Random trade speculation

[Bertz]

45 minutes ago, Dfan25 said:

You guys think the Angels view Ballesteros as a true catching option ?

No way to say, but I feel like the arrow on his defense is pointing up this year.  Not way up, but up. 

- Subjective but I thought he looked perfectly ordinary in ST, and was really good at challenging

- Craig and Tommy started trusting him to play behind the plate shortly before they sent him down, which is not proof of anything but we know they're pretty finicky about catcher defense.   Especially the soft factors we can't measure

- His defensive metrics from behind the plate are average in a tiny sample

- His defensive stats at AAA via BaseballProspectus paint the picture of something like a -5 defensive catcher.  Definitionally below average but hardly to a noteworthy degree

I don't think there's really anything Ive seen that indicates he can't catch.  A lot of people simply can't get over the weight IMO.

[We Got The Whole 9]

57 minutes ago, Dfan25 said:

You guys think the Angels view Ballesteros as a true catching option ?

I don't think any team does

[Stratos]

1 hour ago, Dfan25 said:

I think the Cubs will end up trading for   Gausman 

With that said I think Detmers is number # 1 on their board. Could be very important againts a team like the Phillies in a short series 

Solid prediction.

[Hunter]

6 hours ago, Jason Ross said:

And you fly the right state flag.

[Rcal10]

3 hours ago, Bertz said:

I don't think teams have that level of recency bias

I also think recency bias is why all of a sudden people don’t want to trade Ayers but are all willing to trade Mo. If the Angels want Ayers and not Mo, trade Ayers. I have no issue with that. I also have no issue if Mo is the guy traded.  I just glad Ayers is peaking now giving the cubs another asset to trade. If they came out of this deadline with Hancock for Shaw+, Detmers for Ayers+ and Alcantara for a pen arm (and all the + players were not top 15 in the system) I would consider the TDL a huge win. And they would have a good rotation in place for next year. 

[Dfan25]

5 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

I also think recency bias is why all of a sudden people don’t want to trade Ayers but are all willing to trade Mo. If the Angels want Ayers and not Mo, trade Ayers. I have no issue with that. I also have no issue if Mo is the guy traded.  I just glad Ayers is peaking now giving the cubs another asset to trade. If they came out of this deadline with Hancock for Shaw+, Detmers for Ayers+ and Alcantara for a pen arm (and all the + players were not top 15 in the system) I would consider the TDL a huge win. And they would have a good rotation in place for next year. 

Yeah  I have no problem with dealing Mo or Ayers . With that said extremely unlikely they will be able to trade for 2 SP . They will have trouble getting one as it is .

 

Edit : I guess if the Mariners don’t ask for much else after Shaw , perhaps it could happen . 

Edited yesterday at 08:11 PM by Dfan25

[Rcal10]

16 minutes ago, Dfan25 said:

Yeah  I have no problem with dealing Mo or Ayers . With that said extremely unlikely they will be able to trade for 2 SP . They will have trouble getting one as it is .

 

Edit : I guess if the Mariners don’t ask for much else after Shaw , perhaps it could happen . 

I don’t think it will happen either. I am just saying if the Angels really liked Ayers and they would trade Detmers for him I would do it. Same with Shaw/Hancock. Next year they would have Brown, Detmers, Cabrera, Steele, Hancock. Then maybe Boyd stays for a year. They may also have Wiggins coming and Horton back. Maybe they wouldn’t have to get a FA starter so they can sign Seiya again. 

[Bertz]

So this is probably about going back to Iowa, but given the time of year just gonna throw it out there

[Adipost]

The Cubs are going to be facing Christopher Sanchez and Zach Wheeler in a 3 game series.  Acquiring a mediocre starter for a top 10 prospect and Shaw is a waste of assets.  Either get a guy who can go pitch for pitch with those 2 or don’t even bother.

[Bertz]

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7466928/2026/07/24/one-player-traded-mlb-deadline-2026/

From the Athletic one player from each team who will be gone by the deadline

- For the Cubs Alcantara is listed, which feels right.  Even if he's not in the "big" deal he's probably going somewhere

- Reid Detmers listed for the Angels, yet more smoke they're actually willing to sell

[731.4life]

41 minutes ago, Adipost said:

The Cubs are going to be facing Christopher Sanchez and Zach Wheeler in a 3 game series.  Acquiring a mediocre starter for a top 10 prospect and Shaw is a waste of assets.  Either get a guy who can go pitch for pitch with those 2 or don’t even bother.

Thank you, it's something I've said in the past few days that the Cubs doesn't have the playmakers to match the postseason teams. But you better be careful because the analytic nerds will probably come after you.

 

Edited 20 hours ago by 731.4life

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

1 hour ago, Adipost said:

The Cubs are going to be facing Christopher Sanchez and Zach Wheeler in a 3 game series.  Acquiring a mediocre starter for a top 10 prospect and Shaw is a waste of assets.  Either get a guy who can go pitch for pitch with those 2 or don’t even bother.

At the rate the Tigers are going, they aren't going to trade Skubal. And there's no one else available that can pitch with Sanchez and Wheeler.

