Royals closer Wade Davis is “someone who interests the Dodgers,” reports Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports. The Dodgers, of course, have one of the best closers in all of baseball in the form of Kenley Jansen and actually rank first in the National League in bullpen ERA, but as Heyman notes, that didn’t stop the club from pursuing a massive bullpen upgrade this winter when they made a run at Aroldis Chapman. The Dodgers have been plagued all season by rotation injuries, and adding a reliever of Davis’ ilk would lessen the workload from a starting staff that is presently a bit of a question mark for Los Angeles. President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman is quite familiar with Davis, having drafted him while serving eas GM of the Rays. Davis, 30, has a 1.10 ERA in 32 2/3 innings this season and has a $10MM club option on his contract for the 2017 season. Theoretically, he could step into the ninth inning for the Dodgers next season if a trade does come to fruition, though it’d be a surprise if they didn’t at least attempt to re-sign Jansen.
A few more notes on the market for relievers…
- The Braves are getting some hits on right-hander Jim Johnson, per ESPN’s Jayson Stark. With Lucas Harrell traded to the Rangers and little interest in names like Erick Aybar and Gordon Beckham to this point, Johnson could seemingly be the next Braves chip to move. He’s toting a pedestrian 4.58 ERA on the season but, as Stark points out, has pitched to a much improved 2.49 ERA since coming off the disabled list in early June. His strong 56 percent ground-ball rate and respectable marks of 7.6 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 lead ERA estimators to project a mark more in the mid-3.00s than his current figure, and Johnson’s $2.5MM salary figures to be appealing to clubs looking for an affordable middle relief arm.
- Royals righty Luke Hochevar is a potential target for the Giants as San Francisco searches for relief upgrades, tweets ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick. Hochevar’s name hasn’t been out there much, but the mutual option on his contract means that he’ll almost certainly be a free agent at season’s end, as such options are rarely exercised. The former No. 1 overall pick has settled in as a quality bullpen arm in Kansas City and has recovered nicely from 2014 Tommy John surgery, as he owns a 3.86 ERA with 9.6 K/9, 2.2 BB/9 and a 36.1 percent ground-ball rate in 37 1/3 innings this year. While his velocity isn’t at its 95.5 mph peak from the 2013 season, he’s still averaging a strong 94.4 mph in 2016, and SIERA pegs him at a more favorable 3.16.
- The walk-off loss suffered by the Nationals last night following a blown save from Jonathan Papelbon has only intensified their pursuit of a dynamic late-inning relief arm, tweets Jon Morosi of MLB.com. Washington has been tied to a number of bullpen arms as of late, including Davis, Andrew Miller and David Robertson. FOX’s Ken Rosenthal writes that the Nats considered Joe Ross, Lucas Giolito, Trea Turner, Reynaldo Lopez and Victor Robles untouchable in Chapman talks, so one can imagine that they’d be reluctant to part with any of those names in other trade talks (though Miller’s two years of control beyond 2016 might at least make such an idea more palatable).
- Blue Jays manager John Gibbons told reporters, including Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet (Twitter link), that following yesterday’s acquisition of Joaquin Benoit, Toronto is “probably” more likely to pursue rotation help than additional bullpen depth.
- ESPN’s Buster Olney tweets that given the high asking price for impact relievers and the desire of clubs like the Nationals and Giants to acquire such an arm, it makes sense for the Pirates to listen to offers on Mark Melancon. Left-hander Tony Watson could step into the ninth inning in his stead, and Melancon would be a highly sought-after commodity that could bring back a significant return for the Bucs. Earlier this morning, I discussed that very possibility with Josh Taylor of TribLive Radio in Pittsburgh (link), suggesting that the Pirates have the pitching depth to absorb the loss and could recoup greater value right now than through a potential qualifying offer, which seems unlikely from the budget-conscious Pirates anyhow. There’s yet to be any concrete word that Pittsburgh will market its closer, however.
Just a heads up, it says “storng” instead of “strong” in the Jim Johnson section:)
David Robertson for Taylor,Lopez and so on?
Miller for Chick,Beede,,Arroyo and so on?
Johnson to Red Sox for Owens and so on?
Aybar,Beckham will get moved in August so will Nick M. A.J.,Vizcaino could get moved by Monday and long shots Juilo Teheran,Freeman.
