Yankees Notes: Skubal, Peraza, Dietrich
The Yankees had interest in the Tigers’ Tarik Skubal prior to the deadline, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports. Given how aggressively the Yankees were looking for pitching help, it isn’t surprising that they at least checked in on a talented and controllable arm like Skubal, who isn’t eligible for free agency until after the 2026 season. Skubal ended up not being dealt anywhere, as while the Tigers were open to offers for “just about everyone” in the wake of a massively disappointing season, it would’ve naturally taken a huge trade package to obtain a pitcher that still looks like a significant part of Detroit’s present and future.
As poorly as 2022 has gone for the Tigers, they aren’t likely to abandon their plans to contend and immediately re-enter another rebuild phase, especially not with a lot of money already committed to such players as Javier Baez and Eduardo Rodriguez. Since Skubal’s strong performance has been one of the few bright spots of Detroit’s season, moving Skubal might be just about the last thing the Tigers would do, so the Yankees’ pursuits might be limited to just monitoring the situation should plans change. Of course, New York landed a big arm at the deadline anyway in Frankie Montas.
More from the Bronx….
- Star prospect Oswald Peraza was hit on the hand by a pitch in today’s game, but x-rays didn’t reveal any broken bones, according to Conor Foley of The Scranton Times-Tribune (Twitter links). While it appears as though Peraza avoided any serious injury, it isn’t yet known if he might require at least a brief stint on the injured list if there’s any swelling or lingering soreness. While Anthony Volpe is often heralded as the Yankees’ shortstop of the future and one of baseball’s top prospects, Peraza is a top-100 prospect in his own right, and closer to the big leagues — Volpe is playing at Double-A while Peraza has hit .259/.328/.450 over 354 plate appearances at the Triple-A level. There has been speculation that Peraza could be a late-season call-up to New York, though this hand issue could potentially factor into when he could make his MLB debut.
- Derek Dietrich was issued a 50-game suspension after testing positive for the stimulant known as DMPA (1,4-dimethylpentylamine). As a result, Dietrich will miss the remainder of the Triple-A season. Dietrich has signed minor league contracts with the Yankees in each of the last two offseasons, with a brief stint with the Nationals’ Triple-A affiliate in the second half of the 2021 season. Best known for his time as a versatile regular with the Marlins, Dietrich hit a solid .245/.335/.428 over 2513 PA in the majors from 2013-2020 with the Marlins, Reds, and Rangers, and hasn’t since been back to the big leagues.
Injury Notes: Brantley, Glasnow, Lucchesi, Pillar
Astros GM James Click has “no update” on the status of Michael Brantley, who has now missed close to six weeks due to right shoulder discomfort. In an interview with team radio broadcaster Robert Ford (hat tip to Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle), Click said that “with every passing day, you have to kind of take an honest look at” whether or not Brantley’s 2022 season could be over, though the Astros are still hopeful that Brantley can eventually return.
Brantley himself told Rome and other reporters earlier this week that he hadn’t started swinging, and was “day by day” with “no timetable” about when he could start resuming baseball activities. Considering the 35-year-old’s lengthy history of shoulder surgeries, there isn’t much Brantley or the Astros can do but wait and see if his discomfort lessens, since trying to force the issue could make things worse. Houston has missed Brantley’s bat in the lineup, and this injury uncertainty also casts a shadow over Brantley’s free agent market this winter. The veteran is in the final two months of his two-year, $32MM deal with the Astros.
More updates on other injury situations from around baseball…
- Almost exactly one year ago, Tyler Glasnow underwent Tommy John surgery, ending his 2021 season and putting his participation in doubt for the 2022 campaign. However, Rays pitching coach Kyle Snyder told Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times that Glasnow is “fully healthy” and said “the chance is not zero” that Glasnow could help the Rays before the year is out. Considering that Glasnow is still at least a couple of weeks away from throwing to live hitters, mid-September might be the earlier he can return, and even then would likely be limited to bullpen work.
- Joey Lucchesi is another TJ patient who could factor into the 2022 season, as Mets manager Buck Showalter told MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo and other reporters that “if [Lucchesi] can continue down the path he’s on, he’s going to be an option for us.” Lucchesi underwent his surgery in late June 2021, and he has been working out at the Mets’ spring facility in Florida. The left-hander posted some solid numbers as a starter for the Padres and Mets over his four Major League seasons, but would also probably return as a reliever, given that he’d need less time to build up his arm for relief innings than starter’s innings. Since New York in thin on left-handed relievers, Lucchesi or David Peterson could add some balance to the bullpen down the stretch and into the postseason.
