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Red Sox, White Sox Building Momentum Toward Chris Sale Trade

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The Red Sox have “built momentum” toward a deal to acquire ace Chris Sale from the White Sox, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). Rosenthal had just tweeted that Boston was still “strongly” in the mix for Sale prior to the newer report. Rosenthal further tweets that the Nationals aren’t totally out on Sale, but the Red Sox have become a stronger possibility.

That seemingly signifies that something has changed since last night, when Rosenthal reported that the Nationals had a “legitimate chance” at finalizing a Sale deal. Indeed, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe tweets that he’s been hearing since the middle of the night that Boston may be upping its aggression in order to get a Sale trade across the line.

FanRag’s Jon Heyman tweets that Chicago asked Boston for Andrew Benintendi, but Boston strongly prefers to keep him. Chicago does like Jackie Bradley as well as a number of other young Boston pieces, though Bradley comes with four years of club control as opposed to Benintendi’s six.

Nationals, White Sox Have “Legitimate Chance” At Finalizing Chris Sale Trade

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8:59pm: The White Sox are still discussing Sale with other teams apart from Washington and a deal with anyone isn’t expected tonight, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets.  An executive on another Sale suitor believes that the Nationals have an 80-20 shot of acquiring the southpaw, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports (Twitter link), while FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman writes that “The Nationals have a clear lead over other teams” in the hunt for Sale’s services.

8:28pm: The White Sox and Nationals continue to be in talks about ace lefty Chris Sale, with FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reporting (Twitter link) that there is a “legitimate chance” of a deal between the two sides.  Talks appear to be rather advanced, as Rosenthal says the two sides have the “final pieces” to be worked out.  The trade would involve top Nats prospects Lucas Giolito and Victor Robles as part of the return package headed to Chicago.

Giolito’s name was reportedly included in talks between the two sides earlier today, and while the Nats heavily value both he and Robles (D.C. turned down sending both to Pittsburgh for Andrew McCutchen), Washington’s willingness to include its two best non-Trea Turner trade chips is likely what has attracted Chicago’s attention.

Chris Sale Rumors: Monday

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Chris Sale’s name figures to dominate headlines in the coming days as baseball’s Winter Meetings pick up steam. We’ll track all of today’s updates on his market in this post…

  • The White Sox continue to put a high price on Sale’s services, and teams in the hunt for the lefty tell ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark (Twitter link) that they don’t expect a deal to be completed at the Winter Meetings.
  • Some in the White Sox organization feel Sale will eventually break down with injuries, ESPN’s Buster Olney reports (subscription required), which could be part of the reason why rival executives and evaluators feel the Sox are more ardently pursuing a deal now than they were at the July trade deadline.  Questions about Sale’s mechanics have plagued the lefty even since before he was drafted, though he has been generally healthy throughout his big league career.

Earlier updates

  • The Nationals are stepping up their efforts to acquire Sale from the White Sox, tweets FanRag’s Jon Heyman. The Nats and White Sox are meeting this afternoon to discuss Sale according to Heyman, who also notes that the Red Sox and other teams are also still in the mix for Sale. Washington reportedly believes it has the prospects to add both Sale and Andrew McCutchen in a trade, though doing so would obviously come with a lofty asking price that would require GM Mike Rizzo to part with a significant portion of his farm system (and likely some MLB-ready talent as well). Trea Turner is reportedly off limits in trade talks, though the Nats have plenty of other young talent to entice other clubs.
  • Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweeted this morning that rival execs get the sense that the Nationals and Astros are the most aggressive teams on the Sale market, and the Braves are in the picture as well. As is the case with the Nats and Turner, the Astros (Alex Bregman) and Braves (Dansby Swanson) each have a young core player whom they effectively deem to be untouchable in trade talks, even for someone of Sale’s caliber.

Nationals Notes: Harper, Kiermaier, McCutchen, Giolito, Wieters

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There’s a sense within the Nationals organization that it may not be possible to reach agreement with outfielder Bryce Harper on a long-term deal to keep him from reaching free agency after the 2018 season, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today.  A team source says that the club believes Harper is looking for a deal in excess of ten years and $400M — though it does not appear he has actually made such a specific request.  That level of contract would apparently be a non-starter for the team, which is perhaps not surprising after Harper failed to repeat his outstanding 2015 campaign.  Despite the chatter on the polarizing star, agent Scott Boras says that he has yet to discuss a long- term arrangement with the Nationals, per Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter).  Nats GM Mike Rizzo declined to comment on the subject, as Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post tweets.  Whatever situation may or may not exist involving a Harper extension, Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports reports that Harper isn’t the subject of any active trade talks.

