Here are some of the latest hot stove whisperings overheard by Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, detailed in his latest column (insider subscription required and highly recommended)…
- The Mets are “weighing” four players as potential solutions to their need at second and/or third base. They’re interested in free agents Eduardo Nunez, Todd Frazier and former Met Neil Walker, while also exploring the possibility of adding Josh Harrison via trade. The latter would require the Amazins to fork over young outfielder Brandon Nimmo, according to Rosenthal’s sources. Of course, the team has all of Yoenis Cespedes, Jay Bruce and Michael Conforto under control for at least the next three seasons, and Rosenthal posits that they shouldn’t cling too tightly to a fourth outfielder if trading him could help improve their chances in 2018. Furthermore, pivoting to Walker could “spark justifiable criticism” that the Mets are reassembling a losing team; they’ve already re-signed Jose Reyes and Bruce.
- Trade speculation surrounding Brewers outfielder Domingo Santana has spiked ever since the team acquired Christian Yelich and signed Lorenzo Cain just minutes later. But although he slugged 30 homers last season and is just 25 years of age, his trade value may not be as high as one might think. Rosenthal quotes rival executives saying that Santana is “a bad defender” and “not a winning player.” Those comments come off a bit extreme, but it’s worth noting that he struck out in nearly 30% of his plate appearances last season while being worth -5 Defensive Runs Saved in the outfield.
- While it’s been oft-reported that Nationals GM Mike Rizzo isn’t willing to part with top prospect Victor Robles in a trade, Rosenthal suggests that the club could be willing to give up Michael Taylor if his involvement in a deal would help the club net Marlins catcher J.T. Realmuto. On the other hand, some officials in the organization aren’t keen on giving up a player who’s a fairly safe option in the outfield while Adam Eaton is coming off a significant surgery and Bryce Harper is set to become a free agent next winter.
- The Yankees reportedly showed some interest in Indians second baseman Jason Kipnis at some point this offseason. However, that interest has apparently cooled of late. While his contribution towards the luxury tax threshold isn’t significant ($8.75MM per season), his actual remaining salary ($30.5MM guaranteed over two years) might be considered somewhat of a risk for a bounce-back candidate; one rival executive says he’s worth a shot, but not at that price. The 30-year-old Kipnis spent significant time on the DL last season with shoulder and hamstring injuries, and hit just .232/.291/.414 last season when healthy.
Astros should move McHugh and Fisher and Go After Santana to man lf.
Thank God you’re not the Astros GM. Do you remember how Santana got there in the first place? If they didn’t want to trade Fisher for Gerrit Cole, why would they ever trade him for Santana?
He got there via trade from Philadelphia being a PTBNL. After the Astros selected him, the Phillies were surprised he was actually in the list of possible players. His short stint with the ML team was somehow encouraging, but a lot of competition for an OF spot in the organization. Brewers should not be interested in Fisher since he is another MLB ready outfield and McHugh trading value isn’t that great. At this point, McHugh would be another candidate to fill in a back of the rotation spot. I think the Brewers are trying to catch a 2-3 spot caliber arm.
Santana got to Milwaukee in the Carlos Gomez, Mike Fiers deal at the 2015 trade deadline, with Brett Phillips, and Josh Hader. Which player are you talking about?
he was talking about Santana originally being with Philly and going to Houston as a PTBNL.
What a great trade for the Brewers.
Because Santana plays OF and Cole is a pitcher. Duh!
You think Fisher is going to have a better career than Santana? Please. You over value him too much.
I would prefer Fisher over Santana.
You would prefer a guy who hit .212 in 56 games and hasn’t proven a thing in the bigs over a guy who proved he could hit 30?
I will never forget Santana striking out 17 of his first 18 ABs
Take it easy with Michael Taylor you guys
Selling high on Taylor sounds like a good idea
the nats need outfielders this year because of Eaton and next year because of Harper
Without MT, they still have Harper/Eaton/Goodwin/Kendrick and Robles will be ready to take the CF job full time once he gets the extra year of service time…
IF MT helps get a JTR deal done on their terms, they will do it.
