The battle for the top spot in the National League East has quickly become a two-horse race given how teams have fared since returning from the All-Star break. Swept by the Dodgers in a three-game series this weekend, the Mets are now one game under .500 after losing eight of their last nine contests. New York is left looking up at the Braves and Nationals, who split a four game series with Atlanta at home. Here's the latest news and happenings from around the division…
- The Marlins' Anibal Sanchez was being scouted today by the Tigers and Red Sox, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. Sanchez took the loss against the Pirates but was impressive striking out eight while allowing only three runs in seven innings.
- The Pirates see Shane Victorino as a perfect fit for their outfield, but not until the Phillies drop their asking price dramatically, tweets Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
- The Braves continue to be one of the teams courting the Cubs' Ryan Dempster. ESPN's Buster Olney wonders if Jair Jurrjens' poor outing today (six runs allowed, including two home runs, in 2 1/3 innings) will spur more talk between the Braves and Cubs (via Twitter).
- The Mets will not become sellers at the trade deadline, despite their recent struggles, because they don't want to leave the clubhouse bare, tweets Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com. Rubin adds the Mets could still be active at the deadline making lateral trades for MLB players under control in 2013 (via Twitter).
Daniel Seco contributed to this post.
Phils aren’t gonna drop the Victorino price all that much. They can get 2 draft picks for him after the season.
One draft pick, which is fine. Essentially, I’d ask for the equivalent of a first round pick and wouldn’t budge. Victorino at $12.5 million for a season isn’t really all that bad if he does accept the qualifying offer.
I’d probably ask for: Robbie Grossman and Jeff Locke. Grossman could be a piece of the outfield in 2013 and Locke could pitch at the back end of our rotation next year.
Hopefully Jurrjens outings like this prompt the Braves to give him to the Cubs, maybe he can change a little there.
I think he needs a case of the Petco to gain back his confidence while pitching in one of the best pitcher’s parks in the MLB.
Well, it’s done wonders for Edinson Volquez, who had a falling out from CIN. Now all of a sudden he’s marketable when not too long ago he was throw-in pitcher of note in a blockbuster deal involving prospects for Latos.
I think he needs to quit baseball and ask for a job at Petco, though I’m not sure what would make him qualified to work with animals.
I don’t see the sox making a move for any pitcher that isn’t under team control for more than 1 season.. I think the sox will look to move Josh Beckett this offseason and sign a pitcher like Cole Hamels.
I don’t see the Red Sox being in the Hamels sweepstakes. He’s going to want something similar to the Sabathia deal, and Boston already has enough money to fund an entire baseball team tied up in their rotation.
If they add any pitcher I think Sanchez actually makes the most sense. He’s a good, young pitcher, who has flown under the radar for his whole career and would presumably sign for less money per year and fewer years than any of the other potential free agent pitchers. I could see them trading for him this year mostly just so they have exclusive negotiating rights between now and free agency to try to get him locked up for a few years.
I just think we will look long & hard into trading Josh Beckett and getting a big name FA, I do not believe they are counting on Lackey to be an ace or even a 4th starter at that. If we can trade Beckett & get rid of Dice K’s contract we won’t have hardly any money at all tied up in the rotation, I do agree though that Sanchez would be solid and makes a lot of sense, I think that was why the Marlins VP was in Boston scouting and I think it is between Sanchez & Garza for the sox. After Lester’s outing today I feel as if we don’t have much of a choice. If we are going to contend we need a playoff caliber arm. There is no way we are comfortable with Buchholz (the best pitcher on the team this year IMO), Lester, Beckett pitching in a playoff series. Doubront is solid but his arm needs to be shut down soon. Aaron Cook is Aaron Cook and will falter given to many chances. I do believe if they think we are going to contend than we will trade for Sanchez/Garza or a similar pitcher to the two of them. If not, trade Beckett/Lester/Shoppach/Matt Albers/Ryan Sweeney/Dice K/ Daniel Nava to contending teams. Seriously. Albers/Shoppach are most likely to be traded, although I say trade Nava while we can. Ciriaco is more valuable. I would LOVE to trade Punto.
I’d be very surprised (and very disappointed, as a Phillies fan) if Amaro let Hamels walk away. The market probably won’t dictate a HUGE increase over what the Phillies are offering now, and if Hamels has a good start next weekend, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Amaro pull out the stops to get him extended ASAP.
Jurrjens looked like he was walking with a limp today.
I only saw highlights, but he got hit hard. I wonder how much his knee is bothering him?
As for the Phillies, they have no shot at catching the division leader and as for the wild card, good luck to that as well. They might have a chance on catching the Mets.
Now, my question is who are they willing to trade? I know they won today, but they just have too much ground to make up.
