Zachary Links | MLB Trade Rumors

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Miley, Blue Jays, Tanaka

By Zachary Links | July 13, 2014 at 6:01pm CDT

On this date in 2012, Zack Greinke became the first pitcher to start three consecutive games in the same season since 1917. The Brewers’ right-hander was the starting pitcher in the team’s final two games before the All-Star break. Greinke started the Saturday prior to the break only to be ejected after throwing just four pitches, so manager Ron Roenicke let him start the next day’s game. Greinke then made it three straight starts when he took the mound to begin the second half of the season. Here’s this week’s look around the baseball blogosphere..

Inside The Zona wants to see the D’Backs move Wade Miley in the right trade.
Blue Jays Plus grades Toronto’s offense so far.
Beisbol’s talks Masahiro Tanaka.
MLB Reports examines what Tanaka’s injury means for the Yanks in 2014 and ’15.
Sports Rumor Alert runs down trade targets for the Yankees, including Cliff Lee.
The Sideline praises A’s GM Billy Beane.
Infield Chatter has some take aways from the A’s-Cubs blockbuster.
Baseball Hot Corner has 20 players the Blue Jays could go after.

Please send submissions to Zach at ZachBBWI@gmail.com.

Quick Hits: Samardzija, Viciedo, D-Backs, Byrd

By Zachary Links | July 6, 2014 at 5:15pm CDT

Jeff Samardzija couldn’t be happier to be joining the A’s, writes MLB.com’s Jane Lee. “Billy asked me how I felt,” said Samardzija. “I was supposed to pitch today, so I’m a day past my due date to pitch. I’m chomping at the bit. I don’t think there’s any better way to get acclimated than to do it on the mound. It was a no-brainer for me, and I look forward to it.” Here’s more from around baseball.

Jim Bowden of ESPN.com (Insider sub. req’d) looks at what it would take for the Marlins, Giants, and Cardinals to land Rays second baseman Ben Zobrist.
David Golebiewski of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review looks at the advanced stats and says that the Pirates came away as the winners in the Ernesto Frieri–Jason Grilli swap.
White Sox slugger Dayan Viciedo says that he’s not fazed by the trade rumors surrounding him, writes Daniel Kramer of MLB.com. In last night’s MLBTR poll asking which position player will be dealt first, Viciedo finished third behind Martin Prado and Chase Headley.
Mariners skipper Lloyd McClendon would like to see his club get an offensive upgrade, but he also doesn’t want to see them sell off top prospects for rental players, writes Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times.
The Padres are seeing immediate returns on Cuban pitcher Odrisamer Despaigne, writes Jeff Sanders of U-T San Diego.
The Diamondbacks probably aren’t done trading after sending Joe Thatcher and Tony Campana to the Angels, writes Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. “We plan on being active,” Diamondbacks General Manager Kevin Towers said. “This is the start.“
Troy Tulowitzki’s trade value may never be higher for the Rockies, argues Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post. Tulo is saying the right things and hasn’t asked for a trade but a change makes sense for both sides at this time.
Tulowitzki deserves better that what he’s getting with the Rockies, writes Mark Kiszla of the Denver Post. “I want to be somewhere there’s a chance to be in the playoffs every single year,” Tulowitzki said.
Cardinals GM John Mozeliak tells Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that the club sees the cost of trading as high.
Phillies right fielder Marlon Byrd was dealt Aug. 27 last year from the Mets to the Pirates and he could be traded again this summer. However, the veteran says he’s not thinking about that, as Marc Narducci of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes.
Corey Seidman of CSNPhilly.com looks at how the Cubs-A’s blockbuster deal helps the Phillies.
The Indians talked to the Cubs about Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel and it would have cost them Francisco Lindor, Tyler Naquin, and Danny Salazar to make the same kind of deal that the A’s did, writes Paul Hoynes of the Plain Dealer.

