A few weeks ago, the Orioles and Athletics discussed a trade that would’ve seen Jim Johnson return to Baltimore, ESPN’s Jayson Stark reports (Twitter link). The Orioles were the ones who ultimately decided not to pursue the deal. The A’s have been having trouble finding a trade partner for the struggling reliever, as prior talks with the Marlins also fell through. Johnson wouldn’t have been returning to his old closer role with the O’s, as Zach Britton has been excellent as Baltimore’s ninth-inning stopper this season.
Here’s some more from around the AL East…
- Rival officials see the Cardinals, Mariners and Dodgers as the three teams best positioned to acquire David Price from the Rays, ESPN’s Buster Olney writes. In the Insider-only piece, Olney looks at the pros and cons for each club in making a big trade for Price.
- Also from Olney (Twitter link), the concept of a trade for both Price and Evan Longoria has been mentioned by some in the Cardinals organization. There is “zero indication” such a deal has been discussed with the Rays, however, and the idea could well just be idle front office brainstorming.
- Signing Jon Lester to a contract extension may seem like a no-brainer on paper for the Red Sox, yet as Tim Britton of the Providence Journal illustrates, the team is worried by the long list of pitchers who suddenly declined or got injured in their early 30’s.
I wonder what the package to get Longo and Price would be.
More than anyone, except maybe the Cubs, could meet and still have a farm system.
I disagree. I think the Cards could afford him, they have a lot of nice pieces in their farm.
Taveras, Piscotty, Kaminsky, and Gonzales to name a few.
Longo is a 28 year old middle of the order bat that plays great defense at 3B and is under team control for the the next 9 year at an AAV of 14.38 MM. That incredibly valuable to the Rays. I cant even begin to imagine what the asking price would be
I’m sure it would be astronomical, but I think the Cards are one of a few teams who have the pieces to do it. I’m not saying they would do it, I’m just saying they could do it.
Cards, Cubs and Astros are my short list that could afford it.
I don’t think the Rays would let Longoria go, and if they did, the Cards would need to give up their entire minor league system for him and Price.
The other thing is that Longo is the face of that franchise. HE is the reason to come to the games, or watch them on TV because it is the Rays we are talking about after all. There would be absolute mutiny in Tampa if they traded him, so if they did it, it would have to be for a MASSIVE overpay so they could sell that to the fans.
I live within an hour of St Pete and the guy can do no wrong. If it could get them a new stadium in Tampa, they would probably go for it and be happy about it, but otherwise, there will be a LOT of unhappy people in Florida. It would be much like trading Lebron James in his prime when he’s under a cheap, long term contract. Why on earth would anyone DO that? That is the value Longo has to these guys down here.
Well, all that is sorta true but he’s having a bad year and his numbers historically aren’t quite as good as you’d expect from an “incredibly valuable asset.”
Longoria is having a down year, no doubt, but you are very wrong about his numbers historically.
Out of players who have started at least 750 games at 3B, his career 132 wRC+ is tied for 7th all time with George Brett and Wade Boggs. The 6 players in front of him are Mike Schmidt, Alex Rodriguez, Eddie Mathews, Chipper Jones, Al Rosen and David Wright. For a little perspective, he is closer to Mike Schmidt’s 147 wRC+, than Adrian Beltre at 114 is to him.
He still has a long way to go, but combining his offense and defense at the hot corner and you are very possibly looking at the beginning of a HOF career and one of the greats to ever play his position.
I disagree. I think the Cards could afford him, they have a lot of nice pieces in their farm.
Taveras, Piscotty, Kaminsky, and Gonzales to name a few.
i think the cards are one of the very few organizations who could even pull off this deal, and the cubs are the only team in baseball that could pull this off and still have a farm system
Wacha, Martinez, Adams, Tavares and Wong
Wacha is injured.
That would never happen, Wacha and Adams are about as untouchable as it gets even it meant getting Longoria and Price back. You make this trade and St Louis gets worse…Craig has to play every day, miller has to rejoin the rotation, and who is a bench guy? At this point I really think Tavares is available though with all the other outfield depth waiting and I think Wong is only available in a trade for a 3rd or 2nd basemen. As far as Martinez I’m not really sure how the club truly feels about him because he is very talented but his emotions get the best of him.
No way would the Cardinals give them 5 up. That’s their best top 5 young, cost controlled players. You’re crazy if you think that’s a fair trade! Any GM would laugh at that.
Imo, Wacha stays as he fits the Cardinals man through and through. Craig back to 1B and Piscotty (another perfect Cardinal fit) in RF where he is outstanding already. Adams, Craig, and Piscotty giving each other rest while each playing regularly puts one of them as a bench player in every game.
