Some news from around baseball as we wrap up the weekend…
- With the next international signing window opening on July 2, Baseball America’s Ben Badler profiles (in two separate pieces) 10 youngsters likely to receive seven-figure bonuses. Kevin Maitan is perhaps the mostly highly-touted player of the entire 2016-17 class, as the 16-year-old Venezuelan shortstop is rumored to be in line for a bonus north of $4MM, most likely from the Braves. “Nobody is a can’t miss but it’s hard to see him missing,” one scout says of Maitan. As always, it’s well worth getting a BA subscription to read the full scouting reports and news, including how the Braves, Padres and A’s are connected to two players each, with others rumored to be signing with the Nationals, Astros, Rockies and Mariners.
- The Giants and Dodgers both pursued some major free agent arms last winter, and the results of that hunt are being seen this season, Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times writes. After missing out on Zack Greinke, the Giants pivoted to Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija, who have both been workhorses for the club. The Dodgers weren’t interested in either Cueto or Samardzija at the price of their respective contracts with the Giants, and according to Cueto via an interpreter, the Dodgers never offered him a contract at all. “They were telling me to wait,” Cueto said. After missing out on Greinke, L.A. made two less-expensive signings in Kenta Maeda and Scott Kazmir, though as Shaikin notes, the Dodgers’ main issue this season has been a lack of offense.
- Ubaldo Jimenez was rocked for five runs in just a third of an inning today, the shortest start of his Major League career. Jimenez now has a 6.89 ERA over 62 2/3 IP this season, leading Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun to wonder just how much longer the Orioles can continue using him in the rotation. Jimenez can’t be sent with the minors without his permission, and releasing him isn’t likely with roughly $21MM owed to him through the 2017 season.
- If the Orioles do replace Jimenez in the rotation, Dylan Bundy won’t be a candidate, as Encina details in another Baltimore Sun piece that the O’s are focusing on slowly rebuilding Bundy’s arm strength with an eye towards having him contend for a starting spot next spring. Buck Showalter said the aim is to have Bundy throw 60-75 innings out of the bullpen this season. Bundy, the fourth overall pick of the 2011 draft, has had his career delayed by several injuries, including Tommy John surgery.
- Robinson Cano’s decision to sign with the Mariners after the 2013 season led to shockwaves throughout the second base market that could still be felt in some of this past offseason’s moves, the New York Post’s Joel Sherman writes. Of the six teams (the Cubs, Nationals, Mariners, Pirates, Mets and Yankees) Sherman ranks as the most impacted by Cano’s signing, the Yankees are ranked last, as it is still unclear as to whether Starlin Castro is the club’s long-term answer at the keystone.
The Dodgers are second-rate for a reason. Any questions?
Yes. Tell me again why Friedman and Zaidi are the answer. Because I keep forgetting.
28 years and counting with no end in sight.
Incredible amounts of impatience. Friedman and Zaidi haven’t been there for 28 years so it seems a biiiit silly to say there’s no end in sight after a year and a half. The best organizations build consistency, you don’t just fire your GM every year you don’t win the world series.
So 28 years is not just impatient, it’s incredibly impatient? Interesting. Have to wonder if the fans of any other team are expected to feel that kind of patience. The simple fact is the Whiz Kids haven’t made good trades, and they haven’t made key free agent signings. They also haven’t shown a willingness to fix obvious deficiencies in the roster. Who is to say they are not designing for mediocrity, since that is the result? You say a team should not fire their GM if the team doesn’t win a World Series, but then, I guess it’s okay if the GM fires the manager and coaching staff when they don’t win one.
Which trades have not been “good trades”?. Which FA signings did they pass on that would have been key?
Trading away Gordon, getting Hatcher, Latos, Johnson. Not signing either Grienke or Cueto, and getting Kazmir instead, on not particularly wise terms besides.. Was this supposed to be a hard question?
