Trade Idea - Marlins/Pirates/Angels/etc.

[Answerman]

We have got to find room for another outfielder to come up from Norfolk...I think Kerstad before Stowers (though both have earned it). How do we make room? We have to trade away one of our vets. At this point, I think we keep Mullins and trade one of the corners. However, with Santander being on the last year of his contract, he might be harder to move to a low payroll team. So, I conclude that Hays is the guy we should shop. After all, he has four decent tools (and batting average isn't typically horrible), plays the game the right way, is by all accounts a great clubhouse guy, AND, for what it is worth, he was the starting LF in last year's all-star game (doesn't mean anything, but easier for the acquiring GM to sell). Surely, there is a team that would pony up a decent reliever for Austin, no? Here are a few thoughts:

Target 1: Marlins - Tanner Scott. Why does MLB's worst team need a good bullpen pitcher on an expiring contract? At least Hays would give them an everyday bat for this year and next.

Target 2: Pirates - David Bednar. Bucs are for real, and so far Bednar has been awful. Assuming he is not hurt, we can bet he will get it together. We would have to add a prospect or two (Norby/Beavers?) to make it happen, but a typical Bednar would be worth the cost and has this year plus two more (I think) remaining on his contract.

Target 3: Angels - Matt Moore and Andrew Wantz. Moore is a solid bullpen guy who has seen it all. Can still get guys out. Wantz is a AAA reliever who can come up in a pinch (also childhood friends with my daughter, so that's fun for us!).

Your preferred targets...What say ye?

[ThisIsBirdland]

34 minutes ago, Answerman said:

We have got to find room for another outfielder to come up from Norfolk...I think Kerstad before Stowers (though both have earned it). How do we make room? We have to trade away one of our vets. At this point, I think we keep Mullins and trade one of the corners. However, with Santander being on the last year of his contract, he might be harder to move to a low payroll team. So, I conclude that Hays is the guy we should shop. After all, he has four decent tools (and batting average isn't typically horrible), plays the game the right way, is by all accounts a great clubhouse guy, AND, for what it is worth, he was the starting LF in last year's all-star game (doesn't mean anything, but easier for the acquiring GM to sell). Surely, there is a team that would pony up a decent reliever for Austin, no? Here are a few thoughts:

Target 1: Marlins - Tanner Scott. Why does MLB's worst team need a good bullpen pitcher on an expiring contract? At least Hays would give them an everyday bat for this year and next.

Target 2: Pirates - David Bednar. Bucs are for real, and so far Bednar has been awful. Assuming he is not hurt, we can bet he will get it together. We would have to add a prospect or two (Norby/Beavers?) to make it happen, but a typical Bednar would be worth the cost and has this year plus two more (I think) remaining on his contract.

Target 3: Angels - Matt Moore and Andrew Wantz. Moore is a solid bullpen guy who has seen it all. Can still get guys out. Wantz is a AAA reliever who can come up in a pinch (also childhood friends with my daughter, so that's fun for us!).

Your preferred targets...What say ye?

I don't think anyone is going to offer anything for Austin Hays unless/until he settles back in as a reliable bat, and even then I don't think he'd command much. If/when that happens, we'll want his RHB in the outfield at the very least splitting time.

David Bednar is one of the best RP in baseball and he's under team control through 2026. He missed spring training with an injury. He'll be fine.

[Bahama O's Fan]

Why would either of those teams want Hays? They will want a young prospect. We need to find a contender to trade him to. Maybe one that gets an OF injury. 

[btdart20]

I highly foubt PIT trades Bednar in 2024.  They are a playoff caliber team.

Agree with @ThisIsBirdlandabout Hays.  But let's see how things go for another few weeks.

[Explosivo]

Is it possible to simply send hays or urias down to AAA? We did that with Mully way back when to get him right and it worked, is that not possible here as well?

[sportsfan8703]

Chapman last year cost Cole Ragans FYI. So nobody is cheap. There’s a reason we tried to just grab Fuji. 

If Wells and Irvin end up back in the pen that helps. We could develop McDermott/Johnson in a flamethrower role. 

[interloper]

20 minutes ago, Explosivo said:

Is it possible to simply send hays or urias down to AAA? We did that with Mully way back when to get him right and it worked, is that not possible here as well?

Hays has an option, but Urias does not. There's no reason to send Hays down right now. I'm sure even Gunnar and Adley have had 10-game stretches like Hays is having right now. In fact last night he did what Adley and Santander could not, which was hit a fly ball with Gunnar on third. Unfortunately, there were already 2 outs. But he hit it hard and will be fine IMO. I think we can coax more success out of Hays by platooning him with Cowser, which is what we're doing right now.

Urias, I dunno. We don't really count on him for his offense anyway, so it just depends how long the O's want to keep him as a bench piece vs. start rotating in someone like Mayo. If I had to guess, we will at least let Holliday settle in more before cutting bait on Ramon. 

[Answerman]

Honestly, I don't think this conversation should be centered on how Hays is playing, and whether a stint in Norfolk would be helpful. I really think he is a very good player, and given regular starts in LF would return him to his usual self. No, the bigger issue is, even at his usual self, we have better outfielders who are ready to come up and play in Baltimore now...and we need room both on the roster and in the lineup. Somebody has to go to make this happen. Is it Hays? Is it Mullens? Is it Santander?

