Relievers are flying off the board, but movement on the position-player front has been near a standstill thus far. Here’s the latest on some available bats both on the trade and free-agent markets:
- The Red Sox called the Orioles about Manny Machado yesterday, per Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe (Twitter link), and they’re also considering Todd Frazier as an option according to Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald (also via Twitter). Frazier is willing to play first base, according to Silverman, though an acquisition of Machado would presumably slide Rafael Devers across the diamond to first base or necessitate a more extreme move on the left side of the infield. Whether the O’s actually move Machado remains to be seen, but they’re reportedly shopping him and asking interested parties to make offers.
- The Phillies are intrigued by the possibility of a Machado trade but would want a negotiation window to discuss an extension to be included in any trade, tweets FanRag’s Jon Heyman. However, Heyman hears that Machado isn’t likely to grant such a window when he’s just one year removed from reaching free agency at the age of 26. As things currently stand, Machado seems highly likely to have a case for a record-setting contract next winter, and there’s little incentive to discuss a long-term deal right now unless a team pays that rate in advance. Machado has already banked more than $23MM in his career between the draft and player salaries to date, and he’s projected by MLBTR to earn $17.3MM next year in his final season of arbitration eligibility.
- The Yankees have not only been in contact with the Diamondbacks about lefty Patrick Corbin, they’ve also discussed infielder/outfielder Brandon Drury in those talks, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Sherman notes that multiple clubs have discussed Drury with the Snakes, but he’s a strong fit in the Bronx following trades of Chase Headley and Starlin Castro. The 25-year-old Drury has slashed .275/.323/.453 with 29 homers in 979 plate appearances across the past two seasons while playing second base, third base and left field. He’s controllable for another four seasons and won’t be arbitration-eligible until next winter.
- Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic suggests that the Nationals are considering backup catchers, including free agent Alex Avila (subscription required & highly recommended). Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post hears the same, tweeting that while the Nats do like young Pedro Severino, bringing a more proven backup catcher into the fold is something the club has discussed.
- Rosenthal also notes within that piece that the Giants, Blue Jays, Rangers and Twins are all looking for backup catchers as well. Any from that bunch could stand out as a reasonable landing spot for Avila, though he’s stated that his preference is to play for a contender even if it comes at the expense of some playing time. Jonathan Lucroy is the biggest name on the catching market but probably doesn’t wish to serve as a backup option; Rene Rivera, Nick Hundley and Chris Stewart are among the other available catchers.
Manny Machado said last year that he has completely lost respect for the Red Sox organization
So? What’s he gonna do, retire? These guys are professionals
No what is the only other choice then to play for the Red Sox retire? First of all I like the Red Sox. Second of all he is in a contract year, so while the orioles could force him to go to the red sox in a trade, he can’t be forced to sign with them. So yeah I guess the orioles could forcibly trade him to a team he does not want to play for, making an already unpopular pr situation unpalatable, but then what for the Sox a one year rental? Obviously the Sox have to call in situations like this, it’s called due diligence, however after the player said less than a year ago that he has lost all respect for the organization I highly doubt out of all the teams in baseball the orioles would be in a position where they have to trade their franchise player to the one team he hates. Wouldn’t be good for either team or the player.
He’ll play for the Red Sox regardless of what he said…hatchets can easily be buried when you put the uniform on and go to battle “with” guys instead of against them…
Yeah plus Pedroia will help him with his neat Apple Watch trick as he hangs on the DL in the dugout. They will be great teammates.
The larger question Boston fans is where they will get attractive prospects to trade for Manny? The cupboard is bare in Boston as Trader Dave has emptied the farm.
Money talks
First there are other teams that will pay him money too, and ones he respects. Second, are you suggesting the Red Sox should revisit the David Price theory? Like oh we will overpay a guy who hates us by blowing everyone’s offer out of the water.. cuz that works. Here’s an idea, sign players that want to play for you. And even if they don’t want to play for you, at least don’t sign players who hate you city and organization
Your theory that he wouldn’t play for the Red Sox is pretty ridiculous
I think you vastly overrate the importance of this statements.
Oh really? He pretty much stated as much himself.
Cmon son, many players have said bad things about a team and when they get traded there it’ll all change. He said that in the heat of the moment, remember when KD said he’d never leave the Warriors.. Red Sox are a better team than the oriels and the money they’d pay him will make him take back what he said… unless the Yankees go out and get him and then they’d just have an unfair offense
So does 100 mph fastballs in the ribs
And he’s the first player to smack talk
Don’t the Red Sox still have the curse of the bambino ?
Yes, the Bambino took a couple years off in the early 2000s around 2004 to 2007 but HE”S BACK! The curse is officially back on!
Money talks
Give Travis,Chavis, Swihart for Machado! Then give him 260/10
Don’t even suggest a deal that doesn’t start with a 3.
More like 330/10 to 350/10
300M for a player who has never, as B-ref’s WAR formula says, had an MVP caliber season? He is an average 5WAR player his career.
let’s see 5 war times 15 years is 75 war which is hall of fame range . so not worth the money. haha
I don’t think the words average and 5 WAR go together at all!
