The latest form around the AL East…
- The Blue Jays will be facing a roster crunch when Josh Donaldson returns from the disabled list, Sportsnet.ca’s Shi Davidi writes. The hot-hitting Teoscar Hernandez is the better starting option right now than the slumping Randal Grichuk, though Grichuk is out of options and the Jays don’t want to risk losing him for nothing. The presence of other veterans on pricey contracts (such as Kendrys Morales or Steve Pearce) further creates a positional glut, and demoting Lourdes Gurriel Jr. would leave Toronto without a backup shortstop option. This is just my opinion, but one answer could be to demote Devon Travis, who is hitting just .140/.218/.160 through his first 55 plate appearances. Travis missed most of 2017 due to knee problems and could possibly use some minor league time to get himself back up to speed.
- A trade could also solve the Jays’ roster issues, and Davidi noted that Pearce received some interest during the offseason. After an injury-plagued 2017, Pearce is off to a nice rebound year thus far, hitting .304/.360/.565 over 50 PA as the right-handed hitting side of an outfield platoon with Curtis Granderson. Even with roughly $5.3MM still owed to him this year, Pearce could be attractive to a team looking for a right-handed bat at first base or in the corner outfield. Pearce is a much more viable trade chip than Morales, who is owed $23MM in 2018-19, can only play DH at this point, and is off to another slow start at the plate.
- Blake Swihart’s lack of playing time has created “a cruel catch-22” for the utilityman and the Red Sox, The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey writes (subscription required). Swihart has appeared in 10 of Boston’s first 21 games, with only two of those appearances coming in the starting lineup, and thus he hasn’t done much to enhance his trade value to potential suitors. On the other hand, there isn’t yet any indication that the Sox are open to trading Swihart, as doing so would suddenly leave the team thin at catcher if Christian Vazquez or Sandy Leon got injured. (Though it should also be noted that Swihart has yet to appear behind the plate this season.) Swihart is out of options, and can’t be sent to Triple-A without being exposed to waivers and very likely claimed by another team, so the Sox aren’t going to part ways with the former top prospect without getting anything in return. While not an ideal situation for Swihart, of course, it’s something of a good problem to have for the Red Sox — the reason Swihart isn’t getting more regular playing time is because the rest of Boston’s lineup is on fire amidst an excellent 17-4 start to the season.
- Evaluators from the Cubs and Cardinals were recently on hand to watch the Rays last week, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports. The Rays’ limited payroll capability could make them sellers regardless of their record, though the team is also off to a slow 8-13 start overall (though Tampa has won five of its last six games). It isn’t known what players were being watched, though the Cubs have been heavily linked to Chris Archer in the past while the Cardinals had strong interest in Alex Colome this offseason.
It sucks that Travis is so bad right now but he needs to be the one sent down. His bat is too good and with some time to work out his kinks in the minors, hopefully he’ll be back to himself. It sucks how injuries have seemed to impact his career so far
AAAA player
Ooo, you’re super cool because you talk in baseball code. NOT!
Just an annoying, arrogant jerk with errant opinions.
Travis had 2 major surgeries in the off season. It is possible that the Jays gave rushed him back since “made of glass” Tulo decided at the end if spring training that he was giung to sit on his ass for over half of the season & they had already outrighted Goins.
It’s not like the Jays don’t have a history of rushing players back from the DL or anything. But then, I’ve been watching this team ruin players since the 70s.
A total glut of outfielders & shortage of infielders; but by all means, send Travis down. Lets not trade a piece that we can get something of value for.
Travis has little or no value on the trade market. Goins and Barney have more value than he does.
How is he not the epitome of a AAAA player?
Depends on your criteria.
I don’t think you understand what AAAA means
Travis should go down for now but it wouldn’t be a bad idea to start thinking about DFA’ing Morales. Sure you’d have to eat a lot of cash but if you’re not getting any value the cash is out the window anyway.
Let’s all not forget a year ago today Devon Travis rolled in with a crisp .109 heading into April 23, 2017, where he got 2 hits and bumped his avg to .136. By the end the evening on June 2, he was up to .263. Maybe he needs more at bats. He is also injury-prone which does not help.
Exactly my point. Travis’ potential is there & just maybe he was rushed back before he was at 100%.
They have so many freaking outfielders & a useless piece of crap & half blind DH. I wouldn’t shed a tear to see Morales go away FOR GOOD!
