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Julio Teheran

Cafardo’s Latest: BoSox, Royals, O’s, Jays, Yanks, Rays, A’s, Phils, Twins, Angels

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Scouts from the Red Sox, Royals, Orioles and Blue Jays were on hand to watch Athletics left-hander Rich Hill’s Thursday start, according to the Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo, who writes that the 36-year-old would likely prefer a return to Boston. With the help of ex-major league pitcher Brian Bannister at Triple-A Pawtucket, Hill began reviving his career as part of the Red Sox organization late last summer after a stint in the independent Atlantic League.“Brian pointed out that (Clayton) Kershaw threw his curveball 45 percent of the time,” said Hill. “He basically emphasized that, take what you think are your best pitches and use them correctly. So with me, it was not only throwing the curveball but throwing it at different speeds, changing the shape of it as well as manipulating the spin on the fastball.” Hill took Bannister’s advice and has relied almost exclusively on his curveball and fastball since the Red Sox called him up last September. The results? Ninety-nine innings of 2.06 ERA ball to accompany a 10.8 K/9, 2.83 BB/9, 49.6 percent ground-ball rate and 17.9 percent infield fly mark. Hill could soon end up as the premier starter dealt by the Aug. 1 deadline, and the pitching-challenged Red Sox – who added Bannister to their coaching staff earlier this week – seem like a logical fit. For now, Hill is scheduled to start again Friday for the A’s, who bought low on him in the offseason (one year, $6MM) and have reaped the rewards.

More from Cafardo:

  • In the event the Braves shop right-hander Julio Teheran, one major league source told Cafardo, “The Braves don’t want anyone’s B- list. It’s got to be at the top of anyone’s prospect list, and it just looks complicated.” As a strong, in-his-prime performer who’s controllable through 2020 on an extremely team-friendly contract, Teheran is one of rebuilding Atlanta’s best assets.
  • The Red Sox recently sent senior vice president of baseball operations Frank Wren – their top talent evaluator – to St. Petersburg, Fla., to observe division-rival Rays righty Jake Odorizzi. Last-place Tampa Bay is considering shopping Odorizzi, who should draw plenty of interest given his cheap salary ($520,700) and three years of arbitration eligibility remaining. The 26-year-old has compiled a 4.33 ERA, 8.49 K/9, 2.98 BB/9 in 99 2/3 frames this season. He previously combined for 337 1/3 innings of 3.74 ERA pitching and similar strikeout and walk rates from 2014-15.
  • The water-treading Yankees would want a far better return for dominant lefty closer Aroldis Chapman than the one they gave up for him during the winter. The Bombers sent prospects Eric Jagielo, Tony Renda, Rookie Davis and Caleb Cotham to Cincinnati for Chapman amid his domestic violence allegations last December. Chapman ended up sitting out the first month-plus of the season because of a suspension related to that incident, but the soon-to-be free agent has continued his reign as one of baseball’s premier relievers since.
  • As of earlier this week, the Red Sox were scouting Phillies 29-year-old right-hander Jeremy Hellickson, a pending free agent who has posted a 3.92 ERA, 7.92 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9 in 105 2/3 innings this season. Preparing for a possible trade, the Phillies have reciprocated by scouting Boston’s farm system.
  • Various major league executives think highly of Twins righty and potential trade piece Ervin Santana as a mid-rotation option. While Santana has a suspension for performance-enhancing drugs in his past, the 33-year-old has long served as a respectable starter. That includes this year, in which has logged a 4.06 ERA, 6.58 K/9 and 2.52 BB/9 over 93 innings. Santana is signed through 2018 at $13.5MM per annum, so he wouldn’t be a rental.
  • The Red Sox considered trading for Athletics infielder Jed Lowrie before acquiring Aaron Hill from the Brewers on Thursday. But Hill’s relationship with Red Sox infield coach Brian Butterfield helped tip the scales in his favor. Lowrie played in Boston from 2008-11 after the franchise drafted him 45th overall in 2005.
  • The Angels are likely to deal right-handed setup man Joe Smith, whom many teams are eyeing. The 32-year-old has pitched poorly this season, though, with a 4.80 ERA, 6.6 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9 across 30 innings. Smith, who’s on a $5.25MM salary, entered the year off five straight strong campaigns and is set to become a free agent at season’s end.

