On this date in 1994, the owners implemented a salary cap and revenue sharing as the players were on strike. Those provisions were never put in place though, as the judge who ended the labor dispute ruled that the next two seasons must be played under the previously existing labor conditions. We do have revenue sharing nowadays, but a salary cap isn't going to happen anytime soon. Here's the latest from around the league…
- The Nationals are now focused on improving their bench, but MLB.com's Bill Ladson says (on Twitter) that it seems as though they are unlikely to sign Greg Dobbs. Washington expressed interest in Dobbs last week.
- Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com listed (on Twitter) the Rockies, Marlins, Tigers, Red Sox, Yankees, Orioles, and Blue Jays as clubs looking to add a starting pitcher. Earlier today we heard that both the Yankees and Red Sox are pursuing Hiroki Kuroda.
- Even after signing John Danks to an extension, Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com reports that the White Sox could look to trade Gavin Floyd this offseason. The Red Sox expressed interest in the righty during the winter meetings. Floyd will make $7MM in 2012, then a $9.5MM club option for 2013 comes into play.
- In an Insider-only column, ESPN's Keith Law calls the Sean Marshall trade a win for the Cubs. "The Reds, meanwhile, continue what I can only assume is a rapid emptying of their farm system to try to win again in the two years before Joey Votto reaches free agency," he added.
- With several Japanese players slated to join MLB next season, Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker takes a look at the players who will replace them on their former club in Japan.
Dobbs will sign again with the Marlins. They seemed a good fit for each other last season.
What needs/wants do the White Sox have that they’d look for in return for Floyd?
They need everything, but mostly bats. However, other teams are dealing with Williams. So, a career .225 hitter for Floyd straight up? Ha.
They need everything, but mostly bats. However, other teams are dealing with Williams. So, a career .225 hitter for Floyd straight up? Ha.
Well Floyd isn’t anything to write home about either.
He is a good number 3 that was the AL pitcher of the month last July. So you don’t know what you are talking about.
One month can’t define a whole season. And a 4.37 ERA is only a good #3 pitcher for team who has outstanding offense or isn’t ready to compete. He’d be more qualified as a #4 on a good team, or even 5.
I see a deal to the Rockies for Dexter Fowler.
Can’t see that one. No one else on the current roster or in the entire system can cover ground like Fowler, and that’s more important at Coors than any other park in MLB.
If they’d take Smith plus another positional prospect then I’d be happy, though.
I’m not sure where Smith would fit on the Sox current roster. If anything they will be dealing Quentin to make room for Viciedo. I just know that there had been talk last summer about Floyd and the Rockies and Fowler was brought up in that scenario. I’m not even sure how Floyd’s curve would translate to the thin air in Denver.
My guess is “not well”. Curves and sliders don’t bite as much in Denver as elsewhere.
That’s also part of the reason why Rockies’s hitters struggle more on the road than players for other teams. They have to make a huge adjustment to breaking pitches that other guys don’t have to deal with.
I don’t see them dealing Fowler unless they get blown away, and Floyd, being a breaking ball pitcher, won’t accomplish that.
The Rockies have actually been improving recently in their home/road splits.
I wouldn’t call Floyd a strict breaking ball pitcher. He has a pretty live fast ball. He just needs to limit the big inning. He’s as good of an arm as I’ve heard linked to the Rockies.
keith law has no friends.
Now that he is the 2nd ESPN “expert” to trash a Reds deal, I am sure him & Bowden are best buds
trade danks 4 fielder???
Excellent idea. I wouldn’t be surprised if this happens in the next couple of weeks.
I would be surprised if that trade happened.
Considering the fact that Fielder is a free agent, I would be TOTALLY surprised if they traded for him.
I think he means Cecil Fielder.
Heh, the Nats want to improve their bench? Jayson Werth would be a good fit.
Heh, the Nats want to improve their bench? Jayson Werth would be a good fit.
brilliant
I think Danks was a more profitable trade chip for the White Sox more than Floyd.
