The Nationals failed to land Chris Sale today, and instead have reportedly turned their attention to another White Sox starter, Jose Quintana. If they had acquired Sale, though, they likely would have tried to trade lefty Gio Gonzalez, ESPN’s Jayson Stark writes. As Stark suggests, the 31-year-old Gonzalez would make an attractive trade candidate in his own right — he’ll make a reasonable $12MM in 2017, with a club/vesting option for another $12MM in 2018, and he’s eaten over 1,300 innings over the past seven seasons. His 4.57 ERA in 2016 was among his worst, but his underlying numbers (8.7 K/9, 3.0 BB/9, 47.6 GB%) don’t suggest a massive change in ability. Here are more quick notes on potential trades:
- GM Al Avila says the Tigers player who’s been most popular lately among teams hoping to make trades has been lefty reliever Justin Wilson, MLive.com’s Evan Woodberry writes. “The highest level of interest has been on Justin Wilson,” Avila says. Avila has also fielded calls about Shane Greene, but Woodberry writes that the Tigers are less likely to trade Greene, since, unlike Wilson, he’s under team control for the league minimum salary next year.
- The Rangers continue to be among the teams interested in Wilson, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News tweets. Grant reported yesterday that the two teams had had conversations about Wilson.
- The Rangers have also asked the Cubs about Matt Szczur, Grant tweets. The 27-year-old Szczur batted .259/.312/.400 while playing all three outfield positions for the Cubs last season. He might be a better fit on a team like the Rangers that’s currently a bit short on established outfielders, rather than one like the Cubs who have plenty.
- The White Sox are interested in acquiring young catching, MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch tweets. If they end up trading Adam Eaton to the Cardinals, one player they might target is 22-year-old backstop Carson Kelly, who batted .292/.352/.381 for Triple-A Memphis in 2016. Kelly currently ranks 11th on MLB.com’s list of the top Cardinals prospects.
The Cardinals need to avoid trading Carson Kelly. Yadi can’t catch forever, as sad as it is…
This article isn’t about the Cards or Kelly.
um…..
“The White Sox are interested in acquiring young catching, MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch tweets. If they end up trading Adam Eaton to the Cardinals, one player they might target is 22-year-old backstop Carson Kelly, who batted .292/.352/.381 for Triple-A Memphis in 2016. Kelly currently ranks 11th on MLB.com’s list of the top Cardinals prospects.”
Yes, it is. Kelly is actually part of the headline.
Need to actually read the articles.
Sometimes if you switch articles on the app, it still shows the comments from the previous article. Not definitely the case, but just possible.
Is this where I comment about Romo losing his job to Dak Prescott?
-Thank you!
Santa
I dont know about that happening; as it is, the expectation is that Kelly takes over once Yadi retires.
Wouldn’t be smart for the Cards to trade Kelly.
Eaton for Weaver, Bader, and Kelly sounds good for the Sox.
Cards would have to be extremely impressed by the return to send off Kelly. Minor league gold glove winner, solid hitter, Yadi’s heir-apparent as his career begins to draw to a close, combined with a lack of organizational depth at the position. I don’t see it happening
Look at Eaton’s contract….then look at his war. Cards would LOVE to have this guy.
No, so would I. But Kelly is Yadi’s heir, so if the Sox were willing to take a different player instead of Kelly, then sure I could see it happening.
I get it…but like you said Yadi is winding down his career. So WIN NOW. Grab Eaton and sign W.Castillo as a backup?
Well that’s another route sure
So the White Sox should just give you Eaton for some scrubs? Not happening
His WAR way overestimates his skills. He isn’t a plus centerfielder, and his batting is all OBP.
His WAR is that high because he gets 650-700 plate appearances a season leading off.
twohole – “I don’t know what I’m talking about”
You could’ve saved a lot of time and just said that.
i just looked at his strikeout total. that was enough
“His WAR is that high because he gets 650-700 plate appearances a season leading off.”
When why doesn’t every lead off hitter have a 6 WAR season.
