The Mets haven’t decided whether they’ll be buyers or sellers at the trade deadline, Mike Puma of the New York Post writes. “I think the last 10 games were important because they make the next 10 games relevant to what happens at the [July 31] trade deadline,” said GM Sandy Alderson before Friday’s win over the Padres. “[C]ertainly the last 10 games have to make us a little more optimistic.” The Mets are seven games back in the NL East and 6 1/2 games out of a Wild Card spot after taking nine of their last 11. Here are more notes from the NL East.
- Alderson seems to be leaning more towards buying, MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo tweets. “Sometimes you’ve gotta believe, right? This is a time,” Alderson says.
- The Braves aren’t actively trying to upgrade their starting rotation right now, FOX Sports’ Jon Morosi tweets. That means they probably won’t pursue Rays ace David Price.
- The Braves are desperate to rid themselves of outfielder B.J. Upton, a GM tells Peter Gammons (via Twitter). Upton has hit .215/.277/.343 in 388 plate appearances this season, and the Braves still owe him over $50MM through 2017.
- The Braves will continue to pay recently released infielder Dan Uggla through 2019, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal notes (via Twitter). Uggla has a deferred signing bonus that means he’ll be paid $250K per year between 2016 and 2019. Of course, they also owe him $13MM in 2015.
- Cliff Lee will rejoin the Phillies’ rotation Monday night against the Giants, Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com reports. “I feel strong and I feel good and I’m ready to try to help the team win,” says Lee. That will only give Lee two starts before the end of July, but if the Phillies are going to move him, Salisbury points out that they could trade him in August as a waiver deal, or after the season. In any case, Salisbury writes that the Phillies want a serious return for Lee.
- The Marlins say they won’t trade “key pieces,” Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald writes. It’s unclear exactly what that might mean, but the Marlins’ key pieces surely include Giancarlo Stanton. Spencer believes the Marlins are very concerned about avoiding last place, which likely also means that any number of other players could be off-limits as well.
Way to reach for the stars fish!
I’d wait until the offseason to deal Lee and/or Hamels personally. More suitors and after the contracts that Lester/Max will get, could look like a better deal. This, of course, unless they get a great offer in the next coming weeks.
I don’t understand why you say there will be more suitors. I’d rather pay up for Lester and Scherzer then take on Hamels contract AND give up top prospects.
Depends on the contracts. Max is going to want a CC type deal and Lester may match Hamels’ deal. I agree that taking the whole contract and giving up huge prospects is a gamble, but given what the FA market dictates, Hamels and Lee could be bargains if Phillies eat a little bit if the deals.
So in other words, Amaro won’t eat cash and he won’t rebuild. Surprise, surprise!
It makes me wonder if they are going to move any of the guys that would help get a rebuild started quickly. The Phillies might only be down for a year or two with some smart trading right now.
The first move I would personally do is talk to Chicago about one of their short stops. The Cubs are going to want to have veterans in place that have won before when the kids come up and they have a definite lack of TOR arms in the upper minors. With a smart approach the Phillies could take steps towards 2015/16 before 14 ever ends.
The only problem with this is Amaro has to admit that the core is old and try to reset it. Right now that is definitely a no-go.
The only way the Phillies could get a young shortstop from the Cubs is if they give up Hamels, which they don’t appear likely to do.
The Phillies have their SS in JP Crawford (#15 Prospect in all of baseball according to Law). They desperately need a corner OF with pop and starting pitching prospects.
They had a corner outfielder with pop and could not develop him with Brown. You could blame the prospect or the development. Right now I think that it is probably a mixture of both.
I’d say it’s about 80% Brown and 20% developing. I didn’t like the way they handled him early with juggling him back and forth, but he had 1 outstanding month. Other than that he’s been a monster disappointment. The thing that bothers me more than anything is his fielding. I can live with him struggling at the plate but not being able to track a fly ball? C’mon man.
You think a prospect in +A ball will help in the next 2 years? A little stretching for a guy that is young for his level.
I said if they were building towards 2015/2016 was was what I mentioned so though I am sure Crawford is a good prospect he does not figure into the conversation.
They have Rollins for the next 1.5 years. JP will play some AA ball by next year(maybe not start there), so 2015/2016 is a good estimate for him.
Reminds me of the Mets until just a couple years ago. Old, expensive, and just couldn’t commit to a rebuild. All rebuilds should be treated like band-aids: quick rip and get the pain over with. Anything else just extends the pain.
Where has it said RAJ won’t eat cash and won’t rebuild? You must have some special kind of glasses to read those things. He’s actually said, in plain English, that he’s open to doing both of those things.
Yeah but we’ve yet to see if he’s capable of doing either since he’s never had to. He’s terrible with contracts, extensions, and getting value in return for players.
I have zero faith in the guy. Zero
A report yesterday on the site said he wanted both top prospects and for teams to take Lee’s full salary.
Wouldn’t Lee require clearing waivers in an August deal? If he gets claimed, I have to imagine it would be hard to get a serious return (Phillies can only negotiate with that team).
