2:08pm: Offers are still “lacking” from the O’s perspective, Heyman tweets.
12:33pm: Indeed, an executive with one team even thinks Houston could be close to landing Britton as the team engages in “serious” pursuit of the star lefty, Rosenthal tweets.
Meanwhile, despite some indications to the contrary, Jon Heyman of Fan Rag hears the Orioles would still consider dealing Britton to the Nationals. (Twitter link.) That said, Baltimore is looking for an impact prospect from Washington or any other team.
And the Dodgers also are still not out of the running on Britton, Rosenthal tweets, leaving the field largely wide open.
12:28pm: Despite evidently finding a deal for Francisco Liriano, the Astros are still engaged on Britton, per Rosenthal (via Twitter). But teams aren’t sure even at this hour just how inclined Baltimore is to make a deal.
12:23pm: The Indians are now considered to be a “long shot” to acquire Britton, tweets USA Today’s Bob Nightengale.
11:46am: FanRag’s Jon Heyman tweets that the O’s remain “adamant” about not moving Britton without getting an elite prospect in return. ESPN’s Buster Olney, though, spoke to one evaluator who feels that the O’s have been steadily moving toward a trade of the lefty (Twitter link).
9:46am: MLB Network’s Ken Rosenthal reports that the Dodgers and Astros also remain in the mix for Britton (Twitter links). One executive from an interested team tells Rosenthal that it’s “still unclear” if the Orioles will actually part ways with their closer.
9:42am: The Indians are “pushing hard” in a bid to acquire left-hander Zach Britton from the Orioles, reports Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer (on Twitter). Cleveland was tied to righty Addison Reed earlier this morning, but the Mets’ closer now looks to be off the board as he’s reportedly headed to the Red Sox.
Britton, 29, entered the season on the short list of baseball’s very best relievers, but he’s missed significant time with a forearm injury in 2017 and has seen his K/BB numbers trend in the wrong direction when healthy. He’s also pitched on back-to-back days just once since being activated from the disabled list and is earning a steep $11.4MM this year.
That said, Britton is controllable via arbitration this offseason, and if he does indeed round back into top form, he’d give Cleveland an unparalleled combination of bullpen weapons, pairing with fellow lefty Andrew Miller and right-hander Cody Allen. When at his best, Britton uses a mid-90s sinker to generate grounders at a historic rate and boasts elite strikeout and walk rates. It’s been debated for a few weeks now whether the Orioles would ultimately be open to parting with Britton and whether any team would risk parting with the elite prospects necessary to acquire him in light of this season’s red flags.
Behold the unstoppable bullpen if this happens
yeah that’s a hell of a bullpen if they can pull it off
Just like last yr ehh?
Just like last yr ehh?
Woah. That would be a 3 headed monster
As my Nats refuse to go all in for a legit chance of winning… AGAIN!!!
So trading for Eaton before the season wasn’t enough? I guess you would prefer that they what little is left in the farm
Ask them to put in a call to the Blue Jays
Let’s go!!!
This would be an excellent move for Cleveland.
If Britton goes to the Indians, maybe he’ll actually get to pitch when his team makes the playoffs!
Please don’t remind me
Becomes a five inning game. Wow!!
Add in Shaw, Goody and McAllister and Cleveland wouldn’t even need a starter to last but a single inning
Can’t put those guys out every night.
Can put them out a couple days in a row, and there would be enough of the lights-out team to still be well covered for the following games if they did need to replace a starter in the first.
You can in the playoffs when you don’t play every night.
That would shorten playoff games quite a bit for them. If you aren’t winning after 6, you probably aren’t going to win.
Tribe probably wouldn’t be pursuing Britton this aggressively had Boone Logan not gone on the DL last week with a lat strain. Should be interesting to see what CLE is offering.
Britton would be a fantastic addition to the Tribe…but not at the cost of Francisco Mejia.
Not sure if the Orioles would be interested in Mejia with Chance Sisco being close to MLB ready as it is. I think Triston McKenzie and Yu-Cheng Chang could be targets. O’s need pitching first and foremost. They could also use a SS prospect since Mountcastle has already been moved off the position with his promotion to AA and Hardy is on his last season.
My guess would be they demand McKenzie because they need the SP prospect. Yandy Diaz as a 3B would make sense because Machado is only under contract thru 2018. Ryan Merritt would be a nice target to get back. MLB-ready LHP. Not a lot of ceiling but he could be a swing man option starting next year. I’m just spitballing.
