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Blue Jays Acquire Mitch White From Dodgers

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The Blue Jays and Dodgers have agreed to a trade sending righty Mitch White from Los Angeles to Toronto in exchange for minor league pitchers, tweets FanSided’s Robert Murray. The teams have since announced the trade, with White and minor league infielder Alex De Jesus headed to Toronto in exchange for minor league righty Nick Frasso and minor league lefty Moises Brito.

White, 27, has been an up-and-down member of the Dodgers’ staff for the past couple seasons, generally pitching well when with the big league club but never getting a consistent, long-term spot in the rotation or in the bullpen. He’s logged 38 games, 14 of them starts, from 2020-22 and recorded a sturdy 3.58 ERA with a 22% strikeout rate, 8.3% walk rate and a 42.8% ground-ball rate in 105 2/3 innings.

A second-round pick back in 2016, White had a hiccup in his first run at the Triple-A level in 2019 but has generally fared well both there (six earned runs in 43 2/3 innings) and in the Majors over the past two seasons. White is in his final minor league option season, so he’ll need to stick on the Jays’ roster in 2023 and beyond. He’ll presumably be a back-of-the-rotation candidate, though he could also emerge in a role held by fellow Dodger-turned-Blue-Jay Ross Stripling, serving as a long man and spot starter. (Stripling, of course, has since moved into the Toronto rotation.)

The 20-year-old De Jesus, meanwhile, ranked 18th among Dodger farmhands on Baseball America’s midseason update, drawing praise for his plus arm, above-average power and a potentially average hit tool. De Jesus has split the 2022 season between Class-A and Class-A Advanced, hitting at a combined .272/.386/.447 clip with 11 homers, 20 doubles and three triples. He’s sporting an unsightly 28.6% strikeout rate but also an encouraging 14.9% walk rate.

Frasso, a fourth-rounder in 2020, was the Jays’ No. 13 prospect on Baseball America’s summer rankings. He boasts an outstanding 0.74 ERA with a 41.6% strikeout rate and 7.3% walk rate in 36 2/3 innings split across two Class-A levels. The former Loyola Marymount right-hander has primarily faced younger competition thus far, so he’s not yet tested against more advanced hitters, but it’s an impressive stat line nevertheless. Frasso had Tommy John surgery in 2021 and has thusly had his workloads limited in his return effort, but the 6’5″ righty has reached triple digits with his heater and gives the Dodgers a power arm to dream on.

There’s little in the way of public info on Brito, a 20-year-old righty who’s just 12 games into his first professional season. He’s slightly older than his average competition in the Dominican Summer League, but his 1.86 ERA and gaudy 32-to-1 K/BB ratio through 29 innings of work stand out.

Mariners To Acquire Jake Lamb

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The Mariners are acquiring Jake Lamb from the Dodgers for cash considerations, tweets Robert Murray of FanSided.

Lamb, 31, signed a minor league deal with the Dodgers in March and had his contract selected in late June.  Much of his brief time with the Dodgers has been spent at designated hitter, but Lamb in left field and at first base for the club.  He’s primarily served as a third baseman in his nine-year career.  Lamb’s 2017 season was a highlight, as he hit 30 home runs and made the All-Star team as a member of the Diamondbacks.  A left-handed hitter, Lamb has struggled against southpaws in his career, though he’s shown a reverse platoon split in more recent years.  He’s hit well with a 121 wRC+ in his brief 77 big league plate appearances this year.

Lamb, a native of Seattle, may have become expendable for the Dodgers upon today’s acquisition of a more accomplished lefty bat, Joey Gallo.  Lamb can complement right-handed hitters for the Mariners, including Eugenio Suarez, Kyle Lewis, and Ty France.

Dodgers Acquire Joey Gallo

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3:00PM: The trade has been officially announced.

1:22PM: The Dodgers are taking a shot on Joey Gallo for the season’s final few months. They’ve reportedly agreed to acquire him from the Yankees in exchange for pitching prospect Clayton Beeter.

Gallo has spent the past year in the Bronx, coming over from the Rangers in a massive deadline deal last summer. At the time, the power-hitting outfielder was fresh off a second career All-Star nod and carried a .223/.379/.490 line with 25 home runs in 95 games. The Yankees no doubt envisioned his left-handed pop playing perfectly in the short right field porch at their home ballpark, but Gallo’s tenure in New York proved a major disappointment.

