Though Raisel Iglesias’ name has somewhat frequently been mentioned on the rumor circuit, Reds general manager Dick Williams tells Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer that he’s not marketing his closer to other teams. That doesn’t mean that Williams won’t listen to offers on the 27-year-old, but the GM’s comments suggest that a trade isn’t especially likely “[I]f somebody really gave you an opportunity to improve your franchise, you’d have to consider it,” said Williams of listening to offers on Iglesias. “But I really like a lot of the pieces we have, and I see us not that far from being competitive if we can get some of these young pitchers to turn the corner. If I were to trade him, you’d want something back that could help us real soon.”
Some more trade chatter to kick off Thursday morning…
- From that same piece, Williams tells Buchanan that he’s more open-minded when it comes to dealing impending free agents such as Zack Cozart, Drew Storen and recently injured Scott Feldman. The knee injury that landed Feldman on the disabled list seems particularly unfortunate, as Buchanan reports that the Reds had received trade interest in Feldman prior to that issue. His timetable for a return isn’t yet known. There’s technically time for him to be activated before the deadline if it proves to be short-term in nature, though one can imagine that most interested parties would prefer to see him make a start before moving forward with a trade. Buchanan also speculates on the possibility of a Tony Cingrani trade, noting that he’s pitching well and controlled for two more seasons, while Cincinnati has quite a few younger arms it’d like to take a look at in the ’pen.
- The Royals are once again struggling, having dropped seven of their past 10 games, but ESPN’s Buster Olney hears that they’re not deviating from their course as deadline buyers. Kansas City has been hopeful of adding two “cost-efficient” starting pitchers and are also looking into adding a reliever. It’d take a total collapse between now and the deadline for the Royals to change course and sell off their impending free agents, Olney adds.
- Olney also tweets that the Mets would improve their chances of finding a trade partner for Asdrubal Cabrera by playing him at third base. Rival evaluators are hopeful of seeing him at that position before making a determination, per Olney, and it now appears likely that the Mets will accommodate them. Newsday’s Marc Carig reports that Cabrera is set to begin taking grounders at the hot corner, and manager Terry Collins confirmed as much to Carig’s colleague, David Lennon (Twitter link).
- The Mariners “appear willing” to trade outfield prospect Tyler O’Neill this summer, reports Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune. The 22-year-old O’Neill entered the season ranked among the game’s 50 or so best prospects on several notable lists (Baseball America, MLB.com, Baseball Prospectus) but got off to a poor start to the season in Triple-A. He’s recovered with a 1.127 OPS over his past 26 games to bring his batting line back up to a respectable .241/.326/.462, but Dutton notes that the emergence of Mitch Haniger and Ben Gamel has the M’s more open to a deal. Despite the presence of that duo, however, Seattle hasn’t shown an inclination to deal top organizational prospect Kyle Lewis.
- ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick writes that the Dodgers and Astros have put themselves in such strong position that neither strongly needs to make a move prior to the trade deadline. However, both Dodgers president Andrew Friedman and Astros GM Jeff Luhnow are viewed as extremely opportunistic types and figure to look at ways to upgrade their roster anyhow. Crasnick classifies the Dodgers’ interest in Orioles closer Zach Britton as “legitimate” but notes that they’re a bit cautious due to his 2017 forearm issues. Ken Rosenthal wrote yesterday that L.A. is reluctant to part with prospects Alex Verdugo and Walker Buehler in trades, and Crasnick echoes that statement while also adding righty Yadier Alvarez to the list. While the three aren’t quite “untouchable,” none of the three seems especially likely to go. As for the Astros, they’ll continue looking for a starter that could join the playoff rotation behind Dallas Keuchel and Lance McCullers, though they, too, could look instead to a late-inning lefty like Britton or Detroit’s Justin Wilson.
i just got burned, someone left the hot stove on last night.
Isn’t the “hot stove” really just for the winter?
I’d put that joke on the back-burner until he off-season
I see what u did there
Good one, Garebear
Why even tag the Astros in this post? This information was vague and information we all knew 3 months ago. Thanks for the update?
