Although the deadline for non-waiver trades is now inside a week, there still appears to be no conspicuous sense of urgency by the management team of the Dodgers to make any additional roster moves.
There’s a strong belief around the league that Los Angeles is making a strong play for some much-needed bullpen help, but if the team is close to securing such an acquisition, team representatives on both sides are doing a good job of keeping it quiet, unlike all the leaks that were disclosed in the days leading up to the trade which sent infielder Manny Machado westbound.
Nevertheless, in one of the more recent whispers, it has been reported that the Dodgers have an interest in Tigers righty closer Shane Greene. On Wednesday, Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press talked about the rumor, although the Dodgers have had scouts watching Greene watching him both before and after his injury, which kept him sidelined for about 10 days at the beginning of July.
Shoulder inflammation would normally be a red flag for many clubs; however, it’s obvious the Dodgers are leaving no stones unturned. Regardless, about three weeks ago, an MRI revealed slight inflammation, but no structural damage. Detroit manager Ron Gardenhire was quick to furnish his own diagnosis, calling it “dead-arm syndrome.”
For the entirety of the season, Greene has made 44 appearances and has thrown an even 43 innings, posting a 4.19 ERA and a 3.97 WHIP while logging 20 saves. He features a fastball that exceeds 95 MPH, which can sometimes be untouchable when he has it moving properly.
In other news, the Dodgers are still linked to several Marlins relievers and have also been seen scouting pitchers for the Rays. Of all the Miami pitchers, the Dodgers were believed to be watching Kyle Barraclough the longest and the closest.
In turn, it was indicated that the Marlins sent team representatives to watch Yadier Alvarez throw in his most recent outing for the Double-A Tulsa Drillers. Alvarez, who was once a Top 3 ranked prospect for the Dodgers, has been on a downward slide in recent years, primarily because of injuries and lack of command.
Think Blue Planning Committee 
Yeah, last time a Dodger reliever had “dead-arm syndrome” he eventually had to go on the DL for what was later diagnosed as a ROTATOR CUFF STRAIN:::cough:::Cingrani:::cough::::Greene was originally on my short list, but not anymore as a result. Barraclough is still at the top of my list even though he’s been touched up a bit of late in his current closer role for the Marlins, followed by fellow teammate Adam Conley, Keone Kela, Jake Diekman, and perhaps even Raisel Iglesias (if the Reds are willing to take an expiring contract back in the trade package) in that order. Otherwise, I’d wait for Cingrani and Fields to return and see if “The Great Kasowski” manages to place himself in prime position for a possible September call-up later this season…
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I like your list. If you’re talking Alvarez it should be Barraclough.
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I was actually thinking more Alvarez for Iglesias since both teams would literally be swapping wiry-built, triple-digit slinging relievers, but Barraclough would be just as nice.
🙂
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If we can’t talk the Pirates out of Vasquez (and at this point it sounds highly unlikely), my first choice is still Iglesias, although the other guys like Barraclough have much more control remaining and that needs to be factored in. I would completely stay away from Greene because of the shoulder thing. Too recent and too close to the end of the year to take a chance. Steckenrider is another interesting possibility on the Marlins. I’m happy to include Alvarez in a trade for a legitimate proven reliever. I know our guys always play it close to the vest until they pull off the deal, but I hope they’re close to something good, because I’d hate to have to settle for leftovers.
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I’ve heard Iglesias’ name before. 2 questions I have about that. Is he for sale? Secondly, his contract is for $5,7mm. Does that sound FAZonian to anyone here?
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Everyone is for sale. You give my wife enough $, she’ll ship me out in a second. No, it doesn’t sound FAZonian, so we need to add more prospects and ship them Forsythe or Puig.
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Sounds like true love.
“and ship them Forsythe” ……. nice try. Like maybe they won’t notice?
Well, if the Reds are listening they will get offers.
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I was talking about Forsythe in a whisper and then you go open your big mouth and scream it out. Now we’ll never get rid of him. 🙂
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Looks like Petey gained a few lbs. while he was on vacay.
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Just means we get more for him if they’ll pay by the pound. We have a bunch of guys in the bullpen who throw really hard and effectively lots of the time, and just when you think you can depend on them they have a few bad outings and remind you that you never know what you’re going to get when you bring them into a game. Petey is the poster boy for that group, but Hudson is also a member in good standing.
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Sorry man. My bad.
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Why so much Pedro hate in here? He’s a positive WAR pitcher with a 3.3 ERA and 10.47 K/9. He also walks 4.68 per 9, so, there’s that.
I just perused his advanced stats and I think I’ve ID’d the problem. Command. His stuff is good, always has been, but he relies on his 4 seamer (97 mph) too much (60%) and he misses in the strike zone with it. He used to throw a cutter, abandoned it in ‘15, and only throws a change up 9% of the time. He has a 2 seamer (88.4 mph) that has a decent swing and miss rate, but in fastball counts he relies on his 4 seamer. The answer is staring him in the face. Throw the 97 mph letters and above and throw the sinker right down the middle – the break will take it down and to the edges. He did that twice last night for strikes then tubed something that was banged off the wall.
Honeycutt knows this. It must frustrate the hell out of him that this guy has this kind of stuff and makes so many mistakes with it. Still, as bad as he is he maintains a decent ERA (3.3 this year, 3.08 lifetime) a 3.29 FIP, low HR/9 (0.6) a + WAR and makes only $1.5mm. Give him the low leverage innings until he learns command. The guy has closer stuff. Teach him Rick.
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Why so much Pedro hate in here? He’s a positive WAR pitcher with a 3.3 ERA and 10.47 K/9. He also walks 4.68 per 9, so, there’s that.
