What would it take to trade Huston Street?
Kershaw pitching historically well.
Bryce Harper already causing controversy.
What would it take to trade for Alex Rios?
Yanks, Sox big winners on July 2.
Player: Huston Street | RHP | San Diego Padres
Possible destinations: Baltimore Orioles, Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Angels, Cincinnati Reds
Baltimore Orioles
Why? Orioles GM Dan Duquette told me that the bullpen and offense at second base were the two main areas that needed improvement. After Tommy Hunter failed in the closer role, Zach Britton has taken over and excelled, converting 10 of 12 saves with an ERA of 1.52. However, whether the sinker specialist will continue to succeed is questionable, and having a proven closer such as Street in the pen can only improve Baltimore’s chances of winning the division. Street has been one of the best in the game the last few years, and acquiring him would mean Britton could return to the setup role where he can pitch multiple innings.
Furthermore, Street has a reasonable team option for 2015 worth $7 million, so he wouldn't be a rental. Of course, the Padres don't have a GM right now after firing Josh Byrnes a few weeks ago, which complicates making any deal. They really need to put someone in place before the deadline.
Who? Matching up the Orioles and the Padres will be difficult, because San Diego is desperately seeking bats. They could start by offering Jonathan Schoop, who despite the slow start to his major league career, is expected to develop into a 15-homer-per-season second baseman. This would allow the Padres to move Jedd Gyorko back to third base when Chase Headley is finally dealt or leaves as a free agent. The Padres also could ask for 19-year-old outfielder Josh Hart, who was the Orioles' 2013 first-round pick. Despite his slow start in professional ball, he still is highly regarded.
Will it happen? Doubtful. The Orioles' farm system doesn't have a ton of depth, and I don't see them trading an elite guy for Street.
Detroit Tigers
Why? The Tigers are 29th in the majors in bullpen ERA, and closer Joe Nathan has an ERA of 6.28 as compared to 1.39 from a year ago. He has shown signs of turning it around, but if he doesn’t, the Tigers must have Plan B. Joba Chamberlain has been brilliant in the eighth inning, while Al Alburquerque and Ian Krol have been solid. However, they clearly need more depth in the setup role. Street not only could solve that but could be moved to closer if Nathan can't turn it around.
Who? The Tigers could offer Robbie Ray, the left-handed starter they received in the Doug Fister deal. The Padres then could use veteran starters Ian Kennedy and Tyson Ross as trade bait for bats. Or they could ask the Tigers for J.D. Martinez if they are believers in what he’s done over the past month. The Padres could also shoot younger and target guys such as second baseman Devon Travis and outfielder Steve Moya.
Will it happen? The Tigers match up well with the Padres in a Street deal, and it is the Tigers’ biggest need. General manager Dave Dombrowski historically has been one of the best in the business at the trade deadline, and I definitely think both sides can find a way to make a deal here. It will all depend on the incoming Padres GM.
Los Angeles Angels
Why? The Angels have converted just 20 of 32 save opportunities, which is the difference between first and second place. They have traded their failed closer Ernesto Frieri to the Pittsburgh Pirates for their ex-closer, Jason Grilli. If Grilli does not perform over the next month, they’ll have to trade for a closer if they want to get to the postseason.
Who? The Angels have infield prospects they can dangle to the Padres, led by second base prospect Taylor Lindsey, who is hitting .233 at Triple-A but is still well-regarded. The Angels can also offer second baseman Alex Yarbrough and third baseman Kaleb Cowart. It might take two of the three to get Street, but it will be worth it if it means getting the Angels back to October baseball.
Will it happen? It all depends on how Grilli pitches and what other teams can offer for Street. Regardless, they have an outside chance.
Cincinnati Reds
Why? The Reds might just be one impact set-up reliever away from getting back to the postseason. The Reds have one of the game’s most dominant closers in Aroldis Chapman, and if Cincinnati can get Street to close the door in the seventh or eighth inning, this team will be hard to beat in the second half. The Reds have one of the best rotations in the game, and with Devin Mesoraco and Todd Frazier emerging as All-Stars, their biggest need is in the pen.
Who: The Reds have a lot to trade even when you consider that right-hander Robert Stephenson is untouchable. The Padres will then demand outfielder Jesse Winker and a lower-level prospect. The Reds will probably still decline. Winker, 20, was the Reds’ first-round pick back in 2012, the 49th player taken overall. His minor league slash line is .299/.404/.491, with 35 home runs in a little more than 1,000 career plate appearances. Although he’s never hit more than 16 home runs in a season, he projects to be a 20 home run hitter from the left side and is probably two years away from the majors. This is one of the situations where the incoming Padres GM can tell the Reds: "No Winker, no Street."
Will it happen? Possible, but unlikely. I think it's more likely the two teams swing a deal for someone like Joaquin Benoit, but never bet against GM Walt Jocketty at the deadline.
Possible destinations: Baltimore Orioles, Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Angels, Cincinnati Reds
Baltimore Orioles
Why? Orioles GM Dan Duquette told me that the bullpen and offense at second base were the two main areas that needed improvement. After Tommy Hunter failed in the closer role, Zach Britton has taken over and excelled, converting 10 of 12 saves with an ERA of 1.52. However, whether the sinker specialist will continue to succeed is questionable, and having a proven closer such as Street in the pen can only improve Baltimore’s chances of winning the division. Street has been one of the best in the game the last few years, and acquiring him would mean Britton could return to the setup role where he can pitch multiple innings.
Furthermore, Street has a reasonable team option for 2015 worth $7 million, so he wouldn't be a rental. Of course, the Padres don't have a GM right now after firing Josh Byrnes a few weeks ago, which complicates making any deal. They really need to put someone in place before the deadline.
Who? Matching up the Orioles and the Padres will be difficult, because San Diego is desperately seeking bats. They could start by offering Jonathan Schoop, who despite the slow start to his major league career, is expected to develop into a 15-homer-per-season second baseman. This would allow the Padres to move Jedd Gyorko back to third base when Chase Headley is finally dealt or leaves as a free agent. The Padres also could ask for 19-year-old outfielder Josh Hart, who was the Orioles' 2013 first-round pick. Despite his slow start in professional ball, he still is highly regarded.
Will it happen? Doubtful. The Orioles' farm system doesn't have a ton of depth, and I don't see them trading an elite guy for Street.
Detroit Tigers
Why? The Tigers are 29th in the majors in bullpen ERA, and closer Joe Nathan has an ERA of 6.28 as compared to 1.39 from a year ago. He has shown signs of turning it around, but if he doesn’t, the Tigers must have Plan B. Joba Chamberlain has been brilliant in the eighth inning, while Al Alburquerque and Ian Krol have been solid. However, they clearly need more depth in the setup role. Street not only could solve that but could be moved to closer if Nathan can't turn it around.
Who? The Tigers could offer Robbie Ray, the left-handed starter they received in the Doug Fister deal. The Padres then could use veteran starters Ian Kennedy and Tyson Ross as trade bait for bats. Or they could ask the Tigers for J.D. Martinez if they are believers in what he’s done over the past month. The Padres could also shoot younger and target guys such as second baseman Devon Travis and outfielder Steve Moya.
Will it happen? The Tigers match up well with the Padres in a Street deal, and it is the Tigers’ biggest need. General manager Dave Dombrowski historically has been one of the best in the business at the trade deadline, and I definitely think both sides can find a way to make a deal here. It will all depend on the incoming Padres GM.
Los Angeles Angels
Why? The Angels have converted just 20 of 32 save opportunities, which is the difference between first and second place. They have traded their failed closer Ernesto Frieri to the Pittsburgh Pirates for their ex-closer, Jason Grilli. If Grilli does not perform over the next month, they’ll have to trade for a closer if they want to get to the postseason.
Who? The Angels have infield prospects they can dangle to the Padres, led by second base prospect Taylor Lindsey, who is hitting .233 at Triple-A but is still well-regarded. The Angels can also offer second baseman Alex Yarbrough and third baseman Kaleb Cowart. It might take two of the three to get Street, but it will be worth it if it means getting the Angels back to October baseball.
Will it happen? It all depends on how Grilli pitches and what other teams can offer for Street. Regardless, they have an outside chance.