Isn’t a WAR worth 8M?
10 years might be correct, but $260mm is about $100mm short of what he will get
Ha you wish he’d be that cheap for a trade and a contract.
“Well give you Sam Tra” *phone hangs up*
Hilarious…and spot on.
That would be great! But not going to happen.
I think the deal would have to be: Eduardo Rodriguez, Michael Chavis, Tanner Houck plus Alex Schereff or Mike Shawaryn and another prospect.
You only make that deal (which would gut the remainder of the farm system) if you are SURE that you can re-sign him. If you can re-sign him (which would likely be 10/350 or more), then he is your SS and you trade Xander for prospects.
Sooo, it’s not going to happen. Unless the Orioles want to accept a reduced offer and he is a 1 year rental and you get a draft pick back.
Delete your account, burn your computer and move to Swaziland.
That’s a good trade
Dream on redsox 1976. Machado isn’t going to be as cheap as Stanton. When Stanton was signed that was a lot of money. Now it’s a baaagin, (Boston way of saying bargain).
Everything has gone way up since then. Manny will start negotiating in the 300s. No one will touch him under 300 mill. I suspect he will end up in the 350 million range.
Drury seems like he’d cost too much with that type of control and versatility.
Drury is not going to cost a fortune to acquire. He’s excess to need in Arizona and is the third-best option they have for playing 2B. He’s blocked at his natural position of 3B by Jake Lamb, and he has no business playing in LF is a team can help it. The only reason he wound up there in 2016 was because the Diamondbacks had so many injuries to the OF that they wound up starting their b/u catcher, Chris Herrmann in CF for two games.
Drury’s defense is roughly average, and he only hits for gap power. His walk rate is horrible, limiting his OBP potential. He’s a nice, average, pick-up, but nothing special. They years of control are the most enticing thing about him.
Drury is definitely not someone you would write home about. He’s not going to improve your team. He’s only a stop gap to hold you over until you can find someone capable to fill the position.
^ completely unrealistic in every way
Patrick Corbin for Aaron Hicks or Brett Gardner
Ben – Oh my, NO. Corbin sucks the big one. Hope Cashman doesn’t get duped into trading for Corbin. If you’re going to get a pitcher because you have your eyes on a world series get a GOOD one for crying out loud. Not a dog turd like Corbin.
First off Machado will
Not play for the Red Sox after last season. And second he gets 30 mil aav easy
You tell someone else that their comment is unrealistic and then you spew out more nonsense…he absolutely WOULD play for the Red Sox, I don’t care what bad blood there has been in the past…guys have made unlikely jumps to other teams in the past, pretty much any Red Sox/Yankees player that has played for both teams has broken the expectations of what people said they absolutely “wouldn’t” do
Dude your a fool
None of the players have ever said themselves they have no respect at all for the organization. In the history of baseball I dare you name 1 player who said anything close to I have lost all respect for an entire organization and then ended up signing a long term deal with that organization within a couple years after that
Didn’t Reggie Jackson say something similar about the Yankees
And then demand a trade and then sign a huge contract extension with them?
Unless they are dead set on trading Garcia, the giants really ought to plan on him on the backup role and save the money
Devers should be shifted to first base. He can’t make the throw from third and his body structure is better suited, long term, to first base. Love his bat, but let’s move Devers now and gain some focus, Red Sox.
If Baltimore doesnt want to trade Machado to NY then why would they want to trade him to Boston? And Machado hates Boston. So they can trade for him now, but he will bolt next year.
Good point Kcusgnikcufsregdod, the Red Snots are in the same division as the Yankees and Orioles. Baltimore isn’t going to trade within the division. If they were going to they would trade with the Yankees who have prospects 100 times better than what the Red Snots have. The Red Snots cabinet is bare. They already traded all of their good prospects for pitching, etc. So as far as the Red Snots getting Manny, Forget about it! (said with a NY accent).
They’re kicking the tires on Machado just to say that they checked in. Absolutely no reason at all to consider Todd Frazier.
Frazier’ s inherent value is that he’ll come on a short term contract. He’ll get his 25-30 bombs, but I don’t see him as a needed piece to win. I hope Boston just files this under due diligence.
They need a 1B who can pick it. Again…I’m led back to thinking Hos is the guy.
Machado to Yankees no doubt
And Machado is not going to Boston.
Hilarious…and spot on.
That Red Sox don’t have the prospects to get Machado and it’s not even close
Well that’s not necessarily true either. While no trade involving Machado to the red sox will happen, they certainly have the assets to do one if Machado wanted to play for them. It wouldn’t just be prospects..
Groome, chavis, Benintendi, Devers, erod
3 of those 5 would be going plus a couple b prospects.
For one year? Yank fan here I hope Red Sox do that!
I think it would have to be 2 of those guys excluding Beintendi plus a couple of lower prospects.
Maybe, I could see something like groome, chavis, e-rod, and mata or Chatham getting it close
Okay, but why do the Yankees want so many outfielders?
