12:10pm: Texas would like the Yankees to take on a portion of Miller’s salary in the event of a trade, writes Wilson. Miller is under contract through 2018 at $9MM per year.
11:30am: The Rangers are also in talks with the Padres regarding righty Andrew Cashner, per Sullivan (Twitter link).
11:24am: In addition to Moore, the Rangers and Rays are also discussing Odorizzi and Drew Smyly, but not Chris Archer, tweets TR Sullivan of MLB.com. As for the bullpen, the Rangers are eyeing Yankees relief ace Andrew Miller, according to Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Twitter link).
9:04am: Looking to upgrade their rotation and bullpen prior to the Aug. 1 trade deadline, the scuffling Rangers are engaged in trade talks with the Rays, reports Jon Morosi of MLB Network (Twitter links). The clubs have discussed left-handed starter Matt Moore, to whom the Rangers have been connected previously, as well as relievers. Texas was also reportedly interested in Rays right-handed starter Jake Odorizzi as recently as July 5.
While the 54-38 Rangers hold a 4 1/2-game lead in the AL West, they and the second-place Astros have been going in opposite directions lately. Texas has dropped 11 of its last 14, and its rotation is missing righty Colby Lewis and southpaw Derek Holland – both of whom are on the 60-day DL – and has gone without ace Yu Darvish for most of the season. Darvish made his second return of the year Saturday, but the Rangers can’t necessarily count on him to be at full strength.
Even if Darvish and Cole Hamels stay healthy and effective, there are questions about the rest of the Rangers’ starters. A.J. Griffin hasn’t lasted longer than five innings in a start since May 2; Martin Perez has yielded 12 earned runs in 9 2/3 frames over his previous two outings, and his ugly 1.0 K-BB percentage this year ranks second to last among qualified starters; and Kyle Lohse has only made one start in Texas, a five-inning, six-earned run showing on July 9, since signing a minor league deal in May. It’s worth noting that Lohse was woeful as a Brewer last year, logging a 5.85 ERA in 152 1/3 innings.
On paper, Moore would be an upgrade over each of Griffin, Perez and Lohse. Considering the 27-year-old is under control through 2019 via reasonably priced club options, he’d also fit into president and general manager Jon Daniels’ plan to acquire pitching capable of helping the Rangers beyond this season. Moore isn’t without his flaws, though, as the previous Tommy John recipient has recorded somewhat pedestrian numbers this year (4.33 ERA, 7.58 K/9, 2.63 BB/9, 36.9 percent ground-ball rate) through 116 1/3 innings. His velocity is at its highest point since 2013, however, and he’s throwing more strikes and going deeper in games, as FanGraphs’ Jeff Sullivan wrote earlier this month.
In addition to potentially acquiring Moore, the Rangers would also like to bolster their bullpen, which has both the second-worst ERA (5.03) and K-BB percentage (8.9) in the majors – bettering only the Reds’ dreadful group in each category. Among their innings leaders, Sam Dyson, Jake Diekman (who’s on the DL with a finger laceration), Anthony Barnette, Matt Bush and Alex Claudio have fared well this season. Shawn Tolleson and Cesar Ramos have endured miserable years, on the other hand. Rays right-handed swingman Erasmo Ramirez has come up in trade rumors throughout the season, but he hasn’t performed well and it’s unclear if Texas is interested in him.
Morosi’s last tweet before the one linked here said “#Rangers/#Rays talks have included Tampa Bay bullpen arms, as well, sources say. Texas wants to add a late-inning reliever and starter.” so I’d say they’re negotiating with the Rays about relievers
That came 10 hours earlier, so I missed it. Thanks for pointing it out.
I can see the rangers getting Odorizzi and a reliever but it might come at a high price
not sure what bullpen arm would be included. wondering if boxberger might be looked at by the Rangers
It could be cedeno.Might be colome which would make it expensive package. Box is hard because of his injury this year.
Rangers get Andrew Cashner
PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE!
Considering the Rays bullpen outside of Alex Colome has been horrendous this year, I would be surprised if they trade a reliever. Colome isn’t even arb eligible yet so they would have no reason to deal him.
I’m not saying they have a reason but as a closer on a bad team he’s not untouchable. If a team makes them a tremendous offer the Rays have shown their willingness to deal.
Will be interesting to see if dominos start falling.
The only reliever besides Colome worth getting is Xavier Cedeno. He was a great LOOGY last year but the Rays have been trying to use him more vs RHP. FIP is good, would be a nice addition to Moore.
It will be interesting to see what Moore would get for the Rays. I’m thinking Profar?
