Free agent reliever Craig Kimbrel is “still in touch” with the Mets and Brewers, tweets The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, who notes that the Mets would only sign the 30-year-old if he were open to “any role” in the team’s bullpen. Rosenthal reported a week ago that the flamethrower’s price has dropped substantially, though whether or not he’s budged on the desire to pitch only in the ninth inning is still an open question. Both clubs’ pens have been far shakier than anticipated in the early going: indeed, apart from the lights-out performance of offseason acquisition Edwin Diaz, New York’s pen has arguably been the league’s worst. Milwaukee, too, has lost Corey Knebel to Tommy John, was without stalwart Jeremy Jeffress until this week, and has gotten middling-at-best output from all other contributors not named Josh Hader. Still, it’s the sloppy rotation – beset by a thus-far return to normalcy from Jhoulys Chacin and a gopher-ball binge embarked upon by rookies Corbin Burnes and Freddy Peralta – that seems most in need of the Crew’s attention. Allocating what little resources purportedly remain to anything other than a veteran starter would seem a curious choice indeed.
In other news from around the Senior Circuit…
- Per Rosenthal, the Giants are already “willing to talk” about some of their veteran relievers, though closer Will Smith doesn’t appear to be among the names on the list. Lefty Tony Watson, who’s seen his average fastball velocity dip to a career-low 91.0 MPH, figures to be at the fore, along with the richly-paid Mark Melancon. Sam Dyson, Trevor Gott, and Nick Vincent, all of whom’ve had strong 2019 debuts, would likely also be in the mix, with the former’s $5MM 2019 salary seemingly the impetus for such an early position on the block. The club would likely jump at the chance to move Melancon, 34, who’s owed approximately $29MM through 2020. The former closer hasn’t allowed a run thus far in ten ’19 IP, but signs of major regression lurk beneath: the righty’s allowed hard contact at a rate of above 40% for the second consecutive season (after a career-high of 27.1% in his first nine MLB campaigns), has seen his swinging strike rate plummet to a career-worst 8.0%, and is again failing to strike batters out at an alarming rate. Any Melancon move would likely need to be offset by either another bad contract or a significant chunk of change heading with him, but the ever-creative Farhan Zaidi may yet have something up his sleeve.
- Cubs reliever Brandon Morrow, who’s mixed occasional big-league appearances around a litany of DL/IL stints in his 13-year MLB career, has been shut down in his attempted return from a right elbow injury. The 34-year-old was scheduled to miss just the season’s first month, but “did not recover well” from a bullpen session he threw earlier this week, according to MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian. The club, who’s already shuffled multiple bullpen pieces after a disastrous late-inning start in the early going, was counting heavily on Morrow to stabilize the mishmash crew. No timetable’s been set for the righty’s return, so the club will have to lean primarily on the well-traveled arms of Pedro Strop, Steve Cishek, and Brandon Kintzler in close-and-late situations.
Seriously with Brandon Morrow.
Time to end that experiment
has always been the case with Morrow, loved him when he was a Jay, but his body is made of glass and he takes longer than anyone to heal. his stints are always longer than first thought.
Has always been the case with Morrow, loved him when he was a Jay, but his body is made of glass and he takes longer than anyone to heal. His IL stints are always longer than first thought.
Trade Watson, smith, and Dyson to the cards for O’Neil
Or
Holland, Watson, Smith, and Gott for Hiura on the brewers
Trade NO ONE! Sign Kimbrel
Every possible Kimbrel rumor has been discussed. Enough. The next mention should be his signing, or announcement he is sitting out the year. Every rumor lists the reason he is not an option. This time it’s he insists on pitching the ninth. Guess it’s not a rumor. Guess that’s a NO.
They’re not trading Hiura for any number of spare parts you can throw together, and you’re not getting quality for quantity.
You’re also not getting a top 50 prospect for Will Smith, even combined with other relievers, in case that popped into your head.
Pretty sure you’re wrong, given the history surrounding trades for top relievers at the deadline. If the rental of Aroldys Chapman could get someone like Gleyber Torres, then Smith can bring back at least a top 50 prospect. Not saying they’ll get someone like Torres, who was a top 5, but the minimum of a top 50 should be expected.
The Giants traded 2 top 50 prospects for Smith, Bickford and Susac. Both were also the Giant’s #1 prospect at one time or another. And Smith has performed even better since being acquired by the Giants. He posted a 120 ERA+ for the Brewers, and has pitched to a 157 ERA+ for the Giants. If you don’t think that’s worth at least a top 50 I think you’re not in line with the thinking throughout the league.
Francisco Mejia (top 25) was traded for Hand and Adam Cimber.
To be fair, Gleyber was #41 on BA the year he was traded. He wasn’t a top 5 until the next year when he was with the Yankees
Torres became top 5 the following year and was much lower when the trade was made. And Will Smith isn’t 2016 Aroldis Chapman. And he’s not Brad Hand. He’s a good pitcher with a long injury history. He’s not bringing a top 50 guy in any circumstance and if he brings a top 100 guy I’d be surprised, it’s have to be a low ceiling top 100 guy. Chapman and Andrew Miller are among the largest returns for a reliever in history and they didn’t bring the kind of players listed above. And Smith is solid but he’s not top 5 in the game.
