The Mets traded for Mike Piazza on this date in 1998. He would go on to hit .296/.373/.542 with 220 home runs in eight seasons with the Mets, establishing himself as one of the best offensive catchers ever. Here are today's links…
- Vladimir Guerrero says signing with the Blue Jays brings his career full circle, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca tweets. The former Montreal Expos star says he would like to hit 51 more home runs and reach 500 for his career.
- The Nationals are not actively pursuing a trade for catching depth, according to Amanda Comak of the Washington Times. They’d consider adding a veteran backup, but aren’t willing to part with anything significant in a deal. Jesus Flores is the Nationals' starting catcher following Wilson Ramos' ACL tear and Sandy Leon's high ankle sprain. Carlos Maldonado is on the MLB roster to back Flores up.
- The Cubs will face some difficult decisions this summer, when they must decide which players to keep and which players to trade, ESPN.com's Buster Olney notes. It seems likely that they'll trade Ryan Dempster, but deciding whether to trade Bryan LaHair and Matt Garza could be more difficult for GM Jed Hoyer.
Wouldn’t be surprised to see Garza back in the AL East…
Hey, I don’t care where he goes if the Cubs get a good package in return. I know that I want him traded, though, because I don’t think he’s going to be this good when they’re competitive in 3 years.
So you want to trade him for players that MAY be good in 3-5 years? In 3 years he will only be 31!
51 more homeruns…? Good luck with that Vlad.
3-4 years… Yea, good luck, Vlad.
Wow! you’re a great mathematician. If you think he’s going to play everyday in a major league lineup for 3 to 4 more years (and that’s counting if he plays a full season) and hit 51 HR… you’re out of your mind, the chances are very slim.
That wasn’t his point. His point was that it would take him 3-4 years (given last year’s production) to match or surpass 51 HR. He didn’t say that he’s going to have a job for the next 3-4 years.
I think he was trollin
Hard to tell a lot of the time.
Right? I have just as much a chance of “getting to know” Kate Upton
And all this time I thought @chico65:disqus and @chiico:disqus were the same person…
Maybe we are, just multiple personalities? Nah
We got Chico & the man. Just gotta’ figure out which is which…
Haha, no we’re not. I don’t even know why I choose this nick name.
Guerrero is someone Blue Jays should try to sign for a two year deal right now.
Simple answers on the Cubs. Trade, trade and trade.
I’d say no on Garza. It’s hard to find a dependable number 1 these days.
Still don’t think Garza is an ace. That said, I agree that the Cubs shouldn’t trade him. Unless of curse someone is offering a package that’s potentially worth far more.
(Could swear I hit post, but…)
It shouldn’t matter from the Cubs’ perspective, except as it pertains to what he’s asking for in contract negotiations, since they also need a #2 (and a #3 or #4 depending on what you think of Samardzija — good thing we’re stacked in #5s, sigh).
If somebody is offering something ridiculous they obviously need to consider it, but they have to know they would be trading performance for potential and could come up short on the exchange. I’m not saying performance for potential is a BAD thing necessarily, but something to consider.
Even so, moving forward with Garza, Samardzija, and a guy like Whitson from the 2013 draft, would be great for the Cubs. That’s assuming Samardzija keeps it up.
A lot of people have zero idea what Vlad can do. Same thing with Berkman last year. Can he make it to 51 more home runs, I think unlikely but one can’t guess. Yes, he is much healthier than last year, and could play 3 more years if he keeps working so hard. Let him do what he can.
So the Nats are looking for a veteran backup catcher but don’t want to give up anything significant. As a Pirate fan I have a strange feeling that I think I know how this will be solved. Jose Morales, admittedly not much of a veteran, has an opt out clause at the end of the month. He is pretty solid defensively (not great) and appears to be at least a capable hitter so to me he looks like a decent back up option.
It wouldn’t surprise me at all to hear in 9 days that he opted out and signed with the Nationals. Makes a lot of sense to me.