Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Uncategorized

Submit Your Questions For The MLBTR Mailbag

By | at

It’s time for another edition of the MLBTR Mailbag. Our last edition fielded questions on free agents Wei-Yin Chen, Doug Fister and Mike Leake in addition to breaking down a potential Lorenzo Cain extension and offering baseball book recommendations for the holiday season.

We’ll run another edition of the mailbag later tonight. If you have a question you’ve been kicking around and would like to hear our take, let us know via email: mlbtrmailbag@gmail.com. While volume prevents our ability to come close to responding to all of the questions, remember that you can also always join our Tuesday and Thursday afternoon chats, hosted by myself and Jeff Todd, respectively.

AL Central Notes: Frazier, Salazar, Allen, White Sox, Twins

By | at

The Reds spent “at least a month” trying to pry Danny Salazar from the Indians for Todd Frazier with no luck, and were also unsuccessful with their next demand of Cody Allen and prospects for Frazier, Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports in his chronicle of the negotiations between the two Ohio clubs.  Cleveland wanted to keep Salazar and Allen in order to contend in 2016 so the Indians were more open to talking about Jose Ramirez and second-tier prospects (Justus Sheffield, Michael Clevinger, Bobby Bradley) with the Reds.  Cincinnati, however, wanted two of those prospects plus one of Clint Frazier or Bradley Zimmer, and the Tribe was unwilling to give up either of its top two minor leaguers.  The Indians attempted to construct a three-way deal to land Frazier from Cincinnati but the Reds instead ended up swinging a three-team trade of their own with the White Sox and Dodgers that sent the third baseman to Chicago.

Here’s more from around the AL Central…

  • Also from Pluto’s piece, he hears the acquisitions of Rajai Davis and Mike Napoli may be the Indians’ last notable moves of the winter.  The club may still make a minor transaction or two but their heavy lifting could be over.
  • The White Sox are monitoring the free agent outfield market and giving up a draft pick to sign a qualifying offer free agent “won’t necessarily be a deal-breaker,” ESPN’s Buster Olney writes (subscription required).  Chicago’s first-rounder is protected by virtue of being a top-10 pick, so if they were to sign someone like Justin Upton or Dexter Fowler, the Sox would only sacrifice the extra compensation round pick they recently obtained when Jeff Samardzija left to sign with San Francisco.  As Olney notes, the White Sox are intent on being contenders while cornerstone pieces like Chris Sale and Jose Abreu are on such reasonable contracts.
  • The Twins are looking for a veteran backup outfielder, MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger writes.  This player would essentially replace Shane Robinson on Minnesota’s roster, serving as an experienced bench piece behind the Twins’ young outfield corps.
  • It’s been a relatively quiet offseason for the World Series champions thus far, though Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star feels the Royals front office has earned the benefit of the doubt given its recent success.  Expecting the Royals to suddenly splurge above their usual payroll limits was unrealistic, Mellinger notes, as the club needs “efficient spending” to remain competitive in both the short- and long-term.  It’s worth noting that the Royals signed Joakim Soria and Chris Young to multi-year contracts and they’ve been at least connected to several major free agents and trade targets (such as Alex Gordon, Yovani Gallardo, Scott Kazmir, Gerardo Parra, Carlos Gonzalez and Frazier), so K.C. could simply be waiting to strike with another notable move.

MLBTR Podcast: Reliever Todd Coffey

By | at

Free agent Todd Coffey joins host Jeff Todd this week to talk about his career in the pen and his current comeback attempt.  Coffey, who plans to throw for teams in January, says he feels healthy and wants to be able to pitch multiple innings for his next MLB club.  Steve Adams also chats with Jeff about what’s up ahead in the hard-to-predict offseason market.

Click here to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, and please leave a review! The podcast is also available via Stitcher at this link.

The MLB Trade Rumors Podcast runs weekly on Thursday afternoons.

MLBTR Podcast: More From the Winter Meetings

By | at

On this week’s edition, MLBTR’s Zach Links, who is on site in Nashville, checks back in with Jeff to discuss the moves that have gone down at the Winter Meetings as well as how the remaining pieces might fall.

Click here to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, and please leave a review! The podcast is also available via Stitcher at this link.

The MLB Trade Rumors Podcast runs weekly on Thursday afternoons.

Follow MLBTR On Instagram

By | at

Recently, MLB Trade Rumors launched a brand new official Instagram account: @TradeRumorsMLB.  Each day, we’re sharing conversation-inspiring images about the hottest topics in baseball.  From there, we invite you to give us a like, weigh in with your thoughts in the comments section, and even share the link with a friend.

This week, we’re giving fans an early look at traded players in their new jerseys.  Here’s a glance at how Starlin Castro will look in pinstripes.  And how about Ben Zobrist in his new Cubs uniform?  Ditto for Shelby Miller who looks sharp in the D’Backs’ 2015 uni.

So, what are you waiting for?  If you don’t have an Instagram account, this is the perfect excuse to sign up and get one.  Follow us on Instagram today!

MLBTR Podcast: Winter Meetings Preview

By | at

Host Jeff Todd covers the latest transactions leading up to the Winter Meetings and then welcomes fellow MLBTR writer Zach Links to the show. Zach will be heading down to Nashville to cover the meetings next week, and he joins to preview the major stories as that key event approaches.

Among the matters considered in this week’s episode: Zack Greinke’s coming contract, the biggest sellers, some surprising drivers of the market, and a still-quiet group of excellent free agent corner outfielders.

