Kuzul

Just when you thought the Washington Nationals couldn’t sink any lower, there they go, plunging to new depths.

Less than 24 hours after they were officially eliminated from postseason contention, the Nats watched Jonathan Papelbon, their mercurial closer, try to choke Bryce Harper, their star player and the potential National League Most Valuable Player—and the rest of us got to watch it, too.

I say “got to.” But at this point, there’s not even much perverse enjoyment to be gleaned from this train wreck. The Nats have gone from a disappointment to a downright embarrassment. The only appropriate response is to shake your head and look away.

The latest incident occurred Sunday in the eighth inning of Washington’s 12-5 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies. After Harper flied out to shallow left with the score knotted 4-4 and barely jogged down the first base line, Papelbon had words for his teammate in the dugout.

The exchange quickly escalated and came to an ugly head when Papelbon grabbed Harper by the throat before the two men were separated.

In the ninth, Papelbon took the hill, promptly coughed up the lead and exited to a serenade of boos from the Nationals Park crowd.

After the game, Papelbon attempted to downplay the scuffle.

“I grew up with brothers, he grew up with brothers, I view him as a brother,” Papelbon said of Harper, per ESPN.com. “And sometimes in this game, there’s a lot of testosterone and things spill over.”

Manager Matt Williams told ESPN it is a “family issue” but added that “it’s no fun when stuff like this happens.”

This season hasn’t offered much fun of any kind for the Nationals, who came into spring as prohibitive favorites to win the NL East, with their loaded lineup and star-studded super rotation.

Instead, the New York Mets have whizzed past them, while Washington has crumbled into a fractured heap of undelivered promise.

Even before Papelbon laid his hand on arguably the best hitter in baseball, there was acrimony swirling in the clubhouse.

“It’s a terrible environment,” an unnamed player told Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post. “And the amazing part is everybody feels that way.”

Blame can no doubt be spread around. Papelbon, who cemented his status as a classless malcontent while playing for Philadelphia, flashed his colors again on Sunday.

And the bad blood was already brewing between Harper and Papelbon. The pitcher drilled the Baltimore Orioles‘ Manny Machado on Wednesday in apparent retaliation for a home run celebration he deemed too emphatic. Harper responded by calling Papelbon’s tactics “tired,” per FoxSports.com.

But the buck stops with the skipper, and right now, Williams looks like a man with a dagger dangling over his head.

The Nationals won 96 games and the NL East last season under Williams, and the former All-Star third baseman won NL Manager of the Year.

Now, he appears to be losing his grasp on a team in free-fall.

“A couple of years ago, I wouldn’t have thought it made any difference,” another player told Svrluga, speaking about the importance of a manager in relation to overall cohesiveness. “But after what we’ve been through for two years? It’s huge. Huge.”

Does that mean Williams will get the axe? Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo left the door wide open, saying he would “evaluate everything that went right and went wrong this season,” per Chris Lingebach of CBS D.C.

Rizzo will have plenty to jot in the “what went wrong” column.

The Nats were bitten by injuries, with Denard Span, Stephen Strasburg, Anthony Rendon, Doug Fister, Jayson Werth and Ryan Zimmerman all making trips to the disabled list. And others, including shortstop Ian Desmond, have significantly underperformed. 

They’ve frequently swallowed their mitts, ranking 22nd in baseball with minus-18 defensive runs saved as of Sunday, per FanGraphs.

And the pitching staff, while not horrible, has failed to measure up to the preseason hype, posting the seventh-best ERA in the NL—almost literally the middle of the pack.

Really, it’s been death by a thousand paper cuts for Washington, as CBSSports.com’s Dayn Perry spelled out:

Again, there’s no singular and obvious shortcoming with the Nats this season. You can’t point to a league-worst offense or a bottom-feeding pitching staff or anything like that. It’s instead been “soft” failures on a number of fronts that have made them the most disappointing team of 2015. 

The Nationals have plenty to build around, including an offensive nucleus of Harper, Rendon and young talent such as Trea Turner. And they have studs in the stable, including Strasburg and Max Scherzer, the latter mostly living up to the massive deal he signed over the winter.

The first step is probably to wave goodbye to Williams and change the clubhouse vibe, symbolically and practically. Then you slap a muzzle on Papelbon (who is signed through 2016) and keep him the hell away from your franchise player’s esophagus. 

