Sad news today out of Chicago, as longtime White Sox scout Paul Provas passed away from brain cancer at age 63. As Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune reports, Provas had been scouting for the South Siders since 1993 after doing the same for the cross-town rival Cubs dating back to 1983. MLBTR extends its condolences to his family and friends.
Here are the day’s news and rumors out of the American League:
- Left-hander Joe Beimel would love to return to the Mariners, and the team has expressed interest in re-signing him as a lefty specialist, reports Greg Johns of MLB.com in his latest Mariners Inbox. The veteran southpaw made the club after signing a minor league deal and posted a 2.20 ERA in 45 innings. Beimel’s 5.0 K/9 leaves something to be desired, but he was a legitimate weapon against lefties. Beimel held same-handed hitters to a .188/.217/.288 batting line. Sabermetric stats such as FIP (3.18) and xFIP (2.96) both approved of his work against left-handers, though he was well north of 5.00 in each stat when facing righties.
- Astros GM Jeff Luhnow tells Marius Payton of CSN Houston that top prospect Carlos Correa’s rehab is considered complete at this point (h/t: Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle on Twitter). Baseball America’s No. 3 midseason prospect saw his season come to an end prematurely due to a broken leg, but he was impressive when on the field, hitting .326/.415/.510 with six homers and 20 steals in 62 games at Class-A Advanced.
- Even as the Royals are gunning for a World Series title in 2014, thoughts inevitably must drift at times to the future. Joel Sherman of the New York Post wonders whether starter James Shields may present a double-edged sword with his history of huge innings totals: on the one hand, those innings show his durability; on the other, they act as an arm odometer. Then, of course, there is the matter of his increasingly poor postseason track record.
- Kansas City faces tough decisions as it ponders its amazing late-inning arms, Sherman adds. Wade Davis and Greg Holland might combine for a $15MM tab next year, with further increases for 2016. GM Dayton Moore said the team can fit those salaries, but also indicated that he already is thinking about how things will play out in the long run. “Yes, in the immediate, it works,” he said. “We can make that fit. But we do have to analyze our roster from an economic standpoint every year.”
- Meanwhile, former Royals GM — and current Red Sox VP of player personnel — Allard Baird tells Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe that he looks back fondly on his time in Kansas City and is pleased with the club’s run of success. As Cafardo notes, Baird’s time resonates in the current roster, as he drafted players like Alex Gordon, Billy Butler, and Zack Greinke (who was later flipped for several current key roster pieces) during his time at the helm.
Thumbs up if you’re rooting for the Royals!
Boston traded betts and Cespedes to seattle for Seager and Elias
As a Mariner fan, I say that is a terrible trade. Seager is going to be the M’s 3B for a long time. No way they trade one of the top third baseman in the AL. I would rather try and sign Yasmany Tomas then do that trade…
And how does that benefit the M’s?
Cespedes is only 11/80 (.137) at Safeco, although 5 of those hits were Home Runs. A small sample size for sure, but Safeco is a tough place to hit, and I have doubts about how he would do there. Plus he’s only under contract for one more year.
No way I give up Seager or Elias. I’d do Brad Miller or Chris Taylor with Erasmo Ramirez and something from the minors
Were any of those names even listed in this article?
Boston doesn’t have what it takes to trade for Seager and Elias. Boston fans better get used to being bad for a while. MLB is flush with TV money and Boston, NY, Philly and Detroit aren’t the only teams that can afford the top players anymore.
Boston isn’t trading Cespedes for anything that resembles top level talent. He’s made it known he wants to be a FA and get a nice payday. Betts? Really? Where are the M’s going to play him? Betts is actually the kind of guy Boston needs to hold onto.
I’m a Mariners fan and though this would be good for both teams
Really? Seager is a legit 4/5 bat that plays GG caliber 3B. Elias is a legit #3 arm that still has options left so that’s like 5 or 6 years of control.
Cespedis is going to be a FA at the end of the year. This could be a bit closer if… The Cespedis had 3 years of control left and the M’s had more pitching depth. You can never have enough pitching and Elias may be counted on for 180 or more innings in Seattle this year.
Bottom line however, Seager isn’t going anywhere for 3 years. He’s a fan favorite in Seattle and a club house leader. Cano may be the mega star, but he was bought. Seager was raised up in our system and it would be like the BoSox trading Pedroia before he was arb eligible.
As a cards fan I’d love to have Davis, I wonder what Moore would want for him. Go Royals
Luke Hochevar will be back. He seems to be forgotten now.
The Brewers-Royals Greinke trade is the type of trade I love seeing. It is a win win scenario and even as a Brewers fan I show no bitterness toward the trade despite the success the guys have shown for the Royals.
Good Luck Royals(Though half of me is cheering against you as I hate the whole country against the Giants mindset…bandwagon idea is annoying)
Kinda strange seeing the royals bandwagon thing after 30 years in the region. It’s like some people didn’t even know they existed. I suppose it’s a little like if Sacramento pulled an NBA finals appearance.
I believe the Mariners will resign beimel and Chris Young. They will also get the delorean and go get edgar, Griffey, and buhner from the 1990’s.
When thinking about paying 15 million for two bullpen guys you have to ask yourself the question, how much would you pay a starting pitcher who pitches 140 innings with a sub two ERA? I bet people wouldn’t mind paying that guy 15 million but because they are bullpen guys people wonder how they can make it work. when you play the type of baseball the Royals do, you MUST have a lock down bullpen. If you add in Herrera you have 210 innings pitched this year with a still a sub 2 ERA. That starter is making minimum 20 million a year, and the royals get all three of these guys right now for less than 16 million. Plus if you are a bullpen arm in KC you are a freakin rock star!
I like them, but….
Davis just had a career year. Maybe Holland as well.
Holland was actually worse in 2014 than 2013. He’s legit, still worth gauging other clubs interest before he gets crazy expensive.
I agree, you always have to be willing to take a look at what others will offer, but it better be a good haul for Holland or Davis.
The bullpen in KC was better in 2013. This is essentially the same team with some breaks
I mean how many other teams have a 7th inning guy like Herrera selling jerseys? This bullpen is special and its fun to watch. I hope they keep it together next year and bring Hoch back so that he can join the fun.
Hochevar is a FA after the season, so you’ll have to compete with a bunch of other teams that are looking for bullpen help. He will probably get a two year deal even with missing the season.
Hochevar will be back…. He was VERY good in that pen…close to Wade Davis last year.
No he won’t he’s a FA after the season ends, so in about a week.
Fantastic idea.
They could probably get a credible, cost effective replacement for Shields for one of those guys.
Word a month ago in KC was that one would go, probably Holland. Herrera can close.
And it also looks like Hoch could come back next year and pitch out of the pen which he looked pretty good at last year. I personally don’t see the Royals doing much with the pen this off season but maybe next year when it gets really expensive you might see some of those guys traded off.
If Dayton Moore has shown one single amazing skill..
It’s developing bullpen arms. 2013_was actually likely a better pen. They likely have a wave coming up to replace an inning should they deal someone.
In the 4 years that Holland has pitched 60+ innings he has pitched to a sub 2 ERA 3 times. If I am going to put money down on him doing it next year I don’t think that would be out of line. With that track record I do expect it from him. Hes a beast as a closer. Davis when used exclusively out of the pen has a 2.44 ERA in 2012 and a 1.00 ERA in 2014. Not as much of a lock as Holland but I would still put some money down that he does it again. And Herrera is the wildcard and I think I would pass on making the bet, but when he is the third best guy in the your pen and can hit 101 mph with control, and is costing you sub 1 million, you are sitting pretty.