Red Sox Reluctant To Move Will Middlebrooks

By Zachary Links | July 6, 2014 at 3:25pm CDT

The Red Sox have been receiving decent trade interest in recent days in third baseman Will Middlebrooks, but Red Sox people are said to seem quite reluctant to deal him, according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. Middlebrooks is on injury rehab following his slow start in Boston but the Sox seem intent on keeping him past July.

Still only 25, Middlebrooks has power, and it isn’t easy to come by power bats in baseball these days. On top of that, if Middlebrooks can show something in the second half, he could be a piece if the Sox try and make a run at Marlins star Giancarlo Stanton. It would obviously take much more than Middlebrooks to get a deal done, but Miami did have some interest in Middlebrooks last winter. Stanton would provide a huge boost for the Red Sox and Boston can build a package with some of the best prospects in baseball to entice Miami if they make Stanton available over the winter. In 21 games this season, Middlebrooks has hit just .197/.305/.324 with two homers.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Orioles, Thatcher, Melvin

By Zachary Links | July 6, 2014 at 3:08pm CDT

On this date in 2003, Tampa Bay skipper Lou Piniella was a man of his word. The manager promised his club that if they won three in a row he’d dye his hair and after the Devil Rays beat the White Sox the night before, Lou become a blonde. Here’s this week’s look around the baseball blogosphere.

Camden Depot says the O’s starting rotation still needs improvement.
Inside The Zona breaks down the Joe Thatcher deal from the D’Backs’ perspective.
National League Theory breaks down Brewers GM Doug Melvin.
Orioles Nation doesn’t think the O’s have the pieces needed to land a top-tier talent.
MLB Reports gives us a roster tree of how all the Angels’ hitters were acquired.
Infield Chatter proposes a trade that sends David Price to the Cardinals.
Baseball Hot Corner says the Blue Jays need another righty bat.
FanDuel looks at who’s hot and who’s not in fantasy.
Steel City Buzzin’ looks at the buyers and sellers in the National League.
Baseball Hot Corner says Derek Jeter shouldn’t be starting in the All-Star game.

Please send submissions to Zach at ZachBBWI@gmail.com.

Blue Jays Claim Nolan Reimold Off Waivers

By Zachary Links | July 6, 2014 at 12:48pm CDT

The Blue Jays have claimed Nolan Reimold off waivers from the Orioles, according to Reimold’s cousin Seamus Doyle (on Twitter). The O’s placed Reimold on waivers last week.

Baltimore was looking at trade options for the outfielder but were unable to find any. Reimold has been hampered by multiple neck surgeries over the last few seasons but has posted a .902 OPS over 17 games on a Double-A rehab assignment.

The 30-year-old was once considered a top 100 prospect but has never been able to realize his potential due to health problems. In parts of five big league campaigns, Reimold owns a .252/.327/.439 slash line.

There are now six players in DFA limbo, as shown in MLBTR’s DFA Tracker.

Orioles Designate Ramon Ramirez For Assignment

By Zachary Links | July 6, 2014 at 12:05pm CDT

The Orioles announced that they have designated Ramon Ramirez for assignment. The move will make space for Kevin Gausman on the roster.

Ramirez threw a grand total of one major league inning for the Orioles this season. Over parts of nine big league seasons with the Rockies, Royals, Red Sox, Giants, Mets, and Orioles, Ramirez owns a 3.42 ERA with 7.5 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9.

Ramirez becomes the second player to be designated for assignment today after the Yankees DFA’d Alfonso Soriano. To keep up with everyone in DFA limbo, check out MLBTR’s DFA Tracker.

Yankees Acquire Brandon McCarthy

By Zachary Links | July 6, 2014 at 10:44am CDT

10:44am: The Diamondbacks will eat $2.05MM of the $4.1MM owed to McCarthy for the rest of the year, tweets Buster Olney of ESPN.com. Meanwhile, the Yankees will pay the $1MM assignment bonus to McCarthy.