Some more news out of Washington…

  • Also from Nightengale’s piece, he reports that the Nationals asked the Rays about Kevin Kiermaier but “consider the asking price exorbitant.”  Arguably the game’s best defensive player, Kiermaier has generated 13.1 fWAR over the last three seasons and is under team control through 2020, so it is very understandable that Tampa wants a huge return for Kiermaier’s services.
  • Both Nightengale and FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman report that the Nats are willing to discuss prized righty Lucas Giolito, with Heyman noting that Giolito’s name has surfaced in talks with the White Sox about Chris Sale.  If D.C. is unwilling to part with either Trea Turner or Victor Robles, one would think that Giolito would almost have to be involved in a potential Sale trade, as Chicago surely wouldn’t part with its ace without landing at least one blue-chip youngster.
  • The Nats have found the Pirates’ asking price on Andrew McCutchen to be too high, Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets.  This doesn’t necessarily close the door on a McCutchen trade, though Sherman writes that the Nationals are reportedly more focused on other options, including a deal for Sale.
  • Despite some rumors to the contrary, the Nationals aren’t planning to flip catcher Derek Norris and then pursue Matt Wieters, Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post reports.

Nationals Attempting To Acquire Both Chris Sale, Andrew McCutchen

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7:22am: The Nationals regard Robles as an integral long-term piece and are unwilling to trade him for McCutchen, writes Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post. A deal could still happen in spite of that, Janes notes. Further, contrary to an earlier report, the Nats never planned to non-tender Espinosa.

12:02am: The Nationals have been linked to a pair of potential blockbuster deals with the White Sox for ace lefty Chris Sale and the Pirates for former NL MVP Andrew McCutchen, though apparently in the Nats’ view, the possible trades aren’t an either/or proposition.  Washington think they have enough prospect depth to manage both trades, according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (Twitter link), and are trying to work out deals with Chicago and Pittsburgh.

While the Nationals have been no strangers to big moves over the years, landing Sale and McCutchen would be quite a coup for GM Mike Rizzo.  Doing so without trading Trea Turner (who the Nats have already balked at including in a Sale deal) would be more impressive, though Washington has several other strong young talents both in the minors and on the big league roster.

Lucas Giolito, Victor Robles, Reynaldo Lopez and Erick Fedde are each ranked within MLB.com’s top 100 prospects in all of baseball, while less-heralded but still notable youngsters like Dane Dunning, Carter Kieboom or Austin Voth would also draw trade interest.  There’s also A.J. Cole, a former top 100 prospect who hasn’t shown much in limited big league action, or perhaps hard-throwing reliever Trevor Gott.  Looking to the big league roster, McCutchen’s acquisition would push Turner back to shortstop and make Danny Espinosa expendable, while the Nats could also deal from the back end of the rotation and try to move Gio Gonzalez or a younger arm in Joe Ross.

There’s no shortage of interesting names in the Nationals organization to speculate about as trade chips, though it would seemingly take several of them to land both Sale and McCutchen.  (In fact, it’ll take several just to pry Sale out of Chicago given how the White Sox have a huge asking price on their ace.)  McCutchen’s price is lower due to his rough 2016 season, though the Pirates still want premium young talent in return.

Even if one or both of these trades don’t work out, anything seems on the table for the Nats at this point, given how they’ve also been linked to free agents like Dexter Fowler, Ian Desmond, Carlos Gomez and Mark Melancon.  Signing a free agent might be preferable than dealing away multiple young players, though at a greater financial cost than one guaranteed year for McCutchen and Sale’s team-friendly contract.

