The Angels remain open to trading second baseman Howie Kendrick, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Kendrick, 31, is eligible for free agency after the season. More from the AL West…
- The Astros’ 2015 payroll still projects to be in the $70MM range, explains Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle. The team has about $17.7MM committed for 2015 for four players, plus around $21MM for their seven essential arbitration eligible players, a few of whom could be traded. It’s easy to see that this team has some money to spend.
- Drellich says “there’s little expectation the Astros would add a player who received a qualifying offer,” but admits that the team will be more open to giving up a draft pick this winter. “We have two protected picks. So a qualifying offer is not necessarily an impediment to how we would behave compared to a team that had a pick that was their only pick, and that was No. 13 or 15 or something like that. So we have that advantage,” said GM Jeff Luhnow. The Astros would give up the competitive balance round pick they acquired from the Marlins in the summer if they sign one of the 11 qualified free agents. The Astros were linked to Hanley Ramirez earlier today.
- Outfielder Engel Beltre has elected free agency after refusing an outright assignment to Triple-A from the Rangers, writes Calvin Watkins of ESPNDallas.com. GM Jon Daniels said, “He’s exploring other options. We are as well. We haven’t closed the door. We haven’t made him an offer at this point.” Beltre, who missed the entire 2014 season with a fractured tibia, was a key piece of the Rangers’ return from the Red Sox for Eric Gagne at the 2007 trade deadline.
If the Angels are going to trade Kendrick they should do it before the December 2 non-tender deadline. If Kendrick isn’t traded Gordon Beckham (5 MM) should be non-tendered to clear payroll space. There is no need for Beckham with Kendrick still on the roster.
Even if he insn’t traded, I’m confused about Beckham. Why is he worth 5m? He was a throw away a mid season…i’m thinking 1-2m? Aren’t there much better options out there at that price?
I totally agree with you both. Beckham is a great defender but if payroll is a problem, Beckham must go.
If they have to get rid of Kendrick, it would be amazing if the Angels could somehow get the money to sign Asdrubal Cabrera or Stephen Drew to play 2B while they figure out their longterm solution for 2B.
Not really. It’s second base we’re talking about. Beckham has more potential to be a 2B who can hit than most out there. And many decent 2B aren’t available. They need to keep this team together as much as they can and make small depth moves, like the Tropeano and Ramos trades.
Yes there is. Depth. Not a good idea to break this team up after winning 98 games. It has to be a deal they can’t refuse.
5 MM is a lot to pay for a depth player, especially when grant green serves the same purpose for league minimum.
Just to tag on to this, it’s also okay to get slightly worse in one spot in the lineup/lose some depth if the savings are spent elsewhere (pitching?).
And what happens if Kendrick and Green both go on the DL? What happens if Green hits a wall and stops hitting? Not that his OPS+ is better than Beckham’s. Middle IF depth beyond that isn’t even Major League ready. Beckham is also the better defender. I still like Green, but I’d rather lean on Beckham for IF depth than Green. Beckham has at least proven he can at least hold down 2B for a full season. Just because a player is making league minimum does not automatically make them the better option. Plus, Angels coaching can definitely help Beckham. And he fits in well with the team. I just think they need to keep this club together as much as they can and make more moves like they already have this offseason.
Would hate to see Howie go but if we can get a great pitcher in return id be ok with it. Who would be a good fit?
Great pitcher? I don’t know who would bite. I could see a team like the Blue Jays or Yankees interested, but I’m not sure what the Angels would want or what would be offered on the other end to make it happen.
Trade Kendrick and then what? Have Beckham play 2B? I think Kendrick is a guy you extend but if there is no way in doing that, I guess the Angels should trade him while they can get something for him (which would definitely be better than a compensation pick for a QO).
Kendrick and Jepsen for Stroman?
Blue Jays would need to acquire more pitching first. Their rotation isn’t too pretty even with Stroman.
Kendrick can’t be to Jays without his approval. Trade protection.
Second basemen who can hit are hard to find. A middle infield that can hit is hard to find. Teams with more offense up the middle are a lot more likely to make the playoffs. I don’t think it’s a good idea to break this team up. I’d say the only way they should trade Howie is if they get that deal they just can NOT pass up. Otherwise, keep that squad together.
Over $30 million in money to spend this winter would give the Astros tons of room to bring in a top level name as well as a couple middle tier pieces. I’m really interested to see what direction they choose to go.
Whoa. I wasn’t expecting to see an Eric Gagne reference today.
Wasn’t that a great trade?
I really think that the Kendrick thing is just another one of those news pieces that Rosenthal is just trying to make news out of that really isn’t there. He always seems to do this 4-5 times every offseason, and trade rumors about Kendrick has been one of those situations for the last 2 years.