Yeah I think this trade would have to start with Triston McKenzie for sure
does bobby bradley do anything for the o’s as the headliner of the deal? lefty masher who looks like he will have 3 straight minor league seasons of 25+ hr’s who can take over for chris davis. bradley is also starting to drop his k rate too.
he was rated around 80 something among prospects last year, and has dropped out of the rating for inexplicable reasons. should still be in the top 100 and still is depending on who you ask.
No bobby Bradley has no value in a deal for the orioles. We have 3 first baseman on the roster and Mancini and Davis will be w the orioles for 5+ years. He does nothing. I don’t think he’s been dropped for inexplicable reasons either. He can’t get his batting average over 250 and he strikes out a lot. Combo that w Being a 1B only prospect and there is not much to love there
makes sense that baltimore has no interest then. didn’t remember that davis was signed for that long. but there is plenty to like about bradley. 27, 29 and on pace for 25+ hr in 3 straight minor league seasons is huge.
bradley has struck out a ton in the past, but he has cut it down to 23% this season and he still walks at a pretty good clip to make up for hitting around .230-.260. find me another player that has put up that many bombs in 3 minor league seasons and all before his 22nd birthday. not many.
Been a big market correction for players w bradleys profile. He’s not a worthless prospect but he isn’t a highly regarded one. He’s not a bad first base prospect just not going to headline a deal for Britton or a top reliever.
Our best and only prospect is chance sisco so I highly doubt mejia would come back
Even if the Tribe did trade Mejia it would be worth it. Britton is still under contract next year. So it wouldn’t be just a rental.
Disagree with this. 1.5 years at a position you’re fine at vs 6 years of upgrade at a position that could definitely use it. It’s all about relative return. Britton is probably the better player, but that doesn’t make him the better upgrade.
Mejia would be an outlandish price to pay but Mckinzie/Allen should be fair for a difference maker like Britton.
Or Triston McKenzie
who will close for clevland if this trade happens?
Nothing changes. Allen closes, Miller stays weapon X that comes out when they need some strike outs and their best pitcher for 1 to 2 innings. Just gives an additional late option.
Allen is the closer.
Britton would likely only get save opps if a Lefty is more suited to the final inning or if 3 straightdays are needed. He’d probably be the main 8th guy, with Miller being the anywhere fireman he was last postseason
Cody Allen the Tribe’s natural closer. Why fix what isn’t broken?
Who I should hope Orioles get from Cleveland for Britton besides from big league roster
Daniel Robertson, Richie Schaffer, and……..Mr. Utility Man, Michael Martinez!
Maybe they can give us back Santander too…
For sure. Did you see what he did against Akron this past weekend?
Triston McKenzie (RHP)
The Royals can’t be happy about this. This is their last shot with the core, but Cleveland is here to crash the party. It’s good for the AL Central to have a race and maybe the best divisional race down the stretch. ESPN better take notice.
Should’ve already taken notice with both the Tribe and Royals both putting up 9 game win streaks in the same span.
I, for one, quit watching ESPN years ago.
Same here
I there is not an ocean nearby, ESPN doesn’t care about it.
ESPN only covers Red Sox – Yankees division races.
Allen, Miller, Britton. That’s scary
Would be quite the trade for the Indians but I still give my Yankees the crown for top bullpen with Kahnle, Robertson, Betances, and Chapman. But if Aroldis doesn’t get back to his dominant self it’s very close
If he doesn’t get back to being dominant, Yankees lose that by a mile. Miller’s better than Robertson, I’d take Allen over Kahnle (because Kahnle’s only been good this year), and I’d take Britton over Betances.
Sorry…you get miller over Robinson . But lose Betances over Allen and you lose Chapman over Britton.
If Chapman gets back to pitching like Chapman. He hasn’t been the same guy this year. Plus, look at their total stats for this year (before Cleveland makes an upgrade with Britton). Indians BlSv: 5, Yankees 19. That number alone says the Yankees’ bullpen is a season-long problem.
Sorry, but in what world is Chapman over Britton? Britton has spent the last 2+ years being arguably the most unhittable reliever in baseball.
typical yankee homer. allen is easily a top 10 closer in baseball, possibly top 5 closer.
allen > betances
Chapman is the reason the Cubs won the WS for the first time in 108 idiot. I think Chapman wins. Clown
I think Bryant and Rizzo are the reason the Cubs won, not Chapman. Chapman was spectacularly average in the playoffs with the Cubs.