- Kevin Pillar‘s season was thought to be over when he underwent shoulder surgery in June, but the Dodgers outfielder was recently cleared to start baseball activities. “I would definitely call it best case scenario,” Pillar told Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times, and his aim is to at least give the Dodgers something to think about when building their late-season roster and their playoff rosters. “It’s trying to get myself healthy, prove that I’m healthy, get some games under belt and put myself in position where…I’m available,” Pillar said. The veteran outfielder signed a minor league deal with L.A. in March and appeared in only four games with the Dodgers before suffering a fractured left shoulder.
NL Notes: Megill, Suarez, Pomeranz, Bettinger
It was recently reported that the Mets are aiming to have Tylor Megill work out of the bullpen when he returns from the injured list, given that their rotation is healthier than it was early in the season. However, the team has told Megill that he will be stretched back out as a starter for next year, reports Anthony DiComo of MLB.com.
The fact that the Mets still want to try Megill as a rotation candidate is fairly sensible, given that it’s possible they will face a huge amount of turnaround in that department in the coming months. Jacob deGrom has long maintained that he’s going to exercise his opt-out after this year, despite his lengthy injury battles. Chris Bassitt has a mutual option for 2023, which is unlikely to be exercised by both sides, as mutual options almost never are. Taijuan Walker has a $6MM player option with a $3MM buyout. Though he can increase the value of that option with incentives as high as $8.5MM with 175 innings pitched this year, he’s still likely to turn that down and find more money in free agency. The Mets hold a $14MM club option over Carlos Carrasco that will vest if he reaches 170 innings and finishes the year healthy.
It’s within the realm of possibility that the Mets begin the offseason with an on-paper rotation of Max Scherzer followed by depth options like David Peterson and Joey Lucchesi. Given all that uncertainty, it’s understandable that they’d want to keep Megill in the mix. He stepped up to fill in for deGrom earlier this season and posted a 1.93 ERA through April, though he then posted an 11.48 ERA after that as his shoulder injury seemed to catch up with him.
Other notes from the Senior Circuit…
- The Padres reinstated righty Robert Suarez from the 60-day injured list yesterday, per a club announcement. The 40-man roster already had a vacancy, meaning no corresponding move was required in that regard. Fellow righty Steven Wilson was optioned to create room on the active roster. Suarez was signed in the offseason after a five-year stint in Japan and has thrown 24 1/3 innings for the Padres this year. His 29.3% strikeout rate is very strong though it also comes with a 13.1% walk rate, leading to a 3.33 ERA on the year so far. He’s been on the IL since early June due to knee inflammation.
- The San Diego bullpen could soon welcome back another injured hurler, as lefty Drew Pomeranz has begun a rehab assignment. Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports that Pomeranz is expected to pitch in at least two rookie ball games before deciding next steps. Signed to a four-year deal in late 2019, the southpaw had an excellent showing in the shortened 2020 season, throwing 18 2/3 innings with a 1.45 ERA and 39.7% strikeout rate, though he also had a 13.7% walk rate. He was putting up fairly similar numbers last year before undergoing surgery to repair an injured flexor tendon, a procedure he’s still working back from almost a year later. If he can come back in a form that’s anywhere close to what he showed in 2020 and 2021, he should provide a huge boost to the Friars’ relief corps, which also just picked up Josh Hader prior to the trade deadline.
- The Brewers announced that right-hander Alec Bettinger has been released. The 27-year-old made his MLB debut last year, tossing ten innings over four appearances with an unsightly 13.50 ERA in that small sample. He lost his 40-man roster spot earlier this year, being outrighted in May. Though Bettinger had put up solid minor league number in previous years, he’s not fared well this season, registering a 6.49 ERA through 34 2/3 Triple-A innings. After posting walk rates around 6% in recent years, he’s more than doubled it here in 2022, jumping to 12.9%. His strikeouts have also vanished, coming in at a 12.9% clip this year after being in the 23-27% in prior campaigns.
AL Central Notes: Guardians, Hosmer, Kepler, Brieske
It was a quiet trade deadline for the Guardians, as Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer writes that the club “at times…felt they were close” to landing Sean Murphy from the Athletics, yet no deal was completed. Murphy was known to be a trade target for the Guards, though another somewhat surprising name was at least briefly on their radar, as Hoynes reports that Cleveland and San Diego had some talks about first baseman Eric Hosmer. However, those discussions didn’t get far, as the Guardians are one of the 10 teams on Hosmer’s no-trade list. Hosmer also used his no-trade protection to scuttle his involvement in the Padres‘ blockbuster deal with the Nationals for Juan Soto, so the Padres instead moved Hosmer to the Red Sox.
