The Nationals will try to re-sign some combination of Jordan Zimmermann, Ian Desmond and Doug Fister this offseason, Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post writes. The trio combined for 10.8 fWAR in 2014, and all three are eligible for free agency following the 2015 season. The Nats might have to make decisions about which of the three to extend, and could consider trading those they don’t, although GM Mike Rizzo suggests no trades are imminent. “I think we’re a long way from that conversation,” he says. Kilgore adds that Zimmermann became more difficult to sign when the Reds signed Homer Bailey to a $105MM deal last February, changing the market for starting pitchers. Here are more notes from the East divisions.
- Interim president Pat Gillick’s recent comments that the Phillies did not figure to contend again until at least 2017 marked a change in philosophy for the organization, MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki writes. “We’ve been talking about a lot of things internally,” says GM Ruben Amaro Jr. “[I]t’s pretty clear that we have had a shift. … [W]e’ve got some regrouping, rebuilding — whatever you want to call it. There’s things that we have to do that are different.” That means the Phillies will try to deal Ryan Howard this offseason, and they’ll also consider dealing Cole Hamels, Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins if they get the right offers (and if Utley and Rollins approve trades). The Phillies could also sign Cuban outfielder Yasmany Tomas, who would be expensive but who would add youth and star power.
- The Phillies are willing to deal Hamels, but they’ll be asking a lot, writes Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. Hamels should fetch a strong return on the trade market despite the four years and $96MM remaining on his contract, Heyman writes, because free agent aces Max Scherzer and Jon Lester are likely to get even more. Hamels has a 20-team no-trade list that he must update by November 1. Until then, Hamels can be traded to the Dodgers, Angels, Padres, Cardinals, Nationals, Braves, Yankees, Red Sox and Rangers without his consent. The Cubs claimed Hamels off revocable waivers in August.
- The Rays’ list of candidates to replace Joe Maddon could include bench coach Dave Martinez, Triple-A manager Charlie Montoyo, FOX Sports analyst Gabe Kapler, White Sox coach Joe McEwing and former Rangers interim manager Tim Bogar, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times writes. Topkin notes that Martinez has interviewed for five other managerial jobs already.
Oy way the philies can get rid of Howard is
1. Release him
2. Trade him with Aleast 30 million dollar million for a decent prospect
3. Sweeten the deal maybe trade Howard and Aaron Nola for basically nothing
Howard is Owe 50 million for the next 2 years plus his opinion which could be buyout. That’s a total of 60 million I think.
It’s about 60 MM, yeah. I think in order to trade Howard they’d need to throw in 45 MM or so, maybe more. He’s been pretty bad.
Absolutely. I think it would have to be 50+ they’d eat to have any chance to move him. And even 5 mil per year for the other team seems like a lot right now.
Trading 6 years of your best pitching prospect isn’t worth the salary relief you’d get from trading 2 years of Howard away.
If they trade him, it’d be for (essentially) no return, while taking on $50+ M of his remaining deal.
Any Phillies fans out there have an opinion on Utley’s arm? Wondering if he could handle a switch to 3B.
Bad mistake. Would take away much of his value. He’s only an OK bat for 3B at this stage of his career. Still great as a 2B. And of course he’s still one of the best defensive 2B.
Nah. He’s never had the arm for it. They tried it when they first drafted him and it didn’t work. He’s a good (not great) 2B, who positions himself well before each pitch.
Thanks, I thought I remembered hearing this, but couldn’t find any actual info on it.
No shot. Utley was an error machine in his first season at triple A and any thoughts of him playing 3B ended then. They gave him a full-time shot at the position and he just didn’t have the glove or the arm for it and that was a decade ago.
More likely he moves to first, and they bring up Cesar Hernandez. Franco will be the 3rd baseman next year.
If the Phillies aren’t going to contend until 2017, then Hamels is a luxury, and perhaps they should trade him for the best offer out there. Maybe trade Hamels, get the infusion of younger and cheaper talent, and redirect the money to Tomas. But they need to break away from the idea that they have to be completely blown away by every offer.
If they are looking towards 2017 they should just look to give money in a Hamels deal, eat a lot of Papelbon, Howard, and Hamel’s contracts and try to recoup as much young talent as possible. It doesn’t need to be a Cubs-style rebuild. I think the Sizemore, Williams and Jimenez deals are hinting towards punting 2015 and looking to the future. At least, I hope they are.
I think the Sizemore deal is a way to platoon with Byrd if he isn’t traded, thus making sure he doesn’t reach the needed 550 PA’s to vest his 2016 option. Williams at 2.1 Million is basically a bargain and he’ll be flipped like Hernandez was come July (PS- Hernandez brought in 2 decent prospects on a not so good year) and Jimenez at 900k is peanuts, he showed well at the end of the year and adds depth. No need to eat any of Hamel’s deal, he’s a bargain at 22.5 Million a year for the next 4 years. The Phillies can trade Papelbon to the Yankees and the Yankees would save 2.75 Million if Robertson was to accept the QO of 15.75 Million. To get back Sanchez, yeah.. eat some salary, say the Yanks pay 10 Million a year – Phils pay the rest.
