Here are the latest trade deadline news and rumors:
- The Blue Jays appear unlikely to add a significant starter or position player, especially a rental, writes Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca, with the most likely acquisition being a relief pitcher that comes with some team control. It remains possible, says Davidi, that Toronto will make no further moves before tomorrow’s deadline.
- Likewise, the Braves remain focused on left-handed relief, and Andrew Miller of the Red Sox in particular, reports MLB.com’s Mark Bowman. But with other teams also interested, Boston’s current asking price appears to be out of the Braves’ comfort zone. With Atlanta unable to add any more salary, it may need to increase the prospect return to convince a trade partner to hold onto its monetary obligations. It is possible that the club will hold out until August to add a southpaw to the pen and/or a bench piece.
- The Yankees have discussed outfielder Marlon Byrd with the Phillies, but nothing is close, reports Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. New York remains concerned with his $8MM salary next year, however, and appears to have some questions about how he would fit into the clubhouse.
- Despite adding Joakim Soria, the Tigers are still scouting possible reliever additions, tweets Scott Miller of Bleacher Report. Detroit has long been rumored to be looking at multiple arms for a pen that has not lived up to expectations.
- While the Padres seem more likely to deal reliever Joaquin Benoit than starter Ian Kennedy, it remains possible that neither will change hands, tweets Jayson Stark of ESPN.com.
So according to recent news there will be no more trades at all.
Nah, not at all. Every GM is just glued to their TVs watching Sharknado 2.
Was that on tonight?
If the internet is telling the truth, and let’s be honest, when does it not, yes. It was on tonight.
Gotta love a chainsaw wielding shark fighter.
KURT ANGLE is in it! and and and they made back to the future references. and that ending! Oh what an ending!
What can’t that man do? (Keep TNA afloat). He won a gold medal with a broken freakin’ neck!
Well now I have to watch this movie!
I agree. What a joke of a trade deadline. Its clear nobody is getting traded.
Bad move by Jays. We finally got to be buyers. A big move would have softened our hatrid towards Rogers
Sometimes the best move is no move. While a big move would help, it most certainly comes at the cost of at least a Stroman, Hutchison or Sanchez…guys who are currently helping the team. A 10-3 2nd half start with guys like EE, Lind and Lawrie all back in hopefully 2-3 weeks is just as good as a trade.
If the Jays don’t make a move and miss out on the playoffs, I think everyone gets fired.
I don’t think so. And don’t get me wrong, I’m not 100% advocating to stand pat, I’m rather torn on the issue. But regardless of what happens, I think AA and Gibbons are here for 2015, no matter how many armchair GMs call for their heads.
100% agreed. I’ve been saying it since the offseason; the Jays would have to lose 90 games this year for AA to be fired.
This organizational rebuild is just starting to bear fruit, and hopefully there are many years to come. If Houston is any example, 5 years to re-build an organization is just a starting point.
As good as Encarnacion and Lind have been, Lawrie’s addition to the team keeps Fransisco(.900OPS vs RHP) out of the lineup vs RHP and his poor .190avg versus LHP the last two years in. Him batting 5th has been a big reason for the team’s poor record versus left handed pitchers.
Not unless he’s at 2nd and Francisco is at 3rd like they did before. They were willing to sacrifice the defense before, I think they will again. And Lawrie has not been that bad in the 5 hole this year. Only 60 plate appearances, but he has a slash line of .263/.300/.404. Personally I think he belongs in the 7 spot though.
The Jays are apparently telling Lawrie he’s playing third base when he returns to the club, so baring a trade, Fransisco is going to be out of the everyday lineup which is a gigantic mistake because of his obvious superior splits vs RHP, although this was said a week ago before Fransisco’s month long re-insurgency became apparent.
A .704OPS in the 5 hole is pretty woeful. The lineup versus LHP is still pretty weak in my opinion as Rasmus doesn’t really have a proper platoon partner who could play center field and the 4th/5th man on the bench seems pretty undetermined one spot is still likely to go to Fransisco as long as he continues to kill RHP and the other is going to go to Goins for being a late inning defensive specialist.
As things stand, the current roster (when healthy) vs LHP looks like.
SS: Jose Reyes
LF: Melky Cabrera
RF: Jose Bautista
1B: Edwin Encarnacion
3B: Brett Lawrie
C: Dioner Navarro
DH: Danny Valencia
2B: Steve Tolleson
CF: Colby Rasmus
Bench:
C/1B: Josh Thole
LF/RF: Nolan Reimold
CI/DH: Juan Fransisco
2B/SS: Ryan Goins
1B/DH: Adam Lind
I think Reimold and Valencia are pretty interchangeable, as is the 5 and 7 hole in this lineup, depending on who is performing.
Otherwise I agree.
Well, I’d never bat Lawrie in the #5 hole vs a LHP. I wouldn’t even play him as I’d be inclined to platoon someone as bad as he’s been performing against southpaws the last few years, but this is likely how the Jays are going to set their lineup for mid/late August baring Gibby understanding that having a guy bat .195 behind your two best OBP guys isn’t a good way to win games in a pennant race.
Hopefully they play it smart and rest a few of their 30+ year old stars now that they have a few decent bench options.
I was merely referring to the lineup as you had it set. Now that the team has both Reimold and Valencia I doubt we will be seeing Lawrie batting 5th at any point in time.
Lawrie was only in the 5 hole while he was batting reasonably well, relative to the other available options at the time. I’m not really sure I understand the pick at Gibbons here, as he is very good at setting his lineups – and would generally make most sabermetricians drool throughout the aspects of his management style…
I’m not disagreeing with you as Lawrie didn’t have a set pattern of struggling vs LHP until this year as last year’s sample size wasn’t the largest and his 2012 season had him hitting .319 against southpaws. Therefor Gibbons’s hands were tied except perhaps throwing Navarro into that spot(which he’s been doing lately).
