A handful of teams still don't know whether to buy, hold or sell with eight days remaining before the non-waiver trade deadline, Yahoo’s Jeff Passan reports. Expanded playoffs are on the horizon for the first time, so more teams than ever are within striking distance of a postseason berth, and the trade market is unsettled as a result. Here are the latest notes from Passan and colleague Tim Brown…
- The Diamondbacks “adore” Rangers third base prospect Mike Olt, Passan writes. Olt could help the Rangers put together a competitive trade offer for 24-year-old right-fielder Justin Upton.
- Rival executives know the Braves are looking for pitching, which means Atlanta is up against extra-high asking prices, according to Passan. The Braves will acquire Ryan Dempster from the Cubs for Randall Delgado if Dempster approves the trade.
- The Twins are listening on Justin Morneau, Tim Brown reports. Minnesota wants teams to surrender a big leaguer for Morneau, while absorbing his entire contract ($14MM per season through 2013). That's a high asking price for a player with a history of concussion issues and a .744 OPS.
So the Twins are saying Morneau is Untouchable?
Is it just me or the Twins are just asking for the moon on very single player they are trying to trade?
they are and its 100% based on potential. Im not saying thats good but think about it, its not that long ago that Liraino was a top flight starter(should have sold high on him last year) Morneau is what 3 years removed from MVP and before his concussion was a tip 1st basemen. Again I’m not saying its right but that very well could be what they are thinking. I mean you never know they could all revert back to their career norms and the twins dont want to get taken for a ride in a trade. I truly think they should do what ever they can to get even mid level prospects and just free up some cash. Also they should trade Mauer while they still can,
Liriano was absolutely dominant when he came up, but really hasn’t been the same since injury. I think that Mauer would be hard to trade, he is only in his 2nd year of a 20M AAV 8 year deal. He is a good player but they will have to eat some quite a bit of that salary if they want prospects. I think at this stage for the Twins they would be best off trading their players if they can. I think that they want too much for span and Morneau. Span is a solid player, but he is NOT an allstar calibre player, and that is what some people seem to be valuing him at.
Yep, what’s wrong with this picture $90 Million in bad contracts next year and the worst record in the AL this season. They should be giving guys away to anyone willing to take on the contracts.
Actually by next season their payroll will have dropped to $68 million next season and $40 million by 2014. The Twins are going to be dumping A LOT of payroll over the next two seasons. By 2015, Mauer and Span (if he’s still here), will be the only big contracts left.
They have 76 Million in player salaries next year and hardly any of them are bad. Mauer is back to his .330 self, Span is a good leadoff hitter, Willingham and Doumit were great signings. The team is suffering because of their pitching staff would be an average AAA rotation.
I was including a couple of club options in the $90 million figure. Still, $76 million is close to peak spending capability for a small market team. Should you expect to contend when you’re spending that much?
The Twins are not the small market team of past. They can maintain a $100 mil payroll if they win. The key for the Twins to win is pitching.
To answer your question, no. Spending money does not necessarily translate into contending. Teams win when they have a good balance of the right players. Unfortunately, not enough of those players were acquired during the Smith era.
Who would pay 14 million / year for Morneau?? The only teams that seem to like absorbing bad contracts are the Angels and the White Sox, but neither of those teams need a first basemen or a DH.
Actually he is perfect for the Angels, they love 1st basemen and DH types.
there’s another team in southern california who is in desperate need for a power hitting guy at 1B and has the budget. doubt they are willing to take on the huge contract AND send a major league ready guy unless it’s Loney or Adam Kennedy.
I’d love for the Reds to get Span but after hearing what they want for Morneau they seem like they’d be hard to work with.
Seems to me Terry Ryan has a reputation, among his GM peers, as a straight shooter. He’s asking top dollar in a seller’s market at the moment; he might come down a little, but if you’re expecting a salary dump with talent given away for free it’s not happening. I doubt most GMs consider that stance “hard to work with”.
Red Sox should have traded for Upton a year and half ago rather than signed Crawford. Now, it’s out of the question.
Would of cost them the farm…
As a Twins fan, I’m happy that they’re shopping Morneau, but that’s an insane asking price. They’re going to have to eat his contract if they want anything in return. They’re justified in asking a lot for Willingham and Span, but that’s it. I don’t think Frankie will bring much at all.
I guess Nick Castellanos is chopped liver.
Brett Cecil, Rajai Davis and a reliever for Morneau.
I know he has concussion problems, but lets not forget how good this guy was before he got hurt.
would look great as the dodgers fb, if his price went down, but i would prefer a rh bat, like youk, dodgers missed out. . .
Mark Reynolds and Jake Arrieta for Morneau and Liriano.
I don’t know why, but it creeped me out to see that the Diamondbacks “adore” Mike Olt.
Other things the Diamondbacks “adore:”
– Appletinis
– Shoe Shopping
– Catching reruns of Sex & the City on basic cable
– A weekend at the Spa
– Making Justin Upton feel the opposite of “adored”
The Rangers would be better off waiting for Olt to mature into, what i believe, could be a very fine player. If they give him up for Justin Upton, then this will be a very sad day. Upton, like his brother, are a flash in the pan. if the Rangers are going to give Olt up, then it would be better if it was a trade for someone that can actually hit,
Nothing against Upton, but I hope the Rangers hold onto Olt.
Aubrey Huff 😀
Or even in the outfield if we need to replace Josh.
The chances of him being a star at 1B are incredibly slim
I wouldn’t trade more than a bag of chips for Liriano.
I love how back in ’08-’09 all the analysts were pointing to the Twins as a model small-market team. Ha!
Huh? They should be trading their big teague talent at this point.