I think Cowser will soon show us he doesn't need to be platooned. In fact, maybe a Hays/Mullens platoon in CF would be more productive. Just a thought.

 

[owknows]

14 minutes ago, Answerman said:

Honestly, I don't think this conversation should be centered on how Hays is playing, and whether a stint in Norfolk would be helpful. I really think he is a very good player, and given regular starts in LF would return him to his usual self. No, the bigger issue is, even at his usual self, we have better outfielders who are ready to come up and play in Baltimore now...and we need room both on the roster and in the lineup. Somebody has to go to make this happen. Is it Hays? Is it Mullens? Is it Santander?

I think Cowser will soon show us he doesn't need to be platooned. In fact, maybe a Hays/Mullens platoon in CF would be more productive. Just a thought.

 

Are there currently better options in Norfolk than Hays?

Yes.

Is any MLB team going to offer anything more than a half-eaten sandwich for him at the moment?

No.

 

[clapdiddy]

1 hour ago, Answerman said:

We have got to find room for another outfielder to come up from Norfolk...I think Kerstad before Stowers (though both have earned it). How do we make room? We have to trade away one of our vets. At this point, I think we keep Mullins and trade one of the corners. However, with Santander being on the last year of his contract, he might be harder to move to a low payroll team. So, I conclude that Hays is the guy we should shop. After all, he has four decent tools (and batting average isn't typically horrible), plays the game the right way, is by all accounts a great clubhouse guy, AND, for what it is worth, he was the starting LF in last year's all-star game (doesn't mean anything, but easier for the acquiring GM to sell). Surely, there is a team that would pony up a decent reliever for Austin, no? Here are a few thoughts:

Target 1: Marlins - Tanner Scott. Why does MLB's worst team need a good bullpen pitcher on an expiring contract? At least Hays would give them an everyday bat for this year and next.

Target 2: Pirates - David Bednar. Bucs are for real, and so far Bednar has been awful. Assuming he is not hurt, we can bet he will get it together. We would have to add a prospect or two (Norby/Beavers?) to make it happen, but a typical Bednar would be worth the cost and has this year plus two more (I think) remaining on his contract.

Target 3: Angels - Matt Moore and Andrew Wantz. Moore is a solid bullpen guy who has seen it all. Can still get guys out. Wantz is a AAA reliever who can come up in a pinch (also childhood friends with my daughter, so that's fun for us!).

Your preferred targets...What say ye?

Caught the tail end of the Marlins/Yanks game last night on MLB after the O's game...I'm a "no" on Mr. Scott.   He was very wild and did not look comfortable even though he picked up the save vs. the Yankees.

Edited April 11 by clapdiddy

[interloper]

2 minutes ago, clapdiddy said:

Caught the tail end of that game last night on MLB after the O's game...I'm a "no" on Mr. Scott.   He was very wild and did not look comfortable even though he picked up the save vs. the Yankees.

Yeah but if he can be had for Hays, I'd make that trade all day. You solve 2 problems by improving on the Heasley bullpen spot and creating room for Kjerstad/Stowers/Mayo. 

Edited April 11 by interloper

[clapdiddy]

Just now, interloper said:

Yeah but if he can be had for Hays, I'd make that trade all day. You solve 2 problems by improving on the Heasley bullpen spot and creating room for Kjerstad/Stowers. 

I think we may be a little hasty on Hays.   If we are going to trade him, I'd rather it be for someone better than Scott.

[Explosivo]

11 minutes ago, owknows said:

Are there currently better options in Norfolk than Hays?

Yes.

Is any MLB team going to offer anything more than a half-eaten sandwich for him at the moment?

No.

 

My only problem with this thinking is, what would he have to do? Prove that last year wasn’t a fluke? Perhaps the goal and hope is for him to have a good first half, trade him at the deadline for some lottery pick pitching prospects and bring up Stowers to platoon with Cowser. After all, Stowers has proven to really hit against left handers and that’s something we will need tremendously in the playoffs.

[interloper]

Just now, clapdiddy said:

I think we may be a little hasty on Hays.   If we are going to trade him, I'd rather it be for someone better than Scott.

I'm good with that, too!

[owknows]

5 minutes ago, Explosivo said:

My only problem with this thinking is, what would he have to do? Prove that last year wasn’t a fluke? Perhaps the goal and hope is for him to have a good first half, trade him at the deadline for some lottery pick pitching prospects and bring up Stowers to platoon with Cowser. After all, Stowers has proven to really hit against left handers and that’s something we will need tremendously in the playoffs.

He would have to play often enough and well enough to prove that his value is greater than I would estimate presently. Which I believe unlikely at least in the short term, given Cowser's success.

And therein lies the problem both in the outfield, and in the infield.

The time to have moved Hays, or Mullins, or Urias,  or perhaps even Mateo or O'Hearn, would have been before the crushing weight of success from Mayo, and Stowers, and Kjerstad, and Norby made it urgent. And when each was playing at his peak. Now we have a slow motion train wreck of riches converging... and the value we might have extracted out of the former is being diminished by the need to promote the latter.

It is my one recurrent criticism of Elias and Co.

Awesome eyes for talent. Great strategy for amassing player wealth... but a little too "Scrooge McDuck"  on letting go of talent aging out in the arb years.