Perhaps no division will be more active at the trade deadline this summer than the NL Central, which houses three sellers (Cubs, Brewers, Astros) and three buyers (Reds, Pirates, Cardinals). Here's the latest from baseball's only six-team division…
- The Cubs are at an impasse with the Dodgers over Ryan Dempster while the Braves continue to monitor the situation according to Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com. People in the game think Atlanta could get involved with Dempster again even though their first deal fell through.
- If the Cubs don't trade Matt Garza this summer, he seems likely to be dealt in the winter, writes Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. A trade seems likely as the two sides haven't discussed a contract extension since talks broke off this spring.
- Scott Miller of CBSSports.com reports that the Cardinals have discussed Francisco Liriano with the Twins as they look to bolster their pitching staff before the deadline.
- The Brewers have had some inquiries about Manny Parra, but they may keep him and try him as a starter again, Knobler tweets.
- The Pirates have acquired outfielder/first baseman Christian Marrero from the Braves for infielder Brian Friday, reports Dan Simpson of Talking Chop (on Twitter). Both players will head to Triple-A, adds Michael Sanserino of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (on Twitter).
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Gotta wonder if a team will get desperate and trade for Garza given that his injury is minor.
I can’t imagine the Cubs biting if it’s not worth what they believe a healthy Garza is worth.
Yeah, I meant at full value.
Garza is probably worth 1 top prospect with some lower tier guys thrown in possibly at best I think…
okay….on talent alone, Garza is worth one. Being that he’ll net a comp pick, he’s worth at least two. Add in a yr and two months of control…..
Anibal Sanchez was worth one top prospect, and he is only a two month rental with no possible comp pick. Get real!
Not unless the price matches or beats what a healthy, full season is worth after the season.
it’s an interesting idea, does any reduction in trade value due to injury concern equal the reduction in trade value for it just being a 1 year of control by trading for him this winter?
with the Greinke and Sanchez trades, as two month rentals, I’d argue that the previous value of Garza went up with those two trades, and that any “injury discount”–if one thinks that forearm cramping is serious or not–basically evens things back out to Garza’s trade value before injury AND before the Greinke & Sanchez trades set such a high price.
There is no way that Garza gets traded before the deadline at a value equal or lower than what he would get traded for this winter.
if he is still higher than the Cubs have to move him
Garza is no “ace” lol he’s a mid rotation guy at best he probably nets one top prospect but that’s honestly it.
Who said Garza was an ace? The comparison was to the value of 2-month rentals….and Garza is every bit as good as Sanchez.
Furthermore, Garza is worth way more than Sanchez solely because he is not a 2 month rental. A team getting Garza is getting 1 1/3 seasons out of him + the 1st rd sandwich comp pick.
If the Cardinals make a trade for a starter, I would much rather it be for James Shields than Liriano mostly because he’s a free agent after the year. With Shields, you know he’s capable of pitching well and a lot of innings. Plus he is locked up past this year. On the other hand, Liriano is very inconsistent and his contract ends after this season so I really don’t want to see St. Louis trade prospects and then see him walk away unless he ensures that he’ll sign an extension.
Shields would be a nice addition. Even with the total of hits.
Especially if everyone has already gotten cold with Miller.
Liriano really doesn’t impress me as a big picture piece.
Are you talking about the same Shields who is going to turn 31 this year, has a 4.52 ERA, and just two years ago had a 13-15 record and 5.18 ERA?
yes but his FIP and xFIP have always been solid. Do I think he’s an ace like his numbers from last year? No, but I think he’s a good number 3 pitcher, who will strike out 8+ batters per 9, and walk under 3 batters per 9.
I doubt the Twins could or in fact would ask for much in return for Liriano. They know his value is low, they know they have no hope of competing in the AL Central and they know that wherever he goes he isn’t going to take the mound any more than 12 or 13 times. They’ll just be trying to acquire a serviceable prospect and some salary relief. Shields on the other hand…
The Cardinals have done well in the past of getting everything they can out of pitchers. Another inconsistent former Twins pitcher, Kyle Lohse, has done well with the Cards and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Liriano thrive in STL.
I think a lot of the turn around of Lohse had to the with the help from the great Dave Duncan. With Duncan no longer in the organization, there’s no guarantee Liriano will turn into a star in St. Louis. That outing where he had 15 Ks was very impressive despite getting the loss cuz he gave up like 3 runs (he more than likely wouldve got the W if that was in a Cardinal uni.)
