If ESPN.com's Buster Olney cast one of the 32 ballots for National League MVP, he wouldn't hesitate to vote for Ryan Braun if his production warranted it. Here's more from Olney's column (Insider subscription required)..
- The Cubs desperately need prospects and sources say they're essentially willing to buy them. Chicago is okay with eating a large portion of Ryan Dempster's salary for the rest of the year to pry good young players away from an interested team like the Red Sox or Dodgers. Dempster is being paid $13.5MM this season, which means that any team that traded for him now would owe him roughly $8MM.
- Even though the Rockies record would indicate that they are in sell mode, rival officials say that the club doesn't present blockbuster material. One evaluator said that the club has "pieces", but not major chips. Reliever Rafael Betancourt and veteran Jason Giambi could be of interest to contenders.
- Olney wonders if the Blue Jays' recent rash of injuries in the rotation will deter them from pursuing a starter or if they'll instead feel so strongly about the rest of the team that they'll pay a premium for someone like Matt Garza.
The Rockies (brass) are actually in denial mode…O’Dowd has decimated that team with poor decision after another…Guthrie is imploding right before our eyes while Hammel is flourishing in Baltimore…that’s just one glaring example…ownership is oblivious to it all because people keep filing into Coors…sad state of affairs at 20th and Blake…
Ideally Dempster would go to Detroit for someone like Castellanos, who is blocked at 3rd by Miggy anyways, and try to find a way to get Turner back as well. Maybe paying Demps salary and including a Junior Lake and Vitters could do that. And Garza to Toronto for D’arnaud and Syndergaard.
I think it is going to be a tough call for the Jays. I’m not sure they will give up their top talent for a starting pitcher. That hasn’t been their MO.
Well he did give up Nestor Molina for Santos which IMO given how Santos has worked out for the Jays I’d say the Sox got the better end of that deal.
lol i am assuming you are a cubs fan.
or JP
I really think D’arnaud could end up a Cub in a garza deal. They dont have much in the way of Catching in the minors and JP continues to do his best to block D’arnaud in toronto. The likelihood of getting back a Syndergaard too in the deal may be a stretch.
Justin Nicolino maybe?
JP is doing absolutely NOTHING to block D’arnaud, with an OPS of .653
Look i totally agree that id play Travis over JP if i were the Jays, but someone in that management must like JP alot for a move to not already have been made.
D’arnaud just moved up to AAA. He is still working on his skill, and you want him a C full time. JP is and was always a stop gap- with management hoping he was increasing his trade Value. He will be the first one traded… (well except if someone offers a controlable Ace)
If a .257 OBP and a sub 400 SLG is JP doing his best, I’d hate to see him at his worst.
I doubt the Jays trade D’Arnaud right now, given JP’s offensive struggles.
Dodger Fans, what do you think you would give up for Dempster?
(dont know the dodger prospects, i know they have some good pitching prospects tho)
I think Nate Eovaldi would be the first piece included, outside of that i dont see much.
Eovaldi and Ethan Martain is who I’d ask for realistically
That would be decent. I don’t see the Dodgers coming off two top 10 prospects though. And I wouldn’t be willing to eat much of Dempster’s contract for those two either, which has been hinted at from the Cubs camp.
If the Cubs could get Lee for Dempster and Cash that would be ideal
I don’t think the. Injuries to the Jays starters changes anything on the trade front. The types of deals the Jays would be looking for pre-injuries are the same that they’d look for now… Players with some measure of controllability.
I don’t think anything changes for them – doubt they’d pay a premium.
Well Garza has a fairly minimal contract good through next season and a good track record in the AL East. They talked about him in the offseason, no reason they wouldnt still be interested. My guess is Cubs were probably asking for all 3 i mentioned. D’arnaud, Syndergaard and Nicolino, which would be a kings ransom for Garza. I think 2 of the 3 is a fair offer for Garza with his extra year of controllability and the fact that JP is blocking D’arnaud anyways.
you aren’t getting d’arnaud for garza its nice to have pipe dreams tho; lol
his track record in the al east is the track record of a #3 starter, which is what he’s pitching like this year in the nl central
the time to trade him was this offseason, when you could still fool a few people into thinking he was an ace
Id rather leave D’Arnaud out of the trade and just take the arms. Snydergaard + Nicolino + Marisnick?