Why would the Marlins have any interest in Taylor? That’s a total stumper.
he has less control them yelish who they just traded away
What does “not a winning player.” mean? Is that just scout-speak for something like “with a sample size of 286 games we’re not convinced yet that his babip is sustainable.”?
It means he plays for just the money and he’s not going out their giving great effort on every play
I’ve seen Santana play the vast majority of his games as a Brewer. My only beef with him is that he errors on the side of caution and let’s balls fall in for hits that are clearly catchable if he goes hard.
He’s very selective as a hitter and gets deep in counts but his 2017 was no fluke. He had success against top pitchers. He took Kershaw deep on a night when Kershaw had his very best stuff.
He has an eye condition where his eyes don’t work together. I think it affects his depth perception which is why he plays it safe on softly hit fly balls. It’s grossly unfair to say he’s not a winning player. He’s worked hard and has become a very good major leaguer hitter.
How on Earth can he hit with that kind of vision problem!
Link to any documentation regarding this eye condition?
It does seem the Brewers now have a glut of OF, and Santana would probably bring back the most in a trade.
Gorockies, I realize you are just generalizing and don’t know what you are talking about because yippy probably haven’t seen Santana play. But Santana is well liked by fans and by no means comes off as a “plays for the money”guy. I think the comment is more about him being a poor defensive player and high strikeouts. If you have too many players cut from that cloth it spells disaster usually. It’s easy as fans to see a .280 avg & 30+ HR player and think he’s a superstar in the making, but there is more to a player than that.
he’s not making THAT much money though, so that doesnt really make sense; someone is perceiving lack of effort and then concluding perceived lack of effort comes from not caring.
But the Brewers won 86 games with him in the middle of the lineup all season. Seems to contradict itself there.
Santana makes so much more sense for the Red Sox than JD Martinez and I’m not even a Boston fan.
I agree 1000%
I’ll double it to 2000%.
Why spend 100+MM on JDM if they can somehow pry Santana from the Brewers.
As a Brewers fan I really never even thought of this but this does make a whole hell of a lot of sense
Depends on what the brewers want back. Sox farm isnt stacked.
We want a young SP
Sox really don’t need another outfielder. Realistically the hitter they need can play any position.
I don’t see Boston as a fit from the Brewers side of things… they need MLB ready pitching. Sale isn’t moving, Brewers won’t take on 20M per for Porcello or 30M for Price. Pomeranz is a free agent after this season and Wright is 33 and by all accounts unproven and wouldn’t be more than a 4-5 starter.
Pomeranz could make sense if the red sox thing santana gives them what they need, they could reallocate the savings from the trade plus the Martinez money towards a starter, then they could have a both pitcher and hitter under control.
The Sox don’t need another OF? Yet they are offering JD Martinez 5/$125 million dollar contract ! Ok! Makes perfect sense ! Don’t say he can be the DH! That’s insane
BRucey baby count with me. Andrew Benitendi, Jackie Bradley, mookie Betts. How many outfielders do we start in baseball?
Anybody else like some package of Santana and prospects (or broxton) for kipnis and a starter?
I would do a trade of Santana, Thames, and Broxton for Kipnis and Salazar all day long every day think it works out every day
I think that would be an overpay on the Brewers part. I think if Kipnis is involved in the trade it’s to even out the value difference since starters are considered more valuable than corner outfielders in the market right now and Kipnis is making so much money. Indians don’t really have a need for Thames either.
Hardly think the Nats wouldn’t be willing to part with MT in a JTR deal if its a possibility… They can get by until they get that extra year of service time of Robles with Goodwin/Eaton/Kendrick until they hand CF to Robles for good.
but why would the Marlins want him so bad he’s not under control for a full 6
Taylor doesn’t make much sense for the Marlins in a Realmuto trade. Not gonna swap 3 years of one for 3 of another, when embarking on a rebuild.