If he goes unclaimed, why would he get a serious return?
He won’t get a serious return and there’s a good chance he’d clear waivers. I think the Yankees are just about the only team that would claim him.
The Yankees may be the only contending team that would take a chance but remember the White Sox have done out of the blue roster claims before just to see if they got lucky.
Got lucky with what? The White Sox are not going to claim Lee.
What I was talking about was when the White Sox took Rios just to see if they could get him for just the contract. Someone may do that with Lee. Block a waiver claim and see if the Phillies will just try to get out from under the contract.
I believe Lee cleared waivers last year, no reason he wouldn’t this year. No one wants to take on all of that contract.
So why would anyone give the Phillies a serious return?
Then they trade him in the offseason when there would be more suitors with more money. There’s literally no reason for them to rush into a deal with no return – they don’t need to get rid of the money.
Salisbury writes that the Phillies want a serious return for Lee.
Ain’t nobody going to give a serious return because of that 75 Million dollar salary coming Lee’s way. Plus, he’s been hurt. Phillies should be happy to get any return.
The Rangers gave up Smoak to get Lee in 2010 and that someone like that sounds about right for Lee again. I am just interested who is going to eat what with regards to that Contract.
He’s guaranteed about $50 M over the rest of his contract – it goes up to about $65 M with the option. Not saying it’s easy for anyone to eat – but it’s not $75 M over 2.5 seasons. Plus, the Phillies have talked about actually eating money on some salaries. If they ate, say $15 M, I’d bet lots of teams would be happy to have a pitcher of Lee’s quality at $18 M a year (assuming he’s healthy).
P.S. Smoak was a top 20 ranked prospect at the time he was traded – I think the Phillies would be extremely happy to get a return of that.
If Lee had been healthy recently that would be close to value (If you send enough money to make it 18m or so) but with his recent injuries I do not know if anyone would jump on that.
Recent injury. One. He’s been highly durable over the course of his career. If he returns Monday and makes his starts through August, he’ll get a full return at the non-waiver deadline or in the offseason. If he doesn’t, he obviously won’t. But the Phillies have no reason to trade him at “injured” prices before July 31. They don’t need to get rid of the money, per se.
I thought he got hurt last year as well? But on that I was wrong. I wonder where I got that idea from. My bad.
I believe Smoak was a top prospect at the time. If someone offers a top 25 prospect straight up for Lee, I’m sure Phillies won’t hesitate.
Cliff Lee is a stud pitcher. Period.
In on Price? ATL couldn’t afford Price and even if we could, that would level our farm system. Level. I want to see what Lucas Sims and Co. could do in a Braves uniform and I can’t take seeing his numbers from Tampa – knowing how many trades Friedman has already won. Not for that Price.
You know Price isn’t the missing piece of the puzzle. Still need a LH bullpen arm (badly). (Eric O’Flaherty, we miss you!) And when the bats go cold, Price bringing his A-game (which he hasn’t this year) won’t get a W.
How exactly has Price not brought his A-Game? You do realize he’s essentially been the one of the best statistical pitchers in the MLB the last 2 months right (Batters are hitting .200 against him, ERA under 2.00)? His ERA is extremely inflated from a bad first month. He leads the league in strikeouts and has an xFIP of 2.80. He’s been even better away from Tropicana Field as well.
It seems like the Braves will lose a lot through Uggla over the next few years. Out of curiosity, from an accounting standpoint, can they write it off as a bad expense on their taxes? Just curious.
I’m no accountant either, but what would that even mean, “a bad expense”? I want to be a fly on the wall when you’re trying to explain to the IRS what exactly “a bad expense” is. Let’s hope that IRS agent is a Braves fan.
Goes to show how unpredictable the “big acquisition” can be. I assumed the Uggla and Upton additions would give the Braves the offense they needed to complement the pitching. Both ended up being absolute busts. With a time machine, you obviously just re-sign Michael Bourn and do the Justin Upton trade, with no Uggla extension. But obviously that’s not how it works.
Bourn wasn’t that good either, and he’s had problems w/ his legs (his best asset). BJ “could” still turn it around in years 3-5, but history often repeats.
I’m not sure the Justin trade happens without BJ already being here.
What? Why? Justin Upton had absolutely no say on whether or not he gets traded to Atlanta….
I heard that Matt Kemp is wanting to be traded as well so I hope if the Braves trade BJ Upton then I hope we get Matt Kemp. I think we should put Andrelton Simmons in the leadoff spot again and move La Stella in the second spot or get a true leadoff hitter.
Not going to happen.
How are the Braves going to be able to trade Upton?
Tell the Yankees he’s Vernon Wells 2.0
If Yankees trade for BJ Upton the same way they did for Vernon Well, they would be paying only 33% of the remainder of his contract which works out to be 5mil per year. A change of scenery might help him.
