Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Braves Rumors

MLBTR Roundtable: Trading Julio Teheran

By | at

Earlier today, I laid out a high-level overview of the cases both for and against the Braves trading Julio Teheran. While there are certainly some gray areas in making a decision — every player, no matter how good, becomes tradeable once the value received in exchange reaches a certain point — we’ve asked the entire staff at MLBTR to offer its thoughts on whether the Braves should be open to making a move or should hang onto their best starting pitcher.

You can read the above-linked post for more info on the 25-year-old righty. Or, skip right ahead to the opinions of the MLBTR team:

Tim Dierkes: As the saying goes, “Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t.”  Teheran has been in the Braves’ organization for nearly a decade, and they know him better than anyone.  It was that familiarity that led them to sign him to a deal guaranteeing $32.4MM back in 2014, a fairly aggressive extension for a pitcher with less than two years of Major League service time.  Research from Matt Swartz has shown that it is hard to avoid lemons when signing away free agent pitchers from other teams.  The Braves may have good money to spend this winter in advance of their new stadium opening, but in addition to the issue of the “Other People’s Players” premium Swartz discovered, the free agent market for starting pitching looks historically bad.  Even with Teheran, the Braves will need to add significant starting pitching if they hope to contend in 2017. Verdict: Retain him.

Steve Adams: There’s virtually no scenario in which trading Teheran makes the Braves better in 2016, and they’d be hard-pressed to find a deal that makes them definitively better in 2017 — the year in which they supposedly aim to contend in a new stadium. The Braves have stocked their farm with pitching depth, but Teheran is their best pitcher in the Majors right now, and his $32.4MM contract has enough surplus value that the asking price could (and should) reasonably rival the Shelby Miller haul. A return of that magnitude strikes me as extremely unlikely, and given the backlash they’ve had from fans in John Coppolella’s first season as general manager, moving the team’s clear top starter for more young pieces wouldn’t sit well with their audience. Verdict: Retain him.

Jeff Todd: As things stand, Teheran has had great results in three of his four full seasons in the majors. He’s young, he racks up innings, and he has an appealing contract. On the other hand, he doesn’t have elite swinging strike rates, isn’t much of a groundball pitcher, and has always outperformed ERA estimators — yes, even in 2015 — which have recently viewed him as a ~4.00 (and change) performer. In large part, then, his value is dependent upon whether one believes that’s sustainable. He’s still a nice piece regardless, and at worst he provides Atlanta with a sturdy mid-rotation piece as it exposes its top prospects to the majors, but I’m actually in favor of looking to sell while the gettin’ is good. Teheran’s value is up, especially with a mediocre set of fellow trade targets and a seemingly barren free agent starter crop coming this winter, and frankly I’m not bullish on Atlanta’s 2017 outlook. Too many things need to go right, and the lackluster overall free agent class may not be conducive to building out a competitive roster for a reasonable price. PR considerations aside, a deal that includes at least a high-quality, advanced position-player prospect makes sense to me, even if a truly premium youngster can’t be had. Verdict: Shop him.

Mark Polishuk: The Braves’ long-stated plan was to return to contention when their new ballpark opens in April 2017.  While that timeline may have been pushed back a bit thanks to their terrible record this season, the organization obviously still wants to be competitive sooner rather than later.  Even if they wait until 2018 to make a push, that’s still well within the life of Teheran’s contract and the prime of his career.  If I’m the Braves, I hang onto Teheran now (barring a Godfather offer from another team, of course) since I’d find myself looking for a Teheran-type of pitcher within a year or two anyway. Verdict: Retain him.

Charlie Wilmoth: Not to straddle the fence, but I think the Braves should strongly consider trading Teheran but keep him if they don’t get a return they like. A rebuilding team should consider trading any veteran starter in the midst of a good year. You never know when a pitcher might lose velocity, get hurt, or decline for other reasons, so keeping Teheran to pitch for a bad team is risky asset management. Teheran and Shelby Miller are different types of pitchers, but Miller’s case demonstrates that principle. Even leaving aside the terrific return the Braves wouldn’t have received if they hadn’t dealt Miller, how bad would it have been for Atlanta if the Braves had kept him and then he had a 2016 season like the one he’s having now with the Diamondbacks? On the other hand, Teheran is only 25 and is under control and cheap through 2020, so he could easily be part of the next good Braves team. Add in that the Braves would surely like to play well next season for the opening of their new ballpark, and there are compelling reasons to keep Teheran around. I’d try to deal him, but if the offers are underwhelming, holding on is reasonable too. Verdict: Hung jury!

