“At the end of the day it’s going to come down to, what are they offering?” Rockies interim GM Bill Schmidt said of his team’s deadline plans, telling MLB.com’s Thomas Harding and other reporters that the front office isn’t under a mandate to cut payroll. To this end, it’s possible a prime trade chip like Trevor Story isn’t moved at all, if no club makes the Rockies an acceptable offer.
Story is reportedly not planning to re-sign with Colorado when he enters free agency after the season, though if the Rox didn’t trade him at the deadline, the team wouldn’t be left completely empty-handed if Story departed. Since Story would assuredly reject Colorado’s qualifying offer, the Rockies would be in line for a compensatory draft pick after the first round of the draft. “I trust our ability to make a good pick,” Schmidt said, noting that Story himself (as well as Nolan Arenado and Ryan McMahon) were all selected by the Rockies within that general range of the draft order. Of course, this could also very well be gamesmanship on Schmidt’s part, letting trade suitors know that they’ll need to top the value of a first-round sandwich pick in order to land Story at the deadline.
More from the NL West…
- John Brebbia underwent Tommy John surgery a little over a year ago, and the right-hander is making steady progress in his recovery. The right-hander has already made six appearances for the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate, and Kerry Crowley of the Bay Area News Group writes that Brebbia’s next step is pitching in consecutive games, which he is scheduled to do tonight and Tuesday. After the Cardinals non-tendered Brebbia last winter, San Francisco signed Brebbia to a one-year, $800K contract, and he is still under team control via arbitration through the 2023 campaign. That could end up being a very shrewd acquisition for the Giants, especially if Brebbia is indeed able to make a relatively quick return from TJ surgery (the normal recovery timeline is 13-15 months) and match the solid numbers he posted out of the Cards’ bullpen from 2017-19.
- The Padres are moving Ryan Weathers to the bullpen, as the team will return to a normal five-man rotation and use Weathers to boost the heavily-worked San Diego relief corps. Manager Jayce Tingler told reporters (including Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune) that the other starters had the benefit of a recent off-day for extra rest, but added that while the Weathers move is “going to help the team…it’s not necessarily permanent.” After appearing in the NLDS last season, Weathers made his regular-season MLB debut this year and has posted a 2.44 ERA over 44 1/3 innings, starting eight of 13 games. Despite that nice ERA, Weathers has a 4.49 SIERA, and has been aided by an 87.2% strand rate and a .225 BABIP. As Tingler noted, it is quite possible Weathers will again be used as a starter should injuries or circumstances dictate, but for now, the Padres will go with Yu Darvish, Blake Snell, Joe Musgrove, Chris Paddack, and Dinelson Lamet as their starting five.
Once Snell gets it back together, that rotation could be absolutely lethal.
yeah, he’s all of a sudden going to figure it out. The Rays knew what they were doing when they traded him.
Snell has a lifetime ERA of 3.40. That make a 3.40 ERA his AVERAGE performance. That is damn good.
Im pretty sure, given his track record, that its safe to assume he’ll rebound.
All of the sudden? I get the guy is struggling but he has a Cy Young award in his trophy case.
Just as long as he gets his money.
His 95mph is a tick below his 96mph in his Cy Young season, and his release point according to Brooks baseball is also consistent with his 2018 season.
At 28, I’d bet on him figuring it out at some point. He’s 6’4 not 5’9, so his body isn’t being overworked on that 95 either. This isn’t a Tommy John guy, he DID have loose bodies removed from his elbow two years ago but again, at 26 and still pumping 96 4 weeks after surgery, I’d assume he bounces back to at least an effective pitcher.
Worst case scenario they make him a super reliever-Andrew Miller type. A 7th-9th 3 inning closer type so he’s still worth the money, however I don’t think it’ll be necessary. San Diego, like Tampa, is far from Coors Field, and he does pitch at in San Francisco a few times a year so the ball parks should help too, despite the giants occasionally hitting like a random murders row depending on the night…
Snell has always struggled to be efficient. Trading Patino+ for him was a massive mistake. Preller basically did it because the Dodgers struggle against him.
The Rays have an uncanny way of knowing when their top pitchers are about to turn into pumpkins – Price, Archer, Morton, and Snell. And they turn pumpkins into princes…..at least for a while. I don’t know what their secret is, but Tampa is rarely wrong in their assessments. It’s just a fact of life.
Price finished 2nd in Cy Young voting and 9th in MVP voting the season after they traded him…that’s a pumpkin in your book?
