They're shopping him. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2019/07/cubs-shopping-martin-maldonado.html The Cubs acquired catcher Martin Maldonado from the Royals just two weeks ago, though Chicago is already exploring the possibility of flipping Maldonado elsewhere, The Athletic’s Robert Murray reports (subscription required). The veteran backstop “has been marketed in trade discussions….with the Houston Astros emerging as a particular team of interest,” The Athletic’s Patrick Mooney writes.
How is Stubbs behind the plate? His bat is 100% irrelevant in the playoffs because we will basically never be pinch hitting. If he can handle the defensive part of catching in an emergency, that's all that should matter, right? With all the off-days in the playoffs, I'd think Chirinos would start every game.
If a good catcher is available and can be reasonably had that is also under contract for next year, why not?
If that's truly all the market would create for Stroman, I can't see any pitchers being moved. I'm not even that big a fan of Stroman and that seems absurdly low for a guy with team control left. Now the Mets control almost all the top arms to possibly get moved, and I get the feeling they are gonna demand an overpay for all of them.
Agreed. Arizona still with more overall assets (including starting, relief pitching, backup C... all things the Astros would discuss). Also, very little media leaks which says that either some real progress/negotiations being made (that don’t need design leaks to stir up interest), or absolutely nothing is going on.
Yes, AZ has seemed like a better fit for a while now. I suppose it all depends on how willing they are to negotiate with us. As far as relief pitching goes, there are a lot of options out there.
Would love to see what Strom could do with Edwin Diaz. Wouldn’t mind trading JBB and a mid level prospect or two for him.
But that’s the thing, it’s not absurdly low. It was a fair trade. The available pitchers aren’t that good. Noah Syndergaard isn’t that good (injury risk). Robbie Ray isn’t that good. Matt Boyd isn’t that good. These are guys you’re happy to run out there for Game 3 or 4, but in no way are they guys you want starting Game 1. You don’t give up Kyle Tucker type prospects for Game 3 starters. You give up your #4 and #6 prospects (like the Mets did for Stroman). Trades will happen. There will be a flurry over the next 72 hours. If a non-contending team doesn’t trade a player in the next 3 days, they waste a 1/2 season of a players value. There’s a small chance Luhnow doesn’t find a deal for a starting pitcher he likes, but I would be very surprised; he’s known he would need pitching at the deadline for 3 months.
Stroman has at least $20M in surplus value and the two prospects the Mets gave up are worth around $8M total.
He's projected to put up projects to put up another 1.1-1.3 WAR the rest of this season and around 3 WAR next season when he likely make around $13M in arbitration. That's around $20M in surplus. Craig Edwards did a thorough analysis at the end of last season where he determined 45 FV pitching prospects (FG grades both of the pitchers the Jays received as 45s) are worth around $4M on average. Thus, the deal only makes sense if the Jays believe Richardson, who has the more upside of the two, is worth quite a bit more than your typical 45 FV pitching prospect.