AL Trade Notes: Twins, ERod, Red Sox Pitching, Hill

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Twins GM Terry Ryan says that his organization had “better be open for business, which we are,” as MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger reports. Minnesota seems ready to market its trade chips, though it’s still unclear how the club will approach the deadline. Its best pieces, as we just covered in MLBTR’s top trade candidate series, include righty Ervin Santana, utilityman Eduardo Nunez, and relievers Fernando Abad and Brandon Kintzler. Ryan says he’s willing to consider any type of prospect in its trade discussions, and noted that the organization “wouldn’t be opposed” to paying down some contractual obligations “if you’re getting a good player back and it takes some money to do it.” He did note, however, that the Twins typically don’t hang onto cash when dealing a player.

Here’s more from the American League:

  • Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski says that he still has hope that Eduardo Rodriguez can contribute to the team this year, as Alex Speier of the Boston Globe reports. That assessment could well have an impact on the team’s approach to the trade deadline. “If people would be looking to say we’re going to be getting someone more talented than Eduardo Rodriguez, it’s not going to happen,” said Dombrowski. “They’re just not out there. They’re not out there and available. Sometimes you’ve got to fix some things internally. We’ll see what happens.”
  • Regardless of the Red Sox’ views on Rodriguez, the team figures to be in the hunt for at least one rotation arm. As Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald reports, Boston has been in touch with the Padres, who could market Drew Pomeranz and/or Andrew Cashner (though the latter had a really rough outing tonight). Also, senior VP of baseball ops Frank Wren is said to have watched both Rich Hill of the Athletics and Julio Teheran of the Braves recently.
  • Hill has returned from the DL to rave reviews for the Athletics, and both Drellich and Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle suggest that widespread interest is building in the southpaw. The former cites the Red Sox, Dodgers, Cubs, and Tigers as organizations that are taking a look at Hill. And Slusser adds yet more teams to the possible mix, listing the Blue Jays, Royals, and Orioles as possible suitors that have been watching him pitch of late. While Hill’s frequent injuries limit his appeal somewhat, there’s an argument to be made that he’s the best pure rental piece available this summer.

Cafardo’s Latest: Yanks, Rays, BoSox, Dodgers

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Surprisingly, Yankees left-hander CC Sabathia has revived his career to the point that he might actually have value in a trade, according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. The soon-to-be 36-year-old has bounced back from multiple underwhelming seasons in a row to post an excellent 3.17 ERA in 76 2/3 innings in 2016, through his strikeout and walk ratios per nine innings (7.16 and 3.52) are each below average and he’s on a $25MM salary through 2017. In addition to Sabathia, hot-hitting 39-year-old right fielder/designated hitter Carlos Beltran, left fielder Brett Gardner, catcher Brian McCann, third baseman Chase Headley, and starters Michael Pineda and Nathan Eovaldi are Yankees who could have value around the deadline (not to mention their much-ballyhooed relievers, of course). The only member of that group who’s set to become a free agent at season’s end is Beltran. As Cafardo points out, it’s currently up in the air whether the playoff hopeful Yankees would move any of these players, though he wonders if clinging to postseason dreams is the right course for the 39-41 club.

More inside stuff from Cafardo:

  • Led by former Rays general manager and current president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, the Dodgers are in pursuit of Tampa Bay right-hander Chris Archer. The Rays aren’t planning on moving the 27-year-old as of now, though, which backs up FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal’s report from Saturday.
  • The presence of senior vice president of baseball operations Frank Wren, formerly the Braves’ GM, could lead the Red Sox to go after Atlanta right-hander Julio Teheran. Wren – who’s high on Teheran – is Red Sox president Dave Dombrowski’s right-hand man, Cafardo notes, and could push him toward putting together a package for the 25-year-old.
  • If they’re unable to swing a deal for Teheran, the Red Sox might turn their attention to Rays southpaw Matt Moore – in whom they’re interested. Moore, who has three more years of team control left via club options, also intrigues the Astros, Dodgers, Orioles, Royals, Yankees and previously reported Rangers.
  • With the possible exception of right-handed reliever Zach McAllister, the Indians aren’t going to give up pitching to augment their offense. Further, the organization has a reputation for keeping its payroll low and avoiding big-money acquisitions, which could take it out of the running to pick up a well-compensated trade chip. Athletics third baseman Danny Valencia, who’s on an affordable $3.15MM salary this season and has another trip through arbitration scheduled, is a potential target for Cleveland.
  • Hard-throwing Diamondbacks lefty Robbie Ray, who’s eighth in the majors in K/9 (10.42), is drawing interest from teams looking for starters. The 24-year-old has thrown 214 innings of 4.00 ERA ball dating to 2015 and won’t even become eligible for arbitration until after 2017, meaning he has four full seasons of club control remaining.
  • The Marlins are aggressively pursuing pitching, as evidenced already by their acquisition of reliever Fernando Rodney and reported interest in starters Drew Pomeranz and Jake Odorizzi. However, the Fish might not have the prospects to land a significant arm for their rotation, writes Cafardo.
  • Blue Jays scouts are keeping a close watch over the Astros’ system, so the two AL playoff contenders could have some kind of deal in the works.

NL East Notes: Teheran, Albies, Wright, Alderson, Phillies

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The Braves are giving teams the impression that it’ll take a huge haul to land Julio Teheran, Jayson Stark of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link). In fact, Atlanta is signaling that it wants a return that’s “better than the Shelby Miller deal,” per a rival executive. Despite their many young arms, and ongoing rumblings regarding Teheran, the Braves are actually looking at starting pitching, GM John Coppolella tells David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (on Twitter). Atlanta has had talks about controllable arms, per the report. Presumably, the organization is looking for value opportunities that fit its contention timeline.

Here’s more from the NL East:

  • The Braves have moved hyped prospect Ozhaino Albies down to Double-A, O’Brien tweets. It’s not a demotion, though Albies was struggling a bit at Triple-A. He’ll play second base there, pairing up with shortstop Dansby Swanson as the team’s hopeful future double-play combo gets comfortable together.
  • Injured Mets third baseman David Wright spoke to the media today and left the impression that he’s unlikely to return this year, as MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo was among those to report. (Twitter links.) When asked whether he thought he’d be back for 2016, Wright responded: “I don’t know. I really don’t know.” But the veteran did emphasize that he has every expectation of returning to the field at some point in the future.
  • Meanwhile, Mets GM Sandy Alderson suggested recently that he doesn’t believe a major new addition is necessary to boost the team. As Marc Carig of Newsday tweets, Alderson says: “We have the capacity in the 25-man roster at this point to improve over what we’ve done over the last couple of months.”
  • The Phillies don’t expect any major player movement this summer, MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki writes. Notably, Philadelphia isn’t even sure it’ll deal righty Jeremy Hellickson, who is only under contract for this season and is pitching well enough that he’ll draw interest (though probably not a terribly exciting return). The club is under even less pressure with its relief corps, which hasn’t been quite as electric in recent weeks but still has several interesting options.

Heyman’s Latest: Yankees, Pirates, Teheran, Marlins

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There appear to be different viewpoints in the Yankees front office about how to approach the deadline, Jon Heyman of todaysknuckleball.com writes. GM Brian Cashman may actually be more inclined to sell some assets than is the ownership and upper-level management, per the report.

