Yeah......... the Astros have a number of good players in the minors, if a rental coming off a major injury can't be worked out for players other than Whitley, Tucker, Alvarez and Martin, then the Astros should look else where. Hell, structure a deal around Martin (#83) and other pieces like Perez, Fisher, Arauz to get Realmuto at that point. I get the appeal of Britton, prior to this injury he had a 3-4 year stretch where he was one of the 3-4 best closers ever.... but he is a rental, and he is an injury concern.
It sounds like the Astros have made a solid bid for Britton. Now the Orioles are trying to up that bid. Cubs were trying to match the Astros, now the Yankees are trying to match the Astros. If anyone advances the offer....then the Astros have to match or advance the offer. ....and so it goes. So far, it sounds like the Astros are still in the driver seat with their offer. But.... with weak starting pitching, the Yankees might take a chance on Britton to go with Chapman, Betances, Green and Robertson. What is already a scary good Yankee bullpen would get even better. Hope the Astros land him....we need a closer.
I hope the Yanks have resigned themselves to go with the rotation they have (which is 1 great starter, 1 good starter, and a bunch of crap) and rely heavily on the pen and the bats to carry them.
Interesting. I want Britton, but I also do not want to overpay for 2-3 months' worth of his services. If we plan on aggressively trying to re-sign him in the offseason, and feel like him getting a feel of our awesome clubhouse will help the recruiting efforts, then I don't mind sending more in order to acquire him (side note - what kind of deal would it take to sign him, 3/$30M?). I just cannot stand the Orioles' front office, so I already commend Jeff Luhnow and company for exercising way more patience than I'd have.
I'd really like the Astros to go after Nick Castellanos to DH. I still think the lineup could use one more big bat, don't know if Gattis is consistent enough to trust in the playoffs.
Looks that way. Rumors are... Yankees are trying to trade Sonny Gray... change of scenery trade. Might get lucky and strike lighting in a bottle. Yankees might bring up 22 year old LHP Justus Sheffield and give him a shot in the rotation. I agree, as of right now, the Yankees starting pitching is their weakest link. Get to them early and teams should be in great shape. If your down going into the later innings, that will be difficult to pull out a win. Can Yankees starting pitching make it and win the world series? I doubt it. Yankees are good enough to beat you in a 5 game series, I think their flaws start showing up in a 7 game series. I'm more worried about the Indians and Red Sox in a 7 game series. I worry about all the teams in a 5 game series.
So someone matched and raised the Astros initial offer. Orioles are playing this great. I don't think any of the teams throw in their best prospects but I can imagine trades with 4-5 talented prospects to get the deal done. Looks like the Yankees don't want him to go to Houston. Yankees struggle against Britton.
I think that they may get end up with someone in the Hamels or Happ mold. There just aren't any really good names out there. Bundy is available and he is capable of being dominant, but his cost is supposedly not reasonable.
As for Britton........ the one downside of being in the AL is that the Astros are now in the middle of the Yankees and Red Sox annual tradition of raising the cost of any players that the top teams in the AL want. Once it was disclosed that NY and BOS were interested, it was known the cost would be high. Luhnow must really have his sights set on Brittion having let Familia and Herrera go for so little.
Sounds good. But can the Orioles be counted on to do the sensible thing? Damn sure dont want the Yanks or Red Sox to land him.
He knows we need a closer. Someone who has the potentially to shorten the game. We have solid 6-8 style relievers....but we need Britton to be the closer for the Astros in the playoffs. Britton, Rondon as your closers in the playoffs. McCullers/Morton filling the need when necessary. That is incredible strong.
Yea, I was just thinking teams usually like to avoid trading a player in-division if it all possible.... though the Orioles will be tanking so hard I doubt they care.
Given that he's a rental and the Orioles are as far away from contending as you can be, it would be pretty silly to put any consideration into that. Both teams have established closers, so he's unlikely to stay and hurt you down the line.
Right, but Luhnow doesn't just want a closer; he wants Britton. If he wanted a closer he could have gotten Familia or Herrera for a lot lower cost. I am not knocking Luhnow, he has been the best mind in baseball the last 5-6 years...... point being Luhnow wants a top level closer. He wants the guy that had a 1.4 era over 200 innings across 3 seasons when healthy.
Don't underestimate Peter Angelos' involvement. He is 90 years old and his son John has taken on more control of the organization. However, at the end of the day, if the offers are fairly similar, look for Angelos to push a trade away from NY and BOS. He is a very proud man.
Exactly... Britton is left handed. It's why everyone is so high on him and Brad Hand (before he got traded to Indians) Britton/Rondon is a great combo for matchups at the end of the game.
I think that principle is more of an "all things being equal" type thing. Obviously if the Yankees or Red Sox are giving them the best offer, it would be stupid to pass that up.
