Well the Deadline is this afternoon, and while baseball has been a bit disappointing for the Capital Region, this year is turning into being one of the more blockbuster heavy in recent memory. Things kicked off a few weeks back with Manny Machado being shipped from Baltimore to the Dodgers for a haul of prospects, and has continued steadily with various other deals.
A few I can think of off the top of my head..
Zach Britton going from the O's to the Yankees
Asdrubal Cabrebra going from the Mets to the Phillies
Nathan Eovaldi going from the Rays to the RedSox
JA Happ going from the Blue Jays to the Yankees
Cole Hamels going from the Rangers to the Cubs
Eduardo Escobar going from the Twins to the DBacks
Adam Duvall going from the Reds to the Braves
Ian Kinsler going from the Angels to the RedSox
Its already been a pretty impressive trade season in baseball, but it sounds like there might be more, potential huge impacting trades to be had today. The Yankees and RedSox are seemingly trying to bulk up to be a power vs pitching ALCS this year, and the Braves and Phillies are seemingly in on everything they can be in on to make the NL East race one of the better ones we've seen in recent years (now that the Nats aren't running away with it every year, that is). Speaking of the Nats, it sounds like they might be gearing up to pack it in for the year, informing the league they are making Bryce Harper available for trade. Could be a very interesting day in baseball.
Comments
Braves have picked up a hitter (Duvall) and two relievers, while keeping all of their prized prospects. Whether or not the three pickups lift the Braves into the playoffs, the latter point makes that a win.
It appears that Duvall is going to share left field with Acuna, with Acuna taking over center from Enciarte when Duvall plays. Essentially, Duvall will be platooning with Enciarte in left/center.
Edit: Personally, I would be shocked if the Nationals moved Harper, but not as shocked as I am at the Nats being under .500 after the All-Star Break.
I read that Duvall will start against lefties and Acuña will play CF. I just hope this doesn't ruin the rhythm Inciarte seems to have gotten in over the past week or so. He's finally hitting the ball hard again and his defense has always been elite.
Coming from an O's fan, that Brad Brach acquisition was a great one for the Braves.
He threw a scoreless inning last night, which is something the Braves bullpen has accomplished like 4 times all year.
You forgot to add "and apparently throws a slider". Something that has happened just as often.
From a Reds perspective, I like the trade. Duvall can't get on base this season and he wasn't going to be a starter next year. I'd rather not be paying his arbitration number for a 4th outfielder in 2019. So if we got anything more than a bag of balls for him, I was going to be happy. If Sims can live up to even half of his promise, then that's just icing on the cake.
That is my take as well, I was surprised to see the trade since there had not been many rumors around Duvall, but it makes sense with Schebler and Winker being able to hold down the corner and this Williams kid looking good in his short call up from Triple-A. I also think the Reds could move Suarez to the OF and bring up Senzel to play 3B if there is an injury in the OF.
Neither of the pitchers the Reds receive look like they will be anything more than relievers and the OF will be a backup at best. This clears some $$ for the Reds to resign Gennett and maybe Romero and Mahle or make a play to keep Harvey for a couple more years. I would like to see the Reds ink Riggleman, Gennett, and Billy Hamilton to longer deals before the end of the season, so maybe this helps them do that.
From a Braves perspective to a Reds fan, I'll miss Preston Tucker for the short time we had him, but at least he'll get more of a chance to play. And I hope you guys use Sims and Wisler in the rotation instead of in the pen, for your sakes.
I kinda think you guys won out in this deal, even though we obviously needed a RH bat.
Brad Brach from the Orioles to Braves. In exchange, the Braves sent $250,000 of international signing bonus allocation money to BMore. Brad was a setup bullpen guy who was an important part of their playoff runs the past few years.
Sad to see the team breaking up, but a rebuild is exactly what was needed. Our farm system has been shit for 10+ years. Will be interested to see if Buck stays.
The most entertaining part of the Nats sucking butt all year has been ESPN lying to themselves about how the Nats are still the clear favorites. Anyone who has been paying attention can see that Washington is the 3rd best team in the division. Then again, ESPN never pays attention.
