5:20pm: Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic reports that the Diamondbacks are making a strong push for Galarraga and the two sides are exchanging names. He says that Single-A right-hander Kevin Eichhorn has been discussed, and it appears as though the D'Backs could take on Galarraga's salary in full.
Eichhorn, 21 next month, was Arizona's third round pick in 2008. Baseball America rated him as the team's 18th-best prospect in the 2010 edition of their Prospect Handbook, noting that he sits 87-91 with his fastball and already has a "solid three-pitch mix." In 86 1/3 innings last season, Eichhorn posted a 5.00 ERA with 8.4 K/9 and 1.9 BB/9.
3:18pm: MLB.com's Bill Ladson says that the Nationals are not interested in Galarraga because they do not consider him an upgrade over what they currently have in their rotation (Twitter link).
2:48pm: Rob Biertempfel of The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review says that the Pirates have some interest in Galarraga, however a trusted source tells him that they don't see it happening (Twitter links).
2:21pm: Beck has some more from Dombrowski: "We're making some progress on some trade talks at this point," said the GM. "Not quite sufficient to make any announcements, but I would think by the middle of next week we would be in a position where we would make a deal."
Meanwhile, Paul Hoynes of The Cleveland Plain Dealer says not to expect the Indians to get involved (Twitter link). Galarraga's $2.3MM salary is too rich for the Tribe.
11:43am: Talks with clubs about a trade involving Armando Galarraga are progressing, tweets MLB.com's Jason Beck. Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski is quoted as saying a deal "is likely."
Galarraga was designated for assignment earlier this week after the team's one-year contract with Brad Penny was made official. Dombrowski said he was "confident" that a market would develop for the right-hander, who posted a 4.49 ERA with 4.6 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 in 144 1/3 innings last season. He, of course, is most famous for his near perfect game last summer.
The 29-year-old Galarraga avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year contract worth $2.3MM just a day before being DFA'd. A number of clubs are still looking for rotation help, including the Yankees, Orioles, Indians, and Nationals, though their levels of interest in Galarraga is unknown.
Hope we get something decent for him
id love to see us get a nice piece off of the bench. maybe someone who can run and play the field a little. greg golson comes to mind?
I think the Mets should be interested why not.
I agree, he’ll be a better 5th starter than Capuno, until Santana comes back.
What makes you think he’ll be better than Capuano? Cap’s peripherals blow Gal’s away. Still I would like to see a deal for him, can’t have too many 29 year old starters for depth.
I’d take Capuano for Armando. I think Galarraga would thrive in the NL, especially on a team with solid defense in the infield. He has decent stuff, won’t blow anyone away, but needs to be aggressive and quit nibbling at the corners. When he’s on his game, everything is down in the zone and he’s very tough to hit. He starts to melt down with runners on base as he becomes afraid to throw his off speed stuff.
What pitcher wouldn’t thrive in the NL with a solid infield defense? Anyway, he doesn’t put up big ground ball numbers and the Mets don’t have a solid infield defense. He does have a pretty big HR/9 rate which I guess would be helped by Citi Field, not really sure what the dimensions of Comerica are though. I guess a change of scenery and pitching coach could help, you are right about him nibbling too much it would seem and I think that, unless it’s just him being wild, it’s something a new pitching coach could identify and sort out.
Alderson is way too smart to be conned by Dombrowski and actually part with anything to get Galarraga…besides, he just signed Young (and for less money)
What can the mets give to detriot for him? We need pitching.
i hear the mets have this great pitcher named oliver perez? it would be hard to part with him but i think alderson could do it if galarraga was involved
but with all seriousness. i don’t think the mets have any pieces they would part with unless the tigers want pat misch or tobi stoner. but i think the tigers hang up on that
If the Nationals got him they actually wouldn`t have an awful rotation. Just saying.
Do you really think he is better than Zimmerman, Marquis, Gorz, Lannan, or Livan?
Im not saying those are huge names like Strasburg, but is Galarraga that much of an upgrade.
honestly? he’s probably better than livan. i will be shocked if livan puts together another season like the last
Never ever count out Livan. He’s got nine lives, no one will ever stop him from making adjustments necessary to continue on with his career. He’s going to do enough to stay in the Nats rotation.
