Count the Rays among the teams that chased second baseman DJ LeMahieu during his trip to the open market, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Before LeMahieu joined the division-rival Yankees on a two-year, $24MM guarantee, Tampa Bay was “very much in on” him, Topkin writes. Now, with spring training approaching, it’s possible the Rays’ roster may be set, suggests Topkin, who runs down the team’s options at each position. However, Topkin still doesn’t rule out further moves, including a trade for Marlins catcher J.T. Realmuto, who has garnered serious interest this month from the Rays and several other teams.
More from the East Coast…
- With the Braves looking for help in the grass, general manager Alex Anthopoulos revealed Saturday that there are “probably” three outfielders available who fit what the club is seeking, David O’Brien of The Athletic tweets. Anthopoulos added one or more of those players has been in trade discussions but has not made it into the rumor mill, per O’Brien, who surmises that free agents A.J. Pollock and Nick Markakis and Diamondbacks outfielder David Peralta could make up at least a couple of the Braves’ targets. The Braves have been connected to all three throughout the winter, and the easiest to acquire would likely be Markakis, who capped off a four-year run in Atlanta with a solid showing in 2018. But as a 35-year-old corner outfielder with an unspectacular resume, it’s obvious Markakis – unlike Pollock – is not a candidate to land a long-term contract.
- Before he agreed to sign with the Twins on Saturday, left-hander Martin Perez drew interest from the Mets, Jon Heyman of Fancred relays. However, the Mets wanted Perez as a depth piece, which helped point him to a better opportunity in Minnesota, Heyman reports. Coming off a miserable 2018 in Texas, Perez wouldn’t have been a clear upgrade over anyone in the Mets’ rotation – a group that features reigning NL Cy Young winner Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Zack Wheeler, Steven Matz and Jason Vargas. The Mets’ top depth starting possibilities include Seth Lugo, though he may be too important to their bullpen to move to the rotation if a need arises, and recent minor league pickup Hector Santiago.
- Back to the Braves, who should get back a couple of their own key pitchers in time for spring training. Both starter Mike Soroka and reliever Darren O’Day are on track to return after injury-shortened seasons, Gabe Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution details. The 21-year-old Soroka was terrific during a five-start, 25 2/3-inning major league debut in 2018, but he last took the mound June 19 on account of shoulder inflammation. He’s now a favorite to win a starting spot in Atlanta heading into 2019, Burns observes. O’Day, meanwhile, underwent season-ending hamstring surgery in late June, but the Braves nonetheless took him from the Orioles a month later in a deal headlined by Kevin Gausman. The 36-year-old O’Day had been amid another quality season before he went down, continuing a long run of effectiveness. With a $9MM salary, he’s currently the Braves’ most expensive reliever.
Realmuto will end up a Ray – CALLIN IT.
Ok…for who? Who are they going to give up for 2 yrs of JTR?
Tommy Pham
No one. The Rays are way too cheap to give up good prospects for two years control of a guy. They make no sense.
I would argue this, but it’s looking increasingly like the Marlins are going to bumble their way into getting exactly nothing for Realmuto…
Whenever you trade for prospects, you risk winding up with nothing.
How about ss Fox, 2b Brujan and c Hernandez?
Or B. Lowe, Brujan, Solak?
Or Zunino, Fox, and Brujan?
Lots of ways to go.
Somebody not mentioned in the rumor mill ?????
Judge
Stanton
Probably somebody in Toronto.
Lol of course it is
Can’t wait to welcome Kevin Pillar
Exactly who I was going to say. Pillar will be a Brave soon enough. Mark it down.
Here are some high-performing trade targets from teams that have extra outfielders, more or less in order of preference:
STL – Tyler O’Neill
TB – Joey Wendle
LAD – Chris Taylor
NYY – Aaron Hicks, Brett Gardner
HOU – Tyler White, Josh Reddick
TOR – Kevin Pillar, Randal Grichuk
None of these have been in the rumor mill that I know of, and depth charts show these players are potentially expendable to their respective teams.
But I would imagine it would take a lot to pry some of these away.