And given the talent and youth of the Phillies and Braves, it really looks like they are on the wrong swing given what else is going on in the division. Both of those other 2 are pretty loaded going forward, the Braves have already been discussed plenty on here, and the Phillies are currently leading the NL East despite some of the guys in the lineup not performing up to their expectations. Still have one of the deepest farms in baseball, the deepest depending on who you talk to, and they are prepared to throw some serious money around this winter, with the owner already essentially alluding to wanting to sign both Machado and Haper in FA this year, and not letting money be a factor. They'll be a big spender, its only a matter of when.
That's why I think trading Harper makes sense. Even if the Nats make the playoffs this year, they're not winning the World Series. They probably couldn't even win their first playoff series in franchise history. They need to start stockpiling prospects to build around Juan Soto. Because it sure looks like Harper's gone after this year. Might as well get something back for him.
Look no further than the NY Islanders in hockey for what can happen when you don't pull the trigger despite ALL the writing being on the wall. Tavares leaves for Toronto and the Isles are stuck with absolutely nothing when they could have had a king's ransom of picks and prospects at the deadline for a 3 month rental.
The Nats have to be very honest with themselves on how good they think they are this year. If the WS isn't a reasonable achievement, it might be time to cut bait.
And look where it got that front office: fired. WFAN in this area had a field day with the Isles and Tavares the day he signed with Toronto. A highlight being the one caller who said it was so obvious that Tavares was as good as gone because he had "the joyless face of a mortician" for years.
I don't agree that Washington is clearly only 3rd best. The pitching seems pretty even among the three teams, with Atlanta's offense slightly ahead of the other two.
Atlanta is at +64 runs
Washington is at +38 runs
Philly is at +21 runs
And yet Washington is at -5.5 games
Philly is winning more games than their production would indicate they should. This leads me to believe Philly will fade. Atlanta likely makes the playoffs as division champs and Washington and Philly miss the playoffs this year. But 5 games behind is not insurmountable.
No doubt. There's still a ton of time left. But every time it looks like the Nats are about to make a run, they turn around and drop 7 of 10.
Philly is young and inconsistent, but they've shown they're capable of winning against anyone (and also losing to anyone). They were supposed to fall back during a brutal schedule in June, and it never happened. They've got a lot of games coming up against some bad teams, so I wouldn't bank on them falling back as much as you'd think. What it will all come down to is the 5 upcoming series against the Nats (A-H-H) and Braves (A-H) to close it out. Given how good they have been at home this year, that extra home series against the Nats could be a huge swing in the overall division.
GO NATS! (Against the Phillies, that is.)
I have liked what my Braves have done so far. Picked up two relievers (Brach and Venters) for next to nothing and Duvall for a couple of 2nd/3rd tier prospects (Wisler, Sims, Tucker) who aren't probably going to see the field soon or minimal if they do. They kept their top 6 prospects which is very ideal.
In regards to Harper, GM Rizzo just said he isn't going anywhere a couple minutes ago on 106.7 the fan, so there's that. I don't see any team giving up what the Nationals want.
Nats GM Mike Rizzo just said Bryce isn't going anywhere.
There's not a whole lot of buyers anyways. He's batting .220 with 117 strikeouts already. His numbers don't scream "Rent me for the rest of the season" like Machado's did. My guess is he doesn't offer enough of a projected win total increase to be worth a deal the Nationals would take.
Yankees have so much organizational depth that they went out and got Britton, Happ, and Lance Lynn and only had to give up prospects who were outside their top 10 (Dillon Tate, Luis Rijo) or players blocked for the foreseeable future at the major league level (Billy McKinnie, Tyler Austin, Brandon Drury). Farm system is still loaded. Also the Yanks sent Adam Warren to the Mariners for $1.25m in international bonus pool money, which cleared some payroll space for Lynn and also gives the front office more firepower in the international free agent market (which has yielded players like Luis Severino and Gary Sanchez lately, plus a few of the Yanks best prospects). The Yanks also grabbed $1m in international bonus pool money in the deal that sent Chasen Shreve and Gio Gallegos to the Cardinals for 1B Luke Voit
Lerner's are not going to pay him the $400 million he wants so I think they should trade him for prospects. They are not making the playoffs this year so may as well have a fire sale since I think they have 13 expiring contracts?