Cincinnati Reds
Why? The Reds might just be one impact set-up reliever away from getting back to the postseason. The Reds have one of the game’s most dominant closers in Aroldis Chapman, and if Cincinnati can get Street to close the door in the seventh or eighth inning, this team will be hard to beat in the second half. The Reds have one of the best rotations in the game, and with Devin Mesoraco and Todd Frazier emerging as All-Stars, their biggest need is in the pen.
Who: The Reds have a lot to trade even when you consider that right-hander Robert Stephenson is untouchable. The Padres will then demand outfielder Jesse Winker and a lower-level prospect. The Reds will probably still decline. Winker, 20, was the Reds’ first-round pick back in 2012, the 49th player taken overall. His minor league slash line is .299/.404/.491, with 35 home runs in a little more than 1,000 career plate appearances. Although he’s never hit more than 16 home runs in a season, he projects to be a 20 home run hitter from the left side and is probably two years away from the majors. This is one of the situations where the incoming Padres GM can tell the Reds: "No Winker, no Street."
Will it happen? Possible, but unlikely. I think it's more likely the two teams swing a deal for someone like Joaquin Benoit, but never bet against GM Walt Jocketty at the deadline.
Kershaw pitching historically well.
If you're too young to know what Sandy Koufax's excellence looked like in 1965, watch Clayton Kershaw now.
If you need a reminder about how dominant Orel Hershiser was in September and October of 1988, watch Kershaw now.
Or if you're looking for a refresher on how Pedro Martinez controlled games in 1999, when a future Hall of Famer was at his absolute zenith, watch Kershaw now.
Kershaw is a historically great pitcher throwing better than he has at any stage of his career. He carries a streak of 28 consecutive scoreless innings into his start Friday against the Rockies, and he's coming off one of the best months of pitching ever. Kershaw faced 162 hitters in June, and he struck out 61 of them, with only four bases on balls. Of the remaining 97, 65 percent of them (63 batters) hit the ball on the ground, the highest rate for any pitcher in the majors. In other words, in Kershaw's six June starts, 34 plate appearances resulted in a batter hitting a ball in the air.
A.J. Ellis, Kershaw's catcher, traces the left-hander's current performance back to a start he made against the Diamondbacks on May 17, when he allowed seven runs in 1 2/3 innings. Most of the damage done in that game, Ellis noted, was against breaking pitches, and Kershaw came out of that performance angry and determined to throw his curveball and slider better.
With the way he's throwing his slider and curve now, Ellis said, "they look like they're strikes forever, and then bottom out."
Hitters cannot cover every possibility, so they work to reduce the ways in which a pitcher can beat them. They look for a fastball and ignore a pitcher's inconsistent breaking ball, for example. Or maybe they look on the inner half of the plate because the pitcher lacks command on the outer half. They try to corner the pitcher.
But these days, Kershaw is commanding three pitches brilliantly, meaning that the hitters' quandary grows exponentially against Kershaw, as Ellis explained. On June 24, Kershaw pitched in Kansas City, and in the midst of that game, he reached a 3-2 count on Alex Gordon and spun a slider. Gordon swung and missed, then looked back at Ellis and asked, "Really?" A slider? In that count?"
In the first inning of that same game, Eric Hosmer hacked at a fastball out of the strike zone and rolled a single to left field, and later mentioned to Ellis that he had intended to swing at the first fastball he saw in that at-bat -- any fastball, anywhere. "You think I'm getting to two strikes with that guy?" Hosmer asked rhetorically.
Kershaw has never mixed his pitches as much as he is now, with the percentage of fastballs at a career-low 55.4 percent and sliders at a career-high 30 percent, with the occasional curve (13.3 percent). His ratio of ground balls to fly balls has increased by about 60 percent compared to last season. He has never gotten a higher rate of swings outside the strike zone than this season, or a higher rate of swings for that matter, and at the same time hitters have their lowest rate of contact against him.
Translation: They are swinging more because they're afraid of falling behind in the count against him, despite the fact that they are missing more often when they do swing.
Maybe you aren't sure what it meant to be as good as Walter Johnson was, or your memories of Greg Maddux's brilliance are fogging over. Well, just watch Kershaw. Now.
Around the league
• On Wednesday's podcast, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times and Jesse Rogers of ESPN Chicago ran through the current state of the trade situations for the Rays and Cubs, respectively; Tim Kurkjian discussed Bryce Harper and his manager, Matt Williams; and Karl Ravech and Justin Havens went "next level" on the AL West and Rick Porcello.
On Tuesday's podcast, Jayson Stark talked about the Nationals' lineup, and Ryan Divish offered up some great anecdotes about the change in leadership of Robinson Cano and Felix Hernandez.
• As for the Dodgers as a team, some regulars were rested by manager Don Mattingly on Wednesday, and the team lost. … The Dodgers' Thursday opponent, the Colorado Rockies, are expected to get third baseman Nolan Arenado back today.
• Imagine Duke signing seven of the nation's top 10 basketball recruits in one class of players. That's sort of what the Yankees did in the international market Wednesday, spending big dollars to corner the market. Depending on which top prospect list you prefer, the Yankees signed either 10 of the top 15 prospects or 11 of the top 18, although, as we know, in baseball there is higher degree of uncertainty than in basketball about whether each teenager will develop into something worthwhile on the field.
The Yankees will face penalties for their spending this year and restrictions next year, but this was the latest attempt by the organization to inject talent into its system. Here's a partial rundown of who they landed, from Jesse Sanchez.
As for other international news, the Rays are set to sign a top prospect, as Marc Topkin writes. … The Twins signed a pitcher. … The Astros signed three guys, as Evan Drellich writes. … The Red Sox signed a couple of prospects.
• Yu Darvish could be available for the All-Star Game after all.
• Speaking of great pitchers, the Cardinals desperately needed the help of Adam Wainwright, and they got it, as Rick Hummel writes.
From ESPN Stats & Information on Wainwright's performance:
Adam Wainwright, 2014
Statistic No. MLB rank
ERA 1.89 1st
WHIP 0.90 2nd
IP per start 7.3 2nd
Opp. SLG pct. .277 3rd
A. It was the eighth game this season he pitched at least seven innings while allowing no earned runs. He had no more than six such outings in any previous season.
B. Wainwright kept the ball in the park for the fifth straight game, his longest streak without allowing a home run since 2012.
C. He didn't need his best velocity to beat the Giants: His maximum speed was 92.1 mph, 2 mph below his fastest for the season.
D. Wainwright's 51 fastballs tied his season high. It was the sixth time in 17 starts that he allowed one hit or fewer on fastballs.
And finally this, again from ESPN Stats & Info: That was Wainwright's 13th scoreless start of at least seven innings since the start of 2013, which is tied with Kershaw for the most in the majors. Darvish is next, with 10.
In the past five seasons, only four pitchers have more scoreless starts of at least seven innings, and they've all made considerably more starts in that span than Wainwright, who missed all of 2011:
Most Scoreless Starts Of Seven-plus IP, Past Five Seasons
Pitcher 7+ scoreless IP Total starts
Clayton Kershaw 29 143
Hiroki Kuroda 24 145
Cliff Lee 21 131
Felix Hernandez 21 149
Adam Wainwright 20 116
Also worth noting, after missing 2011 while recovering from Tommy John surgery, Wainwright has gotten better and stronger each season:
Adam Wainwright, Past Three Seasons
Statistic 2012 2013 2014
ERA 3.94 2.94 1.89
WHIP 1.25 1.07 0.90
IP per start 6.2 7.1 7.3
• The Pirates beat the Diamondbacks on Wednesday to raise their record since May 2 to 34-22; the .607 winning percentage is the best in baseball. Gregory Polanco had another big game, and so far he has reached base at least one time in every game in which he has played. Ron Cook loves watching the top of the Pirates' lineup.
• The Mariners are nine games over .500 for the first time since 2007.
• You cannot stop the Braves, you can only hope to contain them: Their win streak has reached seven games.
• The Rays are rolling: That's seven wins in eight games. By the way, we have Tampa Bay and Detroit on "Sunday Night Baseball," David Price versus Rick Porcello.
• Giants manager Bruce Bochy plans a major lineup change: Hunter Pence may hit leadoff, with Brandon Belt batting second.
