Nationals president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo made an appearance on SiriusXM’s Front Office on MLBNetwork Radio this afternoon, where he discussed Washington’s deadline plans with hosts Jim Bowden and Jim Duquette. As relayed by Bowden, Rizzo provided an update on the market for third baseman Jeimer Candelario, telling the duo that the club has eight teams in on the Nationals’ top trade chip. Rizzo further indicated that the club would “move fast” in getting a deal done once they’re offered the “right player” in exchange for Candelario’s services.
That the Nationals intend to move Candelario is hardly a surprise. He came in at #2 overall as the top position player on MLBTR’s recent update to our Top 50 Deadline Trade Candidates, with both the Marlins and Angels known to have interest in his services. SNY’s Andy Martino also reported today that the Yankees have interest.
It’s not hard to see why Candelario has drawn such interest, as has paired excellent third base defense with a 121 wRC+ in 98 games this season. In addition to his quality defense at the hot corner, Candelario also has experience in the majors at first base. With Cody Bellinger now off the trade market, that makes Candelario the likely best player available at both infielder corners. Speculatively speaking, the Giants, Diamondbacks, Brewers, and Astros each could use help at the infield corners.
Rizzo also discussed the availability of right-hander Kyle Finnegan and outfielder Lane Thomas, who clocked in at #37 and #41 on our Top 50 Deadline Trade Candidates list, respectively. Bowden relays that Rizzo indicated Finnegan has drawn interest from other clubs ahead of the deadline, and it’s easy to see why. Finnegan is controllable through 2025 and has been a solid arm in the Nationals’ bullpen since he made his big league debut in 2020. Finnegan’s career 3.35 ERA and 4.10 FIP are right in line with his 3.07 ERA and 4.17 FIP in 44 innings of work this season as the Nationals’ top option for closing out games.
Thomas, who is under team control through the end of the 2025 season, has slashed a solid .286/.333/.474 in 104 games this season with a wRC+ of 116 while swiping 12 bases in 14 attempts, is not a player Rizzo appears particularly inclined to move, with Bowden relaying that the impetus to move Thomas would be help at a position of greater need than the outfield, where the club sports top prospects James Wood, Robert Hassell, Dylan Crews, and Elijah Green.
Well aren’t you the Belle of the ball lol.
I don’t think he’s related to Joey.
So how bad is this Nationals season? Mike Rizzo goes on the radio bragging about 8 suitors for Jeimer Candelario.
Yep. That bad.
Pretty sure 2 of the 8 are within the division.
Meanwhile, the Tigers felt they had a strong enough big league team and farm system to give this guy away for nothing.
Because he sucks. One year good next above .200. No one wants him he is awful
Well, it seems that eight teams want him. That’s not no one.
Nine teams if you count the Nats who shrewdly picked him up.
What does “one year good next above .200” even mean? He’s been excellent in 3 of the past 4 seasons.
Harris offered $5MM, Candelario wanted $6MM. He was projected in arbitration to get $7MM. Harris cut him rather than give on the $1MM difference. Tigers have been running McKinstry, Short, Ibanez, Schoop, Maton and Nevin thru the spot. But he saved $6MM.
Nothing wrong with saving 6 million. He would have made little to no difference in Detroit this year. He’s ok but not a difference maker.
Not really, because those six guys combined probably made at least that much. But I get your point.
He make 3.3 wins difference per WAR.
He was pretty bad last year and is streaky so expect a low level minor leaguer in return
He’s only been the 10th most valuable 3B in baseball since 2018
Supply and demand, he’s also the best available position player in a heavy buyers market. With all the teams competing for him, he’ll demand a top 10-15 prospect from one of them teams in the hunt
No
Lol look at Nick Maton’s replacement stats in Detroit.
It made no sense to non-tender him after a single down year, in my opinion.
He was Tiger of the Year the previous 2 years, and had led the Majors in doubles. The entire team had a bad year in ’22. They fired the hitting coaches. All the Tigers that were bad in ’22, continue to not hit in ’23. Candy went to WSH and rebounded. Is it time for the next set of hitting coaches?
