The Phillies are expected to be one of the offseason’s busiest teams, and thus it’s no surprise they’re heavily featured in this latest roundup of hot stove news from MLB.com’s Jon Paul Morosi. Some highlights…
- The Phillies have interest in Mariners shortstop Jean Segura and closer Edwin Diaz. We’ve already heard Segura’s name linked to the Padres and Yankees in rumors, and Philadelphia could also make sense as a landing spot given their lack of production from the shortstop position (a sub-replacement -1.8 bWAR in 2018). Trading for Segura also wouldn’t necessarily close the door on the possibility of signing Manny Machado, as the Phils could use Machado at third base. Then again, the four years and $58MM remaining on Segura’s contract makes him a cheaper alternative to Machado, though Segura also has some control over his future in the form of a full no-trade clause. It isn’t yet clear if the M’s would consider dealing Diaz since, with four years of control remaining over the star closer, the team would be theoretically reloaded and ready to contend while Diaz is still on the roster. The Braves are another team with interest in Diaz, Morosi reports.
- The Diamondbacks “are confident” they’ll be able to trade Zack Greinke without having to absorb any of the $95.5MM still owed on the right-hander’s contract over the next three seasons., a source tells Morosi. It’s a very short list of teams with the available payroll space and willingness to make such a big move, which is why Morosi feels the Phillies “are the most logical suitors.” While the Phillies are also checking into a plethora of other pitching options (including Patrick Corbin and J.A. Happ), Greinke would cost the team less than Corbin would in a long-term commitment. Acquiring Greinke would also come at a player cost, of course, though it’s possible Arizona would take only a relatively middling prospect return just for the sake of getting Greinke entirely off the books.
- Speaking of Happ, the veteran left-hander is generating a lot of buzz in free agency. In addition to the Phillies, the Angels, Astros, and Brewers are new teams who Morosi adds to the already-lengthy list of clubs (the Blue Jays, Reds, Twins, White Sox, and Yankees) who have previously been rumored to have some level of interest in Happ’s services. Of the newly-cited teams, Milwaukee and Houston offer Happ the best chance of competing for a World Series in 2019, while the Angels and Phillies are a few steps behind at this point of the offseason, though obviously L.A. and Philadelphia each have designs on significant roster upgrades this winter.
BlueSkyLA
So is the thinking now is that Grienke’s contract is under market?
fred-3
Arizona’s desire to move him so badly says it’s not
sidewinder11
Not under market…. but he comes with just a 3 year commitment which is more reasonable to a lot of teams than a 5 or 6 year deal, even if the price is a bit steep.
dimitrios in la
Yep, might be willing to spend more annually.
BlueSkyLA
The point of my question being, up until this very moment, all the talk was about how much cash the D’backs would have to kick in to move Grienke. Now it’s about how much return they can expect without kicking in any. So before the conventional wisdom was his contract was over market. Now it’s under. Interesting how the evaluation has changed, even though all of the facts are exactly the same.
bush1
Morosi is an idiot. No one is taking Greinke’s horrendous contract without it being paid down a lot. To think otherwise is silly.
SoCalBrave
it’s more like they are willing to unload him for peanuts
coach him
that’s because hes almost done. Phillies would be foolish to take him on.
dimitrios in la
He looked outstanding in a start I saw him make against LA this year.
Ejemp2006
Greinke hate is completely misguided. He is still a front line starter and borders on greatness at times. He is a pitcher, not a thrower, so he is aging very well. The Phillies would be smart to pick him up if the Snakes are just looking to dump salary and expect almost nothing in return. Corbin and Happ have never, and won’t ever, pitch at a CY Young level. Greinke is better if you can afford him.
SoCalBrave
I believe Greinke has at least 2 good years left, maybe even the 3 that’s left on the contract. If the Braves could afford to absorb his full salary without hindering other signings, I would love for them to take him away from the snakes.
jdgoat
I do think they’ll be able to get something decent in return, but they are definitely going to have to eat money.
