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AL East Notes: Yanks, Danks, O’s, Harvey, Rays

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Here’s the latest from the AL East:

  • While Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com hears that the Yankees are still keeping communication open with the White Sox on starter John Danks, Joel Sherman of the New York Post says on Twitter that New York is not going after mid-level arms like Danks or Brett Anderson of the Rockies.
  • The Orioles have discussed moving starter Miguel Gonzalez as part of multiple hypothetical trades, tweets Chris Cotillo of MLBDailyDish.com. That includes conversations with the Padres and the Phillies, says Cotillo.
  • Baltimore is considering Neal Cotts of the Rangers, among other lefties that can work against hitters of both sides, Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun reports (Twitter links). This meshes with an earlier report via ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark. Other possibilities, per Connolly, are Tony Sipp of the Astros, Andrew Miller of the Red Sox, and Oliver Perez of the Diamondbacks. The Orioles do not view the Phillies’ Antonio Bastardo as an option, says Connolly.
  • Rising Orioles pitching prospect Hunter Harvey will be shut down for the rest of the season, executive VP Dan Duquette told reports including MLB.com’s Britt Ghiroli (Twitter link). The prognosis looks good, however, as he does not have ligament damage but rather a flexor mass strain, according to Connolly (via Twitter). While the club seemed unlikely to use Harvey as a trade chip anyway, this likely removes him from contention for the time being.
  • The Rays are still willing to discuss not only David Price but also Ben Zobrist and Matt Joyce, according to a tweet from Jon Morosi of FOX Sports.

Stark’s Latest: Price, Lee, Lackey, O’s, Yanks, Payroll Limits

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Here’s the latest from ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark:

  • The Rays are still holding onto David Price unless and until an offer forces a move. “I’d say they’re kind of where they were all winter,” said a competing executive. “Yeah, they’d trade him. But you’ve got to make it so they can’t say no.”
  • Though both sides explored the possibility, the Cardinals and Phillies did not match up on a potential Cliff Lee deal. With Philly seeking a “major prospect” in return, the Cards ultimately turned elsewhere and added Justin Masterson. While St. Louis seemed the best fit for a pre-deadline deal with Lee, Philadelphia still is looking to see if the lefty can be moved before August.
  • The Red Sox are encountering some skepticism from trade partners that John Lackey will play for the league minimum rate next year, as provided by his contract. Of course, that provision makes up a huge portion of Lackey’s trade value, as he would not only contribute down the stretch in 2014 but looks like a very solid rotation piece at a replacement-level price for 2015.
  • The Orioles seem to be focusing more on adding a reliever at this point than a starter, says Stark. Baltimore has been liked to Neal Cotts of the Rangers and Oliver Perez of the Diamondbacks, neither of whom is a pure LOOGY.
  • In search of bullpen help, the Yankees have inquired into Joaquin Benoit of the Padres, James Russell of the Cubs, and Antonio Bastardo of the Phillies. The club has also checked on outfielders Marlon Byrd of the Phillies and Dayan Viciedo of the White Sox.
  • The Blue Jays, Braves, and Royals are telling teams they cannot add significant payroll in a trade, though Kansas City could take on a starter who would slot in place of James Shields next year.

Mariners Out On Byrd; Yankees Have Interest

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The Mariners are no longer pursuing Marlon Byrd, sources tell Jayson Stark of ESPN (Twitter link), but the Yankees do have some interest in the Phillies outfielder. However, the Yankees, like other teams, are wary of Byrd’s $8MM vesting option for the 2016 season.

Byrd has been connected to many clubs, but the easily attainable vesting option for what would be his age-37 season has been problematic, as has a four-team no-trade clause. The Mariners and Royals — two teams who have had interest in Byrd — are both on the list, and Byrd has reportedly requested that either team guarantee his option in order to facilitate a trade.

The Yankees have been aggressive in acquiring veteran players such as Brandon McCarthy and Chase Headley, so their interest in Byrd isn’t surprising. Yankees right fielders have batted just .238/.281/.368 this season, while Byrd has slashed .270/.318/.477. He’s earning $8MM this year and next, in addition to the aforementioned vesting option.

Phillies Make Hamels Available; Dodgers Interested

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WEDNESDAY: The Phillies have requested multiple top prospects from the Dodgers, Red Sox and Yankees, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports, but officials who have expressed interest get the impression that Philadelphia isn’t serious about trading its ace.

