Rays righty Chris Archer has seemingly been in trade rumors for years; is this the day he finally gets dealt? Here’s the latest…
- The Pirates are moving closer to a deal for Archer, tweets Jon Heyman of Fancred.
- An Archer trade is becoming “very, very likely,” tweets Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, as high as 90% according to his source. The Pirates remain “deep in talks” for Archer, tweets ESPN’s Buster Olney. Joel Sherman of the New York Post says the Pirates “are in front” for the righty.
Earlier Updates
- As this morning’s prior updates indicated, it seems that Archer is drawing the keenest interest from National League organizations. If he’s dealt, he’ll likely be changing leagues, Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets. He tabs the Braves, Brewers, and Pirates as the likeliest organizations to work something out. Meanwhile, Jim Bowden of The Athletic tweets that the Dodgers are also in the picture.
- The Pirates appear to be heavily involved in Archer’s market, at least as of last night, according to Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Twitter link). Though the Bucs at one point appeared likely to function as a seller, they have rushed back into a competitive position and struck a deal last night to improve their late-inning relief unit. Of course, that swap and any others that might come to fruition will likely be for affordable, controllable assets. In that regard, Archer certainly makes for a potential fit.
- Jon Morosi of MLB.com tweets that the Padres’ pursuit of Archer has “lost momentum.” That’s a notable development, given that San Diego has been perhaps the most prominently linked team to the Rays righty over the past few days. While the Friars obviously aren’t contending in 2018, the team has its sights set on contending in 2019 and beyond, and adding Archer right now could have been a forward-looking move that would’ve helped to alleviate the 40-man roster crunch San Diego will inevitably face when setting its 40-man roster prior to the Rule 5 Draft this offseason.
- Meanwhile, Jim Bowden of The Athletic tweets that the Braves and Brewers are still in pursuit of Archer. Bowden lists some of the other organizations that have been in contact of late, though it’s not clear which remain firmly engaged on the popular right-hander. The Atlanta and Milwaukee organizations have been connected to controllable starting pitching for quite some time, of course, so it’s no surprise to see them lurking on Archer. Whether the trade deadline will provide sufficient impetus for either team to finally complete talks on a quality rotation piece remains to be seen.
Seems like he is not going anywhere
When you see a GM ask for all teams best and final offer I get the feeling he’ll be traded.
Actually, he’s going to Pittsburgh.
corey ray and a bundle of mid level, high upside prospects would get this done
This won’t. Ray isn’t good enough to be a headliner.
Neither is Archer.
I wouldn’t give up Ray for Archer. Oh his contract is so good. Yeah, well he hasn’t been the last 2 years.
Neither has Ray.
Archer war last year was 4.6. Wonder where that would rank on the brewers last year?
Why?? Archer isn’t even that good. Besides the Brewers won’t deal Ray I guarantee it
Does Burnes, Ray, Nottingham, plus a mid-level prospect get it done?
In a heartbeat
it should. that’s a good package.
too much. burnes will not be traded for archer
This might.
Maybe if you add Ramos to the deal. Otherwise, I think this is a little too much
What are you smoking?
Think u gotta take Burnes out, little much.
You take Burnes out and you might not have been able to get JA Happ. It seems like it might be reality check time for Brewer fans.
Ray, Nottingham + another mid level guy would have been more than enough to get Happ.
To say that Ray and Nottingham couldn’t get a rental in JA Happ clearly shows you don’t understand baseball.
Corey Ray is graded as a 50 FV prospect. Nottingham is a 45 FV prospect. Earlier this year the Yankees traded two 50 FV prospects for Brandon Drury. Just a few days ago, the Yankees traded Brandon Drury and a 45 FV prospect for JA Happ. So yes, it is very possible that the Jays wouldn’t have accepted your 50 FV and 45 FV prospect for JA Happ.