Christian Larsen
Unless they’re willing to get little in return. If the Phillies and Yankees don’t want to commit 5-6 years for top tier starting pitching, they have the money to absorb it.
dimitrios in la
Yep, not sure either what they mean by “confident.” Stirring up demand?
baseballpun
I could see the Cards as a landing spot for Greinke.
c1234
Cardinals get Goldschmidt and Greianke for Hesley, Kelly, Munoz and eat Grienkes contract and call it an offseason.
c1234
I can’t spell :/ Grienke*
nymetsking
3rd time’s the charm.
chino31
Try a fourth time
baseball10
And the Dbacks would hang up
CardsNation5
Make a ton of sense for the Cardinals, but will they do it? I personally think that they should because Martinez is not an ace and Wacha can’t stay healthy. Flahtery is still young. If the Cardinals are serious about building a division winner, they need to make it happen. IMO
cardinalmike
They are not on his no trade list.
BigFred
No way Greinke wants to play in front of the Philadelphia crowd.
nymetsking
ikr. He could retire by May.
MarinerJunky
Can’t wait until the Phil fans come up with these crazy second tier prospects for Díaz and Segura.
tarheelfan
Santana and Crawford and a prospect. Done.
gavinrendar
Carlos Santana? Doesn’t fit the M’s plans.
myaccount
Agreed. Zero chance Dipoto is interested in an aging, 20ish million per year player, whose power is declining and defensive has evaporated.
bravesfan88
I’m like 99.9% positive he’s just being sarcastic, in response to MarinerJunky’s comment..
With that remaining .1% saved, on the off chance he’s actually just an incredibly delusional Phillies fan..lol
I don’t think anyone is truly that dumb though, especially to honestly believe the Mariners want any part of Santana..lol
gavinrendar
Ah yes. Sound theory.
JKB 2
Tarheelfan why would the Mariners want Santana?
Johhos
Ok Seattle.. We’re taking money…. What do you want? Medina is a top pitching prospect…you can have Medina, JP Crawford and choice of OF not named Hoskins. to start… But Medina and Crawford alone should be enough for Segura…Now Diaz I agree we need to pony up more….
dshires4
There’s no scenario that makes sense for the Mariners that doesn’t start with Sixto, in my opinion. I’m a Mariners fan so I’m definitely going to say we deserve more, but Sixto, Romero, and Moniak is my package for Diaz. Segura? Not sure. I think his market is more dependent upon Machado. Diaz makes sense for every other club in baseball.
jorleeduf
Sixto is untouchable
sgtpain20
Isn’t Sixto 64 yrs old
myaccount
If Sixto is untouchable, you can move on to a different reliever. M’s don’t need to trade him imminently and others will offer a better headliner than any Philly prospect not named Sixto.
yetigonecrazy
agreed 100%. Trading Paxton was pretty much a done deal, but Diaz will require a much heftier asking price.
JKB 2
Sixto is not untouchable in exchange for 4 years of Diaz
Stevil
Philly simply doesn’t have what Seattle would need out of Diaz. Seattle has at least a few interesting outfielders in Lewis, Bishop, and Fraley within reach of the majors. They could use 2-3 more starting pitching prospects, but they really need infielders and catchers.
Diaz–if Jerry was willing–would probably fit better with LAD, Atlanta, St. Louis, or even Tampa as a dark horse.
bababooeytoyall
I agree. Segura will go wherever Machado does not land. I’m sure the Yankees would rather have Segura who will cost much less than Machado. I’ve heard that Machado May sign with the Yankees.
bababooeytoyall
No one is untouchable
elmore80
Braves send 2 or 3 pitching prospects and Riley for Diaz.
gavinrendar
I’m an M’s fan and Medina and Crawford for Segura sounds pretty reasonable to me.
Segura is a solid asset but he’s not super cheap. I’d probably take this deal.
bravesfan88
Wouldn’t you guys be worried about how the Phillies’ top prospects have performed lately?!?
I know I would, but then again only to a certain extent. Believe it is obviously on a case by case basis, but it just seems like the bast majority of the top prospects haven’t lived up to anything near their hype once they reach the ML level..
Not trying to troll Philly fans or anything, I’m just being honest..
Vogt83
You mean like Nola and Hoskins??? Those top prospects?
AndyMeyer
They have 3 in the top 100. More than enough as a start to get segura or Diaz
Joe Kerr
Is it known who is on Greinke’s no trade list?
timtim007
With all the bad contracts out there now and in the past i.e. ARod, Pujols, Cano, Grienke, etc, why do so many clubs continue to sign players to these monster long term deals? I know Harper and Machado will end up signing long term deals also that down the road teams probably will regret. I know if one team refuses to sign them, another team more than likely will step up and sign them.