…ugh….here we go again. Lose a couple of close games and the whining begins again. If Greinke throws a shutout tonight, that cap of yours, doubt, will be upside down again….
Your short-sighted and selective memory is amazing. Gordon, must you be reminded, is in the middle of a suspension for cheating the game and his fellow players. His PED induced performance from last year was a farce and you want to complain about one of four pieces in a trade that also brought Hernandez, Austin Barnes and Howie Kendrick? Come on man….at least be up front about the entire deal you cite as evidence.
You whine about about signing Kazmir (3 years/$48 m), Guggenheim’s failure (wisdom) to NOT throw $206.5/$130 million at Greinke/Cueto. You conveniently don’t mention Maeda ($25 m for 8 years) which was the other alternative to paying Cueto or a Samardzija ($90 million and 5 years). First, it is far, far too soon to be passing judgement on the decision to sign or not sign any of these FA pitchers. The length of the Greinke, Cueto and Samardzija deals suggest that nothing these guys do in the first year of those contracts will justify the enormous expenditures made. That said, Maeda and Kazmir’s performances this year are certainly comparable to what Greinke, Samardzija have produced at significantly less dollars and in each case the financial risk is not even close to what those two teams put up. Cueto has been excellent; but, the guy has a history of arm problems and the Giants stand to lose long term with the deal. If Cueto’s elbow blows out in the next two years they lose most of $130 m and if he performs, the guy walks away or extorts another long-term deal from them or some other team throwing stupid money around. I can find no writer (sabermetric or old-school neanderthal) who defends what AZ did with Greinke. If egos would allow it, that fool Stewart (and the FO that authorized it) would no doubt give Grienke back to LA or any other team that wanted him and eat the final year or more of that deal. It was and remains a foolish deal. You can sit here and write all you want about how Guggenheim should have matched that contract; but you have no credibility. It’s not your money and, as a fan, you are happy to spend the money of others.
As others have said here, AF has been on the job for less than two years. The mistakes of O’Malley, Fox, McCheap, numb-nuts Colleti are not his. He inherited a team that had one of the least talented rosters (notwithstanding a couple of stellar SPs, an aging first baseman and a closer) in MLB and he is transitioning it to a deep and flexible one, combined with arguably one of the top 1-3 farm systems in the game.. I understand you are old and want to win now. So am I. The fact is, the overwhelming majority of independent analysts who cover this game praise what AF is doing. You might not be around to see the results–I am sorry for that; but, Dodger fans have quite a bit to look forward to. Yes, they might not win the division or even make the playoffs this year–get over it.
I said back in the spring this team was built for mediocrity. Here were are, 10 weeks in, and lo and behold, the team is breakeven. The missed opportunities to improve stare us right in the face. And yet, somehow, I am still wrong.
Hmmm.
There was clearly a mandate to reduce payroll. What’s frustrating is that there was a small window past 2 seasons, where the Dodgers could have traded for Cueto, Price or Hammels (at the expense of some prospects), and even this season, Dodgers could have gone for it all one last time by signing more proven bats and arms like Zobrist and Frazier or Cueto and Price. Now the window seems to have closed and they’re going to rebuild with younger talent, which means we may be challenging again in 3-4 years or stay mediocre.. But again the frustration is that we feel as though we were again tricked into believing “Championship or Bust.”. When will we learn, this is a business and they don’t really put above all else 28 years and counting? At least with Fox and McCourts, we could watch the Dodgers on TV… I still hold out hope they will trade for Sonny Gray, Todd Frazier or Ryan Braun at trade deadline, since half the team is hitting .200 or can’t go past 4-5 innings. Hoping injured played come back to have the season of their lives is not a winning solution, #feelbetrayed
Really? Many of the Cuban exorbitant signings including Oliveras were on Friedman’s watch. Which Cuban player has actually worked out? It’s hard to say whether Dee Gordon would have used PED’s if he had stayed a Dodger… I can imagine the pressure he felt producing for a new team and working for a long term contract… at best, it was a trade that really didn’t need to be made… it set off a series of trades just for sake of making them which now seems all a wash. As I posted earlier, if they were more upfront with us that they were going all out to win a WS for 4-5 years then rebuild to a more long term competitive model, the fanbase I think would be more understanding. They made the switch this year without really being honest with us. It doesn’t take 5 ex-GM’s to figure out there were SO MANY questions coming into this season, and a hope that injured players would come back to have career seasons, that this was not a competitive WS team. And we also have the Cubs as a benchmark of how quickly a team can turnaround to be the best team in MLB, if smart decisions are made and not just throwing money at bad contracts and foreign players.
