The market has finally seen some movement, both via trades and free-agent signings, in recent days, and there’s plenty more to come with Spring Training just six weeks away. Here’s the latest chatter on various potential player movements, all via Jon Morosi of MLB Network (all links below are to his Twitter feed).
- Though Jason Hammel has seemingly had trouble finding active pursuers, the Rangers are now in the mix for the righty. That’s certainly promising news for Hammel, who may no longer be under consideration for the Mariners now that they’ve added Yovani Gallardo. Of course, Seattle also just parted with Nate Karns, and GM Jerry Dipoto says he’s still amenable to bolstering his staff (via Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune, on Twitter). As for Texas, the level of interest remains unclear, though it’s certainly plausible to imagine the team deciding that Hammel would be a worthwile bet to provide some solid innings. The biggest question, perhaps, is whether they’ll instead land Tyson Ross first.
- As the White Sox continue to discuss trade arrangements involving Jose Quintana, the Astros remain one of the rival organizations most fervently in pursuit. That’s hardly surprising, as Houston has long been said to be engaged on the talented lefty. Certainly, it still seems there’s sufficient momentum towards a deal for something to get done, though it remains to be seen whether the ’Stros or another club will come up with the best offer.
- The Giants are not actively pursuing Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun. And though the Dodgers still remain a possible match with Milwaukee, the Los Angeles organization is currently still focused on trying to work out a trade for second baseman Brian Dozier. It’s not known whether the Dodgers would embark upon a pursuit of Braun if they’re able to add Dozier. While they obviously play different positions, Dozier would accomplish the goal of adding right-handed pop while occupying a position of greater need for L.A., which has a rather lengthy list of potential outfielders.
- Meanwhile, the Dodgers are on the hunt for a righty set-up man. One possibility, per Morosi, is live-armed 28-year-old Neftali Feliz, who is arguably the best-remaining relief pitcher. MLBTR’s Charlie Wilmoth recently took a look at Feliz’s free-agent case.
I think the Astros will get the lefty and still keep vital pieces of the team and farm system.
they need to put martes and tucker in the deal to start the convo
There is word out that ‘Martes, Tucket and Paulino’ were the package offered
Man. I know the White Sox supposedly wanted Musgrove with Martes and Tucker, but that’s a pretty solid deal right there. It’s definitely one I could see them eventually making. Maybe they think the Pirates will offer up one of their top guys (I would prefer that) and are slow playing it. We’ll see. Hopefully something will get done soon either way.
If the Astros offered that to the Sox Quintana would be with the Astros.!
Not if they’re trying to get the Pirates to pull the trigger on a deal… All 3 of the Pirates top guys (maybe even 4 depending on how much you like Keller) are arguably better prospects than the Astros top guys.
That’s a great package. I don’t see why the Astros should offer more.
I don’t know if they should offer more, but the Sox will leverage them for more. As well as the Pirates. I think they are just playing with both teams and eventually will make a decision and I think it happens within the next 2 weeks.
Where is this “word” coming from? Is it legit sources or is this people seeing the Archer offer and the supposed White Sox ask a while back and coming up with this deal in their head?
and still behind the Rangers!!!
And you don’t know what your talking about like all you Rangers “fans”
I would love to hear what you think they’d give up then… Unless maybe you don’t include guys like Martes and Tucker as vital pieces of the farm…?
Considering the names bantered about concerning the Pirates, you would be correct.abot that being the starting point
I believe the pirates will end up with Quintana
He makes too much sense for the Pirates.
I hope so, I like the pirate prospects more than the astros prospects.
I think LA pick up Sergio Romo on the cheap as their righty setup man.
Every Dodger fan should shoot themselves in the head if we ever even think of signing Romo. No Giants thank you
Well this got serious rather quickly
Twins are the biggest tease it seems like they don’t want to get rid of their prized possession anyway.
I think the dodgers are the tease holding onto to prospects .
The Dodgers aren’t the tease. If you’re an Astros fan than you of all people should understand. The Dodgers know who they have on their prospects and haven’t missed. IE, Joc, Seager, Urias. The next is Bellinger and Alverez. Just like a few years ago and currently when everyone was asking for Correa, and Bellinger. So don’t be ignorant. Shut up when you don’t know what you’re taking about or informed on the organization you don’t involve yourself in.
So what you’re saying is that you do not give Astros_fan_84 rave reviews for his knowledge of the Dodgers farm system?