I know if you want these players playing for your team right now, that is what it takes, but it puts the team between a rock and a hard place.
Adam6710
Because teams hope they can win a championship before the deal turns sour. They’re willing to deal with an albatross later for a shot at a title now.
kbarr888
True……Because winning a WS will bring in revenues that will probably exceed the cost of paying that player later.
Grienke is making about $35 Mil/year for 3 years. He could easily be good for 2 of those 3 years, depending where he pitches (but if he did pretty good playing 82 games in Arizona’s HR derby park…… 3.21 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, .231 BAA)
Teams can easily see an increase in revenues in the $25 Mil – $35 Mil range after winning the Series. That’s 1 whole Year of Grienke for free. It’s worth it……sometimes……
reds fan 913
plus merchandise value
Samuel
Any team that is a serious WS contender and is happy to take on an additional $35mm a year for a pitcher, is very probably near the payroll tax limit. $35mm will put them over. And since the contract is for 3 years, it will keep them over unless they jettison existing contracts, which in turn limit their ability to compete. As has happened to the D-Backs.
As for the additional WS revenues, teams near or over the luxury tax are already factoring in additional post-season revenue. Therefore, much if not all of the potential additional revenues to be generated have already been accounted for before the $35mm is laid out.
Think you’ve been reading the hyperbolic reports Scott Boras uses to sucker inexperienced owners.
In the real world it’s greed and impatience that often steps forward, not any sort of logic. It only takes one owner that wants it NOW, and in reality, each year there are 2-4. The Phillies owner is this years new poster boy, a few years ago it was the new Padres owner that paid a fortune for AJ Preller’s magic beans.
Grienke is as solid a pitcher as there is in MLB. He’ll be moved this off-season. But adjustments due to his salary will probably be made to make a trade work.
This past season the Indians went over budget to make a post-season run. They didn’t get to the WS or AL Championship Series. So they’ve had to let Brantley go (with no replacement for him) along with others, and they are dangling Kluber or Carrasco – both of whom are on team favorable contracts – because the postseason income never materialized.
JKB 2
Samuel that was a very logical thought out post. What you said makes a lot of sense
AndyMeyer
All those guys signed those deals when they were towards their 30s. Harper and Machado are 26. No comparison. It’s why they both will set record deals. You almost never see this happen
hiflew
Well with getting Segura, I could see JP Crawford being a large part of the return along with another couple of mid range prospects.
If Diaz is included, we are talking probably Sanchez, Moniak, Crawford and one or two of their lefty pitchers in the 15-30 range.. With Diaz we are talking about a t least a Ken Giles package.
briansaglimben15
Mariners get:
J.P. Crawford
Adonis Medina
Zach Eflin
JoJo Romero
Maikel Franco
Enyel De Los Santos
Phillies get
Segura
Diaz
briansaglimben15
Phillies could also cover all of Segura’s remaining money
bucketbrew35
“Mariners get:
J.P. Crawford
Adonis Medina
Zach Eflin
JoJo Romero
Maikel Franco
Enyel De Los Santos
Phillies get
Segura
Diaz”
Yeeeaaahhh no I don’t think so.
brian214
Yeeeeaaaahhhh (see, I can do that too), that’s actually pretty close to what Seattle will be able to get. 2 position players that they can plug in right away, Medina is a #2 type starter, with 3 more good upside arms.
Cat Mando
Proof that pot is legal in WA
SoCalBrave
J.P. Crawford’s value is at an all time low right now. No way Seattle gives up Segura and Diaz without Sixto, or Bohm in the deal.
dshires4
That’s what I said earlier and Phillies fans left resounding down votes. Any deal with the Phillies involves Sixto. If not, we move on. That shouldn’t even be negotiable.
bucketbrew35
Good for you Brian. But now it’s time to come back to reality. Crawford has a low value right now but he’s hardly worth punting after one abbreviated MLB season. The talent is still there. And his worst injury had nothing to do with durability.
Moving on, contrary to the nonsense on here, Franco HAS value. If you actually watched the games this year you’d realize that he did a decent job rebuilding his value. Ask the Padres, they certainly like his talent.