He WAS walking with a limp, mainly due to a bruised left pride and strained right ego.
I might just be a hopeful Phillies fan, but it’s a long season and the Braves and Nats, especially are a young team. The Marlins are a joke, and obviously have huge problems with working together despite their talent. If… and I do mean IF the Phillies can put together a good run, I think they could be a contender in the wild card race, if not in the division. Let’s not forget what happened to the Mets in 07, and the Braves last year. Epic collapses are not foreign to baseball, and especially not to the NL East.
I’d doubt both the Braves and the Nats fall far enough that neither will win 88-89 games.
Can the Phillies go on a run? Yes they can. However, they shouldn’t EXPECT to go on one just because it’s happened in the past. If they can turn some short term assets into long term assets, they should be doing that.
I hope the front office doesn’t truly believe they’re going to make the playoffs. Will they have a run in them? Absolutely, this team isn’t going to finish that far below .500 but they don’t have the bullpen.
If they haven’t shifted focus to next year already (behind closed doors) I want some heads rolling up there. While it’s all well and good you want to give Roy Halladay and the other veterans a shot at the post season, it’s their fault they’re this far back.
Please let sheets hold up!! Him and huddy are the only bright spots. It will take more than one arm to fix the rotation
Well look like Jair Jurjens stint With Atlanta Ended Today. GL Jair may a change of scenery bring you back. Good luck and thank you for your perforance all those years.
Go Braves
Jurrjens can’t be counted on to start, and the Braves can’t keep giving games away by putting him on the mound. Give his spot to Delgado or Teheran.
I’m sure they will give it to Delgado, we might have seen his last start for Atlanta. I was really hoping he would come back strong.
And just think, this time last year he was the RA Dickey of 2011. They should have done what NYM should do this year and sold him when his trade value was at his highest. And yes, I said it then too. Now, he’s worth nothing.
I have a feeling all that trade talk last year may have dented his confidence. Just hasn’t been the same since the All-Star break last year. Wish it would have worked out better. Hopefully he doesn’t end up with a NL East team.
“New York is left looking up at the Braves and…” Yes, finally some sort of respect for the Braves! One of the two horses! Go Braves! I remember when the Braves were considered a 4th place team behind Phils, Nats, Fins (according to the consensus?). Go Braves! Lets just say they are a good team?
Every time they go on a decent winning streak, I’m thinking…maybe we can finally break through? And then Fredi breaks the door down to my dream and yells “HEY HEY HEY ITS TIME TO PLAY” and then I wake up and realize this is the Braves we are talking about. I don’t really feel confident about this team. Maybe in a one game setting of the wildcard, but our starters are a disaster at the moment save Huddy.
“The Mets will not become sellers at the trade deadline”
Well, they’re not gonna be buyers either the way things are going. Alderson waited too late to get bullpen help when it should’ve been done WEEKS ago. With Santana on the shelf, a scrub like Hefner in the rotation (thank goodness Batista’s gone!), and personally, my worry of Harvey’s control (he got called up), things are gonna get worse before they get better. It has been downright deplorable the way the team has played coming into the 2nd half. One win thus far coming into the 2nd half. ONE! They “could be active”? Who are we kidding? When is all the talking and the window shopping gonna stop? They’re worried of the clubhouse being bare? They better worry about CITI FIELD being bare.
Im surprised the Mets did anything more then finish in dead last in the east. For santana to get the teams first no hitter and to be highly competitive at times is a major sucess and or a great deal of overacheiving.
I’ll be sad to see Anibal go.
He would be a good one to get though. He’s been under an under the radar solid pitcher that hangs tough on the mound.
Why are you people saying that they are not going to offer Greinke alot of money for…A Braves beat writer has already said that they WILL offer him 20 million a season because they want a TOP OF THE ROTATION starter instead of a rental like (Dempster)..I really do not think the Braves are interested in him because it has already been stated that they are only intersted in an ACE that can match other potential playoff aces (Cueto, Kershaw, Strasburg, etc) If they did get Dempster they will not part ways with Delgado, Teheran, Gilmartin, or Minor because in all reality Dempster is not worth any of those guys. He is what 34 years old? He had a good streak but he is overrated for sure and I do not expect the Braves to have any interest in acquiring him if they are the “so called” favorites for him. I expect the Braves to trade for Greinke by giving them a package of Randall Delgado, Zeke Spruill, Tyler Pastornicky, and maybe another lower level pitching prospect. They will also sign him to an extension becausr they want him really bad and I expect Wren to get it done. They might acquire 2 starting pitchers at the deadline because Jurrjens, Minor and Delgado are not trustworthy. I expect the Braves to get Greinke from the Brewers, along maybe Omar Infante or Reed Johnson to help out with the bench. The only way the Braves get Dempster is if they do not part with any of their top pitching prospects, but if they do get him expect them to go after Greinke as well! Read articles before you post something saying they dont have any money to sign Greinke when in reality they do! He wants to be a Brave and he will be by signing an extension for around 18-20 million a year when they acquire him sometime this coming week.