That by itself would be a great start.

Sunday might be remembered as the day the Nationals finally, emphatically hit bottom. At least, they’d better hope so.

Because if it gets worse than this, it’s going to be painful to watch.

All statistics and standings current as of Sept. 27 and courtesy of MLB.com unless otherwise noted.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The fodder does not stop just because the number of relevant teams in this regular season has shrunk to about a dozen.

There was plenty of news in Major League Baseball this past week, and some of it was made by non-contending organizations such as the Boston Red Sox and Milwaukee Brewers, both of whom hired new general managers—Mike Hazen and David Stearns, respectively.

We won’t discuss those things in this week’s takeaways, but we should note that the moves are significant because Hazen and Stearns will guide their franchises for the next several years, and they could alter the landscapes of the American and National Leagues this coming offseason.

There was also the typical weekly news, like a meaningful injury, a declining player getting the nod over a hot up-and-coming one, another player trying to police an opponent and, of course, more questions and concerns about the New York Yankees’ rotation. 

Unfortunately, there was also the death of a baseball icon: Yogi Berra.

Begin Slideshow

Washington Nationals closer Jonathan Papelbon was suspended for three games by Major League Baseball on Friday for throwing a pitch toward the head of Baltimore Orioles third baseman Manny Machado.

MLB Communications confirmed the punishment relating to the incident during the ninth inning of Wednesday’s game. The Nationals announced Papelbon will appeal the suspension, which means he can continue to pitch until his case is heard.

Machado hit a two-run homer in the seventh inning to give the Orioles a 4-3 lead, and they held on to win.

Afterward, Machado didn’t hold back when asked what he thought about getting hit after providing the game-changing moment, as tweeted by Rich Dubroff of CSN Mid-Atlantic: “I’m not worried about getting hit. … That’s just bulls–t. It’s coward stuff. It’s just cowardly.”

Nationals slugger Bryce Harper didn’t exactly rush to Papelbon’s defense, instead preparing himself for potential retaliation, per James Wagner of the Washington Post.

“I mean, Manny freaking hit a homer and walked it off and somebody drilled him,” Harper said. “It’s pretty tired. It’s one of those situations where it happens. I don’t know. I’ll probably get drilled tomorrow. We’ll see what happens.”

As it turned out, the Orioles didn’t hit Harper or any other members of the Nats in Thursday’s game, which they won 5-4.

Washington has just 10 games remaining in the regular season and, barring a major comeback in the NL East (7.5 games back of the New York Mets), won’t make the playoffs. Depending on the timetable of the appeal resolution, which wasn’t announced, the punishment could carry into next season.

In the bigger picture, the idea of hitting an opponent in order to make a point is still ingrained into baseball culture. While that may never change, MLB must continue to enforce punishments to strongly discourage throwing anywhere close to an opponent’s head.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

One of Bud Selig’s primary goals in adding a second wild-card playoff spot to both leagues was to put more teams in postseason contention, creating more excitement and fan interest throughout the summer.

A consequence of achieving that goal has been tamping down the trade buzz heading into the All-Star break, one of the game’s most exciting and heavily debated portions of the regular season.

Before the second wild-card spot was implemented for the 2012 season, as many as 10 teams could easily be declared sellers at this point, as they’ve fallen well behind each league’s best second-place club. But in the era of the second wild-card berth, more teams are willing to hang onto their assets and reach for the play-in game.

As a result, only five teams can realistically declare themselves sellers right now, and even that number is arguably too large as some of those teams still see themselves as a hot streak away from contending. And, unfortunately for the trade season, those teams are correct in assessing their chances.

That leaves only two teams as true sellers at this point—the Philadelphia Phillies and Milwaukee Brewers. However, teams are scouting pieces of several other clubs in case those hot streaks never come.

While many of the trade chips are good fits for several contending teams, we will look at the perfect fit for each player based on production, cost, value and need.

Begin Slideshow

Merely one month into the MLB season and teams are already beginning to separate themselves in the division as races start to shape up.

Although the 2015 MLB All-Star break is still more than two months out, the teams quickly descending to the bottom of the standings are beginning to figure out whether to buy or to sell before the game.

One team primed to be a seller this summer are the Philadelphia Phillies, a team that has gotten off to an 8-15 start and currently sits fifth in the NL East.