If the Phillies are conceding they won’t contend, would they trade in-division? Nats need a 2B.
Would Utley approve a trade to an inter-division rival, though? We don’t know where Utley would want to go if traded, which complicated a lot. I’d love for Utley to go to Oakland, but I doubt Oakland could handle Chase’s salary.
I don’t know what their relationship is like, but you know Werth would try to get Utley to do it.
I actually forgot Werth was there. That could certainly play a factor.
Haha….oh wait, I thought that was a joke.
There was a long time rumor in Philly that Jayson Werth was messing around with Chase Utley’s wife. Just a rumor, of course, but Jayson Werth never really seemed too “connected” with any of the Phillies (not to a point where anyone was like “man, we’re really gonna miss that guy” to the media).
By all accounts Jayson Werth and Cliff Lee are very good friends. Can’t speak to the rest of the team, of course.
Rollins is from Oakland, and Chase is a CA boy…. I wonder if they both would waive their no trade agreements to keep playing with each other?? A’s need a SS and a 2B. Its like a freaking match made in Heaven… for the A’s – not sure what they have to offer back though, even if we thew in say $$$ into the deal as well… Fact is, we have nobody ready to play SS or 2B if we traded them. JP Crawford should be ready to replace Rollins in 2016. We may be a few years away from having Utley’s replacement unless we get it thru a trade.
2016 is pretty darn early to assume that Crawford would be able to take SS, considering he’s 19 and never even played AA ball yet.
If I was GM and know I’m not contending for 2+ years in a best case scenario, I’d have no problem trading him in-division if he approved. I’d trade him for the best return, no matter who offered it if I’m not contending.
Even better thought… Rendon moves back to 2B and the Phillies trade 3B Cody Asche & Papelbon to the Nationals for OF Steven Souza.
Nats wouldn’t want Utley at this stage in his career. Thats not the type of deal Rizzo would make. He’s more likely to trade a couple prospects for a young controllable 2nd baseman or ready prospect.
I want to see PHI keep Utley, Hamels, Howard, Ruiz, and Rollins, and trade Papelbon, Byrd, Burnett if AJ picks up his player option, and basically everyone else. As for WAS, I could see 7/105 as enough to keep Desmond, maybe. For Zimmermann, it’d likely require a 6/115-125 commitment, and Fister is hard to peg since his strikeout ability has wavered so much and I’m totally unsure what to expect out of him going forward.
I do believe Desmond turned down a deal in the 90-100 million range. I think Fister could cost about 5/80. I think Rizzo will try and resign both Zimmermann and Fister, but which ever doesn’t extend is a trade candidate. I think Rizzo wants a stud SS prospect, to replace Desmond. Also the player in the system to replace the pitcher he trades would be AJ Cole in 2015 and Lucas Giolito in 2016. Rizzo has values for each player in his mind and he doesn’t waiver, he knows what he values them at and if they want more than it’ll happen with a different team. Its one of the things that makes him a good GM, a bad GM would just give all the players what they want like Amaro did.
That Homer Bailey deal was just silly. I just don’t get it. Way to much money for his resume.
Certainly looks bad in retrospect, but they were paying for 2012-2013, not before that. It was still an overpay, but not a disaster, though it looks bad coming off of his injury-filled ’14 campaign.
I get that but in my mind he never showed enough to get that contract although 2012-13 were pretty good. He’s been highly thought of forever and has never really lived up to it. I think they panicked when Cueto and Latos would not sign long term and they paid a premium for “stuff” and not performance. I know what his FIP numbers were prior to the deal but I still would have had a hard time giving him that contract.
I love Gillick, I really do!
However, I think the Phillies are (asking) him to reach into his bag of tricks one too many times in order to trade Howard.
Where would he go?
An AL team looking for a DH – where the Phillies take on $50+ M of his $60 M contract, and get nothing (of value) in return.
The White Sox, Mariners, Twins, and Tigers are some AL teams that maybe looking for a DH. Any team that can’t sign Victor Martinez or Bill Butler should be interested.
I would take the Tigers out of the list – mainly because (if I remember correctly) the team who has his contract on their books (even if they’re only paying a portion of it) is the one who gets charged with the full AAV for luxury tax purposes. So that would hinder the Tigers chances to add other pieces (CF/RF), while staying under the luxury tax.
If I’m wrong on this, someone feel free to correct me.
Not sure if that’s true because I remember the Vernon Wells deal to the Yanks saw a lot of money get eaten by the Angels in year 2 which helped the Yanks AAV luxury tax hit.
Nah, the AAV only counts against the part that the team is paying – otherwise the Yankees would have traded ARod years ago and eaten half his salary.
A DH with a .380 Slg last year? No thanks. I would rather the M’s let a guy like Jesus Montero get those ABs than Howard for 2 years, regardless of how much money the Phillies toss in. Sell his rights to a team in Japan.