• Bryce Harper needs to grow up, writes Mike Wise.
• The Phillies seem to be in denial, writes Sam Donnellon. From his piece:
Nothing. No runs, no hits, lots of errors. Bad decisions, bad losses, bad baseball. The only people who don't seem to understand that the Phillies should already be deep in the throes of a rebuilding stage are, well, the Phillies president and his general manager.
If you believe them.
I do, and that's what really scares me. The key to fixing any problem is identifying the problem, but what if you are the problem? What if it's your decisions, your trades, your overpaid contracts that are in the way of any chance of "retooling" while maintaining a competitive team?
There are so many, but the miss they keep taking is their big swing on Dom Brown. If he was the player they projected him to be, no costly trade for Hunter Pence would have been made. If they had recognized sooner that he was not that player, or even a right fielder, they may have chosen to hold on to Pence, even re-up him.
Betting on Brown was that big of a swing and miss. And with no outfield prospect on the immediate or even distant horizon, and power-hitting outfielders the most sought-after entity among scouts today, it's hard to imagine anything but bad baseball here in the near and distant future. As bad even as those days back in the late '90s.
Moves, deals and decisions
1. There were informal conversations between various parties in the Jon Lester contract discussions Saturday evening and Sunday, as the Red Sox worked to rebuild a negotiating platform. But as written here before, it may well be too late, unless the team essentially capitulates, as the Phillies did in their talks with Cole Hamels.
There is concern on Lester's side that Boston's recent overtures will fall far short, again, of what his market value is, which was shifted markedly by Homer Bailey's $105 million deal with the Reds. That was 50 percent more, in total, than what the Red Sox offered Lester.
2. Billy Eppler, the Yankees' assistant GM, will interview today for the Padres' GM job.
3. There is more and more talk about Daniel Murphy's value. Unless the Mets intend to increase their payroll to something in the range of $120 million, it would make no sense for them to sign Murphy to a long-term deal. With an $85 million payroll, it'd be tough to justify another $10 million (or so) salary, along with what they're paying David Wright and Curtis Granderson.
4. Kevin Gausman could be recalled to pitch this Sunday.
5. The Tigers are interested in bringing back Joaquin Benoit. He'd be a great fit for the Angels, too.
6. Seth Smith's contract seems surprising, but at that kind of money, he represents good value, and he probably wouldn't have generated a ton of return in the trade market, given the fact that he might've been a free agent in the fall.
7. The Royals sent down a struggling reliever, writes Andy McCullough.
8. Jason Hammel is likely a quick-flip trade candidate for the Cubs, but as of last night, the team wasn't close to making a deal.
9. For the Nationals, Danny Espinosa is the odd man out.
10. Brad Hand will get an opportunity to be the Marlins' No. 5 starter.
11. Within this Nick Groke notebook, there is word that the Rockies have acquired Jair Jurrjens.
Dings and dents
1. Bud Norris likely needs a rehab start or two.
2. Mark Teixeira had his knee drained.
3. CC Sabathia was hit around in his first rehab start at Double-A.
4. Everth Cabrera has been placed on the disabled list.
5. Joe Mauer's placement on the disabled list likely ends any chance of him playing in the All-Star Game.
6. Matt Albers remains a candidate for the second half.
7. Another Braves catcher is dealing with an injury.
Wednesday's games
1. Edwin Encarnacion crushed the Brewers.
2. Tyson Ross and the Padres swept the Reds.
3. The Red Sox were wrecked by the Cubs and blown out Wednesday, as Peter Abraham writes. The Red Sox have stumbled into uncharted territory, writes Alex Speier.
4. The Orioles rallied.
5. The Yankees have fallen under .500. The Yankees' hopes are fading away, writes Bob Klapisch.
6. Raul Ibanez did something he hadn't done in more than a decade.
7. The Indians had a really, really nice series in Dodger Stadium, capping it off with a comeback win. Cody Allen worked overtime.
8. For the Phillies, the losing continues, as Ryan Lawrence writes.
9. The White Sox stopped the bleeding.
10. Tom Koehler was "the man" for the Marlins.
11. The Giants' hitters were shut down again.
12. Oakland faced its kryptonite, and lost.
13. Brian Wilson struggled to throw strikes.
NL Central
• The Cardinals have had no offense, and no answers yet.
• Alfredo Simon is quietly making his case to be an All-Star.
• The Cubs' offense exploded.
• The Brewers had a bad ninth inning. … K-Rod could be an All-Star.
NL West
• A Diamondbacks minor leaguer was cut for alleged theft.
AL East
• Mookie Betts' first homer was caught by a former opponent, as Kyle Brasseur writes.
• From ESPN Stats & Info: Edwin Encarnacion beat the Brewers with a three-run, walk-off home run. It was his 62nd home run since the start of the 2013 season, and only Baltimore's Chris Davis has hit more (66) during that span. … Richard Griffin writes about five Blue Jays who have made a difference.
• Joel Peralta is piling up appearances.
AL Central
• From the Elias Sports Bureau: Jose Abreu extended his hitting streak to 17 games, the longest by a White Sox rookie since 1963, when Pete Ward had an 18-game hitting streak.
• Justin Verlander is determined to return to dominance, writes Jeff Seidel. The Oakland hitters saw a change in Verlander's approach, writes John Lowe.
• Chris Colabello is getting another chance.
AL West
• From Elias: Coming into this week, the A's led the majors with a walk rate of 10.4 percent, which over four games would equate to about 16 walks. However, they have drawn only one walk in the past four games, with none coming against a starting pitcher. The last time Oakland failed to draw a single base on balls against a starter in four straight games was in 1978.
• Those who have hit third for the Rangers have been historically bad.
• Dustin Ackley put together another three-hit game, writes Ryan Divish.
• Josh Hamilton homered, but the Angels lost.
Lastly
• About any exemption that Alex Rodriguez received to use a particular substance otherwise banned: He would have been one among hundreds and hundreds of players to get an OK under the terms of the testing system negotiated by the league and the Major League Baseball Players Association. Every year, dozens of players receive permission to use Adderall and Ritalin. That context is important. In fact, that context really is most important.
• The Cubs are going to be more careful with their computer data.
• Andrew McCutchen is leading the outfielders in votes in the NL All-Star balloting.
• Barry Bonds is getting another chance to fight his conviction.
• A Vanderbilt infielder returned to class.
And today will be better than yesterday.
If you need a reminder about how dominant Orel Hershiser was in September and October of 1988, watch Kershaw now.
Or if you're looking for a refresher on how Pedro Martinez controlled games in 1999, when a future Hall of Famer was at his absolute zenith, watch Kershaw now.
Kershaw is a historically great pitcher throwing better than he has at any stage of his career. He carries a streak of 28 consecutive scoreless innings into his start Friday against the Rockies, and he's coming off one of the best months of pitching ever. Kershaw faced 162 hitters in June, and he struck out 61 of them, with only four bases on balls. Of the remaining 97, 65 percent of them (63 batters) hit the ball on the ground, the highest rate for any pitcher in the majors. In other words, in Kershaw's six June starts, 34 plate appearances resulted in a batter hitting a ball in the air.
A.J. Ellis, Kershaw's catcher, traces the left-hander's current performance back to a start he made against the Diamondbacks on May 17, when he allowed seven runs in 1 2/3 innings. Most of the damage done in that game, Ellis noted, was against breaking pitches, and Kershaw came out of that performance angry and determined to throw his curveball and slider better.
With the way he's throwing his slider and curve now, Ellis said, "they look like they're strikes forever, and then bottom out."
Hitters cannot cover every possibility, so they work to reduce the ways in which a pitcher can beat them. They look for a fastball and ignore a pitcher's inconsistent breaking ball, for example. Or maybe they look on the inner half of the plate because the pitcher lacks command on the outer half. They try to corner the pitcher.
But these days, Kershaw is commanding three pitches brilliantly, meaning that the hitters' quandary grows exponentially against Kershaw, as Ellis explained. On June 24, Kershaw pitched in Kansas City, and in the midst of that game, he reached a 3-2 count on Alex Gordon and spun a slider. Gordon swung and missed, then looked back at Ellis and asked, "Really?" A slider? In that count?"
