Trevor Bauer is linked to Phillies as MLB trade deadline approaches

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Trevor Bauer linked to Phillies as trade deadline approaches

Per a report this morning from MLB insider Jon Morosi, the Philadelphia Phillies and Cleveland Indians have discussed parameters of a trade that would send starting pitcher Trevor Bauer to the Phillies.

Morosi based his report on what he called “sources“, the usual suspect when rumored discussions such as this are presented, particularly at the Winter Meetings and now, as the MLB trade deadline is approaching.

A deal for Bauer would seem to be a longshot, based on comments in recent days from Phillies general manager Matt Klentak, who seemed to be leaning towards a more conservative approach over the next week.

“I feel like our organization has enough talent that we can bid on the top names on the market,” Klentak said per Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia.

“Whether we choose to go down that road or not remains to be seen. It’s really about building an organization that can sustain its competitiveness for a long period of time. In order to do that, we have to preserve young talent. There are times when it makes sense to cash in young talent for veteran players. But you can’t do that too often or your well will run dry and you’ll be forced to tackle another rebuild at some point, and that’s not something that our owners or our front office have an appetite for.”

Just days ago, I wrote a piece here at Phillies Nation in which I opined “There is no reasonable deal that you can expect at this deadline that will return enough to the Phillies that they should give up either of these two key pieces to their future. So, at this point, both Bohm and Howard would appear to be untouchable.”

Would a package that does not include either of those young players be able to land you someone like Bauer, or any of the other top available arms such as Zack Greinke, Matthew Boyd, Robbie Ray or Marcus Stroman? Would including prospects such as Mickey Moniak or Adonis Medina, players such as Cesar Hernandez or Nick Williams, pitchers like Nick Pivettaget such a deal done? That remains to  be seen.

Phillies have a number of potential starting pitching trade targets this summer

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Marcus Stroman is a major trade chip for Blue Jays

Like pretty much every other legitimate contending team in Major League Baseball, the 2019 Philadelphia Phillies could really use another solid veteran pitcher to bolster their starting rotation.

The top four starters for the club this season have been Aaron Nola, Jake Arrieta, Zach Eflin, and Nick Pivetta. The Phillies have also given regular turns to Jerad Eickhoff to this point, and just recently finally made the long-anticipated move of flipping Vince Velasquez to the bullpen.

When emergencies have cropped up, 25-year-old lefty Cole Irvin has been given three starts. Manager Gabe Kapler even turned to Jose Alvarez as an “opener” in one game, using the veteran lefty for the first two innings and then bringing in Irvin to cover nearly four frames on June 1 against the Dodgers in Los Angeles.

In most of the Phillies recent seasons, Eickhoff would deserve more of a chance. And he will continue in the rotation as long as he remains healthy and doesn’t completely implode. Having allowed four earned runs or more in half of his 2019 starts, Eickhoff would likely be the odd man out if general manager Matt Klentak was able to bring a solid option in to bolster the rotation.

But is such an arm actually out there and available? In evaluating the landscape in Major League Baseball, there would appear to be a number of such options. Their skills and experience levels are wide-ranging. It could be arguable as to whether a couple of them would be a legitimate upgrade.

These 10 arms seem to be the best possibilities for a trade to the Phillies. Many of them will absolutely find themselves putting on the uniform of a new team prior to the July 31 MLB trade deadline. You can bet that Klentak has already been considering most, if not all, of these pitchers, and has perhaps already been engaging in some preliminary negotiations.

Each pitcher is listed with their their team, “handedness”, age, and 2019 statistics through games of June 8. Also shown is their current contract status.

MLB Spotlight Series: Cleveland Indians at Minnesota Twins

There has been no bigger MLB surprise story this season than the Minnesota Twins. A year ago, the Twins 59-103 mark was the worst in all of Major League Baseball.

Entering this weekend, Minnesota has fashioned a 34-29 record. The Twins have sat atop the AL Central Division standings now for more than a month.

Trying to chase them down are the defending division and American League champions. At 32-31, the Cleveland Indians have been in either first or second place for nearly two months.

Target Field in Minneapolis will be the site of a big four-game divisional spotlight series between the two rivals. They have met a half-dozen times already this season, with the Tribe coming out on top in four of the six games. The all-time series is also tight between the clubs, with Cleveland holding a 324-298 edge.

The Indians swept a series in the Twin Cities back in mid-April, outscoring the hosts by a 20-7 margin. But Terry Francona‘s squad comes in cold, having dropped eight of their last 13 contests.

Hall of Famer Paul Molitor‘s Twins are in the midst of an 11-game home stand. They come into the showdown having won five of eight.

A key player that the Indians need to get going is my preseason AL MVP pick, shortstop Francisco Lindor. The talented 23-year old is hitting for just a .257/.319/.486 slash line thus far in 2017. 

With a dozen homers and 27 RBI, his power production is up. But Lindor has stolen just three bags, and his overall performance has been inconsistent.

2017 MLB Spotlight Series: Cleveland Indians at Houston Astros

The team with the best record over the first month and a half of the 2017 MLB season has been the Houston Astros. The Cleveland Indians are the defending American League champions.

This weekend at Minute Maid Park, the Tribe comes to town for a showdown of two of the game’s top ball clubs in a series that will shine the baseball spotlight on Houston.

The Astros come into the weekend series with a 29-12 record for a .707 winning percentage. That gives manager A.J. Hinch‘s squad a 3.5 game lead over three other teams for the honor of best record in Major League Baseball.

For manager Terry Francona‘s Indians, it has been more of a struggle. Cleveland is just 20-19, sitting in second place in the AL Central Division, a game behind the surprising Minnesota Twins.

Blue Jays Could Beat Up Trevor Bauer in ALCS Game Three

As the American League Championship Series moves north of the border into Canada on Monday night, the host Toronto Blue Jays find themselves in desperate straits.

The Blue Jays trail the visiting Cleveland Indians by two games to one in the best-of-seven series, and simply cannot afford to fall into a 3-0 hole.

There have been 35 postseason series in Major League Baseball history that started with one team running out to a 3-0 lead.

Only the 2004 Boston Red Sox have won, rallying from that 0-3 deficit to take four straight from the arch-rival New York Yankees, a springboard to the BoSox ending their “Curse of the Bambino” by eventually winning the World Series.

Grant Brisbee with SB Nation did a nice breakdown of this situation when the Baltimore Orioles fell behind the Kansas City Royals by 3-0 in the 2014 ALCS, and when the Chicago Cubs fell behind the New York Mets 3-0 in last year’s NLCS.

If the Jays are to save their season and get into this series, they are going to need a big effort in front of the frenzied fans at Rogers Centre.

Fortunately for the Blue Jays, they may have just the antidote to their ills in Cleveland starting pitcher Trevor Bauer.

The 25-year-old right-hander is now in his third full big league season