The Cubs should be looking for infield help as injuries have hit them hard. Rizzo’s injury will be a problem all year, Zobrist has a serious injury and hopefully Benson is ok after today. The Cubs have alot of problems and their slow start should prompt them into doing something. quick. Archer makes alot of sense especially considering what a bust Chadwood has been.
I believe the cubs are on their last legs. The run is over and no pitching help in sight for them. Starters only going 4 or 5 inning and bullpen will be wipeout by July. Nice run but back to the ole drawing board.
The pitching will come around. Lester is going downhill, but Quintana, Darvish, and Hendricks are all great.
Lester is not at his peak, but he’s also arguably the best fourth starter in the majors. While our starting pitching has been slow out of the blocks, I trust the history of each of these starters and I’m not worried.
Are you serious?!? The Cubs have all-star caliber players at every position. The pitching hasn’t been good so far, but Darvish and Quintana will both rebound. Trolls like you shouldn’t make comments like this.
Hahaha, don’t feed the trolls, they aren’t even clever trolls. The Cubs window is wide open til AT LEAST 2022. It’s talked about almost ad nauseam on MLB network, ESPN, prospectus, SI, etc… 3 straight NLCS, A World Series ring in the bank and half these kids haven’t even hit their prime yet.
Who’s the outfielder they have that’s all star caliber? I’m not agreeing with the OP but your response is as ridiculous as his.
All-Star caliber at EVERY position ? You mean like that star-studded outfield ? Those all-stars? Maybe it’s that loaded bullpen full of all-stars you’re talking about ! LoL
How many all stars from last years team?
How many all star cubs were in the all star team last year?
…from your mouth to God’s ears..
Moron. Hey those 24 year olds are on their “last legs.” Jesus.
Haha, exactly!
You mean Rizzo, Baez(Zobrist is not a long term solution), Russell, Bryant around the infield and Contreras behind the plate is on its “last legs?” That group has an average age of 25.6 years old. In the rotation, Darvish, Quintana, and Hendricks are good. Lester is declining and Chatwood isn’t that great, but it is still a top rotation in the NL. Outfield and bullpen aren’t great, but they are still not bad with Happ and Morrow.
Not even close to being a top rotation in the NL. Little League maybe!
You sound like a hopeful ChiSox fan. Dream on!
So, as some of these players are still approaching their primes, you think it’s time for the Cubs to start rebuilding? Wow! Simply, wow!
LOL. You don’t watch a lot of baseball, do you?
Dude, we’re only 20 games into the season, and the Cubs are (now) a very respectable 11-9.
Chatwood also just went 6 innings, and only gave up 1 earned run and 4 hits.
Ha ha sky is falling sky is falling . 2016 World Series champions flag will fly at wrigley forever.
I have to politely disagree with everything you said. Plus, even though Archer would be better than Chatwood. They would likely have to subtract from the major league roster when there is already a solid starting five plus depth with Montgomery, Butler, and Adzolay likely ready to help by late summer.
Butler is a AAA starter and Mike Montgomery is a #5. They’re not helping.
Ah, good old Benson. Heart and soul of the Cubs!
Haha!
One of my favorite players!
the thing is who are the Cubs going to trade for Archer? They have nothing much in the minors (not even a top 100 prospect) and who else would Tampa want from the Cubs Major league roster? Not to mention the Cubs would have to beat out plenty of other teams who have more talent than the Cubs….its’s not looking good for the cubs and that trade…I don’t see it happening
Chatwood 3.74 e.r.a. > archer 6.59
The last thing the Cubs need is infield help. They have a ton of infield depth. Why would the go after Archer? It doesn’t make any sense. Certainly, Chatwood and Darvish are off to slow starts, but you don’t panic after four starts each, not to mention that they invested $160m in those two starters. And what would the Cubs have to give up for Archer. I’m sorry, but I’m just not buying what you’re selling. Btw, Bryant passed all concussion protocol.
Benson? What position does he play again for the baby bears?
19 games in and cubs are only 2 games out . Sky isn’t falling yet.
That’s the problem with Travis though, he just can’t seem to stay healthy. Some time in the minors to get back on the horse may do him well, but I’m not confident that he’ll ever be able to stay healthy for a full season.
I think dealing Pearce, or maybe Pillar who is swinging the bat well may be the answer. Teosacar is a very nice player who will develop into a borderline MLB all-star. Don’t send him down, get him into the lineup daily.
Trading Pillar gives the team a major problem in CF. Grichuk can’t play CF. Teoscar can’t play CF. Granderson can’t play CF. Pillar has more value on this Jays team than people realize. The guy to cut loose is Morales, eat the contract and admit it was not the best idea to sign him.
