SP Available at the 2015 Deadline

[PrometheusWakefield]

Moving this here:
 

If they're buying, they need to buy a lot. A mid rotation starter or better plus a reliever at least as good as Tazawa, and maybe a catcher. I think between Holt and Nava coming back they can cobble together production at 1B. And as someone said, who's selling if the Sox are buying?

 

Milwaukee, Oakland, Colorado, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, probably Miami, probably the White Sox, maybe Atlanta, maybe eventually Seattle.
 
So, clearly IMO buying means adding another quality starter first and foremost. So if we're looking for top of the rotation, it's back to Philly for Hamels, top billing for Cueto, some dream I don't follow about Gray, or maybe Kazmir as a slightly smaller name but top of the rotation performance. 
 
The level down from that you've got Shark almost certain to be traded. I wonder if Milwaukee would listen on Mike Fiers. Then you've got a set of guys who seem like about the same as the guys we already have: Leake, Lohse, Garza, Jorge de la Rosa. 
 
It's not a lot out there. And you've got the Tigers, the Royals, the Astros, the Pirates, the Cubs, the Yankees, all reportedly looking for pitching. Looks like a serious sellers market to me. Gonna be tough to land anyone who could be a game changer without really paying the price in prospects. 

 

[AlNipper49]

Breaking this out from the "Are we buying thread" to encompass a bigger picture look at the starting pitching available leading into the deadline.  Thus far it looks like the Astros are the name leading the pack for a lot of the starting pitching.  The Dodgers have been mentioned a lot, Greinke can opt out of his contract this winter and they may be interested in some of the available pitching beyond rental status (Buchholz, Hamels) .
 
David Price, DET, Free Agent
Clay Buchholz, BOS, 2X Team Options
Johnny Cueto, CIN, Free Agent
Samardzija, CHW, Free Agent
Hamels, PHI, Team Option 2019, fair market deal
Scott Kazmir, OAK, Free Agent
 

Chris Sale

3.4

White Sox

David Price

2.8

Tigers

Clay Buchholz

2.4

Red Sox

Jordan Zimmermann

2.0

Nationals

Johnny Cueto

1.9

Reds

Jeff Samardzija

1.7

White Sox

Cole Hamels

1.7

Phillies

Jose Quintana

1.5

White Sox

Scott Kazmir

1.5

Athletics

J.A. Happ

1.4

Mariners

Mike Fiers

1.4

Brewers

Aaron Harang

1.3

Phillies

Bartolo Colon

1.0

Mets

Chase Anderson

0.9

Diamondbacks

Andrew Cashner

0.9

Padres

 

[jscola85]

Have a hard time seeing this organization getting comfortable with an over-30 rental pitcher.  They couldn't get over that hump in the offseason when all it would cost is money and now we're expected to believe that they will give up both prospects AND money?  Hamels' appeal in part was/is either the team wasn't giving up a truly elite prospect (and eating his whole deal) or if they were, his contract would come paid in part by Philly and last for a more reasonable length than what he would get in the FA market today.
 
I guess Cueto would be of most interest given he has probably the best performance of late among that group and is also the youngest, but he will be by far the most coveted and therefore most expensive.  The last five years, he has a 2.53 ERA and 667/199 K/BB.  The risk is health for him - do the Sox really want to commit prospects plus close to $200M on a 5-11 pitcher who has missed time in the past and has been worked like a rented mule the last 1.5 seasons by the Reds?  Under 6-0 pitchers tend not to age very well - as we saw with Pedro, he fell off pretty hard after 31 and by 34 he could not pitch more than 100 innings.  There's a good chance buying on Cueto means huge trouble in the last 3 years of a deal, at least more so than workhorse-sized pitchers like Lester or Price.

 

[Max Venerable]

Maybe I'm a glass half full type here, but I don't think the Sox need top end starting pitching right now.  Buchholz might be an enigma, but at the moment he is an ace level starter.  Eduardo Rodriguez has shown flashes of dominance and seems to be able to win games even when he's not.  Miley isn't super inspiring, but he seems OK as a #3 or #4, and they really just have to hope Procello can right himself and become another similar pitcher - because we are stuck with him. 
 
Boston needs to upgrade Joe Kelly's slot from awful to decent.  Maybe Masterson is getting a last shot to do that right now, but its tough to see that working out based on his velocity and history.  It would be a solid move to pick up one more middle of the rotation starter to upgrade the utter crap that has been Joe Kelly.  Harang, Happ, Quintana, Kazmir - those are they guys I think we should be chasing, rather than Cueto.
 
The lineup is starting to show its potential, and apart from the team's record quite a lot of Ben's plan seems to have worked out.  They have found their "He's the Ace" in Good Clay and a #2 in Rodriguez.  What they need to do now is cut bait on the Aces that haven't worked out to even a passable level (Kelly at least) and turn to someone dependably mediocre.  They need their Pete Schourek or Jake Peavy, essentially.  Get into the playoffs based on that, if you can, and lets see what shakes out.