The 28-year-old stumbled to a .160/.303/.404 line through 58 games after the trade last year. While he’s always been a high-strikeout player, his saw his rate of punchouts spike from 32.2% to 38.6%. He still connected on 13 homers with the Yankees, but the 70 point dip in both his batting average and on-base marks surely wasn’t what general manager Brian Cashman and his staff had had in mind.

The Yankees retained Gallo via arbitration in hopes his production would bounce back towards his career norms. The opposite transpired, as his struggled became even more pronounced in 2022. Gallo’s strikeout rate held near its late-2021 level (38.8%), and his power has taken a step back. He’s hit 12 homers in 82 contests, watching his average exit velocity fall from a strong 91.3 MPH to a near-average 88.4 MPH. Gallo’s still drawing plenty of walks, but merely average batted ball metrics aren’t sufficient for a player who whiffs as often as he does.

New York’s frustrations with Gallo’s continued struggles mounted (as did his own, as he candidly addressed with Lindsey Adler of the Athletic recently). The Yankees began to curtail his playing time in favor of the hot-hitting Matt Carpenter. They then acquired Andrew Benintendi from the Royals for a trio of pitching prospects last week, all but officially ending Gallo’s time in the organization.

It’s an inopportune time to market Gallo, but the Dodgers certainly aren’t anticipating they’re getting a player who’ll hit .159/.291/.368 — as Gallo did in over 500 plate appearances with New York. They’re betting on his pre-Yankees track record, hopeful that a change of scenery and perhaps some desired mechanical tweaks can get him back on track. Gallo is capable of carrying a lineup at his best, as he did during last year’s first half in Texas and during a half-season in 2019 when he hit .253/.389/.598 with 22 homers. He’s also an excellent defensive corner outfielder and baserunner, and he addresses a corner outfield mix that is currently without Chris Taylor due to a foot fracture (although Taylor is expected to return wells in advance of the start of the postseason).

Once Taylor returns, Gallo figures to work off the bench behind Taylor, Cody Bellinger and Mookie Betts. He’ll add some left-handed power to a group that also includes Jake Lamb, while he adds a plus defensive outfielder for late-game situations. It’s a short-term pickup for a club that’s certainly headed to the playoffs (and very likely to win the NL West). Gallo is slated to reach free agency at the end of the season. He’s playing this year on a $10.275MM salary, around $3.7MM of which is yet to be paid. The Dodgers will assume the reminder of that money, per Jon Heyman of the New York Post (Twitter link).

In exchange for the final couple months of Gallo’s services, the Yankees pick up a recent supplemental second-round pick. Beeter, a righty from Texas Tech, checked in as the #15 prospect in the L.A. system on Baseball America’s most recent rankings. He generates plus life on his mid-upper 90s fastball and has a good downhill curveball, but his lack of control seems likely to eventually push him to the bullpen. The 23-year-old has spent the season in Double-A, pitching to a 5.75 ERA with a huge 36.1% strikeout rate but an untenable 14.3% walk percentage across 18 appearances (16 starts).

Pat Ragazzo of Sports Illustrated first reported the deal.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Juan Soto Talks Between Padres, Nationals Reportedly Gaining Momentum

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10:33am: There’s growing momentum in talks between the Padres and Nationals, according to Mark Feinsand of MLB.com and Jim Bowden of the Athletic. No deal has yet been finalized, but Jon Heyman of the New York Post hears similarly that there’s “optimism” the Padres can pull off a deal.

7:41am: There is a “growing sense” that the Padres are the likeliest landing spot for not only Soto but also Josh Bell, tweets Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post. There’s some momentum in those talks, he adds. Similarly, the Post’s Jesse Dougherty tweets that the Nationals are beginning to narrow the field.

San Diego, of course, already has Eric Hosmer installed at first base, but they’ve been trying for more than a year to unload the remainder of that contract. Speculatively speaking, if the Nats truly want to maximize the return on Soto (and perhaps Bell), they could be the ones to absorb the remaining three years and $39MM on Hosmer’s contract themselves. The trio of Hosmer, Patrick Corbin and Stephen Strasburg would be a lot of underwater contracts for one team, of course, but the Nats have little else on the payroll in the immediate future.

7:12am: Major League Baseball’s trade deadline is now under 12 hours away, and the Juan Soto trade possibility that has captivated the entire sport and its fanbase remains unresolved. As of yesterday, the Soto auction was generally believed to be a three-team bidding war, with the Padres, Cardinals and Dodgers all reported to be heavily involved. That doesn’t preclude another team (or teams) from jumping in to make a late push, of course; it’d frankly rate as something of a surprise if that didn’t happen, in fact. Teams will miss out on other targets, priorities will pivot, and stances on “off limits” prospects will soften.

