I could see a deal where the Astros give them 3 guys like Quincy Hamilton, Miguel Ullola, and Will Wagner. The White Sox may bite on that deal as the players actually have some MLB potential and another full season + to develop it before having to take up a 40 man spot.
Outside the box Trade Pena for a starting pitcher who is a #1-3 type guy with multiple controllable seasons left Dubon moves into starting SS spot
It’s reasonable to suggest the White Sox might opt for lower level prospects who don’t require a 40 man spot over equally valuable prospects who are on the 40 man. But calling my idea “stupid” because it proposes high ceiling prospects who are near MLB ready is…stupid.
I don't think it matters because the White Sox would be making a mistake to package those guys together. They would do better trading them indivdually. Someone will trade for Lynn and give up at least a lottery ticket prospect back and a top 10-15 prospect even with his fat salary. The starting pitching market is very weak. You can probably find a dozen articles about a dozen different teams and why they should trade for Lynn. I saw one today about the Red Sox. They could also eat some money to get better prospects. Someone will trade for Grandal and give up something similar to what the Astros gave up for Vazquez last year at a minimum. Why? Because the rental market for catchers looks AWFUL and he would be owed like 8 million for the rest of the season at the deadline. White Sox might eat a little to get a better prospect, or another team might just be willing to pay all 8 million to grab the only solid bat on the catcher rental market. Zunino was so bad he got cut. Then they can maximize the value for Graveman on his own (who I don't even believe they will trade.)
This is not the description of a team that should be expecting a play off run. This is not the description of a team worth mortgaging it's future by trading away it's best prospects because they are so close to winning it all. This is a description of a long shot. This is pissing into the wind and not caring that you will be walking away with a face full of piss. With one of the leagues best pitching staffs and with Alvarez, Abreu, Diaz and Tucker, and with Bregman, Altuve and Pena, Meyers and McCormick, if you think "If I only had a good bat and a few pitchers" we would have a chance you are ignoring the truth about the situation your team is in. This group of players could win with me or you or with no one managing them. They have lost game after game. They have lost confidence and joy. They have been mismanaged in what appears to be an intentional push toward the bottom.
Seems to me that I recall Maldy was considering retirement and had to be talked into signing on for another season. I can not cite any proof but that was my interpretation of what happened at the time. I do not think he will accept a trade to any team but would walk away from baseball altogether instead. He has done his part, he is all but gone already.
I would bet you money if Maldy was offered to the Mets Verlander would be beating down the door to get him there. And with Max saying he would waive his no trade Cluase this would be the opertunity to get a decent prospect for the Catcher that helps def and SP fins there grooves. This also gets the Astros a chance to start Diaz and call up Lee
The Mets have no need for a rental catcher unless they are playing to make the playoffs. No way they trade away Scherzer if that's the case. Plenty of teams would snatch Maldy up from waivers. I'm afraid very few would give up a prospect for him.
Imagine an OF of Yordan,Bellinger, Tucker with Diaz at DH, because you know Dusty won't let him catch regularly.
Imagine an OF of Yordan,Bellinger, Tucker with Diaz at DH, because you know Dusty won't let him catch regularly.
That’s so much worse a situation than Tucker bellinger snd chas with Yordan dH and Diaz at catching. That lineup would ****!
Chas has actually been at least as good as Bellinger. Meyers has been better defensively and vs RHP which is the teams weakness. Bellinger. .780 OPS, .666 vs RHP, .998 vs LHP McCormick .782 OPS, .789 vs RHP, .760 vs LHP Meyers .694 OPS, .685 vs RHP, .785 vs LHP Defensively: Bellinger 3 OAA McCormick 3 OAA Meyers 7 OAA Bellinger 0 DRS Chas 2 DFR Meyers 4 DRS I would just keep Chas, as long as Dusty plays him but even with Meyers playing, it just isn't a clear difference making upgrade.
I think a better approach, given our limited trade assets, is to find a team to max their values and then shop needs from there. I see France and Bielak being valuable to a team with terrible pitching and limited resources. So maybe looking for a reliever or lefty bat with them makes sense.... That would be: Oakland Colorado Kansas City Cincinnati Washington I think Cincinnati is a buyer and looking for better pitching than 4/5 and won't give up an impact piece. I feel Washington is too far off, Colorado is unpredictable with park effects, and Oakland may not have any major leaguers. That leaves KC who has some young pieces up and is in a mediocre division. Barlow and Chapman are on their roster. Both are older for their rebuild. Barlow is having a down year and Chapman is older with baggage. I'm thinking... Barlow and Chapman For Bielak, Meyers, Joe Perez, and Matijevic We eat the 9 million payroll portioned... Urquidy gets healthy... Valdez Javier Urquidy Brown France I would then flip someone like Pedro Leon for Rich Hill to pair with France as insurance. The two of them can each go twice through the order. I think Whitcomb and Hamilton could be ok chips to move for a 4 or 5 starter for more depth... I'd be looking for older pitchers who can still go 2 times through the lineup knowing Framber throws the next game and you can use bullpen more. That should keep the talent cost down...
Other teams/GM's are stiffing us right now. They're asking for too much on purpose to try to either make us fall further back in the standings or give up too much to dig ourselves in the ground for the future. Thats SOP for sure, but even more so since it is the Astros.
Nah. Teams don’t operate like that, they’re just reacting to the market. There are only a handful of current sellers and they don’t have much to offer. The thing I would be doing if I were Brown is exploring buy-buy trade ideas with other teams still in contention (e.g. dealing from Houston’s fringey OF surplus to acquire another team’s fringey SP surplus or BP help); those deals might be more realistic between teams in different leagues. Teams might be willing to make those type of trades earlier since contenders are anxious to get better now. But most likely we aren’t going to see any meaningful trades until July 20th and really not until the last 2-3 days. It’s going to be a fascinating deadline.