Connor Byrne: The crop of starters who are expected to be available prior to the trade deadline looks mostly unappealing, as does the upcoming class of free agents, so the rebuilding Braves should at least shop Teheran. The next several months could serve as the perfect time frame for the Braves to get more for Teheran than he’s worth. If they put Teheran on the block and don’t get a palatable enough offer, then keeping him wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. With his team-friendly contract, Teheran won’t have to perform like much more than a back-end starter to provide value over the next few years, meaning the Braves won’t be in a negative position if they retain him. However, by no means should John Coppolella be so intent on acquiring a young, established major league hitter in return for Teheran that he summarily spurns other offers. Teheran’s only a year removed from a 4.00 ERA season with a below-average 2.34 K/BB ratio. We’re not talking about a Jose Fernandez-esque superstar here; rather, Teheran’s contract and durability are arguably the two best things he has going for him. The Braves shouldn’t need to be “overwhelmed” to trade him, then, even though Coppolella said otherwise last month. Verdict: Shop him.

That’s where we stand, but we’ll also open this one up to our readers with a poll (Link to poll for Trade Rumors mobile app users):

Should The Braves Trade Julio Teheran?
Yes, sell him (or at least shop him) while his value is at its peak. 66.29% (3,501 votes)
No, retain him to help contend in the near future. 33.71% (1,780 votes)
Total Votes: 5,281

The Cases For And Against A Julio Teheran Trade

By | at

We’re firing up another new series here at MLBTR in which we’ll take one oft-discussed topic each week and present the high-level cases both for and against the move in question. Following that, we’ll present a roundtable of opinions from the MLBTR staff in a separate post and ask our reader base to weigh in on the matter with a poll.

With the Braves in full rebuild mode and their stated willingness to listen to offers for anyone not named Freddie Freeman,  it’s only natural that Julio Teheran’s name has come up frequently early in the summer. Last week, MLBTR’s Connor Byrne examined the difficulties in identifying a trade partner that had both the need to add Teheran and the ability to part with the MLB-ready types of young talent which Atlanta is said to covet in a theoretical deal.

Teheran is off to an incredible start to his 2016 season, having pitched to a 2.85 ERA with 8.5 K/9, 2.5 BB/9 and a 42.5 percent ground-ball rate in 82 innings out of the Atlanta rotation. He also looks to be well on his way to a third straight season of 200+ innings in just his age-25 season. He’s benefited from some good fortune in terms of BABIP (.228) and strand rate (83 percent), but Teheran has posted a BABIP lower than the league average throughout his career and also posted strand rates that are above the league norm, so while some regression can be expected, it probably shouldn’t be assumed that those numbers will trend all the way back to the league averages.

We’re a good seven and a half weeks away from this year’s non-waiver trade deadline, and Teheran is pitching brilliantly for a last-place club in the midst of a rebuild, expect to hear his name floated with some degree of regularity between now and Aug. 1. However, does the very fact that he’s an appealing asset on a rebuilding club mean that Teheran should be traded? Let’s look at both sides of the coin.

The case for trading Julio Teheran

The case for the Braves to trade any player on their big league roster always starts at the same place: they’re a team that wasn’t good in 2015 and has been significantly worse in 2016. Atlanta is currently on a course for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 draft, and they’ll be among the few teams that are definitive sellers leading up to the Aug. 1 non-waiver trading deadline. The Braves will probably field calls on any and all pieces that could help a contending club, and Teheran, as noted above, more than fits that bill.

Julio Teheran

Given his strong start to the season, his highly affordable contract and the utter dearth of impact arms not only on the summer trade market but also on the upcoming free-agent market, there’s a chance that the Braves could coerce a team into parting with a potentially exorbitant package of young talent to pry Teheran from their hands. Atlanta reached that nexus of frenzied demand and willingness to surrender elite talent in the offseason’s Shelby Miller blockbuster, and there’s a case to be made that Teheran could, or at least should, be worth more. The D-backs, after all, were acquiring three years of Miller at arbitration prices, whereas a team dealing for Teheran would be taking on the remainder of this season’s salary ($2.06MM as of this writing) and three more years at $26.3MM. That’s three and a half years of Teheran for roughly $28.14MM plus a club option for $12MM in 2020 — his age-29 season. Last summer, the Rangers surrendered a package of Jerad Eickhoff, Jake Thompson, Jorge Alfaro, Nick Williams and Alec Asher in the Cole Hamels/Jake Diekman trade. Teheran’s entire contract is worth barely more than a season of Hamels, financially speaking.

Moving Teheran this summer could net the Braves an MLB-ready asset (as Eickhoff gave the Phillies or as Ender Inciarte and Aaron Blair gave the Braves in the Miller deal) as well as multiple high-ceiling, top 100 range prospects. The 2016 product is bad, and moving Teheran right now could net them two or more pieces that would help in 2017, when more of their vaunted farm system is at the Major League level.

