Here’s the latest from Ken Rosenthal, via a video at FOX Sports:
- The White Sox might prefer not to trade John Danks, who they have signed to a reasonable contract through 2016. But Adam Dunn is set to become a free agent, and the team has plenty of potential replacements for Alexei Ramirez and Gordon Beckham, so Chicago could deal any of those players at the deadline.
- Since Josh Johnson won’t start more than seven games this season, the Padres have a $4MM option on him for 2015. Given Johnson’s Tommy John surgery, though, it’s unclear whether the Padres will be able to get enough out of Johnson in 2015 to make the option worthwhile.
- Nelson Cruz of the Orioles has done a good job rebuilding his value after taking a one-year offer significantly below the cost of the qualifying offer he rejected last winter, Rosenthal says. Cruz is off to a fast start, hitting .300/.391/.588 in his first 92 plate appearances with Baltimore.
Sox would love to find takers for Adam or Gordon and would move them with the right deal. But don’t see Alexei going anywhere, he leads by example and is a great role model for his fellow Cubans–Dayan, Abreu. Also could be resigned for a reasonable amount, and Tim Anderson is at least a few yrs away
Dunn could possibly be useful as a DH come the trading deadline for a team in the W/C chase. Baltimore comes to mind after Delmon Young flops again, KC possibly, maybe VMart goes down at Detroit, Cabby. Dunn is an OBP machine and on the last year of his contract, would possibly be able to be moved.
I don’t see Beckham as moveable without the Chisox paying some of that 4m salary. He’s basically a Will Middlebrooks earning that amount.. 3.5m more for a less than .300 OBP and some power. Not easy to move that contract IMO.
Agree on Ramirez, few games have watched of them this year he has looked better.
You’re absolutely right, Baltimore would likely have interest in Dunn. I think that two other teams that might be in the mix would be Pittsburgh (needs a 1B) and the Yankees (if/when Soriano or Teixeira get hurt).
I also agree, keep Ramirez for the forseeable future; he holds the Cuban side of this clubhouse together IMO and gives good offensive and defensive production at short. Furthermore, the Sox don’t have a ton of other options at SS; I’m not sold on Semien at the position and Anderson is 2 years away at a minimum.
The other problem with trading Beckham is that he has very little trade value even with his poor contract. Outside of his first 2 months in the big leagues, he has proven to be a sub-.250 hitter with no power, not a ton of speed (never more than 7 SB in a season), not much plate discipline (which you alluded to), and a propensity to strike out. What team would want to take that on?
Inexplicable, yes. But supposedly there was interest in Gordon in the off-season. Solid glove, and teams that are convinced they can turn him. Boers and Bernstein had Joe Sheehan on, and he was going on about the tendency of baseball scouts to have a hard time giving up their man-crushes on potential prospects. They surmised that it’s likely whatever scouts/teams coveted Beckham back in the 2008 amateur draft
I hope you’re right. With Semien close to being ready, and the other INFs in the farm system likely being 1-3 years away, if we can get a semi-decent prospect for Gordon I’ll be pleasantly surprised.
Nice to see Micah Johnson making strides. Good timing for Gordon and the Sox. Maybe send him to the Braves?
Dank’s contract has not been reasonable to this point. If he stays healthy and pitches at his peak for the duration, then I will agree with Mr. Rosenthal.
Pleased to hear Cruz is doing well …. hope it continues.
The Padres already gave Johnson $8 million dollars for nothing – why not throw another $4 million his way?
If the option was for minimum salary (a la Lackey), it would be a no brainer. But the Padres are not, and don’t operate like a large market team. If they put another $4 million on the line next year, they will have earned the payoff for that gamble (good or bad)….
Gordon Beckham should be a fine trade chip in July. His salary is very team friendly
With Dunn, I think he won’t be dealt. His massive K rate and crazy salary is not so attractive