4:05pm: The Rangers are also interested in trading for Cubs outfielder Jorge Soler, MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan reports (via Twitter). Soler has become something of a forgotten man in a crowded Cubs outfield, though he is still just 24 and under contract through 2020.
3:22pm: The Rangers are showing some interest in Mark Trumbo, tweets Yahoo’s Jeff Passan, but it’s not clear exactly how strong the interest is. Texas is looking for a right-handed bat, though, he notes. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News, meanwhile, tweets that he believes Carlos Gomez is the Rangers’ “preferred plug-and-play” option in center field, but the length of the contract he’s seeking plays a role in the team’s interest. Per Grant, the matter may come down to whether Gomez is willing to take a two-year deal right now or if he wants to seek a three-year deal elsewhere (and perhaps see if Texas is willing to match that offer, if he does find it).
Trumbo’s asking price is reportedly considerably steeper than the Gomez price implied by Grant, as Trumbo is said to have countered an offer of $52-55MM over four years from the Orioles with a $75-80MM asking price. The Orioles balked at that lofty ask and, according to ESPN’s Buster Olney, are prepared to move on from Trumbo and pursue other options. It’s tough to envision the Rangers (or any club), topping $70MM for Trumbo this offseason.
It seems clear that Texas GM Jon Daniels and his staff are looking around at right-handed bats, as they’ve also been connected to Andrew McCutchen in trade talks. However, it doesn’t appear that they’re 100 percent closed off to signing a left-handed hitter, as Grant tweeted this morning that they’ve maintained contact with Mitch Moreland. However, things will only work with Moreland if he’s willing to wait around for a bit while the Rangers explore some other priorities.
Adam jones/joey Richard/ Mychal givens for Andrew mccutchen
Orioles also sign Michael Saunders to a two year contract for around 20 mill
Lol that’s way too much for Cutch. Jones ain’t no slouch and neither is Givens
the bucs aren’t gonna give him up easy lol maybe get rid of rickards and giving and just givem brach
Hahahahaha
The Pirates want prospects not a guy that older than Cutch, this makes no sense for the Pirates
I’d stay away from Trumbo at all costs if I’m the Rangers. Gomez is a solid fit and should be much cheaper. I think if they can pry away either Cain from royals or Archer from the rays would be better. I also think Bruce is a great fit at DH for the Rangers
Please no. I don’t want trumbo. Go away
Texas, please sign Mark Trumbo. Thanks.
– Every Orioles fan on the planet
How do you think the rays would respond to this: Chris archer for odor and Mendez and Gallo. Profar starts at second next year for the Rangers
Lmao, that is one of the most lopsided trades ever proposed. Of course the Rays would take it in a heartbeat if the Rangers were stupid enough to do this.
The Rangers get a young great starter, while having a clear replacement for odor who is better defensively. Mendez would be tough to give up but I don’t see Gallo doing anything great at the major league level
Profar is definitely better defensively but you don’t find many 2nd basemen who can hit 30 HR. And you don’t give up a top pitching prospect when the rangers are kinda low on them. Also if Gallo pans out to even hit .250 with 35+ HR’s, then the rangers will be dreading the deal.
tampa would decline.
“Also if Gallo pans out to even hit .250 with 35+ HR’s, then the rangers will be dreading the deal.”
That’s not something I’d be worried about.
Odor is not good defensively and has trouble getting on base…
You’re crazy..
Great is quite an overstatement
They could get Chris Sale if they included Odor…I don’t understand people overvaluing the he’ll out of what their team has…
Lol you say other people are overvaluing their players yet odor’s career high in ops was 107… And that wasn’t even last year.
Gallo is a glorified Mike Olt
gallo is still a kid…when he gets disciplined at the plate (lay off the high heat)he will be a beast….to early to give up on him..lmao and u dont give up 2nd baseman (who is still just a kid) that hits 30+ homers and a few jawbones to boot!!
Perfect!!!
