MLB Hot Stove Rumours Thread

Plympton91

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Wingack said:
I wonder what the Nats would be looking to get. 
If the Rays are dismantling (which would be stupid, IMHO; bouncebacks by Longoria and Myers would have them competitive in the AL lEast), then Zobrist would make a lot of sense for the Nats. They'd get a big upgrade at 2B to go for a world series (which, IMHO, is what they should be doing in 2015).
 

MakMan44

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https://twitter.com/Joelsherman1/status/545287815664504832
 
No dice on Zobrist. It was a nice call though, made a lot of sense. 
 

MakMan44

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Wingack said:
I have always thought Zobrist was overrated and he is clearly on he decline. Glad he won't be headed to the Nats. 
Agreed on the decline, but I have no idea why you would think he's overrated. He's been a really, really good player since 2009. 
 

dynomite

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Plympton91 said:
If the Rays are dismantling (which would be stupid, IMHO; bouncebacks by Longoria and Myers would have them competitive in the AL lEast),.
Yeah, they don't seem to be making any significant moves in free agency, and trading Myers is an odd move for a team that only had one guy above 12 HR last year.

I mean, a rotation that begins with Cobb/Moore/Archer/Odorizzi could be the best in the AL East in 2015, right?
 

Hendu for Kutch

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E5 Yaz said:
JimBowden_ESPN Jim Bowden
Jake Bauers Joe Ross Burch Smith and 2 others going to TB in Wil Myers deal when concluded
 
Jake Bauers tore the Midwest league a new one for the first half season, while being the youngest player in the league, but cooled way off in the 2nd half.  He's a pretty good defender at 1B, but already being at the end of the defensive spectrum he's going to have to hit like the first-half version to be valuable.  if he can do that though, he could be very very good.
 

MakMan44

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Myers to SD is basically done. 
 
https://twitter.com/TBTimes_Rays/status/545331139783958529
 
Hearing #Rays are down to 2 scenarios on Myers trade, waiting to hear if #Nats are in or out.
 
https://twitter.com/TBTimes_Rays/status/545331539274661888
 
Either way, #Rays said to give up Myers, Hanigan and 2 low minor-lgrs, and get back Rivera, B.Smith, Bauers from #Padres. 
 
https://twitter.com/TBTimes_Rays/status/545331965269143554
 
If #Nats are in, #Rays under these scenarios to get Souza and A-ball LHP. If #Nats out, #Rays said get J. Ross, Trea Turner from #Padres
 

Jed Zeppelin

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Don't know much about the players involved but I'd like this a lot more for the Rays if they were just keeping the upside of Turner and Ross instead of flipping them to the Nats. As it stands this looks like a trade for quantity that will depend a lot on how Bauers progresses and whether or not Smith can adapt his ml numbers to MLB. Souza will already be 26 next April. Ott looks like a project. Rivera is coming off a career year at 31. Kind of a strange mix.
 

Snodgrass'Muff

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Rudy Pemberton said:
Is Myers still a "generational talent"? I don't understand this trade from Tampa's perspective.
 
Their farm system has thinned out a lot in the last few years and in the last six months they lost three of the most important pieces of the franchise in Price, Maddon and Friedman. They weren't one great player or even a couple of great prospects away from contending again in the short term, so they are looking to restock their farm. I don't agree with quantity over quality, but if their goal is to bring the floor up a bit on the chances they graduate some major league regulars in the next couple of seasons, this makes some sense. Souza is pretty close to ready, same with Burch Smith. Rivera gives them a warm body with a solid defensive rep at catcher and both Ott and Bauers are interesting low level prospects with intriguing ceilings. The Rays come out with two high level prospects, two lottery tickets and a major league catcher who doesn't completely suck.
 
It might not be the right move, but there is a rationale behind it. Between this and the Joyce trade, I'm wondering if Tampa is about to unload their roster and hit the reset button fully. Zobrist would bring back some great value and Longoria is a huge chip they can sell off. This winter has been crazy already. If Tampa goes into fire sale mode it could go down as the most memorable one in a long time. And is San Diego a playoff team after this trade? I'm talking wild card here, but between Myers and Kemp I think they might have enough offense to be right in that wild card hunt down the stretch.
 

DavidTai

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Any indication why the Nats didn't just do Souza/Ott straight up for Ross/Turner -after- the Rays/Padres were done rather than get their butts involved in a threeway?
 
Is there some sort of trick to this that could only be pulled in a three-way and not just two separate trades?
 

soxhop411

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“@JaneMLB: Can’t imagine the A’s will keep all this pitching. Have to think they’re prepping for a bigger move, like an Upton or Tulowitzki.”
 

MakMan44

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That makes no sense. The A's can't afford Tulo's contract and they're not extending Upton so moving anything for him would be stupid. Billy may be crazy, but he's not stupid
 

JimD

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Section15Box113 said:
 
And we (reportedly) could have had him for Lester.
 
The only saving grace is that we would've had no idea that the Red Sox gave away the 2013 world championship.
 