For Longoria and Price, if a team could get both for their top five picks, they would take that deal every day of the week.
I was wondering the same thing. I assume something along the lines of Wong, Tavares, Gonzales and some low level high upside guys like Kaminsky, Tilson and Jenkins.
For who? Price? Because that doesn’t even sniff Longoria by himself.
The Cards could get them easily with CMartinez, Piscotty, Taveras, Kaminsky, and Ramsey. That would also leave them with so many good young players still like Wong, SMiller, Wacha, Gonzalez, etc.
That package doesn’t get them Longoria by himself, let alone Price.
Wong (and I assume Gonzales) will be a part of any deal involving both Price and Longoria. Which isn’t all that bad. Carpenter slides back to second and Longoria takes over the hot corner.
Nice to see Britton succeeding. I always liked him and thought he’d do well out of the pen.
Nice to see Britton succeeding. I always liked him and thought he’d do well out of the pen.
Lester was lights out in his 24 thru 26 season, fell off a little in his 27 season, year 28 was a disaster and last year he was good. Always funny when a guy has a break out year in the walk year and then want to get paid for that walk year. Boston is smart. They watched his ERA+ seasons of 87 and 109 the last two seasons.
Yeah, they’re going to be really smart when they watch their number one pitcher walk at the end of the season when they could have had him for less than he will eventually sign for. The Red Sox are always trying to prove they are the smartest FO in the room. That’s great. Lat year it won a World Series. This year it netted Edward Mujica, Chris Capuano, AJ Pierzynski and Grady Sizemore. It would be smart to pay Lester and not watch him pitch in pinstripes next year. You probably though it was smart to let Clemens go too.
Not a Sox fan. Personally, I think Clemens would have been done had he not found the fountain of youth.
I’m just saying with the history of Lester, he may be a guy that gets 6 years and you see 2 years worth #1 stuff. I would have a hard time inking him for more than 4 years with an option, maybe.
It’s tough being a good GM these days.
You have to ink them to longer contracts, because if you don’t someone else will. When it’s your own guys at least you can rationalize that you are paying them in part for what they have already done for you. Lester’s been a 31 WAR pitcher for his career for which they have paid him 43.5 million. He’s helped them to two World Series titles. Either they pay him, or they pay someone else more, or they don’t have a number one starter. It’s not easy to be a GM surely, but the season he is having this year at least proves he’s currently in the prime of his career. You won’t get any better assurance than that with a 30 year old guy. And it’s cold comfort that you saved money when he’s beating you three times a year in another uniform. The Red Sox have the money. They only have one long term deal on the books, and they have tons of young guys on the roster making the ML minimum. They resign Lester and acquire a leftfielder with a solid bat and they’d be set for a while.
Clemens was a mirror image of Jacoby Ellsbury, if not worse. Roger was brutally unhappy in Boston, made no attempt to hide the fact and claimed he wanted to pitch closer to his home in Texas. So he went to Toronto.
I doubt Ellsbury will have the kind of success Clemens had after he left Boston. He seems to be having a descent season this year but he’ll have to pull a miracle the rest of the way to be worth 21 million. Clemens was very unhappy in Boston. He was unhappy that the Red Sox wouldn’t pay him what he was worth, so he went to Canada where the tax rate is higher, and you have to go through customs every time you go on a road trip. Most players are unhappy in Boston when it comes time for them to get paid. Thankfully that was the old ownership though. The new ownership may be penny smart and pound foolish too. How they handle Lester will be telling.
Clemens was a mirror image of Jacoby Ellsbury, if not worse. Roger was brutally unhappy in Boston, made no attempt to hide the fact and claimed he wanted to pitch closer to his home in Texas. So he went to Toronto.
The cardinals would have to unload almost their entire farm to trade for Price and Longo. Longo’s long term team friendly contract makes him extremely valuable to the Rays. You’d be talking about something like Wacha + OT + Adams/Craig + Rosenthal + other pieces.
it will never happen … not sure what makes Longo so valuable. have you looked at his numbers. Wacha OT Adams will not be going anywhere. not sure he is more valuable than Adams by himself.. He plays for $500,000.00.
Oh dear
Cardinals don’t need to empty out the farm for 11 HR’s 50 RBI’s and a 260 BA. He is part of the Rays problem IMO.
