OT: Raise the Jolly Rodger: Post Ship trading deadline

[DJ Spinoza]

This seems very bizarre. There's often more to these small moves than initially jumps out (guy has another opportunity, wants to move on for whatever reason, etc.), but Nunnally not really having many prospects to work with in AA and then also being the guy Hayes credited with getting him feeling good at the plate again is pretty weird.

 

[ChaosAgent]

As an aside, I'd be calling up the Mets about trading for Quintana this off-season since they seem to be selling. They absolutely need a mid rotation lefty and Quintana has continued to be really strong since leaving the Pirates. He only has 2 years left at $13 million and I imagine the Mets would eat money to get a stronger return, so I think that could be a super affordable option.

They won't start the year with Skenes in the majors, but I'm hoping to see a starting rotation of something like Keller, Skenes, Quintana, Oviedo and a UFA like Alex Wood or Velasquez by June of next year. With that group plus Brubaker and Contreras in the bullpen, they may actually have some starting pitcher options for next year unlike this year. You c

Quintana would be a great reunion. Indeed Steve Cohen seems content to not spend $300m to just finish 2nd at best to the Braves.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Quintana would be a great reunion. Indeed Steve Cohen seems content to not spend $300m to just finish 2nd at best to the Braves.

Yeah I asked my old roommate who's a mega Mets fan what he thought a trade would look like, and he pretty much said a good middle reliever would get it done. I think Quintana would ultimately be pretty cheap to acquire due to his age.

I jokingly said "do you want Holderman" back in response but I think you could pull off Quintana for cheap, just so the Mets can get out of the money commitment.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

It would be great to bring back Quintana, as I think with him and Hill, having a veteran in the rotation is really helpful. I think he's stabilized his value somewhat given that he came back from the injury and pitched solid, but it's likely that the Mets would really like being out of his contract.

From a distance, it seems like their offseason might revolve around Alonso, since either they step up for him and retool slightly, or they focus full-on on retooling the roster and then it's advantageous to get rid of as much salary as possible. I would assume Stearns has a lot of leeway to do whatever he wants, and that situationally it makes sense to tear down.

There's some risk attached to Quintana due to age, so I think that could weigh in his return, but I also figure he's got a decent value given that he has tons of experience and pitching is always extremely scarce. On the other hand, he might be more of a guy that appeals to middle tier or lower teams, since the really top end teams don't want to necessarily anchor themselves to that kind of deal for what might be more like SP4 or 5 and not a playoff starter (if you take the more cynical view of decline -- look at Ryu as an example). All that is to say that I think these factors make it a great play for the Pirates, even if something decent is given up from the depth prospects group. Hard to imagine checking off a badly needed SP with a better contract than 2/26M.

 

[Empoleon8771]

On what they'd pay for Quintana, you can easily rationalize paying for him because they got Oviedo for him as a rental a year ago. The original Quintana trade was so terrific for the Pirates that I think you can rationalize trading back for him without any concerns.

This is especially true if they pull from their spare middle infield depth to pull him off.

 

[ChaosAgent]

Yeah I asked my old roommate who's a mega Mets fan what he thought a trade would look like, and he pretty much said a good middle reliever would get it done. I think Quintana would ultimately be pretty cheap to acquire due to his age.

I jokingly said "do you want Holderman" back in response but I think you could pull off Quintana for cheap, just so the Mets can get out of the money commitment.

I think Quintana could be had for nothing, if we take on the full $13M. The Mets really want to take the year off of the luxury tax and want the option to retain Alonso.

Holderman's performance this year was ick but I wouldn't trade him for Quintana at $13M. Maybe Quintana at $7-8M.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

I dunno, plenty of time to see if / how it shakes out in the offseason, but I think it could still take a young player or prospect, just not a particularly good one. Maybe someone like Williams, for example. He's cheap defensive depth that holds a spot on some 40-man rosters due to his floor and control years, but he needs to hit some more in order to even be really in the mix as a bench option.

Or some likely-not-to-hit but still not nothing full-on prospects. Some prospect hounds like these guys, so I am not suggesting them in particular, but maybe someone like Ashcraft or Bowen. I think you can look at Quintana on paper like a 2-win pitcher who is properly paid. He put up a 3-win pace if he pitched 150 innings, and he was a regular stalwart for more than that for basically his entire career.

It's really appealing as a proposition, and I don't think even taps into the total of what should be invested this winter. If you asked me to dream up a quasi-realistic starting point, it might be trade for Quintana + sign Giolito. That gives you two veterans with strong chances to cover 170+ innings each, together with Keller and Oviedo who are both already there. Neither might be ideal playoff starters in a vacuum, but we don't even need to get so far ahead of ourselves.

 

[ChaosAgent]

I dunno, plenty of time to see if / how it shakes out in the offseason, but I think it could still take a young player or prospect, just not a particularly good one. Maybe someone like Williams, for example. He's cheap defensive depth that holds a spot on some 40-man rosters due to his floor and control years, but he needs to hit some more in order to even be really in the mix as a bench option.

Or some likely-not-to-hit but still not nothing full-on prospects. Some prospect hounds like these guys, so I am not suggesting them in particular, but maybe someone like Ashcraft or Bowen. I think you can look at Quintana on paper like a 2-win pitcher who is properly paid. He put up a 3-win pace if he pitched 150 innings, and he was a regular stalwart for more than that for basically his entire career.

It's really appealing as a proposition, and I don't think even taps into the total of what should be invested this winter. If you asked me to dream up a quasi-realistic starting point, it might be trade for Quintana + sign Giolito. That gives you two veterans with strong chances to cover 170+ innings each, together with Keller and Oviedo who are both already there. Neither might be ideal playoff starters in a vacuum, but we don't even need to get so far ahead of ourselves.

I don't love Giolito, but I just want to see them try this offseason.

Nick Martinez is my preferred righty option: Nick Martinez Stats, Fantasy & News

He has a weird contract with the Padres where they have a 2/$32M team option, which if they turn it down converts to a 2/$16M player option. I think he'll walk and we could get him for something like 2/$20M. I really liked his stuff when he pitched against us.