In the first inning of that same game, Eric Hosmer hacked at a fastball out of the strike zone and rolled a single to left field, and later mentioned to Ellis that he had intended to swing at the first fastball he saw in that at-bat -- any fastball, anywhere. "You think I'm getting to two strikes with that guy?" Hosmer asked rhetorically.
Kershaw has never mixed his pitches as much as he is now, with the percentage of fastballs at a career-low 55.4 percent and sliders at a career-high 30 percent, with the occasional curve (13.3 percent). His ratio of ground balls to fly balls has increased by about 60 percent compared to last season. He has never gotten a higher rate of swings outside the strike zone than this season, or a higher rate of swings for that matter, and at the same time hitters have their lowest rate of contact against him.
Translation: They are swinging more because they're afraid of falling behind in the count against him, despite the fact that they are missing more often when they do swing.
Maybe you aren't sure what it meant to be as good as Walter Johnson was, or your memories of Greg Maddux's brilliance are fogging over. Well, just watch Kershaw. Now.
Around the league
• On Wednesday's podcast, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times and Jesse Rogers of ESPN Chicago ran through the current state of the trade situations for the Rays and Cubs, respectively; Tim Kurkjian discussed Bryce Harper and his manager, Matt Williams; and Karl Ravech and Justin Havens went "next level" on the AL West and Rick Porcello.
On Tuesday's podcast, Jayson Stark talked about the Nationals' lineup, and Ryan Divish offered up some great anecdotes about the change in leadership of Robinson Cano and Felix Hernandez.
• As for the Dodgers as a team, some regulars were rested by manager Don Mattingly on Wednesday, and the team lost. … The Dodgers' Thursday opponent, the Colorado Rockies, are expected to get third baseman Nolan Arenado back today.
• Imagine Duke signing seven of the nation's top 10 basketball recruits in one class of players. That's sort of what the Yankees did in the international market Wednesday, spending big dollars to corner the market. Depending on which top prospect list you prefer, the Yankees signed either 10 of the top 15 prospects or 11 of the top 18, although, as we know, in baseball there is higher degree of uncertainty than in basketball about whether each teenager will develop into something worthwhile on the field.
The Yankees will face penalties for their spending this year and restrictions next year, but this was the latest attempt by the organization to inject talent into its system. Here's a partial rundown of who they landed, from Jesse Sanchez.
As for other international news, the Rays are set to sign a top prospect, as Marc Topkin writes. … The Twins signed a pitcher. … The Astros signed three guys, as Evan Drellich writes. … The Red Sox signed a couple of prospects.
• Yu Darvish could be available for the All-Star Game after all.
• Speaking of great pitchers, the Cardinals desperately needed the help of Adam Wainwright, and they got it, as Rick Hummel writes.
From ESPN Stats & Information on Wainwright's performance:
Adam Wainwright, 2014
Statistic No. MLB rank
ERA 1.89 1st
WHIP 0.90 2nd
IP per start 7.3 2nd
Opp. SLG pct. .277 3rd
A. It was the eighth game this season he pitched at least seven innings while allowing no earned runs. He had no more than six such outings in any previous season.
B. Wainwright kept the ball in the park for the fifth straight game, his longest streak without allowing a home run since 2012.
C. He didn't need his best velocity to beat the Giants: His maximum speed was 92.1 mph, 2 mph below his fastest for the season.
D. Wainwright's 51 fastballs tied his season high. It was the sixth time in 17 starts that he allowed one hit or fewer on fastballs.
And finally this, again from ESPN Stats & Info: That was Wainwright's 13th scoreless start of at least seven innings since the start of 2013, which is tied with Kershaw for the most in the majors. Darvish is next, with 10.
In the past five seasons, only four pitchers have more scoreless starts of at least seven innings, and they've all made considerably more starts in that span than Wainwright, who missed all of 2011:
Most Scoreless Starts Of Seven-plus IP, Past Five Seasons
Pitcher 7+ scoreless IP Total starts
Clayton Kershaw 29 143
Hiroki Kuroda 24 145
Cliff Lee 21 131
Felix Hernandez 21 149
Adam Wainwright 20 116
Also worth noting, after missing 2011 while recovering from Tommy John surgery, Wainwright has gotten better and stronger each season:
Adam Wainwright, Past Three Seasons
Statistic 2012 2013 2014
ERA 3.94 2.94 1.89
WHIP 1.25 1.07 0.90
IP per start 6.2 7.1 7.3
• The Pirates beat the Diamondbacks on Wednesday to raise their record since May 2 to 34-22; the .607 winning percentage is the best in baseball. Gregory Polanco had another big game, and so far he has reached base at least one time in every game in which he has played. Ron Cook loves watching the top of the Pirates' lineup.
• The Mariners are nine games over .500 for the first time since 2007.
• You cannot stop the Braves, you can only hope to contain them: Their win streak has reached seven games.
• The Rays are rolling: That's seven wins in eight games. By the way, we have Tampa Bay and Detroit on "Sunday Night Baseball," David Price versus Rick Porcello.
• Giants manager Bruce Bochy plans a major lineup change: Hunter Pence may hit leadoff, with Brandon Belt batting second.
• Bryce Harper needs to grow up, writes Mike Wise.
• The Phillies seem to be in denial, writes Sam Donnellon. From his piece:
Nothing. No runs, no hits, lots of errors. Bad decisions, bad losses, bad baseball. The only people who don't seem to understand that the Phillies should already be deep in the throes of a rebuilding stage are, well, the Phillies president and his general manager.
If you believe them.
I do, and that's what really scares me. The key to fixing any problem is identifying the problem, but what if you are the problem? What if it's your decisions, your trades, your overpaid contracts that are in the way of any chance of "retooling" while maintaining a competitive team?
There are so many, but the miss they keep taking is their big swing on Dom Brown. If he was the player they projected him to be, no costly trade for Hunter Pence would have been made. If they had recognized sooner that he was not that player, or even a right fielder, they may have chosen to hold on to Pence, even re-up him.
Betting on Brown was that big of a swing and miss. And with no outfield prospect on the immediate or even distant horizon, and power-hitting outfielders the most sought-after entity among scouts today, it's hard to imagine anything but bad baseball here in the near and distant future. As bad even as those days back in the late '90s.
Moves, deals and decisions
1. There were informal conversations between various parties in the Jon Lester contract discussions Saturday evening and Sunday, as the Red Sox worked to rebuild a negotiating platform. But as written here before, it may well be too late, unless the team essentially capitulates, as the Phillies did in their talks with Cole Hamels.
There is concern on Lester's side that Boston's recent overtures will fall far short, again, of what his market value is, which was shifted markedly by Homer Bailey's $105 million deal with the Reds. That was 50 percent more, in total, than what the Red Sox offered Lester.
2. Billy Eppler, the Yankees' assistant GM, will interview today for the Padres' GM job.
3. There is more and more talk about Daniel Murphy's value. Unless the Mets intend to increase their payroll to something in the range of $120 million, it would make no sense for them to sign Murphy to a long-term deal. With an $85 million payroll, it'd be tough to justify another $10 million (or so) salary, along with what they're paying David Wright and Curtis Granderson.
4. Kevin Gausman could be recalled to pitch this Sunday.
5. The Tigers are interested in bringing back Joaquin Benoit. He'd be a great fit for the Angels, too.
6. Seth Smith's contract seems surprising, but at that kind of money, he represents good value, and he probably wouldn't have generated a ton of return in the trade market, given the fact that he might've been a free agent in the fall.
7. The Royals sent down a struggling reliever, writes Andy McCullough.
8. Jason Hammel is likely a quick-flip trade candidate for the Cubs, but as of last night, the team wasn't close to making a deal.
9. For the Nationals, Danny Espinosa is the odd man out.
10. Brad Hand will get an opportunity to be the Marlins' No. 5 starter.
11. Within this Nick Groke notebook, there is word that the Rockies have acquired Jair Jurrjens.
Dings and dents
1. Bud Norris likely needs a rehab start or two.
2. Mark Teixeira had his knee drained.
3. CC Sabathia was hit around in his first rehab start at Double-A.
4. Everth Cabrera has been placed on the disabled list.
5. Joe Mauer's placement on the disabled list likely ends any chance of him playing in the All-Star Game.
6. Matt Albers remains a candidate for the second half.
7. Another Braves catcher is dealing with an injury.
Wednesday's games
1. Edwin Encarnacion crushed the Brewers.
2. Tyson Ross and the Padres swept the Reds.
3. The Red Sox were wrecked by the Cubs and blown out Wednesday, as Peter Abraham writes. The Red Sox have stumbled into uncharted territory, writes Alex Speier.