They know they have good prospects and so do other clubs and other fans. The problem with that is you can’t get MLB talent is you are unwilling to part with those prospects. Twins feel Dozier is worth more than De Leon. They are probably right. From most of baseballs point of view the Dodgers have been stingy with their prospects. Also not all of the Dodgers prospects have been hits.
Wow…Go get ’em with that keyboard bravery!
Well Johny Dodger if they aren’t willing to part with anything more than Deleon then Dozier won’t be a Dodger simple as that. I’m pretty sure the Twins aren’t asking for Bellinger with Deleon but they aren’t doing a one for one swap. If the Dodgers stick to those guns then guess what they won’t Dozier simple as that.
I think the Dodgers are smart holding on to their prospects…Bellinger seems like he could be something special and A-Gon is getting up there and I believe his contract is up after the season…if not then the season after
I would love to have Feliz. Go get him Andrew!
I wouldn’t mind having him AND Romo…the playoffs proved that we can’t have too many guys with ice water in their veins…grabbing a couple set up guys that have closing experience would be huge IMO
i’ve got Q going to the pirates by virtue of houston thinking every player in their farm system is untouchable
Where do you get this idea that they think everyone in their farm is untouchable?
There unwillingness to trade prospects!?!??! Oh wait.. they only acquire Gattis, Giles, Gomez, Fiers, Kazmir and had a trade completed for Hamels before he veto’d it. All of them acquired either a top 100, or near top 100 prospect(s).
i’m exaggerating a little but referring to the leaked rejected trades where they wouldn’t pony up bregman for sale or tucker & musgrove for Q
Not giving up Bregman for Sale is perfectly defendable, however the White Sox also wanted Martes with Tucker and Musgrove, which is arguably more than what they got for Sale (depending on how you view Kopech and Tucker/Musgrove)
I wouldn’t give up Bregman either and neither him nor musgrove are prospects.
You mean like Boston wouldn’t pony up for Benindetti?
Obviously they didn’t have too.
As a Dodger fan, I’m really surprised by there lackluster off season! We need starting pitching
The Dodgers added the #1 SP on the free agent market, and are stacked with depth. So much so, that De Leon probably isn’t in the rotation. What more do you want?
You are not taking the position that the dodgers front office has been any of creative, strategic or forward thinking are you?
Another view is that they have spent a boat load of $ and a) are still not as good of a team as they were when the season ended and b) they have done nothing to address the #1 glaring hole (worst ops and runs scored against LHP) from last year
We non dodger fans are tickled to death with the moves the FO have ‘not’ made
The Dodgers were near the best in the league with a 112 wRC+ vs. LHP in ’15. Seagar and Turner will hit LHP better like they’ve done in the past. Thompson and Van Slyke should be healthy. Barnes is the new backup catcher. As much as they struggled in ’16 the team shouldn’t project as being a team that can’t hit LHP.
The Dodgers signed the best free agent starting pitcher, the best free agent 3rd baseman, who is also 1 of top 3 hitters on the market, & 1 of the top 2 relief pitchers on the market. That’s a pretty busy off-season.
Also, the Dodgers are arguably better than the end of last season b/c (1) they will have a full season of Rich Hill, (2) they expect their younger players to develop; not only the big names like Seager, Pederson & Urias, but also lesser known youngsters like Stripling & Grant Dayton, who may see significant time in the bigs if they suffer injuries to their rotation, & (3) they can’t possibly suffer as many injuries to their pitching staff as they did last year. When you have so many young players on the roster who are ready to contribute, sometimes the best move is standing pat.
Relying on Dayton and Stripling is not a sign of being improved.
They really have too many guys at this point. At this point they should hope to be clearing some dead weight out. I’m not sure where you want them to go SP wise.
Lackluster offseason?! Nobody thought there was a chance at all that we would return all 3 of our big free agents. We have gotten better because we get a full year of Urias, better health, and improvement from the young guys. This is so extremely short sighted. By the way the off-season isn’t close to over.
I tend to agree. This has been an offseason where they really didn’t need to do much. The offseason also isn’t close to over. They needed to lock up what was on the market find a 2b or at least a place holder until the deadline and find a pen piece or two. Really this team is in great shape. Granted it may look extremely different mid season but it’s still a playoff team. What will decide whether it is or isn’t a viable WS caliber team is health and what they do at the deadline. It’s pretty simple last year the injury to Thompson was a major blow. They also didn’t get that extra pen piece to assist an abused pen. And they had no one to turn to when Utley was showing his age and Kikè was just plain bad. Beyond that the SP health was a debacle. That being said Urias wet his feet along with Stewart, Strip and too a lesser extent DeLeon. It’s going to be interesting though because there are potential OF guys knocking on the door in AAA if there are injuries or underperformance. But no having Thompson and SVS or Ruf will be a huge help against lefties. Then you hope Gonzo had an anomaly of a year and Turner bounces back. Now they need to address 2b. I’m really hoping they find a way to smuggle Forsythe out of TB and if the Pirates are out of it boy would Watson would be nice. But in no way was this a lackluster offseason.