If you separate the Upton brothers they will each throw a temper tantrum.I only partially mean that as a joke
They arent
Please be sellers Mets. Trade Colon in hope that you can get a similar return as the D-backs got for McCarthy. See if anyone will take Chris Young off their hands and take about anything you can get. Hope for a slightly better return for EY Jr. Take what you can get for Abreu. Finally, shop Granderson and Duda and trade them depending on the return.
Whatever you do. Don’t trade Murphy. I don’t care what anyone says about his tools. His numbers are pretty similar to Wright’s this year and he is not paid (nor will he ever be) nearly the same. Give him a longterm extension in the offseason.
We are finally getting closer to being playoff contenders. Duda and Granderson lead the team in homeruns and come through when needed. No need to get rid of them! Trade Colon ,Abreu as a package to say the indians who can make a run for the postseason and get a decent return. Then try and use some prospects for a power left fielder or SS (if still in the hunt for the postseason this year) and if not get them in Free agency. If colon is trade thats 11mil off the books for next year along with 7mil for CY. That way we can keep the team together and not get rid players that can help. It would be stupid to sell since we have prospects getting ready to come up who can help in 2015 and on.
Are you nuts? You dont want to trade Murph, but they should trade their biggest power producer this year when they’re trying to dig out of a significant deficit? Do you know how much of a hit that would do for morale? Keep Granderson & Duda, and trade for a power bat for LF. If LA eats most of his contract, Kemp can be a nice acquisition. Murph is gone after next season with Herrera coming fast. Dont say I didnt warn you.
I said shop Granderson and Duda. Much like Beltran and Byrd. Only trade them if you like the return. And yes, I am ok trading power bats. I’m not like everyone else. I don’t obsess over power. Teams that rely heavily on power and a lineup that gives away at bats (Granderson is the poster child for this) are shut down by good pitching, which is particularly apparent in the playoffs. Neither Giants team had significant power.
Regarding Murph, I agree. That seems to be the route that Alderson is taking and I disagree 100%. This lineup has only 2 guys it can rely on and you are going to let one walk? For a prospect that has never been on a top 100 list? I’ll pass on that. I’m not doubting Herrera, but I’ll take a sure thing over potential any day of the week. If Herrera is as valuable as everyone thinks than he will make good trade bait for the other positions that there are needs. Don’t potentially create another hole
Also, Kemp would be an awful acquisition. When has a player with that much risk ever turned out successful for the Mets? At some point Mets fans have to recognize that Flushing is a black hole for the mentally and physically vulnerable players in the league. Kemp is both
The Mets need one more power bat in the middle of the lineup to get closer within contention, especially with the crazy August schedule, and Kemp right now is the best available bat there is right now. Big risk (even though LA will eat most of that contract), but a big reward as well. Shopping Duda, who’s been one of the main driving forces in the Mets getting back in this thing since Lamar worked with him, would be the dumbest thing to do. FWIW, Herrera is in the top 10 among top 2B prospects right now, and his stock continues to rise as he’s tearing up Binghamton.
“Only trade them if you like the return.”
You can do the same with Murphy. Keep in mind, they traded their best hitter years ago to get one of their biggest cogs in the rotation right now.
The Mets are a fringe playoff team at best and certainly are not championship contenders. There are simply too many holes in this team and quite frankly, signing Kemp would be an Omar Minaya move. One reckless big name addition doesn’t solve all of their problems. And the only way the Dodgers are willing to eat that much contract is if there is a significant prospect return.
There is no way you are getting the same return from Murphy that you did for Beltran. That’s the huge reason I want to keep him. The fact that Murphy has no “tools” makes him undesirable in the trade market and cheap in free agency. In a time where teams are overpaying almost everyone, Murphy is a guy who could potentially be signed longterm for under market value.
False. The holes they have is at SS & LF. The cluster of guys playing the OF, and the best temporary fix in LF would be Nieuwenhuis & Campbell. EYJ, CY & Abreu shouldnt even be here. Flores has a 21 game hitting streak, but they refuse to promote him.
You dont know what Murphy will get back in value yet. Someone desperate will bite (most likely, one looking for a DH).
OK, there aren’t “holes” at particular positions but there are significant holes in this lineup. This team strikes out way to much, which to me means empty at bats (i.e.- holes). You don’t remedy that by trading for a guy who has more strikeouts then everyone already on the team and trading away the one guy on the team who consistently makes contact and doesn’t strikeout.
This offseason JJ Hardy would be a nice addition, or if the Yankees (or Dodgers, depending on Hanley) take him Lowrie is having a down year but is still putting up good OBP numbers so he may be more cost effective. Either way, this team needs more hitters that put the ball in play before they start worrying about RBI guys
Ideally, the Mets will move Colon for a young power bat in the OF, and with SF catching interest, there’s a match. I really like Mac Williamson & I hope something comes from it. Hope you saw Murph’s little league blunder last night. Defense is as vital as a bat, especially at a premium position.
With the way Herrera is developing, I’d solve the SS issue internally. None of the FA SS class are impressive.
As a fan I’d want the Braves to trade Upton for Kemp.
Because you know the Dodgers need a subpar offensive outfielder like they need you back in their lineup….