I just perused his advanced stats and I think I’ve ID’d the problem. Command. His stuff is good, always has been, but he relies on his 4 seamer (97 mph) too much (60%) and he misses in the strike zone with it. He used to throw a cutter, abandoned it in ‘15, and only throws a change up 9% of the time. He has a 2 seamer (88.4 mph) that has a decent swing and miss rate, a slider (95.9 mph) but in fastball counts he too often relies on his 4 seamer. The answer is staring him in the face. Throw the 97 mph letters and above and throw the sinker right down the middle – the break will take it down and to the edges. He did that twice last night for strikes then tubed something that was banged off the wall.
Honeycutt knows this. It must frustrate the hell out of him that this guy has this kind of stuff and makes so many mistakes with it. Still, as bad as he is he maintains a decent ERA (3.3 this year, 3.08 lifetime) a 3.29 FIP, low HR/9 (0.6) a + WAR and makes only $1.5mm. Give him the low leverage innings until he learns command. The guy has closer stuff. Teach him Rick.
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Oops. How’d that happen? Got up to get some coffee, did a quick edit…..
Speaker of edit…. a 5 minute edit capability would be nice here. It should be an easy add.
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I have no doubt that the raw talent is there but I think he’s a bit of a head case. Won’t rely on his catcher to call the game, sometimes loses concentration, doesn’t trust all of his pitches. Basically it sounds like he’s a little too stubborn on the mound for his own good. I think the front office must agree with you regarding his talent or they would have gotten rid of him by now. So I’ll go along with having him pitch in low leverage innings until he gets straightened out, for example the 5th or 6th inning in OKC. We’ve got three teams on our tail right now and I don’t think we can afford to experiment with him until he figures things out.
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Kudos to Manuel for identifying Gonsolin as someone worth watching. I hadn’t paid any attention to him before you mentioned him and I see where he had another excellent start last night, 11 k’s. Brock Stewart finally seems to be starting to turn things around now that they’re leaving him alone and letting him concentrate on starting at OKC and not shuttling him up here every other week. One run in seven innings and a no-hitter through six. And Leo Crawford had another good start last night at Rancho, 5 scoreless innings. He has a 2.38 ERA in the Cal League, not bad. Puig due in Atlanta and supposed to start on Saturday. I guess that means Verdugo goes back to OKC unless there’s a trade.
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Get Pete to a sports psychologist pronto. He is too good to let a mental block stop progress.
Yeah, there appear to be some decent reliever options in the minors. But, if the stakes are too high for a guy with a lifetime ERA of 3, and 10+ K/9, are you going to instead trust minor leaguers?
What’s the play here Friedo? Time to make something happen.
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As Yogi used to say, “Baseball is 90 percent mental and the other half is physical.”
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Yeah Jeff, you can see why Dean Kremer went into the Manny Machado trade package and not Gonsolin. That guy’s slowly but surely turning into another future frontline arm for the Dodgers and last night’s outing for Tulsa was arguably his best of the season. His fastball was sitting comfortably in the low-mid 90s and was topping out at 98 in the final two innings of that start (can actually get it up to triple-digits in shorter stints). Also displayed a good slider that’s already inducing swings-and-misses on a consistent basis. He’s got a pretty decent splitter too (probably his second-best pitch) as well as a curve that breaks about as hard as Ross Stripling’s when he’s got it going right. Not sure how long he’ll stay at Tulsa because he’s a legit fast-riser and wouldn’t be surprised if the Dodgers move him into a relief role to prep here for a possible September call-up this season.
And yeah, I also noticed Stewart flirting with that no-no for OKC through six innings last night. He really needed an outing like that to boost his trade value back up again because I don’t see any spot for him on the parent club anymore (unless his fastball velocity finally returns for good, that is). I’m starting to think Crawford turned his season around for Rancho of late because he couldn’t stand the dreary weather he had to endure down at Great Lakes during that awful 1st half. Get him out into the hot sun and he seems to blossom, lol. Will definitely highlight him for sure in my next weekly minor-league installment in the next couple days.
Too bad Verdugo’s gotta get sent down again, but he banged his knee on that side wall pretty good so it’s probably for the best. Still feel they should leave Puig down at AAA a little longer, though. Feels like they’re rushing him back like they did Turner and that usually doesn’t end well either. Damn, what do they have against Andrew Toles anyway???? Guy’s healthy and has nothing left to prove in the minors as of today:::sigh:::
😦
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Another bullpen guy I don’t think we’ve mentioned who would certainly interest the front office is Ryan Pressly of the Twins. He has another year of control left after this year so the Twins might not be that anxious to move him, but his FIP peripherals are great, he averages 13k/9 and has the second highest spin rate in the majors. Hopefully our guys are at least talking to the Twins about him, although I’m sure half a dozen other teams are also.
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Astros just grabbed Pressly in exchange for their #10 and #15 prospects (according to MLB Pipeline rankings). They have our #10 as Yadier Alvarez and #15 as Loons pitcher Edwin Uceta.
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Here’s a good discussion topic. Bleacher Reports had an article earlier today saying that the Nats would decide by Sunday if they would be sellers or not. If they are, they will entertain offers for Harper and the Dodgers have supposedly already let them know they’re interested. Any takers here? If so, what would you give them for Bryce?
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After coming this far, there’s no way they blow by the luxury tax threshold now.
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And furthermore, we’re not exactly desperate for outfielders. I suppose if we could get them to take Puig and Forsythe and Hudson, they could just about get there. So how about Puig, Forsythe, Hudson, Verdugo, Buehler and Ruiz (the last three to make up for taking the first three) for 2 months of Harper. I shoulda been a GM!
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Listening to David Vassegh on the radio after the game, he talked to someone in the FO, who said the Harper report was completely false, it was started by a channel 4 sports guy. Sometimes the more they deny something the truer it seems to be.
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