Here’s the latest from the AL West…
- The Angels discussed signing Sean Rodriguez before the utilityman agreed to a deal with the Braves yesterday, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register reports (Twitter link). Fletcher isn’t sure whether the Halos had serious interest or were just considering all options. Rodriguez could have stepped right in to fill the Angels’ hole at second base, or potentially taken over third base if Yunel Escobar had been switched to second. Besides the Halos, the Dodgers, Pirates and Blue Jays were also known to have interest in the versatile Rodriguez.
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports joins CSNBayArea.com’s Joe Stiglich on the A’s Insider podcast (audio link) to discuss several offseason topics, including the possibility of some Athletics trades. Rosenthal figures other teams will have “some lively discussions” with the A’s about Stephen Vogt given the lack of catching around the game, and Oakland will get interest in Sonny Gray given the thin free agent pitching market. That said, Rosenthal isn’t sure whether Gray will be dealt since his stock has been lowered by his rough 2016 season. “I’m not so sure this is the right time to trade him because obviously if he puts together a good first half you’ve got the best guy at the deadline,” Rosenthal said. “At the same time, there’s always the risk he gets hurt again. Maybe he doesn’t bounce back, maybe you lose value.”
- The Astros and Rangers still look like the class of the AL West, in Rosenthal’s opinion, though both teams still have clear needs — Houston needs to add another starting pitcher, while Texas has holes to fill in its everyday roster due to several free agents.
- The Astros’ need for pitching is what differentiates them from the Cubs, though as the New York Post’s Joel Sherman points out, Houston bears a lot of similarity to the World Series champs. Like the Astros, Chicago also totally purged the roster in a rebuild effort and added several impressive young position players through the draft. The Cubs then spent big to add veterans in free agency and trades to score the missing pieces, and the Astros seem to be on the same track by adding Brian McCann and Josh Reddick this winter. The key for Houston, of course, is if Dallas Keuchel and Lance McCullers can provide the same top-of-the-rotation strength that Jon Lester and Jake Arrieta (not to mention Kyle Hendricks) gave the Cubs.
- Andrew Cashner is an improvement over the departing Derek Holland in the Rangers’ rotation, Kevin Sherrington of SportsDayDFW.com opines. Cashner, who the Rangers recently signed to a one-year/$10MM deal, has much better velocity, and the loss of zip on Holland’s fastball makes him vulnerable. Also, as MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan previously noted, Rangers pitching coach Doug Brocail believes he can “fix” Cashner.
Cashner isn’t an improvement over anyone
For the Astros…
I think the biggest question in our rotation is who would we cut/move?
Keuchel and McCullers are staples in the rotation.
Morton was just signed and isn’t going anywhere.
Fiers is in Arbitration for the next 3 years and only projects to get 4.3 mill for 2017. . He’s cheap.
McHugh also in Arbitration for the next 3 years and only projects to get 4.6 mill for 2017. Also cheap.
Musgrove is making the players’ minimum and won’t be an eligible FA until 2023 at the earliest. He also showed flashes of brilliance.
All of that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t upgrade our rotation. At best, we have a middle of the league quality rotation the way we are set. That includes Keuchel and McCullers both being healthy and effective. If we want to be WS champs, we need an arm that pushes us to the top.
Given the high price tag attached to high quality SP via the trade market, my suspicion is that we will either trade for a mid-level starting pitcher this off-season and send Musgrove back to AAA; or we will wait until the September trade deadline and try and grab an arm for the stretch run.
Easy, we make Fiers the long man out of the bullpen/spot starter. He’s incredibly inconsistent and he doesn’t have the same ceiling as McHugh or Musgrove.
Then we would have to demote Feliz. I’m not sure Fiers makes for a reliable long-relief arm.
Feliz can/should slide into the 8th inning role now that there is a vacancy there. If Fiers isn’t reliable as a long relief guy, demote or trade him then. He’s either lights out or lit up when he starts, and true contenders don’t have those types in their lineup typically.
What vacancy?! Gregerson isn’t a FA until 2018.
“true contenders don’t have those types in their lineup typically.”
I totally disagree with that statement. Fiers adds depth to our rotation; depth we will need in order to contend. Injuries will occur throughout the year; having Fiers available to pitch in relief will make the difference b/w surviving the tough weeks and not.
I was referring to the departure of Neshek, and I wouldn’t make it a foregone conclusion that Gregerson will be the set-up guy.
We will agree to disagree, however your disagreement is actually validating my argument to have him in the bullpen for long relief and depth. Real contenders don’t have a guy in their starting 5 who can easily get lit up for 8-10 runs on any given start.
Neshek had not been in the primary setup role since 2015.
I see Fiers as a 6th starter/spot starter. i don’t think he can be effective as a long reliever.
The difficulty is that Fiers can’t be sent to AAA without passing through waivers and he wouldn’t make it through unclaimed.
Utlimately Fiers would need to be traded, but nobody is going to want him in return for an elite SP.
I see Fiers sticking at our SP5 slot, while Musgrove would be moved if we acquired a SP1/SP2. The only way I don’t see Fiers in our top 5 rotation is if we stand pat the way we are in our rotation.
