Following the loss of Patrick Corbin to a torn ulnar collateral ligament, the Diamondbacks are looking to acquire an MLB-ready starting pitcher as they dangle shortstop Didi Gregorius in trade talks, according to ESPNNewYork.com's Adam Rubin. That Gregorius is on the trading block isn't entirely surprising, as recent reports have indicated that Arizona will name Chris Owings its everyday shortstop. Previously, Arizona had been seeking a catcher in exchange for Owings or Gregorius, but Corbin's injury seems to have changed that line of thinking.
The 24-year-old Gregorius posted fairly decent overall numbers in his first significant taste of big league action in 2013, batting .252/.332/.373 with seven homers and roughly average defense at shortstop (per Ultimate Zone Rating and Defensive Runs Saved). Gregorius projects to be a better defender than that going forward, but his bat is suspect, as evidenced by the rapid decline in his production last season after a hot start. Gregorius homered in two of his first three games with the Diamondbacks and batted .322/.386/.497 through his first 38 contests, but he mustered just a .202/.294/.284 line in his final 65 games.
Rubin writes that three D'Backs scouts were on-hand to watch an intrasquad game between the Mets' Double-A and Triple-A club yesterday. Noah Syndergaard, Logan Verrett and Jacob deGrom all pitched in that game, though as Rubin notes, Syndergaard is essentially untouchable in trade talks. Arizona currently projects for a rotation of Trevor Cahill, Wade Miley, Brandon McCarthy, Bronson Arroyo and one of Randall Delgado or Archie Bradley.
I know it’s already in the summary and the article, but the Mets were the immediate team that came to my mind, too. They could desperately use a young, quality SS and have a good supply of pitching. Obviously Harvey/Wheeler/Syndergaard aren’t going anywhere, and Gee/Niese presumably not. Maybe Mejia? Is that fair value at this point?
Depends on how good you think Didi is. Some people really like him as a glove heavy, above average SS, sort of Stephen Drew-ish. Others see a below replacement bat and defense that isn’t good enough to make up for it. Trading Mejia for him is a big gamble.
I haven’t really followed the Mets closely enough to know if Mejia is still a part of their future. I think they’d probably want something thrown in with Didi, but it’s not a horrible deal for either team in the short and long term.
Mejia came up at the end of last year and actually pitched well for them until he was injured or shut down (i forget which). He’s gonna start the year in triple a but he may be part of their future still.
Came up injured with lingering bone spurs….pitched through 5 games with them and pitched extremely well. Had surgery to remove them and finally looks 100%. Plus he’s sporting the amazingly hip Jerry Curls this spring
He is currently trailing Matsuzaka in the battle for the 5th starter.
Not because he’s pitching bad…..but Matsuzaka has been surprisingly good.
Yes, he is. Mejia is currently battling for the 5th spot in the rotation. His only issue is durability, otherwise he has a very bright future. There is little chance that Didi gets Kevin Towers a Trevor Bauer type pitching prospect in return, a low level one like Jeff Walters is closer to reality.
Didi’s defense is extraordinary.
Not according to the metrics. I’d say above average but not much higher, from what I saw last year.
I would think the Tigers would be interested buyers.
Nah. They’d just have to dump him when Iglesias comes back. And they have nothing to trade.
No way. The Tigers need a quick fix at SS. Gregorius is too long-term.
If I am the Reds, I am offering the Tigers Ramon Santiago back, it would free up a spot for Chris Nelson and Roger Bernadina. Plus Det needs a SS
It would be stupid for the DBacks to trade away Gregorius unless it was for Max or someone like that. He’s that good.
Max as in Max Scherzer?
So the only way you would trade Gregorius is for a reigning CY Young winner or “someone like that.” I think you just broke the internet.
I hope you’re kidding or trolling. If not, you’re going to be woefully disappointed if Arizona does end up trading him.
Didi is basically Ruben Tejada with a little more home run pop. Not worth trading for him, as hes not an upgrade. Owings would probably be worth it for the Mets to trade someone like Mejia for.
Heyman speculated the Reds could be in on him. I wonder if the teams would consider a Gregorius-Holmberg trade.