Yes, no and maybe. Still have that hole at 2B, the middle relief is questionable, the outfield has lots of depth but little strength. Not saying they are necessarily done but I’d like to see them trade from the depth to get the strength.
Oh you’re surprised that we’ve spent a ton of money and made sure that we re-signed our best free agents? You better wake up
No way Ross goes there. He will no doubt go to the Cubs
Hope your right
Ross will go where he has the best chance at rebuilding his value that might be with the Cubs but Texas will have a better chance of giving him a rotation spot when he is ready to go. It’s definitely not a done deal to the Cubs.
Does anyone think the Dodgers would trade Joc Pederson in a deal for McCutchen?
I do not BUT I have heard a few people propose this as if it’s realistic (Matt Vasgersian is the only one whose name I remember).
As unrealistic as it sounds, I was still not interested since the Pirates don’t need OF with Meadows coming.
Eventually it dawned on me that parting with Meadows would be pretty easy if you had Pederson and they could get Quintana.
No
At this point, Pederson is younger, cheaper, more controllable and just better, so I don’t think that’ll happen
Younger, cheaper, more controllable, yes. Better, no.
Not that I think it would ever happen. The Dodgers love the controllable and cheaper part.
Well actually in terms of WAR, Pederson was the better player last year. Per B-R, 3.4 WAR for Pederson and -0.7 for McCutchen. You read that right: according to B-R, McCutchen was below replacement last year due to his defense taking a significant step back. Even if you are not a believer in defensive stats, Pederson comes out ahead in offensive WAR – 3.3 vs. 2.2. Now it’s possible McCutchen just had a down year last year and will bounce back this year. I guess it just depends whether you believe in a 25 year old improving on last year or a 31 year old bouncing back from a down year. I know taking a former MVP candidate seems like the obvious choice, but in looking at the numbers I’m not sure it is.
I said 31 but should have been 30 year old. Point still stands but a little shakier.
Setting belief in those particular stats aside, I certainly recognize that McCutchen is coming off the worst season of his career, but it’s telling that his worst season is about the same as Pederson’s best. So yes it comes down to whether you believe that McCutchen at not yet age 30 is already in decline and whether Pederson will ever learn that he doesn’t have to try to hit every pitch to Pasadena.
Pederson had a 129 OPS+ last season as a 24 year old compared to McCutchen’s 103 OPS+ at 29. The same McCutchen who had a 130 OPS+ at 24, so it’s hardly unreasonable to think Pederson could still improve next year. Now since Pederson is also still capable of playing defense in CF, I would think there is a very valid argument that he is the better player next year. Once you include his 4 years of remaining team control and salary, he is undoubtedly the more valuable player moving forward.
If by value you mean excess value, you are probably right, but that’s a function of team control for Pederson vs. McCutcheon’s high dollar contract. If you mean value as in the better player, then it’s debatable if you are going on more than just the last season. High marks to Pederson for his defensive skills of course but I am beginning to lose hope that he will ever have the plate approach required to be an elite player offensively.
Pederson’s best out of a whopping 2 seasons. I’m not going to fight you much on this because McCutchen obviously has the track record, But if you gave me the choice to take a 25 year old vs. a 30 year old when the 25 year old had hands down the better season last year, then I’m betting on the 25 year old. I admit there is a good chance I am wrong, but I feel like the smart money is on Pederson. But that’s part of the fun of baseball. Debates like this are possible because it’s pretty dang hard to predict what will happen next.
How about a 3-way with LA, WSx
Absolutely not…no
For what it is worth, Sean Sears from sports mockery said that the astros have offered Francis Martes, Kyle Tucker and David Paulino for Q.
Not bad, but still like the bucs prospects more!
Quintana to the Astros is the deal that makes the most sense.
He would be the difference between them contending for real or not.
The Pirates would still be behind the Cubs and Cardinals and the Mets/Nats/Giants/Dodgers for the wild card even if they got Quintana.
