Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports has a bunch of new rumors for us today in a pair of videos. Let's round 'em up…
- Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria may soon be faced with the question about selling at the deadline, something he wanted to avoid in the first year of the club's new ballpark. The best thing they could do to improve their farm system likely involves trading guys like Anibal Sanchez, Omar Infante, and the newly acquired Carlos Lee.
- White Sox GM Kenny Williams always thinks big and it would not be surprising to see him get in on pitcher such as Zack Greinke. The problem is that his farm system doesn't have much to offer and they don't want to give up pieces off the big league roster while contending.
- The best guess right now has the Padres keeping Carlos Quentin and trading Chase Headley. Rosenthal says it's simple supply-and-demand; as many as ten teams have shown interest in the third baseman Headley. The team isn't sure they can get more for Quentin in a trade than they would by letting him walk as a free agent and recouping draft picks after the season.
- The Orioles are clearly buyers. They're willing to trade any prospect not named Dylan Bundy or Manny Machado, but they probably don't have enough to get Greinke. They do have interest in lesser arms like Joe Blanton and Jason Vargas, as well as leadoff man Juan Pierre.
- The Brewers could pit the Rangers and Angels against each other in the Greinke sweepstakes. Texas is unwilling to trade Mike Olt, Jurickson Profar, or Martin Perez for a rental, which could create an opening for the Halos if they're willing to deal Major League talent.
- The Phillies do not intend to trade Cliff Lee to create payroll room for Cole Hamels. If they do keep Hamels long-term, they could have $140MM tied up in just eight players going into next season.
When I saw the Orioles listed in a Rosenthal update I thought his report on them would be nothing more than slightly maniacal laughter about how bad they’ve been over the last 20 games or so.
Props for not hating, Kenny. Props.
This time, anyway.
Not that I’m hating on the O’s or anything, BUT at this time in the
year, the O’s usually begin to plummet. The team is designed for 100
games, not 162.
Case in point, look at the 2005 Orioles:
– record was 48-40
– 1 game behind the division leader (Boston)
– 0.5 games behind the wild card leader (Minnesota)
– ended the season with a 74 – 88 record, good for 4th in the AL East.
That being said, I don’t know if Dan Duquette will make upgrades at this trade deadline, which was lacking in the 2005 season.
I agree that the O’s arent for real.
but i’m just curious, based on your reasoning… how many players from the 2005 orioles are on the current squad?
I realize little to no players still remain on the 2012 team.
I’m just comparing the 2005 to 2012 season and pointing out that there exists some striking similarities.
One thing that was lacking in 2005 was a trade deadline upgrade (assuming I remembered correctly), and I’m curious to see if current GM Duquette will go down the same road.
As an Orioles fan, I realize this team was not designed for 2012 at all. We are ahead of schedule, so anything we get this year is a bonus. The 2005 team was full of aging veterans that faded in the second half and a crappy bullpen that could throw strikes or hold leads.
I fully believe that Duquette will try and make upgrades at the deadline. He may not be able to, because our farm system is bare, but he will try. He will probably end up adding some secondary pieces to try and plug obvious holes with guys who aren’t stellar players but are at least upgrades from what we already have.
That’s a fair assumption.
Has anyone informed Kenny Williams that the White Sox farm system has no talent?
That’s never really managed to stop Kenny Williams from making deals. It’s been bare for a long time.
Maybe because they’re all on the big-league club.
I think he knew this was coming years ago, when Reinsdorf told him, “At no point will we ever spend over slot for a draft pick.”
Who do you think was behind the slotting in the new CBA? Reinsdorf.
It’s easy to slag KW because he’s the GM and the cupboard is bare, but the miniscule draft budgets he had to work with are a primary reason, and with the new cap system, he may yet catch up a bit these next few years.
I get why Texas doesn’t want to trade Profar for a rental. But what I don’t understand is why hes untouchable if Andrus (23yr) is at Short and Kinsler just signed a long term deal in the off season at 2nd Base. Where does he play when he is called up?
He will probably play at short or second, they can move andrus for a lot who profar is likely to be better than.
ranger fans say that Kinsler to OF and Andrus to 2nd is the plan when Profar is ready
Kinsler is one of the best defensive 2B in baseball, that makes no sense.
It would make a lot more sense to trade Andrus to make room for Profar. Obviously Profar is not ready right now, but the trade is meant for the future.
I think that’s the reason why Andrus was signed to a 3 year deal and not longer.
Or because Boras wasn’t going to give up free agent years unless they made a huge financial commitment. For instance, he was a year closer to free agency then when fellow Boras client, Carlos Gonzalez signed his deal… and he was the exception. Point being, if they could have locked him up for four years at this time, which in theory would boost his trade value down the line, they would have done so.
