We checked in on the AL East this morning, but with less than a week remaining before the trade deadline, the rumors don’t stop coming. Here’s the latest…
- The Red Sox won't trade Jon Lester this summer, Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.com reports. The Red Sox are working to add starting pitching and have interest in controllable right-handers Matt Garza and Josh Johnson, Edes writes.
- Several clubs have approached the Red Sox about possible trades involving outfielders such as Ryan Kalish, Ryan Sweeney and Cody Ross. The Pirates and Reds have both scouted the Red Sox extensively, according to Edes.
- Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that the Blue Jays are trying to move Yunel Escobar and suggests they could have interest in Jose Reyes. The Blue Jays were very interested in Reyes as a free agent, Sherman writes.
- The Yankees aren’t likely to pursue Aramis Ramirez, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports (on Twitter). They could have interest in Chase Headley, however.
- In case you missed it, the Rays designated Hideki Matsui for assignment.
Headley would be a great fit for the Yankees if they decide to pursue him!
every yankees and redsox fan thinks than any good player would be a good fit for their team…. you know what? Headley isn’t a good fit for the Yankees. You know why? Because he is a young third baseman who deserves to play third base for the next 3 years on his contract, not be a utility man when overpaid A-rod gets back from the DL in 2 months.
Actually, I don’t think that that’s true. I never thought that Crawford would be a good fit for the Red Sox, even long before the Sox started pursuing him. The Sox LF-er should be a slugger (preferably RHH) first and foremost, even if it’s at the expense of some defensive capability. Think Bay, Manny, or Rice.
I think they certainly put too high of a value on getting Crawford’s defense when they made the deal with him. Playing 81 games at Fenway in LF does allow for a little bit more of a bat. RF there would be a different matter for sure. Not that Crawford isn’t an excellent player when healthy…..he just didn’t seem like the RIGHT player. The Red Sox at the time of Crawford’s signing seemed a little bit like a kid walking into a toy store with a $100 bill wadded in his pocket……they were going to come home with SOMETHING…regardless if it made complete sense.
Cory, I think that the mistake they made was in not going after Matt Holliday the offseason before. he would have been a SOLID fit for Fenway’s LF. If Crawford has a decent arm, yes, he’s be nice in RF where his speed would be a big plus.
Matt Holiday’s bat will, of course, play anywhere…but you’re right he would have been excellent…kind of a reverse hitter from what they have in Adrian Gonzalez. Holliday has lots of power to right center..goes the other way. I believe he was more than happy to stay in the midwest area.
Sorry but A-Rod’s best day have long passed. He will be 37 on Friday and this will be the second year in a row that he’s missed significant playing time due to injury. If they get Headley, he will be the everyday 3rd baseman.
Another name I wouldn’t sleep on is Daniel Murphy. The Mets need to get Valdespin playing time at second base and could really use some young arms. Murphy is young enough and cheap enough to be a good fit for the Yankees and fill it at third base. He’s a very good contact hitter and has been on a hot stretch so the Mets could get a nice return.
I’d hate to see the yankees give up alot for a 3B. But they need to figure something out, because Chavez won’t stay healthy if he is playing everyday. Maybe one of the 3 2B in AAA can play 3B, they all have been hitting good. Laird is not an everyday player.
Cya’ Sweeney…
Hoping they hang onto Kalish, move Ells while he has a season and a half of control left, let Kalish play CF until Bradley is ready, plus resign Ross to a 2 year deal.
Moving Ells, being part of the “controlled burn” rebuild theory.
Hit the nail squarely on the head, JS!
Sweeney is totally expendable. And Kalish would be a respectable, inexpensive bridge to JBJr, assuming that Ellsbury gets traded before next season. And yes, re-sign Ross to a 2 yr deal. Ross’ RHH bat is a great addition to the lineup, as it brings some L/R balance. So long as the Sox are stuck with Crawford in LF, the RF-er should be a righty hitter with some power! And Ross fits that bill nicely.
