It seems like every club is getting bad news regarding its pitchers these days, but the Mets can breathe a sigh of relief when it comes to lefty Jon Niese. ESPNNewYork.com's Adam Rubin reports that Niese, who was pulled from Sunday's start early due to elbow discomfort, learned that he has some inflammation but no ligament damage in the elbow. He received a cortisone shot and is tentatively set to resume throwing on Wednesday. Niese still figures to open the season on the DL, according to Rubin, but only for a few days, as the Mets won't need a fifth starter until April 6. Niese is likely to be activated at that point.
Here are some more notes specifically pertaining to pitchers…
- The Diamondbacks are likely to again scout Jeff Samardzija in the wake of Patrick Corbin's probable Tommy John surgery, reports Bruce Levine of 670thescore.com. However, Levine writes that the Cubs would likely ask for Archie Bradley in return, which would seemingly end conversations before they began.
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets that free agent closer Joel Hanrahan is up to 90-92 mph in his rehab from Tommy John and flexor tendon surgery and could sign with a team soon. Hanrahan is coming off a season in which he pitched just 7 1/3 innings for the Red Sox before undergoing surgery on May 16. He still has a ways to go on his velocity, as he averages 96-97 mph when he's at his best.
- Free agent left-hander Clayton Richard tells MLB Network Radio's Scott Braun that he underwent thoracic outlet syndrome surgery last month (Twitter link). Richard rejected an outright assignment from the Padres and elected free agency at season's end, but this seems to rule out the possibility that he'd be ready to pitch anytime soon.
It is likely that something will happen causing something else to likely happen, thus making it likely that nothing happens. Did you use the word likely enough?
Seems likely.
Reworded some of that sentence, haha. Thanks.
I say its highly unlikely.
It wouldn’t be that crazy for Bradley to out-perform Samardzija this year. If that’s the return the Cubs are really asking for, I see no reason to even speculate that Samardzija could be traded anymore.
That’s if they’re talking Shark for Bradley straight up. Why wouldn’t the Cubs start with Bradley though? You can ask for the world at this point because the trade deadline has been pretty kind to the Cubs the last couple years as far as the prospect haul for guys like Feldman, Garza, Dempster.
If only dbacks would not have traded Matt Davidson for reed they could have put him and a mid level prospect or 2 for Jeff samardzija
I don’t see the Cubs interested in a 3B as the centerpiece to a trade right now. They have plenty of options long-term at third.
Considering how terrible Veras is looking in spring training, Hanrahan to the Cubs makes a certain amount of sense. He’d be back in the NL Central and re-establishing himself in a low pressure situation. And if he’s good, he’d be all but guaranteed to get dealt to a contender by July 31st.
I am not sure if there is such a thing as a “low pressure situation’ for a closer. Hanrahan’s greatest strength as a relief pitcher is/has been his ability to overwhelm batters with superior velocity for one inning, late in a game. As it stands now, he is strictly a single inning pitcher coming off major surgeries, pitching with a sharp decrease in his velocity. With the current limits of his fastball speed and his limited arsenal of alternative pitches, Joel Hanrahan could just as easily find himself on the waiver wire by July 31st.
The cubs evaluation of Shark in trade talks and extension talks just don’t line up. They are treating him as an ace in trade talks and a back of the rotation starter in extension talks. I would be surprised if either an extension or a trade happens before opening day.
They offered him a 5/55 extension that would have paid him 15m/year for his free agency years, that is pretty reasonable. Shark wants to be paid like an ace. As for the trade talks, why would they ever move him now for less when they could just hold onto him. He will always have more value at the deadline unless he completely unravels. The Cubs have all the negotiation power so unless they are blown away, they will simply hold onto Shark.
Well, he loses his compensation status at the deadline.
He is an Ace but he’s only been an ACE for 1 year so he won’t get a lot in extension.
He is NOT an ace.
Shark is not an ace. Neither his career 4.19/3.94/3.85/6.1 (ERA/FIP/xFIP/fWAR) nor his 2012 numbers (his best single season) 3.81/3.55/3.38/3.0 are “ace” level performance.
Most MLB pitchers have been playing practically their entire lives, Samardzija just began focusing on baseball over the last few years, so to already be this good, he is definitely worthy of ace status.
I can’t imagine the Cubs would ask for Bradley in any seriousness. Just a prelim to tell themselves they tried. Then they serious negotiate. I’m not sure I would trade Bradley straight up for David Price, let alone Samardzija.
Archie Bradley could be a Ace for years or he could be a bust that’s what happens with prospects, You just never know.
Who else do they have that is interesting to the Cubs besides Bradley? They already traded arguably the other two best arms in their system in Skaggs and Holmberg, and the Cubs want pitching . . . the match is no longer there.
Here we go again the cubs thinking they can get samarjida for Bradley lol.
How about samardija for Zeke Spruill and wil harris
Only reason they are saying no is because of the age factor. If Shark was as young but wouldn’t sign an extension the offer is not that bad.
At 29 and with barely over 65 career starts under his belt, Shark is relatively young for his given age. I understand he’s still a little old for most teams who would consider parting with a stud on the farm for a starter, but I’m sure if the D-Backs or another club felt they could contend for a title this year, dealing a top prospect for Shark wouldn’t be that terrible of a prospect. No pun intended.
The ‘mileage’ discussion really only works in its inverse. In that, you can speed up the aging process by throwing an unusually high number of pitches, but you can’t slow it down. Aging happens naturally whether you throw a baseball or not. That’s the issue with Shark. He’s 29, and we’re still using the word ‘potential’ with him. Even if he comes an ‘ace’ (he won’t), then the window for that peak performance is just a year or two before the age decline kicks in.
Obviously I wasn’t trying to say that because of his lack of innings, he could easily be a front-end starter into his late 30s. And yes, he’s going to age, regardless. I’d never argue that his aging process is slowing; that wouldn’t make sense. But this being only his third full season as a starter, you’ve gotta figure his peak window will be open for a year or two longer–perhaps–than most other starters his age. Maybe because he’s a power pitcher, could you then factor in added stress on the arm outside of the norm.
I know what you were trying to say, and I’m disagreeing with it. The body starts breaking down at a certain age regardless of usage. For a pitcher, that’s usually 30-32 years old. This can happen sooner if a player over uses his body… but you don’t get a few extra years just because you took it easy in your 20s. That’s not how the body works.
The fact that you typed “usually” proves that there are exceptions because if you didn’t entertain the possibility of them, you would’ve opined that all pitchers, regardless of usage, break down around that age. Could Shark be an exception? Possibly. I just feel that his aging process started a bit late, is all, and that his late start could very well enable his career to be productive for a year or two longer than it would have been had he, say, been a full-time starter since 24, 25. You can sail in your boat and I’ll sail in mine. I get your point.
John Danks?
Come on Towers, make that last grasp at saving your career by trading for Samardzija.
In what scenario could the Cubs pry Bradley away?
Samardzija, Olt, and Pierce Johnson maybe?
That, would not be a smart move by the Cubs. AT ALL.
Only in your world.
At the deadline perhaps if Veras and Barney are having good seasons. It would almost be like the Detroit trade for Omar Infante and Anibal Sanchéz for Jacob Turner.
Hanahrahan would be a good pickup for really anybody.