A few odds and ends to pass along as this busy Tuesday night winds down …
- The Diamondbacks are less likely to trade shortstop Stephen Drew now that they've removed Ryan Roberts from the roster, tweets Jack Magruder of FOXSportsArizona.com. GM Kevin Towers said there's no deal out there for Drew "that's going to make us better."
- The Orioles may not have a choice but to trade starter Jake Arrieta if they'd like to improve their Major League roster without dealing any of their prized prospects, a source tells Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com. Baltimore has told potential trade partners that Dylan Bundy and Manny Machado are off the table, tweets Britt Ghiroli of MLB.com.
- The Pirates made a bid to acquire Phillies outfielder Shane Victorino, but talks hit a snag when Philly asked for right-hander Brad Lincoln, tweets Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
- The Pirates are "definitely going for it" and would like to acquire an outfielder or first baseman, tweets Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com.
- The Mariners have released minor league pitcher Jeff Marquez, tweets Triple-A Tacoma announcer Mike Curto. In his place, D.J. Mitchell, acquired from the Yankees in the Ichiro Suzuki trade, will start.
The Pirates should be going for a shortstop with power to resolve both issues and call up Marte already.
I am not going to dislike this comment, but you just said power and shortstop in the same sentence. How many power SS are in the MLB? not many. I don’t like Barmes either, but he is solid on the field. I agree the Marte should be getting a call up soon with Stanton nor Elvis not doing well in the lead off spot. guess we will wait and see.
Derek Jeter, Jimmy Rollins, Jerry Hairston Jr., Willie Bloomquist,
Erick Aybar, Edgar Renteria(in his good days do you need more?
Is this a joke? Sadly I can’t tell.
Sadly, I don’t think it is a joke. The days of Arod/Nomar/Tejada are over. When Ian Desmond is somehow the HR leader for shortstops, then there really is a scarcity of SS power-hitters.
JJ Hardy possibly???
Hanley Ramirez? Hasn’t anyone read mlbtraderumors lately?
Erick Aybar? He of the .105 career ISO? Willie Bloomquist with his career high of 4 homers and a pitcher-esque .076? These are your “power” shortstops? MAYBE the Pirates could land a guy like Stephen Drew who might qualify if he can return to 2010 form but with the downgrade in the defense that’d probably be a wash. At this point, I’d like to see them land Pence if the Phillies are realistic about his value or Victorino (who I’m assuming the price will come down on) if not. I’d also like to see them add a good LOOGY and I think Jose Mijares would be a great fit.
Can’t blame the Phillies for asking…I still see Pence in a Pirates uniform.
But with my luck, the Phillies will win 10 straight, think they are in it, stand pat, and then fall apart and get no prospects. Ugh.
Were there any rumors last year of Pence going to the Pirates?
A lot actually. I think the Reds were another potential suitor for him.
Where?
On this site… I don’t know the exact rumors but the Pirates were in on him.
Oh wait. My bad. I found the article saying the Pirates weren’t seriously in the mix, but they were mentioned.
mlbtraderumors.com/2011/07/hunter-pence-rumors-fri…
That’s last year’s report.
I know. I’ve seen quite a bit on Victorino, but nothing on Pence except from us. I was just wondering where it is at.
He asked if there were rumors last year. There were.
Pence hasn’t been made available yet (or has just recently) so there’s really no rumors for him.
I think I would have hung up the phone as well. Philly pretty much took Pence out from under the Pirates last year by over paying for him in the trade they made. Now they want one of the Key bullpen guys, because they now realize they over paid.
They asked for Lincoln for Victorino….
I don’t think that’s really an unfair asking price.
ya I know, i was just making the point. but that is what I get for ready two things at once
Why do the Phillies want Lincoln?
Also, I see the miracles are flowing in Philadelphia these days.
Two big comebacks in a row, unbelievable!
As for the article, Ken Rosenthal and I should have been in that All Sate commercial with the hippie dude and the serious person.
Hippie Dude, oh we both have All State. It’s like we are connected. Serious, person, no we are not. Hippie dude, yeah we are!