Take a look at some other trades this year. It took the Red Sox giving up a 50 FV prospect to get oft injured and very average Nathan Eovaldi who is also a rental. It took the Phillies giving up a 50 FV prospect to get Asdrubal Cabrera, who is also a rental. Stop overvaluing Brewer prospects and it will make more sense to you.
no, brewcrew, you are the one that is displaying your baseball ignorance for not being aware of the recent history of transactions in the mlb. stop looking at this through a “brewcrew” lens and start looking at the trade market objectively, if you can do so.
No, it’s not enough. Last year Sonny Gray returned 2-55 FV and a 50 FV prospects and Archer is better with more control than Gray had. Burnes is a 55 FV, Ray is a 50 FV and Nottingham a 45 FV. This package needs another 55 FV and maybe the Rays can throw in someone like Hechavarria to round it out.
out of the prospects returned in the gray trade how many were on the dl for serious injuries?
Do not trade Corbin Burnes period. He’ll be in the Brewers rotation by next yr. Since he’s been called up, he hasn’t given up a run! Your offer is way too generous.
Why would the brewers give up their best pitching prospect and 1 of their top hitting prospects? To get a pitcher who has been injury prone these past 2 seasons… Chris Archer is very over rated
Injury prone? do you even bother to check your “facts” or do you just blurt out whatever random ignorance pops into your head? Archer has logged 200+ innings the past 3 seasons, and hit 194 in the season before that….you don’t get to 200 innings if you’re
a) injury prone
or
b) a sub-par pitcher
you brewers biased fans are baseball blind.
Why oh why are the Phillies not involved? Sigh…..
Phillies don’t appear to be serious buyers. Need to keep payroll down so no luxury tax!
Ummmm the Phillies are just barely over $100M in payroll at the moment. The luxury tax line is $197M. Archer’s next 3 years would pay him $7.6M, $9M, and $11M. This is a franchise that previously had no issues with having a $150M+ payroll.
phillies are geared up to be good for a few years, no sense in trading a ton to compete this year, save money for tHe FA class and upgrade then
Because, since loosing his plus Sinker, Archer is unbelievably hittable with batters pounding the ball with ease against him?
Add in the fact he would be going from a good fielding with great range team playing in a Pitchers park to a Hitters park with really poor fielders? Can imagine that has implosion written all over it
Toss on the Rays hoping to get some value out if him before he tanks further and it is smart for Philly to stay away
Pirates really need to get this deal done. I’d offer Meadows, Glasnow, Tucker, and Baz. Maybe even a lottery ticket prospect or 2.
That is too much. Meadows, one of Tucker/Baz and another would be my starting point.
You’re not gonna get a deal done unless you overpay. Gotta outbid the Brewers and Braves.
Not to worried about the brewers unless they’re giving up whats left of their farm they’re not getting it done.
the braves.. if they ‘had to have him’ they will have him.
For the pirates, Archer is worth giving up a bit more for.
Almost everything about him fits nicely except his HR count. One of the pirates top 100s with someone like Kramer/Newman, Glasnow and some change is where i’d start. (i’d also still count Meadows in that top 100 group) The only top 100 i’d probably keep off the board is Hayes but really depends on the deal.
Pirates fans get mad when they don’t bring any big name players, but then don’t want them to give up prospects either. Can’t have it both ways.
Meadows was their #2 prospect before he lost eligibility and Baz is #4 and Tucker #6. No one is saying we don’t want to give up prospects. That is a strong starting point. I never said I wouldn’t include more just not Tucker AND Baz on top of Meadows.
After getting kela and dreaming on what the bullpen is shaping up to be for a few years, I’m all aboard going for Archer using either Meadows or Keller as a centerpiece to keep Hayes and potentially lower the value of the secondary pieces. Unfortunately Tampa probably wont want Meadows as much having just acquired Pham.