Which is the lesser of 2 evils. Both are incredibly inconsistent and I’d think you’d want the less of that (being less time than money). At least with Liriano you’d have the option of having bullpen experience and him being a southpaw, so at the very least, if he does become to erratic for the rotation after you obtain him, he could have a decent shot as a situational lefty out of the bullpen to setup Motte. Expensive setup man.
oh my….if the braves trade for dempster it better not be the same deal….give then a bag of sunflower seeds
Braves should give them Jurjeans now instead of Delgado. Doesn’t look like Jurjeans would even be tendered a contract next year as he maybe just used as a mopup guy the rest of this season.
that would be a great move for the bravos
I dont even want jurrjens in mopup duty….his pitches are not moving
Don’t the Braves really wish they had traded JJ last year when he had some value..hehe?
Hindsight being 20/20 and all, sure. But the guy was leading the league in ERA at the break and the Braves weren’t going to trade a guy like that down the stretch, even though it was evident that he isn’t ‘that’ good. That would’ve put two rookies in their rotation while fighting for a playoff spot.
Should’ve traded him after 2009, that was when his value was the highest.
Time to pull the plug on Parra, if he succeeds elsewhere oh well.
Please Dodgers trade for Dempster! I DO NOT want the Braves to trade for him!
I 2nd that
Braves are out…they put Kris Medlen in the rotation and set down JJ….if cubs don’t get what they want Dempster may not even be traded…
Check that JJ is headed to the bullpin pretty much traded jobs with Medlin
yea jj is the long guy so hes only gonna pitch if were in a blowout game
were out on dempster unless hes cheap but medlen is the starter only if we cant aquire another start before tuesday
Please take him. Please. We don’t have Magic Johnson…so we can’t afford to trade away a prospect for a 36 year old FA to be.
As a Cubs fan, I feel like the dialogue was probably:
Braves, Sorry about the mixup. Just kidding. El oh el. Delgado, please? The Dodgers were totally just kidding around. Webster was their initial offer before that loss of leverage really got all up in my bidness. Lee was never really even an option for a potential rental. Delgado was beyond the expected return.
Sorry,
Jed.
P.S.: In the back of my mind: Wondering if Demp is salty about the bad blood between the Braves and Cubs a few years back?
I hope not. This team is better with ANY projectable arm with upside.I’m not mad at him personally. I like his fondness for the city. He was good to us, and came back.
But, seriously-Take one for the team Ryan.
man im not mad at the cubs…im a bulls fan but the way they let dempster do them was bad…..he knew about a trade 2 weeks ago then say he didn know
I wish he would have. Delgado was about the best possible return.
yea but he have 10-5 rights so he screwd yall return….when all he had to do was say i will go there if my buddy oks it….lol
Wren has said on the radio (680AM: The Fan) that he was under the impression that Dempster wants to pitch with friend, Ted Lilly and some other “personal reasons”, while others have speculated Dempster wants to be closer to his Vancouver home (LA is much closer than ATL), also because he listed fellow Canadian team, TOR, on his list of preferred teams (as well as NYY).
It’s interesting that he lists ATL though there are other contenders closer to VAN than ATL is, like TEX – who is looking for pitching. Frankly, almost every team except for MIA/TB is closer to VAN than ATL.
My thoughts: tell him to Skype that sucka and lower the original offer from Delgado.
As a business decision, this is a likely scenario.
The Cubs really are coming back with their tail between their legs.
Not really. The Cubs can keep him and collect their comp pick. ATL has to at least give up something equal or greater than that comp pick. Even with the Dodgers low-balling now, there is no reason to believe they will continue to. There are only a handful of decent pitchers left to trade for. As long as LA and ATL are buyers and Chicago doesn’t have to sell, the Cubs have leverage. Especially when the pitcher we’re talking about has led the ML in ERA. Furthermore, with the 2 month rental trades of Sanchez and Greinke, they set the bar pretty high….much higher than most fans and experts thought was possible for a 2 month rental under the new CBA. Epstein is not going to cave and trade any of his players for less than value.
amen cause if he wants to pitch for us it better be dirt cheap now….cause the dodgers dont want him….lol
Not sure where you’re hearing that the dodgers don’t want him?
Have you not seen all the headlines about the Dodgers trying to trade for him?