The case against trading Julio Teheran

On the flip side, the Braves are aiming to contend in 2017, and Teheran helps them tremendously in that vein. Matt Wisler’s solid start to the season aside, Teheran is the Braves’ best pitcher. He misses more bats, generates more grounders and has displayed better control over the course of his career than Wisler has in his. Trading Teheran almost certainly makes the Braves a worse team in 2016, and there’s a very real chance that doing so would make them worse in 2017 as well. Acquiring MLB-ready assets is always a plus, but prospects aren’t guaranteed, no matter how highly regarded they may be. Teheran is performing well in the Majors right now and has done so since 2013, posting a cumulative 3.30 ERA in 689 1/3 innings.

The contract, as mentioned above, gives the Braves the best years of a pitcher that may not be a definitive ace but can clearly pitch near the top of a Major League rotation at an exceptionally affordable rate. Teheran is in his fourth season of big league service and would’ve been arbitration-eligible for the second time this coming winter. He’s earning salaries of $3.3MM, $6.3MM and $8MM for his arbitration seasons and can be controlled for just $23MM total for his first two would-be free-agent seasons. His arb years are cheaper than the likes of Wade Miley and Lance Lynn, and Teheran’s free-agent seasons are priced somewhere in the range of 50 to 75 percent of what they’d command on the open market (as is the case with most pre-arbitration extensions). There’s an enormous amount of value to the Braves themselves in that deal.

Beyond the on-field and financial reasons for keeping Teheran, the Braves have been aggressively working to fight the notion that they’re “tanking” in order to continue to build up the farm through the draft. General manager John Coppolella has repeatedly stressed that his hope for the 2016 season was an improvement over 2015’s record and strides toward a competitive product in 2017 — the opening season of the Braves’ new stadium, Sun Trust Park. Trading away their best pitcher for even more young, controllable pieces would only further fuel the tanking narrative, even if the return brought the potential for multiple contributors to the 2016-17 roster. The Braves would also face continued backlash from a fanbase that has been particularly vocal about its thoughts on the current rebuild, and while fan reaction shouldn’t be the deciding factor in a move, it’s certainly something of which the Braves’ brass must be mindful as it approaches the Aug. 1 non-waiver trade deadline.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

NL East Notes: Braves, Draft, Johnson, Mets, Bourjos

By | at

Multiple draft outlets have noted the possibility that the Braves could cut a deal with high school right-hander Ian Anderson at No. 3 overall in tonight’s draft with an eye toward over-spending on the No. 40 selection. ESPN’s Keith Law noted as much in this morning’s final mock draft (subscription required and recommended), and Eric Longenhagen or ESPN and Fangraphs tweets that the team could do so with an eye on getting former No. 1 overall candidate Jason Groome at No. 40, though their willingness to do so is dependent on who comes off the board with the first and second selections. D1Baseball.com’s Frankie Piliere tweeted earlier today that Groome’s asking price is extremely high and connected him to the Braves while adding that he’s in a somewhat of a “freefall” as a result of his price tag. Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com wrote in today’s draft buzz column wrote that Groome has floated an asking price of $4MM, which could cause some teams to shy away from him. Notably, the MLB.com pair also adds that Groome has now committed to Chipola Junior College in Florida after having previously been committed to Vanderbilt. In doing so, Groome would allow himself to be eligible for next year’s draft if he elects not to sign.

More from the NL East…

  • The Mets could have promoted either Dilson Herrera or T.J. Rivera to the Majors instead of swinging yesterday’s trade for utilityman Kelly Johnson, writes Newsday’s Marc Carig, but assistant GM John Ricco explained that the club wasn’t interested in asking a player to make a notable position switch, as it would’ve had to do with either Rivera, Herrera or Neil Walker (who would move off of second base if Herrera were to slide into his natural position at the MLB level). Skipper Terry Collins lauded the front office for bringing back Johnson, whom he described as an excellent clubhouse presence and a veteran that has been through the rigors of a postseason chase before. Ricco added that while the team waited out some injuries last season, New York’s aspirations of winning it all in 2016 prompted earlier action. Johnson and James Loney, the two players acquired recently, aren’t exactly impact players that would push a team over the edge, of course, but adding role players to plug gaps on the roster in June as opposed to July can indeed make a difference in a tight division race.
  • The Post’s Ken Davidoff was also on hand to talk to Ricco and Collins about the Mets’ acquisition of Johnson, with Ricco stating that the enhanced play of the 2016 Nationals (as compared to last season’s squad) didn’t prompt earlier action. Collins, meanwhile, noted that the addition of a player in an early trade is important in sending a message to the clubhouse that the front office is committed to winning in the current season. Per Collins, last season’s acquisition of Johnson and Juan Uribe “completely” changed the clubhouse atmosphere. Davidoff adds that striking early allows the Mets to reassess later in the summer if Johnson isn’t able to right the ship at the plate.
  • While the Mets are clearly in the need for infield help, as evidenced by the Johnson trade, Carig checked in with a team source in regards to recently released Dodgers infielder Alex Guerrero and was told that the 29-year-old is not on the Mets’ radar at this time (Twitter link).
  • The Phillies have informed Peter Bourjos that he is now a bench player, as Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes. Manager Pete Mackanin called the situation “unfortunate” and noted that Bourjos “has got to make a drastic change in his approach offensively.” Mackanin stressed that he “loves” Bourjos’ defensive work, but the 29-year-old’s .195/.226/.282 batting line and near-28 percent strikeout rate aren’t cutting it in the lineup. In his place, extra at-bats figure to be given to Rule 5 pick Tyler Goeddel, Cody Asche and Jimmy Paredes, writes Gelb, though he notes that the Phils are also hopeful of seeing names like Nick Williams and Roman Quinn impact the outfield alignment later in the season. For Bourjos, the loss of a starting job with free agency so close around the corner is disheartening, though his defensive prowess should land him an opportunity elsewhere this coming winter.