Ok, but if you’re trading Meadows, you’d better sign Dickerson
Braves fans are the same way, trust me. I’ve been fighting with them for weeks on all the boards
The Braves haven’t given up much yet… LOL
I disagree. Meadows will be a must (and expendable is we can resign Dickerson), Baz won’t be in the bigs for many years and may not pan out, Glasnow does not impact this team and we had plenty of prospects at SS. If this group gets it done then put them on a plane!!
Meadows is not going anywhere
And the Pirates have gotten the deal done! I love it when a wish comes true.
Good back off archer preller
The cardinals should trade the three players they just got back plus Kelly and one of Weaver, Gomber or Hudson. That should get a trade done
Why would the rays trade for three players that were in their system hours ago?
lol don’t bring logic into this
More likely Kelly, Wisdom, and Garcia.
Don’t do it AA
Why not?
Take a look at the batting lines against Archer the last 2 seasons.
Hitters are hitting him as if he’s an Average at best to even AAA pitcher, despite his playing in a Pitchers park with great range guys fielding behind him.
I wanted to ask you about something you are continually posting about Archer. Is Greinke an extremely lucky pitcher? And if so, why do you think? I ask because you’ve said numerous times that Archer’s results don’t match his peripheral stats because he gets hit harder than other pitchers, however Greinke’s batted ball data is almost identical to Archer’s yet his ERA has outperformed his FIP the last couple of years. Why do you think that is?
You can’t bring logic into a debate with a homer man. It doesn’t work that way.
Greinke keeps hitters off balance with a 6 pitch arsenal – including 4 plus pitches (Change, Slider, Curve and an off-speed Curve to go with this 4-Seam and Cutter.)
Archer? 3 pitches – a poor 4-Seam, an inconsistent Change and a great Slider.
Hitting against Greinke (like most pitchers) you have zero idea what you are going to get and when; he mixes up his pitches extremely well with a good balance and it means guys are unable to place the ball. When the ball is hit, he and historical average BAbip rates have much more control over it. (results: .233/.271/.390/.660 against while calling a Hitters park home)
Hitting against Archer you can just ignore the Slider and tee off on the other two with ease, placing the ball wherever you like – which is exactly what hitters have been doing. Instead of Archer, those hitters have a ton of control over where the ball goes (results: .271/.332/.419/.751 against calling a Pitchers park home)
The end result with Archer is what you would expect from a guy tipping his pitches, and that is exactly the ease at which hitters have been hitting him, But he just doesn’t have anything near an arsenal to overcome it. So unless he comes up with new pitches, he will continue to get hit in this manor.
Unless your opinion is that Greinke somehow makes batters hit the ball hard right at his fielders, but hitters are able to hit the ball hard at open spaces against Archer, hitters aren’t more off balance against Greinke than against Archer. Hitters have a very similar hard hit %, LD %, GB/FB, HR/FB%, etc… Sean Manaea is another pitcher who has similar batted ball stats to Archer and he also has an ERA almost half a run less than his FIP, while Archer’s is over a half run higher even though he misses many more bats than Manaea.
Yes, and it is not opinion. Greinke and BAbip have dramatically more control over the contact he is allowing, where Archer is nearly completely surrendering control to the hitters with his lack of arsenal
Take MLB Network just talking up his good looking ERA the last 8 games (2.70.) The problem? He has been just as hittable (.360 BAbip resulting in a .259/337 BA/OBP against) with one big difference; the Slugging is down (just .337) so runs aren’t crossing quite as often
Those 8 games included 4 against very low-slugging clubs (Baltimore, Miami, Minnesota and Detroit), plus games in extremely Pitcher friendly parks (visiting the A’s, M’s and Angels)
Other problem? The Rays had him at merely 5.1 IP per start over that time, yet he still averaged 94 pitches per start to slog threw them. Again, he was averaging 94 pitches to make it through just 5.1 IP
Archer has had a BAbip under .320 only 3 times in the last 10 months, and in 5 of them it has been over .370. As I said, his lack of arsenal is putting him a situation where he might as well be tipping his pitches – hitters are having no difficulty at all with his lack of stuff. They are placing the ball at will
Pirates make a lot of sense. They are in a position where they can move Meadows and I would have to think he would interest the Rays, An OF of Pham, KK, and Meadows could be good for a long time. Obviously it wouldn’t be a 1 for 1 but the framework seems plausible.
meadows and Glasgow plus a top 25 prospect for archer makes sense.