Nats will eventually surrender Soto and Kieboom.
or you know just pivot and sign Avila or address C midseason if Wieters bombs again. The best prospect they haven’t made off limits they have is Kieboom.
They aren’t desperate for Realmuto, but he would be great to have. They wont overreach.
JTR also has no other serious suitors and his value isn’t going to get any better holding him. This is an interesting situation.
Agreed. But eventually they will need another quality C, be it Avila, Realmuto or someone else. They can play smart to avoid overpaying though.
I do think holding him can increase value. Once a foul tip puts a primary catcher on the Dl, his value goes up.
include read in the deal
Only see Soto or MAT going in a package for a #3 (for them) pitcher. Last season was probably a reasonable baseline for MAT. Playoffs showed his upside with better pitch recognition-not that he’s going to hit 60 hr—but he can sting the ball if he doesn’t dig a hole by chasing.
Ownership loves Soto and Robles…I don’t see them trading either one.
A WaPo article a couple days ago put Soto alongside Anthony Rendon, Trea Turner, and Victor Robles in terms of guys the Nats wouldn’t consider moving – not in the context of for Realmuto, just in general. I don’t think they’d do Soto for Realmuto straight up, let alone with Kieboom, especially not while there’s cheaper options like Grandal, Avila, or Lucroy available. My guess is that Rizzo draws the line at something like Kieboom, Fedde, Read, and Stevenson, and if the Marlins don’t go for that he signs Avila and reassesses later in the season. There’s no need to rush into giving up a guy the org clearly sees as a potential Harper replacement.
Lol WaPo
In other words, Marlins will be trading Realmuto elsewhere because their fans have already decided he isn’t worth giving up Soto and Kieboom who are in A ball and somehow will help the club more during the Nationals last 2 years of contention before Harper, Murphy, Madson, Gonzalez, Rendon leave.
Won’t be surprised when the Nationals don’t make the world series again and watch harper leave.
2017- Hey Nationals, should upgrade your pen that things a disaster. Hand for Fedde and Kieboom. NEVER! No World Series
2018- Hey Nationals should upgrade your catcher who hit 62 wRC+ as in 38 points below league average. Should trade for Realmuto while keeping Robles and other mlb ready assets in place like Fedde. NEVER! Welp, enjoy.
Wait so if the Nats had traded for Hand last year they would have won the WS? I didn’t realize he would make our bats not suck…
Also, the Nats owners are the ones that don’t want to trade Soto. I know lots of fans that are willing to trade Soto for Realmuto.
“spark justifiable criticism”
You know, I’m not a Met’s fan, but I have to challenge this point. They get a lot of crap, but the Met’s did not “lose” because of Bruce, Walker or Reyes. I would even argue were they able to resign Walker to a 1 year $7.5mm deal, and when adding that with Reyes and Bruce, for a total of $48.5mm owed, that’s not really bad. We’re not talking about onerous contracts. The Met’s sucked last year, because it was an overall malaise with team moral and just underperforming. That rotation has the potential to snap back and be a major force. Where the Met’s “lost” is really at 1st. They sorely need a Rizzo, Goldschmit type. Votto. They need a 1st baseman that can hold down that position for the next 3-4 years and mash 30-40 homers. I say grab Walker and “pivot” to adding another bullpen piece and figuring out 1st base. That should be the priority to get this team winning again.
If DeGrom and Syndergaard stay healthy, I wouldn’t count the rotation out. I’ve more or less given up on Harvey, but I think Matz is still very much redeemable. Lugo was quietly pretty effective for the most part as well. No sure bets, but I’m optimistic that a pitching friendly coaching staff can help get them moving in the right direction.
They can contend with the offense they have (though adding a Walker or Frazier would be nice) but they’ll live or die with the back end of their rotation and the bullpen.