San Diego dealt Hosmer and two prospects to Boston for lefty pitching prospect Jay Groome, and the Padres also covering basically all of the $44MM remaining on Hosmer’s deal (which runs through the 2025 season). It’s fair to guess that the Guardians might have had interest in something similar, with Hosmer joining Josh Naylor and Owen Miller as part of the first base/DH mix. Hosmer might have been viewed by the Guards as just a one-season fill-in now that the team is seemingly willing to part ways with Franmil Reyes, but with the Padres footing the bill, Cleveland could have kept Hosmer around as a veteran complement to their younger players.
More from around the AL Central…
- The Twins activated outfielder Max Kepler from the 10-day injured list, and optioned outfielder Mark Contreras to Triple-A. Kepler is making a relatively quick return from a fracture in his right baby toe, after he was hit by a pitch on July 24. Kepler has generated 2.0 fWAR over his 85 games this season, thanks to solid defense and an above-average (113 wRC+) offensive line of .244/.344/.390 in 337 plate appearances.
- Tigers right-hander Beau Brieske had a Triple-A rehab start yesterday, and manager A.J. Hinch told reporters (including The Detroit News’ Chris McCosky) that Brieske is perhaps on track to be activated from the 15-day injured list in time to start the Tigers’ game with the Guardians on Wednesday. Forearm soreness sent Brieske to the IL on July 18, but it appears as though the rookie has avoided any serious setback — a rare bit of good health news within an injury-plagued season for Detroit pitchers. All of these injuries open the door for Brieske to make his Major League debut, and the righty posted a respectable 4.19 ERA over his first 15 starts and 81 2/3 innings in the Show.
Twins Notes: Smith, Sanchez, Cotton
The Twins have released reliever Joe Smith, per Betsy Halfand of the Pioneer Press (via Twitter). The 38-year-old side-slinger appeared in 34 games for the Twins this season, pitching to a palatable 4.61 ERA. His usage was fairly protected, however, compiling only 27 1/3 total innings in that time, and his peripheral numbers suggest a performance that doesn’t exactly fall in line with his prolific career. Smith’s 6.29 FIP was the worst such mark of his career, and his hard hit percentage rose to 42.1 percent, well-above the league average mark of 35.7 percent.
Still, it’s certainly possible that, by pedigree alone, Smith catches on somewhere to finish out the season. Smith has appeared in every season since 2007 (except for 2020, for which he opted out), taking turns with the Guardians, Mets, Angels, Blue Jays, Astros, Cubs, and Mariners before suiting up for the Twins. His most stable function came as a setup man for the Guardians from 2009 to 2013, but particularly the final three seasons of that stretch in which he averaged 71 appearances and just under 66 frames with a 2.42 ERA/3.33 FIP and almost 21 holds per campaign.
In addition, right-handers Aaron Sanchez and Jharel Cotton have both cleared waivers and accepted assignments to Triple-A St. Paul, per The Athletic’s Dan Hayes (via Twitter). The pair could serve as depth for the rest of the season as the Twins make a push for the playoffs.
Cotton, 30, made 25 appearances covering 30 innings for the Twins this season, posting a disjointed 2.83 ERA/5.48 FIP, 21.5 percent strikeout rate, 11.1 percent walk rate, and 29.5 percent groundball rate. Sanchez, 30, made one start for the Twins and previously made seven starts for the Nationals. In total, the veteran has registered a 7.68 ERA/4.93 FIP over 36 1/3 innings for the two clubs combined.
Frankly, the Twins have enough pitching depth in Triple-A right now with players like Devin Smeltzer, Josh Winder, and Jovani Moran – all of whom remain on the 40-man roster – that the greater possibility is that Sanchez and Cotton simply help cover the innings load in St. Paul for the rest of the season. Not to mention, Minnesota has a number of arms on the injured list that could still return to bolster the Major League crew.
Injury Notes: Skubal, Bednar, Garcia
The Tigers placed starter Tarik Skubal on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to yesterday, due to arm fatigue. The southpaw left his start on Monday after feeling the fatigue, and he’ll now be out for at least the next two weeks. Skubal indicated on Monday he didn’t anticipate missing any additional starts. That obviously won’t be the case, but there’s no indication the club is acting out of anything more than an abundance of caution in skipping a couple of his turns through the rotation. Detroit’s already looking ahead towards 2023, and there’s little reason to press the issue with one of their top young arms unless he’s completely healthy.
