2018 trade deadline rumors and deals

The Nationals have acquired Royals closer Kelvin Herrera, and they didn't have to give up a whole lot to get him. KC gets three minor leaguers, the most highly rated of whom is Blake Perkins (Nats' no. 8 prospect according to Keith Law). Herrera, who has a 1.05 ERA and 14 saves, joins a Washington pen that already has three guys (Sean Doolittle, Ryan Madson, and Brandon Kintzler) with significant closing experience.

Wow

the orioles have designated former pirate great pedro alvarez for assignment. he was both 2.2 bWAR better than and $22m cheaper than chris davis this season

will the Philths get a third baseman?

https://www.thegoodphight.com/2018/6/21/17489836/phillies-reportedly-interested-in-adrian-beltre-and-manny-machado

apparently the orioles have had an internal breakthrough

Though there’s still four weeks until the 2018 non-waiver trade deadline, trade talks surrounding Manny Machado have “accelerated” in recent days, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (subscription link). The Orioles, according to Rosenthal, would prefer to move Machado “sooner rather than later,” as they can extract more in a trade if the acquiring team controls Machado for three months as opposed to two months.

they would get more in return for him if they traded him earlier...very interesting idea

(snark aside, i realize there's value in giving hometown fans someone to root for on a tanking/rebuilding team)

The Cincinnati Reds traded right-hander Dylan Floro and a minor league pitcher to the Los Angeles Dodgers for two minor league pitchers on Wednesday.

I basically haven't heard of any non-closing relievers

Other teams are saying the Orioles going about their trade business very differently than in the past -- to rival evaluators, they seem much more focused, much more organized, much more aggressive, much more engaged.

— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) July 4, 2018

lol

meanwhile, the orioles appear to have signed exactly zero international free agents

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/blog/bs-sp-orioles-international-20180701-story.html

There has also been reports that the Astros are interested in Iglesias.

Are the Nationals now all in more or less with Harper getting lost this year?

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2784297-matt-harvey-trade-rumors-nationals-interested-in-sp-teammate-raisel-iglesias

Moustakas to NYY for 1b help?

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2018/07/astros-showing-interest-in-wilson-ramos.html

Sources: top OF prospect yusniel diaz is indeed in the Dodgers’ Machado offer currently on table

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 17, 2018

.@Ken_Rosenthal with the latest on Manny Machado pic.twitter.com/tBkfbvmEtP

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) July 17, 2018

the all-star game will probably be machado's last game as an oriole

rosenthal seems to think it's pretty much a done deal

justin turner, manny machado, max muncy, cody bellinger, yeah i guess that seems like a decent infield.

didn't really become aware of the allegedly done deal til i heard it on the ASG

NYTimes' Billy Witz was playing sports-radio caller in his column today by suggesting Yankees trade Judge (and prospects?) to the Mets for deGrom AND Syndergaard (then go after Machado this winter).

Dodger prospect physicals cause "snag" in Machado deal?

At this point, Dan Coats and Dan Duquette would be open to trading jobs and tell their families, "it can't be worse.'

— Peter Gammons (@pgammo) July 18, 2018

the medical holdup in the Machado trade isn't over top OF prospect Yusniel Diaz, the key prospect in the trade and one real name that's out there & confirmed. since it's apparently over a complementary piece (at least compared to Diaz), the chances to work it out are much better.

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 18, 2018

Can confirm all the reports: Brad Hand and Adam Cimber are indeed headed to Cleveland. Francisco Mejia, the No. 15 prospect in baseball, headed back to SD.

— AJ Cassavell (@AJCassavell) July 19, 2018

sure takes the shine off that upcoming Mets-Padres series

The Cubs also bolstered their pen, adding veteran righty Jesse Chavez from the Rangers in exchange for minor league lefty Tyler Thomas.

the jeurys is out . . . to oakland

mets get a reliever who has been really dominant at triple-a but is 26 + a 3B prospect with too little power

Nats moves

https://www.federalbaseball.com/2018/7/22/17600184/washington-nationals-trade-brian-goodwin-kansas-city-royals-jacob-condra-bogan-recall-sammy-solis

Yankees pursue Zach Britton, Nats after Cole Hamels

https://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2018/7/23/17606064/orioles-yankees-zach-britton-mlb-trade-deadline

https://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2018/7/23/17605802/nationals-rangers-cole-hamels-mlb-trade-deadline

yankees get britton for . . . not a whole lot. all three guys will have to be added to the 40-man roster this winter or exposed to the rule 5 draft, so the yankees were likely to lose them anyway

still better than what the mets got for familia

eovaldi to boston for jalen beeks

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2018/07/astros-to-acquire-martin-maldonado.html

final boss to the rockies

joakim soria to the brewers

who is final boss?

