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Mets will not acquire Troy Tulowitzki… at least not yet
The Mets need a shortstop and have excess pitchers. The Rockies have a great one and an eternal need for pitching. But former Rockies beat writer Troy Renck, who now covers the Broncos for the Denver Post, tweeted on Friday night that the sides aren’t likely to consummate a blockbuster any time soon.

CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman sparked the latest round of “will they or won’t they?” questions surrounding the Mets, Rockies, and the 30-year-old shortstop, when he wrote that the clubs have been “stealthily talking names for weeks.” Tulowitzki delivered 4.0 WARP in just 91 games last year, garnering down-ballot MVP votes for his bat, which was unstoppable to pitchers but not to the torn hip labrum that sidelined him from late-July onward and required surgery on August 15th.

The Long Beach State product should be healthy in time for spring training, but the returns on what might otherwise seem a bargain 10-year, $157.75 million contract—in which 2015 will be year five—are as volatile as ever. He’s owed $20 million annually through 2019, then $14 million in 2020, and either $15 million (club option) or $4 million (buyout) in 2021. Salaries in each year can increase further if Tulowitzki picks up any of the major awards or is named an All-Star.

Still, it’s fair for the Rockies to expect a sizable return for a perennial MVP candidate who just needs to find a way to stay healthy to reemerge as the league’s best overall shortstop. That’s why the Mets’ top pitching prospect, Noah Syndergaard, has been a fixture in negotiations as the centerpiece in a larger package.

But based on Renck’s tweet, a Syndergaard-led haul might not suffice—either because new general manager Jeff Bridich is afraid of selling low on a premium player whose five-year, $118 million contract is reasonable based on current free-agent trends, or because, as Heyman pointed out, the Rockies’ ownership might be skittish about letting Tulowitzki go.

In either case, this rumor can be put to bed… until another post by a national insider revives it again.

Phillies might enter the Asdrubal Cabrera race
Jimmy Rollins is now a Dodger and the internal replacement is Freddy Galvis, who hit .176/.227/.319 in 128 major-league plate appearances last season. Consequently, Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. is searching for an upgrade that he can afford.

According to ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick, Cabrera—who finished off the 2014 campaign with the division rival Nationals—is on the radar, but the Phillies can’t squeeze him into their budget without shedding some salary. The 29-year-old switch-hitter won’t move the needle for the 2015 club, but he also won’t be an automatic out in front of the pitcher.

Of course, just how much more than that Cabrera would be is an open question. His True Averages have dipped into the .260s since a breakout 2011 in which he slugged 25 home runs. That long-ball total is an outlier that Cabrera has followed with long-ball totals in the low teens, more in line with what the Phillies could expect, even accounting for the boost he’d get from playing half his games at Citizens Bank Park.

Cabrera is also somewhat miscast at shortstop—he’d fit better at second base, but Chase Utley occupies the keystone in Philadelphia and has no desire to leave. So the Phillies would tack a tolerable, but subpar, glove on to an uninspiring bat and come away with a modest upgrade to a club that would need a miracle or three to keep up with Cabrera’s most recent employer.

Cross the Giants off Max Scherzer’s list of suitors
After a quiet first few weeks of the offseason, the Giants sprung into action last week, bringing back Sergio Romo and Jake Peavy, and then supplanting Pablo Sandoval by acquiring Casey McGehee from the Marlins. With a touch under $20 million owed to the right-handers and another $3-4 million coming to the arbitration-eligible McGehee, the Giants have reinvested most of the money that was freed up when Sandoval elected not to re-sign. But there are still a couple of items on the shopping list:

The remaining budget room figures to be spent on another starting pitcher or a right-handed-hitting left fielder. The operative word in the previous sentence is “or”—based on GM Brian Sabean’s post-trade presser, he does not have the financial cushion to do both.

Nor does he have the funds to chase the top free agent still on the market. San Francisco Chronicle scribe John Shea relayed key points from the session, and one of them was that the Giants have not been nor will they be in contact with the representatives for Scherzer. They were all-in on Jon Lester and might still bring in James Shields, who, sources told Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe, wants about $110 million over five years. But the former Tiger will have to look elsewhere for the mega-deal he seeks.

