The latest out of the game’s western divisions:
- The Mariners have had conversations with Nelson Cruz and his agent since the start of the offseason, Jon Morosi of FOX Sports reports. According to Morosi, Seattle does not have a club policy against signing players with past PED suspensions. A recent report stated that the team backed off of Cruz last year because of his recent Biogenesis situation, but it appears that will not be a roadblock this time around.
- The Padres will listen to trade offers for their top three pitchers (Ian Kennedy, Andrew Cashner, and Tyson Ross) as well as catchers, Yasmani Grandal and Rene Rivera, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reported yesterday. Presumably it would take quite an offer to part with Cashner or Ross, and Kennedy could be held and reassessed at the trade deadline. Behind the plate, the 26-year-old, former top prospect Grandal has yet to establish himself fully. Though he posted a solid 112 wRC+ last year, he also rated as one of the league’s worst defensive catchers. Rivera, meanwhile, came out of nowhere to post by far his most extensive and productive MLB season in 2014, slashing .252/.319/.432 over 329 plate appearances while grading out as one of the game’s best-fielding backstops.
- Righty Dan Haren of the Dodgers has come up in trade chatter, but could retire if he is dealt away from Los Angeles, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports. Haren exercised a $10MM player option to stay on the west coast, and Heyman indicates that he might prefer to hang up his spikes than pitch for any other club but the cross-town Angels.
Tyson Ross is an interesting trade candidate… He is young and controlled, had a very good season last year, but will most likely cost a lot in terms of prospects
And likely regress outside of Petco
That would be expected, but even park adjusted stats indicate he is an above average pitcher
Yeah, the 3.11 xFIP puts him at 14th among qualified starters. The real question is whether he can stay healthy for 200+ IP. Alex Wood is in a similar situation.
ross will do well with w real athletic team behind him and not subpar players playing whenever they arent hurt.
I was screaming for Seattle to have a go at him last offseason.
Unless Ross could hit, why would they really need him? Would he really be worth the cost in prospects to add yet another arm to a staff full of them and few bats?
…last offseason. M’s had question marks on rotation. Chris Young was Chris Young.Randy Wolf was in. Pax and Walker were injured. Would have been a great pick up.
I would much rather the Dodgers go after Grandal or Castro instead of Martin. With all of those aging contracts coming up, I really do not want to see another.
Do you really think the Padres would make a trade with the Dodgers without expecting the moon and stars in exchange?
Would a four year deal from the M’s be worth it for them? The worst that could happen is Cruz could be a stopgap for someone like Gabby Guerrero maybe?
I am hoping Cruz in down the list into the C or D option. Tomas should be the priority. Yes, everyone wants him. I’m most worried about the Giants. The M’s need to strike fast.
Id love it if the. M’s got Tomas
Why tomas?
Who else. I would like to see the M’s invest in a position player.
1 Tomas
2 Kemp
3 Hanley
There is no need to carry a bat only guy on the club. As someone was telling me last week, the M’s have the toughest travel schedule and it wears on the players. Giving guys a day a week at DH could help them from wearing down. The M’s have the players in Miller and Taylor to cover all the IF positions and platoon at SS and with Ackley/Jackson/Saunders + a legit #4 OF bat they could rotate the OFers thru DH as well.
No DH means a 5 man bench and you aren’t trying to play your DH in NL games.
The question is … Why not Tomas?
I have a good feeling the M’s can outbid every other team for players, the Cano signing is a great example. They need to learn to stop being so hesitant though, otherwise it’ll be too little too late for em.
sign tomas ASAP along with another spanish speaking power hitter(cruz). get hanley at SS Laroche at 1st, move gyrko to third amerista at 2b keep venable at CF rene at C….. cashner, ross, kennedy, hahn, one of our rookies as 5th starter quackenbush at cl……. spend some darn money to compete for championship not middle of the draft
Keep Grandal at first and dump Yonder…of course he has no trade value.
I think we should trade Kennedy this offseason and keep Ross and Cash.