It’s definitely an interesting thought, but the depth provided by Holmberg is still very much needed by the Reds, especially with the early injury to Latos, the late start for Leake, and Bailey scratched in his last start. Reds have almost no AAA depth for starting pitching.
woossshhhhh
It didn’t go over my head that they are both from their former locations. I get that, it regardless it still makes some sense since the Reds have no SS depth either.
it makes no sense. they got rid of didi for a reason. didi has potential to be a 270 15 hr guy with a great glove at best. but what he may very well be is a 240 hitter with 11 hr. however he also has trouble with lefites and he has a big swing that only towers can love.
They got rid of Didi so they could get Choo. You have to give something to get something….
I doubt they would deal Holmberg as slasher mentioned, they still need depth at pitcher. I could see them parting with Chin Ming Wang though, that is all a backup light hitting SS is really worth.
The yankees should trade Cervelli and someone like Phelps for Gregorius. He can platoon this year and then take over after Jeter and it would solve the SS issue for a few years
Wow, Cervelli and Phelps? I sure hope that you’re an Arizona fan. Yankees already have One Ryan and don’t need another one.
gregroius even at his low projections is a better hitter than ryan will ever be
You’re probably right, but does it matter when comparing a .240 avg to a .255 one? More importantly, is that upgrade of ~.015 points worth it to give up Cervelli and Phelps?
(the answer is no)
its not just average, its also power… in 7 seasons ryan has never hit more than 5 home runs in a year, in gregorius first year he has already hit 7. also gregorius is 24 whereas ryan is 31. Overall he is just a better player. I will agree that maybe both players is overpaying so maybe the yankees get back a low to mid level prospect also
Again, an increase from 5 HRs to 10-12 HRs is not worth it.
Players like Ryan and Didi can be had on 1 year deals from free agency every year, sometimes on minor league deals. So, why give up anything for Didi? Because he’s young? Ryan isn’t the future, but neither is Didi. If the Yankees want to go the defensive SS route, they can sign a new SS every year on the cheap rather than giving up anything of value for Didi.
i understand what you are saying. but yes.. he is 24.. he still has a ceiling to reach. ryan is already at his. If the yankees wait to sign a ss next year when they will also have to sign a 2b and probably another 3b since arod will likely be more of a dh if he comes back. there really arent a lot of options left. asdrubal cabrera and jed lowrie will likely be the only good ss on the market. the 2b market is even worse, and 3b is highlighted by headley (i am not including sandoval or ramirez as they will likely be signing extensions).
Those are nice facts, but nothing you said explains why they should trade for Didi.
If anything, it does the opposite, argue for the Yankees waiting till next year to make a splash on an infield position (or two; they are the Yankees after all).
Remember, the Yankees never need “a lot of options” in free agency. Just the top one(s). Evident by this offseason.
the top 1 is asdrubal cabrera at ss… headley at 3b and really there is no one i would want at 2b. and you really cannot say as evidenced by this year as the best free agent was cano and he left.. they did snag 4 of the top 10 so i am not complaining. (tho i really did not think ellsbury was a good signing but thats another post altogether) the infield is a mess even if you get headley and cabrera next year i dont know if that makes a good infield
Just to clarify, I’m not saying don’t trade for or sign a SS. I’m against that TYPE of SS. Defense only SS can be had on cheap deals every season, easily.
If they want to try to get Reyes or sign Hanley or Asdrubal or a more complete package SS, by all means, go ahead.
But targeting someone like Didi is not a smart move. Especially for Cervelli and Phelps.
How about Adam Warren for Didi Gregorius straight-up? Too little? Too much?
Yankees would be better off signing Drew than trading for DiDi IMO. Also, they can certainly use Cervelli if something happens to McCann.
i am not against this idea. drew would fit well for the yankees. but i think the yankees are done spending for the year. unless they are hoping he lasts until june when they will no longer have to surrender a draft pick which would baffle me
For the record I’m not saying they should sign Drew , but if they were in need of a SS right now , signing Drew would be a better move IMO than trading for DiDi.