10:21am: The D’Backs will be eating money in the deal, tweets ESPN’s Buster Olney. McCarthy is owed the prorated portion of his $9MM contract, plus the $1MM assignment bonus he is set to earn after being traded.

The prorated portion of McCarthy’s deal comes out to roughly $4.1MM, not counting the assignment bonus.

10:15am: The Yankees are in fact trading Vidal Nuno to Arizona for McCarthy, tweets Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News.

Nuno, 26, owns a 5.42 ERA with 6.9 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 through 14 starts and three relief appearances this season. While McCarthy is on an expiring contract, Nuno won’t be eligible for free agency until after the 2019 season.

The left-hander was originally in the Indians’ system before being released in March 2011. The Yankees picked Nuno up a couple of months later and after getting 17 big league starts out of him across the last two seasons, they have parlayed him into the 6’7″ McCarthy.

10:10am: The Yankees have acquired Brandon McCarthy from the D’Backs, according to Chris Cotillo of MLBDailyDish (on Twitter). The two sides were discussing a deal involving Vidal Nuno last night, sources tell Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter), but it’s unclear if Nuno is in fact in the trade.

McCarthy, 30, has a 5.01 ERA with 7.6 K/9 – a career best if it holds – and 1.6 BB/9 through 18 starts this season. While the 5+ ERA isn’t particularly attractive, advanced metrics such as McCarthy’s 2.89 xFIP indicate that he has been much better than that would indicate.

ESPN’s Buster Olney reported late last month that McCarthy would earn a $1MM assignment bonus if he was traded. Olney added that the D’Backs would likely have to pick up the tab on that sum.

The Diamondbacks made a smaller move yesterday when they shipped Joe Thatcher and Tony Campana to the Angels for outfielder Zach Borenstein and right-hander Joey Krehbiel. Between that deal and today’s trade of McCarthy, it’s clear that the 36-53 Diamondbacks are going to be committed to selling this month.

Despite their underwhelming performances so far this season, veterans Cody Ross and Aaron Hill could also be on the move. Eric Chavez, Bronson Arroyo, and Mark Trumbo could also be of interest to teams if they show that they’re healthy. And while Thatcher is already gone, fellow lefty Oliver Perez should have some value. Thatcher is merely a rental for the Angels but Perez is controlled through the 2015 season.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Royals To Sign Scott Downs

By Zachary Links | July 6, 2014 at 9:04am CDT

The Royals have signed left-hander Scott Downs, according to Andy McCullough of The Kansas City Star (via Twitter). The White Sox released Downs late last week after previously designating him for assignment.

Over 23 2/3 innings for the White Sox, Downs recorded a 6.08 ERA with a better-than-usual 8.4 K/9 clip with an alarmingly high 5.7 BB/9 mark. Still, ERA estimators are kinder to Downs, as he owns a 3.69 FIP, 4.07 xFIP, and 3.96 SIERA. Downs has held opposing left-handed hitters to a .225/.309/.367 mark; his real issue has been with righties, who own a .296/.415/.364 triple-slash against him.

Downs is represented by CAA Sports, as shown in the MLBTR Agency Database.

Rays Open To Trading David Price Within Division

By Zachary Links | July 6, 2014 at 8:47am CDT

The consensus around baseball this season has been that the Rays are extremely reluctant to trade ace David Price within the AL East. That may still be true, but Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports hears that they’re still at least open to the idea of moving Price within the division.

An intra-division deal might call for a premium price, but today’s report is still good news for the Blue Jays, who would no doubt love to bring Price north of the border. The Blue Jays can’t bank on Mark Buehrle duplicating his strong first half and they’ve fallen out of first place. If Toronto is willing to part with two of their top three prospects – Aaron Sanchez, Daniel Norris, and Dalton Pompey – they could come away with the most alluring pitcher on the trade market.

In addition to the Blue Jays, Morosi cites the Mariners, Dodgers, and Cardinals as possible landing spots for Price. It’s hard to see Seattle landing Price without parting with Taijuan Walker, but they might be aggressive enough to move the 21-year-old to get Price. The Dodgers, of course, are always aggressive and Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports surmised yesterday that they could be extra bullish on Price because of their TV situation.