I sure Jed Hoyer In the mix per reports here In Chicago IL
Dollar bill Tom R & Laura R have okay Jed to spend money.
Want a 3rd baseman go get areal one like McMahon in Colorado
The Chicago media – all cubs fans – also think they have a good chance of getting Ohtani. That’s cub culture, thinking everyone wants to be on their team.
You are a true baseball savant.
Did you figure that all buy yourself genius?
.
Astros? Abreu is pulling his weight now and we have Bergman at 3rd. WTH would they need him?
Depth? I agree and don’t think they need him for your points exactly but you can’t have too much depth
Abreu traditionally has his best month in August. Let’s see if he can do it again.
I’d love it if the cubs re-acquired Jeimer. He’s a rental but it might cost the cubs a prospect in their top 30. I would hope not though. Maybe in the mid 20s. Nothing from the top 10.
Candelario is the 3rd most valuable 3B in MLB this year and making pennies.. he’s the highest profile rental bat on the market and is a big upgrade for at least 5-6 contenders…
He’s pulling a high profile prospect..
justone2345@yahoo.com
No, he’s not.
He’s not pulling a top100 prospect unless someone else is included.
And not all farms are the same. The Cubs 25th best prospect would be a top10-15 prospect in Philly, Miami, and SF.
Nope
Cubs farm is cheeks compared to the Giants farm.
lol. ok
He’s junk, Rizzo gas bagging everyone
That’s what I’m afraid of. I wouldn’t want the cubs to trade Alcantara and Owen Caissie for a rental. The cubs have a ton of OFer though. I wish Ed Howard had more of an upside
Would be shocked if Caissie or Alcantara were in play for Jeimer unless the Nats added more to it.
Cubs have enough “kinda good players” need more money players like Belli Swanson and Horner
See? cub fans always think everyone wants to play for their team.
Huh? What does a thread about trading for a player have anything to do w/ players wanting to play for them?
Cubs are a below average team that got hot at the absolute worst time.
Yeah ok
Hate to say it but Yankees need to pack it up and sell. We’re not getting any big trade pieces, we don’t have the prospect capital. The team is completely Judge reliant and he’s probably looking at post season surgery. Our owner won’t go over the fiscal barriers he’s set for the richest market in baseball, and our GM can’t seem to close a deal on any non injury prone players. Pack it on , sell what you can to stock the farm, rebuild in the off-season with some free agents or trades with the re-stock.
Supposedly the Marlins are hard after Torres. Cashman needs to get what he can.
If Sevy has a good game tonight, he should net a decent return as well.
Well, so much for Sevy having a good night.
The Yankees placed six players in BA’s mid-season top 100 list, and a host of others in the lower levels who will likely move up on BA and the other lists this offseason. Not disagreeing at all with your premise that the Yankees should be more sell than buy, but if they wanted to make a big acquisition, they certainly could. That said, and back to your point, they shouldn’t attempt that. I have no issue if they add, but it should be minor pieces, or rebalancing pieces. No issue if they trade Gleyber for his equivalent in LF, and put Peraza at 2B, but they shouldn’t be all in. They also shouldn’t be giving up with Judge now back and Cortes returning next week. Teams can both buy and sell at the deadline. Doesn’t have to be one or the other.
NJ.com is reporting that Cashman wants pitchers Cabrera and Garrett. Plus two prospects. Freakin’ insane ask. If he can get Garrett alone, he should take the deal.
There’s nothing wrong with the ask if Cashman’s intent is to NOT move Gleyber for pitching. Ok, you want Gleyber, here’s my price. You ask for the moon and negotiate down from there IF you’re okay moving Gleyber to get a starter while making their historically bad offense even worse. The Yankees need to add a hitter(s), not remove a hitter. Opening a spot for Peraza is fine, but he likely makes their offense worse as he goes through his own growing pains.
Even though this makes less than zero sense in every way, I could see the Marlins not thinking it was crazy. They have no understanding of asset management, and have a clear ***** for Torres, despite their thousands of options at 2b, and actual need for pitching
Rob, moving Torres definitely hurts the offense but I’m for punting this season and setting up for next. We will need to replace Sevy next year and promoting Paraza to play this year should help him be more comfortable next year.
