Nov. 13, 2013
FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal offers up a couple of Diamondbacks-related takes in this
morning's column from the General Managers meetings
in Orlando, Fla.
No surprise, they both involve
starting pitching, which matches what our Jack
Magruder reported as Arizona's No. 1 off-season
priority.
The pitchers in question are a pair of
interesting names -- Detroit's Max Scherzer and Japanese ace Masahiro
Tanaka -- and while there's no clear indication that the Diamondbacks
are at the front of the line, it nonetheless reinforces the notion that
the local nine thinks it can win now by bolstering the front end of the
starting rotation.
Here's what Rosenthal
writes about Scherzer, who, as you may recall, was drafted
and developed by the D-backs before being peddled to Detroit in a
three-way deal that saw Ian Kennedy and Edwin Jackson head our
way:
Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski told FOX
Sports’ Jon Paul Morosi on Tuesday that the team intends for left-hander
Drew Smyly to be in its rotation next season — the strongest indication
yet that Detroit will trade right-hander Max Scherzer or righty Rick
Porcello.
A number of executives continue to view a
Scherzer deal as far-fetched, but one thing is certain: The Tigers will
not struggle to generate interest for the likely American League Cy
Young winner.
Count the Diamondbacks among the clubs
that plan to take a shot at Scherzer, according to major league sources.
The D-backs -- like another interested club, the Nationals -- know that
they could part with less for Scherzer, who is only one year away from
free agency, than for Rays lefty David Price, who is under club control
for two more years.
Any club that acquires Scherzer
this offseason also could extend him a qualifying offer next winter to
assure draft-pick compensation — and ease the sting of the prospects
lost.
Tanaka
is a 25-year-old right-hander who went 24-0 for the
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles and is the most highly regarded Japanese
pitching prospect since Yu Darvish. This situation is complicated, as
there is currently no agreement in place between MLB and Japanese
baseball regarding
posting fees.
Yankees GM
Brian Cashman said on Tuesday that he wants to add 400 innings to the
team’s rotation. One look at the team’s depth chart, and it’s easy to
understand why.
Left-hander CC Sabathia and righty
Ivan Nova are the only certain members of the rotation, with David
Phelps, Adam Warren and Michael Pineda among the other possibilities.
Meanwhile, David Robertson, Preston Claiborne, Cesar Cabral and Shawn
Kelley appear the only certainties in the
bullpen.
“Plenty of room at the inn,” one Yankees
official said.
Well, the Yankees would like to
reserve one room for Japanese right-hander Masahiro Tanaka. And because
the posting fee for Tanaka will not count against the luxury tax, Tanaka
appeals more to clubs with tax concerns -- the Dodgers would be another
-- than he does to other teams. Only his average annual salary would
count against the $189 million threshold.
The
Diamondbacks also could bid on Tanaka but are pessimistic about their
chances. They’ve had three scouts watch Tanaka, and Rick Short, one of
their area scouts, was Tanaka’s teammate with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden
Eagles.
As usual, Rosenthal has lots of
other juicy stuff, leading with discussion of the Angels shopping a bat
for pitching. You can read
the full column here.