Reactions To A’s-Cubs Trade

By Zachary Links | July 5, 2014 at 5:00pm CDT

For weeks now, the baseball world has been waiting for the Cubs to line up trades for Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel. Last night, Theo Epstein & Co. killed two birds with one stone and packaged both together in a deal with the A’s. In return for two of the most talked about pitchers on the trade block, the Cubs received top prospect Addison Russell, outfield prospect Billy McKinney, and pitcher Dan Straily. Here’s a look at some of the reactions to the blockbuster deal.

MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes (on Twitter) says the Cubs are taking an interesting approach by stockpiling top position player prospects and putting off acquiring pitching. Dierkes can see Straily providing Travis Wood-like value for the Cubs since teams pay big money for innings from a No. 4 type (link). Meanwhile, the deal makes the rest of the trade season kind of anticlimactic for Cub fans after their two best trade chips were moved on the Fourth of July (link).
Before pulling the trigger on the deal with the Cubs, the A’s discussed a swap involving Russell with the Rays for David Price, writes Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports. However, nothing ever materialized on that front.
The Yankees exchanged proposals with the Cubs on both Samardzija and Hammel, but could not compete with Russell’s inclusion, tweets FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal.
In a separate tweet, Rosenthal reports the A’s don’t intend to flip Hammel because they will need him to win the AL West.
ESPN’s Keith Law writes in an Insider piece (subscription required) the A’s and Cubs both significantly impacted their franchise, albeit with different timelines in mind.
The early word is the Cubs are not looking to make any moves from their shortstop stockpile as the Mets have nothing brewing with Chicago and the Yankees have checked but to no avail, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post (Twitter links).
Moneyball isn’t about on-base percentage or any one statistic, it’s about exploiting what is over- or under-valued and prospects are over-valued at present, writes Sherman. However, he notes (link) Javier Baez and Russell are big guys who might not stay at shortstop, so Starlin Castro may still be the Cubs’ long-term guy.
The A’s may have made themselves the favorites for 2014, but the Cubs ultimately may have won the deal, writes CBSSports.com’s Jon Heyman. “He’s Barry Larkin with power,” one rival baseball executive said of Russell.
The loss of Russell, in particular, could end up haunting the A’s, whose current shortstop Jed Lowrie is a free agent after this season, but GM Billy Beane has never been afraid to take an unconventional route, writes Rosenthal.
Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle echoes Rosenthal and adds the trade may point towards an extension for Lowrie and this wouldn’t be a bad time to do it.
The trade demonstrates Beane’s burning desire to win now and now could be his only window for winning a World Series, according to MLB.com’s Jane Lee.
Peter Gammons of GammonsDaily.com calls this trade fascinating because of the guts it took to swing such a deal between two men (Epstein and Beane) who defy convention for the way the game of baseball changes.
The Cubs signed Hammel to a one-year, $6MM deal in late January and in July he has netted them one of the five best prospects in baseball, notes Passan (via Twitter).
Fangraphs’ Dave Cameron (via Twitter) is usually against trading great young talent, but likes the trade for the A’s since present wins have so much value to them right now. Of course, he likes the swap from the Cubs’ perspective, too.
Mike Petriello of Fangraphs writes the trade is a win-win for both the A’s and Cubs, but the real winner could be the Rays, who just saw two of the top available starting pitchers dealt while only one contender benefited increasing the demand for Price.
Addison Russell (Twitter link) is excited to be joining forces with Kris Bryant.
Billy McKinney called the A’s an “amazing and classy organization” and is “excited to start and (sic) new chapter in the Cubs organization” (Twitter links).
Dan Straily also tweeted his appreciation of the A’s organization, but is looking forward to beginning the next chapter of his career with the Cubs (Twitter links).

Edward Creech contributed to this post.

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