After a long look at that situation, Heyman goes on to provide some other notes from around the game:

  • Some within the Yankees think there’s a very good chance that Aroldis Chapman will be around for the long-term, whether that comes about via extension or a re-signing over the winter. Meanwhile, a team official says the price on Andrew Miller is so high that the odds he’ll be dealt are miniscule.
  • The Pirates could sell off a few short-term pieces if the club isn’t in contention come late July, but a broader sale isn’t expected. Heyman suggests Francisco Liriano, Mark Melancon, David Freese, and perhaps Tony Watson as plausible trade chips. You could probably also throw names like Matt Joyce, Sean Rodriguez, and Juan Nicasio into the mix as well.
  • Julio Teheran may be pitching his way out of a trade for the Braves, says Heyman. Rival executives suggest that they see a trade as unlikely, and also gave some endorsement of his value. Heyman cites three who believe Teheran is a better trade piece than Sonny Gray of the Athletics at this stage.
  • There’s plenty of demand on the starting pitching market, which is perhaps one reason to think that some arms could end up being pried loose. Heyman lists the Orioles, Red Sox, Dodgers, Tigers, Rangers, Blue Jays, Astros, Mariners, and Yankees as looking for rotation pieces.
  • The Marlins are also reputed to be looking for starting pitching, with Drew Pomeranz on the wish list. But a Miami source tells Heyman that the team finds it “hard to trust Pomeranz” given his relatively thin track record.
  • The Padres “at least took a look” at Jose Reyes before he signed with the Mets, per Heyman. It isn’t clear what sort of opportunity San Diego was interested in offering, but it’s not surprising to hear that the organization is looking for low-cost ways to seek value.

NL East Notes: Teheran, Mets, Dietrich, Phillies

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The Julio Teheran trade rumors have been swirling for more than a month, but Braves GM John Coppolella recently made strong suggestions that his ace would be staying put, and Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports now writes that he spoke to a Braves official who emphatically told him, “We are not trading Teheran.” A second Braves official offered similar sentiments, saying that the Braves are “99.9 percent” certain they’ll hang onto Teheran. While a staggering offer can always change an organization’s thinking, it’s sounding more and more like a Teheran trade is more wishful thinking for interested parties than anything else.

More from the NL East…

  • The Mets’ struggles to score runs are becoming increasingly problematic, but as Ken Davidoff of the New York Post writes, remedying the situation will be more difficult than it was in 2015. For one, the team isn’t likely to add a Yoenis Cespedes-caliber talent on the trade market this year (especially not after depleting its farm). Moreover, the Mets actually are receiving league-average or better production from nearly every spot on the diamond (with the exception of catcher), but the team is woefully underperforming with runners in scoring position. As such, Davidoff suggests that if the Mets are going to right the ship and get back into the race for the NL East title, the majority of the improvements are going to have come from options that are already in house.
  • Marlins infielder Derek Dietrich will continue to get at-bats even when Dee Gordon returns from his suspension at the end of July, president of baseball operations Michael Hill tells Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. Hill explains that the Marlins have always thought Dietrich could blossom into an everyday player “because of his offensive potential, his knowledge of the strike zone, his ability to get on base.” The problem, in the past, has been finding a defensive home for Dietrich. Miami has tried him at second base, third base and in left field over the past couple of seasons. Dietrich could make sense to be deployed in a utility capacity over the season’s final months, and while this is my speculation rather than Hill’s suggestion, the team will have an opening at third base next season in the event that free-agent-to-be Martin Prado doesn’t re-sign with Miami. Dietrich is hitting .306/.394/.447 with a career-low 17.8 percent strikeout rate this season.
  • Right-hander Edubray Ramos, who was recently promoted to the Majors by the Phillies, has the makings of a future closer, manager Pete Mackanin tells Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Gelb writes that at last October’s organizational meetings, the need to protect Ramos from the Rule 5 Draft was raised by a number of officials, and the decision to do so was agreed upon quickly. Ramos didn’t make the club out of Spring Training, but he posted a 2.40 ERA through his first 15 innings at Double-A before turning in a ridiculous 0.38 ERA with a 26-to-3 K/BB ratio in 23 2/3 Triple-A innings prior to his promotion. Gelb writes that if Jeanmar Gomez is traded to a contender sometime next month, it’s not out of the question that the 23-year-old Ramos could be closing games for the Phils in September.