Injuries have piled up for the Phillies, which has led the pitching to fall to the bottom third of the league in most statistical categories. In addition, the team suffers from a lack of offensive production.

With the New York Mets leading the NL East and a three-way battle brewing in for second place, the Phillies are in a position to trade away their top assets. 

Just 23 games into the 2015 season, the Phillies have mustered only eight wins and are struggling to keep pace with the NL East front-running Mets. The Mets own a 15-8 record and have been dominant at Citi Field. 

Both the Miami Marlins and the Washington Nationals remain in contention, too. The Nationals have won three in a row, while the Marlins have ripped off two straight. Meanwhile, the Phillies continue to dig themselves into a deeper hole with three consecutive losses.

Currently, five pitchers sit on the Phillies disabled list. Among them are Cliff Lee and Chad Billingsley, who were expected to be pivotal parts of the starting rotation.

Billingsley is on the 15-day DL and could be activated as early as next weekend for the showdown against the Mets, according to the Philly.com.

Lee, on the other hand, is on the 60-day DL. He’s currently deciding between rehab for a left forearm strain or surgery, which would end his 2015 season. In March, Lee told Philly.com that he was leaning toward giving rehab a third chance.

With both Lee and Billingsley sidelined, the Phillies have had to rely on the likes of Jerome Williams (3.80 ERA), David Buchanan (8.76 ERA) and Severino Gonzalez (23.63 ERA). Along with Cole Hamels (3.19 ERA) and Aaron Harang (2.51 ERA), the Phillies rank 21st in MLB in team pitching, behind three rival NL East clubs.

Offensively, the Phillies have endured even more struggles. The lineup has been short of Domonic Brown all season long, while their usual sluggers, such as Chase Utley and Ryan Howard, have struggled with been inconsistent. 

Utley has batted .114 in 21 games played, and his counterpart Howard is at .194 in 20 games. As a team, the Phillies rank 29th in the league in offense with a team batting average of .223. Additionally, the Phillies rank 26th in home runs (13), 29th in on-base percentage (.280) and 30th in runs scored (63).

As the Phillies continue to sputter, they find themselves with no other options other than to start dealing. Among the chips that could be angled include none other than Hamels. 

Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro has received a bevy of phone calls about the availability of the team’s longtime ace, and according to USA TODAY, the St. Louis Cardinals, Toronto Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers have all expressed some level of interest.

Per the report, the Phillies would only send Hamels in exchange for a player they could turn into their centerpiece in the future. 

The Cardinals are without their ace, Adam Wainwright, who was lost for the season with a torn Achilles. Brandon McCarthy, the Dodgers’ prized free-agent signee, is expected to undergo Tommy John surgery. The Blue Jays need to find a suitable replacement for Marcus Stroman, and the Red Sox rank dead last in MLB with a 5.04 team ERA.

If the Phillies intend on being sellers, they also can try to shed closer Jonathan Papelbon and his $13 million salary to any buyers. 

Papelbon owns a 1.08 ERA and five saves in eight appearances out of the Philadelphia pen, but the team has little need for a stopper as it continues to plummet in the standings. To shed his salary would be ideal for Philadelphia, and the Blue Jays—who also reportedly have interest in Hamels—also have been in the mix for Papelbon, per CSNPhilly.com.

However, Toronto dropped out of those talks as the season progressed, according to CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman.

there are no discussions ongoing with the jays regarding papelbon, by the way

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) March 29, 2015

In addition to those two pitchers, the Phillies may consider dealing Utley. Although the veteran second baseman is not putting up All-Star statistics so far this season, he is an impending free agent.

The team would be wise to try to get something in exchange for Utley, instead of simply allowing him to walk for free.

Utley previously made it clear to the organization that he did not want to leave Philadelphia, according to ESPN’s Buster Olney, but that position may have changed with the team’s current standing.

But there is some curiosity about whether this will change, in the face of the Phillies’ dim prospects now or in the immediate future. Jimmy Rollins chose to leave, accepting a trade to the Dodgers, and rival evaluators believe Cole Hamels wants out, as well.

Utley is a California native that attended UCLA. Naturally, both Los Angeles teams—the Dodgers and the Angels—make season for that reason. Dodgers second baseman Howie Kendrick is batting .295 this year with 14 RBI. Angels second baseman Johnny Giavotella is batting .317 with 10 RBI. 