Doubt it
Ya the Rays will probably ask for more
I would expect the Rays to ask for Profar, he is an upgrade at least defensively over their current group. It will be interesting to see JD’s answer, as he has previously held onto Gallo and Profar pretty tightly. I guess it all depends on if Texas still views Moore as a #2 guy or a solid #3 or #4 starter, we would have a couple of years ago and Moore has long-term control, which is expensive. My guess is it would end up being some kind of package that would swap Profar + some and Moore + insert decent bullpen option.
Texas should either commit to Profar and Gallo or trade them. They have some much depth it’s incredible that these guys can’t find an everyday home on the diamond and Gallo can’t even get to the bigs. If I were Texas I’d go after Archer. Maybe something like Archer Colome for Gallo Profar. Obviously more pieces involved but that being the basis
Gallo is hitting like .250 at AAA so he still has work to do
You obviously don’t understand how crowded things are in the Rangers infield as there are no guys underproducing or injured except maybe at 1b and Profar, Gallo and Moreland can’t all play 1b, can they? Geez
Moreland is a free agent and is probably gone. Gallo either traded this year or is the starting 1B next year. btw Gallo hitting .250 would be a lot of homers. You’re talking about a guy with similar power profile to Adam Dunn. I would love for him to hit .250!
I fully understand that’s why I said there depth is incredible…geez
Actually Moore Is a free agent at the end of the year I believe. If the rangers could pull off a trade for Odorizzi , that would be huge and somehow they get andrew miller
under team control till 2019. profar has to be involved if it’s a young pitcher with term. he would take over for miller who can then be shifted to of.
the rangers could be in a bidding war with the cubs for miller I think. If the cubs wanted miller, I am sure they can make a deal without giving up schwarber , they have a deep enough farm system.
Really wish the White Sox were smart enough to jump into this seller’s market for pitching. They could get one heck of a haul to jumpstart the rebuild.
all the white sox really need is another big bat like jay bruce or CarGo. Then maybe another pitcher
They are far too inconsistent to be a legitimate threat. They’ve proven they can play great baseball when everything is going well, and they’ve proven they can play horrible baseball when everything is going horribly. They need at least a couple more consistent hitters if they want to make any sort of a run, and even then, it’s a stretch.
Rangers need to make the best deal they can around Gallo. Way to many strikeouts for this guys liking. Get a star SP!
Strikeouts are a part of the game Trout lead the league in strikeouts and won the MVP. Chris Davis is a good comparison for Gallo most teams would want Chris Davis on their team especially with the ability to stick at 3B. Davis has something like 300+ strikeouts over the past season and a half btw. Power is a premium thing now.
He may end up Chris Davis like but I still think he’s worth more as a trade piece if it allows them to keep Profar and Brinson (though more so Profar).
Andrew Cashner and Brad Hand could be something for Texas. Esp if they ultilize cashner out.of the bullpen and use brinson tate ortiz as means to secure a couple arms for the rotatiom.
I can see the padres wanting michael de leon, brett martin, and connor sadzeck
“Texas would like the Yankees to take on a portion of Miller’s salary in the event of a trade”
Is he serious. No way the Yankees pick up any portion of Millers contract. He’s a huge bargain at $9MM per over the next 2 seasons.
“No way the Yankees pick up any portion of Miller’s contract”
Plenty of ways, and plenty of precedence for doing so. This must be your first trade deadline…
Yankees won’t have to eat money if they trade Miller. Daniels sounds foolish there.
You are absolutely correct.
I thought the exact same thing.. Kick in money to offset the salary of a top 3 reliever in all of MLB, which isn’t even a crazy salary to begin with… Next thing we’re going to hear is that he’s offering Josh Hamilton or Colby Lewis or Prince Fielder… #jokes
Agreed no way do the Yanks eat money on one of the top relievers in the game
Mentioning that Daniels sounds foolish implies that you know what the Yankees are receiving in the deal. If JD were to send both Profar and Gallo to NY for Miller, then the Yankees darn well better pony up a significant portion of his salary. I’m not saying that’s happening, but Profar and a couple of the Rangers top 10 would warrant salary relief.
exactly- NYY could eat some salary if it led to greater return, as Phils did in dealing Hamels to Tex last year.
Hamels was still due about $80MM roughly when the trade was made for a little over 3 plus years remaining on his contract. Miller due $9MM per for 2017 and 2018 and about $ 4MM remaining this year. The money due isn’t an Apples to Apples comparison.
Plus the Phillies were looking to dump salary the Yankees aren’t looking to dump salary at least not Miller’s salary.
