With 5 days to make non-waiver, trade talk in the MLB should pick up. Many are predicting that many deals won’t be made, since teams don’t know if they will be buyers or seller, teams don’t have money to take on, and teams don’t want to give up top prospects.
It’ll be interesting to see what happens…
Rockie Mountain Sale?
The Rockies at this point don’t know if they are buyers or sellers. They are 8 back of the Padres and 4.5 back in the wild card race. Baseball Prospectus has their post season odds at 23.4%. They aren’t out of it, but if they hit a cold streak, they will be.
Their have been looking at upgrading their bench. The most popular name popping up is Jorge Cantu of the Marlins. They have also been linked to Ty Wiggington.
If they sell, it’s reported that they’ll see what they can get for Melvin Mora, Ryan Spilsborghs, and Brad Hawpe. Jorge de la Rosa, Aaron Cook, and Joe Beimel could also be talked about.
Cook could be an intriguing name; he’s got a some-what team friendly deal, but the Rockies have better pitcher in their pipeline. de la Rosa could also draw some interest, especially after his breakout season last year. He’ll be a free agent after the season and could be a Type B free agent (netting a supplement first rounder). Mora, Spilsborgh, and Hawpe are pretty much just role players for any contender, while Beimel is LOOGY.
When’s Oswalt Moving?
The Astros are still listening to teams on Roy Oswalt, but I think he’s staying in Houston. The demand that his $16MM 2012 option being picked up and the Astros not chipping in some cash are key reasons. There also the fact that the Astros are reportedly asking for 2 top prospects, an MLB ready player, and a mid-level prospect; that’s a tall price for a pitcher on the downside that will be owed $32MM over the next 2 years. Oswalt has said that he’d consider deferring money if it helps with a deal, and he’d consider moving East.
The Cardinals have said that they are pretty much out; they don’t want to move Shelby Miller, which would be key to getting the deal done. The Astros aren’t keen on moving him in the division as well, and have concerns over Miller. It could still happen, but it’s not looking good right now.
The Rangers are still interested, if something can be done about the money. Even with adding Cliff Lee, the Rangers want to seal up the AL West and counter the Angels Dan Haren move. They still have quite a few prospects, but I would imagine that Neftali Feliz and Martin Perez won’t be included in talks.
The Phillies are still finding a way to make a deal done, but it doesn’t look good here either. First off, they don’t have the prospects to satisfy Houstons request. Secondly, they’d have to move Jayson Werth, which it appears that there aren’t many teams interested in making a deal for him. Finally, it’s rumored that Oswalt would kill any trade to the Phillies, as that is one team he doesn’t want to play for.
Wild Fire (Sale) in the Desert
Even with already moving Conor Jackson and Dan Haren, it appears that the Diamondbacks aren’t done dealing yet.
Interim GM Jerry DiPoto has said that he’d still like to move catcher Chris Snyder and reliever Chad Qualls. They are also open to deals involving first baseman Adam LaRoche and starter Edwin Jackson. Just about the only names they won’t talk about are outfielde Justin Upton and starter Ian Kennedy.
Based off the returns for Dan Haren, I’d say that a team should work with Arizona. I really feel that they could have gotten more for Haren, even with him struggling this season. If they get Tyler Skaggs, then the deal is better, but they really didn’t land a top notch prospect yet. Joe Saunders is a decent pitcher on the surface, but has a high ERA, high BB/9, and low K/9. His peak was 2 years ago, when he was a 4.7 WAR; he was at 1.6 last year and 0.9 so far this year. He won’t kill a team, but he won’t lead a rotation.
Catching Fish
The Marlins are looking to be out of contention soon, and the budget conscience team is looking to move some players – just not the expected ones.
After a few weeks of rumors, it was reported in the last couple of days that the Marlins are considering long term deals for Dan Uggla and/or Ricky Nolasco. Both players are arbitration eligible and could net a nice return.
Instead, the Marlins will focus on dealing Jorge Cantu. Cantu is blocking prospect Logan Morrison at first. The Rangers and Rockies are interested, along with the Giants. A deal is expected by the weekend.
There are also rumors that the Marlins are listening to offers on disappointing first round pick Chris Volstad. Volstad hasn’t had the big league success that the team was expecting. Since he’ll be under team control for a while (2014), it’s expected that the Marlins could get a nice little haul for the starter. It could also be a reason the team won’t trade him.