“gallo is still a kid…when he gets disciplined at the plate (lay off the high heat)he will be a beast”
I think you mean if. And that’s a HUGE if.
That’s a lazy comp.. everyone is so down on Gallo that the rangers would be dumb to trade him now.. give him a month or two at AAA then promote him this summer and give him a look for the rest of the season. If he flames out trade him next offseason when he is out of options. Power hitters take longer to develop..
The way the rangers have handled Gallo last season set him up for failure at the big league level.. let the kid get regular at bats for an extended period and then re-evaluate
The problem is that if he bottoms out again in his next stint in the majors, he won’t have any value at all. They might be better off cashing in now while his name still holds value to other organizations. That is, of course, assuming they don’t think he’ll be a monster at the plate like he was supposed to be. If they do, then there’s no point in trading him.
no way to know if Gallo is another Olt or another Sammy Sosa. Remember, it took Sosa several years to develop into a great hitter. Sammy’s first four years, he hit about 40 HR’s and drove in 120 runs and hit under .240. Mike Schmidt hit .196 his first year in MLB with only 18HR. Willie Stargell, 11HR’s and 43RBI his first year. Jim Thome was a bust his first three years. Gary Sheffield didn’t do much his first four years. I would rather see the Rangers show patience with him. Texas didn’t have that patience with Crash Davis and look what happened. As for Odor…remember, he’s still only 23…a baby in this game rushed to the show because of the injury to Profar and still learning both offensively and defensively and was extremely valuable this past year to the Rangers.
Dude, have you been living under a rock? Really, Sosa? What a weird player to bring up.
“it took Sosa several years to develop into a great hitter.”
It also took this little thing called steroids.
Also, none of those guys had a glaring hole in their swing causing them to strike out 50% of the time. That’s a HUGE red flag.
JUST A KID..is the deal..he has plenty of time to work that out..
agreed
He is not even close to ready for that. He can’t even hit AAA pitching yet
ygbkm – Lopsided? Gallo is a bum, Odor is good but his OBP is pathetic. If it weren’t for those 33 home runs seemingly coming out of nowhere (had 16 last year, a pace for 22 HRs had he had as many ABs in 2015 as he did in 2016). He’s a below average fielder on top of his inability to get on base at a respectable clip. He isn’t complete overrated garbage…….. but close. Mendez is unproven talent. Sure he has lots of promise, but that’s all it is. Still, he’s easily the best player IMO in this hypothetical deal. Where you say it is lopsided in the Rays favor, I was actually thinking the opposite. They get a guy in Gallo who can’t hit worth sh**. A 2Bman who is below average defensively and owns a .302 OBP in 384 MLB games (only thing he is above average at is his power….. that’s it). And while very promising, he’s still unproven, a pitcher in Mendez.
The Rangers have done a bang up job in polishing and marketing their turd in Gallo. How a .255ish hitter in double A and a .224 hitter in triple A who Ks 35% of his PAs is ranked as a top 10 prospect in all of baseball for two years in a row is amazing. Great, he has tons of power. To bad he can’t hit. Gallo is the definition of the saying, “even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while.” Gallo is Mike Olt 2.0….. and possibly worse.
Archer, a proven high quality starter, for that pile is hardly lopsided in TB’s favor. AT BEST I’d say it is somewhat fair??? If not, lopsided in Texas’ favor.
lol…
everyone pointing out flaws with the Rangers players ( I do not believe Gallo will be much of anything). And labeling Archer as “a proven high quality starter”. He imploded once every three starts. He has great stuff but hasn’t proven he can be an ace. At 22 Odor has shown he is a high quality player. Archer has control problems along with being prone to the long ball.
no way…you’ve lost ur mind
I don’t think TB is any position to hold ransom for anyone TR should just look elsewhere. Tampa will suck regardless of trading, so IMO we don’t need to meet their prices
I’m intrigued what Soler will bring in return. He’s gone in 14 days or so.
Who do the rangers have that is worth getting for soler? Soler would excell in the rangers park. They would need at least 2 pitchers with at least 2 years each of control back.