Always saw bour as a good fit if the mets had any prospects
They have great prospects if you don’t understand how the Vegas environment and league inflate stats.
The team has poor defense up the middle
And their pitching won’t hold up. There’s no evidence that pitchers like Matz will ever be able to produce over a whole season.
The Mets lost because they had no pitching
and defense. Period !
Sounds like someone is trying to drive the Domingo Santana price down. I watched alot last year, guy had big hits in big spots.
salazer for santana !
Santana, Broxton Woodruff and a throw in or two for Kipnis and Salazar?
real good deal for the indians
Nope. Broxton and Woodruff have little value and neither would make the Indians major league roster, short of a bunch of injuries.
Ha Woodruff is a top 100 prospect. But ya he has no value. I think you meant Kipnis has no value.
Seamaholic’s opinions have no value
Not in a million years. I don’t know why all the Indian fans think that the Brewers want Kipnis….We don’t! The guy only hit around .232 last year, and has a big contract. Why should the Brewers take on Kipnis when they can get Neil Walker back, Plus, Walker was a good fit with the rest of the Brewer players, and won’t cost anymore than Kipnis. Plus, Walker hit better than Kipnis last year. The Indians would be lucky to pull off a Santana straight up for Salazar trade. You want Broxton, Woodruff, and a prospect or two from the Brewers with Santana……. Wow!
Everyone assumes MILW is easy pickings after giving up the farm for a .280 slap hiitter in Yelich and $80M for a player whose prime asset was speed.
Calling Yelich a .280 slap hitter is a bit of an overstatement. I wouldn’t call him elite, but he gets on base and should hit for more power now that he doesn’t have to play half of his home games in a garish mausoleum.
Cain’s contract was a bad one that I think they’ll come to regret.
Yes! Why does the Crew want an aging player with a poor slash line? Kipnis is not a guy ANY winning team wants right now.
The Brewers would be getting hosed. It seems that Santana is somewhat underrated. He hit in the 3rd spot a majority of the time and put up 30 HRs and 85 rbis and is only 25, Broxton was a 20/20 man, and Woodruff was in starting rotation at end of season.. Kipnis had injury issues last yr, and actually played more games in center. Salazar was also banged up .
Beginning to think Rosenthall is barely more adept at his job then Sherman. Yankees would never trade anything to add salary for an injury prone and when healthy not worth much Kipnis…
Rosentha has limitations.
Sherman is a mets fan who writes about the yankees because Mets articles don’t attract many pairs of eyes. Yankee fans know to speed read his warped sense of his own reality that he tries to attribute to other people however people know better.
The only worse journalist is that idiot Jim Bowman who plays the “let me give you a real GM’s view on this” combined with his confidential sources that are bogus.
Rosenthall is a hack..hell he was even scooped by a teenager on Twitter. Steve Phillips takes the cake as a blowhard but what to you expect from a former Mets GM…
If Steve Phillips was exposed today he might be jail. At least he doesn’t pretend with authority like Bowden. It’s just that Ho’s perspective is so skewed that you know that he made dopey moves as the Mets GM.
The Pirates should trade Harrison and then sign Neil Walker.
Walker is the one player that might get a few of the “fans” to put down their pitchforks.
He’d also be able to play in 3 different infield spots as a switch hitter. Nice piece to have.
Unless they can steal him in ST like they did with Freese, it won’t happen, nor should it. In a retooling year, I’d rather see them give Frazier/Moroff a legit look to see if they have anything.
If they’re going to sign anyone, it should be a cheap 1 year stopgap RH OF, like Rajai Davis, to hold down a spot until Meadows is ready.
Walker would also fit back on the Brewers, as he was an excellent late season acquisition.
With Lagares in the fold you could even argue Nimmo is a fifth OF.
Until Cespedes goes down and the he is 4th.
Your not going to pretend to be optimistic that the guy can play 150 games, are you?