Kennedy for J. Upton?? Only if the rumors of padres being out on Tomas are true
It would take several other pieces from the padres side for a Kennedy for Upton trade to work
Heard rumors of Kennedy for Heyward and Merejo. Justin Upton might be a straight up trade. Both are free agents at the end of the year and it would mean taking on $4 million in payroll for the Padres, so would not need to be any other meaningful pieces attached. Certainly not a top prospect. Maybe a major leaguer like Venable that would be way for Padres to shed that $4 million in extra payroll they would be taking on with Upton.
Why would the Padres want an OF in the last year of his deal?
Cashner + a Good Prospect for Heyward
If the Padres want Heyward they can wait till he becomes a FA. No need to deal an ace with a couple years of control.
I would be thrilled if the deal went down for Kennedy; not for the other two.
i would imagine Heyward gets dealt this year before he comes FA. If the Padres were willing to sign him long term might be a target for the Padres. I’m not sure it would take much more than Cashner. – i still think The Astros have a shot at HeyHey.
It would take more than Heyward to get Cashner. Cashner has ace stuff and is under team control for 2 more years. Heyward is a FA at the end of year and will make about $3 million more than Cashner in 2015. .
If $3MM were holding that trade up, ATL would fork over the difference. Unfortunately, common sense and rational minds is what is blocking that trade from happening.
You mean on the Padres side? Because rumors are that the Braves were willing to trade Heyward and a prospect named Merejo for Kennedy. So to get Cashner who is much better, cheaper and under team control for 2 more years, it would mean more than Merejo going to Padres along with Heyward.
Sean Rodriquez, Curt Casali and Nate Karns from the Rays for Rene Rivera and Carlos Quentin with the Padres paying 2 million of his salary. A higher prospect would mean more money going back to the Rays.
Ok, another on “pending”. No on Grandal, Ross or Cashner being traded. Tells fans they are not committed to winning in near future. Grandal led team in HR & is really hitting well. Defensive problems probably because of bad leg, not that he cant do it. He played well defensively in Aug and Sept. Casher is an ace, even if he has been injured. Ross is emerging as a quality #2. Kennedy is a great trade candidate. FA at end of year, $10 million +, below average ERA+. Alonso is another player that could be packaged (with Kennedy or Benoit?) to get the Padres the power 1B bat they need.
WOW on Haren retiring if he is traded. $10 million is a lot of money to pass on, just because you are not playing in LA.
Yeah I couldnt imagine that. He can still pitch can still make more money. Maybe he is just content
I think it really got under his skin that he began suffering injuries after being traded to the Angels. He wanted to spend the rest of his career there but the injuries were too much. In hindsight though, how much worse would it have been to keep him instead of signing Joe Blanton? Probably would’ve at least kept that spot stabilized enough… Well, anyways I kind of understand where Haren is coming from. Kinda wish he’d come back to the Angels.
Question for you guys. Do you think Cruz is worth then 4 years he is asking for? Or do you think its just a negotiating ploy to get 3 years?
Curiois what would it cost in terms of prospects for Ross? How many more years of control does he have?
He got 3 more years and I think they will ask a lot
With the Tigers resigning Victor Martinez, the Mariners need to sign Melky Cabrera 4-5yr deal 64-75mil. Sign Mike Morse 2yr 15-18mil & Billy Butler 2yr 20-22mil. Morse can platoon at 1st with LoMo. Trade Tyler Marlette, Chris Taylor, Jabari Blash, & reliever (Medina, Wilhemsen, Farquhar) for Ben Revere (. 306 avg 184 hits 49sb caught 8 times plus he’s got 3yrs left until free agency) & Dominic Brown who could benefit from a change of scenery. Trade Michael Saunders, Ty Kelly, & Erasmo Ramirez for Ian Kennedy. We’ll need another 200ip innings eater because Walker, Paxton, & Elias won’t be allowed to go over 180ip. 1. CF Revere 2. RF / LF Melky 3. 2B Cano 4. DH Butler/Morse 5. 3B Seager 6. LF / RF Ackley 7. C Zunino 8. 1B LoMo/Morse 9. SS Miller. That would be a good lineup & give us a solid foundation for a playoff run