Mets Acquire Kelly Johnson

By | at

4:38pm: The Braves sent about $450K to the Mets in the trade as well, tweets the New York Post’s Ken Davidoff. That will help offset the remaining $1.268MM on Johnson’s 2016 contract. The Braves, then, are saving about $818K in the trade.

10:56am: The Mets have officially struck a deal to acquire utilityman Kelly Johnson from the Braves, as Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com first reported on Twitter. Minor league righty Akeel Morris heading back in return.

New York and Atlanta are division rivals, but that didn’t stop them from linking up last summer on a deal that brought Johnson and fellow veteran Juan Uribe to the Mets. Johnson returned to Atlanta after playing a limited but important role for the eventual National League champs, only to be sent north once again.

The contending Mets have seen some holes open up this year due to injuries. In particular, first baseman Lucas Duda, third baseman David Wright, and catcher Travis d’Arnaud are in various stages of lengthy absences, while outfielder Juan Lagares is limited by a thumb injury.

Johnson, 34, figures to provide a stopgap at any number of positions. Over 11 years with eight organizations, he’s lined up at second base, all four corner infield and outfield spots, and even shortstop (albeit only for one game). The left-handed-hitting Johnson looks like a particularly good fit at third base, where he could share time with Wilmer Flores, though it’s fair to note that Johnson has never carried much of a platoon split.

At his best, Johnson is a reasonably solid defender and an average or better hitter with some pop. The question is how much is left in the bat. Over 132 plate appearances this year, he’s slashed a meager .215/.273/.289 with a single home run. That’s a good ways off of his lifetime .250/.330/.420 slash and double-digit annual long ball output.

In Morris, the Braves are getting a 23-year-old reliever who has just a single MLB appearance under his belt. Heading into 2016, he had posted three straight seasons of sparkling results while steadily climbing the ladder. Over his first 25 1/3 innings this year, all coming at the Double-A level, Morris has surrendered 13 earned runs and issued 16 free passes — though he’s also allowed only 19 hits while racking up 36 strikeouts.

Jon Morosi of FOX Sports first reported that a trade between the teams was close (Twitter link). 

NL East Notes: Prado, Mets, Wright, Phillies

By | at

Here’s the latest from around the NL East…

  • The Marlins are undecided about trying to re-sign Martin Prado in the offseason since Derek Dietrich could become their third baseman of the future, the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson writes.  Dietrich entered today’s action with a .303/.392/.479 slash line over 166 PA while playing mostly second base in place of the suspended Dee Gordon.  The 26-year-old Dietrich is under team control through the 2020 season while Prado is a free agent this winter.  Prado is himself having a solid year from an average and OBP perspective and the Fish have long valued his clubhouse leadership skills, to the point of demanding a huge return in trade discussions last year.  It’s also worth noting that Dietrich has played only 49 games at third in his entire pro career, so he’s not exactly a seasoned option at the hot corner.
  • The Mets should be planning for life without David Wright, Newsday’s David Lennon writes, as it’s quite possible the veteran third baseman will miss the rest of the season recovering from a herniated disk in his neck.  Even the best-case scenarios have Wright not returning until late August at the earliest, so Lennon figures the Mets need to obtain another third baseman if Wilmer Flores isn’t able to step up as an everyday option.  Lennon notes that up to 75% of the roughly $81MM owed on Wright’s contract through the 2020 season could be recouped by insurance if Wright is too injured to play, which creates some financial leeway for the Mets.
  • The Mets are again struggling to score runs and may not have the prospect depth to correct the problem as they did at last year’s deadline, Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes.  The Mets held onto their position player depth over the offseason to guard against another offensive slide, yet they’re still one of the league’s lowest-scoring teams.
  • The Phillies have a league-high spending pool (just under $5.62MM) for the upcoming July international signing period, and Baseball America’s Ben Badler reports that the club is planning to spread out its money on several players.  Badler profiles five young Venezuelan players the Phillies have been linked to in the July 2 class, including 16-year-old Francisco Morales, a 6’5″ right-hander whose fastball has already hit 96mph.  One scout tells Badler that Morales is “probably the No. 1 pitcher in the class.”
  • The Braves’ 23 homers is easily the lowest of any team in baseball, and Mark Bradley of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (subscription required) notes that the team also doesn’t have any burgeoning slugging prospects in the farm system.  This lack of power is why Bradley feels the Braves will keep Hector Olivera once his domestic violence suspension is up, as Olivera at least displayed some home run-hitting ability in Cuba (though not yet in his brief MLB career).

