Ubaldo Jimenez remains available. The Yankees are interested enough to be calling the Rockies to monitor the situation. The growing sentiment in the industry is that Colorado is not just listening on its ace, but wants to move him before Sunday’s deadline. It is no secret the Yankees could use someone to pitch behind CC Sabathia.
So all the elements exist for a love connection and, yet, there remained pessimism on both sides that a deal could get done.
In the Yankees trade war room yesterday, the subject was almost exclusively scenarios involving available relievers and the internal belief remains that the club either will do nothing or something small by the deadline.
In fact, as of yesterday, the Red Sox were more seriously inquiring on the righty than the Yankees, and the Reds were the most motivated suitor overall. But Jimenez is young enough (27) and on an attractive enough contract ($2.8 million this year, $4.2 million next year and a 2013 club option for $5.75 million) that even the non-contending Blue Jays have inquired with an eye on the future.
No one, however, was close to obtaining Jimenez and Rockies officials are insisting if they do not get a substantial return, they will not move their No. 1 starter. Maybe as the deadline nears, Colorado will lower its price. But, if it doesn’t, the Yankees have indicated there is no chance they will obtain Jimenez.
The initial request was arguably the Yankees’ top three prospects — Manuel Banuelos, Dellin Betances and Jesus Montero — plus Ivan Nova. But Colorado appears amenable to doing a combination of any three. Nevertheless, the Yankees vow they won’t do that either and every indication is that including Banuelos at all is a deal breaker.
The Yankees are even hesitant to put two together such as Betances and Montero in conjunction with other prospects Colorado likes such as second baseman Corban Joseph.
The Yankees and many organizations are concerned about red flags with Jimenez. His fastball speed is down from a first half last year when he was arguably the best starter in the majors, he is just 6-9 with a 4.20 ERA despite generally pitching better in July, and he has a high-maintenance delivery that makes him susceptible to arm injury and/or fits of wildness (more problematic in the AL East than in the NL Central). In other words, there is some A.J. Burnett there.
Also there are officials who simply see a red flag in the Rockies having a young, talented, inexpensive starter on the market. What do they know about Jimenez that other teams don’t?
But general manager Dan O’Dowd has insisted that he simply is reacting to a) Colorado’s underachieving season that makes him feel a significant roster shakeup is necessary and b) the lack of quality starting pitching in the market, which could make this the best market he ever has to deal Jimenez.
There are executives who believe Jimenez would return to a more dominant state if he got out of Colorado. He was upset that in the offseason the Rockies did mega-long-term deals with young stars Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez, but indicated one was not coming any time soon — if ever — for Jimenez. Plus, according to one person close to Jimenez, the big righty has some disconnect with Colorado pitching coach Bob Apodaca.
“Even if this is his floor, then he is still good enough to pitch in a rotation in the AL East,” said an executive from a team that inquired on Jimenez. “He has value at that level, especially with his good contract. And if he pitches how he pitched in the first half last year, then he is there with CC [Sabathia], [Jon] Lester and [David] Price among the best pitchers in the division.”
But are you buying an AL East No. 1-2 or a 3-4? Colorado is selling him at ace-level. The Yankees, among others, would only consider buying at a lower price. In fact, it is possible the Yankees are just checking in because that is general manager Brian Cashman’s habit to a) know what is happening in the market with all top players and b) to provide that information to Hal Steinbrenner so nobody is traded without ownership having made a decision on the player, as well.
Nevertheless, even ownership is not pushing for Cashman to make a splash at this deadline, so if the price does not fall on Jimenez — and the Rockies promise it will not — then he either is going elsewhere or staying in Colorado.
Mets, Alderson are lowering the bar for Beltran
THE Mets were described by multiple sources as having moved off A-level prospect requests for Carlos Beltran. They shot high for a few weeks, seeing if someone would break for the best hitter available in this market. But a variety of obstacles such as the inability to offer Beltran arbitration and his $6 million-ish price tag the rest of the year meant the Mets were never going to get elite youngsters such as Philadelphia’s Domonic Brown or San Francisco’s Zach Wheeler.
An official from a team involved on Beltran said, “It doesn’t matter how good [general manager] Sandy Alderson does [his job], there is only so much he can get for Carlos Beltran for two months. They will get a good return, but not a headline good return.”
As of yesterday, the Mets were talking two- or three-prospect deals with the Giants, Braves, Phillies, Red Sox and Rangers; and the Brewers continued to call, though their prospect base is viewed as weak. The way the Mets were trying to arrange the deal was if they could get a prospect they really like then they only would need one other prospect from lower down in the system. But if the main cog was not as alluring then they wanted three prospects as a way to deepen their system.
Mets officials insisted they had not defined a front-runner, but the Rangers remained very aggressive. Meanwhile, many outside officials believe the Giants ultimately will end up with Beltran with one saying, “It is hard to see how it won’t be San Francisco. They can take on the most money and I think that is what it is going to come down to.”
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One official said the Astros were asking for a big return on Wandy Rodriguez just a few weeks back, but will settle for salary relief (he is owed $25.5 million over the next two seasons) because new owner Jim Crane has stated the need to get down to a $60 million payroll.
An AL personnel man said the starting market has “volume” with the Dodgers’ Hiroki Kuroda the best option if he agrees to waive his no-trade (no certainty) while others such as the White Sox’s Edwin Jackson, Atlanta’s Derek Lowe and Seattle’s Erik Bedard all can be had.
One name to watch for is Florida’s Ricky Nolasco. The personnel man said he thought the Marlins would, at the least, listen seriously on the righty.
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The Cardinals are talking to the White Sox about lefty Matt Thornton.
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The feeling remains strong in the industry that the Rays will trade center fielder B.J. Upton and that the Nationals are the leading pursuers.