The Yankees “could make a serious run” at left-hander Wei-Yin Chen, reports Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News. A source tells Feinsand that the Yankees will be one of the many teams involved in talks for the Scott Boras client, and in an ideal world, the Yanks would love to add a left-handed starter. David Price, of course, is the top lefty name on the market, but Chen will have a much more reasonable asking price, Feinsand hears, as he’s seeking a five-year deal. GM Brian Cashman said at the GM Meetings that while talent trumps handedness, in an ideal setting he’d be able to balance out his rotation a bit while also providing an upgrade. The Yankees are more than familiar with Chen, having watched him pitch for the division-rival Orioles for the past four seasons.
A few more notes from the AL East…
Orioles righty Dylan Bundy has been shut down from Arizona Fall League action after experiencing forearm tightness, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reports. It’s certainly possible that the move is primarily precautionary, as Baltimore will no doubt handle Bundy with extreme care, but it’s obviously not encouraging given his lengthy struggle with arm injuries.- The Orioles have reached out to catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia’s camp, a source tells Rich Dubroff of CSNMidAtlantic.com. Baltimore has interest in Saltalamacchia in the event that Matt Wieters rejects their qualifying offer, as he’s widely expected to do. According to Dubroff, if and when Wieters declines, the O’s will have interest in adding a veteran backstop. Dubroff doesn’t explicitly state it, but based on his reporting, it seems that the Orioles view the QO as the only means by which they’ll be able to retain their longtime catcher.
- While the Red Sox have a clear need in the rotation, they also lacked hard-throwing relievers in 2015 and, with a closer on the wrong side of 40, would be wise to explore the trade market for dominant bullpen arms, opines Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald. Lauber lists Drew Storen, Aroldis Chapman and Mark Melancon as potential targets, noting that the GM of each respective club at least hinted at the possibility of each pitcher’s availability this week. Chapman is well-known to be available, and that’s the wide belief on Storen, also. Lauber notes that both the Reds and Nats have needs in the outfield and in other areas of depth for the Red Sox, making alignment on a trade possible in theory.
- Lauber’s colleague, Michael Silverman, writes in a separate column that trading for an ace might not happen for the Red Sox this winter. Silverman quotes execs from the Mets, Athletics and White Sox on the availability (or lack thereof) of the Mets’ young rotation, Sonny Gray and Chris Sale. The strong reluctance from teams with controllable pitching suggests that Sox fans shouldn’t get their hearts set on prying a front-line arm away from a club that possesses a young ace (or, in the Mets’ case, young aces) — as such pitchers are of the rarest breed.
- Rays president of baseball operations Matt Silverman (not to be confused with the similarly named Boston columnist referenced in the previous bullet) spoke with Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times about his penchant for trades since moving to the top of the team’s baseball operations pyramid. As Topkin notes, Silverman has made 13 trades in 13 months, though the young exec says he didn’t necessarily plan to be so active. Silverman explained, though, that the team’s financial inability to compete for top-tier free agents and top international players (at least the ones who could make an immediate impact) forces him into the trade market. Topkin reports that the Rays aren’t even soliciting interest in Evan Longoria, nor are they planning to do so, but they’d like to move James Loney and the remaining $8MM on his contract to increase payroll flexibility and open at-bats for other players.
- Topkin also reports (via Twitter) that the Rays are one of many clubs showing interest in free agent lefty Rich Hill. The journeyman southpaw dominated in four starts for the Red Sox late last season, creating a good deal of intrigue around him. Unlike most free agents, Hill’s lack of track record and status as an upside play shouldn’t price him out of the Rays’ range.
- The Blue Jays would like to add at least two starting pitchers and ideally three, interim GM Tony LaCava told Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet (Twitter link). In a full column, Nicholson-Smith writes that while adding that type of pitching is the goal there’s no plan to move pieces such as Jose Bautista or Edwin Encarnacion to make it happen. The Jays aren’t interested in detracting from a strength to enhance a weakness.
- Additionally of note from Nicholson-Smith’s column is that the Blue Jays remain uncertain as to the role of Roberto Osuna in 2016. While Osuna was a brilliant closer for the team in 2015 despite his status as the league’s youngest player (20), he was being developed as a starter and could have more long-term value in that role. The team’s ability to add rotation arms this winter will likely impact what role Osuna and Aaron Sanchez occupy in 2016.