Now on to the pure nonsense. Four arms, FOUR. All of which have the upside of #3 starters (in Medina’s case potentially a #2). Hell, Eflin started pitching like a 3 already THIS year. Teams would kill for that much cheap young controllable pitching depth (3 of them contributed to the rotation this year). And you think all four of them will be flipped in a deal with two additional players for 2 guys? Again, yeah, no.
How often do you see a 6 for 2 trade? How about when a package of this magnitude is traded for a player who is still owed $50 million and has already been traded 4 times in his young career? The stud reliever part partially makes sense but when you really think about it the free agent market is currently saturated with quality late inning arms.
So again I say yeeaahhh no. And not even because I’m trying to be dismissive. It’s because the trade proposal is incredibly naive and quite frankly stupid. The fact that you even consider this as a fair deal makes me glad you are nowhere near a position to run an MLB team. Have a nice night.
cheesesteak
Phillies would overpay Kimbrel before unloading 5 prospects on Diaz.
SoCalBrave
Also, both of those “position players that they can plug in right away” are currently downgrades from what they already have, and the Mariners are not trying to rebuild, but rather retool, so they need impact players that can play right now, not 4 pitchers that have a chance to be a #3 starter a few years down the road.
jbigz12
Does Franco have value? He certainly doesn’t have much. He’s a roughly league average hitter who plays well below league average defense. Diaz is arguably the most valuable reliever in the game and segura is currently a huge upgrade to Crawford. That’s not a massive overpay by Philadelphia. You give up 3 good looking young arms and JP Crawford for the one of the best controllable closers in baseball and Jean segura. You can take Franco out if it makes you feel better because he’s not adding any value to the M’s anyway. And most likely the Phillies would want to keep say Romero and move a positional player instead just because 4 arms is a significant amount to give up in one deal if you’re not a team like the braves. As far as value goes it isn’t far off at all.
Vogt83
Easy. Then no deal. Why the he’ll would anyone…ever. Give up their top prospect… Or even a top 5 for a closer and an Ok shortstop??? Give me a break.
Netflix&RichHill
In terms of overall theoretical values, he’s light yes, but not too far off.
The problem is that there is too much risk for the Mariners to be taking on this many young arms in this trade of 2 players with solid surplus value. Also, Franco has no value to the Mariners as they have Seager at 3B and Healy/Vogelbach/Cano at 1B.
On the Phillies’ side, regarding Eflin, I can’t see why they would want to trade from their SP depth. He’s proven himself to be a solid rotation piece already. He is, however, the type of piece the Mariners are said to be coveting.
The bottom line is that, between Segura and Diaz, there’s about 70-90m in surplus value.
So either the Phillies will have to part with Sixto and another real prospect and a couple lottery tickets or they’ll have to purge their system of the above names and probably Bohm, too.
I think both teams would prefer a couple pieces to a package of this magnitude.
JKB 2
So you want the Mariners to take quantity over a smaller quality package that includes Sixto
deweybelongsinthehall
I’m not sure how Grienke would handle Boston but should the Sox not sign Eovaldi or decide to make him a closer, would Grienke not be a viable alternative to pair with Price in 2020 and 2021 in lieu of resigning Sale and Porcello after 2019? As great as Sale is, there has to be a concern about his moving forward health. Just putting it out there (for everyone to shoot down but I’m not trolling this).
Adam6710
Do the Sox have the willingness to add 30M/yr to their payroll? That’s really the only question because it will be a pure salary dump.
deweybelongsinthehall
It’s mainly one year assuming the Hanley money is spent on raises for those not eligible for free agency. The Sale and Porcello contracts together approximates Greinke’s.
Adam6710
Yet Sale and Porcello give them two pitchershat money for t. It’s a simple question of whether they want to spend that amount on ONE additional pitcher, and nobody but DD and ownership can answer that question.
deweybelongsinthehall
Every year there are questions but it’s possible that after 2019, they lose Sale and Porcello while ERod and Wright continue having knee issues. Their present starting staff strength could evaporate. Team salary management is tougher than ever and injuries can set a team back more now than ever before given the money at stake. This is way when a team has a shot at the WS, you take it.
WestCoastSoxFan
No reason to pay Price AND Greinke $60m+/year. That’s not money well spent. Sale and Porcello will need to be replaced with less salary, not more.