The last three years they have been very similar pitchers with the slight edge actually going to Floyd:
Floyd: 3.81 FIP, 91 FIP-, 3.73 xFIP, 3.70 SIERA, 7.02 K/9, 2.09 BB/9,
43.7 GB%, 193.2 IP (average per season)
Danks: 3.82 FIP, 91 FIP-, 3.79 xFIP, 3.81 SIERA, 7.13 K/9, 2.43 BB/9,
43.8 GB%, 170.1 IP (average per season)
Add to that the fact that Floyd is owed $7M next year with a $9.5M club option the year after, while Danks was just extended and is owed an average of $13M per season until 2016 and my choice would be Floyd without hesitation.
Danks is also a lefty and, while lefties are nice to have in general, they tend to have a harder time in Fenway; particularly ones who don’t throw all that hard.
Gavin Floyd can be solid, but he’ll drive you crazy as well. He never seems to put it all together. He’ll have the fastball and loose the curve…and then he’ll have the curve and nothing else. There are about 5 starts a season that he is absolutely devastating and has it all together. He’s seemed to have some confidence issues.
Obviously stats can’t tell you how frustrating a guy is to watch, but looking at the stats Danks is actually the one with wild fluctuations in his numbers (from month to month) last year and for his career. And anyway, if Floyd averages out to the same (slightly better really) production as Danks over the course of a month/year I don’t think it changes my opinion any.
Danks is more valuable than Floyd and 80-90% of GMs would agree.
Why?
I think the fact that he’s an inning eating lefty is a strong case in itself. He’s also now under contract longer.
Except Floyd has thrown more innings the last few years, and lefties (especially soft tossing ones) tend to struggle in Fenway. Plus, Danks being under control longer isn’t necessarily a good thing since he costs ~ 2x as much as Floyd.
Calling Danks a soft-tossing lefty isn’t accurate. Last season he went on the DL for the first time, so that effecting his innings load. I’m wondering if Danks new contract includes a no-trade clause…because if it doesn’t he’d be much easier to move with 5 years left. He’s shown he can be a workhorse and likely hasn’t had his best season.
I’d also agree with the poster who said that Danks is more valuable than Floyd..even though both could pitch in anyones rotation. Floyd has been a bit of an enigma.
Soft-tossing refers to how fast he throws the ball, and it is accurate: the fastest his fastball has ever averaged for a season is 91mph, it’s not 88-89 but it’s soft none the less.
Again, being locked up for more years sounds good, but when it’s for fair value at best it doesn’t really help his value, not when compared to a guy who is making about half as much next year.
What the fastball velocity stats aren’t showing on Danks is that he varies the velocity. He can get it up there at 95 at times. He uses it much like a changeup as well.
It certainly does depend on what your overall goal is with either Danks or Floyd. I believe in the past Floyd has seen some unusual offensive support. Either would be an addition for an MLB team..I just feel that Danks serves more purpose given his handedness. Any team in the market for either Floyd or Danks probably wouldn’t be make or break on either contract. Danks, though, if healthy, almost be easier to deal for prospects.
According to Pithc/fx that isn’t true about Danks’ fastball; it fluctuates about 1mph or so in either direction which is normal for any pitcher.
He is also arguably overpaid. Other pitchers in his position don’t generally get paid like he is; Lester and Buchholz, as examples, their contracts start around the $2-3M per year range and go up to about $13M at their highest points, $13M is the average for Danks and he isn’t even as good of a pitcher.
It’ll take the Sox $13M to acquire a pitcher like Danks given that the system is barren. If they trade him now..they likely don’t get the return anyway….so why not keep Danks and build around him? I’m not disagreeing with the stats..I’m just stating there is more psychologically at play in Chicago. Buehrle has already left and they can’t sell tickets as it is.
Floyd is well on his way to being overpaid himself.
Danks makes an average of $13M for the next 5 years, Floyd makes $7M next year and has a $9.5M option for the year after, so at no point does his contract even approach what a team would have to pay Danks.