If the cards would get eaton it is going to cost a ton. Think on par with a Quintana trade.
He had a 16.3% K%. That was #42 amongst outfielders. That’s bad?
He is a nice complementary player. He isn’t a five WAR talent.
Your right, 6 WAR players have no value. Get real
He’s maybe a nice complementary player for the AL all-star team
“He is a nice complementary player. He isn’t a five WAR talent.”
This statement defies logic. Stats don’t lie. He is a 6 WAR player
he wasn’t a six WAR player. He ranks only half a win less than Arenados season. Seriously. You think he’s half a win shy of Nolan Arenado?
He was ranked higher than SS Corey Seager. Higher than Anthony Rizzo.
Who would you rather have?
Ain’t even close. He isn’t a six win player.
Yes, the stat peoples formula gave him six WAR. I’m not arguing that. I’m arguing that WAR isn’t always a very accurate gauge of talent and contribution.
Jarred Dyson was a three WAR player in one third the plate appearances. So if he would have been a regular starter, he would have been a nine WAR player, right?
Eaton is a nice complementary player on a contending club. He isn’t a centerpiece.
A six WAR player is a centerpiece.
Like I said stats don’t lie. Your right they modified the way they calucate WAR just for Eaton. Get real you argument is bogus.
And you are way undervaluing his ELITE defense.
Not even close. First, Dyson almost had half the plate appearances, not a third. Second, 2/3 of his WAR comes from his defense, not his offense. He put up a 1.1 oWAR and 2.0 dWAR. So even if you want to assume that his oWar would double if he had as many plate appearances as Eaton (doubtful), he would still only be a 4 WAR player.
JKB, I didnt say that. Because the Cards dont want to give up Kelly, I dont see this trade happening anyway
Priggs. Generally when you are a starting outfielder they let you play defense too. They didn’t DH for Dyson. If he’s getting the pa’s of a starter, he’s also playing more defense.
You realize your Jarrod Dyson argument is not very good, don’t you? As in, the WAR of a part-time player is not projectable to a full season. As in, 90% of Dyson’s at-bats last year were against right-handers. As in, his WAR not flatly projectable because you don’t account for the at-bats he would have received against LHP. Now in his 30 appearances vs. lefties last year, he was actually good. Career, though? His OPS is .590. So go ahead and project his defense at a near 3.5-4.0 WAR for the season, but make sure to project most of the rest of his plate appearances against lefties, which would certainly deflate his offensive contribution.
I don’t think anyone is calling Adam Eaton a top-10 everyday player as you seem to insist (everyone is). Instead, he’s a top-20, top-25 guy who contributes positively offensively, defensively and intangibly. If traded to the Cardinals, he’d be one of the two best position players on the roster and the White Sox would certainly be asking for an appropriate return.
Not when Bader’s the CF of the future and a year or two out from being major league ready. Cards and Mozeliak have never been “win now” to the point of depleting the organization’s depth; Mo always trades from a surplus, and catcher is definitely not that. A stopgap until Bader is ready is a much better option for the club.
You realize that Eaton primarily plays right field now, don’t you? He’s an elite defensive right fielder.
I love when I see people spotting off about how they don’t understand WAR and use individual players seasons and compare them to other players as if that shows an error in the stat.
You have to have no concept of consistency, statistics in general, or the game of baseball and that production comes in a variety of ways to type such nonsense into these comments.
Twohole. You have taken the cake. Congrats
I surely would trade C. Kelly straight up for Eaton.
The Sox would have to give me something else.
Eaton is nothing more but another Darrin Erstad.
Good! But not great!
*** I surely “would NOT” trade Kelly straight up for Eaton.
If Adam Eaton doesn’t impress them after the year he put up last year, the organization might have bigger issues…
Well it looks like the Nats just traded Lucas Giolito and more for him. That’ll give anyone who wouldn’t trade Carson Kelly for him or him Weaver and Bader an idea of his actual value
I’m sure that return does sound good for the Sox.