I think Drury would be more of an infield play. Insurance if one of Torres or Andujar bust and if they both succeed he make Torreyes expendable.
As for OFers, the guy they got yesterday is going down to AAA and Ellsbury will eventually be traded or released.
Blash will be released, and Drury would be cheap, controllable infield depth.
Cashman is probably trying to get a package of Drury and Corbin for a couple of mid level, position players prospects. Yankees farm system is deep and some of their B/C prospects would be a huge upgrade for Arizona’s system.
Salary cap
Salary Cap
There needs to be a SALARY CAP!!!
Screw the player’s association.
Very VERY true!!
Salary cap so the owners can make more money? The owners are flush with cash and we keep buying them stadiums.
A hard cap would only affect the Yankees and Dodgers.
How would it affect the Yankees right now?
MLBPA’s reply
1994
1994
Screw the owners
2 things that won’t happen anytime soon….salary cap and elimination of guaranteed contracts.
Not saying I agree, just reality.
I’m against a salary cap that’s why they have the luxury tax. I would like to get rid of the guaranteed contracts. Teams shouldn’t get stuck paying a guy 30 mill per year when he’s batting .200.
Tell your owner to stop putting the money in his pocket and reinvest in his team,crybaby
I don’t agree with the idea Machado shouldn’t sign now. How many teams are capable of giving a $300 million deal? Six? Seven? Then you have to eliminate the teams that are either unwilling or don’t have a need at 3B or SS. Some teams don’t want to sink that much into one player. The Dodgers don’t need a 3B or SS .Someone else is going to sign Harper and another Kershaw. And there are others who’ll get 7 figure deals out there too.
A player this high end could be limited with destinations. A team negotiating now is negotiating against themselves. They might pay more now anticipating the market will be bigger in a year. If the contract is good, Machado should take it.
Also there’s always the risk of injury by waiting to sign, or an off year leading to a lower price
I would love a salary cap, Yankees would hate a salary cap.
Imagine 20 years from now where like in football everything will be measured by post salary cap area. All 27 World Series wins would be considered pre salary cap era, highlighting the reason there are so many, swiftly dulling the shine of that many ws wins. I think the Yankees organization will fight tooth and nail against a salary cap for the very reason of optics
spoken like a true salty red Sox fan.
I’m not salty, I’m just speaking in terms of reality. How a cap would effect perception of those ws wins. It’d be like a clean slate for all teams.
Except that right now the Yankees are under the luxury tax threshold by about 30 million. So I don’t understand why people are continuously claiming there needs to be a cap in reference to every post about the Yankees. They were able to take on Stanton because they have a smart GM who made space, both physically and monetarily, by trading 2 players that were essentially blocking MLB ready prospects (Andujar and Torres) while getting rid of 24 million in salary. Given that Stanton AAV is actually now 22 million against the LT, he actually traded for the NL MVP AND reduced the team expenditures by 2 million.
Not only that but now he has a valuable tradeable prospect in Clint Frazier, that he can couple with Ellsbury to reduce payroll even more, or make the centerpiece of a trade for a young pitcher. It’s called being good at your job.
It would take sending Rafael Devers to the O’s for Manny Machado. So no, Rafael Devers won’t be able to play 1B for the Red Sox if a trade happens.
Would rather give Andujar a chance instead of trading for Drury
Agree all day. His defense needs work but his bat plays up here.
He’s the main piece in the deal. The Yankees want Corbin. I’m sure if dury starts the year hitting 120 he will get dfa and andujar takes over
Trade Morley and have Martin play Dh and lucroy as catcher
I like the idea of Devers being moved to 1 B. I also think he could be a very fine L Fielder in time.
This would open the opportunity for DD to sign Cozart for third, Hanley and Devers @ 1 B and Martinez as the DH.
Why would Boston trade many years of Devers for a single year of Machado?
I think a Bogaerts (3 years) and Brian Johnson (LHP six years) gets Machado for one year. Even then the Red Sox are overpaying!
Maybe Bogaerts and Johnson and a lower level prospect for Machado, Britton, and Trumbo!
Wow, that’s light my friend
If Machado is serious about going back to ss than Yanks/Red Sox don’t need him. I don’t know about Red Sox fans but I’m happy with mine. Yanks should sign Frazier for 2-3 years ,let him man 3rd this year and then he becomes a platoon player at 1st and 3rd, as long as Andujar is ready by next year
Terrible idea. If we can get under the LT I would most definitely entertain the idea of bringing in Machado. Let’s see what we have in Andujar of course, but if the kid doesn’t work out you can sign Machado and slide Didi over to third. He has the arm for it and I would rather have two elite defenders that can hit rather than one. Also odds are that Machado’s bat >>>>> Andujar’s.
Whether we agree on Manny or not is besides the point. The only way we bring Frazier back is on a one year deal, at most.
Phillies payroll for next year will only be 12 mills not counting today’s Satana signing, but they will have a lots of money to spend and I will not be surprise if machado ends up on the Phillies uniform.