stone buddha, seung hwan oh. he's doing a lot better this year! must have found his slider again

former pirate great on the move

Source says Happ to Yankees not quite done but will get done

— Andy Martino (@martinonyc) July 26, 2018

Soria to the Brewers is an interesting move. If they can do that and acquire a middle infielder they'll be a real solid team and a tough out in the playoffs, should they make it that far. Soria, Jeffress, Hader, and Knebel would be a hell of a gauntlet in a must-win game.

not very subtle, reds

Matt Harvey makes one more start Saturday before the Trade Deadline. ➡️ https://t.co/VaOMm089kJ #Reds pic.twitter.com/ggMxLHbNop

— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) July 26, 2018

cubs looking at cole hamels :/

hamel to cubs. worried about what they're giving up given that they don't really have any prospects.

ok looks like minor leaguers according to Twitter

great, Cubs truly hateable now

The Mariners have acquired right-handed reliever Sam Tuivailala from the Cardinals in exchange for minor league right-hander Seth Elledge, the teams announced Friday. Elledge has been assigned to Double-A Springfield.

Asdrubal Cabrera to Phils for a hoagie

does trading with the phillies bug you (and is it better or worse than with the yanks)?

i don't think even the temps running the Mets are dumb enough to make a significant trade w/ the Stanks

it doesn't bother me as long as the Phils miss the playoffs and/or Asdrubal breaks a leg

Not really thrilled with what the Jays got in return for Happ.

https://www.amazinavenue.com/2018/7/27/17623606/mets-trade-asdrubal-cabrera-phillies-franklyn-kilome-new-york-philadelphia

i think the jays did pretty well for happ! drury is a legit, if not great, big league player, and mckinney could still amount to something

kilomé is less promising, but he does have an accent aigu

cashman absolutely rogered the cubs in the aroldis deal (and to a slightly lesser extent, the indians in the miller deal) two years ago, but teams just aren't going to give up a whole lot for 2+ months of a player, no matter how good

Heard that Keone Kela to the Cubs is "done" no less than 3x this week... apparently not?

The Brewers acquired Mike Moustakas from the Royals.

The Twins had a busy day, trading Eduardo Escobar to the Diamondbacks and then sending Ryan Pessly to the Astros.

Adam Duvall to the Braves.
Ian Kinsler to the Red Sox.

The irony of Ian Kinsler coming to Boston--considering he left Arizona State when Dustin Pedroia arrived and took is position--is remarkable, but he is a key addition. But, on Ty Buttrey--"There's been more buzz on him in the lthan any other triple-A reliever," says NL scout.

— Peter Gammons (@pgammo) July 31, 2018

Texas closer Keone Kela to Pirates

The Yankees, Phillies and Indians are all showing “varying levels of interest” in Giants outfielder Andrew McCutchen, per MLB.com’s Jon Morosi.

I'm just paraphrasing here, but Jeff Luhnow essentially says the Astros' zero-tolerance policy is for player currently in the Astros' organization. If you did something in the past, that doesn't count: "You can have a zero-tolerance policy and give people second chances."

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 30, 2018

My sense this morning from people within the Nationals organization is that they expect to stand pat today. Doesn’t seem like they’re ready to pull the trigger on any major moves right now

— Jamal Collier (@JamalCollier) July 31, 2018

echoed

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2018/07/nationals-will-not-trade-bryce-harper-mike-rizzo.html

Source: Tommy Pham has been traded to the Rays.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 31, 2018

wut

Whoa. Assuming archer is coming back in return.

I thought a Pham trade might be coming this offseason. The new interim manager is the definition o organization guy, which is fine except for Pham having beef with the organization guys for unjustly (in his view) keeping him in the minors for so long. And of course the cardinal way does not smile on internal dissent

didn't realize his slashline had declined quite so precipitously from last year

Archer not involved per Passan

Brewers said to be after Gio Gonzalez

Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets that the Rays will send outfielder Justin Williams, left-hander Genesis Cabrera and right-hander Roel Ramirez to the Cardinals in exchange for Pham and international bonus allotments.

Tommy Pham's actual stats in 59 games since May 20:

.201 BA / .304 SLG / .252 wOBA

Pham's Statcast expected stats:

.259 BA / .441 SLG / .329 wOBA

— Andrew Simon (@AndrewSimonMLB) July 31, 2018

a simple twist of randomness

#Indians acquire Leonys Martin from the #Tigers in exchange for Willi Castro, sources tell The Athletic.

— Robert Murray (@ByRobertMurray) July 31, 2018

that's the tigers' first trade of the season

dombrowski on Kinsler: "He's a winning-type player."