Some of y’all act like the Rays haven’t made a bad trade in a decade. They trade guys who are approaching year 2 of arbitration, it has little to do with talent level and much to do with payroll. Don’t get me wrong they’ve pulled off some great moves, but if they were so keen that a drop off was coming then why wouldn’t they trade him immediately after his cy young season when his value was at its highest? Why trade Price a season before he finishes 2nd in Cy Young voting? The couch GM’s seem to be missing those facts.
I hear ya Lemon, on a Lot of what ya say
Only thing Id say is- Regression isn’t exactly linear. And in Price’s case, it did rear its head pretty quickly at a price they weren’t ever going to pay
But your right…..Its always about money with TB ….they are always going to bat a thousand in the DON’T sign big bad contracts dept and thats not exactly a good thing Imo for Rays, Rays fans, or baseball
True, but it’s really been his only dominant season since leaving the Rays. Since 2016, he has a 3.84 ERA, 3.74 FIP, and 1.218 WHIP. Not bad numbers by any means, but his ERA has dipped below 3.5 just once in a season, and it was only in 74.2 innings in 2017.
Its only his first season with the team, no even half way done at that. Pretty early to call the trade a huge mistake. Also, his Cy Young season with a sub 2 ERA does not support that he has “always” struggled to be efficient.
I mean, it’s not like trading for James Shields. Snell is still 28, stranger things have happened. He had minor surgery in 2019 to remove loose bodies in his elbow-which doesn’t sound awesome of course-but it’s not like he’s a a Tommy John guy. He’s still averaging around 95 with his fastball, just a tick below his 96 in his Cy Young season, and his release point according to Brooks baseball has been consistent with his Cy Young season as well, so there’s a good chance he should figure it out…
Snell can’t pitch over 5 innings.
He’s usually done after 4
Weathers for RoY
Paddack hailed much better as of late. Seems to be spotting his fastball and adding a curve gives the hitters something different to look at. If snell can become a little more consistent and can lamet get into the later innings, this rotation is pretty dang solid with a dirty bullpen.
Paddack has been*
At the end of the day, you’re in a perfect world and you bite the bullet and trade your players when their value is high, before they break a leg — it’s not rocket science. We all know Schmidt needs to get something out of his system, so he shouldn’t let someone off the hook while going back to the drawing board. No pain, no gain, while getting the best of both worlds — that’s what I always say. #idioms
At the end of the day it comes down to what they are offering??????
Good lord how passive can you be???? Hey Rockies if you need a GM call me. I didn’t go to college I spent those years actually watching and learning the game……..
If Schmidt is just trying to be coy, he needs to drop that act immediately. We all see your organization is a train wreck. If you hold onto your veterans, that is to your detriment. You can either continue the mediocrity, or you can go into a different direction.
It’s amazing to me that this guy can make a statement like that and not understand how it makes himself look stupid.
I haven’t looked up this bums resume but I bet it doesn’t involve much of anything regarding baseball. The Rockies are an absolute joke.
Attend Berkeley and read Moneyball. That should be enough.
Was the name Brebbia? I’m still not sure even after reading the paragraph.
I always like him. He did a good job in STL, but having Tommy John surgery, the Cardinals let him go. I think they may live to regret it. At least I certainly hope so. He would likely have been a welcomed addition to the Cardinals’ woeful pitching.
“noting that Story himself (as well as Nolan Arenado and Ryan McMahon) were all selected by the Rockies within that general range of the draft order.”
So were Peter Tago, Eddie Butler, Robert Tyler, Forrest Wall, David Christensen, and Daniel Carte. Just because a guy is drafted in that range, doesn’t mean jack.
I agree with not giving him away for nothing. I am thinking of the Tigers trading JD Martinez to Arizona for several unknown prospects just because he was leaving as a FA. They would have been better off just taking the draft pick.
The key will be to have at least three contending teams needing a SS. Right now there is one, maybe two. I think the best thing would be for the Rockies to take back under performing salary such as Elvis Andrus or Eugenio Suarez in a deal to maximize their return.
With moving Weathers to the bullpen, the Padres must be feeling pretty good about Lamet’s recovery. I view every Lamet start with some trepidation.
Regardless of the success of Lamet’s recovery, the Pads had no intention of giving Weathers a full season of starter innings. He’s 21 and the plan from outset was to limit his innings this year to about 120.
Where are all the “ doctors” on here that were berating the Padres for mishandling Lamet and guaranteed he was headed for TJ surgery?Haven’t heard from any of them admitting they were wrong. Not holding my breath. LOL
No doubt St. Louis will miss Brebbia if he’s able to return to some form of his previous seasons. I didn’t like cutting him loose.
What were they supposed to do? They needed 40-man spots, and Brebbia wasn’t available, in their eyes, until June or July.
Until the players association finds a way to protect injured players’ roster spots in the offseason, guys like Brebbia will always be cut. It’s pretty sad, really.