Up until this point, a sticking point for the Cardinals has been their unwillingness to include young outfielder Dylan Carlson and their very best prospects, Jon Morosi of MLB.com tweets. The 23-year-old Carlson is known be of interest to the Nats as an immediate outfield plug-in, and as a former first-round pick and top-10 overall prospect (per Baseball America), that’s not surprising — even if he’s been more of a solid regular than a star to this point in his young career. The switch-hitting Carlson is batting .260/.334/.426 dating back to last season, and he’s cut down his strikeout rate considerably this season.

Carlson can be controlled another four years beyond the current season and is capable of handling all three outfield spots. There’s perhaps a sense that given his youth and pedigree, he has another gear that he’s not yet tapped into. Further clouding the Cardinals possibility, Jon Heyman of the New York Post suggests that Washington may not be as high on lefty Matthew Liberatore as others in the industry; The Athletic’s Jim Bowden wrote something similar a couple weeks back.

Turning to the Padres, the health of one of their own top young arms, southpaw MacKenzie Gore, is a potential complication. Gore has been shut down with with an elbow strain. He’s expected to avoid surgery, but the specter of an arm injury for a potential key pitcher in the deal has surely altered the Nats’ valuation. The Padres, meanwhile, are now over the luxury-tax threshold after their stunning addition of Josh Hader yesterday. They’ve reportedly been loath to cross that line for a second consecutive season. However, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale suggests that if it means acquiring both Hader and Soto, the Padres “won’t mind blowing completely past” the tax line.

Over in Los Angeles, the Dodgers have become increasingly optimistic about their chances over the past couple days, per Jack Harris of the L.A. Times. The Dodgers’ perennially deep farm system is rife with top prospects — they have seven of Baseball America’s top 100 farmhands at the moment — and they also possess controllable young big leaguers of potential interest. Both Harris and Heyman suggest infielder Gavin Lux (four more years of team control) and righty Dustin May (nearing return from Tommy John surgery, with three more years of control) as potential targets for Washington.

As of yesterday morning, the Yankees were reported to be a “long shot,” the Rangers weren’t said to be particularly aggressive, and Mariners president Jerry Dipoto had gone on record to suggest his team is unlikely to land Soto. Adding to that list of teams that inquired but seems unlikely to be a serious player, Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that the Guardians looked into Soto but talks never gained traction. Washington was interested in top Cleveland pitching prospect Daniel Espino, but health was again a factor in talks, as he’s been out since April due to a knee injury.

Ian Happ Rumors: Deadline Day

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The last time we checked in on Cubs outfielder Ian Happ, it was when ESPN’s Jeff Passan revealed last Friday that the team is “likely to trade him.”  Happ, 28 in August, has a 122 wRC+ on the season.  He’s got about $2.4MM remaining on his contract this year, and will be eligible for arbitration for 2023.  If the Cubs want to trade the 2015 first-rounder prior to the offseason, they’ve got fewer than nine hours to get it done.  Here’s the latest:

Rays Acquire Garrett Cleavinger From Dodgers

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The Rays and Dodgers announced a deal sending reliever Garrett Cleavinger from Los Angeles to Tampa Bay. Minor league outfielder Germán Tapia is headed back the other way. To create a spot on the 40-man roster, Tampa Bay designated reliever Luke Bard for assignment. The move frees a roster spot for the Dodgers as they look for upgrades over the next day.

Cleavinger doesn’t have a whole lot of big league experience, tallying 23 innings over the past three seasons. Four of his 27 MLB appearances have come this season, but he’s spent the bulk of the year at Triple-A Oklahoma City. Cleavinger owns a 2.79 ERA through 29 Triple-A innings on the season. He’s fanned an excellent 37.9% of opponents, but he’s also walked a massive 13.7% of batters faced.

It’s been a similar story for the 28-year-old southpaw at the big league level. He’s punched out an above-average 25.9% of opponents in the majors, but he’s doled out free passes at a 13.4% clip. Owner of a fastball that averages just shy of 96 MPH and a low-80s breaking ball with strong spin and downhill action, Cleavinger obviously has intriguing raw stuff. He’s not yet been able to control it consistently enough to carve out a permanent big leaguer roster spot. but he can bounce between Tampa Bay and Triple-A Durham for the rest of this season — his final minor league option year.

