Playing Fact or Fiction with All of MLB's Hottest Week 19 Buzz, Rumors
Baseball's rumor mill has its ups and downs—its peak periods of activity and lulls in the action—but it never actually stops spinning. While things have slowed down since the non-waiver trade deadline on July 31, there's still plenty of rumor and speculation around for fans to sink their teeth into.
Some teams continue to try to figure out whether they're coming or going, contending or pretending, while others in the know have continued to make moves, albeit on a smaller scale than what we saw only a few weeks ago.
But that could all change as we trudge through the dog days of August toward Labor Day and—gasp—the regular season's last month.
Will Philadelphia continue to unload veteran pieces? Is an underachieving former All-Star spending his last days in the only big league uniform he's ever worn? Have the baseball gods already determined that a well-regarded and highly respected executive is heading from one American League club to another?
We'll tackle all of that and more in this week's edition of "Fact or Fiction."
Fact: Chase Utley Will Accept a Trade to San Francisco
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If Chase Utley planned on flexing his 10-and-5 muscle by blocking a trade from Philadelphia to San Francisco, it wouldn't make any sense for the Phillies to be engaged in "advanced" talks with the Giants about a potential deal for the six-time All-Star, as Fox Sports' Jon Morosi reports.
It'd be a complete waste of everyone's time.
Without question, Utley will have a say in where he plays next, as is his right. But he previously told MLB.com's Todd Zolecki that he'd be willing to listen to any trade scenario the team might present him with, and a move to San Francisco makes the most sense for both the Giants and Utley himself.
The Giants remain without second baseman Joe Panik due to a back injury, the kind of injury that, even after Panik returns, can easily be re-aggravated. Even if Panik were healthy, the Giants are in need of a quality bat off the bench.
While Utley isn't the player he once was, he has been raking since returning from an ankle injury earlier this month, hitting .412 (7-for-17) with a .977 OPS. Even after he cools off, there's a strong case to be made that Utley is a better option than Ehire Adrianza, San Francisco's current answer at the keystone.
Utley and his family also reside in the Bay Area during the offseason, which certainly doesn't hurt the chances of him signing off on a deal to San Francisco.
Fiction: Chicago Will Trade Starlin Castro
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After Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon announced that Addison Russell would be the team's starting shortstop moving forward (via the Chicago Sun-Times' Gordon Wittenmyer), speculation began to swirl that the Cubs would trade Starlin Castro before the end of the month.
It's not that the Cubs wouldn't trade Castro—ESPN.com's Jayson Stark reported the club was "aggressively" trying to move him before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline. But now that he's a part-time player in Chicago, his value is even lower than it was a few weeks ago.
While he'd likely clear waivers (if he hasn't already) thanks to the four years and $38 million left on his contract, the odds of Chicago getting a quality piece (or pieces) in return for Castro are about as good as the odds of the team demoting Kris Bryant to Triple-A.
It's simply not going to happen. And it makes little sense for the Cubs to give away a three-time All-Star who, at 25 years old, still has plenty of baseball ahead of him.
Besides, Castro at least provides the Cubs with insurance should injury befall Russell (or newly minted second baseman Chris Coghlan, a veteran of nine games at the position). Sure, the club still has top prospect Javier Baez, but he's as unproven as Castro is frustrating.
“Sometimes a change of scenery is good for everybody," his agent, Paul Kinzer, told Wittenmyer. "I think it would crush him to leave Chicago. He loves it here. [But] there’s a lot of people in baseball that know he can still play shortstop at a high level.”
By the time Opening Day 2016 rolls around, Castro will be wearing a different cap. But come Sept. 1, when baseball's second trade deadline has passed and rosters have expanded, the one atop his head will still be blue with a red "C" outlined in white on the front.
Fact: Jose Reyes Will Finish His Career in New York
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While the baseball world was trying to grasp the magnitude and impact of the Troy Tulowitzki-to-Toronto trade last month, a three-word hashtag began to gain traction on Twitter: #BringReyesHome.
Reyes, of course, is veteran shortstop Jose Reyes, part of the package the Blue Jays sent the Rockies in exchange for Tulo. Reyes is also a player whose best seasons were spent as a member of the New York Mets, who just so happened to be in the market for an upgrade at the position.
