The Dodgers’ search for pitching may only intensify with the news that Carlos Frias has been placed on the 15-day DL with lower back tightness. Los Angeles already dipped into its starter depth by installing Frias and Mike Bolsinger into the rotation in place of Hyun-jin Ryu and Brandon McCarthy, so all eyes will be on the Dodgers this month to see if they can land another big arm before the trade deadline. Here’s the latest from the NL West…
- The Giants are looking for outfielders and Gerardo Parra and Cameron Maybin are two of the names who have been discussed, ESPN’s Buster Olney reports (via Twitter). In another tweet, Olney notes that the Braves aren’t open to dealing Maybin right now. Outfield had been cited as a possible target spot for San Francisco, though GM Bobby Evans didn’t seem set on obtaining an everyday outfielder since Hunter Pence and Nori Aoki will be expected to resume their regular spots in the lineup when they’re both healthy. In my opinion, I’d think that a left-handed hitting outfielder like Parra could be of particular use in a center field platoon with Angel Pagan, who has struggled badly against right-handed pitching this season (though Pagan has generally fared better against righty arms over his career).
- The Giants have liked Parra “forever,” according to Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News (via Twitter). Parra had spent his entire career prior to August 2014 with the Diamondbacks, however, and Arizona didn’t want to deal the outfielder to a division rival.
- In Olney’s latest Insider-only post, he observes that Zack Greinke’s big season is putting him in position for a massive free agent payday this winter. “It seems like a foregone conclusion” Greinke will opt out of his Dodgers contract in search of a more lucrative deal, and while he turns 32 in October, Olney believes he’s the type of pitcher with the athleticism, mechanics and pitching know-how to still be very effective as he ages. Andrew Friedman has generally eschewed giving big contracts to older players in his career as an executive, though this could well change now that he runs a high-payroll team.
- The Rockies are again in need of pitching reinforcements, and Nick Groke of the Denver Post wonders if the team could promote top prospect Jon Gray. Troy Tulowitzki and Walt Weiss seem in favor of Gray coming to the bigs soon, though GM Jeff Bridich was more cautious. “Jon Gray is doing a great job right now of learning lessons and evolving at the Triple-A level. So there are things that he needs to do and will continue to do. And we’ll continue to exercise patience with him,” Bridich said. Gray has a 4.88 ERA, 7.6 K/9 and a 2.45 K/BB rate in 90 1/3 Triple-A innings this season — respectable numbers in the very hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.
I could see Greinke getting 5yr…maybe with an option yr added….for 120 to 140 mil this Winter……..
If my Braves were finally to shell out for an ace, I’d take Greinke over Price, at least for ATL. ATL has liked both for years, but it’d be interesting to see Greinke the ace of a staff again, since he hasn’t been doing that since joining LAD.
Who would the Brewers receive for Parra if a deal were to go down?
The Crew would likely look for a positional need within the system. Aramis Garcia or Ryder Jones seem like realistic candidates considering they gave up two guys of similar talent to aquire Parra from Arizona (for 2 seasons vs. rental).
Well, if Tulowitzki is in favor of bringing the kid up…
Exactly. And my daughter is in favor of ice cream for dinner…
A good article By buster Olney here. insider.espn.go.com/blog/buster-olney/insider/post… You don’t have to have a account to read the opinion on Grenke possibly being resigned and pitching 2000 innings.
If Greinke gets a 5 year deal, it’s going to be for at least $150…probably a little more. Yes, he’s on the other side of 30 but his track record has been superb for years now.
He’s been superb over the last three seasons. Before that he was more like very good. Based on his career years not with the Dodgers, nobody is talking about paying $30M+ per year for him into his late 30s. The remarkable thing about Greinke is he’s actually gotten better into his 30s. The question any GM has to ask before signing him for ace money deep into the twilight of his career is whether his 2013-15 performance is sustainable.
I don’t work for a MLB team in an executive position…and certainly do not know what everyone in those inner circles are talking about when it concerns Greinke…maybe you do 😉 If Greinke signs a 5 year contract after this offseason, it will take him through his age 36 season…not young by any means but definitely not geriatric…I don’t see why he cannot surpass or at least get 30 million AAV since if he doesn’t opt out, his AAV is 25.67 million…doesn’t see like a stretch with the amazing season he is having & the ever-increasing revenue of MLB that someone will give him that $$
Point taken. I am not big into trying to figure out the dollars either, but I think we know $30M+ is still pretty rarefied air for any player. The argument Grienke can make for earning that kind of money over the next five years is his 2013, 2014 and (so far) 2015 season performance. His earlier seasons were mostly not the stuff of top-dollar contracts. My point is still the same one, though: GMs are going to have guess whether going forward they are more likely to get the 2013-15 Grienke or the earlier and far less impressive version. All that said, somebody is probably going to ante up for him, somewhere in the neighborhood you suggest.
Even though Duffy seems to have 3B on lockdown in SF, Maybin+Johnson might be a nice package deal that wouldn’t cost much in prospects, as SFG would be taking on Johnson’s money. Johnson would be an upgrade over Arias too. Makes sense for both sides.