2017 MLB Thread

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

A neat fact:

 

[The Buscher]

Alex Bregman is a fragile baby

[gunnar hendershow]

4 hours ago, Ms. Canadian Destroyer said:

A neat fact:

 

Until the late 80's the NL dominated the ASG. But since 1988 they've won a total of 6.

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

With the All-Star game having come and gone it's now one of my favourite times of the season (barring Opening Day and the playoffs)... trade deadline speculation! Woo!

[Meacon Keaton]

I'd love to see the Yanks add Sonny Gray and some bullpen help (and get rid of Clippard) before the deadline. But at the same time, I don't want us selling off the farm. If we don't win it all this year, we're still set up beautifully for the next several years. 

[The Buscher]

The Mets have a whole bunch of players whose names will pop up in rumors over the next few weeks.

Addison Reed is probably going to be their top trade chip.  He's not as good as he was last year in part because he's been forced into the closer role when I really think he's actually better as a set-up guy.  But contending teams are always looking for back-end bullpen help and presumably most contenders already have good closers, so Reed could go back to the 8th inning where he was ridiculous last year.  He's the Mets' best hopes at getting a nice haul but even at that I don't expect a total blockbuster.

Similarly, Jerry Blevins has been great this year and has an option for next year which could make him an enticing option for a team.

The fact that Conforto, the Mets' lone All Star, has been relegated to a 4th outfielder spot is annoying - but it makes sense to keep featuring Bruce and Grandy for trade.  Bruce is having a really nice year and Grandy's been red hot for about two months.  The Mets clearly want to move at least one of them but I suspect they'll need to eat some of the salary in trade.

Lucas Duda's another option to possibly get moved.  He's never going to hit for much more than the .230-.250 but he gets on base, has a lot of power, and can go on ridiculous hot streaks.  The NY writers have been suggesting Duda to the Yankees for over a month now.

Asdrubal Cabrera has been great since coming off the DL and has settled in to 2B nicely, has an option for next year which gives the team flexibility.

Neil Walker is probably unmovable with his injury, and Reyes due to being the worst player in baseball.

[The Buscher]

Cubs get:
LHP Jose Quintana

White Sox get:
RHP Dylan Cease
IF Bryant Flete
OF Eloy Jimenez
IF Matt Rose

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

Haha. Amazing timing.

[Meacon Keaton]

Quintana being traded makes Sonny Gray even more important of a get.

[Maxx]

Chicago did well in that trade

What if Mike Trout played the rest of his career in Korea?

[The Buscher]

The Cubs had reportedly offered Schwarber to the Tigers for Michael Fulmer, and when that didn't materialize they offered Schwarber as part of the Quintana deal but the Sox insisted on Jimenez instead.

I know Schwarber's been horrible this year and missed nearly all of last year but man...that they actually preferred to move him over Jimenez is pretty telling.  Usually you don't try to move a player in the midst of a really garbage year because their value is lower than what it could be.  Almost makes me wonder if the Cubs have given up on him.  And if their leash with him was that short I wonder if they're regretting not just striking when the iron was hot and moving him after his World Series heroics.

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

They also just don't have somewhere to play him, no? Contreras at C, Rizzo at 1B. He's certainly not good enough to play in LF every day. 

[MalaCloudy Black]

Quintana can hopefully take Montgomery's spot in the rotation and they can either move Montgomery to relief or demote him. Dude seems like he's better suited for relief, to be honest.

[gunnar hendershow]

The issue with Schwarber is very much that they have nowhere to put him. He belongs in the AL, they're not giving up on him so much as they know he's a DH/1B. I'm surprised they parted with Jimenez, but they have Quintana under control for a few years at a low price. That both means they have a potential top-of-the-rotation guy for a few years or they have a guy who is easy to move if they have a bad season in the next few years.

It'll be interesting because if the Cubs really fall out of it in the next 2 weeks they could fetch a ransom for Wade Davis. Likewise for Baltimore with Zach Britton. Nats HAVE to part with Robles to get the bullpen help they so desperately need, no? If the Cubs fall out of contention they basically could wind up flipping Jimenez for Robles AND Quintana. Dodgers should also be in on top relievers basically allowing them to shut down the 8th and 9th every night. I would assume they'll be looking at Sonny Gray as well, to give them some flexibility in the playoff rotation should anyone go down.

It's an exciting time of year, hopefully we get some more crazy trades and a lot less teams talking themselves into thinking they're still in it when they're sitting 6 back of the 2nd wild card.

[The Buscher]

I guess the thing with Schwarber is if they knew he was only a 1B/DH, they really could've explored moving him in the offseason when his value was sky high and everyone was caught up in his potential rather than what was realistic (an Adam Dunn type rather than an MVP candidate).  Yeah it might've miffed Cubs fans a bit to trade away a World Series hero, but I think they could've gotten a really great return for him.  I don't recall any rumors involving Schwarber at all this winter.

In their defense they probably also weren't expecting their starting pitching to underperform as badly as they did so it's not like they were chomping at the bit to bring in a Sale or Quintana from the South Side...but still I think it was a bit of a misfire unless they truly believed he'd be able to play an adequate LF as that was the only spot for him.

[Lowerdeck]

Panda is finally gone.  Sox never should have signed him in the first place.  Or traded Travis Shaw for essentially nothing.

[MalaCloudy Black]

Welcome to the right side of town Jose

[The Buscher]

Tigers get:  IF Sergio Alcantara, IF Dawel Lugo, IF Jose King

D-Backs get:. OF JD Martinez

[gunnar hendershow]

Yankees send some prospects to the now-even-richer ChiSox farm system in exchange for Frazier, Robertson, and Kahnle.

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

Yankees fans (looking at you Meacon), what did you give up for that haul? Seems like not that much for a good 3B and a good RP.