I’ll take a dealable at the deadline Danks over Floyd. Floyd has been the type of pitcher to doom a team over a 4 outing stretch.
but dont you think 13 mil a year for danks is a lttle bit of a reach?? i admit to being a nats fan and i think they gave away too much for gio….however the loot that danks is making is just another indication of how weak the FA market is…..god only knows what theo wants for garza and im sure thats gonna require half of someones farm system
I think the debate can be made on high contracts in general. That being said, I feel that Danks is generally underated and is slightly younger than Gonzalez I believe.
It would have cost Kenny Williams $13M to replace Danks…so why not extend him? He’s just now entering what should be his prime years, and when the contract is over..The White Sox can let him walk. I think given the choice of retaining Buehrle, Floyd, or Danks…they made the seemingly right choice.
I agree. Both Danks and Floyd can be frustrating. What I’ve found maddening about both is that when they are off, they have a tendency to put their team offense completely out of the game. Danks will go into a 6-0 hole early. Floyd has been more the type to have 4 solid innings and have a one inning blow out. That said, there’s not a GM who wouldn’t want either of them for various reasons. Floyd always seems one outing away from putting it all together. If you catch him with everything working, you wonder how he ever loses.
Yanks- Kuroda, Sox- Floyd, Jays- Jackson, Marlins- Wandy R, Orioles- Garland, Rockies- Maholm, Nats- Oswalt, Tigers- Pineiro
The Orioles get Garland. LOL????
That’s why we are last in our division, with those kinds of moves!
Also, why would the Nats sign Oswalt now that they have Gio?
If the Orioles decide to spend and get both Oswalt and Kuroda we’re in business! If we don’t “WADA JOKE” and we’re last in our division again!
TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE!
Even if you get Oswalt and Kuroda you would be on the outside looking in. Two pitchers who have not been Al-tested sounds iffy to me.
You might be right! However, what wouldn’t be iffy is if we signed Garland. There’s no iffy about it!
I’m really curious about what the White Sox would want for Floyd; if it’s not a crazy amount (which it could be after the trades we seen so far) I think I would actually like that trade for the Red Sox.
Only if that salarycap had been put into effect and bud had a pair to stand by it then
baseball teams would be equal and the small market teams wouldn’t have to lose their players so better competiton on the field.
Fans wouldn’t have to get a mortgage to take their family to games so more attenendance for all clubs.
More families go to games and more kids get involved in baseball and everybody wins.
So many benefits to a salarycap but as long as bud is running the show the players assoc will run the asylum.
The Sox Had There chance at prince….and a-gon, when they could of traded beckham to the brew crew/padres…..boy good thing they didn’t. that beckham was a stud for them last year
Reading more and more of Keith Law makes me think he’s pining for another front office job, as his logic gets more and more ridiculous with each piece.
He says those prospects have “major trade value” to open his argument. That argument is flawed from the start, as Wood was the only one with any real-time trade value. The Cubs do receive a cheap, cost-controlled starter for this rebuilding phase, plus two mid-level prospects who don’t have a particularly high ceiling. If Sappelt was worth keeping, the Reds wouldn’t have dealt him away for an elite LHP who may not even sign an extension
If the Reds extend Marshall, the trade is a win for the Reds. If they don’t, and two of the three develop into legitimate major leaguers 2-3 years down the line, this is a win for the Cubs.
Law may have a smart scouting mind, and have worked in a high-ranking position in the Toronto front office, but he overvalues prospects based on his last couple of postings of this offseason’s trades.
To authoritatively evaluate any trade involving an established, all-star caliber major leaguer against a borderline ML pitcher and two fringe prospects less than one week after it is finished is logically impossible, since neither player has played an inning for their new team.
Reds suck.
The sentence you wrote didn’t make any sense.
There is a reason why Keith Law is not in a front office anymore. He does not know whether his head is in the clouds or where the sun dont shine. In baseball, reporters are referred to as mushrooms, you keep them in the dark and feed them manure.