Teoscar has played a lot of CF and has enough range to be viable there full-time. He wouldn’t be Pillar out there, but he could probably be an average CF defensively.
I don’t see either Coloma or Archer coming to St. Louis. The bullpen is very crowded at the moment, so Colome isn’t needed. Our rotation has been good too. I just don’t see a fit between the two clubs.
The rotation has been good. But Archer is better than at least 2 of the pitchers in that rotation (and likely closer to 3-4 of them).
All of them…Archer is better than all of the Cardinal starters.
lol he is better than Martinez? ok i guess
Yea, ok ! Then he’d be the Ace in Chicago for sure!
Archer is overrated. A career ERA in high 3s, a nice K rate, but I wouldn’t call him an ace. He’s valued so much because of his team friendly contract. Martinez is off to great start, but he’s never finished a season with a sub 3 ERA and has struck out more than 200 in a season once. That being said, I like his stuff better than Archer, so he would slot behind Martinez, especially this year.
No clue where he’d go in the Cubs rotation, maybe 3rd behind Lester and Darvish. Who knows? Darvish, like Archer, is off to a rough start this year. Honestly, it makes no sense for the Cubs to go after him.
Their rotation is set for years to come. Chatwood might be good, might not be, but it really doesn’t matter. Montgomery can take his spot at anytime and once you get to the post season, you never use a 5th starter, rarely even your 4th. I’ll take my chances with any combination of Lester, Q, Darvish and/or Hendricks in the playoffs.
Due to contrary belief throwing 200 ks doesn’t make you an ace. Plenty of guys do it without gaudy strike out numbers I’d take over archer any day.
Yes
Put Archer in the NL Central and he will have a renaissance.
If I had to guess, if he were to come to the NL Central it would be to Milwaukee, I don’t see STL or CHI paying the prospect cost for him. Again, with the signing of Yu and the trade for Q, the Cubs don’t need him anymore. Their entire rotation is locked up for years to come. He’d be a great fit for the Brewers though.
Just release Morales, he’s wasting a roster spot and hasn’t been above replacement level because of poor fielding and running since 2015. Pearce was good as recently as of 2016 and is destroying the ball right now. He destroyed the ball after his poor April last season too before getting injured.
If he stays as the DH everyday, there’s a very good chance Pearce will remain productive. Morales is a sunk cost, the team is faster and better overall without him on the 25 man roster.
Yep. It would allow Pearce, Granderson, Donaldson and (maybe) Tulowitzki to DH. Allows Teoscar to stay and provides more flexibility.
If there wasn’t a better option, then yes, but Travis is hitting even worse and can be sent down. No point in wasting an asset yet when you don’t have to. Morales should not be playing regularly however, the hotter bats need to be kept in the lineup.
Morales is an asset? Did he suddenly learn to play the OF? Did he run a 3.1 from home to first base? Did the Blue Jays come to the sudden realization they need Morales to bat cleanup every night? This asset was left in Missouri.
“Limited payroll capability could make them sellers regardless of their record.”
If that’s the case, then MLB has to step in and solve that issue
It’s by design. These teams that claim they “can’t compete financially” provide prime time talent to contending teams.
St Louis should have been in the bidding for J. D. Martinez but there were the Marlins offering Marcell Ozuna for almost nothing.
Milwaukee, the Yankees, the Marlins help murder the free agent market. So do the Rays with Archer and during the winter the Pirates with Gerrit Cole.
If these teams selling because they “can’t afford to pay players” did not exist the free agent market would have been over with by the end of the first day of the winter meetings and the prices would have been huge.
The Cards wanted to get better on defense as well as get a big bat! Martinez would not of helped in that matter. I think they made a very good deal with Ozuna instead!
By that logic, MLB should have stepped in when your team was intentionally tanking for a few seasons. Short memories I guess.
Cubs need to realize their “dynasty” isn’t going to happen. Russell, Schwarber, Baez, and Almora haven’t been the players they expected, bad contracts were handed out to Zobrist, Heyward, and Darvish, and their farm is completely shot. The pitching needs to get going if they want to contend. They’ll be lucky if they make the playoffs again with this core.
What a perfectly ill timed moment to make that comment. The 4 guys you mention had a combined 21 hits this weekend. Try again.
At the the risk of being that guy, they played a weekend in CO. That said making a statement based upon 1 weekend seems a terrible hill to die on, especially a weekend at Coors. Not saying that I disagree with you, just your usage of a weekend in a hitters paradise as a sample size worth anything.