The Cards’ bull pen has been the strength of the team. Brebbia and Gant have been lights out. Hicks remains a weapon and has pitched well. St. Louis might be looking to add Smith, but not for O’Neill who has too much value.
Look at his numbers in the hitter friendly PCL, he is going nowhere. He is going nowhere. He is on a course to get demoted.
Does Melancon have a no trade clause?
full no-trade protection
legacy.baseballprospectus.com/compensation/cots/nl…
I giggled to myself when the Cubs signed Darvish and Morrow. These seemed like no brainer guys to avoid. Sometimes I think mlb GM’s would go years without finishing in the money in a mediocre fantasy league.
Dodgers sure ended up well letting them both walk
As long as you admit the Kershaw extension was laughably bad the other way…which it was.
Totally agree. The Morrow and Darvish signings were questionable at best. It’s clear now that these two signings are just bad. The only good news is that Morrow is in his final year of guaranteed money. In 2020 the Cubs have a team option or a 2 million dollar buyout. Hopefully, the Cubs write him a check and say farewell. As far as Yu Darvish-I can’t remain professional to continue.
This INJURY CRAP WITH THESES GLASS PITCHERS
DID NOT HAPPEN PRIOR to the late 80’s because they weren’t babied, and DID NOT LIFT WEIGHTS….. They kept in shape by running & stationary Bicycle Only.
BS. I lifted weights daily and I ran and I played in the 70s and early 80s.
What we did do differently is throw with less velocity. I never threw 95 and I never threw 100% effort. Few guys did at that time. The science is clear, velocity is what is causing these injuries.
Philly is the best fit for Kimbrel, they should just suck it up and sign him.
I agree. But Philly/Kapler’s “fluid bullpen” stance prevent that. Given Robertson’s (and Hunter) injury, hoping Klentak/Kapler have a biiig discussion @idealogies (again) and pony up. So Dominguez can be the high leverage guy and hand the ball to Kimbrell for the 9th….Bullpen has been hit or miss, they could use an Arrieta type guy out there. IMO with a young bullpen, they either need more defined roles OR a strong veteran presence..
That the best reliever in the history of the game is not employed is a disgrace to the game. He deserves to be paid like Chapman and Jansen and no one even made him a formal offer. Disgusting.
All of a sudden, all the owners are trying to funnel money to a few select young players (Can you say collusion) in an attempt to stave off a strike and majors changes in the way teams control players, but its not going to work. Players are ticked off.
Either the owners are going to agree to significant changes in the way service time is calculated and move up free agency by at least 2 years or we will see a strike in 2022. If they are not going to pay veterans then there will need to be a system that forces that money to go to the young players. That is the only choice for the owners.
Kimbrel may never get the money he deserves, but the owners will pay for the way they are colluding to keep salaries down.
The owners are doing exactly what the MLB ads featuring young players ask for: letting the kids play.
Kimbrel will certainly be up there when it’s all said and done but no one is better than Mariano
Rivera retired of his own free will.
I’m surprised the Met fan hasn’t started the “Diaz has 100 more saves before he hit 25 than Mariano did”…. or did I just give them that nugget?
Diaz is well on the way to being the best reliever of all time, simply because he already has 116 saves with insane peripherals and he’s 25. Mariano didn’t become a reliever until age 27. (The Yankees tried him out as a starter first and Mo was a terrible starting pitcher). Diaz, if his arm doesn’t fall off, will have 300+ saves by age 30 and his peripherals blow Mariano’s away. His 2018 – 73 innings, 41 hits, 124 K’s – dwarf anything Mariano ever did. We remember Mariano because of all the postseason stuff and the longevity, but Diaz, Hader, and even Kimbrel are probably better pitchers.
ok mr boras settle down. hes probably not even a hall of famer if his numbers continue to falter, so lets not give him the best reliever ever title. we dont know what is true, but kimbrel wasnt signed because he supposedly wanted 100 million. a guy who pitches 1 inning a night and maybe 3 or 4 innings a week wanted 100 million. yes the owners can afford that but if kimbrel would have taken like 4 years 65-70 million would there even be a discussion about collusion? problem is harper, kimbrel, and machado all held out for a long time because they want to set the market. trout seemed to do just fine. but what if boras was his agent and he held out into the next season, then we are all talking about what a disgrace it is that the best player in all of baseball isnt signed.
What numbers are faltering? I think people remember his playoff performance where he struggled with control for a bit, but his numbers haven’t fallen. I do agree that he is unsigned because his ask was far too high though.
With Morrow shut down, Cubs need to sign Kimbrel immediately.
Most of the hesitation by teams to give Kimbrel big money is due to his wildness during last year’s post season, I would imagine.. He’s not particularly young or old. I don’t blame them for waiting him out.
Not the authors greatest work:
A. Melancon is signed thru ’20 not ’21 and he’s owed 28M not 44m
B. Melancon also has a full NTC which seems relevant to the piece since it’s discussing the likelihood of Mark being traded
If Theo isnt on the horn w Kimbrel’s agent, Ricketts need to feel some heat. The Cubs are too good to let a weak pen w no closer derail their season. Yes, Theo’s wasted a lot of money on bad FA deals, but the situation is what it is, cough up the dough or watch this team cough up leads all summer.
Theo wont pay $20M/season for a top closer, but he’ll give Glass Brandon $23M (over 2 yrs) to pitch half a season. Ridiculous.