There have been rumors that Cashner doesn’t like it in SD and reading between the lines it does seem that way. That could definitely sway him to turning down a QO (though the really weak SP FA market matters too). This is another way of saying Padres shouldn’t trade cashner for whatever they can get, they should need to get 2 legitimate prospects (not saying top 100 guys of course) to trade him.
The Padres are not risking a 17 million dollar player next year. They are going to see what they can get for him at the deadline, and move on. The padres are better off seeing what kind of value they can get on the market with their freed up salary space then retaining Cashner at that rate, as in signing cheap players coming off a down year and hope they rebound for flipping for prospects next year, ala Pom and Bud Norris.
As for a fair return for Cashner it would be 1 or 2 lower level prospects, think in terms of teams 20-30 guys. maybe a bit more depending on the details and other pieces
They risked it with Ian Kennedy in a much tougher SP market. Yes Kennedy was better than Cashner’s been this year but the SP market is awful this year. They shouldn’t trade him for fringe prospects. Cashner is almost certainly going to turn down the QO when offered and sign long term at 4/44-50 or so from a desperate team
If the reports are true and cashner wants out of SD he could reject the QO and a team could sign him to 4 or 5 year deal if his asking price is reasonable. 4 or 5 years 10-12 mill a season I can see many teams willing to sacrifice their highest pick for him at a reasonable price. Which if its a top 10 protected team they lose the highest next pick. If a team gets 1 or 2 comp picks for their own players they could part w their 1st knowing they have extra 1sts.
Thin market makes player like cashner more valuable. People thought kennedy shouldnt have received a QO. Turned out good for the padres. Doubt cashner accepts 1 year 17 million when he couod get 4 and 44 or 4 and 48 elsewhere.
True, one of my brother’s friend is his personal barber and he told the barber he’ll likely sign somewhere else next season. He was talking s**t about the Padres ownership too (how they didn’t resign Upton and more). But giving Cashner a QO is still risky, so I say Preller should find/do a Rodney type-trade.
Cashner for Connor Sadzeck… Is that considered too much?
I think Sadzeck is too much to give up for half a season of a pitcher with a 5.05 ERA. I’d hope Daniels would pass on that.
Cashner=Big Hat / No Cattle. Send him to Texas and tell the barber to shave his head and stupid beard for a going away gift.
The cubs better join in on the bidding war for miller.
They would if the Yanks weren’t so insistent on Schwarber. At that price I’d rather not
the cubs can make another package to get miller without giving up schwarber. Vogelbach + Torres , Happ or Candelario and a pitching prospect gets it done. Vogelbach is basically a Schwarber clone, has power and can be a dh/ first basemen
I’ve been saying that all along but I’ve grown tired of hearing the Yanks say it starts with Schwarber. Cubs can easily put together a package for Miller but I say if the are adamant about getting Schwarbs then there is nothing to talk about go get bullpen elsewhere. I really want Boone Logan from the Rox. Not near the cost, lefty, and still very solid
I agree, the Cubs could offer Baez, or Happ and Almora for Miller. Baez would help the Yanks at third or as a utility man. playing everyday.
The Cubs are not trading Javy Baez for Andrew Miller. Are you nuts? And you think Javy is just some utility man huh? Like the yankees would even trade Miller for a utility type in the first place. Javy Baez would be the Yankees best third baseman. Best second baseman. Best first basemen. They would love to get Javy but he is too good to part with let alone for a relief pitcher!!
By the way Baez is not a “utiity” player. He starts around 5 days per week. He just starts at different positions
That’s the definition of utility, moron. Doesn’t mean he’s not a starter
The Yankees should trade Miller to the Cubs for Vogelbach, Candelario, and Underwood.
That’s not enough. Look to what the Red Six gave San Diego for Kimbrel as a template. The Pads received two top 50ish prospects, an MLB ready position player and a talented low level arm. Miller has more value than Kimbrel, so I would think the minimum offer would be something like Torres, Happ, Zagunis and one of the youngsters in Eugene.
The pads got 2 top 100 prospects, Margot and Guerra, and 2 fringy organizational top 20s. They did not get anyone who is MLB ready, Margot just made it to AA last year. And Kimbrel is arguably the best closer in baseball. The Yanks need to either not sell or lower their expectations on what they will get. Torres and Happ rank higher then Margot does now according to the mid season list. Maybe go those 2 and a couple low level lottery tickets. That’s all the higher I’d go for him. Honestly I think the Yanks realize they aren’t going to get what they thought out of him and ultimately keep him
Kimbrel WAS the best closer in baseball he hasn’t been for the past 2 seasons. Miller is better and less expensive, salary wise.
