Carlos Quentin tells Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune that at one point in the 2013 season, his injuries were nagging him to the point where he weighed retirement. The 31-year-old recalls thinking, "I can’t produce and do well, so I shouldn’t be out here." Quentin admitted to Acee that he wasn't honest last Spring when speaking about how healthy he was, but Acee notes the change in Quentin's demeanor this offseason as he told reporters that he wants to set a new career-high in games played this season.
The latest on the Padres and the rest of the NL West below…
- Dennis Lin of the Union-Tribune reports that Padres top prospect Max Fried has been shut down for at least two weeks due to soreness in the flexor-mass area of his left (pitching) elbow. GM Josh Byrnes said Fried initially felt the soreness when playing long-toss from 120 feet. "At this stage of his career, this time of year, we’re obviously gonna be careful and make sure he’s symptom-free before he gets going," Byrnes said. "There was still enough soreness in there that we’re gonna be conservative and make sure we knock it out."
- Giants first baseman Brandon Belt told reporters, including MLB.com's Chris Haft, that receiving the biggest payday of his life — a $2.9MM contract to avoid arbitration two nights ago — was a "magical" moment. Belt added that he would be open to discussing a long-term deal to remain in San Francisco: "I think anybody would be open to a long-term extension, especially with this organization. It's a first-class organization."
- Troy Tulowitzki knows that rumors will fly over the next year, as talk of the Yankees needing to replace Derek Jeter will likely connect him to the Bronx, writes Troy Renck of the Denver Post. Tulo, who has looked up to Jeter since his youth and wears No. 2 in the Yankee Captain's honor, tells Renck that he's used to trade rumors and will remain focused on helping the Rockies win games.
- Chris Owings never let the Diamondbacks' acquisition of Didi Gregorius faze him last year, writes MLB.com's Steve Gilbert. Owings was thought of as the club's shortstop of the future when he was drafted in 2009 but looked to have been passed up by Gregorius at the time of last year's trade. Rather than dwell on it, Owings focused on his game and won the Triple-A Pacific Coast League's MVP Award, once again positioning himself a long-term answer for Arizona at short, writes Gilbert.
What could the Yankees have that’s valuable enough for Tulowitzki? Unless the Rockies desperately need to dump salary, I can’t see it.
Even if they did want to dump salary, Oakland could offer Addison Russell straight up and that would be better than the Yankees top 10 prospects offered together.
It would be quite atypical of Billy Beane to trade away a cost-controlled player for a player with a $20 million a year salary
While I agree that its unlikely, Beane actually is paying his closer $10M this year, and extended Coco Crisp to a long term deal. He always is changing his gears, anything is possible with him.
Are you the ex-MLB pitcher?
I am not the real Pete Harnisch. Big fan of the guy, though.
This is s big year for the development of Fried. I hope rest will do some good so he can have a productive season. I would hate to see him miss a big portion of it.
I hope max fried doesn’t become the latest padres pitcher to need tommy John surgery
Don’t quite get the Tulo to Bronx talk. Signed through 2020 to a team friendly deal and the Yankees not appearing to have enough impact minor league players to put together a package. Seems like just a waste of words being typed at this point in time though
This
Exactly my thoughts. What in the world would the Yankees even have that the Rockies would want? Yankees could probably offer their entire minor league system and it wouldn’t be enough.
If Rosario continues to be a defensive liability, the Yanks could offer the Rox one of Sanchez/Murphy/Romine. Also, Banuelos, Betances, Ramirez, Campos or Nova could interest the Rox. There’s also Slade Heathcott or Mason Wiliiams. All of these Yanks would add legitimate (and much needed) depth to the Rockies organization.
It wouldn’t be “one of” it would probably be multiple top line prospects if anything. Tulo is the premier offense SS in the league with good defense and on a team friendly contract playing a premium position. He’s about as valuable as it gets.
Let me restate, I’m sure there are pieces that the Yanks have that the Rox may be interested in, but if they were to truly make Tulo available they would get a lot better offers from multiple clubs than anything the Yanks could offer them.
It would be “one of” those catchers I listed
You asked what players the Rockies would want, and I gave you a list of players. Sure, there “could be” better offers out there if and when the time comes (all this is speculative). But to say that the Yankees don’t have players to improve the Rockies, is unbelievable. All aboard the “Yanks have no farm system” bandwagon! I didn’t even mention the Yanks players in A ball
Dude, not even being mean or anything…. Yankees won’t be getting Tulo, and that list of players you’ve got wouldn’t be half of what the Rockies would ask for him.
I’m just trying to play devil’s advocate. I wouldn’t put anything past the Rockies front office. But yea, barring another injury plagued season from Tulo, the Yankees have no chance at getting him.
Don’t forget, the Yankees can sweeten the deal with cash. That they got.
So what was the point of making Tulo their franchise player then? Colorado isn’t trying to free up cash, they have plenty of it. Their front office is just bad at the offseason when it comes to signing pitchers – they should be going entirely ground ball guys and instead go power or flyball guys.