The problem with that dream outfield is that KK can’t stay on the field long enough to matter.
All the more reason to have corner outfielders that can handle center. KK, Pham, Meadows and Mallex Smith would be a very solid outfield offensively and especially defensively.
Hedges, Renfroe, Morejon, Allen for Realmuto
Mejia, Quantrill, Nix, Reed for Syndergaard
Naylor, Reyes, Asuaje, Gettys for Archer
Still keep Tatis, Gore, Paddack, Urias, Baez, Espinoza and add some crazy talent w years of control for cheap
whoa whoa videogame GM slow down there.
No are you crazy first grade offer is terrible morejon and Allen. I like NS but just isn’t reliable and our team can not afford an injured ace all the time, can’t take the risk. Simply put, I don’t want archer. Good try though. Try trading for a 3b though or a good SS that could move Tatis to 3b
I don’t think they should be trading Morejon. Some scouts believe his talent is rising to a level comparable to Gore’s or might even exceed it.
I agree, but we have to give up one of our top guys IF we want to make a deal
You have to give to get lol
He is going to St. Louis, Archer- Kelly, J.Martinez, Weaver, Hesley
That sounds like a good idea, shame they couldnt have just included that with some form of the trade we just made with them
wonder if that would be the first time two teams made separate trades with each other on the same day
The Buccos should give whatever it takes—minus Keller— lot get this done.
Would love the braves to find a way to make this happen without mortgaging the farm
I think he’d get us to the postseason with our other moves, but we wouldn’t win it all. Better to let the young guys come along. I just think we’d give up too much here for a guy who isn’t a true Ace.
Would Wentz + Beck get it done?
Yeah, he has a friendly contract, and maybe a change of scenery and leagues would do him some good, but the Rays will definitely want too much for him in a trade.
Preller not making any major moves this deadline, will be the smartest move he’s made since becoming GM.
Maybe a reliever with some prospects to clear up some 40-man roster issues they will have…. but that’s it. Don’t go giving away top talent for Archer, who will be a free agent by the time the Padres are even competitive. This team is still 3-4 years away. Unless every rookie brought up between now and then decides to have all star years in their rookie seasons….
Agreed, They should look to deal more from their relief corps (Yates or Stammen) and maybe look at trading some guys who will exposed to the Rule 5 draft. Perhaps it could be some package deal. Besides that, they should stand pat.
Thank you.
I can agree with this!
I just don’t think Archer is a ‘give them whatever it takes’ caliber arm. I don’t think you crush your pool of top prospects for him
How about the pirates including trevor Williams in an archer trade? He is cheap and controllable, and could be a good 4/5, but if the pirates get archer they wont really need him.
I’ve said a few times that signing Corey Dickerson to an extension would be needed before the Pirates could offer Meadows in such a trade.
But…the more I think about it…they still control Dickerson next year and between Bryan Reynolds, Jason Martin, Jordan Luplow and eventually Travis Swaggerty, they have the OF depth to deal Meadows with Marte and Polanco playing well again.
Meadows, Cole Tucker and Will Craig? That’s 3 first round picks. Or would the Rays need a pitcher back instead?
I agree about Meadows going. Swaggerty is Meadows 2.0, good fielder who’ll bat .290-3.15 with 15-20hr and 65-85rbi, like most Pirate outfielders since Giles.
We need a leader for this young rotation! The controllable years make this a slam dunk.
Would this offer from the Brewers get it done?
RHP Freddy Peralta, OF Domingo Santana, & RHP Marcos Diplan
Not since they got Pham, imo.