Ok, the Cubs lead the league in runs scored. I believe they haven’t played all their games at Coors this year. They’ve also played in horrible weather when they actually did play. Everything is fine the season is barely 1/10 done.
The point is use the season the guys have had instead of a weekend in Coors. I didn’t disagree with the premise that the Cubs being cooked was ludicrous. I just said that using a a weekend in Coors to prove a point wasn’t a great stance. Give me the fact that Almora, Baez, and Scwarber have gotten off to pretty good starts. You really don’t need much else.
Didn’t they play the Marlins in Miami for a few games already ? How bad was that weather again ?
brucewaynewannabe In spite of the weather, the rainouts, the Cubs STILL lead the NL in Runs per game, in fact, in spite of playing the least amount of games, the Cubs have scored more runs(110) in total than any team in the NL except the Braves (111). So again, it get your self esteem issues make you wanna be a troll, but it kinda backfires when you can’t do simple research before making yourself look even more like a d bag.
Don’t feed the pathetic thirsty trolls, especially the trolls that are too simple to even be clever. Obviously half these kids haven’t even peaked yet, the window is WIDE open til at least 2022, btw… the new TV money hasn’t even kicked in yet. All is good on the North Side.
I doubt after back to back in 1907 and 1908 they thought their window had closed either. Don’t worry Cubs fans! It’s only 106 years until the next one!
jmc70 I know you’re trying to troll, probably cuz you have nothing better to do in your pathetic life, but PLEASE try harder! At least try to be entertaining about it, try to be at least a little clever. Save this Bush league garbage for people that don’t know any better. It’s bad enough to be a troll but it’s even more embarrassing to be so bad at it. Sorry, but the 30 seconds of attention I just gave you is all your worth, perhaps about 28 seconds more than your worth. You’re in timeout until you can at least pretend to be killer, now go do the dishes like your mom told you.
Bryzzo…young nucleus the Cubs have is an amazing luxury, and Cubs fans should be excited. However, there are a couple of concerns that can’t be overlooked…
– Jason Heyward contract is atrocious. When you begin to add up the other salaries given to core players, that Heyward contract could be what stops the organization from getting that 1 player they need to put the team over the top. It hasn’t happened just yet, thankfully.
– Aging starting pitchers. That could become a problem down the line. I’m sure there are prospects coming up in the near future. Also, a trade or two can solve the pitching situation (Soler trade a prime example).
The Cubs are a model many teams are trying to copy and learn from; copy in-terms of building young talent from within and trading for young talent, and not make a mistake in free agency (Heyward). That is one reason why many free agents received below market value, in my opinion.
And how many years for all other teams???? Dynasty is hard in baseball . Winning one World Series is too. Indians didn’t return last year and dodgers and Astros rematch is no guarantee. So many things have to happen in baseball. What team has been better than cubs last 3 years? 3 straight nlcs appearances one World Series trophy and 2 division titles
It has to be fairly straight forward now for the Jays, you’re a decent team and your youngsters are also your best players so both rebuilding and competing is done with the same lineup on the field. Send Travis down to gain confidence at the dish or get Morales gone off the roster. Teoscar and Gurriel are the way to go and then Travis can come back up in time. There’s no reason to keep morales admit the mistake and move on.
The right move for the Jays is to release or trade Grichuk. They got fleeced in the trade. He is a AA bat trying to play in the Majors. Terrible professional scouting. Morales has eye/hand co-ordination problems and the glasses are new as he is trying to sort it out. If he can he’ll be an okay piece to keep. They cannot trade him and they will not release him this year. Won’t happen.
I wonder if Travis can ever play on turf. My bet is no, he cannot. He is fragile. Plus the Jays keep trying to bat him lead off. He’ll never be a major league lead-off man; he doesn’t have the aptitude for it.
I still am calling for the Jays rotation to fall apart so thus this season will be another phoney we can compete marketing thing when they cannot compete. The rotation cracks are now starting to show. As I have said before, Happ will and is regressing, Stroman will have his blowup inning every 2nd start, Estrada will get hammered as his back tires out and for Sanchez we will know how he is doing after 10 starts.
Trading pierce is an okay move too if they can get anything for him.
Anyone notice that Smoak is back to his usual self? I wonder what caused the abderation the first half of last year when after 6 yrs in the bigs and 3000 ab’s his bat speed sped up dramatically. Now it is back to the old speed. How does that happen? lol.