Of course, Reyes wasn't flipped to the Mets as fans had hoped he'd be, but that hasn't stopped the 32-year-old from thinking about a return to where his career began.
“I’d love to—not now, because I have two more years on my deal," he recently told the New York Times' Tim Rohan. "But I’d love to finish my career here in New York. I have some great memories here.”
Reyes, who still has a house on Long Island, would certainly have to make some sacrifices to make such a scenario come to life. Aside from agreeing to a sizable reduction in salary—lest we think for a second that the Mets are going to spend like a big-market club—he'd likely have to accept a part-time role.
Maybe that first part isn't entirely fair—teams don't tend to lavish middle infielders in their mid-30s with extravagant deals—but the Mets' self-imposed fiscal limitations have been well-documented over the past few years.
Bringing Reyes back would have less to do with baseball and more to do with placating a fanbase that has been alienated and beat down for years thanks to gross negligence and a comedy of errors that would seem unbelievable anywhere else.
We only need to think back a few weeks to the fiasco involving Wilmer Flores and Carlos Gomez for the latest example.
But for the Mets, scoring points with their fans, who have made Citi Field the best place to watch baseball in New York this season, is just as important as scoring runs in a regular-season game. A reunion with Reyes would go a long way toward doing just that.
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Fiction: Dave Dombrowski Is a Lock to Wind Up in Toronto
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Speculation that Dave Dombrowski would land in Toronto began almost immediately after word broke that the Detroit Tigers had fired their longtime president and general manager.
That speculation only figures to grow stronger with a report from the Toronto Sun's Bob Elliott that Rogers Communications, the corporation that owns the Blue Jays, has already reached out to the 59-year-old about becoming the team's next president.
In announcing his departure, per MLB.com's Jason Beck, Tigers owner Mike Ilitch said he was relieving Dombrowski of his duties to "afford him the time to pursue other career opportunities." Joining the Blue Jays won't be his only opportunity.
The Boston Red Sox will have an opening for a new team president with Larry Lucchino stepping down at season's end. Both the Los Angeles Angels and Milwaukee Brewers are without full-time general managers.
Some, including Bleacher Report's Scott Miller, believe the Seattle Mariners should be blowing up Dombrowski's phone in an attempt to get him to come fix what's broken in the Emerald City. And as is the case with any big-name free agent, there's always a mystery team that gets involved.
While Dombrowski might ultimately wind up in Toronto, it's far too early in the process to say it's guaranteed.
Fiction: The White Sox Will Trade Jeff Samardzija
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You couldn't fault the Chicago White Sox for opting not to sell as the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline approached. As the Chicago Sun-Times' Daryl Van Schouwen points out, the team was finishing up its most successful month of the season, posting a 16-10 record that was second-best in the majors.
But things have fallen apart since then, and while general manager Rick Hahn still refuses to give up on the season, he hasn't closed the door on moving some pieces if the opportunity presents itself.
“As we get deeper into August and if things don’t improve, that is something we’ll have to take seriously, but at this point, we’re still having the same approach of looking for long-term fits that could help this year and beyond,” he told Van Schouwen.
That's led to speculation that the club could look to put Jeff Samardzija on waivers, knowing full well that he's unlikely to make it through unclaimed but at least giving the team an opportunity to work out a trade with the claiming club.
Except Samardzija's value, like the team's playoff chances, has dropped since the calendar flipped to August. He's failed to make it past six innings in either of his last two starts, allowing 22 earned runs and 23 hits over 15.1 innings of work.
Despite his track record of success, no contender is going to surrender anything worthwhile to rent Samardzija for a month in the hopes that he can turn his recent luck around.
The White Sox missed their chance to cash in on Samardzija, and at this point, they are better off playing out the season with the 30-year-old, extending him a qualifying offer after the season and taking the compensatory draft pick they'd receive if (and when) he signs with another team as a free agent.
Unless otherwise noted, all statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs and are current through games of August 12. All contract information courtesy of Cot's Contracts.
Hit me up on Twitter to talk all things baseball: @RickWeinerBR
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