Cole Hammels.
LOL keep dreaming
Look, all I’m saying is adding Archer to the rotation is a great idea. I think the Rangers should cash in on Gallo while they can. I think even if you package odor and Gallo I think that might be good enough to get the job done. Odor can’t draw a walk which brings his value down, and isn’t great defensively (not the worst). If he had an obp higher than .296 I probably wouldn’t suggest this. The 30 HRS are nice, but for a higher obp, better defense, and a likely 15-20 hr range from profar might benefit the Rangers more than what odor offers.
I can’t believe how well the Rangers have marketed Gallo. They got the best PR guys working on that dude’s image. Baffles me he is/was a top 50 prospect in baseball despite being a .224 hitter in triple A in 559 triple A ABs. He wasn’t much better in double A either. Yet for the last 2 years he has been ranked as a top 10 prospect. Amazing.
Ok we get it, you don’t like Gallo. Move on.
this just in…the RANGERS are in on EVERYONE.
What do the Rangers have that the Cubs would want? Cubs want young, promising, controllable SPs or quality relievers….. preferably left handed relievers. ONLY thing I see interesting in Texas is Yohander Mendez…… and I doubt they’d be willing to part with him. If they’d be willing to take Soler for Mendez that would be fine, and potentially a steal for the Cubs. But I HIGHLY doubt that would be enough to pull off a trade for Mendez. I don’t see the Cubs going overboard in a trade for a pitching prospect though. Especially one that wasn’t on any “top 100” lists which I know are meaningless, but it exists for marketing value of said players. Soler for Mendez otherwise there’s really nothing that these two teams really line up with.
Seems like a lame rumor to me that doesn’t have any legs.
Soler for either Kela or Jeffress could work.
Cole Hammels or no trade.
No way man. Soler is untouchable.
I assume you’re joking but……
F*** that. Cole Hammels is pretty much the opposite of what the Cubs are looking for. Young, cheap, and controllable. Hamels is old, expensive, but does have 3 years of control. Still….. no. With Arrieta projected to make $16.8M in arbitration this year adding Hamels and his salary would mean the Cubs 5 man rotation of Lester, Hamels, Arrieta, Hendricks, and Lackey would have a price tag of about $81M……. insane……. and it’s only that LOW because Hendricks is dirt cheap still and pre-arbitration making just over league minimum. Lester ($25) + Hamels ($22.5) + Arrieta ($16.8) + Lackey ($16) = $80.3M for 4 players. No thanks. Ricketts, Hoyer, Theo, etc. aren’t the Yankees or Dodgers who spend money like irresponsible retards.
Despite being under control for 2017 I’d rather see Yu Darvish come over. Still, 1) not going to happen, and 2) not what the Cubs really want. If the Cubs were to make a trade for a SP it will be in the likes of Archer or Gray. I’m not too thrilled with Gray, even before his horrendous 2016….. he’s just a tiny dude who doesn’t look durable. So that pretty much leaves Archer as the only guy I’d be interested in. Maybe Jake Odorizzi……. or even Drew Smyly. Soler for Smyly is a much more plausible trade.