4. The Orioles rallied.
5. The Yankees have fallen under .500. The Yankees' hopes are fading away, writes Bob Klapisch.
6. Raul Ibanez did something he hadn't done in more than a decade.
7. The Indians had a really, really nice series in Dodger Stadium, capping it off with a comeback win. Cody Allen worked overtime.
8. For the Phillies, the losing continues, as Ryan Lawrence writes.
9. The White Sox stopped the bleeding.
10. Tom Koehler was "the man" for the Marlins.
11. The Giants' hitters were shut down again.
12. Oakland faced its kryptonite, and lost.
13. Brian Wilson struggled to throw strikes.
NL Central
• The Cardinals have had no offense, and no answers yet.
• Alfredo Simon is quietly making his case to be an All-Star.
• The Cubs' offense exploded.
• The Brewers had a bad ninth inning. … K-Rod could be an All-Star.
NL West
• A Diamondbacks minor leaguer was cut for alleged theft.
AL East
• Mookie Betts' first homer was caught by a former opponent, as Kyle Brasseur writes.
• From ESPN Stats & Info: Edwin Encarnacion beat the Brewers with a three-run, walk-off home run. It was his 62nd home run since the start of the 2013 season, and only Baltimore's Chris Davis has hit more (66) during that span. … Richard Griffin writes about five Blue Jays who have made a difference.
• Joel Peralta is piling up appearances.
AL Central
• From the Elias Sports Bureau: Jose Abreu extended his hitting streak to 17 games, the longest by a White Sox rookie since 1963, when Pete Ward had an 18-game hitting streak.
• Justin Verlander is determined to return to dominance, writes Jeff Seidel. The Oakland hitters saw a change in Verlander's approach, writes John Lowe.
• Chris Colabello is getting another chance.
AL West
• From Elias: Coming into this week, the A's led the majors with a walk rate of 10.4 percent, which over four games would equate to about 16 walks. However, they have drawn only one walk in the past four games, with none coming against a starting pitcher. The last time Oakland failed to draw a single base on balls against a starter in four straight games was in 1978.
• Those who have hit third for the Rangers have been historically bad.
• Dustin Ackley put together another three-hit game, writes Ryan Divish.
• Josh Hamilton homered, but the Angels lost.
Lastly
• About any exemption that Alex Rodriguez received to use a particular substance otherwise banned: He would have been one among hundreds and hundreds of players to get an OK under the terms of the testing system negotiated by the league and the Major League Baseball Players Association. Every year, dozens of players receive permission to use Adderall and Ritalin. That context is important. In fact, that context really is most important.
• The Cubs are going to be more careful with their computer data.
• Andrew McCutchen is leading the outfielders in votes in the NL All-Star balloting.
• Barry Bonds is getting another chance to fight his conviction.
• A Vanderbilt infielder returned to class.
And today will be better than yesterday.
Bryce Harper already causing controversy.
Bryce Harper returned to the Nationals with an attitude, writes Thomas Boswell. From his column:
Instead of "Nothing But Natitude," Harper's box could've read, "Nothing But Attitude." The 21-year-old exposed the fissures that have gotten more public between the young star and the Nats. Being back in the Nats' lineup after two months wasn't enough for Harper; he wanted to write the lineup, too.
Manager Matt Williams put Ryan Zimmerman at third base, Anthony Rendon at second base, Harper in left field and benched Danny Espinosa. He also batted Harper sixth, exiled from the glamorous heart-of-the-order spots. Harper disagreed, on all fronts, and said so several hours before the game.
"I think [Zimmerman] should be playing left. Rendon's a good third baseman. He should be playing third. We've got one of the best second basemen in the league in Danny Espinosa," said Harper. "Of course, we want the best-hitting lineup in there. [But] I think Rendon playing third and Zim playing left is something that would be good for this team. I think that should be what's happening."
This Harper proposal would also put Denard Span on the bench and Harper himself in center field, the position he's politicked for weeks to play.
Williams has talked about daily designer lineups, constantly changing. Harper's suggestion amounts to a fixed lineup -- to his advantage. If Harper were 10 years more established in deeds, not dolls, it'd be audacious to manage a team after being on the DL for more than half of the Nats' previous 193 games. But to do it with one homer halfway into a season?
Anything else? How are those internal lines of communication working?
"I haven't talked to nobody about anything, so I have no clue," said Harper, who frequently mentioned how happy and excited he was to return but never smiled. "I know I'm playing left tonight, via Twitter. So I guess that's where I'm going."
And what about batting sixth?
"I'm in the lineup. That's all that matters. If I had the lineup, it would maybe not be the same. He's got the lineup card. He's got the pen. That's what he's doing," said Harper. "So there's nothing I can do about it. I'm hitting sixth tonight."
So, the manager has three players out of position, the wrong guy benched, Harper batting in the wrong spot and he has to learn about this stuff on Twitter.
"Hopefully, nobody kills themselves trying to get a bobblehead," said Harper, who knows just how central Nationals marketers have made him to the franchise's merchandising identity.
I cannot recall an example of a young major league player doing anything like this. We've seen it in basketball, when a very young Magic Johnson took on then-Lakers coach Paul Westhead, but in baseball? I've never seen nor heard of it. Bryce Harper is 21 years old.
What Harper said is potentially divisive, at the very least, in how he implicitly advocated for the benching of teammate Denard Span -- let alone that he disagreed with the decisions of his manager, Matt Williams, who benched him earlier this season for not running out a ball.
The tug-of-war appears to be on, already, in Harper's first day back: The Nationals' most prominent player vs. the team's manager.
Ryan Zimmerman moved back to third for a night.
Some trade stuff
1. It now appears all but certain that Red Sox ace Jon Lester will join Max Scherzer as the most prominent free agents in the market this fall. The Boston ownership -- which may have had its expectations skewed by Dustin Pedroia's team-friendly contract -- offered a Lester a well-below market value deal in the spring, at $70 million over four years.
And in recent weeks and days, the Red Sox have wanted to present another offer that will fall far below what Lester might expect to get in the market, particularly in light of Homer Bailey's $105 million deal. Given that, Lester's side wants to table the discussions until the fall.
Boston is still trying to climb back into the AL East race, but a question that faces the Red Sox front office now and into the months ahead is, how will it replace Lester?
This may create a hole that will turn out to be more expensive to fill, in prospects and/or salary, than if they had simply given Lester a $100 million offer in March.
2. Some officials believe that Seth Smith might be the most dangerous hitter traded before the July 31 deadline. Smith is hitting .273 for the Padres, with a .376 on-base percentage and an .861 OPS.
3. Brandon McCarthy has a $1 million assignment bonus in his contract, so if the Diamondbacks deal him, they'll likely have to eat that, as well as a lot of the salary owed to him for the rest of the season.
4. Rival officials say the Kansas City Royals don't appear to have a lot of financial flexibility in the last 31 days leading up to the trade deadline. If that's the case, the Royals would either have to look for bargains or creative trades. They signed Raul Ibanez for the minimum Monday, as Andy McCullough writes.
5. The Phillies appear to be ready to sell for prospects.
6. Yankees GM Brian Cashman is ready to rock and roll with trades. Some rival executives believe it's a sure thing that he will make a deal for a starting pitcher, given the uncertainty in the Yankees rotation. CC Sabathia continues to work his way back from knee trouble, but if he has a setback, it's possible that he would have to consider microfracture surgery.
Around the league
• After internal trade notes of the Houston Astros were published on Deadspin.com Monday, most rival officials seemed to feel sorry for the team, rather than be angry that details of discussions with other clubs had been leaked.
A lot of executives in baseball maintain those types of logs. "It could have happened to anybody," one high-ranking official said.
• Oscar Taveras was summoned by the Cardinals.