Anyway, just more to think about.
If you are thinking about Hicks then you are thinking about the Yankees signing Harper.
Rays very much in on all free agents until free agent asks for money. Too bad no invest when chance for a compete comes, then goes when they sell home grown stars.
Thing is they don’t need LeMahieu. If they needed him, I’m sure they could’ve easily put up the money for him. Btw, it’s difficult to attract free agents when all players usually care about big market teams and nothing else.
Charlie Morton nods approvingly.
They needed him a lot more than Yankees did. I don’t even know where he’ll play when Didi comes back.
You sound like a caveman with the way you type.
Bullpen help braves!!! BULLPEN!!!!!!!!!!!
Still surprise Braves not signing Adam Jones! Also still surprise, no signing or rumors for Jose Iglesias, thought we liked him for an Oriole, a lot?
Jones has declined too much. We already have two good shortstops in Camargo and Swanson. We don’t need Iglesias.
I was thinking of Jose Iglesias for an Oriole, not for a Brave.
Jones is a passion guy whose stats pump up when he pumps, like Tori Hunter, a lot! He would make for a good Brave and cheap, probably 2/12 or 1/7 could bring him. Still not interested in this price for something like 270/330/420 with 20 bombs?
@Ejemp2006 you good for learning English
Jones hasn’t gotten on base that much in a decade.
No. Absolutely not.
I could see Jones on a pillowy contract w/ a lot of performance based bonuses. I wouldn’t mind him as a 4th OF, but I think he wants to start if he can. His market might not develop for that though.
I always thought Curtis Granderson would be a great get for the Braves. Still mashed righties and would be a leader to help mentor a young star studded team
hey Rays, heard of Joey Wendle?
Can’t believe anything Topkin writes…..just an echo chamber for the FO….they likely made the whole thing up…..
DJ’s a good bounce back candidate, but while the Rays IF is kinda “meh”, it’s a solid “meh”. There’s no need there.
It’s been a poor offseason for them. Trading Smith is likely going to something they regret in a huge way; he seemed to have finally found himself. They had the prospects for Goldy, just not the commitment. And they still need pitching. They can’t compete offensively, but the IF defense is #1 divisionally, the OF #2. Getting 2 more starters (and keeping Smith) made more sense; as even Keith Law said, Zunino is an overpaid backup.
And ya I know, they have pitching coming. Let me know when you find a GM who worries about having too much pitching.
Bottom line , I can see a 75 win season as much as any improvement.
I think the Braves will be getting JBJ
2 yrs of control so wont be blocking Pache or Waters
Red Sox looking to move some salary and are looking to replenish some farm
Definitely a buy low high upside player the Braves have had Interest in before
Jon Bon Jovi?
JBJ makes zero sense…Does Inciarte more to RF? Or JBJ? That still leaves the issue of who bats 4th!
I’d rather get good players than big names.
Issue with cleanup is no issue at all. In this scenerio and JBJ is aquired Inciarte would stay in CF & bat lead off while Bradley plays RF & Acuna hits cleanup where I think would be his best fit because he would provide protection to Freddie who is the Braves best hitter.
Ended works the count well & steals some bases. He also was the lead off hitter before so he has experience. JBJ would bar probably 8 th after Dansby.
Who even said he was available in a trade?
They were shopping him at the Winter Meetings it was reported.
Acuna needs to stay in the leadoff role. Last year proved that. I love Ender as a Brave, but he needs to hit 7th-9th. The Braves rolled the best when he hit 9th and set the table for the top of the order.
That was the end of last year. The year before he had 200 hits. Gotta see who Ender proves to be as a player. I believe with men on base in front of Scuna he will get more fastballs to hit and therefore drive in more runs. But long term I don’t like him hitting clean up just with the way the team is built as of today. If they are able to acquire a legit clean up hitter than yes Acuna leading off is the way I would want to see it.
In that situation, Donaldson bats 4th. Or Freeman.
Where did you hear this from?
He didn’t. He is just speculating.
Yeah just speculation just like most Brave beat writers. Darawing up conversation
Could be right. Hope so!
