Blue Jays outfielder Curtis Granderson, Reds center fielder Billy Hamilton and Marlins utilityman Derek Dietrich are on the Indians’ “radar”, according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. Either Granderson or Hamilton would add a much-needed upgrade to Cleveland’s outfield, which lost Tyler Naquin to the disabled list Saturday, while Dietrich may be able to help both at the keystone and in the outfield. Dietrich has spent the majority of his career at second base, but the 29-year-old – who happens to be a Cleveland native – has amassed 84 appearances in left field this season. Dietrich’s amid his best offensive season, having hit .283/.348/.454 with 13 home runs in 388 plate appearances.
More from Cafardo…
- The Cubs and Rangers have already made a pair of trades in recent weeks, as Chicago acquired both Jesse Chavez and Cole Hamels from Texas. That may not be the end of the two teams’ dealings, though, with Cafardo writing that the Cubs are “looking at” Rangers relievers Jake Diekman and Keone Kela.
- Along with the previously reported Brad Brach, the Dodgers have been scouting Tigers reliever Shane Greene, according to Cafardo. The 29-year-old Greene has pitched to a 4.19 ERA/3.98 ERA with 9.63 K/9, 2.3 BB/9 and a 43.5 percent groundball rate in 43 innings this season. He’s on a meager salary this year ($1.95MM) and scheduled to go through arbitration one more time.
- The resurgent Pirates seem intent on addressing their bullpen, as they’ve targeted both Kela (previously reported) and Brach to bolster their relief corps, per Cafardo. Brach, a 32-year-old who will be a free agent at season’s end, has logged a 4.85 ERA/4.01 FIP with 8.77 K/9, 4.38 BB/9 and a 46.5 percent groundball rate in 39 innings.
longlivethechief
Breaking news. A source has said that every player on every team is on the Indians radar. More to come.
bestno5
Only if they can play OF
c1234
More like the Yankees
thegreatcerealfamine
Yankees already have 3 solid starting outfielders.
wrigleywannabe
He meant every player has been linked to them, seemingly.
thegreatcerealfamine
But his reply was to #bestno5 who meant, only if it’s someone that can play outfield for the Indians.
murphy
And they actually acquired two of them.
nymetsking
or 2b/3b to send Kipnis to OF.
sufferforsnakes
Tell me about it. But Dietrich might be a good pickup. Just don’t understand why Brandon Barnes hasn’t gotten a shot at the major league level yet. He’s had a good season in Columbus, can play CF, and is a right handed bat.
Burgeezy
I’m also curious about that but I assume it has to do with 40 man roster considerations. They probably don’t want to risk losing a player after designating him to make rooms for Barnes.
The tribe should consider Choo as well.
sufferforsnakes
They could drop Eric Stamets from the 40-man…….or even the recently acquired Johnny Field.
Edub23
No one is considering Choo. That’s like saying the Tribe should consider Pujols lol.
Burgeezy
Except Choo is worth 3.0 bWAR whereas Pujols is worth 0.9. Also, the Rangers are willing to eat $20 million of the remaining contract. Sooo yeah
jbigz12
20 of the 50 still owed?
badco44
Dito Boston, New York
frankf
Pretty much every useful player on a non-contenders roster is on the radar of every contender.
joew
I cant be the only one thinking the bucs need to address their starters as well
I love the idea of Kela, but probably would take ‘too much’ Brach not soo sure on but should be pretty darn cheap to get with his horrible stat line. pretty risky imo.
Solaris601
I agree that PIT needs a SP, but the market is thin, the prices are high, and there are no real difference makers. Therefor, the Pirates need a versatile reliever who can go long if needed. A realistic target who can start or relieve and would not cost much in talent is Clayton Richard. He is effective and could offer any contender a lot of value in middle innings and spot starts.
justin-turner overdrive
Indians could really use all 3, tbh
datrain021
Not Hamilton, too weak of a bat
justin-turner overdrive
Great defense though, with that staff, might be worth the tradeoff.
Polish Hammer
No thanks.
BrandonGregory74
I remember Brennaman saying that and I wanted to choke him. The Reds are closer than some think but they won’t deal Hamilton nor should they. Winker going down really hurts because they lost a lefty OF bat and lost an opportunity to trade Duvall when his value is decent.
If the Reds were able to get Bieber or McKenzie in a deal that might be worth looking at.
Polish Hammer
Bieber or McKenzie for Hamilton? What substances does one take to come up with such a ridiculous thought? SMH…
BrandonGregory74
There are other pieces that are tradable besides Hamilton.
iceman35pilot
The Reds aren’t that close, and do not have the front office to get them any closer. They will never have anything other than a piecemeal rotation as long as the have Joey Votto’s contract.
Playing over their heads for a few weeks doesn’t make them “close”.
bringoutthegimp
The Tribe’s will end up with Adam Jones.
Polish Hammer
I’d be ok with that.
66TheNumberOfTheBest
I like the idea of the Pirates trading for Kela. If they want to do something small and cheap, grab a low level rental like Diekman.
