The lack of talk surrounding the Rangers as compared to other clubs leads Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com (via Twitter) to believe that they are focused on something big, like acquiring Zack Greinke or Josh Johnson. Here's more out of the AL West..
- The Angels will have to look in-house for help when it comes to their starting rotation, writes Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com. A source with knowledge of the team's thinking described the Angels' chances of acquiring a starter as "below average and diminishing" as the asking prices are too high and the competition for pitching is intense.
- The signing of Cole Hamels to a six-year, $144MM contract is an ominous development for Mariners fans who hope to see Felix Hernandez stay in Seattle, writes Larry Stone of the Seattle Times. Stone writes that the M's need to be wary putting too much of their payroll behind a pitcher.
- Even though the Rangers could see Josh Hamilton walk in free agency, T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com doesn't support the club trading him. The outfielder's current slump has hurt his trade value and on the whole, clubs are in greater need of pitching.
I wasn’t under the impression talk had been light for the Rangers. To the contrary.. They have few holes and were just more focused and not after light weight pieces, but rather focused on top flight players who could actually help.. JJ and Grienke being the only 2 names thus far as definite upgrades, Sanchez possibly, but Hanley wasn’t going to Texas, ditto Scutaro, Infante.. Why would Texas be mentioned for pieces that wouldn’t fit?
im a dodgers fan, and the cole hsamels contract scares me to death! imagine if kershaw hits the market, wow. his deliverry is so smooth and effortless and hell barely be entering his prime! hell beat sabathia contract no doubt.
That would have been true before McCourt sold the team. Now the Dodgers can give Kershaw a record-breaking deal and not hurt the rest of the team.
thats not the point, its still going to be a ridiculous contract. and no matter who the owners are, i believe if the yankees want him and kershaw wants every cent, which he has every right to, the yankees will pony it up for a pitcher that has the ability to be an all time great!
The Yankees don’t always get everybody they want. They didn’t get Cliff Lee, for a recent example. Still, if the Dodgers have anything left after extending Kemp and Ethier, locking up Kershaw is probably at the top of their priority list.
that why i said if he went after the money.
Lee still got a very lucrative deal. He didn’t take that much of a discount.
and in the end , I am glad they did not get him.
don’t naturally assume that the Yanks would do that. It is Hal’s team , not George
This is Clayton Kershaw were talking bout, they dont go after mid level players, but a player of Kershaw caliber, they’ll be all over him, if you think they wont, youre crazy!
yes he will. If the Dodgers are wise, they should extent him now, just like the Yanks should extent Cano now.
takes two, maybe clayton wants to be a free agent.
This must be a sobering message for some Mariners fans. If they don’t think they can or should keep Felix after 2014, they stand to gain the most by trading him as soon as they can. Right now we can only guess as to what kind of a king’s ransom (no pun intended) they could collect if he were to be traded this week. I don’t envy those having to weigh these decisions.
Mariner fans don’t understand that sometimes you have to take a step back to take two forward. It would be interesting to see what type of deals have been turned down. I think the Blue Jays would be a good fit to get some young bats
Mariner fans are hoping for the team to be sold so we can get ownership in that will spend instead of cut. We are also hoping Felix is an honest man, and truly loves living in Seattle with his family. He will be offered an extension. I would put money on him taking it.
If I’m the Mariners front office, I’m trying to extend him between the end of 2013 and the beginning of 2014. And if he hasn’t extended by the Winter Meetings, I’d be shopping him to the highest bidder.
Good call. That would let us see if he’s serious about staying here, and still give us a chance to gain a lot of value from trading him.
Exactly. Even if the return isn’t as high then as it would be in the upcoming off-season, the difference wouldn’t be enough to shop him earlier – especially if some of those hitters like Ackley and Montero (and less likely Smoak) can put it together with another year of experience and show Felix that the team can put some runs up.
And in my scenario if they did let him go, they’d do it at the Winter Meetings and have his payroll to spend on a replacement.
Then again, something could be said of them doing that sooner rather than later as Greinke becomes a free agent and could slide right into the top spot while Felix could stack the Mariners’ farm even more than it already is – maybe with a couple hitters.
Wow. Good point. That could be a whole ‘nother scenario that could potentially help the club. So much depends on Ackley and Montero. I guess being in Jack’s position, we’d have a better idea of the financial situation.
I guess this is why fans would make bad GM’s. I’ve let my love of the King cloud my vision to other options.
Yeah. It can really gut fans to see favorites go. I’ve been a Mariners fan a long time and have experienced it plenty of times. Langston, Vizquel, Cruz, Johnson, Griffey, A-Rod…. Some of those guys going worked, some didn’t. I believe Jack Z. has a better process than former GMs, though.
On the broadcast tonight, Sims said the Royals were looking for an ace and had bats in the farm. Obviously they wouldn’t let Myers go – probably not even for Felix. But I could see a scenario where Odorizzi, Starling, and one of Cuthbert or Colon could work out nicely for the Mariners. Especially if it would open the budget up for the team to sign a Greinke or even Shields or Annibal Sanchez.
Time will tell!
The M’s would get a ridiculous haul for him. I know the thought of losing Felix isn’t great, but they’re missing out on some serious future building blocks by holding on to him hoping things change in a division that has gotten extremely difficult.
AL West – currently the best division in baseball (based on average winning % of .530; .094 higher than the M’s record).
If King Felix gets traded to the Toronto Blue Jays from the Seattle Mariners, perhaps the Phillies can be involved in a three way trade by acquiring pitcher Antonio Bastardo or Vance Worley, 2B/OF Andrew Pullin, and either infielder Jimmy Rollins or 1B/OF John Mayberry. Blue Jays can send some minor league prospects to replace the pitcher & infielder of the Phiilies. That should make a descent trade for those three teams.
That would be great for the teams that aren’t the Mariners!
Thank You! Felix is absolutely dominant, he won’t be traded for just any scrubs. For all he has done (1500 innings) he is still only 26. Seattle has said over and over again that he is not available, and they have turned down some very good packages.
Certainly better packages than that. It would take a talent the Phillies don’t have in their system to net Felix. Only a few teams have guys not on their major league roster that could get Felix. The Royals (Myers, Starling, Odorizzi…), Blue Jays (d’Arnaud, Syndergaard, Gose…), Rangers (Profar, Olt, Martin…), Cardinals (Tavares, Miller, Martinez, Wong…), Orioles (Bundy, Machado…).
And if the Mariners don’t get premium talent in return, I suppose they’ll have to settle for keeping Felix. And resigning him with some of Ichiro’s money.
that is silly. Felix would net the Marniers 5 players
Not if multiple of the guys I mentioned are involved. I’ll take quality over quantity please.
Profar is off the table, Olt, Martin Perez, Leonys Martin, Ramirez, and 2 of Bianucci, Borbon, Solarte, Scheppers, Grimm
Where Felix is involved, Profar should not be off the table. Especially since the Rangers already have a crowded infield when Olt comes up.
If the Angels had any in house solutions to the starting pitching they wouldn’t be looking outside the organization
Man I would be ECSTATIC if Josh Johnson came to Texas, one of my favorite pitchers and the ace we have been looking for for a long time. I hear they really want a 3rd baseman and Mike Olt is one of the best prospects out there.