Why are you asking me? They tried to build a franchise around Tulo and CarGo. That era is over now, so they have to decide on what comes next.
Still not enough. None of those guys project to be impact players other than Sanchez and he’s not even a given to stay behind the plate.
I disagree. Tulo will be making $20 million a year starting in 2015. He’s played in 173 games over the past two seasons and isn’t getting any younger. If he misses more time in 2014, his value decreases tremendously.
Absolutely none of those guys – or even every single one of them – are bringing back Tulo. Yankees fans, the jig is up: everyone knows your farm stinks. You hyped Montero to kingdom come and look at him, he’s terrible. Those guys are minor league depth and most likely will not develop into anything significant.
If the Rox do put Tulo on the table, there’s pretty much dozens of teams with legit farm systems who could get him. The Yanks are not beating those teams out.
I’d be more inclined to accept your opinion if you backed it with facts or substance. In recent years, the Yanks farm system has produced CANO, Ian Kennedy, Austin Jackson, Tyler Clippard, Phil Coke, Melky Cabrera, Joba/Hughes, and David Robertson (among others). Montero gained hype because Cashman refused to include him in the Cliff Lee proposal to the Mariners. Everyone knew Baseball Jesus wasn’t a catcher, and it’s too early to judge his ability to RAKE (kid can hit).
Casual fans continue to discredit the Yanks farm system, yet the Yanks continue to produce major league players. But yes – the Yanks have had some misses in the draft and it’s probably time for Mark Newman to go.
Bottom line: Tulo is not being moved for anything less than multiple top 50 prospects, of which the Yankees have none.
The Mariners could offer Taijuan Walker, Nick Franklin,
Brad Miller and James Paxton and that miiiight be enough for Tulo. Yankes cannot offer a comparable package to that talent.
The Rockies are looking for top flight MLB ready or MLB players for this kind of trade. At the back end of the deal they would want prospects. But up front, high AAA guys or MLB guys and the Yanks just don’t have them. They have some intriguing lower guys, but the Rocks are pretty good down there too and need upper level guys.
Jose Ramirez/Nova/David Phelps/Vidal Nuno are all major league ready pitchers. Romine is ML ready. I agree – they don’t have many upper level position players.
And let’s be honest, they would ask for every one of them. Are they any better than what we could get from, say a St. Louis?
Yes, the cardinals farm system is better than the Yankees system. But there are a ton of factors that go into making a trade. Maybe the rox would only trade him to the AL, I don’t know. All I’m saying is the Yankees have the $ and players to make a deal happen. Don’t write off the yanks farm system just because it’s a popular stance.
And yet New York sports writers will talk about it when there’s nothing else to talk about.
I think a guy like Starlin Castro is more possible. Tulo is a pipe dream.
Gotta love the Yankee-centric mindset that feels that the team can/should just be able to pillage smaller capital organizations. It’s like a rich guy knocking at
the door and demanding the keys to the Cadillac in the garage and offering pocket change in return. But..oh…that change came from a Yankee wallet. As if there is a special aura around simply being a.Yankee prospect.
This is the problem with the Yanks is their farm system is very weak except for A ball players. They need to look at drafting players and not trading them for old vets. What made the Yanks good last decade was the farm system.
How is it the farm system that made the Yankees good for the last decade? Aside from Jeter, Rivera and Pettitte the Yankees have been totally FA based. The only time NYY won a WS in this decade (2009) it was driven by massive FA spending.
Posada, Cano
Since the Yanks went into hyper-spend mode with the signing of Giambi, they have netted ONE title. If they had any kind of a farm system or halfway decent scouting team they would have had way more. Bottom line: spending money on all-star free agents does not win titles. Its a team game. Your worst players decide how far you go, not your all-stars. You would think they’d cut it out by now…
You forgot how many prospects they traded away. They were still producing early in the decade but now nothing. Granderson, Chamberlain, Robertson, Gardner, Cano, just to name a few.
Worked out good for Angels that Yanks spend, they got Mike Trout for Teixeira. Granted the won a WS, but still. Also costs Big bucks and Draft Picks for Centerfield Position. When they used Granderson and now Ellsbury there.
With the new CBA, and not losing or gaining picks in Trades during season, Trout might have been a Yank.
There was no way Trout could have been a Yankee. Even if we didn’t sign Teixeira, we would have lost our 1st round pick for Sabathia or Burnett.
Glad SF is keeping Belt happy, wasn’t sure how he felt after two years of platooning… he put up decent numbers even tho SF had a terrible offensive season last year and his RBI numbers should go up this year with a healthy Pagan & Scutaro getting on and being surrounded by Buster, Hunter, & Pablo. If he continues to improve then we need to ink him for several years.
Ive always had a thing for Quintin ever since he was with the Diamondbacks. That trade for Chris Carter was brutal to my childhood.
Does this mean that Carlos will retire if he were to miss too many games? Hope to not see him around town having fun when he’s on the DL like last time.
Lol people are so scared with the notion the Yankees might get Tulo, pipe dream but I love reading these comments.