In such a crowded market for Darren O’Day’s services, CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman observes that the Dodgers, Braves and Nationals could each have an edge. The Dodgers, of course, can offer the most money and have “big time” interest in the right-hander. O’Day’s family lives near Atlanta, so the Braves could have something of a hometown advantage. Then again, O’Day’s wife is a TV reporter working for a station in Washington D.C., which could help the Nats. Here’s more about O’Day and others on the ever-churning bullpen rumor mill…
- You can add the Athletics to the long list of teams with interest in O’Day, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. While Oakland has a clear need for bullpen help, it would be a big surprise to see a small-payroll team like the A’s win the bidding for O’Day. The right-hander has already received multiple offers and is looking for a four-year deal in the $28MM-$36MM range.
- Diamondbacks GM Dave Stewart tells Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic that Brad Ziegler may remain as the team’s closer. “With Ziegler doing the job that he has, I am looking to better ourselves more than likely in the front end versus the back end (of the bullpen),” Stewart said. The Snakes have been linked to several big-name relievers in offseason buzz, and their particular interest in Reds closer Aroldis Chapman goes back several months, though the Reds’ demand for two pre-arbitration Major Leaguers was too high for Arizona’s liking. “I’ve made it pretty clear that I’m just not in the mood to give up three or four players for one guy at the back end of my bullpen,” Stewart said, speaking not specifically of Chapman but of ace relievers in general.
- “Surprised would be an understatement” to describe how Rex Brothers felt when the Rockies designated him for assignment, the southpaw tells Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post. Brothers has come to terms with the move, however, and is looking forward to a fresh start in the bigs. It should be noted that Brothers has the choice of electing free agency since he has more than three years of service time, and while he doesn’t directly say so, it certainly sounds as if the lefty will indeed be hitting the open market. Brothers posted very solid numbers out of Colorado’s bullpen from 2011-13 before struggling in 2014 and spending most of 2015 in the minors.
Dodgers can probably offer the most, but Freidman was outbid last year on Gregerson by the Astros and he’s never spent big on a pen outside of Balfour.
I’d love for the Pirates to take a chance with Rex
Depending on how cheap he can be had, Brothers may be good for Detroit. Would love to see a second lefty for the Detroit pen to go with Hardy. Obviously first choice would be Bastardo or Sipp, but Brothers or someone like Oliver Perez would be great
Rex Brothers perfect fit on the Cubs.
I think so too. If he signs with them, maybe he can be his old self again
I’d like to see the Braves give Rex Brothers a fresh start. They need a lefty and are prone to take chances on buy low guys. After all they did just sign david carpenter on a ml deal. Probably hoping he returns to his previous performance as a brave. It’d be a good move to buy low on rex for the bravos in my opinion.
The Astros are gaining more traction toward getting Chapman with the Diamondbacks possibly dropping out.
Also surprising to Brothers was the revelation that his pitches are supposed to pass through a zone 17 inches wide and approximately 2 feet high.
All good points.
Why I think Freidman and Company buy(te) this time is because of how specific the need is and how already put together the roster is and how it proved it wins as constructed despite heavy pitching injury and overexposure to lefties because of Puig season of injury that left the lineup unbalanced on offense.
Adding a top Set up man on a team with a lot run suppression leading to low scoring games is more effective in terms of added wins than a team where a set up man is missing but…
(1) the team’s starters don’t pitch deep often. Greinke
extremely minor and speculative point but perhaps O’Day’s wife views moving to a bigger media market as an opportunity to advance her career in L.A.
Being a journalist in Washington DC is a pretty big deal if it’s serious journalism. The only other major world political brand comparable would be NY Times, no?
Not sure if she still is, but she used to be a political correspondent for Fox News. Don’t think you can be in any better market for political news than DC.
i just googled it and apparently she works for fox news. so, kind of
so you’re saying she doesn’t do serious journalism.
NYM…that’d be great.
Lol at MLBtraderumors deleting my comment seemingly only because I said “Fox News”.
Nice.
Mark Polishuk or Tim Dierkes I would like to know why my comments are not being approved. As a new user to this site, I’m confused as to why they are being deleted. I have read the commenting policy and I can’t find anything in it that would be an explanation for why my comments are not being approved.
I can see the pillows going for brothers the way their trying to add bullpen depth he’s well worth the chance and he won’t be to expensive what so ever because of his last two seasons,
Phillies*
The Angels need another lefty in the pen, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they brought Brothers in as a possible solution.
Evidently, the Red Sox are no longer suitors for O’Day, if they ever really were? They added Kimbrel, but the rest of the bullpen is the same under-achieving crew as last year. Koji’s 40 and is coming off a broken wrist, Tazawa peters out every August and Ross, Breslow and Layne are essentially batting practice pitchers. They seem to have their hopes pinned on Brandon Workman, which is a big question mark. O’Day going to Boston would pretty much seal the pen problems once and for all and they could move forward.
Tazawa is great until hes completely overused. With Kimbrel he should see a lighter load and greater effectiveness. Meanwhile not only Workman but Wright, who could be great as a change of pace guy, and probably sending a bumped-out starter to the pen after a SP signing (Im thinking Kelly, but he did have a hot end of the season, so spring training would likely determine the starter who gets bumped). What they truly need is a lefty in the pen, which makes me think of Brian Johnson who seems blocked at SP for the near future.
they’re also committing matt barnes to the bullpen for next year. he’s been touch and go to this point but he’s young, throws 95 and had been trying to be a starter up to this point, so there’s at least a chance full-time pen work agrees with him
it wont happen, but the Detroit team should look at Rex, as they need a lefty, and it would give the new pitching coach a chance to show what he can do.
Surprised would be an understatement for how many Rockies fans felt when Brothers was DFA’d as well. Apparently the Rockies brain trust (and I use that term loosely) thought more of Jason Gurka, Yohan Flande, and Rafael Ynoa among others than anyone else in baseball. The Rockies front office has to be the worst in baseball.
Just looking at these comments shows that fans of at least 4 teams are interested in Brothers. I get that fans aren’t the front office, but he obviously has interest from the rest of the league. How was a trade not worked out?
O’Day’s wife is Fox News Channel’s Elizabeth Prann (link to foxnews.com) who also has ties to Atlanta. I’d wager pretty heavily that O’Day stays on the East Coast. The DC area and NY area would probably be the least disruptive to his wife’s career but with all the money a MLB pitcher like O’Day will make and the amount of travel he already has to do, I would only be surprised if he signed with a team west of the Mississippi. But, if the price is right, I’m sure any of the 30 teams could land him.