I’m pinch-hitting for MLBTR owner Tim Dierkes for this week’s edition of the MLBTR Mailbag. This week, we'll look at Houston's dreadful first base situation, the Cubs' recent struggles, the Mariners' recent surge, the Cardinals' needs, the Nationals' deadline outlook, Jazz Chisholm Jr.'s trade value, and more!
Reynold asks:
There are a number of first basemen on the discard pile. If you were [Astros GM] Dana Brown, do you pick any of those suspects over Jon Singleton? J.D. Davis, Garrett Cooper, etc?
Singleton is a pretty remarkable comeback story, and for him to even make it to the majors at all after such a lengthy hiatus -- let alone find himself in a regular role -- is commendable. Sentimentality doesn't win games, however, and Singleton is a 32-year-old subpar defender whose .219/.319/.331 batting line is below average and nowhere near strong enough to offset his lack of value with the glove. I'm as surprised as most Astros fans that the team is still trotting him out there.
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I used to think that the marlins wouldn’t trade jazz because he has that star potential and is still cheap, but the marlins are gonna enter an oriole sized rebuild so might as well trade everybody
Exactly right. Trade Jazz only if you bring back your catcher of the future. No reason to trade him to just trade him.
Chisholm
Luzardo
To the Cardinals for
Herrera
Scott
Edman
I was thinking along the same lines, but our offer is too light. Tommy would be a good fit for the Marlins, but he wouldn’t hold any value to them. Victor Scott has continued to struggle at Memphis.
We would probably need to add Carlson, Prieto/Fermin, and a pitcher.
They can have Prieto that’s fine and yeah he’s a good fit for them. Edman is a good fit for them and they could either flip him later or sign him long term. Not sure they really need Scott he’s very similar to Head. Carlson needs to stay to play against lefties.
Herrera
Prieto
Edman
Mcgreevy
Thompson
Herrera is the key piece for sure. Nobody else has a catcher like that who would be willing to trade him.
Nobody other than the 3 teams listed in the article
If you mean a DH playing catcher then yeah he’s the best one on the market. He can hit, but he has a noodle arm and has only thrown out three base stealers. If a team values defense for catchers Herrera won’t be as valuable as we hope
He’s bad at throwing out base runners for sure. But he’s a good pitch framer. Hes a catcher who has now proven can be an everyday catcher with the Contreras injury but now will no longer get that chance. He’s EXACTLY what the Marlins need. No other team would be willing to trade a player like him. The Cardinals don’t have a good farm system but they are loaded at catcher with Pages, Bernal and Crooks. Trading Herrera now makes sense and the Marlins are a perfect fit for him.