Cafardo’s Latest: RPs, Bautista, Teheran, Shields, Ausmus

By | at

This summer’s trade market will favor relief pitchers, not starters, writes Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. While the pool of starters who are expected to be available looks shallow and largely unappealing, the opposite is true in regards to bullpen options. Cafardo points to Aroldis Chapman, Andrew Miller, Arodys Vizcaino, Jeremy Jeffress, Jeanmar Gomez, Sean Doolittle and Will Smith, among many others, as relievers who could be on the move in the next couple months.

Here’s more from Cafardo:

  • The 30-27 Blue Jays are in the thick of the playoff race, but if they fall out of it, right fielder Jose Bautista and first baseman/designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion (both pending free agents) are prime trade candidates. The Cardinals, Cubs and Hunter Pence-less Giants would all have interest in Bautista, according to Cafardo.
  • The Red Sox and Braves would match up well in a potential trade involving right-hander Julio Teheran, per Cafardo, who notes that Boston’s package would have to be headlined by outfield prospect Andrew Benintendi, infield prospect Yoan Moncada, third baseman Travis Shaw or catcher/left fielder Blake Swihart. Of that group, the Red Sox would prefer to give up Swihart, though Cafardo doubts he alone would be enough of a return for Teheran.
  • Before the Padres traded righty James Shields to the White Sox on Saturday, the Red Sox, Orioles, Tigers and Dodgers expressed interest in acquiring the 34-year-old. Shields’ final start with the Padres – in which he allowed 10 earned runs, eight hits and four walks in 2 2/3 innings on Tuesday – served as a deterrent to some clubs, though, reports Cafardo.
  • The 27-28 Tigers aren’t considering replacing third-year manager Brad Ausmus as of now, relays Cafardo. However, given that he’s in a contract year, Ausmus could be managing for his job.

Looking For A Match In A Julio Teheran Trade

By | at

The Braves entered the season amid a full rebuild, so it’s hardly a surprise that they’ve shown a willingness to ship away veterans during their National League-worst 16-37 start. Two months into the season, Atlanta has already moved a pair of right-handers, starter Jhoulys Chacin and reliever Jason Grilli, for younger players. The club is understandably less eager to trade its premier major league asset, fellow righty Julio Teheran, as general manager John Coppolella has stated multiple times since last weekend.

On the possibility of dealing the 25-year-old Teheran, Coppolella told FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal, “The days of us trading players like Teheran for prospects are over. We need to get better at the major league level. We would have to be overwhelmed to move Teheran.”

Coppollela then informed Jon Heyman of Today’s Knuckleball that he expects Teheran to remain with the Braves for “a long time.”

Teheran is indeed slated to stay in Atlanta for the foreseeable future, having agreed to a pact in 2014 that could keep him there through the 2020 season. That team-friendly contract is undoubtedly a significant part of Teheran’s allure to the Braves and the rest of the league. Teheran’s run prevention (3.37 ERA in 701 2/3 innings) and durability (three straight 30-start seasons) only add to his appeal. Skeptics would point to his less shiny ERA estimators (3.88 FIP, 3.94 xFIP and 3.86 SIERA), mediocre 2015 campaign, this year’s velocity drop and the fact that he has been prone to hard contact as reasons for concern, however.

Julio Teheran

From a contractual standpoint, Teheran is currently on a relatively meager $3.3MM salary and has a chance to rake in another $37.3MM, including a $12MM club option, over the final four years of his deal. Teheran, therefore, doesn’t need to be particularly dominant to live up to the contract. Thanks to his strong start this season (68 1/3 innings with a 2.77 ERA, 8.17 K/9 and 2.63 BB/9), FanGraphs already values Teheran’s 2016 contributions at $8.4MM. And thanks to both Teheran’s first two months and the weak-looking class of upcoming free agent starters, now might be an opportune time for the Braves to at least consider moving him.