The Pirates best bet for contending is to hold onto to the blue chips and hope Glasnow is the next Syndergaard and Meadows is the next Harper (no one is Trout).
Well one of the Mets/Nats will win their division, one of the Giants/Dodgers will win their division, and one of the Cubs/Cards will win their division, so they aren’t really behind THAT many teams… I could absolutely see them making a push for one of the 2 wild card spots. And even if it doesn’t workout this year, they’d have Q for another 3 cheap years on top of that.
Obviously the best option would be to hold onto their prospects and develop them into superstars, but the odds of that happening are extremely slim and not very realistic. If they pulled the trigger on a deal, they’d be making a calculated risk – just depends how close they legitimately think they are (and who they’d have to give up).
I just don’t think their best option is to acquire Q now. If he’s still available at the deadline and they are in it, then maybe that’d make sense. Right now I think there are too many question marks, especially with which cutch is going to show up for them to put their chips in.
I do not disagree with that, especially with the price they’d have to pay for Quintana.
Don’t forget the Pirates were in the playoffs 2 years ago, they won over 95 games. There is no reason they can’t win again and make the playoffs.
What they did 2 years ago has little to no bearing on how they will fare in 2017.
Unless the Bucs can move cutch for prospects that the sox want and the can keep Glasgow & Meadows
The problem with that is that it’s simply not going to happen. McCutchen only has 2 years of control and is coming of a really bad season. There is no way they are going to get nearly enough from trading him to acquire Q.
And if they trade for Q, doesn’t that mean they are going for it ? Which would mean they would keep Cutch right?
Sorry did not mean to infer that they were going to get enough for Cutch to flip just that for Q. What I meant was the Bucs trade Cutch for a couple of prospect that the Sox like and then throw a few more pieces from their own system to finish the deal and keep Meadows and Glasgow or at least Meadows. Trading Cutch would put Bell in RF full time.
I see what you are saying, but i just still don’t see how that’s likely, especially if you think they are keeping bell too. I just don’t think cutch has that kind of value.
I could easily be way off on this, but i really think the WS hold out for meadows from the bucs.
We have “heard” what the sox want from the astros, we have heard what the astros have offered. Have also heard what the astros have offered for Archer.
But has any insider reported what the sox want from the bucs for Q, or what the bucs have offered ?
Are we just making educated guesses?
Seems Pirates likely saying no to include Meadows as the centerpiece. Given us Sox fans and likely Hahn’s desire to get back a couple bats, would alternative deal of Bell/Newman/Keller be a reasonable and better option than the 3 rumored Astros names?
That’s pretty close to the Astros package of Martes/Tucker/Paulino IMO. I think you could easily make an argument for either one.
The Pirates have never traded elite prospects and I hope they don’t start now.
Let the Astros have him.
They haven’t Won in 40 years either
And once they get Jose Quintana, the Cubs and Cards will lay down in surrender, right?
The Pirates are better off keeping the kids and hoping they blossom.
Glasnow could easily be a better pitcher than Quintana a year from now.
“Glasnow could easily be a better pitcher than Quintana a year from now.”
Seeing as only a handful of pitchers in the league are statistically better than Quintana right now, saying Glasnow could easily be better than him in a year is a ridiculous comment. Either that, you don’t understand what “easily” means, or you have no idea how good Quintana actually is.
There IS a chance that Glasnow could develop into a better pitcher than Quintana currently is, but even that chance is mediocre at best. As for doing it by the end of this year? EXTREMELY unlikely, assuming Quintana doesn’t get hurt.
Actually what he meant to say there is a slight almost nothing chance that Glasgow is better than Q in a year. Three years from now there is a still very small but better chance that Glasnow is better then Q but I doubt it.
Those 3 and Diaz and one of the 2 third base prospects. Make up for quality with quantity. NYC fans claim victory because they keep their to two prospects. Sox fans happy with a nice haul. Might work
I think the Sox want Meadows, Bell, and Newman for Quintana, and the Sox are waiting it out until they get them.
That would be an ideal package, but I don’t see ANY way that’s happening.
The Dodgers don’t seem like a good team at first look but, three Dodgers are on my greatest all-time Dodger team. Clayton Kershaw, Kenley Jansen and possible Corey Seager. I thought Yasiel Pug had a chance but, I have doubts now. This is my greatest All Time Dodger team and how I would play them.