East Notes: Sox, Buchholz, Braves, Teheran, Phillies

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In his latest rough outing, Red Sox right-hander Clay Buchholz allowed five runs (four earned) on seven hits and five walks Sunday in a 6-2 loss to the Rangers. Afterward, manager John Farrell was noncommittal about Buchholz making his next start, per Scott Lauber of ESPN.com, though he conceded that the team might not have a better option. As their depth chart shows, Triple-A possibilities include Roenis Elias, Henry Owens and Joe Kelly, though each has fared terribly in the majors this year. Buchholz, who has spent some time in the bullpen this season, has logged a 5.90 ERA, 6.13 K/9, 4.24 BB/9 and 41.2 percent ground-ball rate through 76 1/3 innings. Those numbers are all markedly worse than the 31-year-old’s career totals and especially the terrific production he put up in 2015.

More from Boston and a couple NL East cities:

  • The Red Sox are scanning the trade market for help, but there are only five teams that have declared themselves sellers thus far as the Aug. 1 deadline nears, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said Sunday. “It’s still a little early,” stated Dombrowski, who added that the Red Sox are “scuffling for positional players at this point.” (Twitter links via Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald). Injuries have sapped the Sox of depth in left field, where Brock Holt, Blake Swihart and Chris Young are all on the disabled list.
  • Red-hot Braves starter Julio Teheran has drawn interest from starter-needy Boston, but Atlanta might be better off retaining the 25-year-old than trading him, David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution argues. O’Brien points to Teheran’s age, ultra-palatable contract and the lack of quality starters set to hit free agency during the upcoming offseason as reasons for the rebuilding Braves to go forth with the right-hander, who has thrown 23 straight innings without allowing a run and has lowered his ERA to a stingy 2.46 through 106 frames. Teheran has also recorded career-best strikeout and walk rates per nine innings (8.41 and 2.04, respectively) to this point. ERA estimators like FIP (3.68), xFIP (4.00) and SIERA (3.72) aren’t quite buying his results, but Teheran has consistently outperformed those figures throughout his career.
  • Phillies manager Pete Mackanin admitted Saturday that he’s in a bind with his team’s catchers, Carlos Ruiz and Cameron Rupp. “That’s the hard part of about this job. You have to give up something to get something, and right now we need offense. At least right now, Cam offers more offense,” Mackanin told Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer. “However, is it more important to guide the young pitcher and bring him along with some veteran experience?” With his .270/.306/.483 batting line and seven home runs in 183 plate appearances, the 27-year-old Rupp has been a bright spot in a toothless Phillies offense, though his 48:6 K:BB ratio doesn’t bode well going forward. However, while Mackanin’s worried about Rupp’s ability (or lack thereof) to aid his pitching staff, the backstop has graded well in the pitch-framing department this year. That’s not true of the 37-year-old Ruiz, who has also contributed to Philly’s offensive woes with a .219/.311/.333 line in 119 trips to the plate. Nevertheless, Mackanin is bullish on Ruiz’s game-calling abilities, notes Gelb.
  • Mackanin had center fielder Odubel Herrera shag fly balls in right field prior to the Phillies’ game Saturday, but that doesn’t mean a position change is coming. “If he reads something into it, good,” said Mackanin (via Todd Zolecki of MLB.com). “Maybe he’ll think that he needs to do better. There’s nothing imminent. There’s no plans for me to move him out of there.” Notably, Herrera ranks last among qualified center fielders this year in Defensive Runs Saved (minus-7) and also grades poorly in Ultimate Zone Rating, but he has combated his fielding woes with a stellar .299/.392/.427 offensive showing and eight home runs through 319 PAs, also adding 41 walks against 58 strikeouts.

East Notes: Red Sox, Teheran, Hamels, Rays, Crawford

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Cole Hamels, whose contract permits him to block deals to 20 teams, would not have prevented the Phillies from sending him to the Red Sox, writes WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford. “It was a team I would have played for,” says Hamels, who adds that he believes the two sides were never close to trade. The Red Sox pursued Hamels before the Phillies traded him to Texas, but the lefty could block a trade to Boston, and at least some members of the organization believed that was an obstacle. The Hamels deal has, of course, worked out well for the Rangers so far — Hamels was solid down the stretch last year and has a 2.79 ERA, 8.8 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 this season. There’s still plenty of time for the trade to turn out well for the Phillies, however, with Jerad Eickhoff already performing well in the big leagues and Nick Williams, Jake Thompson, Jorge Alfaro and Alec Asher all looking like potential future contributors. Here’s more from the East divisions.