Good points. It would be more valuable for Andrus to have signed a 4 year deal, as it would retain more trade value in the future, but I don’t see it being a big issue.
Andrus is a ‘defense first’ SS and will invariably be undervalued on the trade or free agent market.
Probably because Kinsler is likely to be a 1B in two years.
Profar might be the best prospect in baseball. A potential superstar with six years cheap team control ahead of him is the last thing that should be traded, basically.
I don’t think Jurickson Profar is ‘untouchable’ as he’s a very valuable chip. I do think that it is very unlikely that he’s dealt during the season if he’s ever dealt at all.
For example, I can’t imagine Arizona and Texas matching up in the offseason for Justin Upton without Profar being part of the package.
Lesser arms as in Joe Blanton and Jason Vargas? Isn’t that the same as should be in AAA?
Boston just DFA’d Justin Germano.. Take him for nothing.. Samey, samey…
The White Sox never have a deep farm system, but they do manage to have an impactful one. They get their guys to the big club in a hurry. For all the talk of the Royals vaunted system…..it hasn’t produced much starting pitching yet. Chris Sale flew through the system. Sergio Santos didn’t take long…..Addison Reed..etc Gordon Beckham hasn’t blossomed yet..but he came through quick and hold down a major league second base job.
The idea isn’t to win AA and AAA Championships.
For every team who’s vaunted farm system pays off, you can find another team or who who’s prospects flame out one after another. You have to have a balance. Your team will never get better if you can’t scout major league talent.
Balance is the key. It’s amazing the White Sox haven’t been burned. Last year was a very down year. But, truthfully, if you look at the drafts of most clubs…the impact players come out of the top couple of rounds typically. Very recently the White Sox have done well there. Kenny Williams is also excellent at picking off other teams broken parts and handing them to pitching coach Don Cooper. There’s just not much room for error with Chicago.
You just named a couple prospects, Sale and Reed were pretty much always highly thought of, and there are still worries if Sale can stay in rotation long term
Sale hasn’t had any problems so far, he has an odd delivery, but there isn’t really a reason to think he won’t last. And there are 11 rookies on the 25 man roster, so there’s more than just those 2 guys.
I wonder if they’ll add a starter. I’m guessing they limit Sale.
Humber is due back, hopefully he gets himself straitened out. Danks should be back eventually, and the same goes for him. If those 2 come back they still have Peavy, Floyd, and Quintana. I would guess if Sale starts wearing down, Possibly Humber or Quintana could push his starts back.
He’s already had elbow issues. And of the rookies on the roster only Sale, Quintana, and Reed have had significant impact.
He missed one start because of soreness, which turned out to be nothing. They were only being cautious. 6 rookies in the bullpen. I think Viciedo is considered a rookie too. He didn’t have a full year of service time last year.
viciedo has been ok, nothing significant.
Nothing significant? he is on pace for 30 homeruns….good grief
He also has a 300 OBP and is a terrible defensive OF
Actually he’s the only qualifying LF in the AL to not have an error. Also makes lots of assists in the outfield with his strong arm.
De Aza??
De aza, sale, reed, jones, flowers(defensively at least), beckham, alexi, vicedio, Humber, danks, Floyd, septimo, omergrosso, Santos, all prospects Kenny picked up or drafted and his staff developed. That’s without talking about the prospects he once had then traded. Chris young and gio gonzales are the only two prospects who are doing anything right now I’ll throw Hudson in there too but he is coming back down to earth. Yes he blew up the farm a lot over the past years but the major league club is in first place and enough time has passed for it not to be a fluke and in the long run a team/ franchises only purpose is to win games at the major league level.
Also there are no worries anymore about sale his “innings limit” has already been thrown out. That little moving him
Back to the pen for a day was Cooper thinking he had more power than he really does and he was worried about his pen. Sale is a true ace and going to be for a while
Remember for even moustakas who comes up there is a hosmer who has more hype and has yet to live up to it. A good solid player yea but not yet a franchise player and for every one of them there are 100 busts like mark teahen or Sean Rodriguez, busts are everywhere every team has them people just don’t like Kenny Williams because he is aggressive and they use that against him as opposed to just straight up saying “I don’t like Kenny or te white sox”
The White Sox have had 11 significant contributors, of the 11 only 3 started in white sox organization and only 4 are young.
Kinda like Towers with the Padres. A lot of his most effective players were ones added in trades of all varieties. I would imagine over the past decade those two GM’s would rank towards the bottom in actual home grown developed players.
I guess when you make so many trades your going to hit some homerun’s, but KW, not unlike Towers, has his fair share. Too bad neither could churn ’em out like the Braves or Rays or the Sox(Red).
