MLB Chatter Thread

[Carp]

As an aside...I get gay for baseball during the winter meetings.

 

[Carp]

SAN DIEGO -- The Oakland Athletics traded Jeff Samardzija to the Chicago White Sox late Monday night.

There was speculation about the Red Sox getting involved in talks for the right-hander, who was traded from his hometown Cubs last season, but Chitown's South Side team wound up the winner.

The White Sox have several young middle infielders who could make sense for the A's, and Jeff Passan of Yahoo suggested that Marcus Semien could be involved. Chicago's top young middle infielder is Tim Anderson but it was expected the White Sox wouldn't surrender him for a rental player.

Samardzija goes as a top-of-the-rotation rental, as A's GM Billy Beane makes a clean deal not dependent on an extension that may never happen. Samardzija is a free agent after the 2015 season.

The White Sox land the right-hander they sought for a rotation led by ace Chris Sale and fellow lefties Jose Quintana and John Danks.
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Another bad deal for Oakland.

 

[Carp]

Red Sox Offer Justin Masterson Multi-Year Deal

By Charlie Wilmoth [December 9, 2014 at 7:21am CST]

The Red Sox have offered Justin Masterson a multi-year deal with the idea of using him as a starter, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe tweets. CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman reported yesterday that the Red Sox had made Masterson an offer. A number of teams have shown interest in Masterson, so it’s not that surprising that he would already have at least one multi-year offer despite his disappointing 2014 season, in which he dealt with injuries and a (likely related) loss of velocity.

In October, MLBTR’s Zach Links predicted Masterson would take a one-year, $12MM deal, but that was predicated upon the idea that he would want to use that year to rebuild his value before hitting the free agent market again. Last offseason, Masterson appeared headed toward a huge contract, and he might yet be able to get one if he took a one-year deal and then had a big 2015 season.

Masterson, of course, came through the minors with the Red Sox, who sent him to Cleveland when they acquired Victor Martinez in 2009. After four straight years in which he was solid or better from the Indians (he had a poor ERA in 2012, but his peripherals that season remained reasonable), his ugly walk year resulted in a trade to St. Louis last July. For the season, he posted a 5.88 ERA with 8.1 K/9 and 4.8 BB/9 in 128 2/3 innings.

 

[Carp]

Rockies GM Jeff Bridich says catcher Wilin Rosario has mostly attracted interest from AL clubs, MLB.com’s Thomas Harding reports. Rosario is better offensively than defensively, and AL clubs could use him at DH. The Rangers are one possible fit, Harding suggests. A report last week indicated that the Rockies were interested in trying to trade Rosario, who is projected to receive a raise to $3.6MM in 2015 through the arbitration process. Harding writes that the Rockies would look for another catcher if they traded Rosario.

 

[Carp]

Mike Puma ‏@NYPost_Mets · 1m1 minute ago
Was told the Mets don't consider Profar or Andrus a possibility for shortstop.

 

[Rev]

Mike Puma ‏@NYPost_Mets · 1m1 minute ago
Was told the Mets don't consider Profar or Andrus a possibility for shortstop.

Its probably more on the Rangers end wanting too much. Everything that I have read is they really don't want to trade him but I guess they were kicking the tires on some pitching.

 

[Carp]

Bob Nightengale ‏@BNightengale · 4m4 minutes ago
The Chicago #Cubs are on the verge of acquiring #Dbacks catcher Miguel Montero for prospects. Deal expected by end of day.

 

[Carp]

SNY.TV’s Robert Brender talked with ESPN Dallas reporter Calvin Watkins about reported talks between the Mets and Rangers.

Here are six things we learned about the Rangers from Watkins during the interview…

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1) They want a guy that can throw 175 innings, someone that can be a number three starter.

2) They like Dillon Gee, who lives an hour away from their ballpark.

3) They talked with the Padres about acquiring Tyson Ross, who is their favorite.

4) They are seeing a lot of interest in Jurickson Profar, but interested teams say the asking price is too high given his recent injuries.

5) Profar may start throwing again in January, but he’s yet to have consistent stability in his shoulder, which may or may not need surgery and is in need of being stronger.

6) They prefer to to keep Elvis Andrus, especially after coming off a down year.