• On Monday's podcast, Billy Beane talked about how Sean Doolittle transitioned from position player to reliever. Plus border collies.
• Doolittle walked only his second batter of the season Monday, and then gave up a walk-off grand slam to Rajai Davis in a playoff rematch.
• Logan White interviewed for the vacant San Diego GM spot.
• The sound of George Springer's homer last night distinguishes it.
• Jake Arrieta was four outs away from a no-hitter against the Red Sox. He became the first pitcher with consecutive no-hit bids of at least six innings since Dave Stieb in September 1988. He is 4-0 with a 0.94 ERA and 39 strikeouts in his past four starts. He has taken a no-hit bid into the fifth inning in three of those four starts.
From ESPN Stats & Information, how Arrieta came so close to throwing a no-hitter against the Red Sox:
A. The Red Sox were 0-for-11 with four strikeouts against Arrieta's cutter; he has thrown his cutter 32.7 percent of time in his past four starts (.140 batting average against), compared with 10.0 percent in his first seven starts this season.
B. Opposing batters were 1-for-21 against his fastball or cutter.
C. Season-high 48 pitches and five strikeouts on pitches on inner half (Red Sox 0-for-11 on such pitches).
• San Diego had one hit Monday (and coincidentally won) and finished batting .171 as a team for the month. That is the worst team batting average for a full month since 1920. Jesse Hahn was dealing.
• Alcides Escobar powered the Royals.
• From ESPN Stats & Info: Despite an 0-for-3 performance Monday, Jose Altuve finished June hitting .411 with 17 stolen bases. He's just the seventh player to hit .400 with 15 steals in a calendar month during the past 100 seasons. Three of the previous players to do it are in the Hall of Fame. The full list:
Jose Altuve: June 2014
Brett Butler: July 1992
Tony Gwynn: August 1987
Rickey Henderson: June 1985
Cesar Cedeno: September 1977
Joe Morgan: April 1975
Johnny Neun: July 1927
• Ubaldo Jimenez was dealing.
• The Yankees have lost three straight.
• Manny Machado is upset his suspension wasn't reduced. Chris Davis is filling in at third base.
• Greg Colbrunn is back with the Red Sox.
• Frank Cashen, who passed away Monday, built a powerhouse.
And today will be better than yesterday.
Instead of "Nothing But Natitude," Harper's box could've read, "Nothing But Attitude." The 21-year-old exposed the fissures that have gotten more public between the young star and the Nats. Being back in the Nats' lineup after two months wasn't enough for Harper; he wanted to write the lineup, too.
Manager Matt Williams put Ryan Zimmerman at third base, Anthony Rendon at second base, Harper in left field and benched Danny Espinosa. He also batted Harper sixth, exiled from the glamorous heart-of-the-order spots. Harper disagreed, on all fronts, and said so several hours before the game.
"I think [Zimmerman] should be playing left. Rendon's a good third baseman. He should be playing third. We've got one of the best second basemen in the league in Danny Espinosa," said Harper. "Of course, we want the best-hitting lineup in there. [But] I think Rendon playing third and Zim playing left is something that would be good for this team. I think that should be what's happening."
This Harper proposal would also put Denard Span on the bench and Harper himself in center field, the position he's politicked for weeks to play.
Williams has talked about daily designer lineups, constantly changing. Harper's suggestion amounts to a fixed lineup -- to his advantage. If Harper were 10 years more established in deeds, not dolls, it'd be audacious to manage a team after being on the DL for more than half of the Nats' previous 193 games. But to do it with one homer halfway into a season?
Anything else? How are those internal lines of communication working?
"I haven't talked to nobody about anything, so I have no clue," said Harper, who frequently mentioned how happy and excited he was to return but never smiled. "I know I'm playing left tonight, via Twitter. So I guess that's where I'm going."
And what about batting sixth?
"I'm in the lineup. That's all that matters. If I had the lineup, it would maybe not be the same. He's got the lineup card. He's got the pen. That's what he's doing," said Harper. "So there's nothing I can do about it. I'm hitting sixth tonight."
So, the manager has three players out of position, the wrong guy benched, Harper batting in the wrong spot and he has to learn about this stuff on Twitter.
"Hopefully, nobody kills themselves trying to get a bobblehead," said Harper, who knows just how central Nationals marketers have made him to the franchise's merchandising identity.
I cannot recall an example of a young major league player doing anything like this. We've seen it in basketball, when a very young Magic Johnson took on then-Lakers coach Paul Westhead, but in baseball? I've never seen nor heard of it. Bryce Harper is 21 years old.
What Harper said is potentially divisive, at the very least, in how he implicitly advocated for the benching of teammate Denard Span -- let alone that he disagreed with the decisions of his manager, Matt Williams, who benched him earlier this season for not running out a ball.
The tug-of-war appears to be on, already, in Harper's first day back: The Nationals' most prominent player vs. the team's manager.
Ryan Zimmerman moved back to third for a night.
Some trade stuff
1. It now appears all but certain that Red Sox ace Jon Lester will join Max Scherzer as the most prominent free agents in the market this fall. The Boston ownership -- which may have had its expectations skewed by Dustin Pedroia's team-friendly contract -- offered a Lester a well-below market value deal in the spring, at $70 million over four years.
And in recent weeks and days, the Red Sox have wanted to present another offer that will fall far below what Lester might expect to get in the market, particularly in light of Homer Bailey's $105 million deal. Given that, Lester's side wants to table the discussions until the fall.
Boston is still trying to climb back into the AL East race, but a question that faces the Red Sox front office now and into the months ahead is, how will it replace Lester?
This may create a hole that will turn out to be more expensive to fill, in prospects and/or salary, than if they had simply given Lester a $100 million offer in March.
2. Some officials believe that Seth Smith might be the most dangerous hitter traded before the July 31 deadline. Smith is hitting .273 for the Padres, with a .376 on-base percentage and an .861 OPS.
3. Brandon McCarthy has a $1 million assignment bonus in his contract, so if the Diamondbacks deal him, they'll likely have to eat that, as well as a lot of the salary owed to him for the rest of the season.
4. Rival officials say the Kansas City Royals don't appear to have a lot of financial flexibility in the last 31 days leading up to the trade deadline. If that's the case, the Royals would either have to look for bargains or creative trades. They signed Raul Ibanez for the minimum Monday, as Andy McCullough writes.
5. The Phillies appear to be ready to sell for prospects.
6. Yankees GM Brian Cashman is ready to rock and roll with trades. Some rival executives believe it's a sure thing that he will make a deal for a starting pitcher, given the uncertainty in the Yankees rotation. CC Sabathia continues to work his way back from knee trouble, but if he has a setback, it's possible that he would have to consider microfracture surgery.
Around the league
• After internal trade notes of the Houston Astros were published on Deadspin.com Monday, most rival officials seemed to feel sorry for the team, rather than be angry that details of discussions with other clubs had been leaked.
A lot of executives in baseball maintain those types of logs. "It could have happened to anybody," one high-ranking official said.
• Oscar Taveras was summoned by the Cardinals.
• On Monday's podcast, Billy Beane talked about how Sean Doolittle transitioned from position player to reliever. Plus border collies.
• Doolittle walked only his second batter of the season Monday, and then gave up a walk-off grand slam to Rajai Davis in a playoff rematch.
• Logan White interviewed for the vacant San Diego GM spot.
• The sound of George Springer's homer last night distinguishes it.
• Jake Arrieta was four outs away from a no-hitter against the Red Sox. He became the first pitcher with consecutive no-hit bids of at least six innings since Dave Stieb in September 1988. He is 4-0 with a 0.94 ERA and 39 strikeouts in his past four starts. He has taken a no-hit bid into the fifth inning in three of those four starts.
From ESPN Stats & Information, how Arrieta came so close to throwing a no-hitter against the Red Sox:
A. The Red Sox were 0-for-11 with four strikeouts against Arrieta's cutter; he has thrown his cutter 32.7 percent of time in his past four starts (.140 batting average against), compared with 10.0 percent in his first seven starts this season.
B. Opposing batters were 1-for-21 against his fastball or cutter.
C. Season-high 48 pitches and five strikeouts on pitches on inner half (Red Sox 0-for-11 on such pitches).
• San Diego had one hit Monday (and coincidentally won) and finished batting .171 as a team for the month. That is the worst team batting average for a full month since 1920. Jesse Hahn was dealing.