D-Backs should go after Santana in a Corbin deal
The Mets have to be one of the most stale teams in years in regards to moves. Alderson would make much more sense in a smaller market. A team in that market should not be such a failure. He is anemic to risk.
Stale is very accurate. Alderson desperately lacks creativity when it comes to making moves.
He also lacks $$$$ and has NO real authority as Jeff Coupon pulls all of the strings despite not having ANY baseball acumen.
Can someone tell me if Amazins is some sort of nickname for the Mets or if that’s a nick name for their gm? I guess I’m just out of the loop on this one(it’s in the first bullet).
I only know the ’69 Mets being known as the “Amazin’ Mets”
That is the answer. Its due to the ‘69 Mets.
seems like Cesar Hernandez would be a good fit for the Mets; is it not wanting to trade within the divison, or the Phils asking for too much, that leads to him not being under consideration.
Probably the latter. They’ve made trades within the division in recent years (Ramos, Blevins, Uribe and Johnson).
I’d almost call Hernandez a better fit for them than Harrison, apart from the fact that Hernandez doesn’t play third. I’d assume that the return Philly is asking for is robust though, since there’s really no urgency to trade him and he has several more years of reasonably affordable control left.
true, but with KIngery close to major league ready, this could be the time to deal Cesar.
The Mets don’t have any robust players and are short on cash. Otherwise they are still serving flavored popcorn in the clubhouse.
I would rather see the BoSox going after a Jason Kipnis type player vs. a Domingo Santana type. They could use him initially at 2B and as a LH DH.
Mets are weighing them? That’s code for they’re not going to sign any of them for anything close to market value, but if one gets caught without a home because their agent lost the game of musical chairs, then maybe the Mets will offer some BS contract to placate the fan base. Maybe, if the Wilpons get drunk, we offer Frazier for 1 year at 1 billion pennies, some deferred. Fred, even drunk, won’t want to cut into his stash too much in one year.
Hey DXC…do you know how much of the overall payroll goes to Mutt, Jeff and Mutts brother in law, Solly? They’ve got so much family overhead that winning is NEVER a consideration. It’s really a simple game of smoke and mirrors, period.
Do NOT buy any Mets tickets.
Do NOT buy any MLB gear w Mets logos.
Boycott SNY so their ratings tank.
This is the only way to tell the Wilpon that it’s not cool to hold the franchise and its fans hostage.
Boycott them to embarrass these fools.
I assume none of the payroll, except through insurance reimbursement on Wright, But the payroll, middling as it is, misleadingly high in terms of overall spending (draft, IFAs, development, even choice of AAA affiliate, who the hell plays in LV when they’re on the East Coast?). They can’t be efficient even with what they do spend with the way they operate. They’ll pay about 30 mm more for Cespedes for 5 years than if they just gave the contract he asked for (reasonably) after 2015. The future payrolls include that waste. The Bruce signing is typical. A few dollars more and they could have solved a need. Instead they got a name recognizable to Met fans and believe they can fooled. Everything, even medical decisions relate to being cheap and not wanting to be exposed. After 27 years, even a press conference to say “we’re not cheap” can’t fool anyone paying attention.
The profits are in SNY, which has a contract that requires them to pay what’s paid to broadcast the Brewers. In 2015 and 2016 the Mets made money too, couldn’t hide it all, and did not invest even that in the team.
Boycotts are de facto. A franchise that was the first to break 3 million fans, and set multiple attendance records through the 1980s is now dealing with empty seats in an undersized stadium. TV ratings follow the same pattern. Both were better the last few off the WS appearance, but they will start to sink again, and big time the next few. While I’ll always root against the Yankees, it’s actually a little good for the Met fans that the Yankees want to win again (not that they actually do). The last time the Yanks were spending huge it put the pressure to spend of the cheapskates to spend some $$ too, though it was surface fodder to a degree, it was better than what’s gone the past 10 years.