The spot starter is generally your long man out of the pen. You hope he doesn’t see action regularly at all, since it would typically be in mop up duty. Every now and then you give him an inning or two instead of a bullpen session, but he’s on the 25 man as insurance for a spot start.
We agree on this for the most part, but I do think he’s a trade candidate in spring training if Musgrove outplays him. Won’t get more than a low-level prospect, but something is better than nothing.
I agree on the ideal role of a spot starter/long reliever. I just don’t think Fiers is make for 2-3 inning mid-relief in the way that Devenski is made.
As of right now, I think Fiers would fetch the equivalent of Neshek….cash.
I agree, or a low level guy without a place on a team. You never know though.
Enjoyed the dialogue.
Make an SP trade at the deadline and use the internal options until then.
I’m down with that.
Contenders have depth guys for their rotation after their main guys suffer from injuries. You don’t start the season without a consistent big league starter in your rotation if you plan on contending.
Move Fiers to the pen, start Musgrove in AAA and add an actual legit big league starter to Keuchel, McHugh, Morton and McCullers
The Astros have a bunch of near Paulino, Martes, Musgrove, and Rogers coming up. The Astros only need one or two to pan out.
I’d like to see what those guys can do.
You play for the ‘Stros?
Better than Holland for sure
I will say this about Coppy, he is working quickly to check off some of the Braves needs this off season in order to field a more competitive team in 2017.
two starting pitchers: check , Colon and Dickey (eats innings, saves the bullpen, better ERA’s than most of the guys who filled the 4/5 spots the last couple of seasons, and provide veteran leadership)
catcher depth: check. Tuffy Gosewisch (signed to a minor league deal, while not a starting caliber catcher will provide experienced depth in AAA and may actually end up on the big league roster at some point in the season
flexible right handed bench player: check, Sean Rodriguez (should fill in almost everywhere at one time or another except pitcher and catcher, while he will likely regress with the bat he still should be a marked improvement over Gordon Beckham and Chase d’Arnaud from 2016)
low risk high reward relief pitcher: check, Jordan Walden (signed on a minor league deal, if he recovers to nearly what he was with his last Atlanta stint will be a significant pickup)
Of course I seriously doubt Coppy is done and I’d like to see the Braves get a starting quality catcher and maybe seek Luis Valbuena to pair with Adonis Garcia at third (or some other fairly low price improvement there). While all these moves may have debatable effectiveness during the course of the season at least Coppy and the Braves front office are attempting to be active in improving the ball club even if it doesn’t net them a playoff type team.
I meant to add, that while Coppy has been aggressive in checking off boxes for the Braves organizations, it appears (and yes I know it is still early) that quite a few teams have been hesitant to make these type of low risk budget minded moves. Sean Rodriguez would have definitely added a potential boost to many teams needing to improve depth and likely to had been an improvement for some teams like the Angels.
Cashner will be a disaster in Texas. He’s played in two pitchers parks that are in weaker divisions, and now he’s going to a hitters park with maybe one bad team in that division.
If Cashner ever wanted to be productive he would’ve gone to the Pirates. He has the stuff to be a great pitcher but he can’t… pitch well
Astros and the White Sox make alot of sense as trade partners. Sale, Quintana, and Abreu would all fit nicely on their roster. Not sure if Houston has any real interest though.
We don’t have the trade chips to land Sale alone, much less any deviation of those 3. We would have to include Springer or Bregman in those deals, and to me that isn’t worth it at all. While an ace SP is always a great trade to make in our minds, what if Sale blows out his elbow in spring training and needs Tommy John surgery? Then we are without him for a year and a half and we gave up a vital component of our lineup and future for nothing.
That makes no sense. Injuries can happen to anyone at anytime. Springer or Bregman fall into this same philosophy. If you personally don’t want to see a trade happen, then your entitled to an opinion, but there is no evidence to support a injury risk claim. He was asked to tone it down last year and pitch to contact. I believe he will be great for whoever he pitches for in 2017.
Astros problem last year was from poor pitch calling by Gattis. that is why they traded for Mccann. My bet is the staff turns it around with a new catcher.
Well, more pitchers had surgery in 2014 than those from 1990-2000 so I think there’s some validity in that statement. (see Grantland for more detail) You take on more risk of injury trading for pitching. The trade would also be more risky because the Astros outfield was ranked 2nd to last in 2016. Springer was the only productive outfielder, so I my mind it’s even more risky.
Thank you for the validation. Clearly someone thinks that only they can have a logical thought and that no one else’s views can be good/accurate. Trading for pitching has always been far riskier than trading for hitting, but the last several years have magnified the risk because of injuries to pitchers.
In response to Arc89’s comment, we will have to agree to disagree. While I definitely think that Gattis needs to learn a lot about calling a game, clearly the Astros felt it was better to hold on to him than Castro. If Gattis was THAT bad, they would’ve kept Castro over him, and probably still would’ve went after McCann (since neither Gattis or Castro should catch full time).