MONDAY, 3:50pm: In today’s Rumblings & Grumblings column, ESPN’s Jayson Stark touched on Hamels’ availability (highlights from the rest of the piece can be seen here, though it’s worth reading in its entirety).

Officials from other teams tell Stark that the Phillies are asking for each team’s top three or four prospects in any Hamels deal, but they’re only willing to eat about $10MM of the remaining $90MM+ on Hamels’ contract. Stark quotes one unnamed executive, who told him, “Ruben wants his doors blown off in order to trade him. And you don’t get your doors blown off if this kind of money is attached. It doesn’t work that way.”

Meanwhile, Morosi hears that the Dodgers and Cardinals are the two most likely clubs to acquire Hamels (Twitter link).

3:03pm: Though we’ve been hearing for weeks that the Phillies won’t move ace Cole Hamels, Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports hears that the team has now made the lefty available, and the Dodgers are interested (Twitter link). However, the asking price on Hamels is still said to be very high, per Morosi.

Recently, it was reported that Hamels could block trades to 20 teams. The nine teams to which Hamels cannot block a trade are the Dodgers, Angels, Cardinals, Nationals, Braves, Yankees, Red Sox, Rangers and Padres, so he wouldn’t have any say should the Dodgers put together a strong enough offer.

Hamels, 30, is enjoying yet another strong season atop Philadelphia’s rotation, having pitched to a 2.72 ERA with 9.2 K/9, 2.9 BB/9 and a 47.5 percent ground-ball rate in 122 1/3 innings. He’s earning $22.5MM in 2014 and is guaranteed $90MM from 2015-18, with a $20MM club option for the 2019 season that can vest at $24MM with 400 innings from 2017-18 or 200 innings in 2018. He has about $7.87MM remaining on this year’s salary, meaning that he’s guaranteed another $97.87MM and could earn as much as $121.87MM before hitting free agency.

The Dodgers appear to be looking to make a big splash on the pitching front, as they’ve been oft-linked to David Price and have recently been heavily connected to Red Sox ace Jon Lester. Los Angeles has reportedly been loath to part with both Corey Seager and Joc Pederson in trades, but it’s worth wondering if they’d part with both hitters in order to acquire someone with so much team control remaining. Left-hander Julio Urias has seen his stock skyrocket in 2014 as well, while other pitching prospects such as Zach Lee, Chris Anderson and Tom Windle have delivered relatively disappointing results this year.

The Dodgers’ interest in Hamels isn’t entirely surprising, as the team could lose Zack Greinke to an opt-out clause following the 2015 season. Hamels would give them a dominant arm to pair with Clayton Kershaw in the event that Greinke signs elsewhere.

Latest On Cardinals’ Pitching Search

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The Cardinals have been strongly linked to starting pitching, and the club is making its final assessments in advance of the trade deadline, according to Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. It appears that St. Louis is aiming for a fairly impactful arm to slot into its rotation.

In addition to Cole Hamels, the club is at least doing background work on Cliff Lee and A.J. Burnett of the Phillies. (As Strauss’s colleague Derrick Goold recently reported, Philadelphia is watching the Cards’ Triple-A club.) Likewise, the Cards are performing diligence on Jon Lester of the Red Sox, Ian Kennedy of the Padres, Justin Masterson of the Indians, and David Price of the Rays — among others — according to Strauss. That does not necessarily mean that the club intends to make offers on any or all of these pitchers, of course, but at least seems to indicate the direction of GM John Mozeliak’s thinking.

Though the team’s offense has lagged at times, it seems likely at this point that the Cardinals will count on its in-house options to increase their output to put runs on the board. But with Michael Wacha and Jaime Garcia out of action, and varying degrees of uncertainty surrounding Shelby Miller and Carlos Martinez, a rotation addition seems quite likely.

Quick Hits: Cards, Fish, Willingham, Sox, Kemp, Lindstrom

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It’s been a busy afternoon, but no deals have gone down; let’s round up some worthwhile recent news and rumors as the market heats up:

  • The Cardinals are in need of a starter for Saturday, and manager Mike Matheny says that it could go to an arm that is not currently in the organization, as Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. Philadelphia has sent a scout to watch the Cardinals’ top minor league affiliate, Goold adds. As he indicates, it is easy to see the Cards showing interest in the Phillies’ Cole Hamels given his high-end talent and extended team control. On the other hand, a recent report suggests that the Phils have yet to go very far down the line in discussing Hamels, and the club is said to be looking for an overwhelming return to part with the lefty.
  • For the Marlins, the desire to add a top-end starter does not mean that the team will part with any core MLB players, including outfielder Christian Yelich, reports MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro. Additionally, Miami remains more interested in adding an arm that it can control past this season. The club therefore might be more inclined to pursue John Lackey than Jon Lester from the Red Sox, and would have “heavy interest” if David Price of the Rays were to be made available. Frisaro says the club is working hard to make one or two deals by the trade deadline.
  • The Mariners are currently discussing outfielder Josh Willingham with the Twins, sources tell Jon Morosi of FOX Sports (Twitter link). The sides were connected a few weeks back by Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com, and Seattle has long been said to be seeking a right-handed bat for the outfield. Also still in the mix on Willingham are the Yankees, among other teams including Seattle, reports Heyman.
  • Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp interests the Red Sox whether or not he would be involved in a hypothetical deal for Lester, reports Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.com (Twitter links). Boston has scouted him on and off over the last month, says Edes, and would consider adding him over the offseason if nothing comes to pass this summer.
  • The Rangers are working to deal outfielder Alex Rios, a source with a team interested in a bat tells Andy Martino of the New York Daily News (Twitter link). Rios, who was off to a hot start, struggled mightily in June and but has improved to a .304/.317/.405 line for the month of July.
  • White Sox reliever Matt Lindstrom is nearing a rehab stint, MLB.com’s Scott Merkin reports on Twitter. The 34-year-old owns a 3.32 ERA through 19 innings, and could be a possible August trade chip if he can return healthy. He is playing on a $4MM salary this year before hitting the open market.

Phillies Have Not Had “Meaningful Dialogue” On Hamels

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The Phillies have not reached the point of receiving offers or making “specific requests” for packages involving lefty Cole Hamels, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports (Twitter links). Indeed, the team has had no “meaningful dialogue” regarding Hamels, Rosenthal reports.

That would seem to be in some tension with an early report from Bob Nightengale, which indicated that the Phillies had responded to a Dodger inquiry on the price for Hamels (which was said to be quite steep).

A source tells Rosenthal that a deal involving Hamels is the least likely possibility among the trades that the team is contemplating. That is not a surprising assessment, given that the lefty is currently healthy, productive, relatively young, and under team control for five more years (one via option).

 

 

Nightengale’s Latest: Hamels, Phillies, Dodgers, Lester, Price

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Here’s the latest from Bob Nightengale of USA Today, who provides several interesting trade market updates:

  • The Dodgers recently inquired about Phillies starter Cole Hamels, and were asked for a return that included all of Joc Pederson, Corey Seager, and Julio Urias. Los Angeles indicated it had no interest in a deal with that framework, but Philadelphia has not move yet from that asking price. The Phils are telling clubs that it wants three top-tier youngsters and another mid-level prospect in return for Hamels.
  • Nightengale suggests that the Phillies might, however, consider a lesser return in a deal that would include a mix of Hamels along with several of the club’s less-attractive long-term commitments. Ryan Howard and Jonathan Papelbon would figure to be involved in such a scenario, Nightengale notes, which might free the Phillies to be a big player in next year’s free agent market.
  • Team sources indicated that the club has not yet had discussions of that kind of trade, however, and Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer opines (Twitter links) that the team will not accept a more modest return on Hamels simply to move other contracts. The team wants three or four top prospects and would not pay any of Hamels’ future obligations, he adds.
  • As for the Dodgers, a deal involving Matt Kemp seems inevitable, given the disagreement between club and player on his role. But it remains to be seen whether he is deal this summer or over the offseason. (It is worth noting, of course, that Kemp would be a hypothetical August trade piece given his huge contract.)
  • The Red Sox are asking for two high-end prospects in return for Lester, executives who are involved in talks tell Nightengale. A hypothetical return for him would not rise to the level of what the Rays could get for their top lefty, David Price, the sources say. Price not only has an additional year of control, but would come with a much more promising window for extension talks and could at least allow a new team to recoup some value through a qualifying offer.
  • The Rays face a tough decision on Price: they would face serious internal repercussions for moving him at this point, but are tantalized by the possibilities of a return. Nightengales suggests that Tampa has reason to believe it could pry Oscar Taveras, Shelby Miller, and a 2015 first-round compensation pick from the Cardinals in a swap involving Price.