Margot and Guerra were BA #52 and #56 coming into this season. Allen was a top 8 org prospect and Asuaje was going into AAA. Miller has also been better than Kimbrel recently and is owed about $12 million less than Kimbrel, so his value is higher.
Zagunis has had a good season, so if you would rather switch out Vogelbach or maybe McKinnley as the 3rd/4th piece that’s fine. My point was more that the Yankees aren’t trading Miller for a package headlined by Vogelbach or Candelario. If the Cubs want to stay away from trading pieces off of the big league team, the market has shown us that multiple years of an elite RP will take 2 of Torres, Happ or Jimenez as the headliners plus other good prospects.
Rangers, go get Cashner. He is a lot better than his record shows..
We checked in on him earlier in the year, so it wouldn’t surprise me at all.
maybe so, but any improvement might well be offset by moving from SD to Texas. For his career, 9 and 26 with a 4.60 on the road.
I don’t think the Rangers can swing a deal with the Yanks who are deluding themselves that they are still in it this year. I smell a blockbuster with the Rays and it costing the Rangers Profar, Moreland and 1-3 top minors guys.
Moreland’s a FA at the end of the year. Why would the Rays have any interest in him as part of a trade?
You’re right that the Yankees are probably kidding themselves about the postseason chances this year. But the Rangers brain trust is kidding themselves if they think there would be any shortages of suiters for Millers services if the Yankees made him available. You could probably count on one hand the number of closers better than Miller and still have at least a couple of fingers left over to count something else. Just my opinion but any discussion of Miller to the Rangers from the Yankees starts with Gallo. That’s just my opinion.
The only type of player the Rangers would consider trading Gallo for is a starter they controlled for multiple years. The Rangers won’t be trading him for a reliever. If that means the Yankees keep Miller, then keep him. I highly doubt Miller gets traded anyway.
There’s no way the rangers are trading Gallo for ANY reliever. Just as the Cubs aren’t trading schwarber for any reliever.
Come on.
Pick up Moore, Miller, and Odorizzi
What about McCann & Miller package to Texas
Too much salary for the Rangers to take on. Even if the Yankees were willing to pay some of McCann’s contract, it wouldn’t be worth it for the Rangers to give up the prospects New York would want in return.
Cashner should bring a solid prospect for the Padres. one of these guys should interest the Padres… Matuella? Jurado? Mendez?
Hey, the Cubs got Rizzo for him! Someone thought he was valuable at some point.
The Rangers want the yanks to eat some of millers salary? Huh? That has to be a joke?
I can definitely see Cashner+Norris going to the Rangers for a AA or higher solid pitching prospect, 2 position player prospects
Cashners a starter rental and if he pitches well the Rangers can shoot him a QO for a pick or try to sign for a 2-3yr deal since the pitching market in the offseasons this seasons thin. Norris is a offensive catcher with significant defensive improvement from the last couple of seasons. Controlled through 2017
You can’t QO guys that you traded for at the deadline. If the Rangers trade for Cashner it’s two months of him and nothing else (they can re-sign him in the offseason but so can the other 29 teams). Norris is controlled through 2018.
Only players who played the entire previous season with the same club can be extended a qualifying offer.
Eovaldi has looked pretty nasty out of the ‘pen recently. Yankees should ship Chapman off ASAP, move Eovaldi to 7th, Betances to 8th, Miller to 9th. Eventually their goal should be to have Eovaldi on display high-leverage situations, and see what kind of interest he gets closer to the deadline.
The problem for the Yanks is that Eovaldi and Pineda are both young with great upside. They just are under achieving. If the Yanks plan on selling they should trade Chapman, Beltran, Gardner, McCann, ane either Pineda or Eovaldi. Miller should only be traded if they can get a front line pitching prospect or Baez or Schwarber.
As a Padres fans I do think a deal with Texas sending both Cashner and Norris would make sense. I would be looking for a return of two of the three between Taveras, Morgan, or Martin. Maybe add a lottery ticket low level prospect.
I’m not high n Gallo. I’d rather a deal be swung with the Cubbies for Miller.
I am not a fan of the Rangers asking the Yankees to cover some of Miller’s salary. His pay is fine for his performance. It just means that they are willing to give more prospect-wise to save money. Texas would still have one of Jake Thompson, Jorge Alfaro, or Nick Williams(maybe Eickhoff as well ha) had they not been willing to give extra for the Phillies to take on Matt Harrison’s contract in the Hamels blockbuster.