Some notes from the NL West….
- Diamondbacks GM Kevin Towers spoke with Aaron Hill's agent this week, reports Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. The two sides made little progress and didn't exchange figures, but Towers said another talk is tentatively scheduled for next week. Hill hit .215/.386/.492 in 142 plate appearances for the Snakes after being dealt from the Blue Jays, but Towers said he isn't necessarily looking at a multi-year deal for Hill since he doesn't "want to get too crazy about six weeks [of production]. There’s a reason they moved him and a reason we moved Kelly Johnson.”
- Also from Piecoro's piece, the recently-released Juan Gutierrez said he expected the move and hopes to re-sign with the D'Backs on a minor league deal. Gutierrez underwent Tommy John surgery in September.
- The Padres are willing to give Heath Bell a two-year, $15-$16MM contract with an option for a third year, reports Bill Center of the San Diego Union-Tribune as part of an online chat with fans. Bell wants three years guaranteed, but Center wonders if the closer would accept a two-year deal with a partial no-trade clause. Center discusses several other Padres topics during the chat, including what he would want in a possible Mat Latos trade and Kyle Blanks' future with the team.
keep Hill & add jose reyes
Can’t do both. Drew is coming back.
Yeah like the D’Backs are paying someone 20M a year… Be real.
Bell will get a minimum of $12 million in arbitration & 3 years $30+ in FA. Why accept $7.5 million? Makes no sense. Maybe if the Padres go 2 years $17-$18 million with an option year with a large buyout?
bell will get lucky to get 2 years 18 million, no one is stupid enough to give a declining closer 10 mill per year over 3 years
Which is why he’ll accept arbitration. You should be glad the whole point of arbitration was for the player to accept it and stay with the team that wanted him!
.315 not .215
$15-$16 million for 2 years of Bell is the most the Padres have to offer. He is probably worth more on the open market but not to the Padres. It would simply hamper attempts to improve the ballclub as a whole. If Bell doesn’t take the offer, the second best option is to let him walk unless the Padres are certain he won’t accept arb.
Could the jays land latos? What would it take?
Offense. Lots of offense.
None too familiar with the Jays’ system, but Padres’ are in need of depth at second, short, center, and catcher, preferably major league ready (or close to it).
Would the Jays part with Escobar for Latos straight up? Seems a bit like a lateral move for the Jays. Maybe if Padres could somehow bundle Latos and Bell together for Escobar, a solid position prospect, and maybe two lower-level arms? My thinking is Bell can either be a useful, albeit pricey tool in the Jays’ bullpen, or very tantalizing tradebait.
it would take a lot to pry latos away, try at least two top prospects and major league talent. Latos is young and controllable not to mention still getting better. Also the market as always is thin on pitching.
And as thin as that market is, I’d say it’s wholly trumped by the market for shortstops who can field and hit worth a lick. Escobar would be available for four more years under contract at $5 million per (less than what Bartlett is scheduled to make this coming year).
Not that I would expect the Padres to be serious contenders until the latter end of the contract, but solidifying the middle infield at that price for that many years certainly couldn’t hurt.
very true, but the padres would be better off just keeping latos unless overwhelmed by an offer. Also my comment was actually directed to lunchbox, my bad.
Oh no worries man. And I actually agree with you, was kinda just tinkering with trade ideas. Fun stuff.
I think you said it best when you mentioned its a lateral move for the jays..
However hechavarria is considered one of the top fielding major league ss and he’s never played a game, if his bat develops, he could really be effective, jays would probably part with him..
The strength of the jays system is pitching & catching..
I would think perhaps a deal involving Hechavarria (ss) Arencibia (C) Hutchinson (SP) and Marisnick (CF)
That’s 3 top 5 prospects in a top 5 far system, and a young controllable catcher with lots of power.
I have little to no experience evaluating trades, but what you’re offering seems like more than fair compensation. Only sticking point in my mind, is that while there’s nothing wrong with J.P. Arencibia, I think the Padres might prefer another upside arm if at all possible. That said, Arendibia would save them the effort of having to go out and get another back-up catcher for Hundley, so there’s plenty of value there.
Backup catcher? The guy hit 23 homers and 4 triples in his rookie season.