In order for the Braves to actually sell Teheran, Coppolella told Rosenthal he would need a major league hitter of comparable age and quality in return. The problem, if you want to call it that, is such a trade could be a pipe dream for Atlanta. For one, pitchers are more susceptible to injuries than position players, so teams might not be willing to take the risk. Secondly, contending clubs with their eyes on Teheran would be creating a hole just to patch another if they were to swap a hitter for him.

The Red Sox, Dodgers, Tigers and Marlins are among playoff hopefuls who could explore the summer market for starters, and their similar-to-Teheran position players include third baseman Travis Shaw, outfielder Yasiel Puig, third bagger Nick Castellanos and center fielder Marcell Ozuna. It’s doubtful, however, that any of them will be on the move.

Shaw has done nothing but produce since debuting in the majors last season, and he appears primed to man the hot corner in Boston until at least the beginning of the distant Rafael Devers era. Puig has unexpectedly performed like merely an average player since last season, but the Dodgers still seem to need him more than they need another starter. Castellanos has been one of the majors’ top hitters this year, and the Tigers don’t have a replacement for him at the big league level – nor do they have imminent help coming from their farm system. Ozuna has not only been the Marlins’ most valuable outfielder this year (no small feat with Giancarlo Stanton and Christian Yelich alongside him), but he’s also their best defensive option in center.

The Red Sox were willing to move 24-year-old catcher/outfielder Blake Swihart for a No. 2-type starter as of last month, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe reported, but Swihart alone isn’t definitively worth Teheran. The Braves were at least enamored of Cubs outfielder Jorge Soler in the past, Gordon Wittenmeyer of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote in October, though Chicago subsequently added John Lackey in free agency. With Lackey complementing Jake Arrieta, Jon Lester, Kyle Hendricks and Jason Hammel, the Cubs have arguably the most well-rounded rotation in the league from one to five (though they’re still reportedly seeking depth). Further, they probably aren’t keen on the idea of parting with outfield depth in the wake of Kyle Schwarber’s season-ending injury. There’s also the fact that Soler has underwhelmed since bursting on the scene in 2014 with a fantastic 24-game showing.

With no clear fit mentioned above, it’s fair to wonder what the prospect cutoff is for the John Hart- and Coppolella-led Braves. Would the team really scoff at sending Teheran to, say, the pitching-needy Rangers in a package for one of their excellent 22-year-old prospects, power-hitting, cannon-armed third baseman Joey Gallo or outfielder Lewis Brinson? The Pirates also have rotation issues — granted, they have in-house reinforcements on the way in Jameson Taillon, Tyler Glasnow and perhaps Chad Kuhl — and their stellar outfield trio of Andrew McCutchen, Starling Marte and Gregory Polanco looks primed to block the big league path of 21-year-old Austin Meadows. Even if the Braves were receptive to sending away Teheran in a package for any of those players, there’s obviously no guarantee the youngsters’ current organizations would be open to it. All three entered the season among Baseball America’s top 25 prospects, after all (Gallo 10th, Brinson 16th and Meadows 22nd), to cite one reputable outlet’s list.

If it truly takes an overwhelming haul for Atlanta to deal Teheran, then it’s fair to expect he won’t follow Shelby Miller out of town. The Diamondbacks drew almost universal criticism from the moment they traded Dansby Swanson, Ender Inciarte and Aaron Blair for Miller during the winter, and that deal has so far blown up in Arizona’s face. The Braves are highly unlikely to net a comparable package for Teheran – nor will it be easy to land an accomplished, in-his-prime big league hitter in return – so he’s a good bet to continue in Atlanta if Coppolella’s public statements are how he actually feels. Of course, given Teheran’s age, performance and contract, the Braves’ backs aren’t against the wall in this case. Barring injury, simply keeping him wouldn’t qualify as a disastrous decision, and Coppolella appears content to do just that.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

NL Notes: Turner, Giants OF, Mets 3B, Peralta, Wong, Jenkins

By | at

Nationals infielder Trea Turner had an impressive season debut today, but the plan is for him to return to Triple-A once Ryan Zimmerman is back from paternity leave, manager Dusty Baker told reporters including MLB.com’s Jamal Collier (Twitter link). That’s not to say that he won’t play a more significant role later in the year, of course. Danny Espinosa and Stephen Drew have been solid defensively but have combined for an anemic 65 wRC+ on the year.