  • The Red Sox have the strong farm system necessary to acquire Julio Teheran and Arodys Vizcaino from the Braves, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe writes. Braves GM John Coppolella, of course, recently said he wasn’t going to trade Teheran, but Cafardo dismisses that claim as “GM speak” and points out that Red Sox senior vice president of baseball operations Frank Wren was GM of the Braves when Teheran and Vizcaino were coming through their system. (Vizcaino played minor league ball in the Yankees and Cubs organizations as well.) Cafardo points to the Red Sox’ 2005 trade of Hanley Ramirez and Anibal Sanchez to the Marlins for Josh Beckett, Mike Lowell and Guillermo Mota. The Red Sox paid heavily, as they would likely have to do to acquire Teheran and Vizcaino, but they won the 2007 World Series partially because of the deal.
  • It’s less likely that the Rays will pursue a reunion with free agent Carl Crawford now that they’ve acquired fellow outfielders Oswaldo Arcia and Eury Perez on a pair of minor deals, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal tweets. Arcia, in particular, is out of options, which would somewhat limit the Rays’ flexibility in adding another outfielder, such as Crawford, to their roster. The Rays’ outfield has been decimated by injuries, with Kevin Kiermeier, Steven Souza, Brandon Guyer, Mikie Mahtook and Steve Pearce (who the Rays have used as an infielder and DH but who has ample outfield experience) all on the DL. The Rays currently have Arcia, Desmond Jennings, Taylor Motter and Jaff Decker to man the outfield positions. Crawford, formerly a standout with the Rays, batted .185/.230/.235 in 87 plate appearances with the Dodgers before being released earlier this month.

Braves GM John Coppolella Discusses Braves’ Rebuilding Efforts

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In a lengthy Twitter dialogue with fans today, Braves GM John Coppolella discussed a variety of interesting topics rather forthrightly. There’s plenty to chew on here (all links on the chat are to Twitter):

  • Starter Julio Teheran has drawn quite a bit of attention as a possible trade candidate; as I noted recently in ranking him amongst the 15 top trade candidates, the team could conceivably cut a deal in a market that could be short of quality rotation pieces. MLBTR has examined that matter from both sides recently (see here and here). But the GM didn’t seem to think that was a compelling concept. “I don’t see us trading Teheran at this point,” said Coppolella. “He’s almost into ’right-arm’ type status for us right now.”
  • That last note was a reference to his now-famous comment about the unavailability of first baseman Freddie Freeman. It seems that other clubs have received the message loud and clear, as Coppolella says that he has not received any recent trade inquiries on the young slugger.
  • The long-term catching situations remains a “big need” that the Braves will look at in free agency, says the Atlanta point-man. It certainly promises to be an interesting area to watch this winter, with players like Wilson Ramos, Matt Wieters, and Jason Castro among the soon-to-be free agents. (And if you’re curious: yes, the Braves would have interest in injured Cubs backstop Kyle Schwarber; but no, it’s not expected he’ll be available.)
  • More generally, the team’s “primary objective” over the winter will be to improve upon a marginal offensive unit, he said. As he seeks to accomplish that, the organization expects to put its various financial improvements to work to “invest in the team,” he said. Atlanta “will have more money to spend this off season than in any of the 10 years I’ve been here,” per Coppolella. He also suggested that the Braves will be increasingly willing to deal prospects for controllable, MLB-level players.
  • Big offensive numbers had been the hope when Atlanta acquired Hector Olivera last summer. Instead, that deal has long been a source of frustration for Braves fans, and Coppolella says he agrees with the concern. It was a “bad trade for us and one that I wish we had back,” he said, adding that “all we can do is learn from it and move forward.”
  • If you’re looking for specific possibilities to find a big bat, it appears there’s at least one name on the wish list and another that can be crossed off. Coppolella says he has contacted Padres GM A.J. Preller “multiple times” to inquire about slugger Wil Myers, though obviously nothing has come to fruition as of yet. He is apparently less intrigued by veteran Cuban star Yulieski Gurriel, however, as the club does not intend to pursue him.
  • For a bit of intrigue, Coppolella suggested that there is plenty of trade chatter going on. He says that he spoke with a dozen general managers from rival clubs yesterday and even hinted that there’s a possible trade in the works as we speak (though he noted it certainly may not come to fruition).