He would have some nerve to ask for $400M after hitting .215 in a contract year
If you don't think he's going to get top dollar on the FA market, I don't know what to tell ya. Too many teams with too much money to spend, namely the Phillies and Yankees, for him to not come away with a massive contract this winter.
If the Yanks give Boras money to Harper, it will be due to an ownership directive, not a baseball decision by Cashman. He's wildly inconsistent. Batting him between Judge and Stanton with that short right field in Yankee Stadium for a lefty hitter might be too tempting to pass up though.
I honestly think the Phillies are going to go after him and Machado hard during the offseason, and they won't let price get in the way of a deal. The owner has pretty much already said as much, and its part of the reason they weren't willing to give up anyone worth a damn in the Machado sweepstakes.
I hope they do that because that would be a massive mistake. I'll be happy to laugh at the Phillies if they want to pay Machado and Harper $300M+ each for the next decade though.
I didn't say he won't get top dollar. But any team who gives him $400M is insane. For reference, the biggest contract in MLB history is worth $325M. The second biggest is $275M.
There's a couple guys who probably deserve $400M but Bryce Harper isn't one of them.
I don't think he'll get 400m (maybe he does, I don't know but I doubt it) but whatever he will get will be absurd. But if some team wants to pay him 300m, 350m, or 400m, people will say he isn't worth it, but at the end of the day, it was worth it to such team.
Mark it down, Manny will be the first $400M man and is going to win the WS MVP.
Big Nats fan here. I brought up the prospect of trading Bryce to a friend back around late May early June. I don't think it would be a bad idea. The likelihood of him sticking around is not very high, and if I am in the the Lerner's/Rizzo's shoes I would not hand him the blank check he's looking for. They have way too many young guys that they'll need to pay in the very near future, namely Rendon and Soto. I don't think Turner will garner a humongous payday as far as blockbuster contracts are concerned, but I'd say someone out there would be willing to throw $100m on the table for him.
Idk, makes me sad. I think the Nats clearly missed their (massive) window at postseason success here the past 6-7 seasons.
I think the Nats clearly missed their (massive) window at postseason success here the past 6-7 seasons.
Big Nats fan here too. They most definitely did. Especially since they had such a ridiculous starting rotation last year and got fixes for the bull pen at the trade deadline.
Ya know what makes it all ok though? THE STANLEY CUP.
Yeah, but...I'm a Pens fan...soooo...
I'd trade those the 16-17 Cups for a WS title any day of the week though.
I think it's more like 5-6 seasons, in which they completely missed the playoffs twice.
Happy with what Dombrowski has done so far. Got Pearce, Eovaldi, (however the fuck you spell it), and Kinsler all while having a pretty depeleted farm system. Hopefully one more relief guy before 4 and I'd consider this a very successful trade deadline.
Yep, solid moves considering how hamstrung he was with the farm. Helped that the best team in baseball doesn't have a lot of glaring holes. Might be different if they were had, say, Cleveland's team right now that needed bullpen and OF help bigtime.
Being up 6 on NYY and needing RHB, 2B, 4/5 Starter and reliever are positions you can fill with Rule 5 type guys in your farm.
Dave's done a nice job, but 2018 and/or 2019 need to turn in to WS teams because 20-22 or so will be a tough team to field competitively.
I've never understood the enthusiasm and love for the Nationals as a championship caliber team.
They played in the weakest division in the weaker league and basically played the weakest schedule in the major leagues for several years - and still couldn't win 100 games. Put them in the AL East instead of the NL East the last 3 or 4 seasons and they're maybe a 90 win team...maybe.
They're finding it tough sledding now because 1) the NL East now has a couple of teams that can go toe to toe and 2) the National League as a whole has gotten better with more good teams, more talent, and fewer uncompetitive teams.