JKB 2
The White Sox do but they would not be interested
RedRooster
Diamondbacks overpaid for Greinke after he was coming off a season where he probably should have won the Cy Young. Since then he’s been great but not elite. No way they trade him without eating at least some money.
prestigeworldwide
After the value of his play in terms of WAR he pretty much earned what he was payed. They also took a top pitcher away from a rival team. If they get any prospects out of a trade for the back portion of that contract I would call that a good signing.
RedRooster
They’d have to be able to trade him without eating money (which won’t happen) before they can worry about getting prospects for him.
Charlie Midnite
It appears the Grienke will be a Yankee, and for cheap too.
c1234
Thought he was in his no trade list..
bravesfan88
I believe you’re correct..I think New York Yankees and Mets are both on ZG’s no trade list..
dewssox79
DBacks would have to eat some of that money or they need to ship another piece.
throwinched10
Keep Segura!
Trade Diaz to the Braves IF the Mariners can get Sean Newcomb OR Kyle Wright and Austin Riley. If not, no deal.
throwinched10
Wright OR Newcomb become a long term fixture in the rotation.
Riley inherits 3b from Seager when the time comes and can rake from the right side.
bravesfan88
I would do Wright and Riley for Diaz..I think that’s a big win-win for both teams..
Braves get their elusive closer, allowing the RH Vizzy and LH Minter to mix and match-up in the 7th-8th, and it’ll allow RHPs Sobotka and Carle and LHPs Biddle and Venters to mix and match in the 6th-7th, making their bullpen alot deeper and providing them with a ton of flexibility.
For the Mariners, they’ll be getting a slugging, young, and ML ready 3B of the future, with a cannon for an arm, and they’ll be getting an extremely talented #2-#3 SP in Kyle Wright, who will ultimately be a fixture in the upper tier of their rotation for at least the next 5 years or so. Wright most likely won’t be ready by the start of the 2019 season, but he could get a September call-up, and he’ll certainly be ready to start the 2020 season.
Like I said, one of the rare win-win trades, and one of the even more rare actual intelligent and fair trade proposals on here!!
I really don’t like trading away Wright or Riley, as a Braves fan, but to get value, you have to give up value..They would both undoubtedly thrive in Seattle, but hopefully Diaz could do the same in Atlanta..
Friarfaithful117
I think Diaz would require more prospect capital. Probably pretty close to the first Ken Giles trade.
rdsfan05
I do agree it’s a fair deal but I don’t think the Braves will trade Riley due to the lack of production at third base and u have a guy who I’ve seen multiple times and I think could be a rookie of the candidate especially if he gets every day playing time at third just doesn’t make sense to trade him for a closer when u have such a deep farm system
Robertq50
Way too much for a closer…two top 30 prospects?
People need to stop trying to trade Riley – going to regret it
steelerbravenation
Atlanta I would think would take the contract. Dbacks won’t be getting much in return though.
manos
Diaz, Segura, Gordon to the Padres for Galvis and some sunflower seeds. Sounds like a Dipoto trade to me.
RedRooster
Galvis isn’t the Padres’ to trade.
steelerbravenation
No way Atlanta gives any 2 outta those 3 for a RP
You can have Soroka, Riley, Wilson, Ynoa & Davidson for Diaz & Haniger
throwinched10
Segura is a top 6 shortstop who is signed to a contract of good value, and Diaz is the best value closer in the MLB.
Riley is a given and one of Soroka, Wright, or Newcomb would be in that deal if I were GM. If not, I don’t make that trade.
throwinched10
No chance Haniger is part of any trade. Dipoto needs to be shown the door if he trades Haniger.
gavinrendar
Depends, right?
Haniger plus Díaz for Soto wouldn’t be bad haha.
Always a cutoff point.
Paul Miller
Just so we’re clear, Segura isn’t a top 5, but top 6 shortstop!
SoCalBrave
The Braves have no need for Segura. His response was to a proposal of Diaz for Riley AND one of Newcomb or Wright. If it was Diaz and Seager the Braves could add some other prospects.
brian214
And reasoning like that is why the Braves haven’t won a World Series in over 20 years.
bravesfan88
No way the Braves trade Soroka nor Wilson for Diaz…I’d trade Wilson personally, but their front office ABSOLUTELY LOVES SOROKA, and they love Wilson too..They aren’t getting rid of them, they’d simply offer someone else..