+?
Garza only has 1.5 years left. Jays trade for controllable talend. you might get one of the 3. take your pick
has AA ever paid a “premium” for anything? this is a guy who only eats at burger king for the “king deal” of the day and does all his shopping on dealfind and wagjag. paying darren oliver 4m was pretty extravagent but you get the idea.
If Theo was looking for pure talent he would ask for Gose, Syndergaard and another pitcher, I just don’t ever see the Blue Jays giving up D’arnaud.
I think the Cubs will want young pitching prospects in return for Garza. Players like Nicolino and Syndergaard would have to be on the list.
I agree, my ideal package would be Syndergaard, Marisnick, Nicilino and a fringe guy.
I don’t think Garza’s worth that . given his performance and controllability
i think “comma” means “or”…. would probably work
Yeah a combination of a couple of those is what I meant should have specified
i wouldnt say never. just not for Garza.
Now I may be wrong, but I see no one on the Dodgers AAA roster that is younger than 24. Don’t see any standouts in AA either. So what could they have to offer the Cubs that fit into our agenda? I say let’s not deal with the Dodgers.
Zach Lee. a 20 year old in A+ ball with filthy stuff. I’d take him for Dempster straight up
Straight up for an A+ pitcher? No way. But, now that you mention it, he doesn’t look bad. Maybe Lee, Matt Magill and Javier Solano? Cubs cover a couple to $4 mil?
The Cubs are not getting that good of a prospect for Dempster.
Bard for Dempster? This is exactly the type of Theo trade I’m afraid of – Bard is one of Theo’s pet projects, a guy who briefly flashed some potential and now Theo’s convinced getting him is going to be a steal because he (Theo) knows some secret to fixing him that every other GM, manager and coach has overlooked. See also Volstad, Wood, Stewart, Sonnenstein. Good grief.
I don’t think Theo fancies himself some baseball guru that knows how to turn crap into gold. I think he’s attentive enough to understand that some players, who posses the tools/talent to be good major leaguers, sometimes take a while to fully develop and bust out. It never hurts to buy low. If it pans out, it’s a great move, and if it doesn’t, then it’s really no harm done. Did Volstad, Wood, Stewart and/or Sonnanstein cripple the organization?
they didn’t cripple it, but IMO we could have gotten better value – not game-changing, but better value than what we got – for Colvin, Marshall and Zambrano. Dempster and Garza are the only two legitimate trade chips he’s got, I don’t want to see them shipped out for a bag of magic beans or lightening in a bottle.
I wouldn’t count on a “King’s ransom” for Garza. At best, he is a number two starter. Garza never had the command (plus-plus) of a number one starter.
But, he should get more now than he would have gotten in the off season.
Matt Garza +Bryan LaHair to the Blue Jays for Noah Syndergaard, Justin Nicolino, and Jake Marsinick
Ryan Dempster + 6 miilion to the Dodgers for Zach Lee
Darwin Barney to the Tigers for Bryan Villareal
You can get more from the Jays than that.
Please tell me you’re kidding!?! The Jays top 2 pitching prospects and their top outfield prospect for 1.5 years of a #3? You havent been paying attention to the moves made by AA have you? You are asking for more than any starting pitcher has gone for in the last 10 years, and that includes Halladay.
The most you can expect is 1 A- prospect and maybe a B prospect.
I said that because he is including Lahair as well, if the Cubs were lucky enough to get Syndergaard and Marisnick for Garza alone I’d be pleasently suprised. With that said I didn’t mean another top prospect, I meant more of a high upside guy in the lower minor leasues that can go either way.
Actually now that I think about it, Nicilino for Lahair straight up wouldn’t be a bad deal, I just think that AA wouldn’t give up prospects anyway. That’s why I believe that the Cubs won’t be sending Garza to Toronto, if I had to guess Theo/Hoyer are going to try and make the Red Sox or Yankees over pay for him.
By the way, Gose is the Jays top OF prospect, not Marisnick. If they were offered Gose and either of those two pitchers they should say yes with no thought about it.
Thats the problem with trading with the Blue Jays..they over value their farm system (and somehow get their fans to drink the kool-aid) Garzras a solid #2 low end #1 not a #3 and Brian LaHair is better than what they currently have at 1B. Nothing concrete about any of the prospects except for Snydergaard