Wowza! Wednesday has been a huge day for the Winter Meetings with big name players moving around all over the place. Rumours coming out of San Diego on Thursday promise more of the same! (Note: For original sources of these rumours, head to MLB Trade Rumors or follow some people on Twitter.)
The biggest trade of the day in terms of number of players was a seven-player deal between the L.A. Dodgers and the Miami Marlins with infielder Dee Gordon, righty Dan Haren, infielder Miguel Rojas and a player to be named later going to Miami for a whole whack of prospects including Andrew Heaney (a top pitching prospect), infielder Enrique Hernandez, righty Chris Hatcher and catcher Austin Barnes.
Whew. The Dodgers then turned around and flipped Heaney to the L.A. Angels for Howie Kendrick, a much sought-after second baseman who has been a target of Blue Jays’ fans and bloggers interest for the past couple of years.
Earlier in the day, rumours of the Dodgers acquiring shortstop Jimmy Rollins from the Phillies for undisclosed players was going around and there could very well be a third team (the Marlins?) involved in the trade. We’ll have to wait for the dust to settle on this one before figuring things out.
Finally, it appears that the Dodgers are going to relieve their outfield log jam by sending Matt Kemp to San Diego with Tim Federowicz in exchange for catcher Yasmani Grandal, righty Joe Wieland and probably pitching prospect Zach Eflin. The Dodgers are rumoured to be sending about $30 million to cover some of Kemp’s contract.
Today, it’s the Red Sox who appear to be making some moves, with reports going out that the Tigers are looking to get Yoenis Cespedes in exchange for Rick Porcello. The latest on this rumour has two more players going from Boston to Detroit while the Tigers are rumoured to be adding a pitcher from the Reds. They’re also rumoured to be in the process of acquiring lefty Wade Miley from the Diamondbacks for righties Rubby De La Rosa, Allen Webster (a major pitching prospect for the Sox) and possibly another minor leaguer. The Red Sox have one of the best systems in minor league baseball and have several pitchers (including Webster) who are very close to the major leagues like Henry Owens and Anthony Ranaudo.
Whew. What did the Blue Jays do? Nothing. They said that they’re more likely to acquire bullpen help via trade rather than free agency and that they’re probably looking for guys who will be free agents soon on one to three year contracts rather than signing guys for longer term. Shi Davidi had a report that the Blue Jays weren’t going to take anyone in today’s Rule 5 draft (at noon ET — I’m trying to track down a link for audio on MLB.com but I haven’t been able to find anything) but they are worried about losing two to three players. I’d guess that Greg Infante is probably among those players. Adam Rubin of ESPN tweeted that the Blue Jays will “raid the Mets” system in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft, which is certainly a possibility; the Blue Jays have been very active in the minor league Rule 5 draft over the past few years. The Blue Jays have also been linked to Japanese second baseman Takashi Toritani.
That’s all for now. More as the day develops and, if I can find the live audio, I’ll be live blogging the Rule 5 draft (major and minor league portions).
If you like us here,“like” us on Facebook!
Who are these players? Find out in The 2014 Toronto Blue Jays Minor League Handbook, now available as an ebook at Smashwords.com, now at a reduced price of $2.99 US. You can purchase and preview the book at our Smashwords.com page!
The All-Star Break Supplement to the Minor League Handbook is also available at Smashwords.com for only $0.99 US! Get an update on how your favourite players did last season as well as a report on the 2014 draft!
All photos are copyright Blue Jays from Away (2013-2014) and may not be used without permission.