The White Sox are willing to trade away righty James Shields, according to Jon Morosi of MLB.com (via Twitter). Shields has split his season between the Padres and the South Siders, who acquired the 34-year-old earlier in the summer.
The swap that brought Shields to Chicago also re-allocated his salary. San Diego is still on the hook for $31MM of the sizable outlay, leaving the ChiSox responsible for around $27MM from the point of the trade (June 4th) forward. Point being: the heavy lifting of re-valuing his contract has already been accomplished. Shields does still have opt-out rights following the season, which is increasingly relevant, though that doesn’t appear to be a major factor in his potential market.
Of primary importance for teams looking to bolster their rotation is the fact that Shields has been quite effective of late. His overall numbers with Chicago aren’t pretty, but that’s heavily influenced by his first three outings in the new uniform — all of which were more or less disastrous.
Since turning in a decent start on June 23rd, Shields has taken the hill six times without allowing more than two earned runs. Though he isn’t generating many strikeouts, and hasn’t regained any of his lost velocity, the veteran has averaged a robust seven frames per outing in that span and has ably managed contact.
While it’s still difficult to imagine a particularly significant return for a pitcher who is no longer the top-of-the-rotation starter, or even the mid-rotation starter, that he once was, it’s not hard to imagine interest developing. Shields is bidding for a remarkable tenth-straight season with 200 innings, is a highly-respected veteran, and has some post-season experience, so there’s added value beyond his current, on-field ability.
Poor, Poor San Diego. This will be the Diamond Backs in a few years. Responsible for large salaries of players they no longer have.
Dont really see the comparison the Dbacks have 2 guys who are legit MVP candidates, outside of Greinke and Possibly Tomas they have no bad money Greinke is not near Kemp level bad money either, The entire rotation under performed this year. The Dbacks have way more talent than the Padres with near the bottom in league salary only 3 million more than the A’s. The Dbacks still have extreme flexibility to lock up their young players.
Greinke is not near Kemp level bad money …. YET. Fixed it for you. Check back in a year or two.
Funny how a year ago Greinke was the next Maddux who would pitch well into old age, can you give me the powerball numbers since you can predict the future?
So one 15-day DL trip, and he’s done?
That’s fair
Greinke is also borderline personality disorder not that is fair to judge any one on their first year with a new team, it is especially unfair to him.
just to clarify here: there’s a condition called “borderline personality disorder” which Greinke does not have. He’s been treated for anxiety and depression.
Dunno why Kemp gets so much hate.. he has 23 HR 69 RBI’s and a .775 OPS currently. Yes his defense sucks, but his $21,750,000 salary $3.5M paid by Los Angeles Dodgers for next 3 years could be worse. He would be better suited as DH, but that’s another story.
We heard the same stuff and more when he was with LA. He was actually a pretty good outfielder until he messed up his ankle. Always a streaky hitter though.
Does postseason experience count for much if Shields is no longer a top-3 type of starter?
To Marlins for Dee Gordon
LOL.. Dee Gordon has FAR FAR more value than Shields at this point. While it is difficult to put a fair trade value on Shields, Gordon is pretty far outside of what I’d consider reasonable.
How so? Wasnt Gordon just suspended? Isnt next one a whole year?
The Shields for DeShields? After last night anyone looks better for our 5th option.
I would not trade Shields for Deshields if I were Sox GM
He is still young, but hitting an underwhelming .227 at the mlb level with little power does not really entice me to trade for him
Seems like he’d be a perfect fit for Baltimore.
He’s got homer problems. Not a great fit for Camden.
He had homer problems at Petco, one of the friendliest pitchers parks in the game. Unless you are planning on moving the Diamondbacks to the Grand Canyon, there probably isn’t a park where he won’t have homer problems.
Every other pitcher we have has homer problems too. At least shields can give us more than 4 innings, unlike Wright, Wilson, Ubaldo, and Gallardo…
Shields seems to be pitching decent again, I bet he’d be a decent pickup for a contender needing stable pitching. Maybe the Rangers? Or the Astros?
To the Pirates for Niese and/or Locke, CWS picks up some salary?
Why would the White Sox want either of those players? Both are pitching terribly in the NL
Why did they want Shields or Latos in the first place?