Bard, who was displaced on the roster, tossed 14 innings over eight big league outings this season. He had a 1.93 ERA but a meager 14.3% strikeout rate and an elevated 12.5% walk percentage. Bard has much better strikeout and walk numbers through 19 appearances with Durham, but marked home run troubles there have contributed to a 4.88 ERA. The 31-year-old can be traded between now and tomorrow’s deadline, but it’s likelier he’ll find himself on waivers over the next few days.

Tapia, an 18-year-old outfielder from the Dominican Republic, has spent the past two seasons in rookie ball. He’s a 6’2″ right-handed hitter who has played in the corner outfield thus far as a professional.

Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times first reported the deal.

Latest On Juan Soto’s Trade Market

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Juan Soto’s presence on the trade market has, in many ways, held up activity in other areas. Teams like the Cardinals and Padres, generally viewed as two of Soto’s top suitors, are also involved in the market for starting pitching. But, both are surely wary of dealing prospects to acquire a starter (e.g. Oakland’s Frankie Montas) if those same players might eventually be used to pry Soto loose from Washington.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan takes a lengthy look at the logjam Soto has created, writing within that the Yankees are a “long shot at best” to make a play for Soto before the deadline and suggesting that the Rangers, for now, are not a prominent bidder. That meshes with recent reporting from the New York Post’s Jon Heyman, who wrote last night that there was “no traction” between the Yankees and Nationals regarding Soto, even though the Yankees reached out as recently as yesterday evening. Heyman adds that the Nationals aren’t as high on top prospect Anthony Volpe as the Yankees and many other clubs are, which is a complicating factor in talks.

The Padres and Cardinals are the most oft-suggested fits for Soto, and with good reason, as both are win-now clubs with deep farm systems who could offer the blend of top prospects and controllable big leaguers the Nationals seek. Passan suggests that the Dodgers are “lurking,” however, and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic similarly wrote this morning that the Dodgers have maintained talks with the Nats and should not be ruled out as a potential landing spot. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale takes things a step further, tweeting that it’s actually the Dodgers — not the Cardinals or Padres — who have been making the most aggressive offers for Soto recently.

The Mariners, another regularly speculated fit for Soto, don’t appear likely to land him at this point. President of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto tells The Athletic’s Jim Bowden that while he checked in on Soto, he came away with the impression that there was not a realistic path to acquiring him (Twitter link). Presumably, that came prior to Seattle’s Friday acquisition of Luis Castillo — which cost the Mariners their top two prospects.

The Mets, too, have been speculatively listed as trade partners for the Nats. That’s due largely to the team’s huge payroll and aggressive past year under new owner Steve Cohen. However, Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes that the Mets believed “relatively quickly in the process” that there’d be such a large market for Soto that Washington wouldn’t have to consider trading him to a division rival. That certainly looks to be the case, although if the Nats do covet the Mets’ best prospects, there’s at least a slim chance of something coming together; both Sherman and SNY’s Andy Martino report that the Mets would only move their very best prospects if it were to acquire Soto or (an even longer shot) Shohei Ohtani. Both reports suggest catcher Francisco Alvarez is off limits unless it’s for one of Soto or Ohtani. Sherman adds third baseman Brett Baty to that list, and Martino suggests third baseman Mark Vientos is viewed similarly.

Regardless of whether Soto specifically changes hands, the market will erupt sometime between now and tomorrow’s 6pm ET deadline. The ticking clock is going to eventually drive teams into activity, and given the lack of movement thus far, we could be in for one of the most active and chaotic 24- to 30-hour spans of deadline dealing we’ve ever seen.

NL West Notes: Estrada, Blackmon, Dodgers, Peralta, Ohtani

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Giants infielder Thairo Estrada is likely going to be placed on the seven-day concussion injured list after he was hit in the head by a Mark Leiter Jr. pitch in last night’s game.  Estrada was able to leave the field under his own power, after initially spending time on the ground being evaluated by team medical staff.  Estrada has hit .262/.316/.406 over 342 plate appearances this season, a step behind his solid numbers from 2021 but still good for an above-average 106 wRC+.