But, Brach figures to cost more than they should pay for a guy who will just steal innings from Crick and Santana with no long term payoff. I don’t like that idea.
There is one rental starting pitcher who might be worth a call for Huntingdon, the price might be not be that high: Ervin Santana. You’d have to scout his next start to see if he’s right after missing all but one game, but if he returns to form, he’s a pretty solid pitcher.
Gentlemanbob
Word is on the street that Jon Daniels is shopping all of his good young established talent with controllable years for second tier minor league talent. He must think the Rangers won’t be relevant for another three years or more. No wonder everyone is showing interest. That’s hard to figure given the fact the Rangers are building a new retractable roof stadium that will be their new home soon. And it’s disappointing for us season ticket holders.
Polish Hammer
Word on the street is this same lame comment can be found elsewhere in other discussions…
jbigz12
Do rangers fans really believe the rangers can be good? You have zero starting pitchers and nothing coming up anytime soon to fix that. You can’t buy an entire rotation in free agency.
oz10
Minimum 2 years out but more likely 3. I think most here are realistic that we had a really good run and probably tried to hang on to that run a season or two more than we should have. I think 2016 was the one that hurt the most as far as where we are today as it was obvious the Astros were right there so it was the last chance so they went for it. The weird winning of one run games made a fluky 95 win season when they were not a 95 win team. But hey, Lucroy was really good that last half of the year and I would much rather go for it than sit on our laurels.
Long answer to your question but yes, most knowledgeable Rangers fans know we have 3 years but will have a fun, exciting, young team in 2 years when the new stadium opens and these lower minors guys start to work their way up.
ThatBallwasBryzzoed
Is Diekman and Keone Kela good would they be worth trading for? Are they controllable arms?
Rett Davis
Kela is a closer but probably the setup man for a WS team. Diekman is a power left hander that can roll an inning or two or be brought in for a bat or two. Post season rotations really make a huge difference. Makes the games so much more fun.
ThatBallwasBryzzoed
Thank you.
@tsc32 thank you as well.
anthony1-13
Kela setting up Morrow with Edwards Strop Wilson and Cishek behind them would be pretty nasty for the Cubs!
tsc32
Kela is a high level closer. Young and controllable.
Diekman is a good lefty who would benefit from no longer having Brocail mess with him.
Ninth 3 Year Plan
McCutcheon…..C’mon Indians, you can has
Polish Hammer
And you can has too…
Mark Black
Dietrich has spent the majority of his career in the infield not the outfield.
corey5kersh22
Shane Green sounds like a good pick up for Dodgers, hope we get him
BlueSkyLA
If Shane Greene is the answer, then what was the question?
El Duderino
Who blows game 5 for the Dodgers in the nlds?
BlueSkyLA
Ouch. Painful, but in a true sort of way.
hitman105
The Reds are not trading Billy Hamilton unless it is for a starting pitcher. And the fact the Reds are actually down 2 outfielders already. They will not give up Hamilton this season.
redsraiderspurs44
If they’re smart the Reds won’t trade Hamilton at all. No team will give them the value that he brings to the team especially on defense. Also as you implied they don’t have anyone to replace him with. Are they going to give mason Williams the starting job? He was a minor league free agent. Don’t get me wrong I hope he plays well but I don’t see it. Ervin was at best your fifth outfielder. Contrary to popular belief the Reds aren’t sellers. They may not be contenders yet but at least they’re trying to win. Go shop somewhere else.
joew
pirates fan here hoping billy gets traded to the AL.
guy cant hit worth a damn but if he gets on somehow he always seems score…
dcahen
The Reds had 3 all stars & they think they’re close. First game after all star game vs Pirates the Reds announcers said they had a better roster than the Pirates, then promptly got blasted & swept. Yes the 3 all stars are good, but their OF & entire pitching staff sucks. You can’t win with just an infield. They are not close, so if someone offers anyone for Mr. steal a base but bat .200 Billy Hamilton they’d be stupid not to take it.
BrandonGregory74
They pitching staff has been better under Riggleman than they’ve been in the whole Bryan Price era. 1 over .500 since Riggleman took over. Dick Williams predicted a .500 stretch and I never dreamed it would happen. The starters don’t get long leashes either.
NickGarren
Chatwood and Luke Farrell for Diekman. It concludes the Hamels trade.
JKB 2
Hamels trade is already concluded. PTBNL is obviously a June 2018 draft pick and already agreed upon
oz10
You actually can no longer do that. The PTBNL must be someone who is able to be traded at the time of the trade. This changed 3 years ago.
mlb.com/news/mlb-mlbpa-agree-to-player-to-be-named…
jbigz12
No one is taking walks a lot chatwood without the cubs eating cash. Most hyped up player this offseason. His control has always been poor but this year it turned to catastrophic. Theo and co. Fell in love with a dream here.
anthony1-13
I actually think chatwood can pitch like a #3 once he gets his mechanics worked out.. Guy has nasty stuff just can’t control it.. my guess he’s back in the rotation next year w that salary.. but my hope is that Hamels kills it the rest of the year and they bring him back
yes
If that’s all that’s available… they’re screwed.