The O’s need to do something with Jimenez. It’s pretty much an automatic loss when he pitches.
Calling the Yankees the most impacted by the Cano signing is as insightful as noticing it gets brighter when the sun comes up. Cano both was and is a terrific player and has a reasonable shot at the Hall of Fame if he can keep it together for three more seasons. Of course they were going to suffer downside. The bigger question is how he will perform in 2020-2023, and I’m sure that played a role in their thinking. As to Sherman’s point about Elsbury/Beltran, they were questionable signings, but I doubt the decision was binary.
Noticing Joel Sherman is the most bias (Yankees) writer on earth is about as insightful as noticing sun comes up… Its hard for me take anything he says seriously
Not sure the term “missed” out on Greinke is as accurate as lucked out. They will be paying 35 mil a year for a long time and he probably is as good now as he will ever be again and he is not pitching like 35 mil per year.
Not sure what “pitching like $35M a year” means but Grienke hasn’t given up a run in his last three starts. After a wobbly start he is back to pitching in elite form. The Dodgers could have afforded him, they just decided cheaper was maybe almost as good. That’s how this FO rolls.
Sigh….even if/when ATL signs Maitan, he’s 4 years minimum away. On Day 1 he might be the top-3 best offensive prospects in ATL’s system. I hope the FO is not waiting until these guys ripen to think they will be able to compete. The continued thought of drafting high-upside high school pitchers that will take years to develop, if they even do so, further indicates that they really are trying to rebuild like the Cubs — and waiting 100 years to win another WS.
To be honest I am kind of cool with him being 6 years out. Thing I loved about the 90s and 00s Braves was their flow at 2B and SS (more so). So if we can have Swanson be who we hope and if he gets away, is replaced by Maitan, that could be ok.
I agree with you on the whole though, this rebuild will take a lot longer if we do not get a strong rotation piece, sustainable bullpen, and a HR hitting OFer.
Passing on Kyle Lewis really is making me scratch my head. He’s not a sure-thing, but this guy is ready to go. Seems like he has the attitude and sense of urgency that would be a breath of fresh-air to our front office and fans that are getting more impatient by the second. I understand the idea of drafting high-potential arms, but if that’s all you got, literally A-L-L you got (outside of Cumberland and handful of others since last year), then you’re setting yourself up to how the market is determined, thinking teams will trade you power-hitting IF your arms fill out.
Bro, they are locking up Swanson. For a long time. Maitan has been profiled by 90% of scouts as a 3rd basemen.
Have heard from a reliable source ATL is attempting to sign not only Maitan, along all the others rumored, but also Lazarito and Gutierrez. Braves were the favorite to sign Lazarito this February. What some people didn’t understand is that ATL had to convince Lazaro to not sign until July 2nd. Have heard some rumblings that they convinced him to wait, not to sign with them, but just to wait. Hoping San Diego snatches him although I don’t think it will happen. I hate to say it but if ATL signs 2-3 of them plus others, they are looking to be VERY dangerous come 2020. Good thing that’s a long way off.
Ur a Padres fan? I heard that the Padres were favorites to sign Lazarito.
Maitan will be up at age 18 at latest 19 he won’t be in the minors for long
Hmmmmm…… U sure about that?