Heyman On Cueto, Uribe, Wilson, Brewers, Niese, Pirates, Gallardo
In his latest notes column, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com addressed a number of interesting deadline issues, starting with Reds starter Johnny Cueto. There have been suggestions over concern among buyers with the health of the star righty, but Heyman cites one scout from a team with interest who tells him that Cueto “looks fine.” As far as interest, Heyman pegs the Blue Jays, Royals, Yankees, Dodgers, and Astros as “the most likely and logical landing spots.”
Here are some other highlights from an info-packed piece (which you’ll want to read in full for even more notes):
- The Braves are shopping the recently-acquired Juan Uribe, says Heyman, with the asking price of a “mid-range prospect” and full unloading of the approximately $3MM left on Uribe’s deal. Atlanta has had communications with at least the Mets, per the repor.
- While the Orioles had been looking at adding a starter, Heyman reports that the team now may instead be prioritizing bats. Though the report doesn’t specify a position, we’ve heard in the past that Baltimore had interest in adding to its corner outfield mix.
- Heyman writes that it’ll be interesting to see if Angels lefty C.J. Wilson becomes “even more available” now that Jerry Dipoto has resigned as the general manager. Per Heyman, Wilson was close with Dipoto, and the Wilson signing (five years, $77.5MM) was the one significant free agent pickup that Dipoto was actually responsible for. Angels owner Arte Moreno was behind the Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton signings, as many other reports have indicated over the years.
- The Brewers are officially open for business and “may be considering a rather big sale,” one competing team exec tells Heyman. Interest in Jean Segura is down due to his poor play since an early 2013 breakout, but Gerardo Parra‘s big year has lots of clubs asking about him. Mike Fiers, Wily Peralta and Francisco Rodriguez are drawing interest, and the Brewers are open to packaging some of those players to improve the return.
- The Jon Niese saga continues, as Heyman hears that the lefty now doesn’t seem particularly available, with one Mets person telling Heyman that Niese never really was. In other Mets news, Heyman hears that the team floated the idea of a Rafael Montero-for-Ben Zobrist swap when Montero was still healthy, but Montero, of course, has since been injured. The Mets have also talked about Uribe, but there are other names higher on their list.
- While some have connected the Pirates to Ben Revere and Jeff Francoeur, the Bucs might be aiming a bit higher, looking at Marlon Byrd of the Reds and Aramis Ramirez of the Brewers — both former Pirates. Heyman lists Ben Zobrist as a target for the Bucs as well. Earlier today the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Bill Brink linked Pittsburgh to Zobrist, Cliff Pennington and Clint Barmes.
- Yovani Gallardo could hit the trade market if the Rangers end up selling short-term pieces, and he’s not interested in springing for an early extension with his hometown team. Agent Bobby Witt has apparently told the Rangers that Gallardo is looking forward to testing the free agent market.
Blue Jays Showing “Strong Interest” In Mike Fiers
The Blue Jays are showing “strong interest” in Brewers right-hander Mike Fiers, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter links). Nothing’s close between the two sides at this time, Rosenthal notes, and the Brewers aren’t especially motivated to part ways with the righty.
Milwaukee’s reluctance to trade Fiers stems from the fact that he’s not yet arbitration-eligible. Fiers is earning $513K in 2015 — a no doubt appealing fact to a Blue Jays team that has roughly $5-8MM worth of payroll wiggle room, per multiple reports. Fiers wouldn’t even be arbitration eligible until after the 2016 season, and he can be controlled through 2019 via the arb process. That team control is one of the reasons that Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet listed him as a potential fit for the Blue Jays last week.
Despite his controllable nature, Fiers isn’t particularly young. The former 22nd-round pick didn’t make his big league debut until the age of 26, and he didn’t see any significant MLB action until his age-27 season. As such, he’s already 30 years old. His status as a late bloomer notwithstanding, Fiers has been more or less effective as a big league starter. In 330 2/3 innings dating back to 2012, he has a 3.62 ERA with a 334-to-102 K/BB ratio (9.1 K/9, 2.8 BB/9).
Upon first glance, Fiers would seem to be an imperfect fit for Toronto’s Rogers Centre. He’s a right-hander that averages just 89 mph on his fastball and is considered an extreme fly-ball pitcher. However, I had similar questions about the fit when the Jays acquired Fiers’ former teammate, Marco Estrada, this past offseason. Estrada has been outstanding for the Blue Jays in 2015, and while that certainly doesn’t mean that Fiers would enjoy similar success, Fiers hasn’t been as homer-prone as Estrada over the course of his career and in general fits into a similar profile.
According to Rosenthal, the Brewers would want multiple pieces as a return in any trade of Fiers. He’s an atypical trade candidate due to the four remaining seasons of control he brings, but the more traditional trade pieces in Milwaukee’s rotation don’t currently hold much appeal. Kyle Lohse, a free agent at season’s end, has struggled greatly in 2015. So, too, has the now-injured Matt Garza, who comes with two more years of a $12.5MM salary.
Should Toronto elect to get more serious about its pursuit, the team has a nice stable of prospects that are close to the Majors as well as some high-upside prospects further down the pipeline. GM Alex Anthopoulos has mentioned in the past that he’s willing to deal from his big league roster as well. This is purely speculative, but with Francisco Rodriguez and Neal Cotts pitching well, perhaps the Blue Jays would be interested in securing a package consisting of Fiers and a bullpen upgrade. I’ve also previously opined that the Brewers should be open to trading a controllable relief arm such as Will Smith.