Here’s more from the National League:

  • With the news that Hunter Pence will miss two months or more, the Giants are facing some uncertainty in the corner outfield. While the organization sees some “attractive options externally,” GM Bobby Evans tells Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter), it has no intentions of plunking down a high price for a temporary fill-in (let alone a long-term piece).
  • The Mets’ plans at third base appear to be somewhat up in the air with David Wright out of action. Per MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo, via Twitter, the club will “explore” the market for trade candidates, but is also glad to give Wilmer Flores the majority of the time at present. New York could find some options via trade, as MLBTR’s Steve Adams explained earlier today, but it’s fair to wonder whether any of the presently-available players would represent an upgrade over Flores.
  • Cadinals GM John Mozeliak says that Jhonny Peralta will take over primary duties at third base when he returns in the coming days, Luke Schnake of 101ESPN reports. The club will keep breakout rookie Aledmys Diaz at short while shifting veteran Matt Carpenter to second. That raises yet more questions about the struggling Kolten Wong. While Mozeliak wouldn’t say whether he could be optioned to Triple-A, he did note that “overall this game is about performance” while adding that “everything has to be on the table when considering how to improve.”
  • Braves right-handed pitching prospect Tyrell Jenkins will move to the bullpen at Triple-A Gwinnett, as David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Manager Brian Snitker says the decision was made to “get him a different look,” not out of any displeasure with his work in the rotation. Jenkins, who came to Atlanta along with Shelby Miller in exchange for Jason Heyward and Jordan Walden, has worked to a 2.97 ERA with 6.2 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 over 57 2/3 innings on the year.

Minor MLB Transactions: 6/3/16

By | at

Here are the most notable minor transactions from the past day…

  • Southpaw Andy Oliver has opted out of his contract with the Orioles, as Rich Dubroff of CSNmidatlantic.com tweets. The 28-year-old has received seven major league starts, all coming in 2010-11 with the Tigers. Over 34 2/3 frames at Triple-A Norfolk this year, Oliver had worked to a 2.08 ERA with 8.8 K/9 against 2.6 BB/9. That represents a big step forward for the former top prospect, who has issued 5.7 free passes per nine innings over his seven seasons in the minors.
  • The Braves have acquired left-hander Jed Bradley from the Brewers in exchange for a player to be named later or cash considerations, the Brewers announced. Bradley, soon to turn 26, was the 15th overall pick in the 2011 draft but has never seen his career take off in the minors. He posted a 5.83 ERA between Double-A and Triple-A in 2015 and has struggled to a 6.20 ERA in 24 2/3 innings of work at the Double-A level this season. The Georgia Tech product was one of the game’s top 100 prospects heading into the 2012 season (per Baseball America and MLB.com), but it’s been quite some time since he’s been held in high regard as a prospect.
  • The Twins inked outfielder Logan Schafer to a minor league contract, per MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger (on Twitter). Schafer, not to be confused with former Twins outfielder Jordan Schafer (no relation), has spent his entire career prior to this season in the Brewers organization. He’s a lifetime .281/.338/.431 hitter in 277 games at the Triple-A level, but he’s struggled to a .212/.286/.319 batting line in 646 big league plate appearances. The 29-year-old recently took to the independent circuit after being cut loose by the Nationals in Spring Training and enjoyed a successful 17-game stint with the Atlantic League’s Lancaster BarnStormers. He’s already reported to Triple-A Rochester and will provide Minnesota with some organizational depth in the outfield, where he can play all three positions.
  • Right-hander Deolis Guerra was outrighted to Triple-A Salt Lake by the Angels after clearing waivers, according to Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com (on Twitter).  The 27-year-old Guerra yielded four runs in 5 1/3 innings of relief for the Halos before being designated for assignment. Guerra doesn’t have much of a track record in the Majors, but he’s been dominant at the Triple-A level from 2015-16 between the Halos and Pirates, pitching to a 1.08 ERA in 41 2/3 innings of relief.
  • Veteran left-hander Brian Duensing’s contract was selected by the Orioles yesterday, and he made his Baltimore debut last night, though the two runs he surrendered in an inning of work probably weren’t how he’d hoped to make his first impression. Duensing, 33, posted a 3.84 ERA in 190 innings of relief from 2013-15 with the Twins upon being moved to the bullpen on a full-time basis, but his strikeout rate fell off a cliff in his final season with Minnesota. He signed a minor league deal with Kansas City this winter but opted out of the deal after a strong showing with their Triple-A affiliate and quickly signed with Baltimore. With Brian Matusz out of the picture, Duensing could have a chance to lock down a spot as a lefty specialist in the Baltimore ’pen.
  • The Phillies have released southpaw Bobby LaFromboise, tweets SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo. The 29-year-old had been pitching for Philadelphia’s Triple-A affiliate but limped to a 5.94 ERA in 16 2/3 innings of work there. That’s a noted departure from LaFromboise’s typically excellent work at the Triple-A level, and it’s worth noting that he’s pitched well in limited Major League action over the past two seasons with the Pirates, yielding just two runs on eight hits and a walk with a dozen strikeouts in a combined 11 2/3 innings of work.