Few players in the organization are as impactful as Skubal, who has taken a significant step in his second full MLB season. Through 117 2/3 innings, he carries a 3.52 ERA with an above-average 24.5% strikeout rate and 45.7% ground-ball percentage. Skubal has demonstrated strong control, and, perhaps most importantly, is allowing just 0.67 homers per nine innings pitched. He allowed more than two homers per nine last season, the main contributor to a 4.34 ERA that’s almost a run higher than this season’s mark.
Some other notes on injured list placements:
- Pirates closer David Bednar landed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to July 31, due to lower back inflammation. There’s no specific timetable for his return, but Pittsburgh director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk told reporters that Bednar had been pushing to pitch through the issue (via Mike Persak of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette). That’d seemingly indicate the 27-year-old Bednar doesn’t consider the issue too serious, but the club is taking a cautious approach. Bednar has cemented himself as one of the sport’s top relievers this season, his second with the Bucs after heading over from the Padres in the Joe Musgrove trade over the 2020-21 offseason. The big right-hander has a sub-3.00 ERA in both seasons as a Pirate, including a 2.70 mark with an excellent 33.5% strikeout rate through 46 2/3 frames this year.
- The Marlins placed outfielder Avisaíl García on the 10-day injured list due to a left hamstring strain. Designated hitter/first baseman Garrett Cooper was activated from a minimal IL stint of his own to take the active roster spot. The club hasn’t provided a timetable on García’s absence. Signed to a four-year deal over the offseason, García has had a rough first season in South Florida. Across 342 plate appearances, he owns a meager .232/.269/.322 line with seven home runs — a marked drop in power production from last year’s 29-homer campaign with the Brewers. The 31-year-old is also striking out at a career-worst 27.8% clip and walking in only 3.8% of his trips to the dish. Miami had hoped that multi-year free agent signings of García and Jorge Soler would invigorate a lackluster offense, but both right-handed hitters have underwhelmed during their initial seasons of those deals.
Yankees Notes: Severino, Lopez, Torres
On Monday, shortly after the Yankees acquired Frankie Montas, they moved Luis Severino to the 60-day injured list due to his lat strain. That seemed to shine a light on why the acquisition of Montas was so important to the club, as the severity of Severino’s injury wasn’t publicly known at the time. Given that the Yankees don’t expect him to be back before mid-September, it made sense why the rotation upgrade was desired.
However, it seems that the seriousness of the injury came as a surprise to Severino himself, with Chris Kirschner of The Athletic reporting that Severino was unhappy with the transfer. “I was not happy. I was not expecting that,” Severino said of being moved to the 60-day IL.
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman spoke to Kirschner about the miscommunication. “When we tried to walk through it with a calendar, (Severino) just didn’t want to see it,” Cashman said. “He just wants to pitch. He’s not capable of pitching yet, and it’s going to take time to get him back on line. We both wish he was healthy right now. We both wish he was capable, but he’s not.”
Manager Aaron Boone tells Kirschner that the Yankees still plan to stretch Severino out as a starter when he returns. That suggests that Severino might need some kind of rehab once his lat has healed, to build back into a starter’s workload. Perhaps the confusion arose from the fact that Severino might start throwing again in about a month but then would need a few weeks to get fully geared up. A minor league rehab assignment for a pitcher can last as long as 30 days. “It just comes down to this is the program that gets him back and you can’t speed up or you risk breaking him again,” Cashman said. “That’s not in anyone’s best interest.”
Though it remains to be seen how Severino’s return progresses, the fact that he was surprised by his transfer suggests that he doesn’t expect to be out longer than the 60-day minimum, allowing him to return just in time for the final postseason push.
Elsewhere in Yankee rotation news, Barry Jackson and Craig Mish of the Miami Herald relay that the Yankees and Dodgers both pushed the Marlins for a Pablo Lopez trade, with the Yankees getting “closest” to a deal. Though the full trade scenarios that were discussed aren’t know, the report says that Gleyber Torres was mentioned.