meh. Better off keeping him. They can get that quality in talent in the FA market in the likes of Storen and Holland…… and Storen and Holland could have comeback/bounce back years and be considerably better than those 2. Holland+Storen+keeping Soler >>>>>>>>>>> better than you proposal of Soler for Kela OR Jeffress. Sure it’s cheaper to go your route, but money is hardly a concern for the Cubs. Especially seeing as after the Cubs won the World Series. I read an article earlier this year in Forbes that projected the Cubs’ team value to bump $1 BILLION if they win the World Series this year. Well they did. When Forbes busts out their team valuation list for 2017 expect to see the Cubs up around the $3Billion mark. They were at $2.2B to start 2016. Point is, Cubs are loaded with cash and money isn’t a problem, so again, they’d be better off keeping Soler and signing Holland and/or Storen than trading for that small return for Soler. Better off packaging Soler for a better return. I’m thinking Soler, Almora, Jimenez, Cease, AND Candelario (their 2nd, 3rd, and 4th ranked prospects in their system) to Tampa for Archer AND Colome. Rays get ML outfielders with high ceilings in Soler and Almora who could also be a gold glove caliber CFer. In addition they get promising pitching prospect Cease who if the Cubs get Archer in return is expendable. Cendelario is one of the best 3B prospects in the game according to mlb.com….. he’s forever blocked by Bryant. Jimenez. Who doesn’t know about Jimenez still? That’s 3 VERY promising prospects PLUS Soler who could probably find less injuries in TB being their DH, and Almora who in his debut season managed to hit .277….. not bad. His OBP might be lacking but he should be a 10-15 HR guy with good base running skills and WELL above average defensive skills. He’s a SOLID every day CFer with the potential for multiple gold glove seasons and will fit nicely in the bottom 3rd of the Rays lineup. Soler, if he remains healthy for the whole season has shown he can hit about .270 and has the power to belt 25 HRs or so. In limited time throughout his injury peppered 2016 season Soler also showed much improved plate discipline. So he has the potential as a DH to hit about .265-.275, get on base at possibly a .340-.350 clip, and hit 25 or more HRs. Solid. Toss in Jimenez’ very real potential along with Candelario who is ML ready and Cease….. nothing to sneeze at IMO. I just doubt the Rays would be willing to make such a bold move. The Rays would immediately see the outcome of this trade for the most part with Soler, Almora, and Candelario being major leaguers or major league ready NOW. Cease is about 2-3 years away, and Jimenez will likely start 2017 in double A. If he rakes he’ll likely finish the year in triple A and potentially be ready sometime in the 2018 season even if it is just as a september call up.
I seriously doubt this hypothetical trade happens though, as pretty much all fan based hypothetical trades pretty much NEVER happen. I don’t get why we still do it then.
I hope the Cubs get more in return for Soler than Jeffress, but I think that could be the extent of his value right now. We’ll see in the next few weeks.
Agreed. It seems the Cubs and Rangers are both looking for pitching this offseason, both in the rotation and bullpen. Don’t see much of a match here. The Rays and White Sox both line up better than the Rangers in a potential swap with the Cubs involving Jorge Soler. Tampa would get the nod since the Chicago teams don’t seem keen in dealing with each other, which is a shame…especially for yours truly who has been a rare die-hard fan of both teams since the early 1960’s.
only guy on the sox i would want is Quintana. The Sox and the rest of the league can fawn over Sale (and his arm/mechanic concerns) all they want. Quintana isn’t much of a step down from Sale and yet his market is dead quiet. He’s been going 32+ starts and 200+ innings for 4 years straight now with Lester-like numbers. He’s the Hispanic Lester. Yet NO ONE is talking about him. IMO I’d give up more for Quintana. You can’t just find that durability and performance level just anywhere nowadays.
Depending on if they trade Sale and what they get for him, I’d be willing to bet they hang onto Quintana to start the year. If they can get some young MLB ready talent to plug some holes, I bet they play it out to the deadline with Q and see what happens. If they are still garbage, then they’ll look to move him too to some desperate team. That’d fit their “retooling” crap.
The White Sox are “reportedly” focused on trading players with 3 or fewer years of team control which may be why Chris Sale (3), Jose Abreu (3), David Robertson (2), Todd Frazier (1) and Melky Cabrera (1) have been mentioned more prominently.
Apparently, the White Sox are willing to listen on almost anyone this offseason but Jose Quintana just misses the threshold with 4 years remaining on his deal. There has also been some speculation regarding Adam Eaton, who has 5 years of cheap control left, but it’s probably coming from teams looking for an outfielder who can lead-off more than the White Sox themselves.
Imo, the White Sox are focusing on trading Sale during the winter meetings. If and when that occurs, the future of their other veteran assets should begin taking shape. Sale appears to be the lead domino.