Here's the latest from Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports:
- The Mariners have made a series of attempts to re-sign DH Kendrys Morales since he turned down their qualifying offer, but the Mariners' proposals probably reflected the reality that if they re-signed Morales, they would lose the compensatory draft pick they would gain if another team signed him. Some Mariners personnel believe the team's greatest need right now is another hitter.
- After Jose Iglesias' injury, the Tigers' shortstop options (Danny Worth, Hernan Perez, Eugenio Suarez) do not impress scouts. The Tigers likely won't pursue free agent Stephen Drew, and trade target Chris Owings of the Diamondbacks doesn't look likely either. Rosenthal speculates the Tigers could look to Clint Barmes of the Pirates or Tyler Pastornicky of the Braves instead.
- The White Sox are excited about Maikel Cleto, who they recently claimed off waivers from the Royals. He's now throwing 96-98 MPH down in the zone with good secondary pitches. Since Cleto is out of options, the White Sox had originally considered trying to sneak him through waivers after they claimed him, but now that seems very unlikely.
- The Reds are worried about their depth of starting pitching, but they don't have enough room in their budget to make a significant addition.
If any other team would sign Morales. He would ve been signed already. Just sign him Seattle to solve the problem of protection not only for Cano but for Hart as well.
Yes, sign him already. Hart isn’t hitting. He’s not protecting anyone. Hart needs to go on a DL stint for a broken swing. Morrison would look good in a Pirate or Astros uniform. Morales is the DH.
agreed hart needs to go on the DL for a Bit to get back to full health because right now the way he is playing is not cutting it. personally i think Morales would be better DH then Morrison would at this point. he know how to hit in safeco. Why the mariners are wating so long to sign him is beyond me.
Looks like Seattle is trying to sign Morales but it takes two parties to participate. Maybe Seattle is coming in low but you can also expect Boras to come in high.
Morales needs to sign with the rangers so that they can give up their 30th drafth pick to the ms and the ms are not going to be in first place this year
I only want the Tigers to go out of the organization for Nick Franklin. And only if we can get him with prospects. Verhagen, McCann, Collins and Lennerton could get it done.If they can’t get Morales then Lennerton can help them this year.
tell me more about Lennerton?
He is an old prospect at 28 but the only reason why he is not up yet is because he is a 1b DH and the Tigers are a little crowded there. He has 15 To 20+ homer potential but it will probably be closer to 15. He has an above Average batting eye and a good hit tool. He has good defense and was a minor league all star last year I believe. He is than MLB ready.
No thanks. We’ll keep Franklin.
but we have smoak who would do that and we are already crowded at that position as well. if anything we would be looking for pitching in return
4 prospects one whos their #9, 1 barely breaks their top 20, and the other 2 aren’t even on the list. Franklin was ranked #23 in all of baseball as a prospect. I’d rather send him back down to AAA and have him start workin out in the outfield.
Detroit doesn’t have anything Seattle needs. Their cupboards are bare for Seattle’s taste for Franklin!
Seattle would have been better of re-signing Morales from the start. Morales is a better hitter than Hart or LoMo. However signing Morales now means they would need trade Smoak for something valuble and that can be easier said than done.
Pittsburgh would probably be interested in Smoak, but may not be interested in paying the price Seattle would ask
I’m sure if Seattle was giving Smoak away there would be plenty of takers but they would probably like to get at least a decent AA prospect if not more.
My comment was more about Pittsburgh not wanting to part with young players as opposed to the asking price being too high (or low) for Smoak. If the Bucs haven’t acquired a first baseman by now, I firmly believe they have no desire to do so. Troubling offseason for them in my opinion
Why would the Pirates trade Barmes? They are short on shortstops as it is. Alen Hanson is not ready to back-up in MLB and Chase d’Arnaud just went through waivers unclaimed. I suppose a warm body like Michael Martinez or Robert Andino could fill in in an emergency, but there’s no way that the team would want to use them for the whole season in a backup roll. Not going to happen.
Miller/Ackley- SS/LF
Seager- 3B
Cano- 2B
Morales- DH
Smoak- 1B
Hart/Morrison- RF
Ackley/Miller- LF/SS
Saunders- CF
Zunino- C
What’s wrong with going that route? If Almonte can prove he can get on base well enough and Hart and Morrison show they can’t play RF, then stick Almonte at lead off and in CF and move Saunders to RF. Morales is a MUST! I have been saying that for weeks now…
Let Franklin rip up the minors and if we can get what he is worth, deal him mid-season for a piece we need whether that’s SP or an OF bat. That’s my view.
Hopefully Kemp…and LAD pays a chunk of his annual salary ($16m/yr for Seattle). And also if Philly’s are out by June go after hard for Cliff Lee for a prorated salary in 2014. Just my thoughts.
a agree Morales is a must, but Almonte getting on base is another story. I love his speed, but if he can’t get on base it means nothing offensively for us! The way Ackley and Miller are hitting holy smokes it’s a no brainer to me to put Ackley #1 and Miller #2 ahead of Cano. I see it as:
LF Ackley
SS Miller
2B Cano
DH Morales
RF Hart/Morrison
1B Smoak/Morrison/Hart/Morales
3B Seager
CF Saunders (Hopefully pull a Kemp trade off by June an he’s our #4 Hitter)
C Zunino
That’s a pretty sad lineup.
Mariners should call the Rockies about their surplus outfielders. I don’t know if any of them are worth (in the M’s mind) Nick Franklin, maybe Dickerson would be, but they’re pretty solid and have nowhere to play.
I don’t think Ken Rosenthal has a clue what the Tigers are thinking and I don’t believe they are looking at Barmes or Pastornicky, and I don’t believe either of their teams will let either of them go easily. I think the Tigers have internal options and will work with what they have for now. Perez has some MLB experience and can handle himself defensively and offensively; Suarez is going to get some reps this season but needs more time in the minors. Look for Drew to sign after an injury to a team who has no internal options or in June when there’s no draft pick assigned to him.
That might be why is his article Ken Rosenthal says “and this is my speculation only” and “Barmes likely would be less available” regarding the discussions of Barnes or Pastornicky….. Reading is hard
Pastornicky won’t be ready to opening day and isn’t a major league shortstop. Barmes fits but I’m not sure what they have to trade that the Bucs want. One wonders if Alexei wouldn’t be a better fit even if excess – and a trade chip next year
Good point regarding Pastornicky, he is better suited for second base. He’s never been a good shortstop (and is in fact rather bad due to not having the arm for the position, etc). But I like him as a second baseman just fine.
This has nothing to do with the pick Mariners would not get because they signed him. No one else wants him. He hasn’t been signed by the Mariners because he is asking for too much money.
if nobody else wants Kendrys at the cost of the draft pick, the draft pick becomes irrelevant.