Links from the AL East, before the Orioles and Yankees play for the right to face off against the Tigers in the ALCS…
- Red Sox owner John Henry is seeking a minority owner for Fenway Sports Group, Charlie Gasparino and Matt Egan of the FOX Business Network report. Henry appears to be entertaining the idea of establishing a limited partnership in the holding company, according to the FOX reporters.
- The Red Sox denied the report, saying it contains “absolutely no truth,” according to Tim Britton of the Providence Journal. The Red Sox made a similar statement last month when Gasparino reported Henry had started shopping the team.
- Blue Jays manager John Farrell told Jody McDonald on MLB Network Radio that rumors about interest from the Red Sox haven't distracted him from his job in Toronto. "I'm extremely challenged, happy as manager of the Blue Jays," Farrell said, adding that he hasn't been in touch with the Red Sox or heard of talks between GM Alex Anthopoulos and his counterpart in Boston, Ben Cherington.
- A number of high-profile pitchers who were traded last offseason are now making an impact in the postseason, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca writes. Trades involving pitchers such as Gio Gonzalez and Mat Latos will prompt teams like the Blue Jays to weigh the value of depth against the value of certainty as they contemplate their own moves for the offseason ahead.
- Brian Costa of the Wall Street Journal explains that while money can't buy championships, it can help teams like the Yankees build deep benches. Aging stars like Ichiro Suzuki and Raul Ibanez are luxuries the Yankees can afford, and the depth is paying off this October.
what pitchers are supposed to be on the trade market this off season?
They have been listed here for a few weeks. JJ, Vargas are a couple and I wouldn’t doubt seeing Ricky Nolasco being shopped either, tho his name has not been mentioned much in articles.
garza, jj, masterson, ubaldo, maybe anderson
Masterson IMO probably sticks with Cleveland now that Francona is onboard. he always liked him in Boston and for good reason. Hopefully he brings in a pitching coach that drops his angle down a bit and he can get more nasty drop again on that sinking FB he lost some on when he brought the angle up even more last year.
God, Red Sox PR has been especially atrocious this season. They might not be selling the team but based on Henry and company shedding payroll, touting the phony sellout streak, the overall decline of the franchise combined with Henry’s own business tendency of buying when its low and selling after he builds it up… its pretty likely that they’re gearing up for a change in ownership. Bill Simmons said as much. If they’re not selling the team, I’d say the report of them selling a minority or Henry limiting his role seems pretty darn likely.
“They were in on both the talks for Bailey (for a package likely to have centred around Travis Snider and a top pitching prospect) and Gonzalez (likely built around Henderson Alvarez, Kyle Drabek and Drew Hutchison,
plus catching prospect Travis d’Arnaud and one of the Lansing Big
Three, Aaron Sanchez, Noah Syndergaard and Justin Nicolino). Ultimately,
GM Alex Anthopoulos opted to trade for closer Sergio Santos (the White Sox got pitching prospect Nestor Molina) and stand pat on the pitching front.”
That asking price is beyond nuts. Thank god for not doing it.
Interesting article to see the cost of young controlled starters. It was quite expensive for the teams and the A’s have made out great in those trades, especially the Cahill and Bailey one.
alvarez,drabek, hutchinson, darnaud and one of the big 3 is a starting rotation and a starting catcher, lol thats absurd
Maybe he was playing The Show? *shrugs*
To be fair, it’s not a good rotation, but still a lot to ask for. I’m sure the asking price would’ve went down in negotiations continued but the A’s ended up getting what they wanted elsewhere.
In fairness, any team could have signed Ibaniez. He’s making just over a mil. Actually, other teams could have traded for Ichiro too, as all we gave up were low level minor leaguers. Not to mention the Andruw signing.
Why not just give Cashman credit for a good sign and a good trade? It seems Brian Costa from the WSJ is trying very hard to forcefully tie big spending and Yankees together when, at least in this case, it simply does not exist.
Let me guess… the Yankees’ deep pockets bought Derek Lowe to NY too, right?
That entire article reeks of Yankee bashing.
It mentions the money allowed them to bring ichiro to NY, but doesn’t mention the fact that most of it is being paid by seattle. Same with your example of lowe. Sure Lowe is making $15M this year, but cleveland is paying all but the minimum salary to him.
Ibanez it states was a $3M bench player, but it was a $1.1M contract with incentives, based on plate appearances. He got the money because he got 400 plate appearances, not too shabby.