That’s why nobody deals with him
I get the idea of re-tooling, but I’m thinking of competing for future seasons as well. Selling Gleyber , Sevy, German.. sure get what you can … but relying on aging players like DJ, Donaldson, Rizzo, etc is a real issue. I loved Rizzo and DJ but I have a feeling we’ll only be watching their expensive decline. Cole and Judge are in their prime, you need active players in their Prime to put around them. Cortes I’m honestly still not sold on as up and down he’s been in his career. He’s good … but We need good AND dependable… We keep seeming to miss that second part as a team.
@LostYankeeinexile, I think we’re basically agreeing, although we may be using different words. There’s no major acquisition to be had at midseason, and I don’t want them to strip the farm to make it even if there was. That’s why I’m saying they can move some pieces, but those pieces could end up helping in the future but not necessarily hurt them at the moment. If they jettisoned Severino and German, bring back Cortes and gave Vazquez a rotation spot, would they really be hurting themselves? Assess Nestor, assess Vazquez, which will help them make decisions for next year, and could even make them better at the moment.
Agreed. You know Hal is going to wanna duck under the cap as hard as he can as well. I’m definitely not saying sell low, but am saying sell. 2023 is a bust for the Yanks and Cashman & Company will have to atone.
My guess is the Yankees are assessing things down to the minute on Tuesday. The weekend series just completed might push them more toward sell, even if it’s a soft sell.
Looks like they’re gonna miss out everyone is being traded
Probably a sign that they’re not buying beyond some targeted pieces.
I agree but could make a major acquisition and SHOULD make a major acquisition entirely depend on what’s available. You’re not getting Bellinger, Jordan Hicks, Ohtani, Nootbar, or any real difference makers because they’re either traded or not available. The ones that are either don’t move the needle that much or are major injury risks
agreed, but not with the current GM…. time for a change. Cashman has proven time after time he can’t get it done even when given more resources for on and field than anyone else…..
Unlikely he has eight serious suitors. Rizzo saying he has eight suitors and then also saying he will move quickly to trade him as soon as the “right player” is offered is simply a way of trying to up the bids amongst the two or three suitors he likely has.
it really isn’t that far-fetched given the number of teams that need a 3B.
I’m sure quite a few teams have checked in, but the chances that all of them are equal in their level of interest is remote. There’s likely only a couple or three that are really serious, and that’s fine. He gets to play them off of each other. Regardless, I don’t see anything big coming back for two months of Candelario, but Rizzo is going to try and get the most that he can, as he should.
Yea, there’s a difference when you add the level of interest. And I agree, he w
probably won’t bring back anything wild – probably a 40+ or 45 FV prospect.
Pretty bad when a nobody like this gets this much media attention, I pray the Cubs don’t trade for him he sucks
LOL, sure they do.
Lol 8
Thomas’s “solid” slash line is almost entirely the product of hitting well against LHP. He’s absolutely awful against RHP. He’s turning 28, so he’s hardly a prospect, and just had a thoroughly awful month in which he hit .235, struck out 28 times, and has only one multihit game since the break.
Rizzo is enamored with him simply because he got him for Jon Lester. He ought to trade him for whatever remaining value he has. Next season he’s not going to be any better.
Is Candelario the only mlb player born in NYC? Who else?
Adam Ottovino, I think.
I gather you mean New York City, not just Manhattan. Too many to name. Hundreds. Sandy Koufax, Lou Gehrig, Rod Carew, Whitey Ford, Moe Berg, John Candelaria, Jim Palmer, Hank Greenberg, Marcus Stroman, Steven Matz, Willie Randolph, Bobby Bonilla, Phil Rizzuto, etc. Too many to name.
I think Volpe was born in NYC but grew up in NJ
Suitors! Suitors! Pray what is the dowry and who could be the fortunate husband? Suitors! Suitors!
Run, Suitors, run! Odysseus approaches!
Name one free agent in the last 10 years who some sportswriter hasn’t said the Yankees were involved with.
Since Hal has taken over, the Yankees have always talked big around the trade deadlines like a carnival vender on the Midway. And what have they picked up, nothing but TRASH! The Yankees have nothing of value.