Lets hope some of the brass thinks along those lines then
Thinking further? Am hoping the move Salty and call up Lavarnway to platoon with Shoppach. Boston isn’t going to resign him after next year either. Whoever acquired Salty would also get 1 1/2 year out of him.
As long as they kept Pedroia, Gonzalez, Bucholz and they couldn’t move CC without paying too much of his contract, I say open house. Move several pieces, but not all.Put an end to it after an allotted amount are moved. Leave enough that it’s not scorched earth at 1 Yawkey way come 2013 and the team can be competitive.
Moving those 2 named, plus a SP, several BP pieces and Punto will allow that to work.
I’m not averse to moving Salty. I think that he’s an above average catcher within the scope of the current weak crop of MLB catchers. But he’s so inconsistent and streaky that he can be frustrating to watch. I actually like the idea of keeping Shoppach around to backup Lavarnway.
Punto could be traded in a heartbeat. The best thing he’s done is to convince Ross to come to Boston. 😉 Ciriaco seems like a more than adequate backup middle infielder.
Wouldn’t mind seeing Beckett get traded. it was a mistake to have extended him in the first place after Lackey had been signed. Too many long term contracts in the rotation, particularly ones that are all set to expire in the same year or 2.
Personally, I’m not convinced Lavarnway is better than Salty. Salty has improved and hopefully will continue to. I like the guy.
From what I hear and read, all the numbers appear to show that Lavarnway will be a much better hitter than Salty. Lower K rate, higher OBP, etc. I don’t dislike Salty. He’s an above average catcher within the scope of the rather mediocre group of current MLB catchers.
Lavarnway is not as good as Salty defensively( who isn’t great defensively in his own right) and doesn’t hit Right handed pitching as well. Salty is also still very young and is just starting to figure this out. Don’t forget that Papi isn’t getting any younger nor is Shoppach. I’d much rather see Lavarnway and Salty both on the roster through the end of this season. See what Lavarnway can do with some September call up ABs at DH/C again this year and if need be trade one in the offseason
Power AND CF range. That’s why I was dangling from Bourjos’s nuts for so long. Ross can probably cover that range, so he’d be a good short- to medium-term RF in the meantime.
Since when is Reyes available? Oh wait…..he isn’t.
No one said he was.
he’s on the marlins, so as the story goes, they’re all available
Hoping the A’s are able to pull in Yunel Escobar.
Who do you suggest would come to the BlueJays in a trade for Yunel?
Not sure. I know there are the reports of Beane’s interest in Escobar. The A’s have some young pitching depth and some guys coming from the DL soon. Before Ramirez was dealt to the Dodgers…I had suspicion that there was a potential 3 way deal in play where Toronto received Ramirez and the Jays shipped Escobar to the A’s. That also seemed to be the Red Sox interest in Ramirez. The A’s also have some middle infield depth in the minors.
It would be pitching that the BlueJays are looking for. I don’t know the A’s roster so I have no idea who could be in play. I also thought that there was a 3-way in the works with Hanley.
The A’s are eventually going to get Brett Anderson back…as well as Dallas Braden. They’ve been getting solid pitching from their young pitchers and there is more on the way. They are going to have to accommodate them in some way. Speculating on actual prospects is tricky and I don’t like doing it…because that comes down to what is in a GM’s mind who is privy to so much more info than we are as the general public.
But they do appear..on the surface..to match up
How about Escobar,Thames, Beck and Alvarez for McCarthy, Balfour, and Miles Head.
The last thing the A’s need is even more outfielders.
Not sure what they do with Thames, but McCarthy might get dealt.
Escobar on his own is worth more than McCarthy, Balfour, and Head combined.. Why would the Jays want McCarthy, the guy has averaged 40 – 100 innings for six years, had 170 innings in 2011, has 80 in 2012 and is back on the DL again. His value is zero or a low minor, not major league players. If they Jays trade Escobar, Oakland lose one or two of Milone, Straily, Blackley, or Parker. A top 5 shortstop isn’t given away, especially one that is signed for 4 years at 5M a season. Make it Beck, Thames, and Escobar and the Jays will be happy to take Straily and Parker in return, with a few lessor prospects thrown in.
they can’t move alvarez unless they get back a good reliable starter
if the yankees want chase headley bad enough they will find a way to acquire him. the yankees only take cream of the crop players,no second rate for them. they will soon have to replace a rod and jeeter the yankees also say that they want to lower their payroll to prevent paying the luxury tax. i do not believe it. if they want someone they will go after that person with all of the gusto they can muster.