How much do Milwaukee think they are going to get for a rental? I dont think much. I wouldnt give a top prospect up for a few months of Greinke. Remember its not a definite that they will make the playoffs. Im not saying he isnt worth talent but no team is going to give blue chippers for him. Cue the ignorant people saying “dont worry the White Sox dont have any blue chip prospects to give up anyways.” And then cue Chicago fans,” Well for a team without a farm system they sure do get a lot of players into the majors.” Curse you Keith Law and your biased farm system rankings.
At least the equivalent to the draft pick compensation… so at least one Blue Chip prospect.
The Brewers/Phillies still get draft pick compensation so they’re not going to give their aces away just because team x doesn’t.
Well thats what I mean. Im not saying those pitchers arent worth good talent and I dont think teams should just give pitchers away. But why would the receiving team give away top line talent for a rental? Who that is contending has the guys to just throw away basically for a two month rental? Who does that anymore?
Because that “rental” has the potential to carry you through the post season. Cole Hamels and Zack Grenkie can do for a team what Cliff Lee did in 2009.
and most of that “top line talent” never pans out. (Matt Laporta, Justin Smoak).
The Mets got Zach Wheeler for half a season of Beltran, so the precedent is there for at least one blue chip prospect… and pitching is a much more valuable commodity at the deadline.
But the Mets would not have gotten comp picks for Beltran either, as it was in his contract he could not be offered.
Phillies and Brewers get 2 comp picks if they hold on to their guys and let them walk.
True, so there’s more leverage. Either way, I was just saying the floor for those guys is a top 3 prospect AT LEAST depending on the farm system.
With this new system, I would only grab a 2 month rental if it meant that I could win the division.
It would be really silly to grab a rental player, only to be potentially eliminated in the sudden-death WC round …
If you’re in it, you’ve got a chance. Why wouldn’t you want the chance, as opposed to being on the outside looking in?
If you’re content with simply being a WC winner, then shouldn’t need a rental player to upgrade your team, unless of course, the rental player came cheap.
I’m not content with being a wild card winner, but I know that there is no realistic chance of catching the Yankees for the division title this year. So, reaching the wild card game is the only recourse the O’s have for getting into the playoffs, and if we need to rent a few players at a relatively mild cost, I say go for it.
I agree. Milwaukee should look no further than the deals they made to acquire Sabathia and Greinke. None of the guys they traded have gone on to become studs. The Brett Lawrie/Marcum deal…now that’s a different story. But… someone is going to overpay for Greinke, but it’s not going to be the White Sox because they only do that when it’s to acquire a guy they will have control of for several years (Peavy). This is classic Kenny Williams trying to drive the asking price up for a pitcher (he knows Detroit needs a starter badly) in order to play defense against other clubs. He is one of the few GMs that does that (claimed Rios on waivers to block the Twins/Tigers) and pulled the trigger on Youkilis to prevent the Indians from getting a much needed bat.
Detroit does not need starting pitching badly. The Tigers have the lowest FIP of any rotation in the league. Any new starting pitcher would have to be a real stud to have an impact in 10- 12 starts left in the regular season. The Tigers need a corner outfielder and/ or second baseman.
Also, no other GM was going to take Rios and pay his full salary. That was a bad move. Youkilis was a much more savvy deal for them that could pay dividends. Their need at third base was huge.
GM Williams takes a lot of heat for bad moves, but the reality is that he operates under real strict and tight paramenters. ANY GM is bound to make a notable ‘bad move’ with those types of restrictions.
I do think GM Williams knows how to operate when being ‘squeezed’ for capital but I don’t know how his skills will translate when the restrictions are lifted.
I could see Kenny offering Tyler Kuhn, jarred Mitchell, and out ss prospect who is in AA I believe he was just in the futures game. They may not be blue chippers but they are solid prospects and with the change of the CBA no longer will we see blue chippers being delt for rentals. Maybe throw in Molina or Castro.
That’s really my point. A team really only always needs a few high end talents coming out of the system. The White Sox M.O. is far from flawed, but it’s worked for awhile….and they’ve made an effort to improve the system. They hired Toronto’s Latin American guy.
Oh yeah. Everytime I see Chris Sale I keep expecting his arm to fly off. The White Sox are getting about every break this season. Must be karma after everything seemed to break wrong last year. Picking up Youkilis was solid.
The Sox are going to need to start doing something in the system though. The team is old…and they won’t always be able to patch with free agents.
Headley for Bundy, Schoop, Flaherty, and Drake
Swing and a miss but thanks for playing
Robert Bundy.
It might as well be King Kong Bundy. We are not getting Headley.