Between this respectable bat and his defensive versatility, Estrada has been a valuable member of San Francisco’s roster, but his likely absence will leave the Giants quite thin at shortstop.  With Brandon Crawford on the 10-day IL and yet to begin a rehab assignment, Jason Vosler is the only player on the active roster with any time at shortstop this season.  It seems likely that one of Isan Diaz or Donovan Walton will need to be called up from Triple-A to fill that void, unless the Giants make another move in advance of the trade deadline.  Since the Giants could be sellers at the deadline, Estrada’s injury probably ensures that he’ll remain in San Francisco beyond August 2, though his team control through the 2026 season already made him one of the Giants players less likely to be moved.

More from around the NL West…

  • Rockies GM Bill Schmidt told reporters (including Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post) that the club hasn’t received any trade asks about Charlie Blackmon, though it doesn’t seem like Blackmon would waive his 10-and-5 rights to allow a deal anyway.  Blackmon has spent his entire professional career in the Colorado organization, and “I think it would be much more fulfilling for me to be successful with the Rockies than it would be to do it somewhere else, after what I’ve been through and the commitment from both sides.”  Blackmon already said last October that he was planning to exercise his 2023 player option (worth at least $10MM), and intimated to Saunders and other reporters that his perspective hadn’t changed.
  • Before the Diamondbacks traded David Peralta to the Rays yesterday, The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya reports that the Dodgers had interest in Peralta’s services.  With Cody Bellinger and Max Muncy struggling all season long, the Dodgers could use some more help from the left side of the plate, and the team has the flexibility to explore options ranging from platoon options to superstars like Juan Soto.  As for Peralta, it could be that the D’Backs preferred the Rays’ offer to whatever the Dodgers were willing to give up, or perhaps Arizona wanted more in exchange for moving Peralta to a division rival.
  • Speaking of big left-handed bats, “the Dodgers have tried to engage the Angels” about a possible Shohei Ohtani trade, MLB Network’s Jon Morosi tweets.  The Angels are reportedly at least listening to other teams’ offers for Ohtani, even if Anaheim’s asking price is said to be huge, and a trade seems quite unlikely.  Morosi’s specific phrasing implies that the Angels weren’t willing to truly “engage” with the Dodgers in talks, which perhaps isn’t surprising — as Morosi notes, “many in the industry are skeptical that Ohtani would be dealt to the Angels’ geographic rival.”

Cubs, Dodgers Swap Chris Martin For Zach McKinstry

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The Dodgers have made one of the first bullpen pickups of note prior to Tuesday’s trade deadline, announcing Saturday that they’ve acquired right-hander Chris Martin from the Cubs in exchange for infielder/outfielder Zach McKinstry.

Chris Martin

Martin, 36, is playing the 2022 season on a one-year, $2.5MM contract he signed as a free agent this winter. His deal comes with $750K worth of  incentives, paid out in the form of a $100K bonus for reaching each of 40, 45, 50, 55 and 60 appearances, plus $125K for spending 40 and 90 days on the active roster.

Martin has already appeared in 34 games and logged 31 1/3 innings of 4.31 ERA ball this season, although fielding-independent metrics are far more bullish (3.02 FIP, 2.09 SIERA). Martin has been uncharacteristically homer-prone this year but has maintained his elite command of the strike zone. He’s punched out 30.1% of his opponents thus far and walked just four of the 133 batters he’s faced (3.1%). One of those free passes was of the intentional variety, it should be noted, and Martin has also yet to hit a batter this season.

The towering 6’8″ Martin is one of the more notable overseas success stories in recent years. After a nondescript run with the Rockies and Yankees in 2014-15, he signed with Japan’s Nippon-Ham Fighters and tore through NPB lineups over a brilliant two-year stint there. He signed with the Rangers for the 2018 campaign and, after a pedestrian first season back in MLB has solidified himself as a quality late-inning reliever. Over the past four seasons, Martin touts a 3.46 ERA with a 26.5% strikeout rate and an impeccable 3% walk rate. Among the 431 pitchers who’ve thrown at least 100 big league innings in that time, Martin’s walk rate is the second-lowest in the game (narrowly trailing former teammate Josh Tomlin’s 2.9% mark).

Martin will give manager Dave Roberts some reinforcement in what’s been a generally strong but also very injury-plagued relief corps. Dodgers relievers rank sixth in the Majors with s 3.37 ERA, but they’ve lost Daniel Hudson for the season (torn ACL), aren’t clear when Blake Treinen (shoulder) will return, and also have each of Brusdar Graterol, Victor Gonzalez and Tommy Kahnle on the injured list at present.