Same for Dodgers
The Mariners have two options with O’Neill. 1) trade him for a pitcher that will be horrible and Tyler will become the next Adam Jones. 2) keep him and he will become the next Jesus Montero because the Ms can’t develop good hitting prospects into solid average major leaguers. Not sure what the best option is……
Hahaha, No kidding! We have not had the best luck with our prospects- to your point, look at what the trio of Chris Taylor, Logan Morrison and Justin Smoak are doing this year. As long as Tyler O’Niell nets us a decent pitcher I’m ok with either option!
The Royals lose Hosmer, Moustakas, Cain, Vargas, and others next year. They have a pretty bad farm system and don’t have a ton of money to bring in elite talent next year.
Unless they are a for sure playoff contender, I’d be selling and selling fast. Try to salvage what you can.
Amen. Holding to make it to the WC eliminator doesn’t make sense.
The division is probably as likely as the WC. They are two games out right now and while Cleveland looks better on paper – they just haven’t capitalized for 3.5 months.
As a Royals fan – I have no issue with them adding a complimentary piece or two and making another run at it with this group.
except you have no farm, so how are you going to add anything?
i can walk onto a lamborghini lot and say I want one all day long. it’s not gonna happen though.
They would only add complimentary pieces (back of rotation, pen)- they have the currency for that.
I’m with you, but I don’t think Dayton Moore agrees.
I wonder just how robust the marketplaces for Eric Hosmer/Mike Moustakas/Lo Cain will be too. I could see 1 or 2 of them coming back to KC without squinting too vigorously, actually.
problem is free agents are pretty much never as good as the previous 6 years. you want the production, not the name.
They’re going to be bad for a while anyways. might as well see what this team can do. if that turns it from a 4 year rebuild to a 5 year rebuild, who cares?
No body wants Hosmer
I want Hosmer
I agree with this…the Indians, Twins, and White Sox all look like they’ll be really good in the future, while the Tigers and Royals both look like they’ll be really bad. It would be smart for the Royals to get a few prospects to avoid bottoming out, especially since they’re not even a lock to make the playoffs, but from their perspective I still understand holding steady. They’re gonna be bad for a while in the future, so I guess at this point they might as well try to catch lightning in a bottle and make one last run. It’s risky because they’re betting on making the playoffs in a crowded American League, but at this point it’s probably worth the gamble.
Will the Royals’ fanbase be OK with bottoming out? What they’re doing makes some sense to me…make one last run at the playoffs, bottom out and restock through the draft, rinse and repeat.
The Royals are in a bad spot right now. I didn’t feel like they were contenders before this stretch, and now they are back under .500. Before this run, I could at least understand not selling, but it’s clear what they SHOULD do now. But the biggest problem is that they are about to start a weekend series with the White Sox, which means they’ll be back over .500 by next week. Nothing will have changed though – they’ll just be playing a team trying to get a #1 pick. It’ll just give them even more false hope.
For the record – the Royals lost in game 7 of the World Series in 2014. Their record on July 20 2014? 48-49.
They finished 16 games over .500
Their current record – 46-47.
And it’s very largely the same group.
Does it mean they’ll do it again? No, but it means they have and can.
T-Bone, Tyler O My O’Neill…kid clobbers like a baracuda and catches like a basket
I thought Neal Watkins from Accounting was T-Bone?
No he is Cocoa the monkey.
Cocoa……that monkey’s alright. High five!
royals farm is garbage, who are they going to get? RA Dickey?
Perhaps Garcia at best, but Dickey has an affordable option for 2018 that the Braves will likely pick up.
If the dodgers trade Calhoun I’ll cry
Don’t think it happens; but, of all their guys on the various top 100 prospect lists, I think he is the most likely to be made available. The man can hit, no doubt.
I think he would be more productive that utley or forsythe
I think he’ll be the one to go. He has no real position or spot on the Dodgers. Verdugo is a better outfielder than him and hits just as good. Where else would we put him?
I’m thinking he could be at 2b over utley and forsythe
He can’t field…. he is a DH pretty much.
He is improving on his fielding and you don’t need to be too amazing in the field if your bat is very productive.
Verdugo for hand straight up who says no
I say no. Hand is not worth Verdugo.
Hell no.
What would it take to get Cosart from Cincinnati to Pittsburgh