Because they needed a 5th starter; now they don’t care about a 5th starter, so why would they want another one who’s worse than Shields?
Shields is a better pitcher than Niese or Locke
White Sox would want a couple young pieces for Shields
Toronto will need someone who can deliver serviceable starts down the stretch if/when Sanchez goes to the pen. If Shields came cheap he wouldn’t be the worst option to give 11-12 starts down the stretch, say 7 innings and 3-4 runs a game which is all the Jays need.
I always associated Sheilds with Matt Garza from their time together on TB when they both young and looked good. Now both in steady decline.
Shields has been very good the past month and especially good shutting out the Cubs last night.
He would come much cheaper than Sale or Quintana as well
Cubs will sign him because he played for Good Ole Joe
It’s conceivable that a contender might put more value on a proven veteran like James Shields down the stretch rather than a pure rental like Rich Hill who has a history of injuries that include this season. Another potentially available starter, Shields former Ray teammate Matt Moore, also has injury concerns.
Have to wonder if the Cubs might have any interest in Shields down the stretch, especially with his track record of “Big Game” experience and the connection with former manager Joe Maddon in Tampa. Former Ray teammate Ben Zobrist has had a considerable impact on a talented but still young Cub lineup in 2016. Shields might provide a similar boost to a pitching staff that has many talented veterans but not a whole lot of postseason experience beyond last season except for starters Jon Lester and John Lackey, along with recently acquired Joe Nathan in the bullpen.
Give me 5 starts of Hill over 30 of Shields at this point. Shields gives you slightly above replacement level value
The Cubs already have back-end rotation depth…they have no use for Shields. The Cubs should be looking to upgrade the top-end of their rotation to augment their pitching depth for the playoffs (3 man rotation). Lackey should not be trusted to get the ball in game 3 of the World Series–he’ll get lit up like a christmas tree.
In the last 6 starts people are touting he has a K-BB% of 5.5, or in other words truly terrible. He’s been getting buy on mostly luck, good luck to anyone trying to trade for him
I am not sure the White Sox deserve to get anything in value for “big game”. I don’t recall what they sent over to the Pads, but I think trading him is funny- maybe this is a fix and flip? This was another fantastic move for a team that obtained many Tigers castoffs (Avila, Jackson, Mini Miggy, and Turner) and hopes to contend with said team. If it isn’t enough to have to listen to the Hawk, you have to watch a terrible product? Maybe they should let some kids in the clubhouse. Do they not allow good ball players anymore either?
All those Detroit castoffs and they are still only a couple games behind Detroit. Amazing.
At least Sox fans don’t have to watch Justin Upton for 5 more years. So we’ve got that going for us, which is nice.
Puig for shields?
Sold.
No way! Puig yes he has struggled ALOT but he is still young and has a lot of potential still if he stays healthy. However James Shields I’m sorry but I think his good years are over if he even makes a team next year I don’t think he could even get the era under 4. Puig for shields would be a horrible trade for the Dodgers but if you are the white sox then do it!
The White Sox have already inquired about Yasile Puig dating back to last off-season so their interest in him is known. The Dodgers might have some interest in James Shields but clearly a straight trade of him for Puig makes little sense for the Dodgers. Another piece, perhaps southpaw reliever Zach Duke might get a deal done.
A straight swap involving Puig with the White Sox might be for switch-hitting LF Melky Cabrera. The Dodgers would get a reliable veteran bat and lose a clubhouse headache. The White Sox would get younger and acquire two extra years of team control with Puig.
Of course, if the White Sox do decide to make Chris Sale or Jose Quintana available the Dodgers would be a prime match with their surplus of MLB ready young talent, something Chicago would prioritize in any blockbuster deal involving either top of the rotation pitcher.
I strongly agree with that
If Hahn has half a brain he realizes changes must be made to get some more talent in the minors and you do that with trades BEFORE the deadline. I scoff that this guy rants about mediocrity in the org but yet has not made one trade to try to make things better.. Make up your mind Hahn: Either you want to make the team better or are content with the mediocrity. If the Sox make no trades I see a 2-10 skid by this club. It is typical of Robin led clubs and Robin should be gone too