Spoiler: OT Royals acquired RHPs Trevor Cahill and Brandon Maurer and LHP Ryan Buchter from the Padres in exchange for LHPs Matt Strahm and Travis Wood and INF Esteury Ruiz. Twins acquired LHP Jaime Garcia, C Anthony Recker and cash considerations from the Braves in exchange for RHP Huascar Ynoa.
Ugh, I hate the yankees.. Everyone thinking they are going to rebuild a little bit then they get this breakout season from Judge and now they are snatching up talent. Heard they at least called Miami about Stanton. They are gonna steal one of our core members once pay days come. Just leave it alone for a year...
The Blue Jays have fallen back a bit and have <10% chance of making the playoffs. Wonder if Stroman will be shopped this week.
Everyone hates on Josh Innes, but this morning he made a pretty damn good case about the Stros and Verlander. I would love to get Verlander, but if that doesn't happen I want Marcus Stroman.
Considering it looks like Astros are about to send a better pitcher to the pen than Verlander and would have to send another pitcher likely better than Verlander to acquire Verlander, I don't see how a good argument can be made for Verlander when he isn't a short term need and is likely a long term disaster due to contract. I would much rather acquire relievers that are actually better than the guys they would replace than add Verlander as the 8th starter for insurance purposes.
But aren't BBS posters in the forum smarter than him and Hinch? Weren't they crazy for keeping Peacock on the team and sticking with Fiers?
If you combined all of our baseball knowlege together? Nope. Fiers immediately going back into the rotation due to injury is the biggest stroke of luck this team has had all year. His turnaround has been amazing to watch.
Astros into yu? http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/20152841/texas-rangers-ready-move-ace-yu-darvish-right-deal
Hypothetical: Would you guys rather have Yu Darvish or Justin Verlander. Please INCLUDE cost and current contracts in your decision.
This is where I went 2 weeks ago. Couldn't deal with more speculation and randomness and rehashing the same arguments. I'll wait to see what happens and give an opinion, and then enjoy the ride after that. It's gonna be a hell of a season, whether prospects + DL guys or trade guys fill the improvement gaps
The only teams that can trade for Yu will be ones willing to spend 25-30 mill over 5 years for him. Astros have too many big contracts to hand out in the next 2-3 years to tie their hands in his salary. I don't either are worth spending top prospects on given the circumstances. Justin Wilson+ Verlander is intriguing though. He would only have 2 more years and part of his salary would be eaten by the Tigers. One of Fiers, McHugh, and Morton would be on the block in the offseason if we make that move.
Cost? As in Prospect cost? Since we can't really know that, I don't know why you would ask that. I'd rather have Darvish who is a better pitcher right now. I'd be happy to add Verlander, but I think he makes more sense in the offseason (not that he will be available as another team could take him now).
I'm there as well... but there's also the side of me that worries that even if Luhnow wants to make a move, there's some inherent difficulty (whether its other teams not wanting to deal directly with him, whether its the own internal evaluation of prospects that overvalues some guys... who end up getting kept too long, past the point they could have returned something great (AJ Reed, Musgrove), or whether its Jim Crane not wanting to sign off on the more expensive option). I'm really not worried about them losing a prospect that's going to go on to do something great...despite Luhnow's constant concerns about getting "pillaged" in the Rule 5 draft, etc. If you just look at the list of prospects Luhnow has traded over the last 3 years (and its a pretty significant list), none of them have really come close to creating any sort of regret... despite some of the established stars not fully panning out just yet (Gomez, Gattis, Giles). That prospect list alone may have some clubs leery of making deals with Luhnow.
A little regret maybe. Brett Phillips & Josh Hader would be nice to have back, though my biggest regret is not having them to trade elsewhere (though Hader would be tempting to keep as a Sipp replacement). Fiers sudden resurgence has alleviated the regret, but boy do I miss Hader.
Obviously Darvish is the better pitcher on the better contract, so all things being equal it's a no-brainer to prefer Darvish. However, assuming the cost to acquire Darvish is much higher than the cost to acquire Verlander, there's a discussion to be had. Here are my assumed costs for each: Darvish: 1 of Martes or Whitley, plus 1 of Fisher, F Perez, or Alvarez, plus 1 of Teoscar, Moran, or Cameron. Verlander: 2 of Fisher, F Perez, or Alvarez plus a throw-in (outside org Top 30); Detroit eats $20M. That's a tough choice, but assuming the scouts sign off on it, I would go with Verlander; here's why: Martes and Whitley are extremely valuable; Martes is valuable to the big league roster right now and Whitley is one of the 15 best pitching prospects in the league. Darvish has an injury history whereas Verlander has been very sturdy. The difference between the two over the remainder of the season is likely to be VERY minimal. Fangraphs has Darvish at a FIP of 3.7 over the rest of the season: they have Verlander at 3.9. That's a TOTAL difference of <4 runs allowed over the entire rest of the season and the playoffs. Verlander was fantastic as recently as last season. A change of scenery and a chance at a World Series could energize him to return to glory; his upside is just as high if not higher than Darvish. Verlander is controllable for 2-3 more seasons; if he at all returns to form he will be a boon. If he flounders you can cut your losses and not be out much (assuming Detroit picks up 1/2 his contract). Kate Upton.
I dont mind talk concerning guys who have been verified as actually being available. But the constant speculation on guys that are nothing more than a pipe dream gets tedious.
Doubt ARL trades Yu in the division, and I think Snakes offer is a tad low. I mean, Quintana just netted the #5 prospect plus 2-3 (?) other top 100 prospects. Even ignoring any modest tax for being division rivals, I think Yu would cost: tucker, Whitley/Martes, fisher, and 2 more top 25 guys. The market is that high for TOR arms right now. TOR arms are coming at a premium, you aren't landing Yu for Martes/Whitley + Fisher + Alvarez
Teams typically trade guys that they value less than the team receiving the player or prospect. The team trading a player or a prospect know the most about them, and teams are going try to trade someone that they think is going to start sucking in the near future or even long term. As such, traded players or prospects on average typically produce less than expected due to some of them being lemons versus similarly-valued prospects/players that aren't traded. Astros haven't really traded many high profile prospects and haven't received an abundance of MLB talent either. Sure, there are guys they could have traded before they lost value. There are also guys on MLB team that could have been traded for a lot less than they are currently worth.
