BlueRocky

We don’t exactly have world beaters in the lineup at Dunedin, he’ll bat in the top of the order at high A. For Steve Pearce, and the beginnings of the the fire sale, I’ll take it. Looks like he found some power this season, especially against lefties. Will be competing with Warmoth and Smith for time at SS.

Grats to J Davis! Another solid outing for Dunedin’s Zach Logue. Davis Schneider continues to rake at Bluefield. Great to see Pardinho doing things.

Assuming we trade Happ for prospects, would be great to bring him back. Happ should age fairly well and eat innings for a relatively cheap contract and it would be nice to keep a vet or two to mentor the next generation. Marco scares me a bit if we’re talking another two year extension.

He’s at the age where teams won’t be willing to sign him a huge extension. The qualifying offer only works when other teams are willing to give up a draft pick to sign him, which usually means a long term deal. All the QO will do is kill off his free agency chances for another year and lock him with the blue jays. But since we can get prospects for him, AND potentially bring him back for 2019, there’s no reason not to do that. Happ should also want to get traded for two reasons. He gets to play for a contender and meaningful baseball, potentially playoff baseball, which is great advertising for his free agency. He also cannot be extended a qualifying offer by the team that traded for him, which opens up his free agent market. With more teams interested, bidding can happen, which means he might get more term and dollars for potentially his last contract.

Wow

Leonardo Jimenez definitely deserves some hype. And Hiraldo needs to get out of DSL soon. Unless he has visa issues, he should be in GCL with Conine and Brodt migrating to Vancouver. All three of Groshans, Hiraldo, and Jimenez were drafted as SS, but none of them are expected to stick. Actually all three are more likely 3B/2B or corner OF. Orelvis Martinez may join this mix soon. The organization is deep in infield and thin at pitching.

It’s common sense. Rogers will never come out and say it. But do you expect payroll to stay the same when your attendance drops by 40%? That’s not how business works. Costs get cut and people get fired when a company don’t make sales numbers. You can go back and look at past attendance numbers and opening day payroll and there’s a clear correlation. They didn’t suddenly increase payroll because we needed to sign free agents, it coincided with the attendance increase and playoff success. Everybody knew this team could’ve started the selloff a year ago, but they didn’t. Having a $160 million payroll and deciding to lose games doesn’t look good on the balance sheet.

They’re currently at 160M, there’s a good chance payroll will get cut for 2019 just based on the drop in attendance and tv ratings. Not like Rogers cannot afford it, but if the money is already spent there is nothing they can do about it. But if FO somehow sheds Tulo or Morales, that money isn’t going to be available for other transactions. Fat chance that money you saved is going towards a starting pitcher in the offseason. Rogers would love to bring payroll back down to 130-140M until they see a resurgence in attendance—this is the type of ownership we are dealing with. They will 100% treat this like a business and nothing else. With that in mind, you much rather take prospects back than shed payroll.

He’s hanging out at Dunedin

Maybe there’s some truth to that downhill angle from a 6’7 sinker baller. Or just really, really good luck. And when there’s no other explanation, just say it’s his improved changeup™.

I’ll drive him to the airport myself if he can net a top 100 prospect. I heard Acuna is hurt. Buy low!

It’s more like getting an A- prospect instead of an A+ guy. Yankee’s B prospects would be a top 5 guy in half the major league farms. The Mariners system is so bad, I’m not certain if you put their top 3 guys in the Yankee’s system they would even make their top 10 list.

I don’t think either Stroman or Sanchez are untouchable. But ideally their value needs to recover before you deal them— this might be a more realistic discussion in the offseason or trade deadline 2019. If Stroman was pitching well, he should net more than just Frazier. No matter what people think of the Stroshow, he’s a proven young MLB frontline starter with control and AL East tested. Frazier is still an unproven commodity. Unfortunately the phone won’t ring much for his 7.71 ERA and recent injury. If he comes back and dominates before July 31, things could change. But chances are he is staying put. They definitely need to listen to offers for anybody on the major league roster. Solarte is near his peak value now and could play multiple positions.

This is probably the Yankee’s offer, but it will depend on other bids too. It helps that out of all the buyers, the Yankees are likely the most desperate for rotation help. I don’t see Frazier straight up. Sheffield is probably off limits. But guys like Abreu, Adams, Acevedo, Tate plus a lower prospect could be on the table. I do like the Braves pitching more, but the Yankees are likely to bid higher. And It’s not hard to see why they’re interested—starting pitching could be the difference between winning the AL east vs the 1st wild card spot with how tight the race is with the Red Sox. This could also be a postseason matchup where LHP can make a difference for NY. They might even need to add more than one starter, and it doesn’t hurt they have deep pockets and a great farm. The Braves could obviously use Happ and a healthy Donaldson, and they’re currently clinging onto the NL east with two teams in the rear view mirror. They also have so many pitching prospects, losing one or two won’t make a dent in their system. But I’m not sure how competitive the Phillies and Nationals will be down the stretch.

Both Cleveland and Washington might be looking to add bullpen arms, but not sure Clippard, Oh, or Axford has enough value to pull a good prospect

Would Dodgers do Alex Verdugo for Happ+?

Frazier isn't realistically going anywhere for a rental, but they’d put him on the table for a guy like deGrom. I like the Braves pitching prospects slightly more than the Yankees. If you dangle Happ and a healthy Donaldson in front of Anthopoulos he would probably pull the trigger. One of Wright, Anderson, Soroka, Gohara would at least be on the table plus a couple lower prospects BPA would likely be pitching prospects as both clubs have pitching depth in the farms.

Ryan Noda’s on fire, another HR today, 8th in his last 14 games.

They’d probably pull a Biagini and let him start till he fails, but I rather see an elite reliever. His college performance in starting role vs bullpen wasn’t even close

You don’t think the Yankees would like to secure their playoff chances vs the Red Sox by giving up a prospect? They’re definitely going to be buyers at the deadline. If we trade Happ the season is basically conceded and it’s only a 4 month rental, the AL east divison barrier doesn’t seem that strong to overcome. We could really use a pitching or OF prospect and they have a ton. Mariners could also use Happ, but they don’t have much to offer. The Braves could be a nice partner, but I think the question marks about Donaldson would bring the price point too low for us to pull the trigger. Even just Pache and Fried would be a nice haul. Donaldson would have to go on an MVP raking streak to ask for Ian Anderson and the Nationals would have to stay very close in the standings like currently, but would be a really nice haul. Frazier for Happ+ can be interesting

When Yankees call about a Happ deal, who would you ask for?

Can we trade those for our current problems?

If there’s no question about the bat, Would you rather a slight below average SS or a plus second basemen?

I think Kevin Smith will stay in Dunedin all year. From Lansing to New Hampshire is a massive jump within one season. Not even Vlad and Bo were promoted that aggressively, despite NH being a wasteland last year. The farm infield depth chart is super deep with Vlad, Bichette, Gurriel jr, Biggio, Smith, Vicuna, Warmoth, Urena, Groshans, Taylor, Hiraldo, Clemens

They needed a new voice if Masai is serious about winning the East. He may or may not have better x’s and o’s compared to Casey, but they’re practically already running Nurse’s system all of 2017. This looks like a concession to me, they’ll settle for playoffs and just wait till the large contracts expire. Which is fine, you can’t realistically compete with GS/HOU with this core. I don’t see a championship team with DeRozan as the #1 option. Nothing against him, he’s just not at that level.