Have you seen the lineup they've had? The pitching rotation? ON PAPER they should have at least made an NLCS appearance somewhere between 2012 and last season. ON THE FIELD...just can't put any of it together. They had Strasburg, Jordan Zimmermann, Gio Gonzalez, Doug Fister, and an assortment of guys for the 5th spot, (Roark threw some), but jesus christ if you can't win with that...I'm rambling.
Tldr: on paper=world beaters. Playoffs=wet fart
Yeah, I saw the lineup. Not exactly murderers row. And the pitching beyond Scherzer or Zimmerman and when he's healthy, Strasburg, wasn't much. Gio is a #3 on many staffs. #4 on a good staff. Nationals Park helped their numbers. The defense and bullpen were average at best.
Sorry but I looked at the Nationals as a solid, but flawed, team bolstered by playing 80 games a year vs a bad NL East and another 30 or 40 vs other really bad NL teams. They weren't battle tested.
Couple trades already
Brad Ziegler has been traded from the Marlins back to the DBacks
Wilson Ramos has been traded from the Rays to the Phillies
Sounds like the Nats are about to trade Brandon Kintzler to the Cubs
The Rays are supposedly fielding final offers for Chris Archer, with the Braves, Brewers, and Pirates as current frontrunners.
The Nats needed to do one of two things:
Trade everyone with an expiring contract or go get a Catcher/SP help.
They're doing neither, and Rizzo deserves a LOT of criticism for how he's handled this.
O's better get someone good for this one. This dude reminds me of Arrieta when he went to the Cubs and then won the Cy young. Soo close to having control, but has never been able to put it together.
Here's some more on the deal. Braves get RHP Gausman and RHP O'Day, Orioles get INF Encarnacion, C Cumberland, RHP Phillips, and LHP Zimmerman.
https://www.talkingchop.com/2018/7/31/17636436/mlb-trade-rumors-kevin-ga...
Side note: Braves got four shutout innings from Brad Brach in his debut today in a win over the Marlins. So, good pickup.
Hope Brad is more consistent for you all then he was for us this year. He definitely has the arm, but he's been streaky... to say the least. I like all these moves for the Os as well. It's been broken all year, time to fix it.
I think he got into his own head. He was an All-Star when he was the 7th inning guy for the Orioles, but when O'Day and Britton both went down and he had to assume the closer's role, things went downhill.
I would not be surprised to see O'Day's production to take a deep dive. Relievers seem to hit this wall where they just fall off of a cliff and I have been waiting for that to happen to O'Day lately.
But apparently Atlanta is the Orioles v2.0?
Agreed. I don't mind them all going to the NL though. Britton to the Yanks stung a little, but hopefully he's out after this year. Still miss my having my go-to Hank Mardukis (Nick Markakis) joke.
He really struggled with the strike zone this year. You could generally tell within a few pitches if he had his control or not. When he has it, that change-up can be brutal on LH and RH. When he doesn't, it's on a tee.
And if I could see this, you can bet opposing scouts noticed it.
Yep, I also attribute that to not really having the same focus when you are 100 games out of it halfway through the year. But he is a good dude with a good family and I wish him success.
He struggled out of the gate this year though. I don't think he's really a closer and Showalter didn't have the luxury of being able to hook him this yr before his head got "out of whack", but still...
Honestly, I think he already hit the wall.
I definitely see the Gausman-Arieta comparison - but I think Gausman is even closer to a finished product.
Pirates get Chris Archer
Braves get Kevin Gausman
Dodgers get Brian Dozier
Phillies get Aaron Loup
DBacks get Jake Diekman
Brewers get: Jonathan Schoop
Orioles get: Luis Ortiz, Jean Carmona and Jonathan Villar.
Damn, now they've got me like...
time to do some research on the new (and not yet improved) Orioles.
Adam Jones
And Chris Davis....(ducks)
Looks like they are going to make a strong push to sign Victor Victor Mesa, the #1 International Prospect (if and when he clears)
http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/bs-sp-orioles-mesa-20180728-s...
https://www.mlb.com/news/update-on-cuban-phenom-victor-victor-mesa/c-287...
*cry emoji x 1000*
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