Agreed, the Yankees bullpen is strong; However, I believe the Dodgers pen goes toe to toe with them.
Do to Cleveland!!!!!
Do it Cleveland!!!!!
Oh but nobody should trade for him! WestCoastRyan said he’s going to have TJ within the next year! There’s even a 99% chance of it! Bahahahahahahahaha
Can you count to potato?
You are truly more moronic than I give you credit for. Running out of comebacks that you have to use that one repeatedly?
If I wanted my come back I would have wiped it off your mom’s chin.
My comment wasn’t approved, let me revise. How many times are you going to use that? Running out of comebacks between this account and your JustAnotherFan account? The fact that every article I read yesterday was commented on by yourself, and not that account, along with the fact both accounts are major trolls, proves that you are that sad to have two accounts. Later
Nope. Only one account. You are the real moron here. Are we at the point where you say you’re done commenting then spend a week commenting emojis yet?
Wow once again my comment didn’t get approved. So here ya go. Is that all you’ve got? You’re laughable.
Nope. It ain’t.
Did you ever think maybe there’s a reason your comments don’t get approved?
Robinson Betances and Chapman would still be better!
You seem very insecure
Who’s Robinson? I only know a robertson.
That’s the second time you called him Robinson, are you sure your even watching baseball? Because if you did, you would eventually find out his name was Robertson.
It’s called auto correct changing what I’m typing douchebag
Champ man blows this year. N Bet is not the same as he was when they had Miller. Another Yank fan over hyping their players. Psssssssf
When your team wins a World Series then talk smack.
the Tribe needs starters. make no sense go after Britton with a top prospect like Meja when they could go after Gray instead. Tribe’s starting pitching will be the reason they don’t get through the playoffs. They already have 1 of the best bullpens in baseball if not the best.
Please don’t hold out for something elite and wind up with nothing.
Why not hold out? We still have control over Britton. He is a proven top closer in baseball if teams are concerned about how he has been throwing the ball then hang onto him. I don’t doubt he will be back to his top form next year and we can get the same return then if we’re getting nothing elite now.
I’d be okay with the orioles looking at Derek fisher and Martes from Houston as well. I’d be open to having paulino in any package as well with his value being at a minimum currently
If the Orioles acquire Francisco Mejia, that would be fine by me!!!!
Doesn’t mean make sense for us to target mejia. Then you’re looking at us flipping either him or sisco cause if you move either one from behind the plate you don’t have an elite prospect. McKenzie will do just fine
The Blue Jays should be talking to teams like the Indians about the possibility of trading Roberto Osuna. Toronto should recognize that the AL East has restocked and passed them by and that they should be looking at contending again in a year or two. Part of that means turning enormously valuable guys like Osuna and Donaldson into elite prospects. Osuna would net almost any team’s #1 prospect and some other valuable pieces, while Donaldson should return even more. The Jays could do something very similar to what the Yankees just did while waiting for guys like Alford, Bichette, and Vlad Jr to arrive. Sadly it appears from what is being said publicly that the Jays are only interested in parting with pending FAs and feel like they have a shot to contend this year and next. Personally I don’t see it and I’d trade off all of Estrada, Liriano, Happ, Donaldson and Osuna, as well as some other bullpen pieces and even Justin Smoak if someone is willing to offer some real prospects for him.
Oh, apparently the Jays just traded Liriano to the Astros.
Nats get in on osuna!
Britton is tough for me. If he is 100% I give up the farm for him. He is that good. But I just don’t know how healthy he is
This is such a tough call. I wonder what other positions Cleveland could address with their valuable prospect chips. Is this really the best way to allocate your very best assets?
I could manage this situation better than DD … This is unreal. I was will stunned yet somehow not surprised if they don’t trade Britton. I realize what I just said. I just can’t believe that aren’t selling O’Day, Brach, Smith, Britton, and maybe others.
We couldn’t get a team to take oday without paying half of his contract. Idk what kind of market there is for Seth smith but the return will be minimal. If you sell brach and Britton you’re starting the tear down cause this team can’t compete without an elite pen. I’d like to see us move them today though if we can get a top prospect back but if the offers are poor then hang onto them
So the Dodgers end up with Ysla and Farrell? Nice haul
Would Britton close in Houston or would Giles still be the closer?
Rotation
Dan is stupid.