[squally1313]

9 hours ago, Adipost said:

The Cubs are going to be facing Christopher Sanchez and Zach Wheeler in a 3 game series.  Acquiring a mediocre starter for a top 10 prospect and Shaw is a waste of assets.  Either get a guy who can go pitch for pitch with those 2 or don’t even bother.

The Phillies have the 27th best offense in baseball. We have 46 points more OPS as a team. Why do we have to have a clearly superior offense and also equivalent pitching. 

[Geographyhater8888]

10 hours ago, Adipost said:

The Cubs are going to be facing Christopher Sanchez and Zach Wheeler in a 3 game series.  Acquiring a mediocre starter for a top 10 prospect and Shaw is a waste of assets.  Either get a guy who can go pitch for pitch with those 2 or don’t even bother.

Their defense sucks. The Cubs have roughly equal defensive run value to the other 5 teams with an above average run value combined. The Phillies and Cubs have the exact same team ERA despite a 12 war gap in pitching.

Imanaga, Rea and Peterson can’t be trusted, someone of Boyd’s caliber is enough to effectively limit runs and go toe to toe with one of those starting pitchers. . 
 

 

Edited 10 hours ago by Geographyhater8888

[Rcal10]

1 hour ago, squally1313 said:

The Phillies have the 27th best offense in baseball. We have 46 points more OPS as a team. Why do we have to have a clearly superior offense and also equivalent pitching. 

They are also very bad against left handed pitching. Detmers would be the perfect guy to get for that series. Boyd, Detmers and Shota would cause problems for the Phillies. I also believe the Cubs hit Sanchez pretty hard earlier this year and he wears down late in the season. So I wouldn’t be so sure the Cubs can’t beat the Phillies. 

[Bertz]

17 hours ago, Bertz said:

So this is probably about going back to Iowa, but given the time of year just gonna throw it out there

 

 

[KCCub]

32 minutes ago, Bertz said:

 

 

I chalked KA’s up to being demoted, but now it’s interesting to say the least. Mo’s could be about him not getting the promotion, but it sure does raise the spidey senses. Have they been told their names are going to come up in a lot of trade rumors? Or just a coincidence they both are feeling blue about their big league opportunities so far? Let the speculation begin 

[731.4life]

1 minute ago, KCCub said:

I chalked KA’s up to being demoted, but now it’s interesting to say the least. Mo’s could be about him not getting the promotion, but it sure does raise the spidey senses. Have they been told their names are going to come up in a lot of trade rumors? Or just a coincidence they both are feeling blue about their big league opportunities so far? Let the speculation begin 

I bet it's frustrating for KA to play well in Iowa, but not do well in Chicago (despite the lack of consistent opportunities). For Mo, he had some consistent opportunities and did well, but struggle to make adjustments and that's what you get as a result. A demotion,

KA only has 41 career AB's, so we're only talking 10-11 full games. Not sure how many of those AB's were in garage type situation. Moises has over 200 PA's.

[Bertz]

17 minutes ago, KCCub said:

I chalked KA’s up to being demoted, but now it’s interesting to say the least. Mo’s could be about him not getting the promotion, but it sure does raise the spidey senses. Have they been told their names are going to come up in a lot of trade rumors? Or just a coincidence they both are feeling blue about their big league opportunities so far? Let the speculation begin 

Yeah the fact they were the same day is WEIRD.  They have either been told to expect a trade or the polar opposite they are pulling a page put of the Willson Contreras playbook and just trying to get a rise on social media because they think it's funny.

Or I guess the 3rd option of Alcantara's being sincere and Mo's being mocking.

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

The idea of Mo trolling KA is really funny and the one I choose to believe.

[Dfan25]

If the Angels ask for Rojas and Adyers in a Detmers package ? Yes or no ?

[Rcal10]

4 minutes ago, Dfan25 said:

If the Angels ask for Rojas and Adyers in a Detmers package ? Yes or no ?

I suspect my answer is not going to be popular, but I say “yes”. Have to give up something to get something. Detmers could make the difference beteeen a long playoff run and losing in rd 1. And then we have him at least a few more years after this. 

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

57 minutes ago, Dfan25 said:

If the Angels ask for Rojas and Adyers in a Detmers package ? Yes or no ?

Nah. Rojas or Ayers and another guy with less future value, yes.

[Rcal10]

26 minutes ago, Tangled Up in Plaid said:

Nah. Rojas or Ayers and another guy with less future value, yes.

It is going to cost to get someone good. So if this is something you wouldn’t do you then can’t be someone who complains when Jed doesn’t do anything or only makes small moves. I don’t view Ayers and Rojas as near the same prospect. I think people are way higher on Ayers then he deserves. He is 25 years old and not an early draft choice. Cubs should take advantage of what very well could be a fluke season he will never come close to having again. Rojas would hurt. But to get value you have to give value up. Probably even have to overpay. More buyers than sellers. 

[JD94]

I don’t know who exactly I’d trade Ayers for but I’d absolutely without hesitation cash in on his season. If a guy most people haven’t even heard of to start the year can be a headliner for a good SP, that’s a no brainer.