All signs point to the Phillies making some moves before the 2015 MLB All-Star break. They’ve been rumored to do so for months, and all signs point to it finally coming to fruition.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

1. NL West: Change, Money and Bubble Gum

One week in, and you know what’s more fun than Furious 7 meets Coachella?

The National League West.

Grab a fistful of Dubble Bubble, because that’s the first checkpoint for a summer of bubble-blowing good times: Padres home opener Thursday, ninth inning, Giants center fielder Angel Pagan at the plate and suddenly he and San Diego catcher Derek Norris are jawing and must be separated.

The occasion?

Pagan flipped a wad of chewed bubble gum at Norris, who immediately took offense.

Pagan pleaded that he meant to toss it further, but the wad stuck to the pine tar on his glove and stunted his throw.

Norris went ballistic because, well, as he told reporters afterward, “I don’t come into center field and throw gum at him when he’s playing defense.”

Great point.

Chomp, chomp.   

The Padres, for the first time in a decade, are actually trying.

The Dodgers, after two seasons of 90-plus wins and a postseason in which Clayton Kershaw still failed to get them to their first World Series since 1988, are rebooting.

The Giants are hurting.

The Diamondbacks rebuilt their front office with new baseball ops guru (and Hall of Famer) Tony La Russa and new general manager Dave Stewart.

And the Rockies, who ever knows what they’re up to?

“We know what the vision is,” new Dodgers shortstop Jimmy Rollins says. “The guys who were brought in here, we know why we were brought in.”

New Dodgers baseball operations boss Andrew Friedman, special assistant Josh Byrnes (the deposed Padres GM) and GM Farhan Zaidi completed 10 trades in 25 days in December. They completely rebuilt up the middle with Rollins, second baseman Howie Kendrick, rookie center fielder Joc Pederson and catcher Yasmani Grandal.

“I knew we had talented players,” Rollins says. “But we have a good team.”

That’s what the Padres think, too—of themselves. Their winter made the Dodgers look like they were standing pat, and new GM A.J. Preller carried it right up to Opening Day eve, when he acquired the game’s best closer, Craig Kimbrel, in what otherwise was an exchange of bad contracts. The Padres got the Artist Formerly Known at B.J. Upton (he’s Melvin now), and they unloaded outfielder Cameron Maybin and Carlos Quentin.

So add Kimbrel to Norris, Matt Kemp, Justin Upton, Wil Myers, Will Middlebrooks and James Shields in what might be the most stunning and dizzying offseason that one club has ever had.

“The vibe is completely different,” says starter Ian Kennedy, who strained a hamstring in his first start of the season on Thursday and now is on the disabled list. “You have these high-profile guys that people know. A lot of people didn’t know Padres players before.”

Not even the folks running the witness protection program.

“Our pitching staff was so under the radar, but we had the second-best ERA in the National League last year,” Kennedy continues, accurately speaking of the 3.27 ERA the ’14 Padres produced. “You get Kemp, who’s been on national TV so often and is an all-time Dodger, Justin Upton, an All-Star, Wil Myers, who is supposed to be a superstar player like Mike Trout, Norris…all of these people have been to the playoffs.

“The vibe, everybody is excited.”

Including fans who have leaped off the bandwagon by the thousands in recent years as previous ownerships alienated them. The four-game series against the Giants just completed set a Petco Park attendance record of 168,181, and the new Padres surely won some more hearts.

Though he hasn’t homered yet, Kemp is off to a roaring start at .367/.406/.533 through Sunday with three doubles and a triple. He pumped his fists and emitted a primal scream following a key triple Sunday—that burst of joy/enthusiasm could be the poster moment of the first week.

“I feel better now than I felt in the second half last year,” Kemp told Bleacher Report in the final days of spring camp. He batted .309/.365/.606 with 17 homers and 54 RBI in the second half last year in looking like the old Matt Kemp before significant shoulder and ankle surgeries.

“My legs weren’t all the way under me, as far as being able to run the way I wanted to run,” Kemp continued. “Now, I’ll be able to do some things I couldn’t do. People don’t understand: Microfracture surgery is pretty serious.”

Then there are the Giants, who you might recall have won three World Series titles in five seasons and have no plans to surrender despite their recent track record of odd-year disappointments and a stunning array of injuries.