Everyone on the Braves raves about Soroka’s maturity and mental make-up. Even if it came down to Touki or Soroka, they would keep Soroka..
bucketbrew35
“Mariners get:
J.P. Crawford
Adonis Medina
Zach Eflin
JoJo Romero
Maikel Franco
Enyel De Los Santos
Phillies get
Segura
Diaz”
Yeeeaaahhh no I don’t think so.
throwinched10
Is this a trading by brail idea??
bernbabybern
Grienke is very good, but I would be surprised if any team takes the entire contract without any other prospect/player also sent to make it worth it. Definitely won’t be the Yankees.
bravesfan88
The ONLY proposal on here that makes sense is the Wright & Riley for Diaz proposal by throwinched10.
It’s actually the only sensible trade I’ve seen on here in quite some time!!
Rather than the absolutely ridiculous proposals that come from the vast majority of Yankees, Phillies, Padres, and Giants fans on here. Those 4 fan bases have some of the most delusional/uneducated fans in baseball..
The worst part though, is that I’m a member of one of the most ridiculous fanbases of them all!! Lol.. Most Braves’ fans think the Braves prospects are pure gold and simply untouchable..Well, unless it is for Mike Trout!! haha
…News flash guys, like I said before, to get value you’re going to have to give up some value. That’s typically how trades in baseball work..Unless that trade involves Dave Stewart or occasionally Rizzo the magician..lol
The only two prospects I’d be genuinely and incredibly suprised if the Braves traded would be Mike Soroka and Touki Toussaint..And I only say that because management has a complete hard-on for the both of them..lol
DadsInDaniaBeach
LOL! Says a tomahawk fan. You wouldn’t know a good fan if you tripped over one.
yetigonecrazy
As an M’s fan, if they do end up parting with Diaz, I sincerely hope it is to Atlanta, because Atlanta has a stacked system and with a piece like Diaz the asking price could be high.
Bizzie
Why did we take paxton gimme Greinke or kluber
Pax vobiscum
The Phillies closer will come from their own system: perhaps Vince Velasquez or Dominguez or someone else. No need for Diaz when there are so many other holes to fill.
DadsInDaniaBeach
I think that’s viable. Except I’d like Dominguez setting up for Velasquez who is great for 1-2 innings and then starts to walking the world.
muskie73
I suspect that Seattle GM Jerry Dipoto would need to be blown away to trade a productive player with more than two years of team control. That would include Jean Segura, Mitch Haniger, Edwin Diaz, Mallex Smith and Marco Gonzales.
Seattle may well market players with two or fewer years of team control, including Alex Colome, Mike Leake, Dee Gordon and Juan Nicasio.
With society’s proliferation of lists in general, and of baseball prospect lists in the past two decades, many prospects have become overvalued. Studies have shown that even one year’s top five prospects carry risks and that the risks increase exponentially going down the prospect lists.
A prospect below the top five is basically a lottery ticket. A single lottery ticket can produce a handsome return but that does not make lottery tickets good investments.
The Justus Sheffield trade notwithstanding, Dipoto has generally foregone prospects in favor of MLB-ready post-prospects with years of team control.
stansfield123
Studies have shown that even one year’s top five prospects carry risks
————-
Yeah. That’s precisely why, if you wanna rebuild, you don’t just get 5 prospects, and assume that’s gonna be five productive players for you. You get as many as you can (in this case, the Mariners could get 15 ranked or close to ranked prospects, easy), and assume only half will actually turn into major leaguers.
That’s 7 or 8 major leaguers, a few of them All Star caliber, under team control for the next seven years. For the first three to four of those years, at minimum wage.
Meanwhile, if you keep guys like Segura and Diaz, you get one or two useful years out of them (because the Mariners aren’t contending in the next two years), and you have to pay them a lot of money for it (Segura has a $17M option in his last year, Diaz would be a closer in his final two years of arb, which is over $10M as well). Because you pay them that salary, you can’t really pay free agents to come in and fill holes, so you’re back to barely contending….if that was the goal, you could’ve done that now, without any rebuild.
stansfield123
Also, here’s another issue I have with your post: you very correctly point out that the obsession with lists is foolish.