The team we saw over the Yankees series this past weekend where the Jays lost 3 of 4 is the real Jays team we are going to get this year. If Shaprio and Atkins had done the right thing and blown it up 2 yrs ago after the last playoff appearance, we wouldn’t have 2 or 3 extra ongoing down years. It only took the Yankees 2 years to rebuild. It is going to take at least another 2 or 3 years before this team is ready to compete for a championship. Don’t beleive any koolad that says otherwise.
RedSox first in AlEast. Yankees 2nd. Jays 3rd and out of the playoffs.
To answer your question about Smoak, yes. I’d almost rather see him hit exclusively right handed.
Keep in-mind two things regarding the rebuild decision; 1) Jays ownership was losing significant money in other entities and could not afford seeing attendance and TV ratings drop. They would spend probably 15-20 mil less than necessary in-hopes of competing and saving a dollar…2) Jays fans were very upset over the decision not to retain Alex Anthopoulos. They loved what he did in 2015. Fans aren’t completely on-board with Shapiro & Atkins. Delaying the rebuild may have been a PR move on-top of financial reasons.
To put things into perspective, Boston signed JD Martinez, Yankees traded for Giancarlo Stanton, Jays signed Curtis Granderson. No disrespect to Granderson, but…
The Padres should kick the tires on a possibly trade for Blake Swihart.
AJ Ellis honestly offers the Padres nothing for the situation they are currently in. Hedges is what he is at this point which is a defense first catcher with a little bit of pop but with no average at all, so why couple that with an anemic hitting 40 year old back up who also provides nothing other than “veteran leadership”?
So why not just admit that Hedges is the starter and is old enough that he doesn’t need to be baby sat by a veteran but more so, he should be complimented by a left handed hitting, athletic guy who could bounce around a little bit when not spelling Hedges or when he is in another one of his slumps.
I heard someone say the Cardinals could be looking to trade Sam Tuivalaila (out of options RHP) and get back a LHP reliever with options from Tampa. Ryan Yarbrough and Jose Alvarado both fit that bill. With Sherriff and Cecil on the DL and Lyons (the only lefty now) struggling, this would make sense. Tui has no options and is fighting for one of the final spots in that bullpen.
Sheriff is getting ready to come off the DL
I mean knowing the Rays you could probably get both of them as salary dumps
League minimum adds up- especially when you’re drawing 900 fans a night.
Q. Who is currently leading baseball in RBIs, triples and intentional walks?
Hint: It’s someone who hasn’t been counted on for much offense in the past,because his defense has kept him on his team.
Well he has the triple crown, let’s give him a trophy.
I’ve never seen such a concerted effort to make someone a star before they’ve actually done anything more than the media and Cubs fans than with Javier Baez. It’s pathetic. Call me when he puts something together in more than a 20 game sample.
Well, the media, both locally and nationally love the kid. Essentially those that actually get paid for their opinion. He’s definitely a fan favorite because of how exciting his game is. His potential has been talked about ad nauseam. Perhaps he put it all together this year, or maybe it’s just a hot streak. As someone that watches him closely, he’s definitely made adjustments at the plate, FINALLY using the whole field and his power and defense is undeniable. That being said, he certainly hasn’t earned “star” level yet, but he’s still young the potential is very exciting.
As a Cubs fan, I actually agree with you, and I was never FULLY on the Baez train, simply due to his history of taking extremely wild swings, swinging at seemingly everything, too many strikeouts, not being clutch (at least from my perception), and making unproductive outs.
So, I understand where you’re coming from. With that said, even though it’s a small sample size, this year, something is definitely different — in a great way.
I really think Chili Davis (current Cubs hiring coach) has had a positive impact on him. John Mallee (former Cubs hitting coach) was never known as some sort of hitting guru.
He was just a carryover from a coaching administration that was in place before Maddon got there, and from when the team was horrible.
Ever since he’s been gone, the kid is hitting up to his potential. I mean, almost the whole team is tearing the cover off the ball, now…..even Heyward. I think we are finally seeing the real Baez.
Mallee was hired as hitting coach for the 2015 season in early October of 2014 two days after Mueller (who was a pretty good hitting coach — he got Castro an Rizzo out of their Sveum slumps) resigned the position and Maddon was hired a few weeks later. Even though Maddon officially wasn’t yet on the Cubs payroll, he was probably consulted before Theo hired Mallee. And if Maddon wasn’t consulted, why would he keep keep him? Anyway, he worked out pretty well for most of the team (with a couple of exceptions), the first couple of years at least.
Time to say bye to Leon