I know Livan isn’t the greatest pitcher out there; I know sometimes he isn’t even good, but he will always be a favorite of mine-he has done more with less than any other pitcher I can think of. He’s going to make a fine pitching coach for someone someday too. He’s always been one of my favorites. Livan is one of the good guys in baseball and he has been since the beginning.
Leave Livan alone.
Yankees… dont even think about it!!!!!
He can’t handle the expectations of New York sorry
Sorry I misread your post the first time
What would the expectations be other than be better than Mitre or Vazquez? If he could pitch 175 IP and give us a 4.75 EAR then fans would probably dance in the street.
I think the reality is this. The Yanks a) Don’t want Mitre as a starter b) For some insane reason don’t want to try Joba as the 5th. c) Don’t want to rush any of their high upside guys like Betances, Brackman, Banuelos.d) Would prefer a little more seasoning for their 2nd tier pitching prospects like Noesi, Warren and Phelps.
Galarraga would simply be a place holder who would then be moved to a roogy once someone else comes along. If he can be had for a bottom 30 prospect (20-30) then they might do it.
I don’t understand why the yankees won’t make Joba a starting pitcher.
Sign and trade…
Russell Branyan (bench/DH)
Hmm…I don’t know about that one, my friend. Especially when he could be had for cheaper than what Galarraga is signed for, and he has really no place on Detroit’s bench or DH position, especially when the bench already lacks speed.
The one thing detroit won’t be seeking is a DH…
Yeah I agree with the other 2 guys… no need for another slow DH type bat on this team
Why would they do that? Branyan isn’t type A, so why don’t the Tigers sign him and trade Galarraga elswhere?
I still do not understand why they want to get rid of him. He has proven that he can pitch… Does anyone remember that (what should have been) perfect game? C’mon Tigers!!! Maybe where ever he ends up they will realize this and give him a chance to pitch. Haha. Such a Tigers lose!
You obviously haven’t seen him pitch…since his break-out year, we’re talking about an ERA around 5 and a K-rate hovering around 5/per 9 as well. He nibbles, walks too many, doesn’t go deep into games, and has benefited from luck in the past (low BABIP). Once his luck evened out, his ERA went up.
He could turn it around, and his stuff isn’t bad, but a team hoping to contend can’t necessarily risk it…It would be better for a team like the Nats, Pirates, etc., to take a chance on him and hope he figures it out. Tigers have given him plenty of chances to trust his stuff over the past couple of seasons, but he’s still the same infuriating Armando.
+1, this is the most accurate analysis of his skills, in my opinion.
I don’t agree. They are desperate enough to convert a pretty good reliever w/ no experience as a mlb starter like Coke. What would be the harm in keeping Gala around just in case? Are your #3-5 such lockdowns that your not concerned about them? Unless there’s a real roster crunch I would hold on to him. Penny isn’t a lock to stay healthy. Porcello is inconsistant. Coke is an unknown quantity as a starter.
They’re not desperate, they just figured they’d try it out. He’s started 20+ games as recently as 2008, albeit in the minors.
Nobody in the MLB is a lock to stay healthy, let alone a pitcher, and I believe the general consensus is Penny is fine to play a full season as a back end of the rotation guy.
Porcello turned 22 a few weeks ago and already has 2 MLB seasons under his belt, the kid has an entire career ahead of him still, even Halladay had to be straightened out after an impressive rookie campaign but a few mediocre seasons following.
So isolating one game out of the other 23 starts is better than looking at his season 4.49 ERA and 5.09 FIP? Okay.
You got this one all wrong Aaron. You wouldn’t even know his name if it wasn’t for that one game.
He, of course, is most famous for his near perfect game last summer.
All is forgiven but I’d sure prefer to see this say: He of course is most famous for his perfect game with a blown umpire call. Whatever he may have done after that, he really deserves the props.
I think everyone has overrated the guy’s stock because of that one game.
When you look at his peripherals, you can see that he hasn’t done much. A declining K-rate and unstable walk rate are not what you want.
He wouldn’t be a bad gamble at 2.3 mil but certainly shouldn’t be counted on even as a fifth starter.
I know what you’re saying, and that’s probably true. However my point was strictly regarding that particular game – nothing else.
That aside, I do notice that he’s not the first so-so pitcher to have a no-hitter or perfect game. Look at Edwin Jackson!
and Dallas Braden.
Got that right. I started to mention him too but I figured I made my point. Anyway, yeah.
edwin jackson is a far better pitcher then galaragga. that is not far to edwin.