It’s unclear if it was the Yankees or the Marlins that wanted to include Torres in trade talks, but it’s understandable why the Marlins would want him. Torres is hitting .257/.312/.466 on the year for a wRC+ of 120. He’s also making just $6.25MM this year and can be retained for a further two seasons via arbitration. However, the Marlins already have a star second baseman in Jazz Chisholm Jr., who is out for the remainder of this season but would be back next year. Torres was a shortstop when he came up but was moved to second by the Yanks after he failed to impress there. Even if the Marlins were willing to give him another try there, that would also be a bit of an awkward fit with Miguel Rojas still around for one more season.
Regardless of the various packages that were discussed, it is notable that the Yanks tried to get yet another starter. As mentioned earlier, they swapped in Montas to take the place of Severino, but then later flipped Jordan Montgomery to the Cardinals. That leaves them with a four-man rotation of Montas, Gerrit Cole, Nestor Cortes and Jameson Taillon. Domingo German has recently been called up from the minors and has made three starts but has a 6.39 so far.
Acquiring Lopez and bumping German back to the minors surely would have been a boon for the rotation, as Lopez has a 3.41 ERA through 21 starts on the year and fairly similar results in the previous two campaigns as well. A trade for Lopez was always going to be a challenge given that he can be controlled for two more seasons beyond this one, but perhaps the two clubs can revisit talks in the offseason and build off the conversations they’ve already had. Taillon is set to reach free agency after this season, potentially causing the Yankees to look for an extra hurler.
Bullpen Rumors: Soto, Givens, Moore
While just about any team in need of bullpen help would love to get its hands on Tigers closer Gregory Soto, Detroit is setting a lofty asking price, tweets Jon Morosi of MLB.com. The Tigers are seeking multiple MLB-ready or nearly MLB-ready pieces and will surely be focused on players with several years of club control remaining, given that Soto himself has three years of team control beyond the current campaign. The 27-year-old is averaging a massive 98.6 mph on his heater and has pitched to a 2.36 ERA with a 25.5% strikeout rate, a 10.3% walk rate, a 46.5% ground-ball rate and 19 saves so far in 2022. Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports that the Astros are among the clubs with interest. Houston hasn’t had a single left-handed reliever eclipse ten innings this season, so it’s no surprise they’d have their eyes on a high-end southpaw like Soto.
More rumblings on the bullpen market…
- The White Sox picked up Jake Diekman in a deal with the Red Sox this evening, but they’re still on the hunt for relief help. Bruce Levine of 670 the Score reports that the Sox are among the clubs with interest in Cubs reliever Mychal Givens (Twitter link). The veteran righty is quite likely to move by tomorrow evening’s deadline, as he’s on track to hit free agency after the season. Givens’ deal contains a 2023 mutual option, but those are rarely exercised by both sides. The righty is due what remains on a $3.5MM salary for this season, plus a $1.5MM buyout on the option. Givens, who signed with the Cubs over the offseason, has a 2.66 ERA across 40 2/3 innings. He’s punched out an excellent 29.7% of opponents, although his 11% walk rate is a bit higher than ideal. Nevertheless, a relatively affordable middle reliever with a strong track record and Givens’ bat-missing abilities should attract interest from contenders.
- As part of an overview on the Rangers deadline outlook, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News posits that reliever Matt Moore is the most likely player on the club to be traded. MLBTR’s Steve Adams explored Moore’s trade candidacy a few weeks ago, noting that the veteran southpaw has adapted well to a bullpen conversion after a career as a primary starter. Signed to a minor league deal over the winter, Moore made the big league roster two weeks into the season. He’s followed with 48 2/3 innings over 36 outings, posting a 1.66 ERA with an above-average 26.1% strikeout rate and a huge 52.5% grounder rate. An elevated walk percentage (12.1%) stands as a bit of a black mark on his record, but that combination of strikeouts and grounders will no doubt appeal to contending clubs. Jon Heyman of the New York Post wrote last night that Moore — as well as Tigers reliever Michael Fulmer — was on the Yankees radar, but it’s not clear whether those hurlers are still on the wish list after New York brought in Scott Effross and Lou Trivino in separate deals this afternoon.
NL Central Notes: Cardinals, Mahle, Drury, Quintana, Blue Jays, Sosa
The Cardinals‘ search for starting pitching has taken them inside their division, as MLB Network’s Jon Morosi (Twitter link) reports that St. Louis is one of the many clubs interested in Reds righty Tyler Mahle. With the Cards looking at all options for rotation help, it only makes sense that they’d be at least checking in on Mahle’s services.