VORP Speed

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Myers had been steadily earning a pretty bad reputation in TB. Lazy, bad attitude, dumb. Rays were apparently very unhappy with how he rehabbed from his wrist injury, on top of his general lousy work ethic. Started to hear lots of whispers comparing him to BJ Upton, attitude-wise. So, in addition to the emergence of Kiermaier and Guyer giving them a surplus of outfielders, I think this was a maximize a diminishing asset type move. They thought there was a good chance his peak value to them was now, still relatively fresh off ROY season, before he becomes widely acknowledged as former ROY, now lazy shithead.
 

soxhop411

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MakMan44 said:
That makes no sense. The A's can't afford Tulo's contract and they're not extending Upton so moving anything for him would be stupid. Billy may be crazy, but he's not stupid
“@kileymcd: AL Source: Braves appear to be down the road on a deal sending Justin Upton to an AL West club for a package headlined by young pitching.”
https://twitter.com/kileymcd/status/545816979752628224

https://twitter.com/kileymcd/status/545816979752628224

link to tweet
 

E5 Yaz

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soxhop411 said:
“@kileymcd: AL Source: Braves appear to be down the road on a deal sending Justin Upton to an AL West club for a package headlined by young pitching.”
 
https://twitter.com/kileymcd/status/545816979752628224
link to tweet
 


 
Beane's been stockpiling
 

MakMan44

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soxhop411 said:
“@kileymcd: AL Source: Braves appear to be down the road on a deal sending Justin Upton to an AL West club for a package headlined by young pitching.
M's make more sense than the A's. 
 

MakMan44

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E5 Yaz said:
Their starting RF, at the moment, is probably Ruggiano or Brad Miller. They've got a better shot at extending him than the A's do. They've got the young pitching, as mentioned in the tweet. I'd also argue that the A's are less likely to contend next season than the M's are, but we're still in December so it's hard to argue that.
 
It's mostly the extension thing. I don't see the A's being able to afford him, and that's part of the reason they cited for the Donaldson trade. I don't know, I just find it hard to believe that Billy would move the assets the Braves would want when there's a very real chance Upton is a 1 year guy for them. I think if Billy moves his pitching depth, he's going to want pre-arb players, not a guy making $14 million this season. 
 

Yelling At Clouds

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Apparently it is the Padres according to Bowman. I give up on trying to understand anything anymore.

EDIT: Mark Bowman not Jim Bowden.
 

MakMan44

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Danny_Darwin said:
Apparently it is the Padres according to Bowman. I give up on trying to understand anything anymore.

EDIT: Mark Bowman not Jim Bowden.
Right there with you, buddy. 
 

glennhoffmania

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The Mets and Rockies have been quietly discussing a potential Troy Tulowitzki blockbuster for weeks, though it isn't known yet whether New York will have a decent chance to complete such a deal.
 
Prized Mets pitching prospect Noah Syndergaard is said to be the centerpiece of discussions revolving around a potential package of young players in a possible deal for Tulo, though it seems like there is still quite a ways to go to have a chance to complete such a monster trade.
 
Heyman
 

MakMan44

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https://twitter.com/Jeeho_1/status/546154072311463936
 
Saw this linked on Rotoworld. No news on who the bid is from though
 

O Captain! My Captain!

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It's the.... Pirates???
 
(http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2014/12/pirates-win-bidding-for-jung-ho-kang.html)
 
They now have a 30 day window to negotiate with Kang, and get their 5m back if he doesn't sign.
 

Kang is reportedly seeking $5-6MM annually on a multi-year deal, which isn’t an exorbitant price but also would be a costly miss for a payroll-conscious club like the Pirates in the event that Kang cannot be a productive player in the bigs.
The Pirates have plenty of infield depth as is, with Neil Walker entrenched at second base and Josh Harrison set to man third base in 2015 and beyond. Jordy Mercer played a solid shortstop in 2014, but he seems the most likely to be displaced if Kang is signed and the looks the part of an everyday shortstop. Then again, the Bucs may simply prefer to rotate Kang between three infield spots or shift Mercer to a utility role. There’s certainly room for all four infielders to remain on the roster.
 

MakMan44

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rymiller03 said:
I'm incredibly confused but I would greatly appreciate it if you took a minute to check out the website.
He's telling to knock it off with the self promotion if you want to stick around. 
 

The_Powa_of_Seiji_Ozawa

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Boras being Boras: the current Stephen Drew asking price is $9 million to $10 million
 
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/12/30/stephen-drews-asking-price-9-million-to-10-million/
 
 
 
 
A few teams involved with Drew say his asking price of $9 million to $10 million for 2015 is not in their price range. Drew’s agent, Scott Boras, has emphasized the career .764 OPS the lefty swinger took into last season as representative of his client and not the .536 he posted in a disjointed 2014 campaign.
 

Plympton91

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I've been thinking about Howard in the same way I posted about ARod in the Yankee forum. At what price does he make sense for a team to take a flier? Billy Butler is coming off a 680 OPS season is just as limited as Howard, and got 3/$30. He doesn't have the injury history and he didn't suck prior to last year, so Howard is less. Morales got 2/$14 from Kansas City to replace Butler. He was godawful last year, but has the "late start" excuse like Drew.

So, if you're a team in need of a DH, would you take Howard at 2/$10, $5 million a year? I think if I were a big market that could eat the $5 mil, I might take the flier, but a small market team like Tampa needs less downside. And, of course, there's the remaining free agents. Can you get a better combination of upside and downside risk from someone else by just paying 2/$10 in the market?

I wonder if Baltimore would be a potential match with their somewhat larger budget, need to fill the HR hole left by Cruz departing, and a slot at DH open last I checked.
 

MakMan44

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The O's are the name I've seen thrown around most often. It makes sense, there's a decent fit there. 
 

PrometheusWakefield

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He is 35 and has accumulated WARs of -1.1, 0.4, and 0.3 over the past three seasons.
 
No sensible team would give that man a roster spot even if he played for free.
 

Plympton91

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PrometheusWakefield said:
He is 35 and has accumulated WARs of -1.1, 0.4, and 0.3 over the past three seasons.
 
No sensible team would give that man a roster spot even if he played for free.
Yeah, it is hard to make any case at all for him. He did manage to stay healthy last season, and was marginally better in the second half. Also, as a DH only, his already minimal WAR wouldn't be dragged down by terrible defense.

But, for whatever you'd pay above the minimum, there has to be someone out there offering a better risk-reward profile.