There are multiple teams that are coming across as more aggressive buyers. Two of those teams are the NYM and Houston Astros. The Mets were in talks with Chicago for both Willson Contreras and David Robertson. The Mets desperately need a catcher, and every team can use a quality reliever like David Robertson.
The Mets have also been in discussion with Baltimore for 1B/OF/DH Trey Mancini and RHRP Dillon Tate. FWIW, Tate is a reliever I like a lot. He will lengthen that Mets late inning options.
The have also been know to be aggressive in their potential pursuit of Josh Bell. It might seem odd that a team that has Pete Alonso at 1B would be looking for a 1B in a trade, but what they are really looking for is a DH replacement for JD Davis and Dom Smith. Mancini and Bell are huge improvement.
The other team that teams are saying are being aggressive is the Houston Astros. They are looking for a replacement for Yuli Gurriel at 1B, thus their interest in Josh Bell. They are also more desperate for a catcher than are the NYM, so they are actively pursuing Willson Contreras.
A month or so ago, I thought Willson Contreras would be signed, sealed, and delivered to SFG. But the Giants have fallen off the cliff, and will probably not be in a buy mode. In fact, rumors have it that it is more likely that the Giants are more likely to move Carlos Rodón than to buy a difference maker.
Whether it’s Bell, Contreras, Mancini or someone else, selling teams say that both the Astros and NYM have been extremely aggressive and that they will be better teams by Aug. 2.
Thus far, the rumors for the Dodgers have focused on Juan Soto. AF has piqued the fans fantasy with comments like:
“I will echo what I’ve said in the past. Star players don’t become available often. When they are, we owe it to our fans to see those things out… Whenever star-level players become available, we’ll always have the conversation and dig in and try to make something make sense.”
I still do not believe that the Dodgers will come close to paying the expected price for Soto. Baseball executives believe that both the NYY and LAD have the motivation and prospect capital to make it happen, but they believe that the St. Louis Cardinals or San Diego Padres are the favorites.
Players who have been mentioned are:
Prospects:
It will depend as to what MLB regulars St. Louis is willing to move to then determine what prospects are needed. It may be that the Nats only want prospects and it will take 5 of those 6.
With those names, the Cardinals can put together a better package than the Dodgers. But will they. There are many Cardinal fans who say that, yes they could be in a win mode for three post seasons, but when Sosa becomes a FA, they become what the Nationals are now.
Most trade simulator deals have listed Gavin Lux as a part of any Juan Soto to LAD deal. Also Tony Gonsolin and Dustin May have been mentioned in multiple trade scenarios. I say no to any of that. But would you be willing to trade?:
That would be five top prospects the Nationals say is the price, and those seem to be the popular names mentioned by the tradeniks. I cannot see AF agreeing to that, and I would gladly say thank you to AF for walking away. But there are many who believe that to trade prospects for a 23 year old generational talent like Juan Soto is a no-brainer.
Now the question is, will the Dodgers be a better team August 2? Will they be willing to pay the price for Luis Castillo, or will they scale down their sights to middling relievers and be content to wait on Blake Treinen, Walker Buehler, Andrew Heaney, Victor Gonzalez, and Danny Duffy. I cannot predict what AF will do. Every time we may think we have him figured, he goes out and fools us. i.e. Mookie Betts, Trea Turner/Max Scherzer, Yu Darvish.
My concern is that AF will do the trade to keep SD from getting Soto. That is not a good reason to make a trade. That philosophy did not work out too well when they signed Trevor Bauer to keep him away from SD and NYM.
We have six days left to learn what the Dodgers plans are.
MILB SUMMARY
Ryan Pepiot and Gavin Stone continued with their dominance.
Sugar Land Space Cowboys (Houston) 4, OKC Dodgers 5 – 10 innings
Ryan Pepiot – 7.0 IP, 1 run (7th inning 1 out HR), 3 hits, 3 BB, 6 K
Drew Avans – 3-5
Ryan Noda – 2-4, HR (14)
Miguel Vargas – 2-4
Dodgers win in WP walk off.
Arkansas Travelers (Seattle) 1 – Tulsa Drillers 2
Gavin Stone – 6.0 IP, 1 run, 3 hits, 3 BB, 6 KF
Final three relievers throwing 3 scoreless innings. Jordan Leasure, Nate Robertson, and Guillermo Zuniga.
Lansing Lugnuts (A’s) 6 – Great Lakes Loons 0
Highlights are final three relievers throwing 3 scoreless innings. Adam Scoggins, Aldry Acosta, and Antonio Knowles.