I wonder what a deal to send Melancon back to Boston would look like
Maybe an infielder more specifically a first baseman
Seems a little light, no? Plus i doubt the Pirates will be looking into a 1B too much, especially with having to pay Morse at least 5 mil (unless someone takes him off their hands) and with Bell so close
Light? Melancon is an expensive, albeit good, reliever on a one year deal. He’ll fetch a nice piece, but he’s not going to bring back a big haul. Anyone looking to give up big prospects for a reliever on a one year deal will focus their efforts on Chapman.
Hanrahan brought back a pretty nice return. And im not saying theyll get someones top 5 prospect, but something closer to that Hanrahan deal doesnt seem completely out of the question.
Hanrahan was also packaged with Brock Holt so that’s hard to compare.
Pirates need some starting pitching to fill the gap of Burnett and more than likely Locke, so a swap of Melancon for a starting pitcher coupe be a possibility.
Melancon for Brian Johnson?
No just no. The Sox already had Melancon once and it failed miserably. No.
Not saying we should do that deal, but I always thought the Sox gave up on Melancon too quickly when he got hurt.
Salty is a perfect Duquette type rehab candidate he targets and wouldn’t shock me one bit for him to sign him on a split type MiLB/MLB contract and for Salty to have another of his miracle comebacks, like he did after Boston rescue him from Texas. Might just last for 1-2 seasons again, but Camden yards fits his power well, just like Fenway did.
would be nice to see and O’s are going to be needing a catcher this year.
They have Joseph and Clevenger.
Right! So they need a catcher
BoSox should target the Mets, who have 4 desirable pitchers, and blow Alderson away with an offer for Syndergaard. Sandy is pragmatic enough to know that he can’t hold on to all 4 guys for very long, because the organization has needs in other areas and the money for pitching is ultimately limited. No team can afford to carry 4 aces. Yes, they could be carried for one more season, but then again, the opportunity to score 2 or 3 BA top 50 prospects is happening now. It may not be there ever again.
The Mets probably will want to build that team with their strong pitching. I don’t see them trading anyone in that rotation outside of Zach Wheeler. He is probably the one to get dealt and if I’m the Sox, I would be all over Wheeler.
Any team can afford to carry 1 first year arbitration eligible ace and 3 per-arbitration eligible aces.
“No team can afford to carry 4 aces. . .Yes, they could be carried for one more season”
They’re all at different stages, however. None of them hit free agency for three more seasons, and three of them don’t even hit Arb until 2018. The Mets could easily carry deGrom, Harvey, Syndergaard, Matz, and Wheeler for the next three years, not one.
They are not presently 4 aces. Maybe 2 or 3 are, but not Matz or Wheeler. Matz might become capable of being an ace, if he can continue having outrageous success, despite his lack of velocity. You assume they are all aces to try and conjure up some inconsistency with what I said, but there is none there. I never said the Mets have 4 aces. They have 4 desirables.
The opportunity to trade one of them for a boatload of young, controllable talent is limited. They could have a bad year, they could get hurt, there could be no takers down the road. The bird in hand …
I never called them ‘aces’, you did. And you clearly did. You wrote ‘No team can afford to carry 4 aces’ in reference to these four pitchers.
But regardless, you’re still wrong because they can absolutely carry all four of them (five, counting Wheeler) for at least the next three years. The ‘opportunity to trade one of them’ is not ‘limited’. Most of them aren’t free agents for five more years, and if they continue to pitch great, even with only one or two arb years remaining, they’d still be a valuable commodity.
But further, this sentence: “You assume they are all aces to try and conjure up some inconsistency” makes it pretty clear that you read something in my post that wasn’t there. I honestly don’t know where you got that from.
The yankees are dumb. Let them trade another draft pick for a mediocre mid rotation starter when you’re trying to get younger and acquire more prospects. That makes about as much sense as rather paying a extra 5 million dollars to get Stephen Drew over Yoan Moncada. I’m glad to be a Sox fan these days.
And ohh by the way, say no to Melancon again. Been there done that.
Moncada cost a lot more than Drew.
The yankees bid 25 million and the Sox paid 31.5 million. Sure there was the 100% penalty but are we talking about the new york yankees here or are we talking about the Mets?
So that was about 13 MM more…
No it was about 6.5 million more plus the penalty. Still this is the yankees. Money shouldn’t be a issue. Either way, I’m glad the Sox have him and they’re not so dumb to let him go by for just money.
6.5 plus an extra 100% of 6.5 is 13….
I too make fun of teams for things they didn’t do yet using statistics that don’t actually exist.
Melancon for Travis Shaw and Robby Ross Jr.