Stark’s Latest: Lester, Burnett, Lee, Kennedy, Lackey, Suzuki

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Jon Lester remains the most-discussed name at the moment, and ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark contributes his take after discussing the lefty with several club executives who will not be involved in any deals. He discusses the possibility of eight teams going after Lester: the Dodgers, Cardinals, Mariners, Orioles, Blue Jays, Braves, Brewers, and Pirates. Though Los Angeles still seems unwilling to part with any of its premium prospects, Stark tabs them the likeliest landing spot.

Of course, Stark also provides a number of important updates from elsewhere in the market in his latest post. Here are the key takeaways:

  • Talks between the Phillies and Pirates regarding A.J. Burnett are “all but dead,” writes Stark. The issue is that Burnett has been unwilling to give an assurance that he would not pick up his player option for next season, creating too much financial uncertainty for Pittsburgh. Meanwhile, the Phillies have not yet abandoned hope of dealing fellow starter Cliff Lee before the deadline, though an official says that they want significant prospects in return.
  • Meanwhile, it remains to be seen if David Price of the Rays or Ian Kennedy of the Padres are moved, with Stark writing that the former will be a last-minute decision and the latter remains a 50-50 proposition. With the GM seat still unfilled in San Diego, and given that Kennedy remains under control for next year, the club is unwilling to move him unless the return includes a starter capable of stepping into the rotation along with another prospect.
  • The Red Sox are asking for a strong return on John Lackey in discussions. The club wants an established major league starter, presumably with additional control. If that is part of the return on Lester, however, the club might be open to more flexibility in a return for Lackey.
  • The Twins are telling inquiring clubs that they have not yet given up on extending Kurt Suzuki, and could keep him past the deadline. If that occurs, the team could still consider August deals, though the waiver process (and Suzuki’s cheap contract) could prove a hindrance.
  • Scouting trips can obviously be undertaken for many purposes, but Stark provides a few interesting ones to note: The Rangers have scouted the Nationals’ top affiliate this weekend; though rumors quickly died down, Washington was said to have inquired about Adrian Beltre. The White Sox are looking at the affiliates of the Yankees, Blue Jays, and Red Sox as they consider offers for John Danks. And the Red Sox have scouted the Triple-A affiliate of the Braves, who are said to be very interested in lefty Andrew Miller.

Olney’s Latest: Marlins, Lester, Phils, Suzuki, Kemp

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Rival executives continue to say that the Marlins are lurking in the trade market, looking to acquire a starting pitcher that can help them beyond the 2014 season, writes Buster Olney in his latest ESPN Insider-only blog post. Marlins president of baseball ops Michael Hill has said the team won’t be sellers — as first noted by Manny Navarro of the Miami Herald on Monday — and Olney calls them “an intriguing candidate to surprise” before the deadline. He points out that Miami is closer to the division lead in the NL East than the Rays are in the AL East.

Here are some more highlights from Olney’s latest efforts…

  • Executives who have spoken with the Red Sox expect them to trade Jon Lester and others before Thursday’s deadline, because the team can extract more value from a trade than it could through draft pick compensation. Olney also spoke with a close friend of Lester, who told him that there’s “no chance” Lester will sign with the Sox at this point.
  • With less than three days until the trade deadline, the Phillies have made zero trades despite being among the league’s most obvious selling candidates. Officials who have spoken with the Phils have found it difficult to gain traction in trade talks and wonder how committed the team is to moving its veteran pieces. Olney writes that it will take a devotion to change, no matter the cost, for the Phillies to turn their roster over, because they possess so many expensive players.
  • Kurt Suzuki of the Twins may be the only starting-caliber catcher available in trades, but with few contenders in need of a starter, there isn’t a huge market for him. However, as Olney notes, he’s not a candidate for a qualifying offer, so the Twins are in a tough spot.
  • Though Matt Kemp is a big name on the trade market, his performance hardly lines up with his reputation or to how he is valued by rival clubs. Olney spoke with two rival executives from separate teams what they would pay Kemp as a free agent and received nearly identical answers: a two-year, $15MM deal and a two-year, $16MM deal. Their best chance to move him may be to package him with a top prospect while still eating lots of salary.
  • Teams around the league still feel that the Dodgers are the most likely club to pull off a trade for Lester or David Price due to ownership’s “must-win” mantra and the team’s considerable resources.
  • Even if the Red Sox don’t move Stephen Drew, he could still be dealt in August. As Olney notes, Drew is similar to Cliff Lee in that the non-waiver trade deadline doesn’t apply to him, as each player is seen as too expensive relative to his remaining salary. Drew should clear waivers and give Boston a chance to deal him if he he starts hitting better, and at that point, he’ll have less money remaining on his contract as well.
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