The Yankees have even less pitching depth than Arizona, they will well need Phelps if any of their starter get injured this year.
id prefer to see nuno be the 6th starter/long relief guy. this will give the yankee rotation another lefty
I’m really hoping for Nuno to be something, but not sure if I would entirely depend on him. He has done great so far, but he is a slow pitching lefty without a real out pitch.
Also have Warren and Nuno for depth.
For Owings, sure. Not for Gregorius. Don’t think he is really a long term answer at ss for the Yankees. Cervelli and Phelps have value to this team right now, and I doubt Gregorius is more valuable than them right now.
So Arizona is shopping Gregorius for pitching (presumably to replace Bauer who they traded away and Corbin who they lost to injury) and your idea is to offer up a catcher?
Well, I personally like Owings. But for Gregorius…hmmm…I would sign Drew instead. Average fielding and light hitting SS not worth much to me. The market is normally flooded with them.
Didi’s probably better than average w glove. It’s the bat that’s the problem.
This goes back to the question, why on earth did they trade Trevor Bauer for this guy? Even though Bauer hasn’t progressed as expected, they must have been able to get more than that.
Maybe they can get a better pitcher than Bauer back?
How Quickly people forget Bauer’s attitude problem and his long tossing ritual that instructors/coaches didn’t agree with. Bad Apple had to be thrown away
That and the fact that he has no command of his pitches.
But they could have traded him for something much better than Gregorius at the time.
That’s in hindsight knowing that Chris Owings is now a legitimate SS Prospect to be promoted. When the trade happened Arizona didn’t have a legit SS to play in 2013 and Owings wasn’t a sure thing to come up by now. Owings could have struggled in 2013 and 2014 then been ready in 2015 to be a marginal SS. Didi meantime was a legit ML option to play SS 2013 and beyond.
This from MLB.com 2013: The tools are there for Owings to be an everyday middle infielder in the
big leagues. He has the ability to hit for average, but he needs to
work on his plate discipline to get there – there’s too much swing and
miss to his game. His power started to show up in games in 2012 and that
could become a regularity. He has solid average speed and should be
able to steal some bases in the future and he’s capable of being a
solid, though unspectacular shortstop defensively.
2012: Owings has all the tools to be a good all-around shortstop at the
highest level. He has very good bat speed and should develop decent
power. He’s a good runner with excellent instincts on the basepaths. His
numbers didn’t match up with his upside potential in 2011 largely
because of his pitch selection and plate discipline, and while he had
showed similar weaknesses in 2012, he repeated the Class A Advanced
level and handled it much better before being promoted to Double-A
Mobile in June. He’s equally raw in the field, where he has the arm and
range to be just fine.
2013 he showed a decent improvement in plate discipline but had that not gone well DBack fans would want Didi at SS 2014 vs. Owings today.
Nothing wrong with long toss, Jaime Moyer pitched for like 50 years using it.
Well I’m not sure using the greatest, most durable, awesomest, not to mention most handsome, pitcher of the last century as a comparison is really fair. He’s clearly a freak of nature, in the best way possible.
Bauer had I believe a longer version along with doing it more frequently between starts than normal. The concern is the added stress from what he was doing vs the long toss you’re suggesting which is standard.
What attitude problem? The one Kevin Towers manufactured to justify selling low on Bauer?
Was a very questionable move at the time. Even if you don’t believe in Bauer he was a pretty valuable trade chip still, and could have gotten much more than Gregorius at the time.
Ironically, a better move may have been to target one of the SS from Cleveland, rather than get the Reds involved.
Wasnt Towers proclaiming Didi the next Jeter last offseason? Boy the DBacks talk guys up and then when they dont meet expectations they shop them publicly before trading them. I bet we hear after Didi gets traded about locker room issues. Thats the SOP for everyone player the DBacks trade last few years. Upton, Bauer, Eaton, Kennedy were all labeled after they were traded as bad clubhouse guys by the franchise or players.
Towers used to be a good GM now i just dont know.
Towers was never a good GM.
Gregorius is a great teammate, speaks 6 languages and has a extremely great work ethic. Wants to learn and get better. Great kid. The DBacks def have made mistakes here recently.