Don’t forget a declining ground ball rate. And he gives up 1.4 HR/9 innings and with a majority of the home games in a pitchers park, that is Awful.
As the guys from SNY said for a perfect game everything has to be perfect (or at least go the pitchers way) ie pitching, fielding AND the umpiring. Just sayin’. I prefer to call it an imperfect game.
Oh sure – and I respect that. However, from my side I truly believe that what a person accomplishes stands on its own merits – regardless of what others may say or do in the periphery – and it can never be taken away. It’s not the accolades or the the judgment of others that matter most, but rather what the person actually accomplished.
I’m not sure I follow you, because it’s not all Gallaraga’s doing. There are obviously his fielders, the home plate umpire calling strikes instead of balls, among other things. If a pitcher was on a perfect game and the ump called a borderline 3-2 strike a ball would you give him that too? The accolade “perfect game” or “no-hitter” is largely redundant anyway, Gallaraga’s game just clarified that. A perfect game for me would have to be 81 pitches, all swinging strikes – no questioning that as perfect.
EDIT: removed the airborne thing, got mixed up with Buerhle’s
It’s OK if you don’t follow. There are better things to debate about, in my opinion. See you on the next Mets thread.
haha indeed.
one game doesnt make u a good pitcher. he sucks. he is the worst in out rotation and we signed penny. hes just not that good. i think he had like one or two more wins other than that game last season.
Nats or Mets, that’s my hunch.
Throw the O’s in there too. Especially if that Vlad signing is true. That outfield could be getting a little crowded and guys like Reimold would become expendable.
too much $$$ for the Mets they won’t do it man. the Nats maybe, but I see the yankees doing this I mean they have no pitching in the 3 4 or 5 spots in their rotation and need somebody to “pitch in”
Pirates. They have what the tigers want. Maybe the Yankees or Nats due to the Yankees willingness to give detroit a pound of gold for some silver an the Nats have too much at stake in their rotation to not get a solid 5 guy. Plus the NL would be good for Gally
There ya go again…rippin the Yanks for stealing Grandy off ya…lol
^at arron
Why would anyone want this guy? I mean he hasn’t even thrown a perfect game or anything.
Probably to Oakland so they continue collecting 5th starter options, plus they DFA’d Mortensen earlier this week.
surprised the Pirates dont pick up Mortensen
Galarraga wouldn’t make it as a 5th starter for the Athletics AAA team in Sacramento!
Mets won’t be interested because we would have to pay him 2 mil
I think the Mariners are the most likely destination,maybe two prospects like Mangini or somebody else for Galarraga and 1 million would be great for both teams…
hope he goes to the Giants
i’ve seen worse 5’s before. any team outside the phils, giants and rays would do well to consider it.
actually the G’s should consider it too, because they have, literally, no one outside of their top 5.
Indeed. Certainly Galarraga is better than Suppan.
Or Boston( we’ve got Wake and Doubrant if we need a 6th starter!!
For some reason I can see him going to the White Sox, maybe, very slim chance.
I can’t see the tigers dealing with their competition in the division. It’s a recipe for some bad PR if Galarraga turns it around and owns the tigers.
Buccos should be in on this as well, Doumit 1B/DH/RF/C for Galarraga and a low level prospect??? Makes some sense
No it doesn’t.
Do you honestly believe any GM (other than Hendry or Reagins) would take on Doumit and that horrendous contract he has with PIT?
yes they would, especially for Galarraga. Doumit is a below avg defensive C but he has lot’s of power, is a lefty who can crush RHP and his contract isn’t horrible when you consider he’s owed 5.1 mil in 2011 and has TEAM options which can be declined for 2012 and 2013. Not sure, but he might even rank as a Type B if you let him walk after 2011.
Worse case scenario he can be brought in as an option to compete with Avila for the back up spot. In fact, I don’t even think Avila should be on the mlb squad unless the Tigers can find 300-400 AB for him in 2011. Otherwise, they could let Avila spend a year @ AAA, wait until Guillen and Ordonez walk after this season as a FA, then let Vmart and Avila split C duties in 2012 with Vmart spending time as a DH as well.
I think the Tigers should jump at a Gallaraga for Doumit deal.
Do you make a new username every year?
I asked this question earlier this week and the Tigers already have Victor Martinez, Magglio, Carlos Guillen, and Brendan Boesch sharing time at DH.
