The dwindling relief market could work in the Yankees’ favor, George A. King III of the New York Post writes. The Braves and Dodgers have recently been linked to Darren O’Day, and if O’Day signs with one of those teams, the best late-inning option available on the free agent market will be Joakim Soria, who doesn’t appear likely to be cheap. The lack of capable and reasonably priced late-inning relievers could increase the trade value of Andrew Miller, who the Yankees could potentially use as a trade chip to bolster their rotation. Here are more quick notes from the American League.
- The Tigers pursued a number of potential upgrades for their bullpen before completing their deal for Francisco Rodriguez, MLB.com’s Jason Beck writes. They asked about Aroldis Chapman, Miller and Brad Boxberger, but any of those three relievers would have cost too much in prospects. They also had discussions with free agent Joakim Soria, but it appears he’ll get a three-year deal. Darren O’Day, meanwhile, seems likely to get four. So the Tigers approached the Brewers. Rodriguez was a good fit for them in that what’s left of his contract amounts to one year plus an option ($7.5MM for 2016, some of it deferred, and $6MM or a $2MM buyout for 2017), and the prospect cost (infielder Javier Betancourt plus a player to be named) wasn’t prohibitive.
- The Athletics also had interest in K-Rod, as FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal writes. They balked, however, at the $9.5MM financial commitment. They have, of course, addressed their bullpen to some degree (while also shedding salary) with their trade of Jesse Chavez to the Blue Jays for Liam Hendriks.
So the Braves are interested in O’Day to trade him at the deadline? Not sure why a team that’s rebuilding would want an expensive 33 year old reliever otherwise.
To trade him in July for more prospects.
Relievers are much less likely to be moved at the deadline. The market is really mostly for starting pitchers.
You’re joking right? That’s when most closers are moved…
Look back at the last five deadlines. Plenty of relievers traded.
If the Yankees trade Miller, isn’t the point of doing that to replace him with O’Day? That way they end up getting pieces to make a major trade while still having an elite bullpen. If the Yankees lose out on the O’Day sweepstakes, I honestly don’t see why they would trade Miller. The team would lose a big bullpen piece and likely doesn’t end up much better even with a starting pitcher acquisition.
The smartest moves the Yankees could make this offseason would be to keep Miller, sign O’Day and trade one of their top prospects for Chapman.
Has no one learned from KC yet??? You don’t need a star-studded rotation when you have an all-nails bullpen.
One of their prospects for Chapman?It will take more than 1
Judge for one season of Chapman is pretty fair.
So you think it’s logical for a team with one of the best relievers already to trade one of their best prospects for 1 year of a replacement for what they already have?
The idea of 1 year of Chapman for 6 years of Judge is reminiscent of the days of trading McGriff, McGee and Buhner for 1 year vets that offered marginal improvement to the team overall.
the word you are looking for is stupid
The things you just described would be the worst thing to do. Like the actual worst.
Having a good bullpen is the actual worst? You have no idea about good baseball then.
Trading Judge for Chapman would be the absolute worst, yes. Relievers are almost never worth top prospects. Especially for a team that already has stud relievers.
Chapman, Miller, Betances and O’Day sounds a little unnecessary if that’s what you’re proposing.
Fill in the blank: “You can never have enough ________.”
Thats a video game bullpen. No one would be happy. At least three of them should be closers. Also if the cost of one season of Chapmen is Judge then thats insane. Why trade a top prospect to help the strongest part of the team. Putting all your eggs in the bullpen is very risky.
Good prospects? Snacks in the locker room? Idk what the answer is, all I know is that it isn’t overpriced relievers on a one year deal.
Elite starting pitching.
So, Miller, O’Day, Betances, AND Chapman? Overkill?
Who the heck pitches the other 6 innings? Their startinf pitching is a DL nightmare.
The other concern perhaps is his health. He missed over a month with a forearm strain that they might worry is a pre-cursor to UCL injury and he struggled a bit when he first came back although be bounced back.
A’s were terrible last year because of the worst bullpen in baseball. Look for many more moves by the A’s to trade for more relief pitching. Valencia most likely be the next player moved for more relief.
Considering they moved lawrie to second for Valencia in guessing he’s staying put
Lawrie stunk at the plate once he moved to 2B – he’s a better 3B and everyone knows it. I’m thinking OP is right and the A’s either trade Valencia while his value is high, or move him to LF.
Lawrie is a good 3b but at 2b his range is below average. Watch the A’s pick up a 2b move Lawrie back to 3b and trade Valencia.
I agree, there’s rumors about Valencia being bad in the clubhouse too, that’s why the Jays cut him even though he had an OPS over .800, which pretty much never happens.
He can hit though, I think the smart move would be to stick him in LF and hope his defense isn’t terrible, put Lawrie at 3B and trade or sign a 2B.
Interesting from the yankee’s standpoint. i can’t think of a situation in the past in which they have traded a successful free agent signing. They have certainly dumped some low-performing ones, but this is a little different. Cashman may be changing his approach somewhat, looking at his entire roster as assets to be valued for what they can bring.
Cashman and his front office have adapted well to these new times and this is another point to prove that. No longer is anyone untouchable, regardless of success or not teams now adays are putting anyone on the market even to just gauge their value. If they do get a good offer, they’d take it much like I think Cashman would if someone overwhelmed him for Miller. He is just doing what most teams do now.
^Comment misplaced, sorry
I don’t know what surprises me more, that the Tigers didn’t want to sign a closer for 3 years, or that with the asking prices for closers skyrocketing in trades, their rookie GM was quickest to pull the trigger on the one closer who was affordable. Well done, Avila! Now, go sign Tony Sipp!
That was a good move, considering everyone left is likely to get overpaid.
*Bastardo
These discussions really highlight the importance of the Kimbrel trade. With so few quality arms available, and even hot trade targets like Chapman only available for rental, locking down an all-star for 3 years looks like a great move. (Best of luck to Margot nonetheless)