How about Ryan Howard and $15MM to Baltimore for Ubaldo Jimenez. This opens up in Baltimore’s rotation for Bundy or others knocking at the door. The Orioles could then non-tender or trade Chris Davis, which will save them about $12MM or so. Meanwhile, Philadelphia will have a reliable innings eater who might perform better if he was back in the National League and could be flipped if he can recapture his form. Then they could sell high on Cole Hammel and get the prospect return to rebuild. Baltimore has committed to contending with the Hardy extension and Adam Jones being under control through 2017.
Hahaha, actually I am one of the few people who likes Jimenez.
That could be a possibility, but the problem is Howard has ‘zero’ speed. The O’s lack speed. Trading for Howard would make the situation worse, not better.
I am just not ready to give up on Jimenez.
The fact that you still like Jimenez is exactly why the Orioles should trade him and his bloated contract. They don’t need to spend $38MM over the next 3 seasons for inconsistency from a SP, when the scrap heap is filled with pitchers like that or league minimum guys.
Regarding speed, you are correct- they need it badly, especially at the top and bottom of the lineup. The good news however is speed is cheap! They can look to tender De Aza, sign a speedy utility like Bonifacio, bring up Quinton Berry, or someone like him with speed.
Not to mention that Camden Yards is even more HR-friendly than Citizens’ Bank park, and Howard had plenty of “waring track power” at larger stadiums this year, plus a fair number of HRs to both sides.
An interesting thought. I wouldn’t call Ubaldo a “reliable innings eater”, but I get your point. Worst case they non-tender or trade Ubaldo if it didn’t work out. You would think that he would have a better chance in the NL East than the AL East though.
The Orioles don’t even need Ubaldo… The starting rotation for 2015 is: Tillman / Norris / Chen / Gonzalez / Gausman
Norris is a FA after next year and by then Bundy should step right in.
If they cannot resign Cruz & Markakis… then Howard makes sense. Just swap the salaries and whatever is left over for Howard, the Phillies would pay… Line-up would be:
1B) Davis
2B) Schoop
SS) Hardy
3B) Machado
C) Weiters
LF) De Aza
CF) Jones
RF) Pearce
DH) Howard
Then sign Bonafacio as super utility guy and you have speed. Berry on the team provides it too, and Lough is ok.
Doesn’t seem like a good deal for the Orioles. They owe Ubaldo about 39 million. Howard would cost them 45 million with the money you are sending.
But with Ubaldo, you still don’t know with him. He is one mechanical twitch away from maybe having some value again. With Howard, it’s basically a lock that he will never have any value again.
Well, Philadelphia has said they are willing to pay whatever amount it takes( $15-30MM) to move Howard (just as Chicago did with Soriano) The point is they can then non-tender Davis and use a combination of Wieters and Howard at DH/1B. Wieters and Joseph could share the catching duties and Steve Pearce can be brought into the mix at DH/1B/LF.
Rotation can be Tillman, Norris, Chen, Gausman, Gonzalez, and Bundy and others waiting in Norfolk. Bottom line: Jimenez would be missed in Baltimore about as much as Howard in Philadelphia.
Howard to Yankees for ARod
Interesting that the Nats may try to deal Ian Desmond before he hits free agency. The Nats need offense and the Yankees need a SS. I wonder if the Martin Pardo and a couple of prospects could get a deal done?
Would have to be a couple good prospects though because Desomond>>>Prado from a value standpoint.
With that being said don’t think its worth it to the Yankees because if they deal Prado now they don’t have a starting 2B, a backup 3B for A-Rod on the roster, or a backup RF for Beltran. Prado is a very valuable player for the Yankees specifically because with their aging injury prone position players they need his versatility.
Rob Refsnyder is one of the Yankees best 2B prospect in AAA. Even with Prado on the roster Refsnyder could win the starting 2B position because of Prado can play 3B and RF.
The Yankees still want to sign Headley to pllay 3B.
I understand about Refsnyder and Headley but as the roster is right now the former is in the minors hasn’t proved his MLB worth and the latter is a free agent. In my mind they should keep Prado, see what Refsnyder can do, and still sign Headley to maximize depth because they need it badly.
Desmond is the guy least likely to be dealt because the Nats have SP depth, but no MI depth.
This; they don’t have a second baseman and don’t have someone who could step in at SS. Nats figure to contend next year and Desmond is also a team leader. Only way he leaves the Nats is as a free agent.
Rays should give Martinez a chance. He’s been with them a long time so I’m sure he’s learned a thing or two. Plus every offseason lately he is interviewed for a managerial position. Seems to be on the cusp.
Nationals need to keep Desmond for at least the year as they don’t have a replacement. However, if they do trade him I would imagine they would be looking to add a young cost controlled SS for obvious reasons.
Nationals should really put Zimmerman and Fister out on the trade market. They both are very good pitchers and could get 2-4 solid prospects in return and the team has enviable SP depth.
That is my thought, extend Fister or Zimmermann trade the other for a big package. The package needs to be based around a top SS prospect. Let Desmond walk at the end of the year if he doesnt sign for what you want, give him a qualifying offer so if he walks you get a draft pick.