I’d rather have Owings, or Nick Ahmed, or Nick Franklin, or just sign Stephen Drew before giving away anything of significance for Gregorius.
Oh Diamondbacks, you’re too hilarious.
The Twins’ out of options starters might be the only MLB starting pitching they’re going to get for this guy. The name Vance Worley doesn’t exactly make you think of the playoffs.
I’d trade Vance Worley or Scott Diamond in a heartbeat for him. Doubt that Diamondbacks would like those deals quite as much though.
If if were the Dbacks, I’d definitely think about Worley as an option. They’re not going to do any better if they’re looking for MLB starters. I guess they can wait and see if the Rays cut Bedard, but Worley is worth considering for what Gregorious could net right now.
I know the Twins wouldn’t do it but I’d be okay with Correia being sent for DiDi to make room for Gibson. Worley looks like he is going to be put on waivers soon so if they could get anything for him I’d be happy.
If I were the Twins and the D-Backs would do that Correia trade, I would do it in a second. But you’re right. I think the Twins plan to hang on to him until the trade deadline and see what offers they can get.
The D-Back would be better off with Delgado or Bradley in the rotation, no one is going to give up MLB ready pitching with more upside than Delgado or Bradley for Gregorius.
towers during the winter break was asked if you can land one thing a hitter or a pitcher what would it be. he said pitching always wins, def a pitcher. now we had davidson,holmberg,bauer,skaggs,eaton, at one point last year and even this year we could have got basically any pitcher we want for example david price. now the dbacks have no young pitchers but 2 or 3 that are worth it and only trumbo and reed to show for it. granted good players but not what we needed and not what towers “wanted”. he makes trades like he has baseball cards. now we are trading the next “jeter” for a young pitcher who will be less worth what bauer or skaggs was. just insane.
Arizona should keep Gregorius and sign one of Jeff Niemann, Jeff Karstens, Barry Zito, or Jon Garland to a minor league deal with a June 1 opt out. Gives them plenty of time to get a look at Delgado and/or Bradley.
They don’t want to start Bradley’s Clock is the #1 issue
by june 2nd his misses the super 2
Exactly, but they also gain another year of team control…vs 2014-2019 It’s June 2nd 2014-2020.
Yeah Bradley can probably hold his own today but do you really want to trade say 2014 stats: 185ip 3.88 ERA 1.32Whip for what could be a 2020 stat line of 225ip 2.67ERA 1.12Whip To go with 95IP 3.76ERA 1.27Whip 2014 by waiting til June to promote him? He’s going to be a stud I prefer to get a cup of tea 2014 for him and have him full season 2020. Vs full season 2014 and Free Agent after 2019.
All this is moot as you can be Towers will trade Bradley within 3-4years before he is a FA
Im a Pirates fan its how i feel about polanco
I’ll trade you my top pitching prospect, for a AAA shortstop if you send your
impending free agent to team C. A year later, I will then shop that same
shortstop around because i already had a better shortstop in my farm system that
is going to take his job. What team am I?
What a terrible deal last year for Arizona, the Reds and Indians got the better end of that.
KT also traded/gave away Upton last offseason to then have to trade away Skaggs, an MLB ready arm, plus more to get a lesser, power hitting OF in Trumbo this year.
It almost seems like he is not looking out further than a few months at a time.
Yeah, its bad. If the Reds thought he was good enough to beat out Cozart they wouldn’t have given him up. He turned out to be what the Reds thought, a light hitting defensive shortstop or future backup SS. Those kinds of players aren’t worth much on the open market. Seems they were just looking for an excuse to get rid of Bauer.
I hated that Upton move. If you insisted on trading Upton than that is a long term move, that you are preparing for the future. Why then did you insist on getting Prado back?
I don’t see the Didi being worth anything more then a back end of the rotation pitcher.
Didi to the Pirates for Jeanmar Gomez and Chase d’Arnaud. I doubt Gregorius is worth much more than that.
Maybe the D-Back could trade Gregorius for 3 pitchers, for example Bauer, Shaw and Albers…. woops Cleveland doesn’t give refunds!
Maybe the D-Back could trade Gregorius for 3 pitchers, for example Bauer, Shaw and Albers…. woops Cleveland doesn’t give refunds!
