Fun story: I was at the game on Saturday right on the first base line. Santana after working the infielders before the start of the inning tosses the ball in my general direction. Only problem? I had no idea and wasn’t paying attention. The ball bounces off the green rubber/plastic/foam padding on the wall and smacks me right in the face. Then some little kid scurried like a rat and got the ball from under the seats and I didn’t even get to take a picture with the ball. I would have given it to the kid, so that was a violation.
OT: 2018 Phillies Thread.....
- Thread starter Grant Green
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NBC Sports Philly says there is a good chance the deal is for the rest of the season only and they are also trying to get Britton in the deal. Phils also still interested in JA Happ.
Salsbury was on WYSP saying that there may be a deal, but MLB does not like teams to do anything to take away any of the drama of the All-Star break. As such, don't expect anything to happen until Tuesday nite/Wed morning, at the earliest.
Salsbury also indicated that most things were pointing toward the Phils getting Machado, but that nothing would surprise him, as the other bidders may up their packages, etc.
There was speculation that one of the other pieces of the likely Phils trade was the OF that was a huge signing for them. I'd be disappointed if the Phils included him in the package, especially if Machado does not sign with them.
Crazy times.
My view is to let history be the guide. The Lee incoming deal was RAJ’s best deal. Carrasco might have been the most advanced, but Jason Knapp was prob the centerpiece of the deal. Donald and Marson were pieces as well. Carrasco has been a valuable asset years later but Knapp flamed out. Marson and Donald big deal. When the Phils traded Lee and “restocked” the farm, all the guys turned out to be zeroes.
The Doc deal had a lot of angst involving Drabek. Taylor was another guy the Phillies were in love with. Big deal across the board, both never amounted to anything.
So, if you are giving up one or two, I’d take the chance that you kept the right darts and fired the duds. Its like lottery balls, I’d hate to give up a ton of them figuring one may hit but if it’s one or two, roll the dice and go get a stud.
I’m thinking that the deal won’t be for ALL the prospects being discussed but will focus on one and maybe a lesser level prospect.
I am ok with Medina. But what else? JP? More prospects?
Seems they are also talking about Happ. Not thrilled, but he is a lefty.
Eh, I had two balls tossed to me last night at the Clippers-Iron Pigs game. Gave one to visitors in the row behind me who were tourists from Italy. The second one? Vanished out of my pocket at some point...
Why they cut pockets so low, I'll never understand...Still, I'd gotten a ball when I visited the Iron Pigs park in April (on my way to my cousin's who has a place int he Poconos) that I found under the scoreboard--got it signed by Cozens, Windle, and Menenses (who had a nice HR). Neris pitched an inning--got two guys looking in what they thought were low pitches but the ump called a strike. Neris hasn't given up a run in AAA ball this season. Unfortunately, that's not true in the bigs. Going down in 3 hours for the day game and then tomorrow for the finale.
Anyone remember the Von Hayes 5 for 1 trade? I think this will certainly be four. A Medina type player, JP, and several other prospects, although it sounds like Britton may be traded to the Phils as well. So 4-5 players is not out of the question.
Here's the guy I shared yesterday. He still says Phils.
https://www.barstoolsports.com/dmv/...-morning/?_branch_match_id=495585318511532270
The Baltimore Orioles, barring a last minute snag, will trade All-Star shortstop Manny Machado to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday, according to a baseball official with direct knowledge of the deal.
The official spoke to USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity because the trade has not been finalized.
Though, the Milwaukee Brewers and Philadelphia Phillies could still be in the mix.
The Dodgers appear to be going all in with Machado for a two-plus month rental. At the break, they are 53-43 and sit in first place in the National League West. They lead the Arizona Diamondbacks by a 1/2 game and the Colorado Rockies by two games.
With the season-ending surgery to Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager, Machado would likely play shortstop for the Dodgers.
Machado's been at the forefront of trade rumors over the last several weeks. On Monday, he addressed his future during the 45-minute media availability in Washington, D.C. before the All-Star Game.
“I have no idea," Machado said about where he thinks he will end up. "At this point, it doesn’t matter. I can’t control it. Just get it over with already, go on and not answer these questions no more."
Entering the All-Star break, Machado is batting .315 with 24 homers, 65 RBI and a .963 OPS.
