The most prominent pitcher the Rangers have pursued as the Aug. 1 non-waiver trade deadline nears is White Sox ace Chris Sale, who’s currently embroiled in a strange controversy, but the sides haven’t made much progress, according to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. With that in mind, Texas’ focus is on the Rays’ starters at the moment, writes Grant. Tampa Bay’s asking price is high for Matt Moore and Jake Odorizzi, though, as it wants powerful corner infielder/outfielder Joey Gallo – Baseball America’s 11th-ranked prospect. The Rangers would only give up Gallo for the Rays’ top starter, Chris Archer, per Grant.
More rumors from the American League:
- While reports have connected the Rangers to Milwaukee catcher and trade candidate Jonathan Lucroy for months, Texas is “not really” in pursuit of the All-Star backstop as of now, reports T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com (Twitter link). The Rangers’ focus is instead on upgrading their pitching.
- The Twins aren’t inclined to deal right-hander Ervin Santana unless they’re “wowed” by an offer, tweets Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com. Despite Santana’s age (33) and their distance from contention, the last-place Twins regard him as a quality future piece. Santana, who’s on a $13.5MM yearly salary through 2018 and has a $14MM club option for 2019, has pitched respectably this season (105 1/ innings, 3.93 ERA, 6.41 K/9, 2.48 BB/9).
- The Tigers, who are 51-46 and just 2.5 games out of a Wild Card spot, are likely to stand pat at the deadline, general manager Al Avila told reporters – including Evan Woodbery of MLive.com (via Twitter) – on Saturday. “It’s not sexy,” admitted Avila, who added that buying is difficult because teams are asking for the Tigers’ best young starters, standout rookie righty Michael Fulmer and southpaw Daniel Norris. “I have been in contact with several GMs in sell mode. The asking price is too high right now, even for fifth starters,” Avila stated (Twitter links via Jason Beck of MLB.com). Avila’s Tigers do have in-house reinforcements on the way in Norris, righty Jordan Zimmermann and right fielder J.D. Martinez, all of whom are on the disabled list. When those three come back, Avila expects Detroit to have enough talent to compete for a World Series (Twitter link via Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press).
- The playoffs continue to look highly unlikely for the Angels, who have won 10 of 12 games and closed the gap in the AL West from 19 1/2 games to a still-high 11 1/2 behind first-place Texas, but their recent hot streak could prevent them from selling, writes Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times. “A lot of things have come together at the exact same time,” GM Billy Eppler told DiGiovanna. “We felt that this club had a lot of positive elements to it. It wasn’t all clicking like it is right now, but the character and the fight within those guys has never faded.” The Halos don’t have the assets to turn into buyers, notes DiGiovanna, so their decision will come down to selling or keeping the roster as it is. If they sell, DiGiovanna lists third baseman Yunel Escobar, setup man Joe Smith and closer Huston Street as Angels who could soon change homes.
Dumb if Angels don’t sell
they can sell but not escobar
Most mismanaged franchise in all of baseball.
seems like every fan of a struggling team says that
When a team struggles to put together a winning product, despite having the best player in the game by far, what would you call it. When they continue to employ the same strategy annually with no results, what do you call that? The Padres are struggling but looking at what they’ve done personel wise the last 6-9 months I wouldn’t call them mismanaged. The Angels are mismanaged because they think they can win by putting the best 9 on the field, ignoring everything else down the line. But when 2, 3, 4 of those guys get hurt (as happens in baseball) the lack of depth and foresight becomes apparent and thus, a team that was badly mismanaged. These are the guys that traded Mike Napoli for Vernon Wells and gave Josh Hamilton $125 million among many, many, many other shortsighted moves.
Hey, I don’t say that about the Braves. Haha
you must be new to the fan base angelsfan31. look at the records of the Angels the past ten years and tell me how mismanaged it is. they’ve made their mistakes recently, but most mismanaged is laughable
Oh come on now. First off, having the best player in baseball doesn’t mean much. Baseball isn’t like basketball where the best player means a lot. In baseball, you just pitch around him. Plus, you only face the guy 4 times a night, while the other guys get 24 to 32 at bats typically. The best player can only do what he can do.
The Angels are certainly paying for some really bad contracts that Moreno forced on the team, and that is bad management. They went for broke, it didn’t pay off. However, this is also a team that had the best record in the American League only 2 years ago, so your comments don’t square with the facts.
How many losing seasons do they have in the last 20 years? When was their last 90 loss season. It’s easy to blame those moves because they’re in hindsight. Those moves are a poor excuse. Reality is that it’s baseball and anything can go wrong. Even the strongest team on paper going into the season. and the best farm system in the game could not save the Angels’ from this season. These are the realities of baseball. And no matter what, 9 times out of 10 the Angels are competing for a playoff spot. Angels fans have it pretty good compared to franchises that have gone 20-30 years without a playoff appearance.