Would have gotten more for Bauer last winter than you will get for Gregorius now. Elite pitching prospect was worth much more than a no hit shortstop.
Id take Mejia for gregorious
i’d take a six pack for gregorus
K. Didn’t they trade pitching to get this guy last year? Seems like every offseason the D’backs are looking for something they traded last offseason (see Upton/Trumbo). Bet they look for a speedy lead off hitting CF and a young LHP next offseason.
Sounds like they’re looking for that young LHP now.
“but his bat is suspect, as evidenced by the rapid decline in his production last season after a hot start” and this applies to others within the same parameter:
the highly regarded Domonic Brown batted .264/.322/.427 over his last 65 games and yet somehow viewed very differently.
There’s a bit difference between a .427 and a .284 SLG%…
of course… yet when talking Didi analysis tends to be focussed
on his steep decline… whereas with DB people talk about his breakout year …. when in fact he had a phenomenal three weeks and before and after the same troubling mediocrity
Domonic Brown is just a 4th OF in contending teams…
The Diamondbacks have been looking for a leadoff hitter for a decade now. They thought they had one in Eaton. But then, once he got playing time, he forgot to show up. He returned to the team on July 9th. He didn’t have his first SB attempt until July 23rd where he got thrown out. His next attempt didn’t come until just over a month later on August 25th when he finally had his first successful SB attempt. Only two attempts in over six weeks of play, while hitting only .258 and having a somewhat nicer .338 OBP just wasn’t getting it done, not for a team starving for offense.
Arizona has said all along that defense would be king up the middle. Pollock and Eaton are very similar players from opposite sides of the plate. Pollock is easily the better CF though. That made Eaton quite tradeable.
Now, they did manage to blow it and trade him for the wrong piece, but that’s something else entirely.
What about the Reds reacquiring Didi in return for David Holmberg?
Corcino
Holmberg
Soto
Those are the players I would offer for Didi to get him back in Cincinnati.
I’d keep Holmberg, he’s had a nice spring and is needed for depth. The other two, I couldn’t agree more!
Arizona would get a lot more back if they shopped Prado. Frankly I think they are kidding themselves if they believe they have any chance without Corbin. Certainly not in the same division as the Dodgers.
Given that they just traded away the only other third baseman that was MLB ready by trading Matt Davidson for Addison Reed, the chances of them moving Prado for anything other than a severe and ludicrous overpay are somewhere between slim and none, regardless of the division they play in.
Even as a worst-case scenario, Corbin is back next year, McCarthy and Putz are off the books, Bradley is in the rotation, and the team has financial room to sign or trade for a strong TOR pitcher. If they trade Praod, then they are left with needing a TOR pitcher and also a strong defensive third baseman. Getting a TOR arm will be hard enough by itself. No reason to add to the issue.
hmmm let me think.. trade to the TIGERS?!?! who need a shortstop!?! sounds good!
gave up young talent for a similar caliber shortstop last year, cant afford to do so again
While Syndagaard (Thor) is untouchable, i cannot see the Mets turning down trading either of the other two for their new starting SS
so what are the odds that archie bradley breaks camp with the team and starts the year in the final spot?
i guess delgado is out of options
I could see a deal that offers Lavarnway and Dubrount for Gregorius, if the Sox were interested.
I don’t see why the Sox would be interested in Gregorious though. They have Bogaerts pretty much set in stone as the starting shortstop. There’s not really much of a need there.
Dillon Gee & Ruben Tejada for Didi Gregorius & Cliff Pennington should be done.
Eventually, Gee is gonna get fazed out of the rotation with Syndergaard & Montero coming very soon, so what sense does it make to hold on to him any longer? In Gee’s place, bring back Montero from minor league camp or have Mejia take the spot. The way the Mets organization has treated Tejada, he badly needs a new start so use him as a throw in and get back Pennington as the new backup middle infielder instead of Quintanilla, Seratelli, and Tejada.
After that, put Murphy back on the trade block & once he’s dealt, make Flores the starting 2nd baseman. Middle infield problem solved.
Don’t trade Didi!