Here's the latest from Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports…
- Impending free agent Andre Ethier is "the first opportunity for the Dodgers’ new ownership to make a statement in the post-McCourt era," and while Ethier has let it be known that he's willing to negotiate a new deal during the season, Rosenthal thinks Stan Kasten would prefer to see Ethier perform well and stay healthy for the entire 2012 season before offering him a contract extension. Rosenthal predicts Ethier will look for a deal similar to Jayson Werth's seven-year, $126MM contract with the Nationals, and given the lack of proven power bats on the market, Ethier "probably can name his price" this winter if he keeps producing.
- Johan Santana's hefty contract and no-trade clause will make it hard for the Mets to move him without eating a lot of money in a deal. Rosenthal thinks it makes more sense for the Mets to just hang on to Santana, who can be a valuable mentor to the team's young pitchers.
- The Blue Jays are unlikely to trade either J.P. Arencibia or Travis d'Arnaud before the end of the season, as the Jays like Arencibia's game-calling and d'Arnaud's overall potential. Rosenthal cites the Diamondbacks as one of several teams interested in Toronto's catchers, which follows up on his report in March that the Snakes were looking at Arencibia. Arizona's interest would seem to indicate that the D'Backs are preparing a backup plan should they not be able to re-sign Miguel Montero.
- It "does not appear out of the question" that the Rockies will make changes to the coaching staff given the team's pitching woes, defensive struggles and overall poor start.
- A scout tells Rosenthal that Andy Pettitte "does not look close to ready" and will need several more minor league starts before he's ready to return to the Yankees.
Montero for Arencibia?
No way! Arencibia is better! He has high potential and very good game calling! Are you a Jays or Dback fan?
I’m not sure Arencibia has quite the same potential with the bat, on account of the contact issues, but his power is definitely legit.
He can stick full time at catcher, though.
which montero are we talking about here?
I’m talking about Jesus Montero.
I assumed he meant Miguel, who was mentioned in the article…. But you are correct about Jesus not sticking at catcher.
In what universe would JPA net Jesus?
Montero or Christ? I mean Jesus of Nazareth has been dead for almost 2000 years now.
Montero would turn into a 1st round pick at the end of the year.
Not with the new CBA… only if he’s with the team for the entire year. So they’d just be trading a player who is not yet arbitration eligible for someone becoming a free agent. Can’t see it happening
Go Jays!
Trade Arencibia. Keep d’Arnaud.
why not just keep both?
You can’t trade Arencibia if d’Arnaud isn’t ready (so not now)…but when he is you trade Arencibia because both are good enough to start. Address a team need by dealing from surplus.
but having a good back up catcher is important.
Especially when the jays have no clear answer for 1B/DH in the future, it will be really easy to give both 500 AB’s in a year.
JPA would have to be better at the plate though to justify playing him anywhere besides catcher.
I just worry that the jays trade JPA, D’arnaud starts, gets hurt and then jeff mathis is our every day catcher.
You mean to tell me that the man that is Jeff Mathis is not a good back up? The guy should be starting…
Only in Anaheim…
JPA has been so far below an average bat at 1B and DH that you can hardly count on that as a viable option.
Right, but by all accounts JPA’s defense has come along way, and apparently D’arnaud’s game calling is not good.
So JPA can get 400 Ab’s at Catcher, 100 elsewhere. D’arnaud, who projescts to have the better bat can get 200 Ab’s at catcher, 400 1B/DH.
also another response to could have been.
“our current 1B isn’t a viable option either”
It depends on what the Jays could get for JPA. Most would think keeping a starting caliber catcher in a backup role is a waste of resources. Maybe if it was a team that was so stacked they could have that luxury. Signing a vet catcher to pair with D’Arnaud while cashing in JPA would seem most likely/sound.
I don’t think either catcher is the Jays answer to 1b/DH. Neither player is terribly special when held to those offensive standards. Why not deal JPA for a 1b with real potential? Considering teams are always looking for catching that shouldn’t be too difficult. That might be overstating JPA’s value. An 84 OPS+ catcher doesn’t scream “high commodity”.
How has that Werth contract work out for Washington so far? Ethier is a nice player with a good bat, but hopefully some teams think twice before going crazy.
I seriously doubt Ethier gets half of what Werth got. He’s got 4 yrs 56 mil written all over him.
I’d take the over on that in a heartbeat. 126m might prove to be a stretch, we should all hope, but I’d say 80m is the minimum if he has a nice season.
11 home runs in 130 games last year is a “power bat”???
I miss juicing….
2011, knee injury. 2010, broken finger. Year before that, 31 HRs.
I miss fans who know what they are talking about.
Thanks, Ken Rosenthal, for telling us the Mets won’t trade Santana. I think we got that from his 2.61 ERA, 9.9 K/9, and 138 ERA+ with no sign of any injury.
In a whopping 31 IP since coming back, and with a team that is, or should be, rebuilding. Yeah, I think they’d like to move him in order to rebuild faster, if that’s what they’re doing (who really knows).
On another token rebuilding should entail getting some kind of revenue by having a pitcher people might actually pay to come see. Since his contract is unmovable I don’t really see a downside in that.
Good let’s take Jason upton for jp , finally a good fielder to complement the hitless rasmus/bau combo
Haha Justin
Jason Upton for J.P. Arencibia, as a D-backs fan, I take that deal.
The Dodgers should make a statement by trading Either to the Sox We’ll take Billingsly (spell check) too
Jason Upton? Any relation to Justin? Classic. Does anybody actually listen to anything Rosenthal says? He is a master of the obvious statement – with zero insight. Always has been. Seems to make his eyes sparkle whenever any MLB player will even talk to him! Like a kid with a crush…
Werth contract? Puh-lease! I’d rather trade Ether for a solid prospect before the trade deadline and bring up Van Slyke. Then, take that money that we saved on Ether and spend it on Cole Hamels and Josh Hamilton for 2013.
7/$126m for Ethier? Oh please please please make it happen Magic.
I love Ethier but I hope he doesn’t get a Werth contract, especially not with a talented group of FA outfielders available after this season.
Werth’s contract was terrible… Ethier getting that type of money would be even worse. He’s had two good years, and is already 30! 20 homeruns and 80 RBIs with a .275 avg. if he stays relatively healthy. Sounds more like 5 years/50 mill to me.
It depends on whether he can return to 2009 form after having played hurt the last two seasons. He’s making a pretty good case for himself so far this season, but I’m sure both the player and his agent know that he needs to keep it going for another month or two if he hopes to get a significant extension offer from the Dodgers.
5 years/85 mill, more than I expected, but not werth money.