Teams value prospects differently and they have different motivations. The Astros prospects were higher ceiling but they were certainly lower floor. The Diamondbacks like Weaver a lot. That is why they went with the Cardinals offer. The Yankees paid what most would view as below market value for Paxton, but the Mariners are high on Sheffield.
I saw a rumor of Cleveland packaging Edwin Encarnacion with Kluber or Bauer. That seems like it’d make sense for Houston. Encarnacion, Kluber, and $7M for Tucker, Armenteros, and White?
Never trust a team trying to sell a pitcher coming back from an injury. It is perfectly reasonable for teams not to value JBB highly until he's had a full season of health. That said, I also wouldn't trust a team that that is trying to sell a pitcher after the year Weaver just had.
This is probably accurate as well...I’m sure other GMs are hestirant when he’s either a) willing to give up a certain prospect or b) trying to make a certain prospect the key trade piece. We all know Luhnow doesn’t usually give up guys he thinks really highly of...
Just curious why would they kick in money to trade Encarnacion? He’s basically a rental since I think his 2020 year is a team option. It would have to be Kluber also. He’s a stud and Bauer would not fit in Houston for obvious reasons.
EE is owed $25M ($20M in 2019 salary plus $5M buyout on 2020 $25M option) and is coming off a season in which he produced 1.0 fWAR at age 35. His contract is underwater by probably $15M, since if he were a free agent he’d probably be looking at a 1 year deal worth around $10M. Kluber has a ton of surplus value (my guess is around $55M), so technically Cleveland could trade those 2 together and not have to eat any money, but in my hypothetical, I have Cleveland eating a small amount of money to increase the return (and to make it easier on Houston’s budget).
This is a case of perception not being reality. The Hader/Santana trade was a trade that Luhnow gave up premium prospects for a playoff run. The Cole trade was a fair deal.
Robbie Ray is fun. It’s either a strikeout or walk with him. For some reason I thought he was older. I was surprised to see he’s 27.
Everyone raved about how cheap the EE deal was when he signed it. Backloaded deals for aging players nearly always turn into bad contracts.
I said “usually” and I think usually is pretty accurate. If I recall, Hader wasn’t even a top 10 prospect in our organization by most publications at the time of the trade. Brett Philips was the main piece and he has yet to produce. And come on I think everyone on this board thought we won that trade when it was made, Pirates fans weren’t excited about what they got either. Also, he didn’t draft Hader or Philips. My point was he’s been known to not budge on trading his top guys that he’s drafted. He was unwilling to give up Bregman for Sale, appears he’s unwilling to give up Tucker or Whitley for Realmuto or anyone else for that matter.
One thing that worries me about Kluber, outside of his price, is his mileage and regression in K/BB. Looking like he’ll end up in LAD, anyways. I just think CLE sees the writing on the wall and wants to get as much value for Kluber before the value starts dropping.
I never bought the rumors of any American League contender having a chance at Kluber. Why would the Indians do that when in all likelihood they are going to be in the playoffs? Unless a team in the AL makes a drastic overpay it seemed unlikely to me. Also, Kluber has not been good in the playoffs the last 2 seasons. Racking up 20 wins against the AL Central is one thing, but he hasn't gotten it done when it matters most lately.
Yes, he has sucked when he has sucked (4.2 innings) or been hurt (6.1 innings). When he's been healthy and not faced the defending World Series Champs after they won 100+ games, he's got a FIP/ERA of 3.2/1.8 over 34.1 innings in the postseason. There is no concern about his ability in the postseason other than health and other teams having great lineups. Regarding health and other teams' lineups, this is a bigger deal for almost every other pitcher.