• Alcides Escobar powered the Royals.
• From ESPN Stats & Info: Despite an 0-for-3 performance Monday, Jose Altuve finished June hitting .411 with 17 stolen bases. He's just the seventh player to hit .400 with 15 steals in a calendar month during the past 100 seasons. Three of the previous players to do it are in the Hall of Fame. The full list:
Jose Altuve: June 2014
Brett Butler: July 1992
Tony Gwynn: August 1987
Rickey Henderson: June 1985
Cesar Cedeno: September 1977
Joe Morgan: April 1975
Johnny Neun: July 1927
• Ubaldo Jimenez was dealing.
• The Yankees have lost three straight.
• Manny Machado is upset his suspension wasn't reduced. Chris Davis is filling in at third base.
• Greg Colbrunn is back with the Red Sox.
• Frank Cashen, who passed away Monday, built a powerhouse.
And today will be better than yesterday.
What would it take to trade for Alex Rios?
Player: Alex Rios | RF | Texas Rangers
Possible destinations: Kansas City Royals, Baltimore Orioles, Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox
Kansas City Royals
Why? The Royals are last in the AL Central in runs scored and have had very little offensive production from right fielder Norichika Aoki, who has yet to hit a home run and has a .326 OBP. Rios hasn't hit for much power either (just three homers), but he's hitting .304 and has more upside -- and a better track record -- than Aoki, who would be better off as a fourth outfielder.
Who? The Rangers should be satisfied by getting approximately $6 million off the books for the rest of the season, as well as the $1 million buyout on Rios' 2015 team option ($13.5 million). They'll expect one or two mid-level type prospects in return, and the Royals could offer left-hander Sam Selman and catcher Zane Evans.
Will it happen? The Royals must improve their offensive production from right field, and the market is not flooded with solid options. I would give it about a 30 percent chance that it happens.
Baltimore Orioles
Why? The Orioles lost Matt Wieters for the season after he underwent Tommy John surgery, and will now have to live with below-average offense at catcher with Nick Hundley and Caleb Joseph sharing the duties. They also are not getting the offense they'd like from rookie second baseman Jonathan Schoop. Their best spot to improve offense is at second base, but if they can’t trade for a Chase Utley, Ben Zobrist or Daniel Murphy, they could decide to add offense at the DH/corner outfield spots. Steve Pearce can't maintain his .900-plus OPS forever, and Rios would give them the depth their lineup currently lacks and allow them to put Nelson Cruz in a full-time DH role when Pearce cools off.
Who? The Orioles aren't blessed with a deep farm system, which will make it difficult for them to trade for the impact offensive second baseman they’d like. However, they do have enough to deal for Rios assuming they are willing to take on his salary, and could offer a low-level arm such as Steven Brault, a lefty having a nice year (4.8 strikeout-to-walk ratio) for low Class A Delmarva.
Will it happen? Doubtful. The Orioles would much rather upgrade second base or their bullpen depth and would prefer to save their prospects and dollars for those needs. However, if the Rangers expanded the deal to include bullpen help, it could happen.
Seattle Mariners
Why? The Mariners are 10th in the league in runs scored and second in ERA. If they could score more runs, they'd be a serious contender for a postseason berth, and right now they have three outfielders -- Dustin Ackley, Michael Saunders and Corey Hart -- with OBPs hovering at or below .300. They have to improve their corner outfield production.
Who? The Mariners have soured on Jesus Montero and he could be in play, though that would be the definition of selling low.
Will it happen? The Mariners have to get offensive help, and if they can’t find a way to trade for Michael Cuddyer or Marlon Byrd, Rios might be their next best option. Furthermore, they are a club that might consider picking up his 2015 option, making him more than just a rental.
Boston Red Sox
Why? The Red Sox outfield has been the least productive of any American League team so far in 2014 and they have to find a way improve their corner outfield production. They could control Rios for another year, or decide to let him go at the end of the year with his buyout. The Red Sox like this type of short-term exposure and flexibility. With a loaded farm system, the Red Sox could easily outbid the field with a better prospect because of their depth.
Who? Like the Orioles, this would be because of a willingness to eat salary, and probably wouldn't cost much.
Will it happen? The Red Sox will have to put together a long winning streak between now and the trade deadline and get back in the division and/or wild-card race to make this type of trade. Otherwise, they might be selling instead of buying come deadline time.
Possible destinations: Kansas City Royals, Baltimore Orioles, Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox
Kansas City Royals
Why? The Royals are last in the AL Central in runs scored and have had very little offensive production from right fielder Norichika Aoki, who has yet to hit a home run and has a .326 OBP. Rios hasn't hit for much power either (just three homers), but he's hitting .304 and has more upside -- and a better track record -- than Aoki, who would be better off as a fourth outfielder.
Who? The Rangers should be satisfied by getting approximately $6 million off the books for the rest of the season, as well as the $1 million buyout on Rios' 2015 team option ($13.5 million). They'll expect one or two mid-level type prospects in return, and the Royals could offer left-hander Sam Selman and catcher Zane Evans.
Will it happen? The Royals must improve their offensive production from right field, and the market is not flooded with solid options. I would give it about a 30 percent chance that it happens.
Baltimore Orioles
Why? The Orioles lost Matt Wieters for the season after he underwent Tommy John surgery, and will now have to live with below-average offense at catcher with Nick Hundley and Caleb Joseph sharing the duties. They also are not getting the offense they'd like from rookie second baseman Jonathan Schoop. Their best spot to improve offense is at second base, but if they can’t trade for a Chase Utley, Ben Zobrist or Daniel Murphy, they could decide to add offense at the DH/corner outfield spots. Steve Pearce can't maintain his .900-plus OPS forever, and Rios would give them the depth their lineup currently lacks and allow them to put Nelson Cruz in a full-time DH role when Pearce cools off.
Who? The Orioles aren't blessed with a deep farm system, which will make it difficult for them to trade for the impact offensive second baseman they’d like. However, they do have enough to deal for Rios assuming they are willing to take on his salary, and could offer a low-level arm such as Steven Brault, a lefty having a nice year (4.8 strikeout-to-walk ratio) for low Class A Delmarva.
Will it happen? Doubtful. The Orioles would much rather upgrade second base or their bullpen depth and would prefer to save their prospects and dollars for those needs. However, if the Rangers expanded the deal to include bullpen help, it could happen.
Seattle Mariners
Why? The Mariners are 10th in the league in runs scored and second in ERA. If they could score more runs, they'd be a serious contender for a postseason berth, and right now they have three outfielders -- Dustin Ackley, Michael Saunders and Corey Hart -- with OBPs hovering at or below .300. They have to improve their corner outfield production.
Who? The Mariners have soured on Jesus Montero and he could be in play, though that would be the definition of selling low.
Will it happen? The Mariners have to get offensive help, and if they can’t find a way to trade for Michael Cuddyer or Marlon Byrd, Rios might be their next best option. Furthermore, they are a club that might consider picking up his 2015 option, making him more than just a rental.
Boston Red Sox
Why? The Red Sox outfield has been the least productive of any American League team so far in 2014 and they have to find a way improve their corner outfield production. They could control Rios for another year, or decide to let him go at the end of the year with his buyout. The Red Sox like this type of short-term exposure and flexibility. With a loaded farm system, the Red Sox could easily outbid the field with a better prospect because of their depth.
Who? Like the Orioles, this would be because of a willingness to eat salary, and probably wouldn't cost much.
Will it happen? The Red Sox will have to put together a long winning streak between now and the trade deadline and get back in the division and/or wild-card race to make this type of trade. Otherwise, they might be selling instead of buying come deadline time.
Yanks, Sox big winners on July 2.
July 2 -- which is the day 16-year-old international prospects are eligible to sign -- has come and gone, and what we saw can only be described as a wild day during which several clubs spent huge amounts of cash.
And while there are still several big names that haven't signed yet, here's a look at the three teams that did the most to improve their farm systems.
