There was some action on the shortstop front for the Indians today, as starter Asdrubal Cabrera left the game with lower back spasms, per Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer (via Twitter). That would appear to be a minor injury, but the news coincided with the club’s decision to promote top prospect (and fellow shortstop) Francisco Lindor to Triple-A, as Hoynes tweets. Cleveland has indicated, however, that the move was unrelated. Of course, Cabrera has often been mentioned as a trade candidate — at season’s end if not at this year’s deadline — due in large part to the continued rise of Lindor, his presumed successor.
Here’s more out of the AL and NL Central:
- With the Royals focusing on adding a corner bat, one possibility that the club has considered is Alex Rios of the Rangers, reports Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. Rios does have a six-team no-trade clause which, according to Cot’s on Contracts, includes Kansas City. His $13.5MM club option for next season is not cheap, but could potentially take the place of Billy Butler’s own $12.5MM option if the latter is dealt or has his option declined.
- The Twins appear to be prepared to sell, according to a report from MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger. “We’re in a tough spot right now and we’ve been in a tough spot for four years,” said GM Terry Ryan. “So you have to listen. And that’s what we do.”
- One prime trade candidate for the Twins is outfielder Josh Willingham, who is slashing .209/.357/.399 with eight home runs in 207 plate appearances as he prepares to hit the open market after the season. Two clubs to watch as possible suitors are the Reds and Pirates, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN.
- The Cardinals received some promising news on righty Michael Wacha, who could begin throwing again in two weeks after seeing improved MRI and CT scan results, reports Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. An early September return still appears the best case scenario, according to GM John Mozeliak. But Wacha’s health will not dictate the club’s trade deadline plans. “They’re independent of each other,” said Mozeliak. “That’s still something we can explore in the next eight to ten days.”
- One oft-discussed option for the Cardinals is veteran Red Sox starter Jake Peavy, who once seemed close to being moved but could now be held as Boston looks to make a late surge. St. Louis is still keeping Peavy on their “back burner,” a source tells Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe (Twitter link), who notes that Peavy has put together three consecutive solid outings.
The Royals should really just give it up this year..
What is the appeal of Peavy? Salary of $14.5M for an ERA well north of 4 and peripherals that show no improvement…
3 straight quality starts, could pitch much better in the NL and will cost a lot less than most options.
Trading Peavy wouldn’t necessarily mean Boston are sellers. They need to find a way to get Workman back into the rotation. Need to have the best rotation out there
Francisco Lindor’s name always makes me hungry for truffles.
In fact, all baseball players with food names should be outlawed. Except Mark Hamburger because that’s such a cool name.
I can picture that as a future promo night for the Columbus Clippers.
Cabrera is not going to be a trade candidate at season’s end as he will be a free agent, n’est-ce pas ?
True. You get my like for using French. Tres bien!
Oui oui.
Trading Peavy is the best move they can make to prove they’re trying to make a surge.
Would be hard for the Indians to trade Asdrubal this off season once he is a free agent, no?
I know, huh? 🙂
As a Pirate fan, I have less than ZERO interest in Josh Willingham…perhaps 3 years ago, but not now. Billy Butler, on the other hand, does intrigue me a bit, but I would only pursue him if the deal was right. Ike Davis has underperformed at 1B since coming over, and Butler has a pretty solid track record of hitting that red stitched white ball…I would feel more confident with him in the lineup moving forward. Although he has never been a big home run guy, he does have the ability to hit well to the opposite field, and the short porch in right at PNC Park might actually help his HR numbers while he is here. Just a thought though…but absolutely NO to Willingham.
Yes to the guy with the OPS+ of 83 and no to the guy with 119? No to the guy who actually can manage to play a defensive position and yes to the guy who goes to the bench in interleague games.
The drop off for heavier guys in MLB is precipitous and hard to predict. Maybe Butler bounces back, but there’s clearly something wrong with him this year.
The problem with Butler is he’d be a couple month rental. He has an option for next year but no way are the Pirates going to pay him $12.5 mill. As for arguing him vs Willingham, unless I missed something, Will’s an OFer, not a 1B. I don’t understand why the Pirates would remotely be interested in adding another OFer. He’s not going to start over Marte or Polanco with All-Star Josh Harrison being the de facto 4th OFer they work in to give guys a day off. I’d hate to give up anything, even a mediocre C- rookie ball pitching prospect for a guy who’d basically be a PH.
How is a .209 hitter an improvement? It shows the sorry state of baseball quality when a hitter at the “Mendoza Line” is considered a step up. Why insult your fans with a move like this?