Could be worse. Could be 1992. I wonder how many Angels fans that claim to be such victims and act like they’re entitled to a World Series are young fans who don’t remember life before 2002…
You should go back and watch the Royals, Pirates, and Padres over the last 20 years…
Not really. They can stand pat and just plug holes in the offseason with all the money coming off the books. People keep saying its a weak FA market. Well, the Angels don’t need marquee FA’s at all. They just need to plug holes and add depth.
Look at the players Jerry Dipsnot traded as GM, vs the players that he acquired. Tylor Chatwood straight up for Chris Ianneta. Rockies won that trade. Alexi Amarista for a reliever I would rather forget. Padres won that. Signed Joe Blanton and gave him 18 million over two years. Jordan Waldon straight up for Tommy Hanson. The Braves won that. Morales for Vargas. Neither team won that. Santana for a guy who is no longer in baseball. The Royals won that. Traded one reliever for Rasmous. Angels won that because the other guy is retired. Trumbo for Santiago and Skaggs. The Angels definitely lost that trade. Kendrick for Heaney. So far that favors the Dodgers. But eventually should be a win for the Angels. Getting Street and Gott from the Padres. The Angels have won that one. Conger for Tripono and Perez. The Angels won that one. And can’t for forget trading a 19 year old pitcher that can throw 100 mph, for a guy who is already gone. Braves won that won. Keven Jespen for Matt Joyce. Do I even have to say who won that? When a team has a GM that makes more bad trades, than good trades. That team loses depth in the organization. Oh wait, traded the teams 3 top prospects, for a two month rental in Grienke. The Angels lost that, because Dipsnot wouldn’t give Grienke offer the 6th season when Grienke said he would sign a contract with the Angels. If they would give him a 6 year deal. So when Dipsnot dropped the ball on that, Arte Moreno went and signed Josh Hamilton to what was offered to Grienke.
Tigers would be sellers, of Sanchez, Pelfrey, and Lowe, Unfortunately, there is no takers.
Glad to hear that Al Avila is sticking to his previous comments on standing pat. The future for the Tigers does not look as crippling as it did a year ago especially with the young pieces it received in return during last years trade deadline.
Tigers stand pat? Maybe, but it appears that if they do, it is because the asking price is too high. I can live with that, and so can the Tigers. But 9 days until the trade deadline and a lot can change.
As Avila said, the asking price for players is way too high.
Fire sale on Sale
exactly what I was worried would be the result of the Angels winning streak. hopefully eppler realizes it’s not gonna help this year to stand pat and sells at least smith and Escobar
It’s not just about this season it’s about next season. The Angels have a lot of control over their players and can simply add on this offseason. Just to throw it out there, signing Michael Saunders and Neil Walker solidifies their lineup. Signing Gio Gonzalez and/or Matt Moore solidifies their rotation again. There’s a lot of options on the FA relief market. If you and other fans would take the time to actually look at the Angels roster and the FA market, you’d find there is good reason for the to stay the course.
yeah cause saying they should trade Escobar and smith is really going of course. Actually what I’m saying compared to other angels fans is staying the course, which is agreeing with you. I think you should’ve said that to a fan that wants to trade everyone but trout. And I know what the Angels roster and free agent market is…
should say “going off course” my bad
Wait until the off season to trade Escobar. More teams would get involved and could get more in return for him. RyAn, I agree with you about Matt More, I would rather see them get Doug Fister over Gio Gonzalez though. Michael Saunders, no. It always worries me when a guy finally has a good season, right before they become a free agent. Uboldo Jiemenez is a perfect example of that. I would rather them bring Trumbo back. Put Trumbo in right field. And move Calhoun to left. I like Neil Walker, but he will be expensive. Marwin Gonzalez would be cheaper. A solid hitter. And a very good glove. And the Angels could put him at third or second base.
Putting on the brakes then…
I still think it’s a bad idea to trade Escobar because he’s the table setter they’ve been needing since 2010. Unless they can find a viable replacement. Smith, however, I think should be up for grabs.
Just throwing ideas out there….
How expensive would Carlos Santana be? I can see a scenario where they sign him and deal Cron for some pitching and just have Santana and Albert alternate 1B/DH. And emergency C.
Carlos Santana is one of those guys who hits good for power, but has a bad career batting average. Those players don’t do well at Angels stadium. Josh Hamilton and Vernon Wells being two good examples of that. I could see them trading Cron and Santiago to the Rockies for Blackmon. Then the Angels could trade Escobar to Miami for pitching
Strange that people are crazy for Archer even though Odorizzi has a better era and is under club control through 2021……
The Angels might be the most mismanaged mega-market behemoth in the league, but most mismanaged overall? Not even close.
Mismanaged how? they have 4 starting pitchers in the DL. One who is an ace and 3 that are all capable of being 2/3 guys in a rotation. The injuries have screwed the Halos. If it wasn’t for the injuries this team is definitely contending.
Joe Smith better get traded. He is on his contract year. Cmon now.