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The MLB Daily Dish is a daily feature we're running here at MLBDD and rounds up roster-impacting news, rumors, and analysis. Have feedback or have something that should be shared? Hit us at @mlbdailydish on Twitter.
Good morning baseball fans!
Cleveland, Texas and Washington are all interested in acquiring Aroldis Chapman from the Yankees.
Washington also has interest in Rockies outfielder Charlie Blackmon.
The Marlins have made it clear that they are looking for starters, and they have a few that are high on their list.
Did the Red Sox really overpay for Drew Pomeranz?
Given what Pomeranz would be probably worth on the open market right now, he probably has at least $30 million in surplus value; if he were a free agent this minute, and could sell his remaining 2.5 years of service, I’d guess he’d land something close to $50 million, and that’s in guaranteed money; the Red Sox get additional value from having non-guaranteed arbitration years.
To me, this looks like the Red Sox and Padres identified the prospect in Boston’s system that was worth something very close to what Pomeranz is worth, and settled on a reasonable swap that makes sense for both sides. This one doesn’t look like Dombrowski undervaluing prospects to me; Espinoza is fun to dream on, but when factoring his risks in, he’s probably not as valuable as his “#15 ovearll prospect” status makes him sound. He’s a good get for the Padres, who should be betting on upside, but this is the kind of prospect that the Red Sox could afford to move. And for Pomeranz, this looks like the right return for both sides.
Speaking of Pomeranz, here is a list of ‘available’ starters left and the teams that need them after the Pomeranz/Red Sox deal.
The Dodgers aren’t against trading Yasiel Puig.
Here is a roundup of news from around the National League East.
More in our trade deadline preview. This time with the Reds.
Yovani Gallardo has started to throw his four-seamer up higher.
If it is conscious, there is maybe some logic behind the decision. Gallardo’s fastball is definitely in the class of rising fastballs, but the whiffs have never followed. The whiff rate on his four-seam fastball has hovered around 6-7 percent, except for 2013 and 2014 when it was below five percent.
However, most of Gallardo’s whiffs on the four-seam fastball have come since his return from the DL. In addition, all three of his infield fly balls as tracked by FanGraphs have come since his return from the DL. The goal in locating a rising fastball higher is to get whiffs and popups while allowing more fly balls and potentially more home runs. Overall, the whiffs and popups have not come, but maybe they’ll come post-DL.
They’ll need to. Gallardo’s HR/FB has not gone up, but the increase in fly balls has meant more home runs. That’s not going to work if he can’t keep people off the basepaths.
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Today in Baseball History: In 1958, Jim Bunning threw a no-hitter for the Tigers. 12 years later, Bill Singer throws a no-hitter for the Dodgers.