Could also see Sousa as a possibility
Got some team control left and the D-backs could Alex anybody on that team available
Probably cost less than Peralta in terms of salary & prospects in return
Corey Dickerson and Nomar Mazara haven’t really been mentioned in the rumor mill but are potential options
Starling Marte if you’re a strong optimist.
Pittsburgh really might even be re-thinking that Archer add last year considering how the rest of the central division is quite frankly elevating themselves above Pitt.
Braves revisiting Archer, with Dickerson involved as well?
I don’t think Atlanta wants to fool with Archer. Pittsburgh is going to want to get something back for overpaying in the beginning for him and IMO.. Atlanta stole gausman from the O’s, whom I expect to perform well in much larger parks, no DH and away from Boston and the NYY power house lineups. This guy was under rated the last several seasons and believe he will do very well for the Braves.
I agree, I’m excited for Gausman this year. I think he’ll do really well – and get an extension to stay in Atlanta.
Marte intrigues me
I’d still like to see the Braves send Julio and Allard for Greinke, with the Dbacks paying the bonuses and deferrals. They’d get a league average pitcher for one or two years plus a good young MLB-Ready prospect and save $20M a year, and the Braves would get a #1 pitcher.
I would like Greinke too
I been sayin that since the season was over but I think if that was an option it woulda happened already.
Things can change. If they threw in Peralta, they could get more.
If they were able to get both expand the deal and add in Archie Bradley. But now it’s gonna cost major prospects.
Braves get: Peralta, Greinke, and Bradley+ D’Backs cover deferred money(32.5 million for 19,20,21).
D’Backs Get: Austin Riley, Christian Pache, Ian Anderson, Bryse Wilson, Joey Wentz, Julio Teheran, Darren O’Day.
Teheran & O’Day just balance the money as they make just over $20 million this year compared to greinke’s 34.5. For the D’Backs they now have some real prospect depth close to MLB ready. Riley-19, Anderson, Pache, Wilson-20, Wentz-21. Plus 3 top 100 prospects to go with the kids already picked up from the Goldy deal.
That’s a gross over pay in prospects by the Braves, so I hope they just say no to that crap. I would much prefer the Braves re-sign Markakis than trade that much in top prospects. Just Grienke in a trade would cost significantly less, so AZ can just keep Paralta and Bradley at that crazy price.
Braves hang up the phone quickly. Take out Bradley and O’Day because they are a wash of relievers and Braves likely need to add – not subtract. This is noise anyways. Also move Riley and Pache from this – not happening with fielders. IMO Grienke is an overpaid again asset who the Braves do not need. Thus Braves have all the leverage. So for Grienke and his atrocious contract AZ is paying the $3M/yr accrued sign bonus per year or $9M plus $2M trade bonus plus $30M to make him ~ $20M/yr for Braves. Which is still high for him. Braves do Wilson and Teheran. For Peralta Braves do Gohara and Wentz .. maybe Soroka and Fried. Personally – I’d rather give the kids the opportunity to be the 1-2-3-4 of the staff. See if Brewers or Reds take on Teheran for a good low A ball prospect or 2 seeing there are a gazillion pitchers at AAA and look at a CF type who can play corner to lock down the defense like JBJ which someone else said or Blackmon. JBJ for Viz is a deal I can see happening with Braves landing KImbrell from FA.
* overpaid AGING asset. Apple spelling autocorrect strikes again.
Arthur Dexter Bradley? The cops are puttin’ the screws to him.
jesus, you’re giving away the farm. No deal.
Absolutely bham! Shed a decent 3-4 innings eater and young hopeful future mid for a proven 1-2 at this stage in his career.
I’d like a unicorn who poops diamonds but Santa didn’t deliver that either
I didn’t downvote this, because a unicorn that poops diamonds would actually be pretty cool.
…you mean he didn’t deliver one to your house??????
Allard is a major league ready pitcher? Will he ever be a ML pitcher?