I like Gibbons a lot, platooning has worked well for teams like the Oakland Athletics over the years, I’m just going by what the team was feeding out to the media last week as to what Lawrie was likely to do once he came back.
Also on a side note, not making any moves today? Not even a reliever has to be a downer for the team.
I imagine there could be an august trade if the team stays playing the way it is. Salary will be picked up.
Glad to see we are on the same page.
Dude there’s no way they’re going to keep Francisco on the bench against RHP. Gibbons seems okay with Lawrie at second and Francisco/Valencia platooning.
Murphy wouldn’t cost any of those guys and dramtically improve the team. He can also play 1st and 3rd, adding versatility.
The Braves are really handcuffed financially, but I don’t feel like they’re that desperate for a trade. They have had the ability to plug minor league guys in and it’s been working well for the most part. I wish they could add a bat off the bench or a potential platoon partner for Johnson at 3B. The pitching has been fine, the offense has left a lot to be desired. The bench has done nothing all season and Johnson can only hit LHP… That to me feels like the more serious issue. But in this market and the issues the Braves have financially, doesn’t look like they’ll do anything major.
they just need a left handed reliever and a bat off the bench
And someone who can get on base. They can’t score. they are near the bottom of every offensive category in MLB
very very true but who do they go after?
Come on Yankees. Byrd is the answer to your old, overpaid and overrated team. Trade for him and Lee.
A Phillies fan calling another team old, overpaid and overrated? Oh the irony
Who rates the Phillies as anything other than a bad team? They are old, but not underrated.
I can ask the same about the Yankees. Only reason they are in a playoff hunt is because the division is very weak (though Baltimore and Toronto have done well lately)
Trust me. Our fan base knows we don’t have a great team.
Lots of people rate them above a bad team. Your own GM is still in buying mode. I see Yankee fans all over the place talking about how they can win this division. Yes, few rate them as a “great” team, but there are many that think they are a pretty good team.
BTW, that “very weak” division has the best winning pct by a good margin. Two teams are currently in the playoffs. And the leader has the third best record in baseball.
“Lots of people rate them above a bad team.”
That’s because they aren’t a bad team. They are an average to slightly above average team at best (hence why they are 3 games above .500)
“BTW, that “very weak” division has the best winning pct by a very large margin.”
There is no way that it is possible (that it’s by a large margin). For instance, the Red Sox are in last place with 48 wins. The Phillies are last in the NL East with 47 and the Twins are in last in the AL Central with 48. The top 4 teams in all of those divisions have between 52-60 wins.
The whole league is not very strong. Right now only ONE team in the NL is on pace to win 90 games, and only 3 in the AL are on pace to win 90 games.
And only 6 teams are projected to Lose 90 games.
They have a run differential of -30. Their offense is mediocre at best, their defense is bad, they have little to no pitching and it’s only bound to get worse as the league sees their youngsters two and three times. They are a bad team. Not as bad as the Phillies, but still bad.
I was probably too strong with “large margin”, but it’s still by a pretty good margin. There is no rational way to look at that division and come away with “very weak”. It’s arguably the best so far, and certainly better than most.
Certainly has to have been the best since the AS break I”ll say. The Yankees have lost 4 of 5, but they are still a good 8-5 since the ASB. Toronto is hot and Baltimore is hot.
If I had to pick if the Yankees would make the playoffs, I’d say No, but they are not out of the race. Only 2 back in the loss column for the 2nd WC. There are a lot of teams in it.
They actually have had very good pitching all month (Tuesday’s game notwithstanding). A team ERA of 3.52. Just like in previous months, only reason they are in the race is because of the pitching but primarily because of the back end of the bullpen. You’re right about the offense and defense though.
Yes, their pitching has been solid the last month, but do you really think Brandon McCarthy will continue to put up a 2.50 ERA? Do you think Capuano will continue to have performances like he had the other day? Do you think that Greene is a 3.30 ERA pitcher? That pitching looks like it’s due for a huge regression to me.
They’re in the hunt by their record right now, but to me they look like a bad ball club that has been playing way above their heads in terms of player performance and run differential. If they make the playoffs without big pickups, I’d be more than surprised.
Hey I never said they don’t need another SP. And it is fair to say they are a bad ball club (hence the -30 run differential).
And I too would be surprised if they would make the playoffs without big pickups. Maybe we’ll know a lot more by 4pm today. If the O’s get Lester, I think they have the division locked. The O’s biggest concern (from now until the end of the year) is their SP. They don’t have an ace. I would certainly risk Bundy or Gausman if it gave them a chance to get to the WS.
O’s aren’t getting Lester. And I think their rotation has been pretty good, especially of late (starters ERA has been around 3.20 the last 2 months). Their biggest need for the regular season is a second baseman, they have no production there.
But if they get to the playoffs, that lack of a #1 could hurt them. Their rotation is full of 2-4 guys. And no way they are going to trade Gausman, he’s the closest thing they have to a #1 right now.
And just to put numbers against it, the AL East is 12 games over 500, the next best division is the AL West which is 6 games over. Certainly not a “very weak” division.
Okay but certainly not a “wide margin” either. I was wrong I admit when I said it’s weak, but the race is close. Reason it’s not weak anymore as I said when I corrected myself was because of the recent hot streaks of Toronto, Baltimore and Tampa (and to a lesser extent the Yankees before they played Texas).
“Who rates the Phillies as anything other than a bad team?”
To answer this original question, RAJ does.
Did the Tigers trade for Adrian Beltre yet?
The Yankees are worried about how Byrd will fit in the clubhouse? What does that even mean?
Good question. They already have 1 distraction coming back next year in A-Rod. Never heard anyone say Byrd was one.