Jose Reyes makes no sense…
Maybe Escobar+ to Mil for Greinke?
Im pretty excited, I love Reyes. But I don’t love his contract.
I really don’t get the sudden rush to move escobar.. if anything trade hechavarria. Escobar in a down year will still outproduce hech at the plate and although the reports on hech is that hes better defensively, escobar is no slouch. So when all is said and done I’d be much more willing to move hech than escobar
I think we should trade Kalish. The Sox need a couple solid right handed bats and I believe we found a good fit in Ross, maybe extend him for a season with an option. This way if Ells leaves next year in a trade at the deadline we can still have a couple vets out there in CC and Ross to compliment JBJ (If he stays consistant in the minors). Sweeney should go too as long as the take is solid.
First ab and first pitch, Marte just homered. A good start to upgrading the Pirates offense. I love the fact that Wikipedia was updated within 10 seconds of the homerun under the list of Major League Baseball players with a home run in their first major league at bat.
Quentin re-signs…Twins don’t seem to be parting with Willingham. Certainly seems like a good time to move a player like Ross who has definitely shown in the past that he can help a team down the stretch and in the playoffs.
I disagree. Ross is exactly the sort of player that the Sox need in their OF … a righty power bat in a lineup that’s too imbalanced towards lefties.
It’s not even good for the short term. Reyes has about the same fWAR as Escobar, and is being paid 3 times as much for this season alone. Sherman is just trolling us Jays fans with this one.
Reyes will be making a quarter of the current Jays’ payroll in 2015, when he’s 32. Can anyone expect that there will be enough improvement to his game to justify paying him as much?
I expect AA would say no.
And he would be an excellent player to extend and keep around for a couple more years. Just because a guy could get a good return is no reason to automatically look to trade them.
Agreed. I like Ross. I like Ellsbury too. They have the money to keep them around. I’m not for burning it down.
Actually, I disagree about Ellsbury. I don’t think that they have the money to keep him around without blowing over the lux tax cap. Furthermore, the Sox are not going to want to be spending more than $20M/yr each on 2 similar outfielders, neither of whom is a true slugger.
Besides, the Sox do not need to cling to Ellsbury. They have a replacement down at AA who is only about a year or so from being ready to take over the CF job.
Ross says he likes the stadium, city and for all the people who remember, or even care?? Ross has that absolute PERFECT fenway swing.. High, lofty FB hitter and power to LF/LCF. Something you don’t find everyday and something better? Ross realizes Fenway was built for people with his swing.
You hang onto people like that. Forget Ells, he is a Boras client, headed to FA and going to look for every last penny.. Le ’em get it elsewhere and get what the team can right now.
Exactly right about Ross’s perfect Fenway swing. Unlike Mike Lowell who had more of a line drive swing and probably lost more than his share of homers as wall balls, Ross hits sweet, soaring high fly balls that sail over the Monster with regularity. I doubt that there’s a park in MLB that’s better suited for Ross’ swing.
How is he well-rounded? Escobar grounds out like every at bat almost… the only thing he does well is play defense, run and walk.
so short sided.
BJF123, I’d hate to say that I’ve given up, but I truly despise this 1 game playoff_BS. And don’t think that it’s worth wasting valuable resources and prospects to try to get just a little better, just for the sake of trying to beat out 7 other teams for the “honor” of playing in a monumentally stupid 1 game playoff. I’d rather see the RS front office stand up in front of the cameras and tell the media that they won’t make any special effort to try to get into the 2nd WC team because the 1 game playoff is so titanically STUPID!!!