Dave Dombrowski has decided to acquire some bullpen help in the form of 30 year old reliever Fernando Abad from Minnesota. I really like this move by the Sox after hearing rumors that Koji Uehara could be out long term and closer Craig Kimbrel already on the disabled list making a deal to bring in another reliever is smart. This season Abad has appeared in 39 games throwing for 34 innings and has a solid 2.65 ERA. The return for the Twins is relief pitcher Pat Light who is a former Red Sox first round pick and has made two appearances for the major league club this season where he got knocked around. Lights stats down in Pawtucket are promising though as he has pitched to a 2.32 ERA in 31 innings pitched while striking out 36. The corresponding roster move for the Red Sox has not been announced but the Twins have called up Jose Berrios and Light will report directly to triple A Rochester. Seems like a fair trade for both sides as Light should become a serviceable reliever and Abad should definitely help out the Red Sox current bullpen situation.
Damn this is a HUGE move for the Indians. It is unclear yet what the Yankees get in return for Miller but this move solidifies that the Indians are in to win NOW. Miller does have a couple more years on his contract and bullpen help was needed for the Indians to help keep the leads that the phenomenal pitching staff gives them. The Cleveland fans are in for a fun rest of the year. When watching the Indians it's some of the most fun baseball in the game today. They have unbelievable pitching in their starting rotation (Carrasco, Kluber), young position prospects (Lindor) and now a solidified bullpen. Miller is one of the best reliever/closers in the game. He is the rare breed that can both be an excellent closer as well as a shut down reliever. The Indians also have a deal in the works to acquire the 30-year old Brewers catcher Johnathan Lucroy (Deal pending Lucroy to waive the no trade clause to the Indians and physicals). The return for the Brewers is all prospects and are rumored to be SS Yu-Cheng Chang, OF Greg Allen and very talented prospect C Francisco Mejia. (Per @Ken_Rosenthal) This trade helps the Indians primary issue of concern, the catcher position. Lucroy is having an amazing comeback season this year, hitting .300 and hitting 13 HR's. The 30 year old backstop will immediately work well with the amazing pitching staff with his great command of the pitching staff and will upgrade the offense from the disappointing career (so far) of Yan Gomes. *Update- the Yankees have recieved prospects OF Clint Frazier and P Justus Sheffield in return for Miller. These two players have the ability to be top notch players in the MLB in years to come. Clint Frazier might be the best OF prospect in baseball and this is saying a lot with the likes of Andrew Benintendi in the mix. And Justus Sheffield is the #5 prospect in the Indians system but is considered as a top 3 prospect in the system. And the Yankess seem to be all in on rebuilding quickly and thoroughly. **Double-Update- Lucroy has waived his no-trade clause and will not be going to he going to the Indians. He is staying with the Brewers. WOW! Kind of a crazy move from Lucroy, why wouldn't he want to be on a winning team/possible WS contender? I did see that Lucroy wanted more money in exchange for waiving the no-trade clause, the Indians must have denied him the money. WOW! @Belsner133 The San Diego Padres and the Atlanta Braves have swapped the awful contracts of Matt Kemp and Hector Olivera. The move makes close to zero sense for either club in my opinion but I can see the angle that both are coming from. The Padres have been a dumpster fire for about the past decade and one of those pieces of trash was the Matt Kemp deal. Kemp is a solid player getting drastically and grossly overpayed. The Padres did this deal to get rid of the contract of Kemp and let their young talented OF in the farm system develop. One of those names being Manuel Margot, which the Padres recieved from the Red Sox in the Craig Kimbrel trade. For the Braves, they got rid of the awful, pitiful player that Olivera is and made room in the infield to let their young guys learn. The only question I have for the Braves is, why take on the contract of Kemp? The main reason for taking on Kemps' contract was in order to get rid of Olivera, that's how much they hate this guy. I could possibly even see the Padres DFA Olivera and just eat some of the money that he's owed. He has been an overall bust and a reckless player (was suspended 82 games for a banned substance). @Belsner133 *Update
Rick Porcello has been drastically overlooked this season and he might possibly be the best Red Sox pitcher. Porcello is finally pitching like he's being paid. I'm not going to freak out and say that Porcello is basically Christy Mathewson BUT he is basically him. You can't deny facts.
The Red Sox fans need to realize that they have something special this season in #PrettyRicky. Take him for what he has been and love it while it lasts. @Belsner133 Johnathan Papelbon over his last 3 starts has totaled 1 inning of work and let up 7 earned runs. This isn't just bad. This is ridiculously bad. The Nationals are definetly a contender in the NL and if they want to beat the Cubs and Giants this year in the NL they need to improve their bullpen, including closer.
Possible Trades for the Nationals- The Nationals will have to give up a lot in exchange for a top tier closer like Wade Davis. A potential trade, if the Nationals are in a win now mindset, is to trade their top prospect Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez in exchange for Wade Davis and Ryan O'Hearn. This is a very risky trade because of the star power Giolito holds but for a win now club it makes sense. The Nationals have a surplus of young talented arms and need a top end closer, so the trade does make sense. One issue is that Wade Davis is a free agent after the 2017 season. The Nationals could also trade for Andrew Miller, personally I would have to give up more for Andrew Miller than what I would give up for Davis. Miller isn't a free agent until 2019 so they have multiple years of control. A potential trade could be Lucas Giolito and Erick Fedde (#5 prospect for the Nationals) for Andrew Miller and Aaron Hicks (to help as OF backup for the playoffs). @Belsner133 The Padres have agreed to a trade that sends the right handed pitcher Andrew Cashner and pitcher Colin Rea to the Marlins for the Marlins 2015 first-round draft pick Josh Naylor.