Red Sox Have Shown Interest In Julio Teheran, Arodys Vizcaino

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The Red Sox have reached out to the Braves to inquire about ace Julio Teheran and closer Arodys Vizcaino, reports Jim Bowden of ESPN and MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (Twitter link). However, it would appear that the talks are somewhat preliminary in nature, as he adds that there’s no traction between the two sides at this time. In an audio clip from MLB Network Radio, Bowden adds that the problem for the Sox is that Atlanta is interested in the likes of Yoan Moncada and Andrew Benintendi (understandably so — most clubs would ask for those names when potentially dealing their top players), and the Sox are loath to surrender either.

The two sides do, as Bowden points out, make a fairly logical match in terms of a trade. MLBTR’s Connor Byrne noted as much several weeks ago when examining Teheran’s market and trying to find the most reasonable trade partners. Boston has a high volume of top-tier prospects, many of whom are effectively blocked at the Major League level. That’s not the case for Benintendi (left field for the Sox has been a season-long problem), which one would imagine makes it even more difficult for the Red Sox to part with him. But, the Braves are said to want MLB-ready talent in any trade that would send Teheran away, and that’s presumably an even greater point of emphasis in a package that would see Atlanta part with both Teheran and Vizcaino. Benitendi has already spent five weeks at the Double-A level and has recently begun hitting quite well there after some early struggles. It’s not inconceivable that he could be ready to contribute in 2016, and 2017 certainly seems like a realistic expectation.

Both Teheran and Vizcaino make sense as long-term options for the Sox. Teheran is guaranteed about $28MM through the 2019 season, and his contract contains a $12MM club option for the 2020 campaign, at which point he’ll still be just 29 years of age. Vizcaino, meanwhile, is controllable through 2019 by way of arbitration. Both players solve not only 2016 needs for the Sox but represent long-term upgrades. With Koji Uehara and Junichi Tazawa both slated to depart after 2016, the long-term appeal of Vizcaino, in particular, is easy to see.

From a bigger-picture perspective, the Red Sox’ search for pitching likely won’t be limited to just Atlanta. Boston has received stunningly excellent results from knuckleballer Steven Wright this season, and David Price has improved after a slow start while Rick Porcello has been a solid mid-rotation piece. Beyond that trio, however, the likes of Eduardo Rodriguez, Joe Kelly, Clay Buchholz and Henry Owens have been decidedly ineffective, resulting in a team that ranks 18th in the Majors with a collective 4.53 ERA from its starting pitchers. The bullpen has been better, pitching to a combined 3.56 ERA, but Uehara has struggled this season and Matt Barnes is averaging nearly five walks per nine innings despite a solid 3.21 ERA. Additionally, the team lost one of its top projected bullpen arms when offseason acquisition Carson Smith underwent Tommy John surgery earlier this year. Given the lack of traction in talks referenced by the initial report, the Sox may ultimately deem Atlanta’s asking price too steep and venture elsewhere to address their pitching needs, but this figures to be the first of many times that the Sox are connected to this pair of arms as the Aug. 1 non-waiver deadline approaches.

Regarding the Braves, there’s a fairly split camp on whether Teheran should be shopped at all. The entire MLBTR staff recently weighed in on the matter, and no consensus was reached. Similarly, a poll of MLBTR readers within that same roundtable showed that about two thirds of our reader base felt it worthwhile to shop Teheran, whereas the other third felt him valuable of a building block to surrender.

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