 

[Merkle's Boner]

I really hope they give Brian Johnson a shot at that #5 slot before trading for a rental. I have little doubt he can outperform the shite they have been getting from Kelly and Masterson.

 

[jscola85]

If we're really starting to put the head in the clouds and think about October, I don't think you can assume Rodriguez as your #2 for the playoffs.  He'll start to bump against his innings limit, plus while he has been good he's averaging less than 6 IP per start, putting a strain in the bullpen.  He's far better off like Lester in 2007 as the 3rd or 4th starter who can be lights out for 5-6 IP but will need 3-4 relievers to help finish off the game.

 

[PrometheusWakefield]

In the category of guys who you might feel ok about as #3 starter, hopefully you wouldn't have to break the bank for Dan Haren or Matt Latos, both of whom are FAs after the season and presumably must be dealt. Not exactly exciting though.
 
Edit: Actually, after digging around a bit more I can get moderately excited about Latos. His velocity has bounced back to over 93 mph since coming back from a knee injury this year, which is in line with what he was throwing back in his 4-WAR seasons in 2010 and 2011. He's also only 27. On the other hand, everybody else knows about his velocity uptick too and I'm guessing nobody is going to be confused about a big ERA / FIP split caused by a terrible LOB%, so I imagine it will take a prospect of some substance to get him.

 

[grimshaw]

 
 
 
 

Just making this vertical and crossing out a few as extremely unlikely
 
David Price, DET, Free Agent
Clay Buchholz, BOS, 2X Team Options
Johnny Cueto, CIN, Free Agent
Samardzija, CHW, Free Agent
Hamels, PHI, Team Option 2019, fair market deal
Scott Kazmir, OAK, Free Agent
 
Chris Sale 3.4 White Sox
David Price 2.8 Tigers - If the Tigers don't do something with Price, they are going to be the Phillies in a few years.
Clay Buchholz 2.4 Red Sox
Jordan Zimmermann 2.0 Nationals Due to Strasburg injury.  I could see Fister or Roark, if anyone.
Johnny Cueto 1.9 Reds
Jeff Samardzija 1.7 White Sox
Cole Hamels 1.7 Phillies
Jose Quintana 1.5 White Sox
Scott Kazmir 1.5 Athletics
J.A. Happ 1.4 Mariners
Mike Fiers 1.4 Brewers - Cheap and decent.  Probably they'd hang onto him.
Aaron Harang 1.3 Phillies
Bartolo Colon 1.0 Mets
Chase Anderson 0.9 Diamondbacks - Probably not due to his low cost
Andrew Cashner 0.9 Padres
 
I'll add a few others
Shields (Unlikely, but if the Padres already regret going all in)
Garza - if teams want to make their rotation worse.
Iwakuma - if he's healthy
Joe Kelly for a basket of kisses.

 

[MikeM]

Edit: Actually, after digging around a bit more I can get moderately excited about Latos. His velocity has bounced back to over 93 mph since coming back from a knee injury this year, which is in line with what he was throwing back in his 4-WAR seasons in 2010 and 2011. He's also only 27. On the other hand, everybody else knows about his velocity uptick too and I'm guessing nobody is going to be confused about a big ERA / FIP split caused by a terrible LOB%, so I imagine it will take a prospect of some substance to get him.

 
Spent a while last night taking a hard look at Latos too. I'm liking him as another Porcello flyer type...minus the day 1 overpay extension BS.
 
If the acquisition cost doesn't amount to anything too noteworthy he'd be a solid guy to get an in-house look at, then if all goes well in that target as an offseason resign in the event we still truly want to steer away from the top of the food chain targets/bidding. I mean with the all moving pieces this winter, it's hardly a certainty that the market on Latos plays out in some extreme manner imo. He'd probably need to REALLY turn it up to Cy Young levels the rest of the way to even present the chance, and even then there's probably still a decent possibility he ends up being had at a "value rate". At least as far as free agency dollars go, and in general terms of a "Shields thought he was getting X, but really ends up with Y" scenario. 
 
Now whether or not Ben could be trusted to play the conservative "don't do anything stupid" market hand after the fact....IDK.

 

[SeanBerry]

Jon Niese of the Mets is very available. 
 
His contract is unusual in that he is locked in for $9 million next year but then the contract has back to back team options for 2017 and 2018. He's still only 28 years old however he has had a number of shoulder issues since 2013 and his velocity has really dropped since then. He's coming off of a nice stretch of 5 straight quality starts (but because the Mets can't hit at all, he's 0-3 in those games) with a 3.00 ERA.
 
He can be had fairly easily but it will likely take a MLB hitter to get him. Perhaps a 3 team deal that could see prospects going to a 3rd team.