NL East Rumors: Mets, Orioles, Chapman, Ross, Coppolella

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The Mets offered one of Curtis Granderson or Jay Bruce to the Orioles in exchange for “a high-end reliever,” ESPN.com’s Adam Rubin reports, though talks didn’t go anywhere.  Based on that description, one would think the Mets were asking about Brad Brach, Mychal Givens or maybe even ace closer Zach Britton.  While the O’s are indeed looking for right field help, it’s understandable why they didn’t accept that offer.  Here’s more from around the NL East…

  • The Marlins will make a strong push for Aroldis Chapman, MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro reports (Twitter links).  Miami is also looking at Kenley Jansen (and is thought to be willing to make him a very big offer), though the team would prefer to keep the 14th overall pick in next year’s draft, whereas Chapman can be signed without draft compensation.  The Marlins are open to a number of bullpen options, though they’re prioritizing signing a reliever over trading for relief help.
  • Some in the Nationals organization question Joe Ross’ toughness, MASNsports.com’s Pete Kerzel writes, due to the amount of recovery time Ross needed to return from a shoulder injury last year.  Ross was posting strong numbers in the Nats rotation before inflammation in his throwing shoulder sidelined him from July 2 to September 18.  Ross also has his supporters in the front office and in general, the Nationals don’t want to trade him, though he is one of several potential trade chips who could be included as part of a package for one of Washington’s multiple high-end trade targets.
  • The Braves have been linked to the likes of Chris Sale and Chris Archer in trade rumors, though while GM John Coppolella admits to David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that “we want to add an ace,” this desire is “a want, not a need. So if a great opportunity comes along, we’ll be ready to strike. But we don’t need to force the issue.”  O’Brien speculates that Sale might be the only pitcher the Braves would be willing to give up a package of young players and prospects to land.  Atlanta has already bolstered its rotation by adding Jaime Garcia, Bartolo Colon and R.A. Dickey this winter, and the team is also looking to add another veteran on a minor league deal to compete with Mike Foltynewicz, Josh Collmenter and others for the fifth spot.
  • In other division news from earlier today on MLBTR, the Phillies are close to a deal with Joaquin Benoit and we collected more items from Citi Field in an edition of Mets Notes.

Latest On Chris Sale’s Trade Market

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5:45pm: Rangers GM Jon Daniels told reporters (including Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram) that his team isn’t looking at the trades like the blockbuster that brought Cole Hamels to Texas in 2015, which would seem to confirm that the Rangers indeed aren’t in on Sale right now.

SUNDAY, 1:40pm: Mark Bowman of MLB.com joins Heyman in reporting that the Braves aren’t willing to give up Swanson, whom the White Sox covet. Discussions between the two teams aren’t leading anywhere as a result (Twitter link). While it won’t surrender Swanson, Atlanta would consider parting with Albies, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post (via Twitter).

10:51am: The Braves have deemed Swanson untouchable in trade talks, while the Nationals have likely done the same with shortstop/center fielder Trea Turner, reports Heyman.

SATURDAY: The Braves have already added three starting pitchers in Bartolo Colon, R.A. Dickey and Jaime Garcia early this offseason, and they’re now trying to swing a trade with the White Sox for ace Chris Sale, according to Fanrag’s Jon Heyman. However, there’s competition in the form of the Astros, Nationals, Red Sox, Rangers and Dodgers, writes Heyman, who notes that Los Angeles is lagging behind because it’s hesitant to deal any of its top prospects.

The Dodgers are more focused on bolstering their rotation through free agency than trades, tweets FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal, which aligns with a report from earlier Saturday that they have a deal in place to re-sign left-hander Rich Hill. Contrary to Heyman, Rosenthal relays that the Astros and Rangers are out on Sale at the White Sox’s current asking price. And while the Red Sox are involved, they’re also reluctant to meet Chicago’s demands (Twitter link).

After agreeing to sign outfielder/designated hitter Carlos Beltran on Saturday, Astros owner Jim Crane told Mark Berman of FOX 26 that the team will go into the winter meetings seeking pitching, but it’s unlikely to make any “big moves” (Twitter link). That would seem to rule out a Sale acquisition for Houston.

Based on reports from Heyman and Rosenthal, both the Braves and National League East rival Nats – who are continuing their discussions with the Pirates regarding center fielder Andrew McCutchen, per Rosenthal – are among the front-runners for Sale.

It’s unlikely the Braves would include prized young shortstop Dansby Swanson in a trade, Heyman suggests, but the belief is that they have the pieces to make a deal happen. Atlanta has major league trade chips in center fielder Ender Inciarte and right-hander Mike Foltynewicz, not to mention a well-regarded prospect pool that features the likes of middle infielder Ozzie Albies, southpaws Sean Newcomb and Kolby Allard, and righties Mike Soroka and Touki Toussaint. Baseball America included all five of those players in its Midseason Top 100 prospects list.

