July 2019 Phils Trade Deadline Speculation/Rumors

[bigegypt0417]

Does Gerrit Cole fit that bill?

Maybe a Cole and a lower tier guy like Kyle Gibson?

then we need one/two of the group of young starters to step up...

[julio]

Following up on my last (the wife has found "one more thing" that she needs to do before we leave...):

The 2019 MLB Rules eliminated Trade Assignment Waivers completely. There are now two types of waivers (Unconditional Release and Outright Assignment). Both are always irrevocable. See Rule 10. So a DFA'ed player, after July 31st, must be put on irrevocable waivers (can't be traded).

There is this, however. I've seen nothing in the Rules, nor in the MLB/MLBPA press release from March, concerning minor-league (players not on 40-man roster) trades after July 31st. If these are allowable, one could envision a player being outrighted by Team A, traded as a non-roster player to Team B, and then selected by Team B. I would like to think this is not allowable - but if they didn't address it, some clubs will probably try it.

[baseballoldie]

As they should if it is an available move.

[andyb]

Here is the MLB rumors top 75 trade candidates (version 3). Not based on skill but looks to be some combination of impact and likelihood to get dealt:

Top 75 Trade Candidates At The Deadline

[zambonir]

But most of the players who would have previously been traded in August can likely refuse a minor league assignment in August, I'd think.

Otherwise, I think the loophole you've found seems perfectly reasonable/unlikely. Because if the player has any value he wouldn't clear waivers (and therefore would never come off the 40 or go to the minors) in the first place).

If Rios ends up back on the Allentown roster and the Phillies want to trade him on August 2, why not? If they wind up outrighting Austin Davis and the Yankees (who would be way down the claiming pecking order) want him he will either fall to them or he won't, a back-door trade won't work if another team claims him and is unnecessary if another team doesn't.

Conversely, if the DBacks outrighted Greinke to see if anyone claimed his salary, and no one did, he'd refuse his assignment to the minors, Arizona would still be on the hook for all the money and couldn't trade him, and then Greinke could sign with any team he wanted. So, no angle there.

[andyb]

Trades would clearly be against the spirit of the new rules, though I imagine there will be some players with expensive contracts that get waived (and then either get claimed or become free agents when they pass through waivers).

I think trading a minor league player off the 40-man (like Rios potentially) would not be allowed. That would open the door to other prospect off-the-40 trades. Not sure there is a huge benefit to teams trying these deals also. There is no urgency for prospect for prospect trades. And there is no urgency for trades of minor leaguers (like a Gosselin who might help somebody).

[andyb]

Cot's has been updated to include Vargas though it looks like his deal has zero impact on our AAV calculation with us being $16.5 million under at the moment.

That is actually a fair amount of room to add salary if they choose to with a little more than a third of the season remaining.

Google Sheets

[zambonir]

I think trading a minor league player off the 40-man (like Rios potentially) would not be allowed.

Right but Rios is no longer on the 40. He's in roster limbo. Come August you couldn't trade a player prior to outrighting but once he's outrighted and in AAA he's no different than a guy who's never been on the 40 (whether young or an AAAA free agent type).

Rios can still be traded now of course. I mean, he'll be traded the same way James Pazos was traded, nothing special. Or maybe he gets thrown into another deal. The difference is the Phillies still have choices while he's DFA'ed. Starting at 4pm tomorrow there is no DFA delay/choice, just immediately outrighting or releasing.

[andyb]

Right but Rios is no longer on the 40. He's in roster limbo.

Limbo would be the wrong word. He would still be part of the Phillies' organization if he were not allowed to elect free agency. If he were a free agent he could go anywhere. Many trades though involve players who are not on the 40-man roster. You seem to be setting up a plausibility that someone like Bohm who is not on the 40-man roster could be traded which I am sure is not true even if the rule's details might need further clarification from what has been publicly released.

http://m.mlb.com/glossary/transactions/trade-deadline

[Taudawg]

https://twitter.com/JonHeyman/status/1156283074369458176

The biggest challenge for the Phillies is to make an impact move without giving up good prospects. So many contenders left needing a piece or two.