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 4 – San Jose Giants 18
There is nothing to see here.
Responding to STB from yesterday. I too read the blip on the Marlins willing to trade anyone not named Sandy Alcantara. I think that is just talk. I doubt that Pablo Lopez is going anywhere, but of course the Dodgers have to check in on him. I think Castillo is a better option for this year’s playoffs. Lopez maybe better more long term option. But I would be more than happy with either. And yes, I am a Pablo Lopez advocate.
There is another pitcher who is now being marketed…Detroit Tigers, Tarik Skubel.
It is rumored that Josh Bell is all but gone, and that the Nats want to move him before they get too involved in negotiations on Soto. Bell needs to be moved, Soto does not. The next days are going to be fun.
Yes, Gavin Lux made a silly error with a lack of concentration, but it was Cleavinger who gave up the long HR, and got rocked big time in the 9th. Just like Reyes Moronta, Cleavinger is not the answer. Neither is Phil Bickford. Next.
I also do not blame Doc for not removing Cleavinger. Doc/AF/BG had to see if Cleavinger could work himself out of jams. Lux put him in the 8th inning jam, but he put himself in the 9th inning jam, and could not get out of either.
Over the SF weekend series, there was one of the Giants broadcasters telling the listeners about when in MiLB a fielder made an error and the pitcher could not get out of the inning without surrendering a run, the manager jumped on the pitcher for not picking up the fielder. It was the pitchers job to get out of those jams. That is going to be a question that I have to ask my son.
A few years back while he was still with Baltimore, I was pushing to trade for Hunter Harvey even though he was always hurt. I lost track of where he went. He is no longer considered a starting option, but maybe a future Andrew Miller??? He sure has looked good the last two nights.
Never would have gotten to that hitter had Lux made the play.
And yet when Victor Arano was faced with the same situation, he got Muncy and Lux. That is the pitcher’s job. The players don’t let off when the pitcher walks batters or hits batters or throws WP. They dig in. That is what a team is supposed to do…pick up the player that made the error. Victor Arano did that for the lowly Nationals, and Garrett Cleavinger could not for the best team in the NL. I am sorry on this one. Lux made the error. He owned it. His fault. But it was Cleavinger’s fault for hanging the slider to Luis Garcia. You can’t get four outs on the worst team in baseball? You do not belong in the ML.
Maybe if the Nationals had Max Muncy who cannot seem to hit a grooved pitch, Cleavinger could have gotten out of the inning.
The Lux boner was a disaster. Clevinger would have gotten out of the inning 1-2-3 since he struck out Bell and Ruiz after the error. Then Roberts could have used Kimbrel in the 9th to close the game.
I bailed early so didn’t see the finish. Did see more 0fers from key players, WRISP suckage again, including the only hit WRISP not scoring a run,m and 36 pitches for Cleavinger. Who thought that would be a good idea? Never mind. I know who.
We’ve laid a lot of eggs to bad teams this year. I guess the good news is we won’t see them in the playoffs.
Will guys we have returning from injury be good enough? You know, guys like Cleavinger.
one more thing, I’m about 5 days from giving up on Muncy. He looks lost, can’t even take walks when they are handed to him.
Max is one of my favorite Dodgers so I can’t believe I’m actually saying this, but maybe he’d be a good “change of scenery” candidate. Since his trade value is just about zero at this point teams would not be lining up to grab him, but someone would probably take a chance on him in the hopes that he’d wake up and still have a reasonable team option for next year.
Might mean that AF would have to pay down most of the remaining 2022 contract and take back a lottery ticket, but maybe that would be best for all concerned.
He has no options left and they can’t just afford to take up a roster spot for him if they don’t play him, so…………………………………..place a call to Farhan or the Rangers.
If it’s his elbow, maybe he just needs more rest. IL him for a few weeks, or 60 days, and see if it makes a difference. He’s become a liability now. The stretch is coming and to secure home field we are going to have to field the best offense we can, while resting key players in August. We need to be 100% from September to November. That’s my opinion anyway.
Jon Heyman is reporting that the Dodgers have interest in one of my favorites, Garrett Cooper, but will wait for a resolution on the Soto situation first.
That might prove difficult since a Soto trade might literally happen at the very last minute.
I’ve been touting Cooper for a couple of years now. Excellent righty hitter who can play the outfield, first base and DH. A little less need for him now because of how well Trayce is playing, but we don’t know how long Muncy will be kept in the every day lineup. Cooper is also controllable through next year.