C-DH R Roy Campanella………8
C-DH R Mike Piazza……………..4
1B R Steve Garvey………………….6
1B R Gil Hodges
2B R Jackie Robinson…………..2
3B R Ron Cey………………………..9
SS L Corey Seager
SS R Pee Wee Reese
SS B Maury Wills …………………..1
LF L Zack Wheat ………………….3
CF L Duke Snider …………………5
RF L Babe Herman……………….7
RF R Carl Furillo
SUB B Jim Gilliam
SP-R Burleigh Grimes…………5
SP-R Dazzy Vance………………..1
SP-R Don Drysdale………………3
SP-L Sandy Koufax………………2
SP-L Clayton Kershaw……….4
SP-R Don Sutton
RP-R Eric Gagne
RP-R Kenley Jansen
RP-R Mike Marshall
RP-L Jim Brewer
RP-L Ron Perranoski
They won the Division 3 years in a row. Yeah they look terrible.
Four. Yeah, that’s how many postseason flameouts we’re looking at.
Yeah I’m tired of flameouts…I was 5 when the Dodgers won it all in ’88 so I’m ready to experience another one as an adult…Go Blue!!!
Well trade for a RH hitter who could hit #4
That could be Turner’s regular slot this season. As we saw last season, Gonzales might be moved to #3 or #5.
Great, well thought out list. I would put Koufax 1 with Kershaw taking that spot from him in a few years. I love Seager and Jansen but it is way too early to add them yet. Great job though!
Could we add Gibson as a PH? That was the most magical night of my life. Vin’s total description of that moment, from Gibson walking to the plate, to him rounding the bases was poetry.
“In a year that has been so improbable… the impossible has happened!” A miracle truly happened that night.
I’m going to miss Vin this year
Manny Mota was the Dodgers greatest PH. Sorry, Kirk Gibson doesn’t make my Detroit Tiger list either.
I first established a greatest team list for every team in 1984 then continued to update them. In 1994, I played them back on my Tony LaRussa Baseball game.
The rotation is made up of the Dodgers greatest pitchers but the rotation is not ordered by the greatest. Casey Stengel ordered his pitchers so that their styles offset each other. RH Burleigh Grimes was a highly competitive, multi-pitch, control, spit-balling bulldog of a pitcher.
Henley Jansen replaced Clem Labine on my list.
The Braves, A’s, Phillies, Red Sox, Indians, Cubs, White Sox and Giants also have strong All-Time SPs.,
You are not Stengel and I also played TL Baseball back in the day and OOTP now. You pitching Grimes over Koufax in a Game 1 is insane. Grimes had grit and could pitch a complete game. Koufax has 3 Cy Youngs, an MVP Award, and 2 World Series MVPs in a 5 year span. He also has 4 no hitters and a perfect game. I want Koufax for games 1,4, and 7 not Grimes. You are wrong in this analysis.
You should play them now on OOTP today. Computer games though do not take into account the changing from different styles of pitchers on the hitting rhythm of the hitters.
My post was way off topic and not reality anyhow. I’m not sure what your point is… I set the season rotation as Vance 1, Koufax 2, Drysdale 3, Kershaw 4, Grimes 5. However you set your all-time great Dodger team, if you even have one, is up to you.
If the bucs are still on Q, the will have to add in meadows and glasnow or tallion
Or not.
The Astros can have him.
Would love to see the Giants land Dozier and Braun, but their payroll is about to go super sonic.
No way the Pirates will trade Meadows. He’s been the jewel of the system and a guy they have brought along with a great deal of patience so as to make a successful transition as a starting outfielder. This alone makes me think the Quintana idea is a dead end. They’re not interested in McCutchen and simply have reservations about Bell, as they should
I would think they’ll proceed with a young staff surrounded by Cole and Nova. I don’t think the idea is to contend with the Cubs for the Central but rather aim for the wild card and see what happens
It’s funny to me. Some people called the Pirates farm system the best over the past 3 or 4 years but after handing Toronto two of their top 10 last year, you have to wonder about the evolution of players down at AAA. As is, Kang at 3rd and Freese at 1st make the most sense but that middle infield and light hitting catching corps are problematic
Meanwhile, Cutch is not as bad as what he showed last year. Given the ‘respect’ ownership gave him last month, I’d hope for a turn around
Just because the Nationals got fleeced in the Eaton deal doesn’t mean the Astros are going to cave and overpay,.
IMO, Martes is who they won’t move, not Musgrove, and Astros GM Jeff Luhnow’s comments in the press back that up.
There’s a deal that can be done with Tucker as the centerpiece, but we’ll see if the Sox are willing to pivot to other Astros prospects.