They won’t want Doumit. His value has taken huge drops with his horrible fielding, countless injuries, and immobiliaty. :/
Not at all. The Tigers are giving him away. He could be had for a low A fringe prospect probably.
Set at 1B for a time to come….hopefully set at C for a time to come…..set at RF for at least this season, no need for a DH. I don’t see Detroit having any interest whatsoever in Doumit.
Trading him would be so stupid. 1)You can never have too much pitching 2)we don’t know if Coke can make the transition an he is a great back up plan. 3)penny can’t stay healthy and who know who else could possibly get hurt. 4)at worst he is inthe bullpen for long relief/ spot starting
I will be dumbfounded unless they get a stellar deal. Trading pitching before the season even starts is absolutely retarded especially when you’ve got so many questions about your rotation. Didn’t DD learn how important a healthy starter is after he traded Jurjenns??? This is going to be a VERY bad move by the Tigers
This is exactly what I was thinking. It isn’t biased, the Tigers are my favorite to win the division but their rotation has some doubts after Verlander, Scherzer, and Porcello. It seems like the Tigers are too confident in Phil Coke’s ability to transition to the rotation. He was good, but not stellar in relief last year. (3.75 ERA, 1.44 WHIP, .275 opponent batting average)
Keep in mind that he was overworked late in the season though. Those numbers are kinda inflated by a few bad outings late in the season, if I remember correctly.
Wait a minute though…If Coke was overworked as a reliever late in the season, he won’t be as a starter late in the season???
He’ll be entering this season with the mindset of being a starter, completely different.
Quite an adjustment…come in for 3 or 4 batters..then start..you are right it is quite different…as a yankee fan I like coke..I hope he does well…good guy..I hear
Usually I agree with your posts, but I am going to have to disagree with this one. Galarraga is getting traded because the Tigers feel they have better options for insurance in the minor leagues and he’s no long relief pitcher. They simply have no room for him. If someone like Penny gets hurt, which they feel like his injury from last season is behind him, they have some minor league depth to keep them in the race until the trade deadline when they would then go out and get someone who could fill that role. Honestly, I don’t feel like Galarraga belongs in AAA and that’s where he’s going to end up if he doesn’t get traded. Besides, $2.3MM for a long relief guy is pretty pricy, especially after the Tigers learned their lessons in having $10MM and $12MM long relief options in Dontrelle and Robertson. They have cheaper options such as Brad Thomas.
Also, look at it this way: the market now is suggesting that teams are looking for a fifth starter, and he’s a very valuable option for teams looking for a back-of-the-rotation guy, probably a better option than someone like, say, Bonderman, who was pretty horrid last year. He’s under team control and going to be relatively cheap through the 2013 season, and the Tigers have Jacob Turner waiting in the wings during the times he’s team controlled, so it really makes no sense to hang onto him when the market is looking for a guy like him when later in the offseason or next offseason someone is going to even want him, trade him while he still has value and the market still wants him, you know?
I do agree with many of your points, especially about the demand for a guy like him, but I do feel that major league pitching is way to fickle to be getting rid of a guy who is proven right where you have all your question marks. The tigers issue is their back end starters and Gally is adequate in that role. Now maybe they are getting incredible offers for him and maybe the return on him will be over the top, but even still, if penny or coke doesn’t work out then you have to go to turner or Oliver(furbush looks like a blue chipper too) but rookie pitchers who can handle immediate pressure are few and far between. Very rarely do you get what we got out if porcello his rookie year. I just can’t understand why you would get rid of an adequate solution to an honest question mark.
Galaragga has had 3 seasons to prove himself worthy of being a backup plan, Detroit is sick of him. You’re making it seem like the success or lack of it for the 2011 Tigers is in Galaragga’s hands.
Please be the Pirates!! We have plenty of promising players in our system.
Our club is really balanced right now. The only Major leaguer we should even consider taking would be a lefty reliever. Other than that, we should really use this as an opportunity to get some prospects. They dont have to be great, but we could really do well getting somebody thats blocked, like a Hector Gomez from Colorado? I know thats a stretch, but that should be the kind of player we look at.
Ask the Yankees if they would trade Rafiel Soriano for Galarraga, this would make a very nice piece for the bull-pen. Is this just next years Santa Claus list.
Not sure if that’s a serous trade or not. But at best, the most you will get is probably Joba or a prospect or something.