More likely Kelly, Wisdom, and Garcia.
Not sure how “ace” finds its way into a sentence with Archer. He’s far from that.
Steve Adams didn’t use the word ‘ace’ one time in this article…
I know he didn’t but their are a lot of articles calling him that.
He has gotten worse every year. Not that he sucks, and he’ll be better in the national league away from the Yankees and red Sox, but I don’t see a huge offer coming from Milwaukee and Atlanta, the most likely spots.
Julio teheran for Archer straight up
I’d be good with that. Lol
I’d love to see that, but the Rays will want a LOT more than just Teheran unfortunately.
Patrick Ray Didder, Wes Parsons, and anibal Sanchez gets it done for braves
Sarcasm?
I wonder if Pham will be flipped in a deal with Archer to the Yankees now that Judge is on the DL?
pham, cash, sanchez and ellsbury for archer
Do it AA!
I think Archer is a good fit in LA. Might even allow them to relax the search for bullpen help. You get Archer it allows them to move Maeda back to the pen who was tremendously successful there last season and also with Urias’ coming back hitting 94+ on the radar gun I think with that one move hugely bolsters the dodgers bullpen and starting rotation which even with Kershaw and Hill has been inconsistent at best.
Brewers big move will be signing Chris Tillman
Harvey
Trade this overrated clown now, im sick of hearing about him.
Archer to the Cardinals for Carson Kelly, there choice between Oscar Mercado, Randy Arozarena, or Adolis Garcia, and Junior Fernandez.
And Jose martinez.
No Cardinals…..not this one.
Meadows, Newman, Luis Escobar and a throw in type for Archer.
Not sure that’s enough but I do think Austin Meadows could co-helm a package though, so good call there. We shall see.
Meadows *and* Newman? Archer just isn’t that good to warrant such a deal
Newman doesn’t seem that special (upside is Mercer with a higher average, plus we have Tucker and Kramer) and Meadows is expendable with the OF situation. Archer seems prime to improve with a change of scenery and I’d be fine with that as a Pirate fan. If the Rays demand Keller or Hayes, no thank you.
Ok. Makes sense. Better lock up Dickerson past 19 if Meadows is the piece
So, the Rays apparently wanted a catcher and an outfielder according to earlier reports. Pache and Contreras?
Brewers and Braves said to still be in on Gausman, while the Pirates have dropped out.
Whether that means they are getting Archer or the price of poker has gotten too high for them, we’ll find out in an hour or so.
Last week: Rival Gms would be stunned if Archer was traded.
Things change
JUNK
My beloved (Devil) Rays! Rotating crops at The Trop since ‘98.
if the cubs dont get archer, i hear matt garza is available.
Thanks. That made my day
Good for the Bucs for going for it.
“@Joelsherman1
#Pirates are in front for Archer with 52 minutes to go to deadline. Told that is way #Rays are leaning.”
looking forward to Pittsburgh passing Milwaukee in the standings.
brewers sit on their hands again in late July
Lol calm it down a little even though the pirates got on a winning streak doesn’t mean they are good enough to be a playoff team
neither is Milwaukee
I’m ok with Newman or Tucker going, preferably Newman and Or Cruz, or someone on his level..If they want a catcher we don’t have one after giving Mcguire away a few years ago lmao
….also I’d rather get Archer over Gausman but I haven’t heard the Gausman rumor since yesterday..
Gausman headed to the Braves. Pitt dropped out of discussions earlier.
Still nothing on Brian Roberts to the Cubs?!? 🙁
Meadows and Glasnow reportedly on the table according to Bowden
Archer for Cumberland OR Jackson, with Tarnok OR Muller and and a couple high ceiling lotos. Would that get it done or too High? Or too Low?
Pirate bats most dangerous in NL. Now they have the pitching. Wild Card team to win pennant. pgh’s desire for a champion burning after Pens failed. Ben & Co. trying to be king of town also..Pens in 2019!