg Bird.
If we can’t find a prospect like those mentioned to the liking of a potential trade partner then just wait until a better market develops. and eat that salary until then.
I agree but none of those guys are going to incentivize a team to take on millions of what is essentially dead money when there is a chance that they can acquire them for $20,000 on a waiver claim themselves. Obviously, there’s a wide middle ground between Acevedo and Luis Cessa, which is where the deal would be more likely to materialize. The question really is how badly do the Yankees want to get under the threshhold.
Still doesn’t seem like anyone can come up with a second realistic trade partner for Machado outside of St. Louis.
Cardinals should definitely do it if that don’t have to give up weaver, Reyes or Flaherty….I know everyone thinks that won’t happen but the cardinals ha e a lot of pitching prospects still…Hernandez, Hudson, or Hicks could be had…I heard the cardinals are high on Hicks…I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again…Wacha and Hudson should get it done and maybe throw in another outfield prospect or Grichuk to get it done but that’s a great deal for the O’s
I think there are lot of realistic proposals that could be made by other teams. the question is will they and why would they do it.
For instance, the Phillies have the prospects (the Orioles reportedly love one of their MiLB RHSP Sixto Sanchez), but the Phillies reportedly see no value in trading for Machado as a one-year rental, as he seems determined to test FA.
I suspect the reason the Orioles won’t give teams a window to try to extend Machado is that it’s pointless – Machado has told them he won’t negotiate an extension with any team to which he’s traded. Otherwise, why wouldn’t Duquette do it – he’d wind up with a bigger prospect package if a team is successful.
So, unless the team plans to contend for the WS in 2018, trading for him would be pointless if he’s going to be an FA at the end of the season and you can sign him for just money.
Czon- I agree but the Cardinals just gave up some prospects for two years of Ozuna…he is a Boras client so he’s guaranteed to hit FA…so why wouldn’t the Cardinals go for it…Machado would definitely make them contenders…if the Cardinals gave the O’s Wacha and then sign Arrieta or Darvish they would be all in for 2018…also they would have to get a closer but the Cardinals can easily afford it and plus they won’t be giving up their future because they still have Reyes, Weaver and Flaherty…get it done Cardinals
We agree. It makes sense for the Cards because they can contend in 2018. They won 83 last season, but their run diff says they should have won 87 (which would have tied them for the 2nd WC). If Waino rebounds and can average what he did the last 4 years (160-170IP, 3.50 – 4.00 ERA), and the rest of the team performs up to expectations, then Machado adds enough wins – or should – to get them to the crapshoot that is the postseason.
The Phillies and some of the other teams are much further away, so absent the ability to sign him to an extension as part of the trade, they might as well just wait until he reaches FA and take their chances then.
Exactly…only other team that makes sense is the Yankees but we know what the owner thinks about that…Cardinals should seriously think about it…not to mention the O’s should…Wacha and Hudson is a great return for one year of machado…you say that wainwright should improve but in reality the cardinals expect Reyes to come about and pitch well…plus adding Arrieta gives the cardinals a better rotation than it would have with Wacha
The O’s owner has to just suck it up and Manny to the Yanks, you might as well get good prospects now. There’s a good chance he’ll sign there as a FA next season, so he could end up a Yankee anyway.
Who the hell is Shohei Ohtani?
Pipe dream, n Boston… don’t see both signed, and just my opinion but Bene, is ok in center but he is no JBJ… just saying!
If Frazier and Sheffield are on the table and you can get Dilan bentances , for Harrison Pirates would have acceptedast week.
No one want Andrew and declining range best bet is play out this year and take the draft pick from QA
An open letter to John Henry & Dave Dombrowski. (and now Frank Pimentel of The Sports Tank)
As I see it you have 4 minor areas you need improvement in and 1 major area.
1) (Major) Rebuild your farm and that includes scouts and coaches.
2) 1B Can be solved with Todd Frazier.
3) SP(s) Can be solved with free agents over the next few years
4) 2B Can be solved with Nunez and when Pedroia comes back
5) RP left handed relief. You need at least 1 maybe 2 LRP.
Don’t forget you won the division last year with this team.
So you don’t need much to stay in play.
Don’t trade any young players away.
They get paid very little and they are your future.
And young players often improve.
For those that want a Giancarlo Stanton please note.
Miami’s average attendance in 2017 was 20,395 Boston’s was 36,020.
So, not many come “just” to see Stanton.
Fans come to see a winner.
But yes I concede the TV ratings go up when you have a Stanton type player on a winner.
The key is to have a winner.
And don’t forget teams that have a Stanton type player (big bucks) more often than not can’t afford him.
And end up out of it and thus have to trade him later at the trade deadline or off season.
Dodgson! We’ve got Dodgson here! No one cares.
I really think the Cubs could be a legit trade partner for Ells if the Yanks are willing to eat $14 mil for each of the 3 years left. Ells would effectively be signed to 3/$26 mil ($7 mil x 3 + $5 mil buyout).
Yanks also have an abundance of bullpen arms. What would Cubs say of a deal like Elllsbury. David Robertson and $42 mil for a couple of non top 10 org prospects?
Cubs aren’t adding any dead weight contracts. They’re going after Harper.
How about Ellsbury a prospect and cash to Arizona for Corbin and Descalso