In today’s column, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe pit Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts against Tigers shorstop Jose Iglesias. Of course, Boston once had both, but Iglesias was shipped out in 2013 in a three-team deal that brought Jake Peavy to Fenway. Bogaerts offers more potential as a hitter, but Iglesias clearly has the superior glove. That difference in the field never made Bogaerts doubt himself, however.
“No, that’s just a guy who’s really gifted beyond anyone else,” Bogaerts said. “I just paid attention to trying to get better. I never compared myself to him because you can’t compare anyone to him. He’s a great defensive player and flashy.”
More from today’s column..
- The same teams that are pursuing Red Sox pitcher Clay Buchholz are going after White Sox hurler Jeff Samardzija. That list of teams includes the Royals, Tigers, Twins, Blue Jays, Yankees, Cardinals, Orioles, Angels, and Dodgers, according to Cafardo. Late last week, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported that the Astros are also interested in Samardzija. Meanwhile, at this time, the Red Sox reportedly are not interested in moving Buchholz.
- The Astros are a team to watch in July as they could get very aggressive in their pursuit of a starter. Cafardo hears that the Astros have been evaluating Reds pitchers Johnny Cueto and Mike Leake quite a bit. Cole Hamels obviously stands as one of the biggest prizes out there, but Cafardo feels he likely wouldn’t sign off on a trade to Houston. Over the weekend, Hamels indicated that he would be “open-minded” to being traded to any team.
- Giants GM Bobby Evans told Cafardo that his club is out of the starting pitching market for now thanks to the upcoming returns of Matt Cain and Jake Peavy.
- The Phillies would like to sell off their pieces little by little rather than make a ton of deals right at the deadline. However, Cafardo hears that teams aren’t coming to the table with actual offers yet, leaving the Phillies frustrated.
- Baseball execs who spoke with Cafardo say the Mets are still the best match for Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki. A package for Tulo could start with left-hander Steven Matz, who makes his big league debut today.
- Even at his advanced age, one NL evaluator feels that Phillies veteran Carlos Ruiz is still “a better option than “more than 50 percent of the catchers in the league.”
- Some teams are concerned with Hamels’ poor performance in interleague play while others see it just as a fluky thing. Hamels has a career 4.73 ERA across 31 interleague starts.
The same Carlos Ruiz with a 547 ops, a 18% CS, and has been the third worst framer per star corner what a quote from the scout.
Why are the O’s interested in Scrabbleman? His hits are up, his strikeouts are down, he’s a free agent at the end of the year, he won’t net draft compensation as a mid-year trade, and the O’s already have problems with six starters for five rotation spots. The guy who needs to be replaced in the rotation is Tillman, but he’s the de facto #1 based on his track record and as such is unlikely to be removed. Norris is a free agent and can’t get his brain out of the way of his arm most nights, so he has little trade value. Chen, Jimenez, and Gonzalez have pitched well (better than Samardzija), and Gausman is waiting to break into the rotation. I just don’t see the fit for Baltimore.
The defense behind Samardzija has been hurting him this year.. He has been better than his initial stats would suggest.. I do agree with you in wondering why the O’s would be chasing him though..
Yes, that defense sure mishandles those first inning homers. He’s been pitching better, but I still hold my breath during his first innings.
You mean like Shields when the R’s first got him? Pitched pretty good just lost because the offense couldn’t do much. Guy would toss 8 or 9 innings of 1 or 2 run ball and still get the L.
Please dont try to blame his mediocre performance on the defense. As soon as he was traded from the cubs, he’s been a bust.
He had very good stats with the A’s last year.. Or do you consider a 3.14 ERA with a .093 Whip a bust? His .338 BABIP this year is 20 points higher than any other year he has been a full time starter.. So, what does that mean you ask? Since his FIP is 3.67 and his xFIP is 3.70 the defense behind him has been letting him down..
Upon being moved to oakland he gave up 13 hrs in 16 games, in a PITCHERS ball park. The only reason his era went down to 3.14 is because he played against the Astros.
Most people don’t realize how baseball works. They look at wins/losses for pitchers. Pitcher could be 7-18 with a 2.55ERA and it’s still the pitchers fault, not the offense that can’t help them out.
To me the Shark is a 2 or 3 pitcher for a good team!
I wonder if Cashman’s obvious man crush on Samardzija will result in the Yankees over paying for him this offseason.. I thought the Cubs 5/$85 million offer was pretty fair but I am sure he can get Cashman to bid against himself and get a 6/$110 deal.. With the relatively low mileage he has on his arm he would be a good choice for any team.. Especially, one like the Yankees with so many injury worries.. I hope that Cashman doesn’t go after him too hard at the deadline.. The sellers this year are going to make out like bandits and I doubt the White Sox let him go for less than a top prospect..
If the Sox can find a taker for Buchholtz and get something in return—-do it before his new team comes off medication. While they’re at it, try to trade Ramirez, Sandoval and Napoli, getting them off the books. Their new OF should be Castillo in right, JBJ in CF and Betts in LF. Use Holt at 3B and Craig at 1B for now. That leaves $$$$ for FA pitching and saves all of their minor league kids for 3B/1B/relief trades.
Trading Buchholtz would be a repeat of what they did last year. They need to hang onto starting pitching. He is not a free agent after this year. They are not trading Hanley or Sandoval. They may not be lighting the world on fire but its still very early in the deals. Napoli they probably will trade but hes a free agent anyways.
Nobody in their right mind will take Ramirez or Sandoval unless Boston eats like 70% of their contract. Trade Buchholtz and your new 1-2 starters are Miley and, ugh, Porcello (too early on Rodriguez). Craig as their everyday first baseman? I’d rather see Mauro Gomez make a surprise comeback. Not to mention, your scenario would produce about 15 homers the rest of the year.
I can see the Sox trading Buchholtz, Napoli, JBJ, and Craig, but I don’t see them dumping Hanley and Panda.
Matz is (or will be shortly) untouchable. Troy is awesome when healthy, but he is on the wrong side of 30 AND due $100m. The Mets ownershop is obscenely cheap, and Sandy isn’t stupid. The Mets have reinforcements in the minors who shoukd be up shortly. A bat should have been secured in the off season (not Cuddyer).
The problem with the Mets is they have poor position players and without giving up some good starting pitching they are not going to make the playoffs this year. The Giants and Cubs will go out and improve their teams to beat the Mets in the second wild card chase.
I highly doubt the Twins have much interested in Buccholz or Samardzjia, this is likely Cafardo just throwing names out there. Their rotation has performed quite well this season (10th in the MLB in ERA) which will cause problems once Santana returns because they have to remove a starter without any obvious candidates. Adding either of those pitchers would just further complicate matters.
So Amaro wants to dictate how other teams try to acquire their players now ? How this guy keeps a job is a disgrace to phillies fans, and a pathetic excuse for ownership
Tigers and their fans could not be happier with Iglesias. The conventional wisdom on him is that he is light hitting with excellent defense. However, this is second full year. So far BOTH years he has had an Batting Average over .300.
He is ready to be a leadoff or #2 hitter consistently. Let us see what happens.
I don’t understand why the angels are looking at pitching, they need offense
Is this article really suggesting that the Royals are interested in Jeff Samardzija? That should go over well with the feud between him and Lorenzo Cain.