MLBT:

The Diamondbacks are closing in on a deal to bring back veteran right-hander Brad Ziegler, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter). John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 had tweeted the connection minutes earlier.

don't worry gambadoro of arizona sports 98.7, you were first

KEVIN CASH: welcome to the team tommy
TOMMY PHAM: how do you do fellow baseball playing men, what are some of your favorite passwords

— Matt Sussman 🥌 (@suss2hyphens) July 31, 2018

FUN STAT: The difference between the Mets and Nats in the standings is essentially how they've offensively supported their ace.

Nats when Scherzer doesn't start: 36-47
Mets when deGrom doesn't start: 36-46

— Tim Britton (@TimBritton) July 31, 2018

seems like a fairly strong argument for the nats to sell

Source confirms: #Mariners getting Maybin. First: @RyanDivish.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 31, 2018

there will be a Fangraphs chat at the top of the hour

https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/trade-deadline-chat-with-kiley-mcdaniel-and-travis-sawchik/

Love that Maybin is still in the league

Good lord he’s only 31

Source: Ramos to Phillis is a done deal.

— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) July 31, 2018

Orioles said to be in talks on Schoop and Gausman

#Cubs close to getting Brandon Kintzler from #Nationals, sources tell me and @sahadevsharma.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 31, 2018

well!

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2018/07/pirates-to-acquire-chris-archer-trade-rays.html

brian dozier to the dodgers
gausman to atlanta
pirates on the verge of doing something stupid to get chris archer

uh what are the Pirates doing

goin for it! Brewers in on Schoop

#BlueJays have traded Aaron Loup to the #Phillies for a prospect per sources

— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) July 31, 2018

Travis Sawchik:

The Pirates' Way of 2013-15 ... two-seamers, groundballs, etc ... is a zag from today's zig
Archer doesn't have a two-seamer
His four-seamer is getting hit
I'd guess you'd want to Rich Hill-ize Archer
Or give him some pine tar
Pirates perhaps can learn from what Astros did with Gerrit Cole in pitch mix, location, etc

John Axford to Dodgers

Matt Harvey: not traded

I appreciate that the Pirates are willing to admit they screwed up in trading a #2 starter with upside in January, given that they just traded for a #2 starter with upside. It just reiterates how badly they misjudged the market and themselves this winter. https://t.co/4hSETjhktA

— Rany Jazayerli (@jazayerli) July 31, 2018

indeed. also chris archer turns 30 in two months and has been league-average over the last three seasons

Ray Searage, work yr magic

i think the searage magic has worn off a bit

Per source, the full return for Schoop: Luis Ortiz, Jean Carmona and Jonathan Villar. #Brewers #Orioles

— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) July 31, 2018

ok I am not really sure about that move

yeah, for gerrit cole the magic was getting away from searage

the orioles have essentially nothing left but dylan bundy and adam jones (who for some reason refused to waive his 10/5 rights, though i don't know what the possibilities were)

brew crew betting that they're gonna score so many runs that it doesn't matter if they can't pitch for field

1B Thames (129 wRC+, -1.6 dWAR) /Aguilar (145, -4.0)
2B Shaw (118, fine so far at 2b?
3B Moustakas (103, 1.7)
SS Schoop (90, 0.3 at 2B)
LF Yelich (142, -4.6)
CF Cain (121, 8.5)
RF Braun (84, -0.4)

Brian Dozier to the Dodgers for 2B Logan Forsythe, RHP Devin Smeltzer and OF/1B Luke Raley

Brew Crew do have one of the best bullpens in the league so I guess they're gonna see how far they can ride that

I don't get why they gave up on Arcia so fast.

@AndrewStoeten
The Rays' payroll commitments for next year now stand at ~$10M. That's $8.167M for Kiermaier, $2M they're still paying Longoria. Everyone else is in arb, or pre-arb. LOL.

If you gaze long into the Rays rotation depth chart, the Rays rotation depth chart also gazes into you pic.twitter.com/n7M7KdGxbp

— Ben Lindbergh (@BenLindbergh) July 31, 2018

(the August deadline is still a deadline)

#Phillies have claimed #Mets’ Jose Bautista on revocable trade waivers, sources tell The Athletic. Teams discussing a deal, would need to complete it by tomorrow. Bautista slumped badly at start of August, but has .738 OPS in last 14 games.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) August 27, 2018

phillies offer set of steak knives (used); mets decline

three NL East teams in one season has to be a record

Ties a record! See trivia thread.

Trade candidates:

https://www.mlb.com/news/9-august-waiver-deadline-trade-candidates/c-292269548

Jays rushed Donaldson into a low-minors game yesterday so they could put him out there. Assuming he clears waivers, they'll have about 12 hours to trade him. They're going to get next to nothing--sad. Not second-guessing the team for not trading him last year--I wouldn't have either--but sad.