The Tigers have a clear need for bullpen help but finding relief arms is easier said than done, MLive.com’s Chris Iott writes. Iott’s reasons include the difficulty of making trades this early in the season, the scarcity of quality left-handers and the amount of competition that Detroit could have in signing free agent Joel Hanrahan.
A few more items from around baseball…
- Phil Nevin, the Diamondbacks’ Triple-A manager, would likely be the choice to replace Kirk Gibson in the Major League dugout if GM Kevin Towers decides a change is necessary, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports. This is only Nevin’s first season in the Arizona organization, though he has ties to Towers from his playing days in San Diego (when Towers was the Padres’ GM). Prior to joining the D’Backs, Nevin managed the Tigers’ Triple-A team from 2011-13 and their Double-A team in 2010.
- John Ryan Murphy has drawn the attention of several opposing scouts and the young catcher could become a sought-after trade chip for the Yankees, John Harper of the New York Daily News reports. “Some team might see him as a guy who could start for them,’’ one scout told Harper. “He’s solid with the bat and behind the plate.’’
- Delaying a prospect’s Super Two service clock “is not a driving factor” behind the Pirates’ decision to call up a young star, GM Neal Huntington tells Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review in regards to Gregory Polanco’s continued presence at Triple-A. Huntington said that Polanco is “continuing to refine some of the intricacies of his game” and didn’t give details for fear that opposing teams would use the info against the outfielder (an explanation that Biertempfel doesn’t buy). Polanco currently has a 1.104 OPS in 100 PA at Triple-A this season and his bat would be a big addition to the offensively-challenged Bucs lineup.
Rich Hill has an opt out May 15th from Pawtucket and is already buried behind Drake Britton as the 2nd LH specialist to be called up by Boston, then they have 3 lefties in the pen as it is with Miller, Breslow and Capuano..
Imagine Hill leaves seeing the situation he is in and he’s done fairly well there. Has been pretty decent vs LH hitters only since converting to a specialist only when he’s healthy.
Tigers and Cubs could probably do a “trade of scenery” trade Phil Coke (8.10 ERA, $1.9MM contract for 2014) for Jose Veras (15.88 ERA, but did well for Tigers last year, $4MM contract for 2014).
That doesnt work that well for either team, the Tigers need a LHP to replace Coke and the Cubs want player with more years of team control remaining than Coke.
Cubs save money. Tigers take a gamble that Veras is injured and has not truly lost it. Cubs take a gamble that Coke’s issues are mostly mental and correctable.
His psyche is horrible, especially now that Tigers fans are totally against him. I was at his game last Tuesday. It was not pleasant.
Cubs aren’t short on cash they are short on young quality players to spend it on. The Cubs wont be giving up on Veras and his 5.5 MM club option for 2015 based on 5.2 innings of poor pitching and 1 year of Phil Coke.
I’d rather keep Veras at this point. He’s got the higher upside if each player gets “fixed.”
Towers should look a bit closer to home for the answers to the D’Backs struggles rather than take the easy scapegoat and firing the manager…
I feel Polanco will be the difference maker for the Pirates like Trout was for the Angles. The longer they wait, the father behind they will be in the standings.
Better hope not…. Trout was/is awesome and the Angels still haven’t made the postseason.
The Pirates have so many holes to fill, that it is a virtual lock to regress to a sub .500 team this baseball season with/without Polanco. Polanco’s best cannot solve all of the issues that ail this team. The team would be better served by keeping him in the minors until June, and delay his arbitration calendar.
The Tigers might not feel he is ready but perhaps they should try Ray in the pen. Several teams, notably the Cardinals, have successfully broken in their young starters in the bullpen. It worked with Smyly. No guarantee it works with Ray but it would be hard to be worse than Coke.
With Sanchez on the 15 day DL, Ray is looking like the favourite to get called up to fill in for at least one start.
Started the season in dominant form in AAA, so perhaps Dombrowski has indeed reeled in a good one.
Neal Huntington sure has a lot of excuses for why he doesn’t make moves that will help his club. Not spending on overpriced free agents is one thing, but this is a team that could use a boost from a young guy like Polanco to get them back to the playoffs.
They’re just super cheap. They’ll call up Polanco and probably deal McCutchen so they don’t have to start paying his backloaded contract.
McCutchen isn’t going anywhere plus Pirates locked up McCutchen.Gregory Polanco will come up as a RF for the Pirates.
His contract is severely backloaded. This is the team that was too cheap to make Burnett a QO.
Honestly they didn’t need Burnett since he was going to leave since Neil Huntington didn’t want to bring him back.Plus McCutchen won’t leave.Pirates will be alright until Polanco comes up.It’s matter of time if they will go after a pitcher during the Trade Deadline.
Uh…. if Gibson is fired, I don’t see why Towers wouldn’t be fired as well. I’m not saying Nevin wouldn’t be called up (since there are no immediately obvious replacements in the organization), but Bob’s reasoning is flawed. I could see McKay stepping in with his experience rather than an inexperienced Nevin.
I heard that the only thing Polanco has to work on is his walk up music. Then he’s all set.