But then you go ahead and rely on top 100 lists to decide that, out of the three players the Mariners got for Paxton, only Sheffield is worth mentioning. It’s fine that you only know the name of the headliner of the deal, but at least mention that there’s two more guys. They could turn into major leaguers too. It’s very much possible that Sheffield fails, but Swanson, the other pitcher in that deal, ends up in the Mariners’ rotation. He throws mid 90s with movement on the fastball, and has good numbers at triple A.
Even the last part of the package, the guy no one outside Iowa heard of before, had a .909 OPS in 100 minor league games this year.
So it’s not like those guys were filler. The Yankees had to be sorry to part with a lefty center fielder who hit 22 homers in 100 games this year. And they were certainly sorry to part with Swanson, he was one of their better triple A pitchers.
muskie73
I mentioned Justus Sheffield by name only because Jerry Dipoto typically targets only post-prospects with years of team control, not prospects. I admire Dipoto for generally eschewing the farm-system frenzy.
And as a product of the Iowa community college system I recognize Erik Swanson and Dom Thompson-Williams from Iowa Western Community College. 😉
Waddupitsyahboy
The M’s shouldn’t have to think long and hard about trading Díaz. He’d bring back a much better package than Paxton, and every M’s fan knows, we need a better package than that to even think of competing in 2020. We have Wyatt Mills who SHOULD be major league ready within next season or 2020 who can try and use the same one-two punch as Díaz. Will he be as elite as Díaz? Probably to definitely not, but we need another SP/PP who’s close to major league ready.
stansfield123
They should move Diaz, too. They should move everybody who has trade value. That’s the effective way to do a rebuild: you sell everything for prospects, you spend a year or two sifting through the major league ready prospects to see who’s gonna be part of your core, and then you start plugging in holes, through trades (of the prospects you don’t want, or aren’t major league ready) and free agent signings.
And if it turns out they do need a closer in two years, guess what: getting someone of Diaz’ caliber, but with only two years left on his deal, would cost half of what they can get for him now. So why waste that value, during a rebuild?
If they wanna put out a good product in the meantime, they can just sign one of the older free agent closers instead, to a 2-3 year deal. They have the money coming off the books with Nelson Cruz.
bravesfan
Idk if the braves should go after Diaz. He’s solid but he’s gonna cost some solid prospects and I’m not sure he’s the talent we want to spend that capital on when there are a lot of other options on the FA market and we have a ton of wiggle room in our budget.
GarryHarris
I think Zack Greinke may be an Astro soon.
DadsInDaniaBeach
As a Phillies Phan, I’d trade Sixto for Segura as a start in a deal. I’m not sure if I’d be in on Diaz. I like him a bunch but not sure closer is a priority of the Phils.
khopper10
Diaz to the Cardinals for Kelly, Weaver, and Hudson. Leaves the Cards with cash to go big on Harper rather than overpaying Kimbrel.
Cardinals17
Amazing!!! The true contenders and the teams who are dead serious in getting into contention for a Pennant race are in on all of the major players in Baseball who are, or might be available. All but the Cardinals. Very frustrating if you are a Cardinal fan. Especially since John Mozeliak has indicated for the past 4 years that either he or the owners don’t intend to do anything but lip sync
bush1
“The Diamondbacks “are confident” they’ll be able to trade Zack Greinke without having to absorb any of the $95.5MM still owed on the right-hander’s contract,” Lolololololo. They’re kidding right?!? No on would touch him on that horrendous contract unless it paid down a lot.
Erie4312
if the braves want be contenders for a long time then we need to not trade away all our prospects and not be too active in the offseason THIS year.
Surely one of our young pitchers will develop into an ace so we dont need to go all out on a starter
All we need to do is sign a decent catcher, right fielder, and a bullpen arm or two.
Let all the prospects develop in 2019 and then see what we need to spend on in next years offseason.
We were one year ahead of schedule
Drew Waters Bat
What about a 3 team trade between the Yankees, Braves and the Mariners.
Yankees get Segura, Teheran, and Allard.
Braves get Diaz, Haniger, Gian Carlo Stanton and Sonny Gray.
Mariners get Ender Inciarte , Dansby Swanson, Bryce Wilson, Drew Waters, and AJ Minter.
Feel free to move about the cabin.
OnlyRaysFan
Stanton, Gray, Haniger, Diaz for Teheran, Inciarte, Swanson, Wilson, Waters, and Minter? Okay lol