Right-hander Matt Cain (flexor strain, right forearm) is out for several weeks, an early blow the Giants did not see coming. Outfielder Hunter Pence (broken arm) won’t return until May. First baseman Brandon Belt missed most of the first week with a groin strain. Manager Bruce Bochy was forced to juggle his rotation when right-hander Jake Peavy‘s lower back locked up.

“It’s been one thing after another since we started spring training,” Peavy says. “That being said, it’s early and we’re going to hold the fort down. It’s the Next Man Up mentality.

“This team has a quiet confidence. Hopefully, we find and create some depth out of this situation.

“But there ain’t no way these teams (Dodgers and Padres) ain’t panning out. Both have a lot of talent. Both have a lot of exposure. We’re not banking on these teams not jelling. We expect the Dodgers to be a great team, as always, and we expect the Padres to be good.

“But this group of guys we have knows how to compete, and we expect to.”

In the season’s first six days, the Padres’ Shields outpitched both the Dodgers’ Kershaw and the Giants’ Madison Bumgarner.

So pass the bubble gum, and settle in. This summer more than any other, you never know what’s coming next in the NL West.

2. Jackie Robinson Day: Stand and Salute

You can make an argument—and I will, every year—that the way baseball blows out Jackie Robinson Day is one of the game’s finest moments.

Former commissioner Bud Selig spoke often of the game’s responsibility as a social institution, and those roots trace back to the Dodgers, Branch Rickey and Robinson smashing the color barrier on April 15, 1947.

That moment, incredibly, came 17 years before the Civil Rights Acts of 1964, which outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin. It banned racial segregation in the schools, the workplace and the voting booths.

That baseball was so far ahead of the rest of the country absolutely is worth remembering and celebrating. Especially now, with a steady string of sickening moments—Sanford, Florida; Ferguson, Missouri; New York; South Carolina—that suggest we’re still not where we should be in this country.

So MLB will hold Jackie Robinson Day on Wednesday, and players throughout the game will wear No. 42 in his honor. The official celebration will take place in Dodger Stadium with the Civil Rights Game between the Mariners and Dodgers. Rachel Robinson, Jackie’s widow, will throw out the ceremonial first pitch. Don Newcombe, a former teammate of Jackie’s, and Joni Campanella, daughter of the late Dodgers’ catcher Roy Campanella, will participate too.

Players wearing No. 42 traces back to 2007—the brilliant idea of Ken Griffey Jr. It’s true. Griffey that year asked Selig if it would be OK to wear No. 42 in tribute on Jackie Robinson Day, and when Selig said he would bring the idea to Rachel Robinson, Griffey asked if he could make that call himself.

In the end, Selig loved the idea so much he asked Griffey whether he would mind if baseball expanded that idea to every player.

Now, Griffey has another idea that would build upon Jackie Robinson Day.

“I look at guys who have done so much, and not only for baseball. The next one I’d like to see is Roberto Clemente, everyone wear No. 21,” Griffey told me when we spoke this winter, referring to the former Pirates outfielder who was the first Latin American and Caribbean player to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Clemente was killed in a plane crash on New Year’s Eve 1972, while en route to delivering aid to earthquake victims in Nicaragua. Baseball already presents the Roberto Clemente Award at the end of each season to an elite player who also is personally involved with community work, an honor that dates back to 1973.

“I understand we give an award at the end of the year, but maybe if we do it on [Roberto Clemente Day], and honor the things that he did for other people, the things that they all went through,” Griffey continued. “It could be on the last day of the season because that was the last day he played.

“As a baseball player, we look forward to those types of celebrations. Whether it’s wearing a throwback uniform for the Mariners, or whatever, we look forward to being able to wear uniforms of certain guys who mean so much to the organization. It’s a lot of fun to be able to do that and celebrate them.”

3. The Angels Should Be Ashamed

If Angry Arte Moreno, owner of the Los Angeles Angels of We Should Be Embarrassed, insists on blaming someone for the current Josh Hamilton mess, he should look in the mirror.

It was Moreno who signed Hamilton to a five-year, $125 million deal even amateur armchair GMs could have told you would be a horrendous contract.

Nobody could have predicted that Hamilton would descend back into the hell of cocaine, as he reportedly did, according to the New York Daily News, but the possibilities were there. The entire world knew of his history of addiction. Age 31 when he signed the deal, Hamilton also had a tremendous amount of wear and tear on his body.