They might not have been wrong. The Orioles are a dumpster fire with nobody really sure who is in charge there. Would not surprise me one bit if multiple parties in their front office think they have authority and different people are saying different things. The scary thing is that I have been told that Middleton reminds people of Angelos and that isn’t a good thing. When you are talking bad owners, Angelos is near the top of the class.
It will be interesting but the Dodgers obviously are putting the chips in. I can read a LOT into that along a lot of fronts. One possibility is that they aren’t sure about Kershaw health long term and have decided their window to win isn’t a long one. It did seem that LA might not have included the one minor leaguer initially but decided to offer him. I had heard that teams were upping their offer and Baltimore was gaining assets instead of having to accept less than desired.
Don't even know if Kershaw can make it through a season now.
At some point, you have to let the Dodgers overpay and hope you can still sign Manny in the offseason
It came from the most dependable person I know. As good as you can get. What he was saying is that Middleton is happy to buy his team, similar to what Angelos attempted to do with a string of bad signings. Middleton can’t wait to spend money with some thinking he will make a run at BOTH Harper and Manny. In most cases, expensive contracts turn out to be an albatross at some point. Most intelligent people believe you kill your franchise with that approach and instead you should build through the farm, replacing pieces as necessary. This is essentially what the Braves did during their run with guys like Javy Lopez, Jones, Klesko, and others. They just plugged and played and used lower priced assets to offset players whose salaries were increasing with service time.
I remember a convo I had during the off-season years back with someone (another person everyone would know) when Howard was approaching a critical point contract wise. I asked what the Phillies were going to do. The person looked at me like I had two heads. He said that the Phillies had secured the best years of Howard’s career and that his age and body type would make signing him long term a very bad move. A couple of months later ( I believe in SF during a road trip if memory is correct), they announced his extension to the utter amazement of that person and others.
So it’s really the toughest call that ownership has to make and guys like Angelos never got it right. Compare to smart orgs like the Cardinals who made the toughest decision they ever had to make, cutting bait with Albert.
You will get a real good understanding of this organization in four to five months.
It is rare to get stud players at this age in free agency. Going all in on signing elite players at age 26 is a risk worth taking. Hitters, not pitchers.
That is what the people who do it will say as well. Harper is hitting under .220. Before this year started, people thought he could approach a half billion. You know who said he was looking for $400 million for Manny earlier this year. You drop just short of a billion for these two guys like some think he could possibly do for 10 year deals for both and you better spend the rest on TUMS.
I don't think they need both guys. And doubt the final numbers approach what you have suggested. Ryan Howard is a bad example to use. Find me an example of an elite player being available at age 26.
Stanton got $325 million 4 years ago. Manny won’t get $40 and Harper won’t get $50 but they will get ridiculous deals. The point is that these guys better be productive because they will be likely owed over $100 million each when they reach 35. They will be 27 next year when they start earning their deals so for 10 year deals there will be 3 years left when they are 35. Say Manny gets $35 and Harper get $40, that’s still $105 and $120m respectfully at the back end of their deals.
One last point. Let the starting All Star rosters be a guide. The AL has one starting player 30 or over and the NL has three. Matt Kemp has been Lazarus this year and Crawford and Markakis started as well with Markakis probably being a bit of a surprise as well. So, just for this year, it tells you that the most productive players (at least if vote equals best players) are younger players. Could Trout, Manny, and Harper be the guys who produce well into their mid 30’s and beyond? Sure they could. But if they aren’t and the younger players say age 30 and below are the games better players, then signing these guys even at this age carries a lot of risk given their financial cost.
Lux tax was a big deal for Dodgers. Orioles better be bending them over if they are paying a chunk of Manny’s money as well considering the quality of the player they are trading. Hard to imagine this was the route they wanted to go.
It blows my mind that the Phillies are letting this one go. Prospects are great as trade bait but have almost zero other short to medium term value. Maybe in 5 years some of these guys turn out to be decent but the vast majority will fizzle out. Can’t believe you let him go to LA. If he goes to the Dodgers, you’re not getting him next year.
And while I’m at it, I don’t want Harper. I have a strangely coincidental common group of friends. He’s a cancer. Good player, but 100% all about himself. Poor teammate. When it comes to available players, you need to not take any chances and land machado.
You know, I agree with this but getting a top free agent can work - they did sign Pete Rose. Of course that was 40 years ago. Also, it seems to me that the Phillies don't have a lot of minor league position players who are tearing it up in the high minors. Haseley looks like the best of that group. Their minor leagues are loaded with pitching prospects.
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