 

[Carp]

Cubs Nearing Deal To Acquire Miguel Montero

By Jeff Todd [December 9, 2014 at 10:58am CST]

The Cubs are “on the verge” of striking a deal to add catcher Miguel Montero from the Diamondbacks, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports on Twitter. A deal is “expected” by the close of business today, per Nightengale. The sides were said to be in talks yesterday.

 

[Cowboysrock55]

SAN DIEGO -- The Oakland Athletics traded Jeff Samardzija to the Chicago White Sox late Monday night.

There was speculation about the Red Sox getting involved in talks for the right-hander, who was traded from his hometown Cubs last season, but Chitown's South Side team wound up the winner.

The White Sox have several young middle infielders who could make sense for the A's, and Jeff Passan of Yahoo suggested that Marcus Semien could be involved. Chicago's top young middle infielder is Tim Anderson but it was expected the White Sox wouldn't surrender him for a rental player.

Samardzija goes as a top-of-the-rotation rental, as A's GM Billy Beane makes a clean deal not dependent on an extension that may never happen. Samardzija is a free agent after the 2015 season.

The White Sox land the right-hander they sought for a rotation led by ace Chris Sale and fellow lefties Jose Quintana and John Danks.
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Another bad deal for Oakland.

Some big moves for the White Sox. They also added Robertson as a closer. They should at least have a vastly improved pitching staff compared to last year.

 

[Deuce]

Everything I'm reading is that the Rangers are interested in basically everyone, but not willing to give up any of their own prospects to get them.

I'm guessing its posturing so that their fans think they are trying. That, or they are just clueless.

 

[Rev]

Everything I'm reading is that the Rangers are interested in basically everyone, but not willing to give up any of their own prospects to get them.

I'm guessing its posturing so that their fans think they are trying. That, or they are just clueless.

Let's not forget writer speculation as well. JD has said that they will listen to every offer so just due diligence. Get what you are willing to give up.

 

[E_D_Guapo]

Cubs To Acquire Miguel Montero
By Jeff Todd [December 9, 2014 at 2:38pm CST]

2:38pm: While final details are being ironed out, Montero “is now a Cub,” per Bruce Levine of 670TheScore.com (via Twitter).

Reports today have echoed yesterday’s reports indicating that low-level pitching would head back to Arizona and that Chicago will take on most or all of the remaining financial commitments to Montero.
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This is the kind of deal I love. Some low level pitching prospects in exchange for Montero and his $40M remaining over the next 3 years. So they essentially just got him for money. He isn't a world-beater but everything I read suggests he's a very good defensive catcher (maybe not as much in throwing out base runners, but more working with pitchers, blocking/framing) and hits right-handed pitching well. Assuming they hold onto Wellington Castillo they can start him against lefties, who he hits pretty well. Good move.

 

[Carp]

Get on with it Lester...his signing is holding up everyone.

 

[E_D_Guapo]

Get on with it Lester...his signing is holding up everyone.

No shit. In one way you can't blame the guy for weighing his options. On the other hand, it sounds like the offers are all very comparable so it just comes down to where he wants to play. He had to have a pretty strong idea of what his options would be going into this whole process. I doubt there was any real serious surprises when it comes to the teams in the bidding, unless it's San Francisco. At any rate, I wish he'd make up his damn mind.

 

[E_D_Guapo]

6:57pm: CSN Chicago’s David Kaplan hears from “two very good MLB sources” who believe the Cubs are the leading contenders to sign Lester.
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Wake me when there is something official. Tired of these reports based on information from "sources". Most likely within the hour some other writer will tweet from "very reliable sources" that the Giants are the leading contender.

 

[E_D_Guapo]

Guys like McCarthy must be getting really impatient. So many teams waiting on Lester before they start looking at fallback options for their rotation, including guys like McCarthy.

 

[Carp]

Lester to Cubs...6 years 155 mil.

 

[Tony D]

Maddon, Lester, all the prospects, Cubs are looking good moving forward.

Maddon isn't used to getting the big fish, he's used to unloading them before they hit FA. One of the reasons why he left Tampa.

 

[Rev]

Congrats ED. Future looks bright for you.