Heyman’s Latest: Harper/Machado, Braves, Shields, Odor

By | at

Bryce Harper of the Nationals and Manny Machado of the Orioles are young, controlled superstars who look like highly appealing extension targets. Of course, that also makes them incredibly expensive potential candidates for their respective teams, as Jon Heyman explains at todaysknuckleball.com. According to Heyman, there’s some suggestion that it could take more than $500MM over an unprecedented term to keep Harper from heading to the open market after the 2018 season. “We have not to this point had any substantive negotiations about a long-term deal,” Nats GM Mike Rizzo said with regard to Harper. Rizzo did suggest that the team has serious interest in doing so, however. “They know what our intentions are,” he said. “My intention is always to get him on a long-term deal that will make him a National for life. At a very young age he performed admirably, not only admirably, but the year he had was historic. It’s going to be a unique deal. We have a very unique player.” 

As for Machado, he might not be far behind in value if the O’s hope to reach a deal. Intriguingly, the report suggests that Baltimore very nearly agreed to a seven-year contract with its best player at some point in recent years. That would have certainly proved a bargain given Machado’s increasingly outstanding performance, though the terms of the prospective pact are not known. (Neither is it clear what caused negotiations to fall apart.)

Here’s more from Heyman:

  • “A few teams” have checked in with the Braves on Nick Markakis, Heyman writes, but his recent skid at the plate hasn’t helped out his trade value much. Kelly Johnson, too, could become available, though Heyman adds that GM John Coppolella said of Julio Teheran that he expects the right-hander “to be on the team a long time.” From my vantage point, Markakis doesn’t have much value at $11MM per season and with apparently evaporated power. Even if the Braves were to pay down half of his remaining salary through the 2018 season, he hasn’t been productive enough to bring in a meaningful prospect return.
  • The Orioles talked to the Padres about James Shields in Spring Training but weren’t willing to cover even half of the salary owed to Shields at the time. Shields has two years and $44MM remaining on his contract following the 2016 season (if he doesn’t opt out), and he’s earning $21MM this season as well. Shields has grabbed headlines recently, having been prominently featured in trade rumors over the weekend and then suffering a 10-run meltdown earlier this week, which the team’s executive chairman publicly referred to as “an embarrassment.”
  • The Red Sox, too, have considered Shields but are waiting to see how Eduardo Rodriguez performs upon returning from the disabled list (so far, so good). The White Sox, meanwhile, would want the Padres to pay down a significant portion of the $57MM that remains on Shields’ contract (again, barring an opt out). Heyman writes that a source indicated that shortstop prospect Tim Anderson wouldn’t be involved in talks, though that doesn’t strike me as a surprising revelation; even with half of his contract paid down, that would seem like an overpay on Chicago’s behalf. On a somewhat similar vein, Heyman adds that the Padres approached the Tigers about Shields, but Detroit had no interest in parting with any of Michael Fulmer, Daniel Norris or Matt Boyd in a potential deal.
  • Shortly after the Rockies acquired Jose Reyes, the Yankees were willing to part with shortstop prospect Jorge Mateo and pay half of the $22MM that is owed to Reyes annually through the 2017 season, Heyman hears.
  • The jobs of Tigers manager Brad Ausmus and Twins manager Paul Molitor are safe, Heyman writes, though he adds that Detroit GM Al Avila has privately told Ausmus to stop discussing his job security (or lack thereof) with the media, as the situation doesn’t need any extra fuel.
  • Greg Holland could take the mound in August, per Heyman, and he may wait until that point before deciding on a team. Both the Royals and Braves have shown interest to this point, he adds.
  • The Athletics “may be a favorite” for Cuban second baseman Jose Miguel Fernandez, writes Heyman, who also notes that incumbent second baseman Jed Lowrie could help a number of clubs on the trade market. The Padres, too, are said to be considering Fernandez, he adds.
  • Rougned Odor’s agent and Rangers GM Jon Daniels recently rekindled extension talks, and Heyman notes that the team heaped praise onto Odor during his appeal hearing during which his suspension for punching Jose Bautista was dropped from eight games to seven games. His suspension has also given Jurickson Profar a chance to play, and Heyman writes that the former top prospect could be a trade candidate now that he’s healthy. Sticking with the Rangers, Heyman adds that the Phillies lobbied hard for Texas to include Nomar Mazara in last year’s Cole Hamels blockbuster, but Daniels refused to give him up.
  • The Nationals talked with the D-backs in the offseason about Gio Gonzalez, but Arizona wouldn’t part with Ender Inciarte or David Peralta in the prospective trade. Heyman writes that the Nats spoke to a few teams about Gonzalez, including the Marlins. However, Miami wasn’t keen on surrendering Christian Yelich.
Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top