2018 trade deadline rumors and deals

giles seems to have some ~issues~ but his underlying numbers weren't that bad -- his FIP is actually lower this year than in the last two seasons

also he isn't under criminal investigation

i will be pretty disappointed if verlander and mccullers now walk this stuff back, btw: https://thebiglead.com/2018/07/30/roberto-osuna-trade-astros-domestic-assault-violence

also paulino *was* a top-100 prospect as recently as 16 months ago, so there are at least tools to work with

as Jeff Sullivan pointed out last week, Moustakas is... not very good

Jays are apparently still not done :|

moustakas was at least drafted as a shortstop -- move *him* to 2B, not the 6'4" 230-lb (and better) travis shaw

so

nationals are now six back in the division and wild card. strasburg is hurt. fangraphs still gives them a 42% chance of making the playoffs; it also predicts them playing .578 ball the rest of the way despite currently being a game under .500. they have a better run differential than the division-leading phillies (but not better than the barves, who are 4.5 games up on them). they have 57 games left, of which 34 are at home

TRADE HARPER Y/N?

a hard sell

Tampa Bay probably might make that trade, but I doubt that the Nats would.

tampa bay would have made that trade a year and a half ago, but yeah

Over the last 3 seasons, Rendon, Scherzer, Murphy and Strasburg have been better players.

murphy is totally on the block as an impending free agent, although he has not been good at all in limited action this season

I'm curious to see what happens with Harper. I know I wouldn't want to give him one of those 10 year gargantuan contracts. I'm sure the Rangers or someone will get stupid with the checkbook.

According to a source, the Nationals are making it known to other teams that Bryce Harper is indeed available.

— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) July 31, 2018

iirc the astros could use an outfielder HMMM

w all the $ they have committed, mostly in pitching, i cant see them re-signing him so def should shop him imo

i imagine both sides are kind of ready to move on

lance lynn to yankees for tyler austin and minor league pitcher luis rijo

I like the Jays-Astros trade. Finally the Jays are making decisions like a rebuilding team should.

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

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

— Peter Gammons (@pgammo) July 31, 2018

Texas closer Keone Kela to Pirates

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

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

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 30, 2018

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

— Jamal Collier (@JamalCollier) July 31, 2018

echoed

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

Source: Tommy Pham has been traded to the Rays.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 31, 2018

wut

Whoa. Assuming archer is coming back in return.

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

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

Archer not involved per Passan

Brewers said to be after Gio Gonzalez

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

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

.201 BA / .304 SLG / .252 wOBA

Pham's Statcast expected stats:

.259 BA / .441 SLG / .329 wOBA

— Andrew Simon (@AndrewSimonMLB) July 31, 2018

a simple twist of randomness

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

— Robert Murray (@ByRobertMurray) July 31, 2018

that's the tigers' first trade of the season

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

MLBT:

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

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

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

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

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

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

— Tim Britton (@TimBritton) July 31, 2018

seems like a fairly strong argument for the nats to sell

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

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 31, 2018

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

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

Love that Maybin is still in the league

Good lord he’s only 31

Source: Ramos to Phillis is a done deal.

— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) July 31, 2018

Orioles said to be in talks on Schoop and Gausman

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

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 31, 2018

well!

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

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

uh what are the Pirates doing

goin for it! Brewers in on Schoop

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

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

Travis Sawchik:

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