Zach McKinstry

In return for their one-year investment in Martin, the Cubs will acquire as many as five additional seasons of control over the 27-year-old McKinstry, who made his debut with the 2020 Dodgers and has been an up-and-down utility option in L.A. since that time. A lefty hitter with experience at second base, third base, shortstop and all three outfield spots (albeit just 18 innings in center), McKinstry has posted just a .210/.266/.403 batting line in the big leagues. That’s come in a tiny sample of 193 plate appearances, however, and he’s been outstanding during his time at the Triple-A level.

McKinstry, a former 33rd-round pick, has logged 489 plate appearances with Triple-A Oklahoma City in parts of three seasons and put together a huge .323/.401/.550. The Pacific Coast League is a known hitters’ haven, but McKinstry has nonetheless been well above league-average on a rate basis and racked up an impressive 18 home runs, 25 doubles and nine triples there. He’s fanned in just 15.7% of his plate appearances and walked at a 10.8% clip as well.

While McKinstry likely profiles more as a utility player than a starter at the big league level, there’s at least a chance he could hit enough to be a regular at second base — his best defensive position. If not, he’ll give the Cubs someone to bounce around the diamond as a valuable role player for the foreseeable future. McKinstry will be out of minor league options next season, so he should receive ample opportunity sooner than later.

ESPN’s Buster Olney first reported that Martin had been traded to the Dodgers (Twitter link). Patrick Mooney of The Athletic first reported that McKinstry was headed to the Cubs in return (Twitter link).

Latest On Juan Soto’s Trade Market

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With four days to go until Tuesday evening’s trade deadline, the floodgates of activity have yet to really open. There’s nevertheless been plenty of chatter about the game’s top trade candidate, Juan Soto. The Nationals superstar will continue to be the talk of the summer market until the club either pulls the trigger on a deal or the deadline passes.

Jon Heyman of the New York Post wrote last night that the Cardinals, Padres, Dodgers and Rangers are among the teams generally viewed as those best positioned to pull off the blockbuster. That wasn’t a comprehensive list of clubs with interest, although Jim Bowden of the Athletic tweets this evening that only four clubs remain in the market. Bowden adds that the Padres and Cardinals are among that group of four, but the identities of the other two teams remain unknown. To be clear, it’s not a certainty that no one besides St. Louis, San Diego, Los Angeles and Texas is still in the mix.

Previous reports have tied the Mariners, Giants, Mets and Yankees to Soto, but the general belief is the Nats aren’t interested in dealing him within the NL East. Meanwhile, Heyman wrote last night the Nats “seem focused” on teams other than the Yankees. That’s not to say the Yankees are out, as Heyman unsurprisingly notes they’re still interested in Soto after acquiring Andrew Benintendi from the Royals.

The Cardinals, Padres and Dodgers are obvious entrants into the Soto bidding. They’re each 2022 contenders with a robust collection of young major league and/or farm talent, and all three have proven bold enough to trade for star players in recent years. The Rangers are perhaps a more surprising entrant into the market since they’re not in the playoff mix this year, but Texas has long maintained they expect to compete in earnest by next season. With Soto controllable for an additional two seasons, the Rangers could enter the fray with an eye towards adding another star to the 2023-24 rosters after big free agent pickups of Corey Seager and Marcus Semien.

Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News wrote yesterday that Texas has indeed been in contact with the Washington front office and continues to monitor the market. Whether they’ll be willing to meet the Nationals’ understandably astronomical asking price — and top the offers of clubs that are eyeing Soto as a target to improve their 2022 odds as well — remains to be seen. Grant suggests the Rangers may prefer to focus their resources, both financial and in terms of prospect capital, on their efforts to add talent to the starting rotation. Meanwhile, Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic noted last night in an appearance on Fox Sports that the general expectation is that Texas will be outbid by a more motivated club (Twitter link).

There’ll be more clarity on the Soto negotiations over the next few days. One thing that does not appear to be under consideration: the sides reopening extension talks before the trade deadline. Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post hears the Nats aren’t planning to make another extension offer (Twitter link). General manager Mike Rizzo has confirmed that Washington made a 15-year, $440MM proposal that Soto rejected a few weeks ago. That apparently marked the final extent to which the Nationals were willing to go, at least this summer. That’s not to say the Nats have to force a trade imminently, since his remaining arbitration eligibility would allow them to revisit extension and/or trade talks next offseason if he’s not dealt before Tuesday.

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