Yeah it would be nice for the Sox but ashe a cardinals fan I would rather not see that happen maybe weaver wacha Wong and Adams
Prospects, prospects….Sox are rebuilding. Wacha, Adams has no use here.
Yeah I don’t get this… I keep hearing Cards fans talking about trading Wong and Adams for things of value… These guys have no trade value at all, they are basically spare parts. Weaver has some upside, and Wacha has significant injury issues… You’re trying to trade this for a 5-6 War player on one of the most team-friendly long term deals in the majors???? FYI I’m a Cubs fan so I hate both the Cards and the White Sox, and probably the Sox more, so I’m just being unbiased here… This is crazy. I even heard something about Kolten Wong being a major part of a Wade Davis package earlier… My god, this guy good bring you back a 5th middle reliever from a team with a need maybe, but other than that he’s just spare parts. I’d suggest Eaton costs you, well maybe more than you have. They’re not trading Reyes but something of that equivalent plus Weaver???
He is not a 5-6 WAR talent. His WAR way overestimates his skills. It’s jacked up from all the plate appearances. Jon Jay played a more credible CF and had similar OBP. The cards could have stuck him at leadoff and traded him for a haul of top prospects? I don’t think so.
This is ignorant. Why doesn’t every leadoff hitter have 6 WAR seasons then? Your rational is beyond comprehension.
He put up 5.2 WAR in 538 plate appearances in 2014. Try again.
The ONLY reason he wasn’t a 5+ win player in 2015 (3.9) was because he had a weird, brutal down year in CF where he put up -1.1 dWAR. And now people think he can’t play CF despite the fact that he put up a 1.8dWAR in CF in 2014. People are REALLY unintelligent.
So please tell me how somebody that has put up WARs of 6.2, 3.9, and 5.2 the last 3 yard doesn’t have 5-6 WAR talent.
You must be a Sox hating Cubs fan. Otherwise I have no idea what’s wrong with you.
Uh Jon Jay isn’t a better CF, has struggled to stay healthy, not gotten on base 36% of the time and not hit double digit HR with double digit SB
Look at his cards years.
He’s a good player. He doesn’t belong in the conversation with baseballs elite players. He isn’t Arenado, Rizzo, Freeman, Correa, Seager…that’s where that ridiculous WAR figure puts him.
If you disagree, that’s fine. Tell me why he belongs in the same sentence as Anthony Rizzo and Nolan Arenado.
Uh… Everything they said below plus, uh, John Jay has never had a War above 3.5 has only been above 2.4 once, and that was 5 years ago, and the year he had 628 plate appearances, his WAR was 1.8. The year he left the Cardinals, 2015, his War was .03, and all three of Steamer, Depth Charts, and Fangraphs project his War this year to be .05. If hitting lead off skewed War, then all lead off men would have skewed War, and it would have been an obviously important independent variable when evaluating War as a credible statistic, and would have substantially varied the adjusted r squared tested. Plus, while Jay is a credible CF, Eaton is better. I really try not to belittle others opinions on thus site, but wtf are you even talking about???
*when tested
Funny. I thought Eaton’s WAR was jacked up from all his plate appearances. Let’s look at the list you provided.
Eaton – 706
Arenado – 696
Rizzo – 676
Freeman – 693
Correa – 660
Seager = 687
Would you like to try to find another reason why his WAR is “jacked up”? Because those plate appearance totals are pretty darn similar for the most part…
Then Cardinals need a backup Catcher.
3 Team Trade Cardinals get Eaton,Frazier,Kevin Smith,Prospects from Rangers. Rangers get Adams,Jones and so on. White Sox’s get Kelly,Mendez,Weaver,Rua and so on?
So you think STL should get Frazier, Eaton, Smith AND prospects for Weaver, Kelly and Adams? Yeah that’s a good one. Also Texas trading Mendez, Rua and other prospects for Adams and Jones? This trade idea is pretty much nonsense
No shot they give up any one of those guys. Might as well go sign fowler and keep the prospects if that’s the price for Eaton. Cardinals have the money. I just wish they could work something out for Blackmon.