Anyway, back to the MLB Tr comments by Ken: The Orioles may not have a choice but to trade starter Jake Arrieta. I have been saying that for awhile. Plus, if the “Duke” is going to make a trade, it better be soon! I am curious though who started the Hanley Ramirez conversation, the O’s or the Marlins. The Orioles need more consistent pop in the line-up and Ramirez could do that.
We also could use Justin Morneau. I think Morneau is healthy, he’s just not all the way back yet to having good form. Maybe a change of scenery could help with that. Question is will Angelos spend the money to do it!
We’d want Lincoln because we need set up relief help.
You would be wasting him in that role. He’s a good closer or mediocre starter.
Lincoln isn’t that great. The Pirates should pull the trigger. I’d rather see Pence in a Pirates uni than Victorino but either of them is better than the current corner OFers for the bucs.
Been trying to figure out what the lineup would look like if the Pirates did get Pence. Assuming he replaces Alex Presley in the outfield, who hits leadoff? Walker?
I think you would have to suck it up and hit Barmes or Mercer leadoff. Then Walker, Cutch, Jones, Pence, Pedro, McGehee, Barajas, pitcher.
Maybe call Marte up (assuming he doesn’t go in this hypothetical Pence trade) and stick with a strict platoon at 1st with Jones and McGehee. Would be nice to have somebody on the bench with some thump instead of just Harrison, Sutton and Gorkys types. Marte, Walker, McCutchen, Pence, Jones/McGehee, Alvarez, Barajas, Barmes. Could work.
If you’re getting Pence a dime to a dollar Marte is the minimum starting point to replace him in their outfield in a trade
As pathetic as it would be most likely Barmes or Mercer. Then Walker, Cutch, Jones, Pence, Pedro, McGehee, Barajas. That’s one slow bottom of the lineup…snails pulling turtles there
.220 OBP leading off, seems legit.
Yes Pat thus the “as pathetic as it sounds”. Most likelt Marte would have to be involved in a Pence trade. And Walker is not a leadoff hitter. he’s great in the two hole being a switch hitter with good bat control. You’re sure as heck not leading off Cutch or Pence. Who else does that leave?
I would lead off Presley, Walker or Mckenry before Barmes. He has a K/BB ratio of 5/67, that is historically bad.
Maybe Presley leads off against RHP with Jones at 1B and McGehee benched, and McKenry leads off against LHP or possibly they’d even keep Presley in the lineup since he may hit lefties better than Jones?
Walker is so good at driving in runs that he shouldn’t be the leadoff hitter, so if they don’t mind keeping Presley up he can still lead off with McGahee and Jones getting reduced PT.
This is all moot if they don’t trade for Pence or they can keep Marte and trade Presley/Tabata in the deal instead. Still, replacing Presley with a corner OF bat will leave the lineup with a big question mark at the leadoff spot.
I think Lincoln has been stellar out of the bullpen and his last two starts he did very well.
Agree. I think Lincoln is clearly the future closer once Hanrahan moves on. I’m not completely against moving him, but not for Victorino.
It’d be great if the Pirates could get Victorino, would prefer Pence though. They need to get somebody though, looks like their offense might be cooling off.
Reds turned down Ondrusek for Victorino and now Pirates turn down Lincoln for Victorino, haha. Seems the Phils want a RH late inning RP.
I still want to see LaRoche to Pittsburgh. The Nats have two guys they could put at first, get his production, and open up another spot. All the better to nab some prospects in the process!
Boston says Adam LaRoche is readily available to return to Pittsburgh and Boston has him ‘getting ready” at Pawtucket.. Just send over a pale of Super Bubble chewing gum and he’s all yours..
Not sure I’d be welcome to trading Lincoln for Victorino. Victorino is having a pretty down season and would probably be strictly a rental, probably not worth giving up multiple years of a pitcher who’s just starting to come into his own. Even if he’s not a starter, he’s been valuable in many different roles in the pen. Coming in and giving multiple shutout innings is huge, and he’s a closer candidate in the future. I don’t believe he’d be much better than Marte, if not worse.
I would trade him if they can line up a deal for another reliever, preferably a LHP such as Perkins, Mijares, Collins, Thatcher, etc. I don’t think Watson is good enough to be the only lefty in the pen, and they need another for matchups as the season goes on.