I think this is a meager attempt by the Twins FO to get SOMETHING for two star players, both of which have battled injuries and inconsistency these past two years.
The Twins are not motivated to move Morneau for junk because his contract expires after 2013. He also has played a lot better lately and has not experienced any concussion symptoms this season.
Liriano too has pitched much better lately (last eight starts) and has displayed the kind of control we saw from him in 2010.
He is also asking the Twins for an un-godly contract extension and they’re just are not willing to pay for it given his past inconsistencies. Either way they will either lose him to free agency or trade him. Basically, “take it or leave it.”
I agree on the assessment of Span and Willingham. They are asking for the moon and for good reason. Both have VERY team friendly contracts for the next 2-3 seasons.
Willingham is a power hitting outfielder and Span is the high average leadoff hitter that every team craves. He also plays awesome defense in CF. They are not going to give them away for junk like some of these crackpot posters think.
I wouldn’t give Morneau away either. Only *about* 1 full season returned from the concussion issues and can figure his bat will return, he is still young. GG defense and 14m until end of next year isn’t out of line.
Now.. A for asking for a MLB player in return? i think Ryan is making a mistake there. Twins are a long time away from contending, they should be looking for a mid-upper level prospect as all, or hang onto him until next season. he is popular and just move Willingham, who they do not want to move for some reason.
Don’t like to make predictions, especially trades, but this isn’t going on a limb from someone who watched Hammer with the marlins for years..They don’t move him and they will regret it.. he is overdue for another of his freakish injuries that calls for an extended DL trip, just like happened to Jed lowrie at Houston.. Those things follow some people and Willingham and Lowrie are 2 guys that should have been moved before allowing to happen
keep a blocked prospect over trading for a MVP candidate who is having a down year by his standards who has a great contract and still putting up solid numbers and is the same age? If im the rangers and it is olt for upton straight up I do it in a second
i’d trade all that and a bag of chips for liriano…as long as all that was soriano.
thats what he means, that they wont trade those players with sky high asking prices.
rafael?
But it isn’t. Olt is a great starting point but him alone would never get it done
I keep hearing this MVP canidate mess, and frankly i do not see it….. He has has 2 good years and now 3 disappointing years. I get that he is young….. But come on, he has never even driven in 100 rbi’s in a season. And to make matters worse, his numbers this year mirror David Murphy’s numbers. And keep in mind Murp has had about 100 less AB’s and Murph is our 4th outfeilder…. So how good is Upton really??? I am not not calling him a bad players, but i think we need to put all of this MVP candidate to rest until he proves who he really is.
On to top of that Upton does makes 7 mil this year (pretty decent figure). But over the course of the next few years Olt will be alot cheaper, which would provide the Rangers with payroll flexability. So with all things considered, yes i would rather have Olt and a BP arm (or something else/someone extended/payroll flexability) than Upton..
Maybe they are hoping that Willingham will continue to have a Pavano-like bounce back, although that bounceback appears to be over. He does hit well at Target Field and I don’t think they will move him because of the message it sends to free agents.
Guys at 1B have such high expectations with the bat, Olt is good but he has a lot of swing and miss, he is also a 24 year old dominating AA ball which really doesn’t that much. To get the most value possible out of him he needs to stay at 3B, at first his ceiling is probably a first division starter and certainly not a star.
Not the whole analysis but that definitely hurts the chances of him being a star, he certainly will hit a good amount of HR’s but his swing and misses will hurt his batting average a lot and in turn hurt his OBP considerably, the chances of him being a star are very small, he will probably be an above average starter in the big leagues. Also it is much easier for a 24 year old to beat up on AA because they are more mentally and physically mature than their competition. Chances are Olt’s an above average starter which is valuable, this isn’t a elite prospect we are talking about.
he is blocked at first by young, napoli, moreland, blocked in right by nelson, blocked at 3rd by beltre, and assuming they resign josh blocked in right…
That even if we suck we will still keep you around to toil on a losing team rather than trade you to a contender?
Whatever people say, span is not an allstar calibre player, and thus really shouldn’t get a massive package. Morneau was a decent player and still could be ok, but most contenders have at least an equivalent player at 1st. The only contending teams that he would be an upgrade for is for the Dodgers and the Pirates, and that is only because of mediocraty.
“span is not an allstar calibre player” What? Span IS an allstar player he just plays on a team behind Joe Mauer, Josh Willingham and Justin Morneau.
Don’t you think they will fix the pitching by next year through FA, especially if they trade Morneau? We suck on the bump, but the youth movement has been exciting at times, but if we trade Willingham, we’ll just have to sign another veteran OF next year and who knows if they will avoid the TF Curse like Willingham has?
They are on pace to lose 94 games. They have a good top half of the lineup in Span, Revere, Mauer, willing, doumit. Although i really think that Revere should be leading off, span is a much better #2 since he can get alot more doubles and help get revere home. especially after a stolen base. Blackburn should be cut after the season. The twins have some good pieces, but they really really need some better bats at the bottom of the lineup and a better top of the rotation. Unless Liriano truly turned it around. It comes down to: what do the twins have to do to compete with the tigers and the sox for the Al central, and it’s quite a bit.
Baltimore turned it around this year, but I question whether they will keep it up..
Twins payroll is already at $100M, I wonder if they would have the commitment, to add a $20M / year starter for a middle market club.
Do you think Plouffe is for real? I agree about swapping Revere and Span. Maybe it’s this way to try and increase Span’s trade value. Who knows what the Tigers will accomplish. Remember after the Fielder trade, it was a foregone conclusion that they had already won the Central in the off-season. Oops, nobody told has told them apparently! I respect the White Sox staff, but does that front office have a plan? Not that ours is written in stone for all to see, but I like our long term chances better.