Davis doesn’t get moved.
Can’t see the Giants giving up that much, and in the process, gutting their middle-of-the-road farm – for Miller.
That Miller trade isn’t enough. They would only trade for a blow-them-out-of-the-water offer, and that’s a good but not overwhelming deal. That package could probably get wade Davis though.
If I were the white sox I would take that deal right away. No way the nationals give up a young CF and Lopez for a mediocre reliever who would be very similar to Papelbon as they both are not great. I saw on Bleacher Report a trade proposal of Wade Davis to the Nationals for Robles, Fedde, Voth, Cole, and Glover, Honestly I think that is a fair offer. No way they get Giolito or Turner. Royals need young arms and Nats need someone to take over closer instead of The Cancer (Papelbon)
^Swap Robles for Michael Taylor, and I can swallow that trade. But really, is Cole worth anything at this point?
I refuse to give up and so on. He has a real future in MLB. I see hall of fame potential from that guy.
I think it’s cool how Josh Taylor can pitch in the Diamondbacks system and host for TribLive Radio
Pirates need to shop Melancon. Not doing so would be equivalent to not doing your job.
It’d be risky since they’re only 2.5 out of a playoff spot, but I agree they should. Maybe try and package cutch and melancon to Cleveland for Frazier, Aiken and Sheffield. They could try and get naquin but he’s probably untouchable now.
I don’t see any way that Cleveland would be interested in that deal. That’s a bunch to give up for a rental reliever and a 29 year old CF’er that’s having by far the worst year of his career. Would be a huge mistake IMO.
I think the Nats match up very well with the Pirates if they are willing to deal MM to a potential playoff partner. But I don’t think they’d be sticking to their organizational plan if they don’t at least dangle him.
I wonder if the Dodgers regret voiding the deal they had for Chapman with Cincinnati?
I think that would be a very safe assumption.
No I would say it probably hurts a little but the nixed trade has actually turned out well health withstanding. If you were to believe the rumors of Peraza, Holmes, and schebler as pieces sent for chapman I’d say the Dodgers made out well with what they received in Thompson and who knows maybe Montas which is probably a little more likely to get flipped now. In no way is Thompson even comparable to Chapman or anyone else in the package for that matter, but all the potential backlash and unknowns make it more palatable. Plus Holmes and Montas are in play so it’d be interesting to see what moves are made.
I’d be pretty surprised if they did regret it. Friedman and Co. nixed the trade because of Chapman’s off-the-field issues, so nothing has really changed.
I’m of the opinion that the FO wasn’t sold on AC’s emotional state; I believe they were more concerned about disrupting the dugout chemistry they intended to improve
no, I don’t think so. At the time of the trade, there were too many unknowns for that prospect package imo
A rotation with Maeda, McCarthy and Norris as the top three is more than a bit of a question mark for the Dodgers, it’s a huge question mark. The problems of an overworked bullpen are also beginning to show. Liberatore, Blanton and Jansen have all had weak to poor outings over the past week.
They do need another piece in the pen to push everyone behind Jansen back. The rotation is a huge question mark. Strip/Frias would fit well in the long man role. In three phases of the game they are one piece away which equals three pieces away which makes me think big game hunting is unrealistic.
That’s assuming Kersh is back healthy in the thick of the race before season end.
What about his 2016 performance makes it any less likely that Johnson will fold in meaningful games down the stretch if traded than he did after going to the Dodgers last year?
Nats have a large list of untouchables which I can understand as a Pirates fan since we have a similarly sized list. We seem to match up well given that we can offer Melancon for a cheaper return than some of the other names would require. What would the Nats need to give up for Melancon? AJ Cole + Fedde? At this point, I think our organization has a decent pipeline of position players, just need to stockpile young arms.
Would a package of Davis and Edinson Volquez interest the Dodgers? Both are rumored to be available.
Assuming Urias and DeLeon are untouchable, I think a package of Verdugo/Bellinger, Montas, Rahme, and a lottery ticket would be a good conversation starter.
Their manager said, Toronto is “probably” more likely to pursue rotation help than additional bullpen depth. I am sure someone misunderstood something in the translation because the management signed the free agent catcher Kratz, who could be a needed guy during the next five weeks, although I agree with the manager, esp if To decides to move Sanchez into the BP.. And also, congrats to him for achieving a recent one-run win