Two of the NL West's biggest stars were sidelined today as Matt Kemp (left hamstring strain) and Troy Tulowitzki (strained left groin) were both placed on the 15-day disabled list. It's a particularly tough blow for Kemp, who had just returned on Tuesday from a DL stint due to the same injury.
Some other news from around the division….
- With the Diamondbacks making a $60MM commitment to Miguel Montero, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic looks at that deal's long-term impact on the Snakes' payroll.
- The Giants look like the clear winners of their offseason trades for Angel Pagan and Melky Cabrera, writes John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle. Jonathan Sanchez and Andres Torres (who were sent to the Royals and Mets, respectively, in those trades) have both struggled, while Pagan and Cabrera have helped anchor the Giants' lineup.
- "I never think about that," Cabrera told MLB.com's Chris Haft and Jay Lee in regards to a possible in-season extension. "I leave that to my agents. They're they ones who know. I never think about contracts, just about staying focused on baseball." ESPN's Buster Olney reported earlier today that the two sides hadn't made progress on a new contract. Earlier this month, I examined what a possible Cabrera extension could cost the Giants.
- The Giants, Diamondbacks and Dodgers are among the teams interested in Kevin Youkilis, writes Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. Los Angeles might be the most intriguing of these three, as the Dodgers are looking for position player help and would be the most able to absorb Youkilis' salary thanks to their new ownership group. The Phillies and Indians have also been scouting the Red Sox infielder, while the Reds don't seem interested.
I really dont see youkilis in my Dbacks… i Hope they would traded skaggs for michael young 2 years ago
Youkilis, Lahair, and Morneau are the firstbaseman whom the Dodgers should target. Though I suppose Youk might play some third.
Whenever the Padres make Chase Headley available he should become the Dodger’s biggest trade target. Not because he’s the best player, but because 3rd base is the Dodger organization’s weakest position, with few options looming via free agency.
don’t want LaHair, unless it costs us nothing in return. would love Youk, but only at 3B. would love Morneau, but I don’t think it happens unless the Dodgers bite the bullet on his salary.
I still don’t think trading Youkilis would be a good idea. For one thing they aren’t going to get fair value for him right now because he started slow and then got injured so people are down on him (and last summer FanGraphs listed him as having the 29th most trade value in the game – ahead of guys like Ellsbury, Cano, Kinsler, Pineda, and Castro); also because they would be essentially void of major league ready 1B/3B to step in if something happens to Gonzalez or Middlebrooks.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think it’s a great idea but it’s the one that makes the most sense for several reasons.
-First off Youk has been hitting better so he’d be a pretty valuable trade chip.
-Second, he’s getting to the point where his abilities will likely be diminishing, not to mention he really shouldn’t be playing third much longer.
-Third, Sox are probably going to want to continue payroll cuts next year, so saying good bye to Youk or Ortiz seems to be the most likely bet. So trading one now and getting something in return seems like a decent business decision.
Again, not a great idea to trade him, but if it can help in other areas and in the future it might be the best bet.
I don’t think Youkilis’ trade value is anywhere near high enough to make it worth it. If they could get starting pitching or impact prospects, sure, but his value seems to be low enough that people wont want to give anything more than middle relief or a couple of middling prospects for him, and if that’s the case they are way way better off keeping him.
He’s still an outstanding hitter who plays a capable 3B and an above average 1B, and is only owed ~$19M over the next year and a half, so they should be able to get a pretty decent haul for him; but he ended last year injured, started this year off slow, and then got injured again, so people are going to think they should be able to get him for next to nothing. Even if he mashes between now and the deadline I think teams are still going to want him cheap.
He is showing the league his bat is back at least.. Turning on that 95mph FB that was way inside tonight and rifling it into the LF corner for a double.
Regardless of whether or not the Sox FO decides to try and move him.. IMO Morneau would be the most desired 1b on the market, the only issue would be the Twins probably not willing to eat any of Morneau’s remaining salary and his 14m salary for 2013 is guaranteed, where Youk’s 13m for next season is an option. Boston may also help pay part of his salary also for this season if they did decide to move him.
Youk has been hitting much better each and every game and scouts have to be noticing. Tonight’s game when he turned on that FB he was the Youk of old.
The questions about his health aren’t going to be answered by the trade deadline, so people are going to be down on his value even if he proves that the bat is still there.
Exactly.. Some don’t realize turning on a 95mph FB on the inside corner and hitting it to the wall does not matter if you are on the road, or at home.. Unless they just don’t like Boston…
The Giants would be lucky to get a Cabrera extension for 3/36 right now. His agents are probably thinking more like 5/75 and i think some team would pay that on the open market.
Once he cools off later in the season and falls down to around .295-.305 range, his price will cool off a little more as well.
Since coming back from his injury (when he’s turned it around) he’s only played 2 away games, and before the injury (when he was slumping really bad) he played almost twice as many away games as home games, so his home-away splits for this year are going to be greatly skewed by that fact.
Also, it’s not like the park has been making any difference for him – he’s not getting wall scrapers that would have been outs anywhere else, and he hasn’t got cheap green monster home runs, he’s been getting solid hits. His double down the line last night was a double anywhere, and his two home runs were crushed completely over the monster, so they would have been home runs anywhere. Scouts aren’t looking at production anyway, they’re looking at how he looks at the plate and in the field regardless of the outcome.
So in other words, you don’t have anything to back your assertions up with so you’re going to accuse me of being a homer. Got it.