Umm…. no. I don’t trade Bundy for Headley straight up. I don’t think that there’s a player in baseball I trade Bundy for straight up, let alone throw in our third best prospect. Not that Bundy for certain people wouldn’t be a fair trade, but when your farm system is as bare as ours has been, you just don’t go trading the #1 prospect in all of baseball.
Robert Bundy.
You should be more specific. In that case, I don’t think that’s nearly enough to get Headley. Essentially, that’s Schoop and three nobodys. They would need one other legit prospect or be willing to take a flyer on someone like Berken or Bergesen or Hunter or Steve Johnson.
you wouldn’t trade bundy for mike trout?
No. Not for Trout or Harper or Stanton. Bundy has the potential to be an elite starting pitcher, and I would rather have an elite starter than an elite outfielder, especially on a team that already has two all-star caliber outfielders.
It’s my opinion that Polanco and the Orioles are a perfect match.
I don’t care what anyone else says, I want him and that’s that!
Headley is going to be too expensive and I am unsure if he’s the answer.
Also, who in the world is Rosenthal talking to about the Orioles so called interest in Blanton and Vargas. Blanton would be ok, but not great. However, Vargas why????
Lefty’s wishlist
Polanco.
Colon.
Liriano.
Now that Markakis is back, we can survive without Pierre.
Also, want to give a shoutout to my new “Hero” Taylor Teagarden!
He gets the “S” on his chest for Superman saving the day!
Your front office thinks so to apparently, they called on Polanco according to MLB.com.
Granted Polanco was signed to play third for Philly, but does he still play second at all? The thought of watching someone capable of playing a respectable third base excites me after watching Wilson Betemit charge soft grounders and toss em to the pitcher and completely lose fly balls in the sky
He played 2nd during that 19 inning game last year. I’m not sure he really has the range for it anymore.
I think it would be worthwhile for them to play him at 2nd base tomorrow or on Chase’s days off to see. I mean, if he can, it only enhances his value. If he can’t, it’s not really going to hurt it.
His defense at third is phenomenal though.
So, would the Phillies take Jason Berken and Johnny Ruettiger to rent Polanco and Blanton for two and a half months? We’ll even throw in Reynolds and pay his contract and his buyout.
as a Phillies fan…… yes
and I have no idea who those 2 guys you named are
I texted my friend just before he hit that home run saying ‘Man I really wish wieters was still in there’
Glad I was wrong
Also have to give a shoutout to my man JJ for busting out of that 0-28 slump
This site is going to be so much fun to watch over the next few weeks, I might end up getting fired for spending so much time on here.
In order for San Diego to get draft pick compensation for Quentin, they’d have to make him a qualifying offer of at least $ 12.5 million. They just signed him for one year and $ 7 million, so that’s a pretty hefty increase. I don’t think they’ll make him that kind of offer, even though he is sure to want a multi year deal coming off a solid season.
I think you’re wrong on this. The pads have very little (11m) tied up in 2013, and with a new tv deal and new owners they’re more likely to increase payroll. Quentin can certainly do better than 1 year at 12.5m in a multi year deal so i doubt he would take 1 year.
Could be, but it would be a risky play for the Padres. Quentin is not worth $ 12.5 million per year (probably more once the amount is calculated), and he may decide that having a draft pick compensation attached to him is enough of a deterrent that he’d take the one year deal and stay at home.
Most GM’s are reluctant to play roulette with qualifying/ arbitration offers. They operate under the philosophy of not making an offer unless you’re prepared to have the player accept it.
Outfielders have been getting $ 5– 7 million per year as free agents, on two or three year contracts.
Any power bat the Padres can get they should pay. Not many want to play in that stadium after all. If it means 12.7 I think new ownership will do that just to show other potential free agents in following years this is not the same nickle and dime Padres fans league wide have become accustomed to.
They certainly could use the image booster, and Quentin seems to be popular.
The compensation pick that they’d get if he declined arbitration would be one supplemental first round pick, and the team that signed him would lose their first pick available outside the top ten.
For some comps- Cuddyer got $ 31.5 mil over 3 years, Beltran 25/ 2; Willingham 21 mil over 3, Kubel 15 mil/ 2; Cespedes 36/ 4; Crisp 14/2- so Quentin would be at the top of the scale if he got a qualifying offer. More than he’d get in AAV as a free agent.
Let’s say the Padres offer Quentin the 1yr/$12.5m contract.
If you’re Quentin the ultimate question becomes, if I reject the Padres’ offer, will I be able to get a better contract elsewhere.
I think the answer will be a no.
GMs from various other teams will be very uncomfortable on losing their 1st round draft pick. Of course, I might be wrong, but that’s the way I see it.