A splash move like getting Greinke could give this team a boost and lead to more consistent baseball.
Only if it’d involve moving Uggla in that “splash move”.
I agree with you in part, but how is this much different from Teixeira, aside from the position difference? Yes, there’s not draft pick compensation this time around, but that wasn’t a factor (as such, they gave away the draft pick compensation by trading Tex to LAA — who did get the picks and drafted Trout…(frowny face)). Yes, Greinke has said he like ATL and would want to pitch, but MIL can’t get a deal done with him for roughly the same amount that we’d be offering him. Greinke himself reported that the numbers reported (around $100M+) was in line with what was offered. As a Braves fan, I’d love to get Greinke, but who is to say that he doesn’t just spurn ATL and go via free agency? Hamels just might be re-sign with PHI soon and if he does, Greinke will be the top free agent pitcher.
Texiera didn’t sign an extension before the trade, Greinke would have to accept an extension before the trade is made … similar to what Halladay did with the Phillies.
He would accept an extension, because he wants to pitch in Atlanta.
Go braves!
He hasn’t even accepted $22 Million from a team he’d rather play with….why would he ever accept $20 Mil/year from the Braves?
He has said he wants to play in Atlanta before. He would give them a discount, but I still think it’s a bad idea.
because he wants to pitch for the Braves (as I recall he has already stated that)…their Spring Training complex is close to his home so he will be able to spend more time with his family, and he wants to win which would for sure benefit him if he went to the Braves. He never said he wanted to be with the Brewers haha dont ya think that’s why he has not accepted their offer? I guarantee if he was a free agent right now he would rather play for the Braves than the Brewers. He will be traded to the Braves towards the end of the week and then sign an extension with them…Mark it down
He never said he wanted to play with the Brewers. He specifically stated he wanted to win and play for a contender. Atlanta has been a contender consistently even though last year’s collapse occurred. Greinke would much rather play in Atlanta so would be more likely to sign an extension here. Although, I am not too thrilled about giving $20mil to one person since the last time we gave a pitcher that kind of money (D.Lowe) it didn’t turn out too well.
I don’t get why some of you people here say Greinke isn’t a rental. If he doesn’t re-sign with Milwaukee he’s gone this week.
If Hamels gets locked up this week and I’m Greinke I’m holding out on waiting until after the season regardless of the team he finishes the season with. It would be his worst investment ever to say sign a 6 year $120 million extension when if he’s the premier guy on the market he could get probably up to $140 million.
Greinke would look great in a Braves uniform but unless they can get a sign and trade deal for him where he’s locked up long term I wouldn’t want him unless it’s lower tier prospects.
Right now the Braves would be sitting pretty in the division lead with Elvis Andrus, Matt Harrison and Neftali Feliz when we traded them away to rent Teixiera for what turned out to only be a year.
It’s not worth risking the farm again unless he’s signed long term.
I wonder where Mike Trout would be in that scenario if ATL didn’t trade for Tex because he definitely wouldn’t be in LAA.
No guarentee at all that Trout would have ended up with the Braves either. Personally, I doubt they’d have even looked at him. Back when Trout was drafted, Frank and Bobby’s “golden boy/man crush” Jordan Schafer was still considered the next long term CF for the Braves (albeit someone who was battling an injury and at the time of his demotion couldn’t hit the ball if it was the size of a watermelon).
Exactly. Look at the history of the Braves draft. They almost ALWAYS draft a pitcher in the 1st round. The last time they took a position player in the 1st round was 2007 and that was hometown boy Jason Heyward. The Braves would have drafted some no name pitcher instead of Trout.
Let’s just say the braves to trade for greinke, and they dot have a deal for an extension in place, and we trade Delgado, Minor, pastornicky and spriull. What if he doesn’t resign? Our rotation would be Hanson Hudson teheran and who for 2013. Yikes
2013 rotation will be hudson,sheets,medlen,graham,+off season pickup,plus beachy after all star break. Hanson will be traded, along with JJ being dfa. A pitcher like saunders or wandy will be picked up for hanson’s spot. Teheran may be in the mix if he has a great ST.
I wonder if the Pirates fans see Shane Victorino as a perfect fit for their outfield? You might strongly disagree with me, but I think a lot of Pirates fans would rather see the Pirates kick the tires on Marte instead. Any thoughts on a reuniting of Pearce and the Pirates? He showed a lot of promise last year prior to him getting hurt.
hanson,spruill,heyward,diaz,mejia for stanton,sanchez,infante