Oh dear
That is like saying not sure what makes Trout so special. Longoria is the face of the franchise and he is tied up for many years at a contract Gm’s fantasize about. That is like saying Tulowitzski isn’t special either, but try to get him from the Rockies and you will be trading your top five prospects to even start the conversation. Add in Price and it is top five prospects plus to get Tampa to budge. Everyone that follows baseball knows that and it isn’t fantasy baseball where big names change teams for pennies on the dollar. lol
are you really comparing Longoria to Trout or Tulo?
You do realize that Longo has had arguably a better career thus far than Tulo….right? Tulo’s never had a season about 5.9 WAR. Longo’s had 4 seasons over 6 WAR, including 2 above 7.5 (reference fangraphs). By age 28 Longo had accumulated 38.5 WAR compared to Tulo’s 29 WAR. They both play a premium position very well and they are both under contract for a while. I can’t think of a better person in the majors to compare Longo to other than Tulo.
“not sure he is more valuable than Adams by himself”
i have no words…
In his defense, he probably watches the Cardinals 162 games a year and might catch 1-2 Rays games.
Seen through that lens, Adams is clearly better.
Why would I watch the Rays when I can watch the Cardinals? They are terrible…
I can’t really see the Rays trading the face of their franchise, but it wouldn’t be the worst time to do so. He’s still fairly young and the contract is good. I can’t imagine the cost. Taveras, Martinez, Wong, Reyes, Kaminsky to get the conversation going?
Even if the A’s did a redo with the O’s and received Weeks back the O’s are still way out in the deal since its the A’s that wasted so far $6 million and counting on the deal.
Tampa should still be able to trade Price and contend next year. This was just “one of those years” for them. A lot of injuries, a lot of bad years from solid young players, they should turn that regression around next year. If they swing a deal and get a solid young SP and an elite prospect for Price, they will be a contender moving forward. Would like to see them get a prime time young OF to put with Jennings and Myers.
Maybe. More likely the contending phase of their cycle is over and they’ll have to rebuild. Not a good farm anymore (mostly as a result of drafting late), and some of those “solid young players” aren’t actually that solid.
Even after a Price trade, the Rays would still have a very good rotation next year (Cobb, Archer, Matt Moore, Hellickson + Odorizzi), and still have a lineup anchored by Longo and Will Myers. Outside of Helly, all those pitchers will still be around for another 3+ years on this team. And thats not including whatever they may get in a Price trade like Walker – (who would make their rotation even better) or Tavares or Pederson (who would add another anchor to their lineup).
That doesn’t scream “title contender” to me. Myers might pick it up again but right now he’s looking like a complete bust (OPS below 700). Hellickson is a below average SP at this point. We don’t know much about Odorizzi yet but his MLB history is below average. Moore has always teased but never really been a TOR pitcher, and in any case might not be back until mid-2015. Their catching situation is disastrous. Zobrist will be gone. Only so many years they can create a decent bullpen out of duct tape and chewing gum.
That looks like a decent team but with only an outside chance of contending. And heading the wrong way.
A 23 year old with a .770 OPS in 550 career at bats is already looking like a bust? Huh? He has some flaws to work out, but dang. Odorizzi only real MLB history has been this year and he has been pretty darn good. The catching situation has always been disastrous. Building a good bullpen is the easiest thing to do and Friedman has excelled at it.
The Rays future is fine with the young pitching group they have and Longoria, Jennings, Myers, and maybe Keirmaier as mainstays in the lineup. Maybe not sure fire title contenders, but should always be in the playoff hunt.
That being said, they need to hit a homerun with this Price and maybe Zobrist trade.
I’d say with their core, their floor is being a decent team. I would agree that as of right now, their young players haven’t shown enough where I think you can pencil the Rays in as an obvious contender going forward.
Maybe the Rays can sell David Price to the Dodgers for a new stadium.
I’d like to see the Dodgers, Mariners, Rays involve in a three way trade. Matt Kemp, David Price, and Evan Longoria will definitely be mention within theses talks of the trade. Kemp is owed $110 million for the next 5 years, Evan Longoria on the other hand is owed $130 million for the next 9 years. David Price is awaiting arbitration which could lead to an extension for the Mariners in the off season. The Dodgers could probably part ways with Corey Seager going to TB, along with Chris Reed, and maybe RP Mike Thomas. Seattle would likely send SP Taijuan Walker and C Chris Marlette, and IF Chris Taylor.