[Taudawg]

Phillies To Sign Blake Parker

[zambonir]

Well yeah we're just going on what's publicly available that you and Julio found. In reality I suspect there are simply no trades allowed of any players regardless of roster status or level after 4pm tomorrow. Whether it's a Rios, a Bohm, or a Gosselin.

I would still say Rios is in roster limbo. He's not on the 40. He's not in in the minors. He's not on another team's 40. One of those things will change before the DFA deadline and he will no longer be in limbo.

[Austinfan]

Parker is Neris without a decent FB, velocity has declined the last two years and he's gotten hit around, but his splitter is a true out pitch. Maybe they can teach him a cutter?

[allentown]

I like Taudawg's approach of getting an impact, to me a pitcher, player without giving up good prospects. To me, that means doing something like acquiring Greinke in a manner which gives Arizona significant $ savings plus eyewash lower-level prospects. If we take on a lot of $, we should ask a high-level prospect coming to us. I'll confess, I like the deadline moves which Klentak has made thus far. No guarantees they work -- we've had ample opportunity to learn that no FA or pitcher acquired in trade comes with anything approaching even a short-term guarantee, but he gave up nothing and has multiple pitchers who may be better and more reliable than what we have. That's a plus. We have a weak farm, only 2 prospects in the second half of the top 100, and our depth is a depth of lower- rather than mid-level prospects. We have traded more than enough prospects in the past year. Now is not the time to further strip the farm.

[julio]

Starting at 4pm tomorrow there is no DFA delay/choice, just immediately outrighting or releasing.

After the deadline, there will still be a delay after a DFA - not a 7-day period, but a club will still need to request waivers (whether outright or release), and the player will be in "limbo" until the claiming period expires.

Now, clubs do not have to DFA a player before they request waivers - that's always been the case. The DFA allows them to clear a roster spot immediately, without waiting for the waiver claim period to expire. The principal difference after 4 pm tomorrow is that there won't be much point in waiting several days to request waivers... although it's not clear to me that the DFA rule has actually been revised to eliminate the 7-day period to "dispose" of the player. Back to the Rule Book...

OK - There is nothing in the Rules to suggest that the 7-day DFA period is shortened after the Major League Trade Deadline.

Additional discovery: No player who signed a major-league contract (including players who have been outrighted) may be traded to another club between 4 pm on July 31st and the day following the last game of the World Series. No loophole there. This is Rule 9(b)(3).

Rule 9(b) also restricts trades of minor league players to a major-league club - but only in the last week of the regular season through the post-season. Then there's also a provision that allows the Commissioner to void any transaction, or series of transactions, that appears to be designed to circumvent the trade deadline.

[Patchmk88]

One trade I’d love for us to make is getting Giles back. It is a little unconventional considering his current injury and unknown status for the rest of the year, but I imagine you could get him pretty cheap and he still has another year of control and a good price.

[Patchmk88]

Nationals loading up on relievers at very little cost. They have acquired Stickland, Elias, and Hudson today.

[fish]

Haseley is really growing on me- if nothing else than he seems to execute a swing and approach that's different than the others on the roster. But, i might just be tempted to trade him for the contract and ability of Felipe Vazquez.

[Squire]

To the Athletics: RHP Tanner Roark
To the Reds: OF Jameson Hannah (was #7 on Athletics Top 30 on MLB,com)

[zambonir]

Giles might be worth the injury risk if the price is too steep on better options. Though I don't care if the Phillies get a "closer," just a good arm. Especially as Robertson (and presumably Seranthony) are not likely to help in any meaningful way (if they pitch at all).

I suspect Giles wouldn't pass the Phillies "good in the clubhouse" test though. He had that incident here (pre-Klentak of course) and was such a mess in Houston, that trade was basically "our problem child for your domestic violence guy."