No Traction Between Yankees, Padres On Kimbrel; Astros Out Too
2:48pm: Drellich tweets that the Astros are out on Kimbrel as well.
2:25pm: There have been “zero talks” between the Yankees and Kimbrels in the run-up to the deadline, Sherman tweets.
2:17pm: Rosenthal tweets that there’s no traction between the Yankees and Padres in Kimbrel talks.
12:54pm: Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets that the Yankees believe the Padres to be discussing a larger deal with other teams that involves Kimbrel.
11:39am: Both Rosenthal and Olney (Twitter links) now say there haven’t been any discussions between the Yankees and Padres regarding Kimbrel recently. Olney says there have been none “so far in this work day,” which could suggest that talks have stalled since their overnight discussions.
Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune tweets that multiple teams say GM A.J. Preller has consistently asked for “a ton” in return for Kimbrel.
11:24am: The Yankees are currently the team that is in the hottest pursuit of Kimbrel, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter link).
7:48am: The Yankees and Padres spent much of the night working on a trade to send closer Craig Kimbrel from San Diego to New York, according to Jayson Stark of ESPN.com. The Astros, too, are in the mix for Kimbrel. Stark’s colleague, Buster Olney, tweets that he’s hearing the Yankees connected to Kimbrel as well.
Reports last night indicated that the Yankees would be willing to take on all of the $28MM that Kimbrel is guaranteed through the 2017 season. Stark hears the same but adds that the Yankees are continuing to balk at the possibility of including top prospects Luis Severino, Greg Bird and Aaron Judge in a potential swap. CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman tweets that the Padres have sought top shortstop prospect Jorge Mateo as well but been denied to this point.
Late last night, Yahoo’s Jeff Passan reported that the Padres and Astros were at least discussing something big that involved Kimbrel and possibly one of Tyson Ross or Andrew Cashner. Stark adds today that it’s not known how much of Kimbrel’s contract the Astros would be able to take on after absorbing the $12MM remaining on Carlos Gomez‘s deal yesterday.
Latest On Cole Hamels
Phillies starter Cole Hamels has completed a no-hitter against the Cubs in what could be his final start with Philadelphia. Hamels walked two (Dexter Fowler twice) and struck out 13 in the gem. Phillies outfielder Odubel Herrera deserves a hat tip – he made two adventurous catches in the final two innings. If you missed the game, it’s well worth catching the highlights on SportsCenter.
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports adds (via Twitter) that only two pitchers have been traded in a season in which they tossed a no-hitter – Edwin Jackson in 2010 and Cliff Chambers in 1951. The Cubs got a good first-hand look at Hamels – they are one of several clubs connected to him. There have also been a few new bits of information from FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal and Jon Morosi, all via Twitter (1 2 3 4 5).
- The Yankees have asked about Hamels, but their interest does not appear to be much more than due diligence at this time. The Phillies like Yankees power-hitting prospect Aaron Judge, but the Yankees don’t want to trade top prospects like Judge, first baseman Greg Bird or righty Luis Severino. “We’ve had conversations with every club willing to sell, finding out what they’re willing to sell and what their price tags are,” says Yankees exec Brian Cashman.
- In addition to the Yankees, other recent teams to express interest in Hamels include the Dodgers, Cubs, Rangers and Giants.
- The Astros are scouting Hamels’ start today. Rosenthal says that they’re keeping tabs on his market, since they might be better positioned to offer the Phillies what they’re looking for than some other teams are.
AL East Notes: Kopech, Yankees, Blue Jays, Orioles
Red Sox minor leaguer Michael Kopech has been suspended 50 games after testing positive for the stimulant Oxilofrine, the league announced yesterday. Kopech was selected with the 33rd overall pick in the 2014 draft by the Red Sox and had been enjoying a very strong season at Class A Greenville. The right-hander has posted a 2.63 ERA with 9.7 K/9 against 3.7 BB/9 in 16 games this season (15 of them starts). As Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe notes, via Twitter, because Kopech tested positive for an amphetamine as opposed to a substance ruled to be a performance-enhancing drug (steroid) by MLB, he’d still be eligible for the minor league postseason. Oxilofrine, which is found in some dietary supplements, is said to increase adrenaline, boost endurance and assist in weight loss. In a statement released at MiLB.com, Kopech apologized to the fans and the organization. The prospect noted that he has been trying to gain weight since signing as opposed to lose it, adding that he appealed the suspension despite having little to prove his innocence because he “didn’t have any understanding of how [he] could have failed a test.” Kopech received a $1.67MM bonus in last year’s draft.
Here’s more from the AL East…
- The Yankees‘ first-half success comes, in large part, due to improved health up and down the roster, writes Joel Sherman of the New York Post. An improved farm system and improved depth from offseason moves such as re-signing Chris Young has better positioned the team to deal with injuries than in 2013-14. Nevertheless, Sherman writes, they’re at risk in the second half. He questions how realistic it is to expect Michael Pineda to finish the season with 30-plus starts and both Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira to clear 600 plate appearances. Masahiro Tanaka‘s elbow remains a concern, and CC Sabathia, while healthy, has been ineffective overall.
- Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet writes that while Cole Hamels, Johnny Cueto, Jeff Samardzija and Jonathan Papelbon are among the biggest names that figure to be connected to the Blue Jays in the coming two weeks, history shows that GM Alex Anthopoulos looks beyond the most obvious options. Nicholson-Smith runs down a list of speculative pitching options for the Jays to pursue, including Mat Latos (who I recently profiled at MLBTR), Hisashi Iwakuma, Jesse Chavez, Mike Fiers and several more.
- Yankees GM Brian Cashman tells the Post’s George A. King III that he’s comfortable being aggressive or passing on asking prices he deems exorbitant this July. Interestingly, King writes that the industry belief, at present, is that the Blue Jays would be more willing to part with top prospects to land Cueto than the Yankees would. While there are no true untouchables in the Yankees’ farm system, King adds, Aaron Judge and Luis Severino “come close” to earning that label.
- MASNsports.com’s Steve Melewski finds it difficult to envision the Orioles shifting into “sell” mode, adding that the team’s current plan is to approach the deadline with a buyer’s mindset. GM Dan Duquette has previously said that the Orioles’ pending free agents have more value to Baltimore than to other clubs, Melewski notes, further suggesting that shipping out veteran players is unlikely.