Neither Joba or Galaragga are really reliable.
too young on both joba and galaragga to tell if they are reliable
2 things disturbing here. First why are the financially secure Tigers dying to unload extra pitching they may need( Penny is injury prone) and Second, it’s sad to see that 2.3 million is to much for The Tribe to take on!
The Tribe only has a gazillion back of the rotation starters to sort through. They hardly need another one.
I’ve heard that Galarraga requested a trade after the Penny signing.
I’m feeling the Nats as a serious possibility. It sounds weird to say but a transition to the NL might give both him and the Nationals what they need to get over that .500 hump. Although a 5 man rotation with no one with greater than #2 starter stuff (J.Zimmermann, the others aren’t greater than #4), their lineup could also really thump it out if Desmond and Espinosa break out. I’m sure its more wishful thinking than anything but could a guy that Montreal dumped be the same one that finishes the Nationals first rebuilding project and helps them improve to their first .500+ season in Washington?
Galarraga for Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels and Roy Oswalt. It may not be a lot in return for the tigars but it’s a start.
nicely played
Sorry, Yankees can offer better than that with Igawa.
Nope, never mind, not the Nationals.
JESUS MONTERO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
hahaha im just kidding
come on A.A
LOL. Why would the Jays want or need Galarraga exactly? Wait weren’t you the same guy saying that the Jays should sign Brian Fuentes in order to compete with Boston?
Tiger rotation, 2010: 4.46 ERA, .262 BAA, 1.36 WHIP
Galarraga, 2010: 4.49 ERA, .257 BAA, 1.34 WHIP
Galarraga career: 4.58 ERA, .254 BAA, 1.36 WHIP
He is too good to be called the “guy that almost pitched the perfect game”. A couple years before, he took a no-hitter against KC, and he also prevented the 2008 Tigers from losing 100 games. That being said, with his slightly high salary, the Tigers shouldn’t expect too much for him. That being said, it’s a great deal for Detroit, considering they traded a long shot AA prospect for him.
I felt bad for him losing the perfecto, but a perfect game is the sum of ALL of the players on the field. There is always ONE particular play the saves the perfect game, and in AG’s case it was Austin Jackson’s remarkable catch. However as much as we can blame losing the perfecto on the ump, watch the play again. If the first baseman wasn’t so over-protective of saving the game and just went to first base and let the 2nd sacker field the ball, it would have been an easy play and perfect game.The play of the first baseman was imperfect, therefore, no perfect game.
That being said, if the Yankee don’t throw in a stick, 2 bottle caps, 3 Minnie Minoso baseball cards for Gallaraga I will have to wonder just what they expect to find on the rag pile to make up a rotation this year. They’ve passed on, (year after year) great innings guys, guys who go out every 5 days and pitch decently without being Cy Young, but not being Ed Whitson either. There’s a reason guys like Livan HErnandez, Bruce Chen, , Kevin Millwood et al always have jobs, they eat innings. With the Yankee line-up any one of these guys “could” win 15 games as a 4th or 5th starter, but they continually pass on them. They would rather spend lots of money on a free agent starter, or pull someone off the injury pile and wait for a miracle. Livan has pitched over 1700 inning in the last 8 years to a 4.37 ERA and average 33 starts a year. He keeps teams in games!! …….and the Yankees never seems to want these guys. Oh, and I kind of like that AG for Greg Golson trade, or maybe Francisco Cervelli.
It sounds like a deal with Arizona is all but finished. If the DBacks don’t offer someone good, the Tigers should keep Armando.
I don’t know how he’ll fare in Arizona’s ballpark. :/
They can’t keep him. If not traded, they’ll have to put him on waivers before they can outright him or release him.
Okay
And for the record. I always thought Coke could’ve been a decent starter so I’m not knocking the choice to try him out as a starter seeing as that was what he was most of his career. However, you don’t know what you’ll get so why not keep safety nets, especially as it doesn’t seem like the Tigers will get anything of mlb caliber in return for him.
Eichhorn? The laces were out!
dont get this at all…yeah lets give the guy 2+mill then DFA him a few days later….DFA means he is out of options right? so why wont a team just wait till waivers and claim him….doubt the tigers get anything more than a high A guy and thats all they deserve after all this
Armando G to St. Louis would be perfect for him, Dave Duncan is know to revive pitchers career eh.
If I hear one more person comment on how Dave Duncan will revive a pitcher I’m going to hit somebody…