The Phillies, Twins, and Mets are among the clubs linked to Mahle since the start of the season, while the Rangers also reportedly had interest during the offseason. With Luis Castillo already off the board, it’s fair to guess that most pitching-needy teams have spoken to the Reds about Mahle, and on paper the Cardinals have the kind of young talent that the Reds would surely demand. However, it is possible Cincinnati might want a higher price for moving Mahle to a division rival — as Morosi notes, the Reds and Cardinals haven’t completed a player-for-player trade since 1997, so it would count as a surprise on some level if Mahle ended up in St. Louis.
More notes from around the NL Central…
- Just because Castillo has been traded doesn’t mean the Reds are necessarily likelier to hang onto Mahle, since CBS Sports’ R.J. Anderson hears that Mahle and Brandon Drury are expected to both be on new teams after the deadline. Drury is a free agent after the season and thus an obvious trade chip, though Mahle is still under team control through 2023. But, it now seems like Cincinnati is going to dive into something close to a full rebuild, a process that really started over the winter when they moved several other veteran talents.
- The Blue Jays are in the mix for Pirates starter Jose Quintana, according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, along with such previously-reported suitors as the Yankees and White Sox. The veteran left-hander is having a bounce-back season after struggling in 2019-21, and Quintana could help bolster an inconsistent Toronto rotation. Pirates GM Ben Cherington previously worked in the Jays’ front office, so this familiarity with the AL East side’s prospects could help the Blue Jays in the bidding, though the two sides haven’t completed a player-for-player trade in the two-plus years since Cherington went to Pittsburgh.
- The Yankees were one of the other teams interested in Edmundo Sosa before the Cardinals dealt Sosa to the Phillies, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes. Sosa would’ve been an interesting depth add to the Yankees’ infield, and it is even possible that Sosa could have worked his way into a timeshare with Isiah Kiner-Falefa at shortstop.
Latest On Phillies’ Pitching Search
The Phillies are looking to add a front-of-the-rotation type of arm, with The Athletic’s Jayson Stark (Twitter links) writing that the Phils want “a starter who can start a playoff game.” To this end, the club has been linked to such arms as the Reds’ Tyler Mahle, the Angels’ Noah Syndergaard, and the Pirates’ Jose Quintana — three of the most prominent starting pitchers remaining on the trade market.
Mahle is controlled through the 2023 season, while Syndergaard and Quintana would be pure rentals as players who are scheduled for free agency this winter. As such, Mahle would surely cost the most in a trade, and Syndergaard carries a bit of a financial hit, with roughly $7.2MM still owed to him over the remainder of the season. By contrast, Quintana is owed only around $675K for the rest of 2022, but Quintana also has a shaky track record over the last few seasons before righting himself this year in Pittsburgh.
Dave Dombrowski, Philadelphia’s president of baseball operations, suggested earlier this week that his team was hoping to bolster the rotation, but the Phils were also hesitant about dealing any of their top prospects. Stark backs up that assertion, noting that the Phillies haven’t been willing to move any of Mick Abel, Andrew Painter or Logan O’Hoppe (the Phils’ consensus top-three prospects in the view of Baseball America and MLB Pipeline), or right-handed pitching propects Griff McGarry or Ben Brown. BA ranks McGarry fourth and Brown seventh in their ranking of Phillies prospects, while Pipeline is a little less bullish, ranking McGarry eighth and Brown 26th.
Since the Phillies’ system isn’t considered to be too deep overall, it isn’t any surprise that the front office isn’t keen on parting ways with any of the relatively few premium names on hand in the minors. However, as Stark observes, the Phils will find it difficult to obtain higher-tier pitching unless they’re open to trading prospects. Given the amount of interest Mahle has received from around the league, and given what the Reds just obtained from the Mariners in the Luis Castillo deal, it would seem almost impossible for the Phillies to land Mahle without at least one of the blue-chip prospects.
Syndergaard and Quintana would come at a lower price tag as rental players, but Stark notes that Dombrowski also prefers controllable starters. This was Philadelphia’s strategy in landing Kyle Gibson from the Rangers at last year’s deadline, and landing a starter who is controlled through at least 2023 would give the Phillies some cover since Gibson and Zach Eflin could both be free agents this winter.
The rotation seems to be Philadelphia’s top priority at this point, as Stark says that the Phillies aren’t focused on any bullpen moves for the moment. This is a little surprising given the Phils’ longstanding needs in the relief corps, but it could be that Dombrowski is first exploring his options with the starter market before turning to the (relatively) easier route of adding relievers. Also, virtually every contender in baseball is looking for relievers right now, so Dombrowski could be opting to make some late strikes after the first wave or two of bullpen trades have been made.