It might not be the Cardinals, but I’d bet Eaton is worth a top 100 prospect…or two. His overall game is a nice combined with his contract equals great asset.
And the Cards politely decline.
I imagine the only two prospects the cards don’t want to move are Kelly and Reyes…maybe DeJong. And that’s because of organizational values.
Eaton is a stud under long term control for cheap and the Cards would love to have him. But they have their plans and will probably keep these guys
Are you high? Eaton is not worth those players. One of them sure but not all 3
if szczur goes to texas, rizzo needs to take a few of his bats with him. icymi rizzo used seezes bats to get him out of his playoff slump.
Gio Gonzalez for Brett Gardner. Similar contracts and fit team needs.
Didn’t realize the Nationals needed an over priced, 92 OPS plus defensive replacement.
Oh you mean the guy that put up more WAR than any other Nationals outfielder last year?
Burrrrrn
Well then we are all glad to educate you
Very unlikely the Cardinals trade Kelly, he is Yadi’s heir. He was a Gold glover his first year catching in the minors, perfect replacement for Yadi.
Cubs owe Rangers a good trade for that Ryan Dempster fiasco.
Eaton to the Orioles for Sisco and 2 more prospects.
Orioles “prospects”. More like organizational fodder
I was thinking to myself if teams r said to be calling the Cardinals about Wong y not trade him slide carpenter back over to second sign moss back for first and sign Jose Bautista to play left and leave grichuk in cf
Line up
Carpenter-2b
Diaz-Ss
Bautista-lf
Moss-1b
Peralta-3b
Piscotty-rf
Molina-c
Grichuk-cf
Pitchers
Do some background info before posting. Moss will no longer be a cardinal next season. The team has already announced Carpenter will be the starting first basement. Bautista does not fit what the cardinals need so the odds of him being a cardinal are extremely low. They will go after a CF in the trade or free agent market.
They are trying to improve defense and contact . Moss isn’t coming back.
Matt Szcur doesn’t need to go anywhere. Just rip up jays contract.
Why screw with a winning formula? Cubs need to keep Matt Szcur. Cheap insurance. Proven winner. A year more experienced. Don’t do it.
He’s out of options. And he’s redundant.
Almora can provide everything Szczur can, and give you better defense.
I doubt Kelly moves in an Eaton deal. He’s ranked outside of the top 200, so at best for Eaton he’s a 3rd piece and the Cardinals love him. Sox should go BPA on Eaton and take Weaver, Bader, and someone else as an ancillary piece if they opt to trade him to the Cards. They can get a catcher elsewhere
trade kelly? not unless you just blow the rest of the team up by trading adams, rosenthal, wacha, wong, weaver and peralta for dozier, pollock, and longoria
You think you are going to get a Dozier, Pollock, or Longoria for players like Rosenthal, Wacha, Wong, Peralta?
Those Cardinals players have very little value if any, and you have all star talent going back to the Cards.
eaton and abreu for kelly, adams, rosenthal and weaver would be o.k. wong goes on crash course in center and carpenter goes back to second
Zero chance of that happening. Adams and Rosenthal have zero value to Sox. More like Reyes, Kelly, Weaver, Bader, and a couple lesser prospects.
Your realize the value Eaton and Abreu have? The sox aren’t looking for spare parts.
no, no it wouldn’t be ok.
Rick Hahn would get fired for that. I don’t know if Weaver, Rosie, Adams, and Kelly get Eaton alone, much less Abreu too
“Condor” to Red Sox!
“Q” to Nats?
“Spanky” to Cards?
Soler “Flare” to Royals?
“Hail” Szczur to Rangers?
Crazy day for Chicago baseball!
I have a question then? How many World Series have you won again!?!?!?
The Nats left in the cold again.
I think the cards need another backup catcher after they get center and third worked out
No way they trade Kelly.
Cardinals surprise everyone with Byron Buxton or Travis Jankowski.