That’s too much value, Hutch and Marisnick are probably both top 50 prospects in baseball, Hech is top 100 material, and Arencibia is an established big-leaguer. I’d be hesistant to do Marisnick and Arencibia alone for Latos.
I think Brett Cecil, Aaron Sanchez, A.J. Jimenez, and Eric Thames would probably be a fair offer for both sides. The Padres get two adequate starting players in Cecil and Thames and two high-upside prospects in Sanchez and Jimenez.
latos is under team control for 3-4 more years its going to take a lot to land him
Not sure how fond the Padres would be of that offer. Outfield is already pretty crowded, and forgive me if I’m overlooking Thames, but his numbers don’t seem to be anything special. Cecil has nice upside and would do better in Petco, but it seems like Padres’ might have options that are more or less equivalent. Jimenez is certainly promising though, I’m sure that would be a start.
Take out Hutch and put in Drabek and I’d do that–he’s still got value.
ouchhhh… I agree with you kinda..
and I definitely wouldn’t have a year ago.
I wouldn’t have either, but man is he looking a bit iffy. Right now I can say with confidence that Molina and Hutchison have passed him in the organizational top 10, but I’d definitely still place Drabek in that list [7th-9th].
I was never big on Drabek, i always worried about his k/9 and wondered why he wasnt striking out more batters…he just never threw enough quality strikes.
but I was never big on him in the sense where i thought he would be a good #3.. i didn’t think it would get this bad.
Too much. JPA has huge value.
latos is good, young and controllable…
Latos-Romero-Morrow-Alvarez-Mcgowan.. would be a force.
Wow, I didn’t realize he’s pre-arb. And his home/road splits are equal. Is he actually available? Why would he be?
One concern I’d have is the jump in IP between 2008-2009-2010, though.
Latos kinda hit a wall in September of 2010, most people would assess to his amount of injuries pitched. He also had a injury from spring training that I would partially attribute to his slow start at the beginning of the year. That said, I don’t think it’s a stretch at all to see him effectively pitch ~200 innings this coming year.
!00% right on the mark, Drew. Add in that Latos had a great September this year and I think he has his best year yet in 2012.
What the heck? This is a horrible trade for the Jays… Hutch, Hech, JP and Marisnick? For Latos? Are you kidding me? That’s the kind of package that would land Joey Votto, not Mat Latos. I would be cautious to send any two of those players to the Padres for Latos. If he costs that much, who the hell wants him anyways? His numbers this year have actually gotten worse across the board.
lol 4 years of latos for 2 (expensive) years of votto..
you answered your own question
I think the Padres would want Gose because he is the type of player that fits Petco Park
Marisnick is a similar type of player.
I’d rather give up on Gose if I had to choose between him and Marisnick. Gose is closer to being MLB ready, but Marisnick has a higher ceiling due to his bat.
Gose + Drabek + Eric “Chocolate Thunder” Thames I think is fair value for Latos.. maybe throw in a reliever if the Jays have any left (haha..).
Ugh.. too bad Cecil had a bad year, he would have been perfect for a trade like this. Jays should have moved him after last year, but i guess hindsight is 20/20
I was in the minority of people–one–that thought Cecil should have been traded after last season. His fastball is generally 70/30 (rough guess) in regards to top/bottom of the strikezone, and pitch fx shows that in most of his starts. His K/9 rates too have never been impressive either, which makes it worse.
Still would rather have some lower-level prospects than Thames in a deal, Padres are flush with outfielders. Drabek and either one of Marisnick or Hechavarria. Too much?
I could see the Jays doing that, but they’re also very thin at 2B depth–something Escobar or Hechavarria could fill nicely, so it’s a bit lateral.
Drabek + Gose + Carlos Perez I think gets it done.
Hoyer loves Lawrie, but that’s not happening.
I know his home-road splits aren’t too bad, but I still don’t think it’s a good idea to trade for a Padres pitcher. Ignoring the fact that the Padres play in a cavern, the Padres also play in the worst division in baseball and his performance is almost certain to take a big hit going to the AL East.
Hill as a D’Back – .315/.386/.492
Playoffs – .278/.435/.444
I still want him