When the majority or your pitching staff regresses year over year, the issue is most likely more about the pitching coach rather than the catcher. The pitching coach’s job is to evaluate and adjust the pitchers, and our pitching coach clearly failed last year. We can agree that McCann should definitely improve the in-game pitching over what we put behind the plate last year.
Side note, I’d be interested in seeing the pitching splits from when Gattis was catching versus Castro. I think the results might be surprising.
Gattis has a great bat and not easily replaced. Watch the Astors try him at 1b this year. Good enough as a back up catcher. I see him catching a pitcher with a great fast ball but not pitchers requiring change ups in their game plan. Some pitchers require catchers who frame pitches those are the ones that can’t blow it by a hitter.
Gattis will catch Keuchel and any other LHP.
I would rather him at 1B over AJ Reed, however I think they will most likely have Gurriel there and Bregman manning 3B. Our outfield will be Springer in CF, Reddick in RF, and a platoon of Aoki/Tucker in LF. The 5th OF will be Marisnick so if Tucker doesn’t make the team it will be Teoscar Hernandez. Again, this is how I see it right now but I’m still praying we sign Encarnacion!!
Luhnow is bent on acquiring another bat or two, which I love. Gurriel will either be in LF or 1B, depending on who we sign. Tucker won’t make the OD active roster.
I’ll take the upside of Hernandez over P Tucker. He is probably trade bait along with Fiers.
I’d take Teoscar over Tucker too. Tucker has had enough time to claim a regular spot. It’s time to move on.
They are too enamored with the power potential from him.
Dude PLEASE! Don’t the blame the catcher b/c pitchers get bombed. You sound ill-informed
I thought it was Jason Castro’s decision to explore free agency to be a starter elsewhere vs. a platoon catcher in Houston.
To a degree (a small one), the catchers do share some of the blame. The catcher calls the game based on the coach’s game plan, with the autonomy to change things up based on how the pitcher is throwing that day and how the hitters are responding. However the pitcher is also ultimately responsible for making the best pitch. Even when they make the perfect pitch, sometimes they still get “bombed.”
Wow, another guy who’s part of the team…”we” .. pfff….
You know what’s more annoying than someone who keeps saying “we” when referring to their favorite team…it’s someone who keeps pointing it out!
Gray will not be traded because teams will think they can get him on a discounted price. Best is to wait until mid season and trade him when his value is high and another team is desperate to obtain a top starter. Vogt on the other hand will be traded very soon to a team that lost out on Castro. To many teams that need a hitting catcher.
The only problem with that logic is that if he pitches poorly the first three months of the year, other teams will see it as a indicator that there was a secular change in his ability, and ceiling, and not just a blip
It is the same as your saying. What if you trade him now and he pitches cy young stats so you gave him away for nothing. Its a gamble either way. Watching how he pitched last year I would gamble that he has a bounce back season not another bad season. His value is at a all time low.
*Too many
Braves could deal a great pitching and outfield player package with Texas or Houston. How about Julio teheran, Nick Markakis and Ender Inciarte for Texas package of Joey Gallo, Jurickson Profar, Yohander Mendez and Brett Nicholas OR a Houston package of Alex Bregman, Kyle Tucker, Joe Musgrove and Tony Kemp.
That Houston package is miles ahead of the ranger one
Bregman is miles better than Teheran.
No way that trade makes sense for the Astros, at all. Bregman is going to be a perennial all star, Tucker has all the potential to be, Musgrove is a quality starter now, but you can have Kemp.
Tehran is good and would be nice to have, but our current outfield options are better choices than Markakis and Inciarte. We need pitching and maybe 1B, we are loaded in the outfield.
Lmao HELL NO ON THAT TRADE
For the same reasons that Swanson is basically untouchable in any Braves trade, Houston won’t be giving up Bregman. Not saying that they should, but if the Braves aren’t interested in giving up Swanson for Sale, Houston isn’t giving up Bregman for Inciarte/Teheran.
I’ve never been a fan of trading a highly regarded position player for a pitcher. One plays every day and has an every day impact, and one play once every 5 games.
With that being said, I honestly don’t think I’d give up Bregman for Sale, so there is zero chance of trading him even straight up for Tehran. That’s my opinion, I value position players more than pitchers though.
Edit your username immediately if not sooner, and be sure to not include the word “guru” in it this time around. That is misleading, at best.
Lot of Cashner haters like there were for Carlos Gomez and that worked out great for the Rangers. It’s low risk and will probably pay off again.
Gomez went to a hitters park, cashner is going to a hitters park as a pitcher. No comparison
Gomez played in a perfect hitters park for RH power hitters at Minute Maid. Our hitting coach just sucks and the Ranger’s hitting coach found his issue quickly.
It’s one thing not to be able to be in on the Zach Greinke or Yoenis Cespedes sweepstakes.
It’s a whole different thing not to be able to be in on the Sean Rodriguez sweepstakes.
That’s Nth level small market.
Can’t wait for the Root Sports deal to expire.
Brocail broke Hamels & Darvish but can fix Cashner…makes sense.