Market Rumblings: Cutch, Nats, Melancon, Giants, Martinez, Bruce, Rangers, Chapman, Holland

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While much of the trade chatter on Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen has focused on the Nationals, the Dodgers are also a plausible suitor, per ESPN.com’s Buster Olney. There’s interest from Los Angeles in the 30-year-old, not least of which because he’s controllable at a fairly reasonable salary and doesn’t come with a lengthy commitment.

  • Despite the ongoing interest in McCutchen, the Nationals are also looking into other outfielders, Jon Heyman of Fan Rag reports. Among the free agent center fielders who have at least come up internally are Dexter Fowler, Carlos Gomez and former Nats shortstop Ian Desmond. The organization has also given some thought to Adam Eaton of the White Sox. That’s doubly interesting given that the Nats are reportedly still engaged on star Chicago southpaw Chris Sale.
  • While the Nationals are trying to work out arrangements to land McCutchen (or an alternative) and/or Sale, they remain in on closer Mark Melancon, per ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick (Twitter links). Melancon’s market is moving along well, says Crasnick, with expectations that he could land as much as $60MM over a four-year term. While Washington is clearly intrigued at a reunion, Crasnick adds that the Giants remain engaged and may even be better-situated for a strike on Melancon given that the Nats’ attention may lie elsewhere.
  • That being said, the Giants are also looking to add a power bat in the outfield, and they have continued to consider Tigers slugger J.D. Martinez, according to Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). That interest has been known for some time, but it seems there’s still life to the possibility. Notably, GM Bobby Evans has signaled that San Francisco does not wish to take on a long-term obligation in the outfield, as Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets. The same rationale that makes Martinez appealing — his one year of team control — could also make Mets outfielder Jay Bruce a possibility, Schulman notes.
  • Another team in the outfield market is the Rangers, who hope to add a center fielder as well as another starter. GM Jon Daniels says that he’s currently paying more attention to the trade market than to free agency, as T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com tweets. Texas is drawing hits on relief pitching, Daniels added.
  • The Yankees have their eye on four possibilities for a big bat, per Heyman (via Twitter): Edwin Encarnacion, Matt Holliday, Mike Napoli, and Carlos Beltran. Most of those free agents have been connected to New York in some form already, though Holliday has not been mentioned with much specificity. Of note, beyond the interest of the Yankees, is that Holliday is apparently looking for a two-year deal, while Beltran appears to be available for a single-season commitment.
  • High-octane lefty Aroldis Chapman remains in excellent position to land a big new deal, but Heyman tweets that he’s not necessarily hunting for a nine-figure contract. While the bargaining could presumably still push the price tag toward (if not past) the $100MM mark, that’s not a “demand” of the free agent, per the report.
  • As the Pirates weigh a number of pursuits, the organization remains engaged with lefty Derek Holland, Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports on Twitter. Bucs GM Neal Huntington is set to meet with Holland’s reps at the Winter Meetings early next week.

Trade Rumblings: Braves, Wilson, Martinez, Carter

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The Braves are still looking at trading for an ace even after adding Bartolo Colon, R.A. Dickey and Jaime Garcia to their rotation this winter and are specifically focused on White Sox lefty Chris Sale and Rays right-hander Chris Archer, per ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick (all Twitter links). The Braves prefer Sale to Archer despite the potentially higher asking price and shorter amount of club control remaining on his contract, Crasnick adds. Atlanta is receiving quite a bit of interest in top prospect Ozzie Albies (in general and not specifically from the White Sox or Rays), Crasnick adds, but they’re expressing a good deal of reluctance to part with him. The Braves don’t seem especially enamored of Athletics right-hander Sonny Gray on the heels of a down season in 2016, according to Crasnick.