Mariners get:
OF Matt Kemp (LAD)
SP David Price (TB)
Cash ($49.5 million of Kemp’s salary for 5 years from LAD)
Dodgers get:
3B Evan Longoria
Cash ($62.25 million of Longoria’s salary for 9 years from TB)
Rays get:
3B Corey Seager
SP: Chris Reed
RP: Mike Thomas
SP: Taijuan Walker
C: Tyler Marlette
IF: Chris Taylor
Seems like a dream though….will see.
and why do dodgers need Longoria
Because Longoria is a Top 5 3B and would be a force hitting between Puig and Ramirez. Question is why would the Rays trade away the face of the franchise that is on a team friendly deal. This trade makes zero sense for the Rays.
thats nice i rather keep Seager
Yeah, keep the player that hasn’t proved it at the big league level over a player that has. Wouln’t suprise me to see Seager become a bust.
so give up our top position prospect , plus 2 pitching prospects as well as Kemp for Longoria nah i’ll pass
You’d still have Joc….that’s a win for them
I’m not saying I agree with the trade above, that trade is terrible. What I was referring to was that you said you would prefer Seager over Longoria. Also Kemp has little to no value, at this point he’s what Vernon Wells was when he was with the Angels and the Dodgers would be lucky to get rid of that contract.
i was referring to the trade proposal above , i would do Seager for Longoria INA HEARTHBEAT lol
The Dodgers already have two left-handed outfielders who have trouble with LHP, and another one coming up. Trading Kemp makes no sense, not especially at this point, let alone for a player the Dodgers don’t even need. Kemp may never equal his 2011 season again, but he is right-handed, his bat is coming back, he’s faster than most left fielders, and has a better arm.
I think it actually kinda makes sense for the Dodgers. They clear up their logjam in the outfield by removing Kemp, which then also allows them to bring up Pederson, and then they get a bat in Longoria at a place of need, 3B. Longo would replace the bat of Kemp, and would also be a RH bat (which is why you were concerned about losing Kemp).
You would achieve multiple goals in one trade.
they don’t … Rays fans are dreaming.
I don’t think finances are a big concern for the Dodgers.
Cash is only included in deals typically to offset salaries that are currently over market value for the players current production. There would be no reason for the Rays to include cash as part of Longo’s trade as his current contract is very very team friendly.
Cash is only included in deals typically to offset salaries that are currently over market value for the players current production. There would be no reason for the Rays to include cash as part of Longo’s trade as his current contract is very very team friendly.
I can imagine the Mariners would jump all over that. Not giving up much more than Walker. Peterson will be in any trade involving an ace pitcher, as well as a few more guys I’m sure.
I’m sure from the Mariners end, it would have to something along the lines of Walker, Elias/Maurer, Franklin/Taylor, Marlette, and maybe one or two of Pike/Sanchez/Wilson.
Agree with you, the Mariners are giving up less in that than it would take to get Price alone, let alone Price and Kemp.
So the Dodgers give up a player they really need now, and a top prospect, for someone they don’t need at all. Get it done, as they say…
A package to receive both of those names would include Taveras, Martinez, Wong, Gonzales, one of Piscotty/Grichuk/Ramsey, and maybe even then some i’d assume. In all honesty, I would consider this if I was the Cardinals. Proven players for a bunch of prospects. However, I doubt very seriously the Rays would unload both, especially since Longoria is under contract long-term.
Personally, i’d rather go after Price and then Stanton which would cost even more, and will not happen. I guess this is what fantasy baseball is for!
A package to receive both of those names would include Taveras, Martinez, Wong, Gonzales, one of Piscotty/Grichuk/Ramsey, and maybe even then some i’d assume. In all honesty, I would consider this if I was the Cardinals. Proven players for a bunch of prospects. However, I doubt very seriously the Rays would unload both, especially since Longoria is under contract long-term.
Personally, i’d rather go after Price and then Stanton which would cost even more, and will not happen. I guess this is what fantasy baseball is for!
That would be crazy if the Cards could pull something like that off.
they would not even try…. they have a good team already
If I were Billy Beane, I would contact Theo about taking on Jim Johnson possibly in exchange for 2B Darwin Barney. The Athletics would add a couple million dollars to balance out the money difference between their salaries, and both players need a change of scenery. Moving Barney creates an opening for Alcantara (or Baez/Castro in the future). Johnson could try to re-establish himself next season, just as former Orioles pitchers Jake Arrieta and Jason Hammel already have done this season.
Don’t expect to see Price in a Cardinal uniform with the good news on Wacha’s latest MRI. There’s no need to mortgage the farm for a starting pitcher with Wacha coming back in early September.
One or both of Carlos Martinez or Shelby Miller will be going to TB in a deal for David Price. Sounds like an open rotation spot to me.
Miller isn’t in the rotation right now and they definitely wouldn’t both be traded.