This trade should drastically help the Marlins rotation which is kind of weak after Jose Fernandez. The Marlins are quietly in a great position to snag a wild card spot in the NL. The days of the Marlins because the worst team in baseball seem to be over. This deal gives the Marlins another starting pitcher in Cashner who has the possiblity to be lights out ever time he steps on the mound. Cashner is a former top prospect who's career isn't exactly what everyone thought it would be. He's unpredictable. But when Cashner is on, he has some of the best stuff in the NL. The Padres acquire Josh Naylor. This is a great move for the Padres in part that they are in desperate need of young, top prospects in their system, after their awful attempt to be a winning club by signing free agents. With the multiple trades the Padres have done with the Red Sox in which they got prospects such as Manuel Margot and Anderson Espinoza, the Padres are building a stronger farm system. I like the move for both clubs, it was a move that needed to be done for both teams because of the postions they are in. If the Marlins had not added more talent to their pitching staff they might not be able to capture the wild card spot. For the Padres, it was useless to hold on to a pitcher like Andrew Cashner, who is a free agent after this season. @Belsner133 The Minnesota Twins send infielder Eduardo Nuñez to the SF Giant in exchange for Adalberto Mejia, the lefty prospect.
Nuñez played the New York Yankees before coming to the Twins and reviving his career. Nuñez was one of the Yankees most highly sought after prospects back in the day. Now, the 29 year old infielder joins a championship contending team in the Giants after being on a pitiful Twins team. Nuñez's play this year earned him his first All-Star berth. The impact of Nuñez on the Giants will be immediate. He can play second base, third base, shortstop and has even played outfield. The return for the Twins seems to be great. According to MLB Trade Rumors, Mejia owns a 2.81 ERA, an 8.6 K/9 through 105 2/3 innings in Triple-A. This trade also allows the Twins to let their younger players shine and build a team that is a contender in the future with the farm system. The trade isn't major but these are the types of trades every year that end up propelling a team to greatness. @Belsner133 The Boston Red Sox are now 2.5 games back from first place in the AL East and currently sit in third place behind the Blue Jays and Orioles.
This statement is drastically different from how the Red Sox fans thought it would look after the seemingly easy home stand, which they went 4-5 during. The Red Sox hosted the San Francisco Giants to start off the home stand. These games seemed they would be the most challenging for the Red Sox team. The 9 games at home started off amazingly sweeping the Giants in two games and winning the first game of the Twins series. At this time the Red Sox had launched themselves into first place. Then things started to go down hill. The Sox lost the next three games to the Twins, one of the worst teams in baseball, then geared up for a series with the Tigers, a decent club. OHHH WAIT THERE'S MORE! The Sox the lost the remaining 3 games to the Tigers all in close games. On the huge home stand where the Red Sox fans were hopeful and optimistic, after the Drew Pomeranz deal. The Red Sox yet again dissapointed and have now fallen deep into the AL East Standings. @Belsner133 The MLB trade deadline is quickly approaching with major teams, in major markets trying to improve their club. One possible trade that has been very strong hinted at is Wade Davis, of the Kansas City Royals being traded to a contender. Davis has been absolutely phenomenal this season as the closer for the Royals. According to Baseball Reference, Davis has a 21 saves while posting a ridiculously good 1.60 ERA. One thing that does scary me alittle bit if was the Dodgers would be the elevated WHIP that Davis has this year in comparison to last year. This year being that he has a 1.099 WHIP which is much higher than the .787 WHIP he possesses this year. This type of player is a perfect fit for a contender with bullpen issues. One of those teams are the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers have a contending team, which has shown the amazing ability to not lose much ground in their division even with all of their injuries, the major one being to the best pitcher in baseball, Clayton Kershaw. The return of a potential Wade Davis and Ian Kennedy trade to the Dodgers is going to be a haul. Luckily for the Dodgers, they have an unbelievable farm system. Prior reports have said that Wade Davis, being a hot commodity, has started multiple discussions with the Royals for a possible trade. The Royals seems to want a massive return for the All-Star closer.
A potential trade that the Dodgers could make to receive Davis and Kennedy all starts around the Dodgers young prospect talent. With the Royals firmly out of first place behind the Indians, a trade for top tier prospects is key. My thought is that a trade that involves the Dodgers top pitching prospect Julio Urias is way too much for a player like Davis and a throw in like Kennedy. If I were predict how the conversations are going between the two teams. As the Royals I would start to ask for players such as top position player prospect Cody Bellinger(1B/ OF). Or with the soon to be righty prospect Jose De Leon, who I believe will end up being a megastar pitcher. @Belsner133 Another player in contention for the Red Sox best player is Sandy Leon.
Leon came out of nowhere this season. The catching situation to start off the season was Blake Swihart with Ryan Hanigan and Christian Vasquez coming back from Tommy John surgery. This means Sandy Leon was statistically the BACKUP in Triple-A. When Hanigan and Swihart got hurt the obvious chose was to bring up Sandy Leon and start Christian Vasquez. This was extremely unsuccessful for the Red Sox, the pitching staff suffered and Vasquez was not hitting. So when Hanigan came back they shipped Vasquez down to Triple-A and the legend of Sandy Leon was born Since Leon started to play a consistent amount of games this season he has had a .435 Avg with 3 homer runs and 15 RBI's in 69 at-bat. Yeah, this is a small sample size, yeah Sandy Leon is obviously not even close to their best player but I'm not going to be the one to ruin the Sandy Leon craze. I'm going to love it while it lasts. @belsner133 |
Ben Elsner*hits dab* ArchivesCategories |