Garret Cooper. High Noon. Great movie. “Do not forsake me oh my darling”. Good song.
Can this guy sing?
He looks like a Trayce clone. A little bigger.
Hard to believe he could be that good an actor and also an MLB player. Some people got lots o’ talent.
Yes, Cooper is a little bigger. Also a much better history, offensively. Trayce, on the other hand, is a much better outfielder.
Yeah, some guys are gifted with too much talent. Spread it around a little bit people.
Hey, what is happening with Edwin Rios? Last I heard he was scheduled to come off the 60 Day in early August. Is he coming back, or is he done for the year?
No room for Rios on the roster right now. They need the 26th spot for McKinstry. His job is to keep a seat warm on the bench for Doc in case the weather turns cold.
That is my point on Garrett Cooper. Why? Trayce Thompson is not good enough? CT3 not good enough? McKinstry is gone when CT3 comes back, and then the only lefty bench bat will be Jake Lamb until Rios comes back. And when that happens, who leaves? Cooper is a RF/1B. Where would he play? Now if he played 3B I can understand.
If they want to expand it to include Pablo Lopez, my ears will perk up. Miami wants LHH power bat. I guess that could include Muncy and cash, Bellinger and cash, Rios? But Miami is watching the game, and I doubt that they would have any interest in Muncy or Bellinger unless LAD agreed to pay their salaries this year and next year (pick up Muncy’s option, and pay the first $17MM of Bellinger).
Not the GM, but for Soto, I trade them who ever they want….if he will agree to negotiate a long term deal. I like Castillo, but the Dodgers might want to look at the Marlins for a starter who would not cost as much. Muncy needs to sit a while period. Or go to OKC on some sort of rehab for tightness in his elbow. Dodgers optioned Mitch White and Cleavinger, who I believe needs to be traded somewhere else, and activated Heaney and Jake Reed.
I doubt he agrees to anything long term. Not yet. Plenty of time for that to unfold.
Frankly I don’t see Soto. Not yet. Maybe in 2 years. I think we go for pitching. I think Muncy to the IL and Vargas to the 26 is the move. Let’s see what the kid can do. Maybe he can put up Soto-like numbers for a few weeks.
With White being optioned, what does that do for the 6 man rotation? I assume that means that Ryan Pepiot will be called up for White’s spot? If so, once he gets optioned again, that will be his 4th option. Players can only be optioned 5 times before they are subject to waivers. Jake Reed and Reyes Moronta have 4 options. Reed, who is up, can have one more option.
Jake Reed? They must have really liked his 2 innings in Oklahoma.
Pepiot will make his next start in the bigs. White has earned his spot as the #5, Heaney #4, Pepiot #6. The roster shuffle will no doubt continue to the end. I know it’s coming but I won’t be able to predict it.
Is the 5-option rule per player or per team/per player.
It’s possible that White or Pepiot (or both) could be included in a trade for Soto, Castillo, Lopez, etc.
Would the team that gets them be able to option them 5 more times?
It is per player. That is why Jake Reed has 4 options already. With credit to Eric Stephen…“As part of the new collective bargaining agreement ratified in March, Major League Baseball can only option a player to the minors up to five times during the season.”
Eric Stephen keeps track of the player options:
https://www.truebluela.com/2022/5/8/23055408/dodgers-minor-league-option-tracker
Thanks for that clarification Jeff (and Eric).
I think the union would have done their members a favor if they would have made that 5-option rule an option for the player. At some point in the next few days Reed will be optioned again/dfa’d. If he would waive that clause, he could go to OKC and be ready when they need him again. Now he’s got to look for yet another team who will give him a shot.
On the 5th option it should be the player’s choice if he’s willing to accept another option.
I may be wrong, but the way I read it is that a player can be optioned five times without penalty. It is on the 6th time that he would be subject to waivers:
Presumably once a player has been optioned five times in a season, he’d have to be placed on waivers before being sent down again, though full details haven’t yet emerged.
This was seen as a quality of life issue for the players, especially with increasing roster churn in recent seasons. Three Dodgers were optioned more than five times in 2021 — Mitch White was sent down 11 times, Edwin Uceta eight times, and Luke Raley seven times.
I think players should be grateful they are hanging around playing baseball for a living. And at that level it’s a damm good living. So, it’s my opinion options should be unlimited.
It was very refreshing to have the #5 batter look for (and get) a single to score a run instead of trying to hit it 600 feet. Difference between JT and Max Muncy.
It sure feels like Muncy is playing his way off this team. There just has to be a better option.