I’m not counting on Soroka being a staple one bit until he can healthy, shoulder injuries scare me more than TJ and I believe it was a concern when they drafted him if im remembering correctly. There’s far more moving parts in the shoulder and no magical fix/band-aid like TJ surgery.
Agreed.
Never any questions bout his shoulder at draft time only questions on the comp he faced in cod weather Canada. From my understanding his shoulder issues were more about fatigue than structural damage. I think that by the time he was ready to come back it was towards the end of the season and the rehab possibilities were not there so they just shut hi down.
I could be wrong but I believe I read that somewhere.
Which one of you down votes every one of my posts? I’m dying to know who it is lol
I don’t downvote unless someone is being mean or rude.
Prolly illegal inmagrints.
I wear downvote underwear every day that ends in Y..Duluth trading Co ain’t got $H!t on me!
downvoted for spite. will continue to do so.
I don’t even pay attention to that nonsense
Although I occasionally make exceptions.
Clepto needs to ease up on the mascara. His face is a mess every day as he downvoted and his eyes tear up.
What exactly is Cincinnati planning to do with its 5 outfielders plus Nick Senzel though for real?
Kemp
Puig
Schebler
Winker
Ervin
Senzel (no idea where they plan to play him)
Senzel will be the Reds everyday centerfielder before the first month of the season is over.
Trade one to Braves not named Kemp or Puig.
They already did (Duvall) and it hasn’t worked out so far, but there’s still hope.
I changed my mind I want Marte
May be able to get Polanco since he will be out until June.
Who wouldn’t want Lemahieu? He’s either been a All Star, Gold Glover, Batting Champ, or combination of two of those things since 2014. He’s a 302ba 359obp player with stellar Defense in that time frame as well(2014-18).
The perfect addition to a team light on infield defense, with quite a few big boppers with high strikeout totals and fairly low batting avgs.
It’s about having a balanced offensive attack and trying to be less one dimensional as possible. Lemahieu helps the yanks achieve that, if Miggy and Torres hit for even higher avgs, as one would expect, you now have a bunch of guys capable of being 300 hitters, surrounded by a ton of home run hitters. In miggy and Torres category, they’re prob both. Makes for one scary well rounded offense. Imagine if this yanks team stays relatively healthy in 2019? Scary!
Those awards don’t really give you the full picture. In his two all star seasons, he didn’t even have a league average bat. He’s also been pretty trash outside of Colorado. But the defence is legit.
Can we dream that the Braves will trade for Stroman and Grichuk?
No thanks on Stroman. That guy has issues.
I would love to have stroman and grichuk also. AA is from Toronto. Lots of ties easy to get a deal done. At least I think that someone will come from their on a trade.
The Braves will trade for Salvador Perez and Whit Merrifield, then sign Craig Kimbrel.
Perez is not a good fit. His framing is terrible and the braves already have 2 catchers. I’d like Merrifield, but it would depend on the price. And the braves aren’t going to sign Kimbrel.
They just traded Acuna straight up for him
I thought than Aaron Boone looked very overwhelmed last year, without having many moving pieces. The IF this year will be much different. Possibly a platoon situation at first base. Didi was the anchor of the IF and will be out at least half the year. We have already seen that he doesn’t trust andujar at third. I just can’t see them paying Lemahieu this much money to not be a kept component until Didi gets back. My guess is that they ride out Tulo and get as much from him as possible. If he gets hurt or is overmatched, enter Torres as short and DJ at second. Hopefully purnfordt base dillema is solved by then
Thinking you got lost. This is an article about the N.L. EAST (not the A.L. east/Yankees)
No it’s not it says East in the title and has Yankees & Rays topics.
markakis with an unspectacular resume? the guy has over 2200 hits…
You didn’t watch him after the first 2 months of the season then.
That’s not what resume means.
just means he’s old.
I don’t get the Rays. Why do they want Realmuto? He’s great I know but earlier on they traded for Zunino. He’s pretty good too. How many lead catchers do they need?
Just one. Rays upgrade by trading Zunino, Fox, Brujan and B. Lowe for Realmuto. All those guys are blocked in Tampa Bay.