If the Dodgers didn’t want him, they wouldn’t be trying to trade for him. And…..he won’t be pitching in ATL unless the Braves are still trying to trade for him. And….if ATL is trying to trade for him, they must think they still need a SP. So yeah, if they trade for him, they won’t be getting him for dirt cheap. They’ll have to give up value at least equal to the comp pick the Cubs will get if they keep him and he walks at the end of the season.
Are the Braves going to try the same approach that Kenny Williams used to get Peavy when he just tried trading for him every day until Peavy either had to get a restraining order against Williams or accept a trade?
With whom would the Braves be trying that approach? Dempster? Many are uncertain if the previous offer from ATL to CHC is still on the table. Talks have continued, but really it’s not about the 2 teams coming to an agreement – they’ve already had one – but allowing Dempster enough time to make a decision on if he’ll drop his veto power while trying to get a trade pushed with LAD for less of a return. He has not helped CHC get the most out of him in terms of trade value by speaking out about his team preferences.
he hurt the cubs alot and I keep hearing hes a stand up guy….I dont see that guy…hes a big baby….he wants to play with his buddy…..this is the pros not high school
usually you get to work wherever you want if you are good enough at your job, Dempster has done nothing wrong.
hes not done anything wrong….but come on he said he didn know bout the trade when he clearly did…..but ur missing the point….the cubs mite not get nun for this guy
Deal is off the table as of today, with minor pitching his great game today and medlen being put back in the rotation, no need to loose delgado for dempster.
thank GOD cause hes gonna be better than peoples think
You have no more of an idea if that is true as anyone else.
Delgado is tied up?
braves moved on but dempster trying to back pedal to make himself look good….but I dont want him…..ben sheets is better and huddy is a warrior
I wouldn’t mention Sheets too much…he may get hurt just hearing someone mention his name. It does make me happy to see him finally back though, I always liked him and he’s a hell of a pitcher when he can stay off of the DL
yea yea but injures are part of the game….anybody can lose a player at anytime so y mention that….A-ROD got hurt and nobody saw that coming…..dont forget sheet sign with us and it was a win win for the BRAVES
Doug Melvin better not give Manny Parra another shot as a starter.
lol…ur tooo funny….
Now that the braves have leverage do they still give up delgado?
no way
Do they really have the leverage? Dempster has the leverage. The Cubs still have the option of weighing whatever the Braves want to sub out Delgado for vs whatever they and the Dodgers have already agreed to. Now if it was made clear that the Dodgers are no longer interested in Dempster then that would change things.
Maybe leverage was the wrong word. But it looks as if the dodgers are not that interested or not offering anything close to a delgado. My question is since the braves now know this as where they didnt before will they still give in and send delgado the cubs way or send lesser prospects? Was there anything in writing and just waiting for dempster to approve it? Espn,mlb network nor rumor sites say anything that would make me believe otherwise. espn and mlb network talk like its still dempster for delgado
I still suggest that if the Braves pull Delgado off the table then it comes down to whatever the Dodgers have put on the table vs whatever the Braves offer instead of Delgado. So they can try and pull him off the table but that might just piss the Cubs off and push them back towards whatever the Dodgers last offer was.
To add on to that, for the Cubs to convince Dempster to accept the trade over a Dodgers trade, the Cubs have to get a “clearly better” offer from the Braves….all things being equal or anywhere close, and Dempster will say “no way” to an Atlanta trade. They also have to clearly get more than the value they’d get from a comp pick from Dempster walking.
No it looks as if were going after shields, minor pitched great tonight, it looks like if no shields were staying with hudson,sheets,minor,medlen and hanson. medlen moved back into the rotation today.
no need to now, with minor pitching like he did tonight 1 run,5 hits,0 walks,8 strikeouts and a win, to go along with his previous 3 starts, Nope not now. today they moved medlen back into the rotation, so we have hudson,sheets,minor,hanson,medlen with hanson as the weak link.
The Braves have no leverage. They can’t make Dempster give up his 10/5 rights, short of possibly negotiating a new deal with him … which they may want to do.
If anyone has the leverage here, it’s Dempster.
Cubs have all the leverage. They don’t have to trade Dempster at all.
I have to disagree. They WANT to trade Dempster to get a maximum return on him before he hits free agency. Sure, they don’t have to trade him. But if they don’t, what do they get out of it? Zip, zero, nada.
A sandwhich pick after the 1st round, because there is no way he will accept an offer of 12 million for one year.
Well, that’s better than nothing, but Dempster still has the leverage.