That’s bad news for Scherzer, because he’s quickly running out of high-payroll clubs that might consider a $200 million outlay. Yankees president Randy Levine effectively ruled out his team last week, and the Tigers seem poised to move on, although that could change if agent Scott Boras’ asking price drops. Then again, if the price does come down, the Dodgers—based on Andrew Friedman’s recent comments—might be the team to pounce.

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thsaladboy
12/23
The Rockies unwillingness to trade Tulo for Syndergaard and co is absolutely bizarre. They aren't going to be good anytime soon. Actually, as a Mets fan I'm incredibly frightened of that deal, because Tulo might be a great player, but he's 30 years old and injury prone, having played as many as 130 games in a season exactly 3 times in his career, and not since 2011. The idea that the Rockies are the skittish team, and not the Mets, in making this deal seems incredibly silly to me.
lipitorkid
12/23
Serious question. How much over market value would the Angels have to pay to get Scherzer to sign a one or two year contract?

25-30 Million one year?
50 Million two year?

And what would that do to the Angels World Series chances?
EMielke
12/23
Uh, no way would Scherzer ever take a 1 or 2 year deal. Angels fan?
lipitorkid
12/23
1. It's Christmas
2. If you had our pitching staff you would dream too. Leave me my dream...

I'm also just curious. How big of a one year deal would it take to make someone delay a long-term contract, I know it's not reasonable, that's why I'm curious.
Behemoth
12/29
He's going to get 25-30 million every year for the next seven years or so. So your figures are a long way off.
EMielke
12/23
Maybe 60 million on a one year deal? Maybe.
rgrunder
12/23
Daniel,

I know it sounds crazy on the surface, but couldn't the Reds put together a package around Stephenson and Cozart for Tulo? The Rox would want more, of course, so add whomever you want from the minors (Winker? Lorenzen?) They'd still need a LF and while I don't think they could come up with enough to get Cargo too, why not at least one or the other (meaning Tulo or Cargo)?

I just think the Reds are headed for some dark years after this year no matter what, especially with the Cubs and Cards so well positioned. They have a realistic shot in '15, and they won't see another for a long time. They should be doing everything they can for this year. Agree? Disagree? Thoughts?

Thanks!
sldetckl16
12/24
Cubs are still all a wish and a dream. Maybe the Pirates'current roster and farm system with their two straight playoff appearances should enter the calculation of who is "well-positioned" in the NL Central?
mhmosher
12/24
Agreed. They look great for the long term, but the Cubs are extremely overrated for 2015. Pittsburgh and St. Louis both have better rosters.
rgrunder
12/27
Good point--I just overlooked Pittsburgh.
ddufourlogger
12/24
I would even offer a package around Stephenson for CarGo. Cozart is perfectly good SS and if CarGo is healthy then he's the additional bat the Reds O needs. Stephenson isn't going to pitch this year in Cincy, so if we're playing for 2015 then this makes as much sense as anything...
BarryR
12/23
Regarding Tulo, there are three stages of making a trade -
1- Team A wants player X and Team B is willing to deal him (or B wants to deal him and A is interested)
2- Team A and Team B agree on what X is worth.
3- Team A has the assets Team B wants which equal that value.

Usually, the hangup is 3. But in this case, there are problems everywhere. In the first part, ownership is reluctant to trade the face of the franchise, as watching Tulo finish in the top five of MVP balloting while you lose 95 games is not good PR. In the second part, there is no player whose value is harder to assess than one who doesn't play. Tulo has played 47, 122, and 91 games the last three years. He is coming back from off-season hip surgery - it's one thing if your grandmother is coming off of hip surgery, it's quite another if your SS is. If you can't agree on 2, then 3 is impossible, and even if you do, then the problem is that the return has to not just convince those in the room but ownership as well. This seems damn near impossible.
The best time to trade Tulo would be in June, when he has played two months and proved himself to still be the All-Star level player he has been, while the Rockies are 20-35. Then you can convince ownership you have to do something. Of course, that can go bad by either Tulo not being able to play SS the way he used to (grandma couldn't go to her left at all after her surgery), or the Rockies not sucking, making the deal harder to make.
MateoM
12/27
Non-revelatory headline? Did Sam permit this? LOL