Click here to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, and please leave a review! The podcast is also available via Stitcher at this link.

The MLB Trade Rumors Podcast runs weekly on Thursday afternoons.

AL East Notes: Blue Jays, Happ, Colon

By | at

Former Orioles executive Andy MacPhail believed in the “grow the arms” philosophy because he felt that getting pitching was expensive and getting it any other way proved to be expensive.  After watching J.A. Happ ink a deal with a $12MM AAV, Steve Melewski of MASNsports.com agrees with the expensive part.  Happ, of course, finished the 2015 season with a stellar 1.85 ERA over 11 starts for the Pirates, but he posted a 4.64 ERA in his previous 20 starts for Seattle.  Happ’s overall track record is one of mediocrity and Melewski can’t quite understand why the Blue Jays paid that much for him.  He’s not alone in that thinking, either.

Here’s more on Happ and other items out of the AL East:

  • Interim GM Tony LaCava says the Blue Jays inked Happ because he fills an urgent need for the club without forcing Toronto to give up a prospect, big leaguer, or draft pick, as John Lott of the National Post writes.  Overall, it sounds like LaCava is not even close to done.  “We’ve had dialogue with any number of (free agents), a wide net we’ve cast, and we still have conversations with various free agents and their agents and also with other teams looking at the trade market as well,” LaCava said. “I wouldn’t rule anything out right now, but certainly we did address some of the bigger needs that we had.”
  • Jim Bowden and Jim Duquette of SiriusXM (audio link) see tons of red flags when it comes to the Blue Jays’ deal with Happ.  Bowden is troubled by the enormity of the contract, which appears to be based off of Happ’s small sample size of excellence.  The ex-GM expected Happ to command $20MM over a two-year deal, but a three-year, $36MM pact was far beyond what he imagined.
  • Wallace Matthews of ESPN.com pondered Bartolo Colon as a fit for the Yankees.  Colon, who will be 43 in May, has averaged 196 innings in each of the last three seasons and his 2015 ERA (4.16) was lower than that of several Yankees starters.  Still, Matthews expects Colon to start feeling his age sooner rather than later and doesn’t feel that he would be a good match for the Bombers.

MLBTR Podcast With Lefty Wade LeBlanc

By | at

After catching up on the league’s pre-Thanksgiving Day trades and signings, host Jeff Todd welcomes veteran left-hander Wade LeBlanc to the show.

The 31-year-old says that he’s healthy and looking for an opportunity with a major league organization after spending the 2015 campaign with Japan’s Seibu Lions. LeBlanc, a seven-year MLB veteran, talks about his hot stove experiences as well as his approach on the mound and dedication to the game. He also shares a great story about an unlikely source of a valuable pitching tip.

Click here to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, and please leave a review! The podcast is also available via Stitcher at this link.

AL Central Notes: Thornton, Rondon, Tribe, Tigers

By | at

Here’s the latest from around the AL Central…

  • The Twins don’t have interest in free agent southpaw Matt Thornton, 1500 ESPN Twin Cities’ Darren Wolfson reports (Twitter link), though in a subtweet, Wolfson said “seven or so” other teams are interested.  Wolfson speculated that Thornton could be a fit in Minnesota due to the team’s familiarity with him as an AL Central rival in Chicago for so many years.  The Twins are also in need of bullpen help and the 39-year-old Thornton has posted a 1.98 ERA over 77 1/3 innings in 2014-15 (though advanced metrics aren’t as bullish about his performance).
  • In today’s mailbag, a reader asked Paul Hoynes of The Plain Dealer about the Indians’ decision not to protect Hector Rondon in the Rule 5 draft after the 2012 season.  Thanks to injury troubles, Rondon didn’t pitch much in the three years leading up to that Rule 5 draft.  Beyond that, Rondon was asked to pitch in relief in after returning from elbow surgery and the Tribe’s bullpen was already stacked.  Of course, Rondon would go on to break through with the Cubs and become their closer.
  • Also from Hoynes’ mailbag, he discussed a bit of trade speculation and said he personally doesn’t think the Indians will end up dealing Carlos Carrasco.
  • Tigers GM Al Avila said the team extended a contract offer to Rajai Davis before deciding to trade for Cameron Maybin instead, Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press writes.  “At the end of the day, we felt [Maybin] was the best option for us,” Avila said.  With Maybin now in the fold, Davis will almost certainly be with another team in 2016.
  • Tigers executive vice president and GM Al Avila has followed through on his promise to beef up the club’s scouting and analytics staffs, Chris McCosky of The Detroit News writes.  The Tigers announced several new additions to both departments and their international scouting staff earlier this week, all of which are listed in McCosky’s piece.

MLBTR’s Zach Links also contributed to this post

MLBTR Podcast: Alden Gonzalez On The Halos

By | at

MLB.com’s Angels beat writer Alden Gonzalez joins host Jeff Todd to discuss the latest on the Halos. Just-tabbed GM Billy Eppler has already swung a major deal to add shortstop Andrelton Simmons, but there are plenty of needs and less resources available after that move.

What does the Simmons swap tell us about the new chief baseball decisionmaker? What can Eppler and co. do next to address the team’s other priorities? Will the team sign a major free agent or two? What will happen to C.J. Wilson? Those are among the many topics covered in today’s podcast.

Click here to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, and please leave a review! The podcast is also available via Stitcher at this link.

The MLB Trade Rumors Podcast runs weekly on Thursday afternoons.

Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top