New York Yankees
There were reports that the Yankees were going to make a mockery of their allocated bonus funds this year, and to say they did that is to say that water is wet. New York spent close to $20 million -- roughly 10 times its assigned allocated funds of $2.2 million. As a result, the Yankees must pay a 100 percent tax on the overage and can't sign a player for more than $300,000 over the next two signing periods.
The best of the players to sign with New York was Dermis Garcia, a shortstop with the potential for plus-plus power and an above-average hit tool.
The Yankees also picked up top 25 players in third baseman Nelson Gomez (one of the top pure offensive players in the class), four-tool outfielders Jose DeLeon and Jonathan Amundaray and slick-fielding -- but with offensive capability -- shortstops Wilkerman Garcia and Diego Castillo. The Yankees signed the best prospect in South Korea in Hyo-Jun Park, a shortstop who can fly on the bases and with quality bat-to-ball skills, and the best catcher in Venezuela in Miguel Flames. Scouts say he has average to above-average tools across the board, minus speed.
Add in quality depth pickups in outfielder Frederick Cuevas and right-hander Servando Hernandez -- and the fact they're still favorites to sign several other upper-echelon prospects -- and in terms of both quality and quantity, this is the most impressive class by a considerable margin. This also could be the class that pushes baseball into making massive changes to the international signing system, so it's got that going for it, too.
Boston Red Sox
Boston's class doesn't have the depth that New York's does (no one comes close), but when you sign the best two pitchers available this year, you're going to be listed among the winners.
Venezuelan right-hander Anderson Espinoza draws comparisons to Pedro Martinez because of his small stature and potential for a plus-plus fastball that already touches 93 mph. While he doesn't have anywhere near the future Hall of Famer's secondary stuff, he does have a curveball that flashes in that range, as well as impressive feel of an above-average change.
If they had just picked up Espinoza, the Red Sox's class would have been impressive. But they also picked up the next-best arm available in Dominican right-hander Christopher Acosta. He doesn't have Espinoza's pure arm strength, but he does have the potential for two plus pitches in a low 90s fastball and a change that has fade and deception from excellent arm speed. Add in above-average command and his ability to throw strikes, and the Red Sox picked up two of the arms who have a chance to be top-of-the-rotation starters.
Houston Astros
The Astros have arguably the best farm system in all of baseball right now, and though they've graduated a few of those players over the past two months, they've done as well as anyone on the international market. On July 2 they added three Venezuelan players to strengthen that system. Right-hander Franklin Perez isn't quite at the level of Espinoza and Acosta, but he's also newer to pitching than both of those guys and shows as much arm strength as any arm that was available this year. His curveball also flashes plus with 12-to-6 break, and his change -- though very much a work in progress -- should at least be an average offering in time.
Shortstop Miguel Angel Sierra doesn't have the offensive upside of the "big-name" shortstops like Garcia, Gilbert Lara and Adrian Rondon, but few players have impressed scouts more with their feel for the game than he has. There's a chance for an above-average hit tool to go along with speed that should be plus as he gets stronger. They also picked up catcher Brandon Benavente, who gets rave reviews for his makeup and work ethic. He's expected to be able to stick at catcher and has shown some improvement with the bat, as well.
Others that did well
Toronto Blue Jays
Juan Meza was the only other pitcher I heard mentioned in the same ilk as Espinoza and Acosta, and shortstop Kevin Vicuna may be the best defensive infielder in the class.
Chicago White Sox
Shortstop Amado Nunez got the most differing opinions in terms of upside of any prospect I spoke to scouts about, but everyone agrees that his offensive upside is impressive. They also picked up arguably the best power-hitting catcher in the class in Jhoandro Alfaro, brother of Texas Rangers top prospect Jorge.
Milwaukee Brewers
There's just one name here, but when that one name is Gilbert Lara, who most agree is the best offensive player in the class, you have to be included in the teams that did well section.
And while there are still several big names that haven't signed yet, here's a look at the three teams that did the most to improve their farm systems.
New York Yankees
There were reports that the Yankees were going to make a mockery of their allocated bonus funds this year, and to say they did that is to say that water is wet. New York spent close to $20 million -- roughly 10 times its assigned allocated funds of $2.2 million. As a result, the Yankees must pay a 100 percent tax on the overage and can't sign a player for more than $300,000 over the next two signing periods.
The best of the players to sign with New York was Dermis Garcia, a shortstop with the potential for plus-plus power and an above-average hit tool.
The Yankees also picked up top 25 players in third baseman Nelson Gomez (one of the top pure offensive players in the class), four-tool outfielders Jose DeLeon and Jonathan Amundaray and slick-fielding -- but with offensive capability -- shortstops Wilkerman Garcia and Diego Castillo. The Yankees signed the best prospect in South Korea in Hyo-Jun Park, a shortstop who can fly on the bases and with quality bat-to-ball skills, and the best catcher in Venezuela in Miguel Flames. Scouts say he has average to above-average tools across the board, minus speed.
Add in quality depth pickups in outfielder Frederick Cuevas and right-hander Servando Hernandez -- and the fact they're still favorites to sign several other upper-echelon prospects -- and in terms of both quality and quantity, this is the most impressive class by a considerable margin. This also could be the class that pushes baseball into making massive changes to the international signing system, so it's got that going for it, too.
Boston Red Sox
Boston's class doesn't have the depth that New York's does (no one comes close), but when you sign the best two pitchers available this year, you're going to be listed among the winners.
Venezuelan right-hander Anderson Espinoza draws comparisons to Pedro Martinez because of his small stature and potential for a plus-plus fastball that already touches 93 mph. While he doesn't have anywhere near the future Hall of Famer's secondary stuff, he does have a curveball that flashes in that range, as well as impressive feel of an above-average change.
If they had just picked up Espinoza, the Red Sox's class would have been impressive. But they also picked up the next-best arm available in Dominican right-hander Christopher Acosta. He doesn't have Espinoza's pure arm strength, but he does have the potential for two plus pitches in a low 90s fastball and a change that has fade and deception from excellent arm speed. Add in above-average command and his ability to throw strikes, and the Red Sox picked up two of the arms who have a chance to be top-of-the-rotation starters.
Houston Astros
The Astros have arguably the best farm system in all of baseball right now, and though they've graduated a few of those players over the past two months, they've done as well as anyone on the international market. On July 2 they added three Venezuelan players to strengthen that system. Right-hander Franklin Perez isn't quite at the level of Espinoza and Acosta, but he's also newer to pitching than both of those guys and shows as much arm strength as any arm that was available this year. His curveball also flashes plus with 12-to-6 break, and his change -- though very much a work in progress -- should at least be an average offering in time.
Shortstop Miguel Angel Sierra doesn't have the offensive upside of the "big-name" shortstops like Garcia, Gilbert Lara and Adrian Rondon, but few players have impressed scouts more with their feel for the game than he has. There's a chance for an above-average hit tool to go along with speed that should be plus as he gets stronger. They also picked up catcher Brandon Benavente, who gets rave reviews for his makeup and work ethic. He's expected to be able to stick at catcher and has shown some improvement with the bat, as well.
Others that did well
Toronto Blue Jays
Juan Meza was the only other pitcher I heard mentioned in the same ilk as Espinoza and Acosta, and shortstop Kevin Vicuna may be the best defensive infielder in the class.
Chicago White Sox
Shortstop Amado Nunez got the most differing opinions in terms of upside of any prospect I spoke to scouts about, but everyone agrees that his offensive upside is impressive. They also picked up arguably the best power-hitting catcher in the class in Jhoandro Alfaro, brother of Texas Rangers top prospect Jorge.
Milwaukee Brewers
There's just one name here, but when that one name is Gilbert Lara, who most agree is the best offensive player in the class, you have to be included in the teams that did well section.
for a five-year ERA qualifier. Who’s second? How about Tim Hudson, and he’s not particularly close, at 77.0. Kershaw is obviously an elite bat misser, and this year has become an elite control guy. He is also an elite contact manager, and has become one by mastering both batted-ball mix and limitation of BIP authority. I will be giving a presentation at this year’s Saber Seminar, in Boston on the weekend of August 16-17 on the best contact managers in history, and Kershaw will be discussed. It’s for a great cause, the Jimmy Fund, and it would be great to see some of you there. End of shameless plug.
O's need to stop ******* around and get Gausman in the rotation permanently.