Some more trade chatter from around the league…

  • The Tigers have been receiving plenty of calls about their veterans as they look to get younger and cut some payroll this winter, but MLB Network’s Jon Morosi tweets one name that has been drawing considerable interest without generating many headlines: lefty reliever Justin Wilson. Per Morosi, Detroit has “perhaps the largest number of inquiries” on Wilson as teams look to bolster their left-handed relief corps. The arbitration-eligible Wilson is projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to earn just $2.7MM next season, so he wouldn’t trim much payroll of the Tigers’ books. But, he could certainly fetch a nice prospect or two, allowing the Tigers to get a bit younger in the process. Wilson, 29, posted excellent peripherals that suggest his marginal 4.14 ERA will improve in 2017 and beyond (10.0 K/9, 2.6 BB/9, 54.9 percent ground-ball rate, 3.02 SIERA).
  • Morosi also tweets that the Phillies are seeking a short-term outfield bat and have inquired with the Tigers about J.D. Martinez, but talks didn’t advance much, he notes. Martinez has been one of the most talked-about trade candidates of the offseason and seems to have a decent chance of landing elsewhere this winter, but the asking price on him is apparently quite high at the moment. Newsday’s Marc Carig reported yesterday that Michael Conforto’s name came up in talks with the Mets before New York re-signed Yoenis Cespedes. (Unsurprisingly, talks died quickly once Detroit mentioned Conforto, per Carig.)
  • The Brewers are trying to trade recently-designated-for-assignment slugger Chris Carter before tonight’s 8pm ET non-tender deadline tweets Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports. The Orioles, who just claimed a player with a potentially similar skill set in Adam Walker, aren’t likely to make a play for Carter, per Heyman (whose tweet came prior to the Walker claim). Carter’s current scenario is somewhat reminiscent of last year’s Mark Trumbo situation, as he’s a player with prodigious power that the league isn’t valuing at his arbitration number due to defensive concerns, high strikeout tendencies and a questionable on-base percentage. The Mariners were able to get a nominal return for Trumbo rather than non-tendering him, but MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy tweets that Milwaukee shopped Carter around for a month before designating him, so it seems unlikely that a trade will materialize in the next six hours.

Heyman’s Latest: Sale, Encarnacion, Astros, Martinez, Mets, Yankees, CarGo

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The Nationals, Astros, Red Sox, Rangers and Braves are at the forefront of the Chris Sale market, reports FanRag’s Jon Heyman in his latest notes column. However, an exec with one of those clubs that spoke to Heyman still said he’s not sure that Sale is moved at all due to the exorbitant nature of the White Sox’ asking price. The Nationals, for instance, have been asked for Trea Turner as part of the package but have balked at the idea, Heyman notes, with one Washington source calling the budding star “too valuable” to part with. It’s similarly difficult to envision a player like Alex Bregman or Dansby Swanson being moved for Sale as well. The White Sox do like Dodgers prospect Cody Bellinger, writes Heyman, but L.A. has yet to show a significant inclination to pursue Sale, he adds. (And, from my vantage point, the Dodgers would need to add quite a bit more than Bellinger to a Sale package anyhow.)

A few more highlights…

  • The Yankees, Astros and Blue Jays all remain in the mix for Edwin Encarnacion, but Heyman joins others in writing that Twitter reports of a deal between Houston and Encarnacion were premature. The Astros are being aggressive on Encarnacion, according to Heyman, though agent Paul Kinzer told him that there are “a couple” of other teams in the mix beyond this group as well. Perhaps signaling their desire to add an impact bat, the Astros made a legitimate run at Yoenis Cespedes both this offseason and last winter, Heyman adds, noting that last winter’s pursuit flew largely under the radar.
  • One general manager who has spoken to the Tigers about a J.D. Martinez trade tells Heyman that he believes Martinez is “all but certain” to be traded. Detroit, Heyman points out, is now the somewhat surprising MLB payroll leader with several Dodgers hitting free agency and with the Yankees trading Brian McCann.
  • The Mets would like to add not one but two left-handed relievers to their bullpen, Heyman writes. They’re interested in a reunion with southpaw Jerry Blevins, who spent the past two seasons in the organization, but other reports have indicated that Blevins is likely to receive a multi-year deal that will exceed the Mets’ comfort zone. The Mets might also consider adding catching help, though that’s not characterized as a priority in this report, which also notes that the team considers Michael Conforto to be close to untouchable in trade talks.
  • The Yankees have spoken to other teams about third baseman Chase Headley and outfielder Brett Gardner but received minimal interest in that pair. Headley has $26MM in guaranteed money remaining on his deal and quietly rebounded from a disastrous start to post a solid overall season in the Bronx last year, while Gardner is owed a similar $25MM through 2018 and also has a club option for the 2019 season on his deal. Gardner would seem to have more trade value to me, and perhaps teams would show more interest later in the winter once some of the free-agent options in the outfield have come off the board.
  • There’s been no formal extension offer made by the Rockies to Carlos Gonzalez, who said last week that the team has expressed interest in an extension. According to Heyman, that could be due to the fact that initial suggestions were deemed “too low” by Gonzalez’s camp to even merit an official offer. CarGo is just one year away from free agency and could be an appealing trade piece for the Rox this summer if the team doesn’t contend in 2017.

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