This was a high-risk deal from Day 1. And now that the Angels have been burned with two years of underperformance followed by the reported cocaine relapse, for them to take the public offensive against Hamilton is outrageous. This is a guy who clearly needs help, and that phony family atmosphere the organization promotes has never looked so inauthentic.

“It defies logic that Josh’s reported behavior is not a violation of his drug program,” read a statement attributed to club president John Carpino.

“The Angels have serious concerns about Josh’s conduct, health and behavior, and we are disappointed that he has broken an important commitment which he made to himself, his family, his teammates and our fans,” read a statement attributed to GM Jerry Dipoto.

Both clearly were serving as henchmen for Moreno, who stayed in the shadows until Friday, when he said he couldn’t guarantee Hamilton would play for the Angels again.

It is difficult to imagine the Angels being an attractive destination for future free agents when the team is so quick to trash the ones who disappoint.

4. Phillies Closer: Baby sitter Needed

Three years into a four-year, $50 million deal, Philadelphia closer Jonathan Papelbon continues to take his employers’ millions with little investment of his own.

“I don’t really feel much like a Phillie,” Papelbon told Julian Benbow of The Boston Globe last week.

And: “What is a Phillie? A horse? That’s what it is? I feel like a horse.”

It’s tempting to say Papelbon should be seen and not heard. Yet that’s dangerous, too: It was last September when he grabbed his crotch in the direction of Philadelphia fans.

Of course, their ungrateful closer isn’t the only thing the Phillies have to worry about. Heading into this week, first baseman Ryan Howard and second baseman Chase Utley were a combined 5-for-39 (.128) with 13 strikeouts.

5. Never Dull with Yankees and Red Sox

When the Yankees scored seven times in the first inning against Boston Sunday night, it was the first time the Yanks scored seven or more first-inning runs against the Red Sox since Aug. 15, 1954, when Mickey Mantle and Yogi Berra were in the lineup and Tom Brewer started for the Red Sox, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

And in Friday night’s 19-inning, 6-5 Boston win, the two teams combined to use 17 pitchers and throw 627 pitches.

Every player on Boston’s 25-man roster played except infielder Brock Holt and starting pitchers Clay Buchholz, Rick Porcello and Justin Masterson.

The Yankees used 21 of their 25-man roster, everybody except CC Sabathia, Michael Pineda, Masahiro Tanaka and Adam Warren.

6. Springer’s Got Some Springs

If you missed Houston right fielder George Springer’s sensational catch against the Rangers on Sunday, you can fix that mistake right now.

7. Weekly Power Rankings

1. Home Openers: Ah, the promise of warm weather and summer vacations. A promise no other sport can make.

2. Tigers: Undefeated Tabbies (heading into the week) savage Minnesota and Cleveland to tune of MLB-best plus-31 run differential. Did someone say 1984?

3. Royals: Quick, start the stopwatch to see which is quicker—center fielder Lorenzo Cain chasing down fly balls or frisky starter Yordano Ventura’s mouth chasing down Mike Trout.

4. Stanozolol: The old-school steroid of choice makes a comeback, knocking out Jenrry Mejia (Mets), Ervin Santana (Twins), David Rollins (Mariners) and Arodys Vizcaino (Braves) for 80 games each.

5. Cubs bathrooms: After Opening Night debacle, the team brings in 72 portable toilets. And still no Kris Bryant.

 8. Superhuman Player of the Week

Yes, the Tigers finally lost Monday. But that won’t happen often if this continues:

9. How Do You Like Ned Yost’s Managing Now?

Look at these Royals go:

9a. Rock ‘n’ Roll Lyric of the Week

Happy Jackie Robinson Day….

“We’ll walk hand in hand
“We’ll walk hand in hand
“We’ll walk hand in hand, someday
“Oh, deep in my heart, I do believe
“We shall overcome, someday”

— Pete Seeger, We Shall Overcome

Scott Miller covers Major League Baseball as a national columnist for Bleacher Report. 

Follow Scott on Twitter and talk baseball.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

“Pitchers and catchers report” may be the most magical words in sports, but there are still some trade rumors to work out before MLB spring training officially gets underway. 

The Philadelphia Phillies are prominent in many of those, but their division rivals, the New York Mets, are as well. Read on for the latest speculation surrounding these National League East teams before spring training begins.

Jonathan Papelbon

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports passed along an unfortunate update for the Phillies regarding their efforts to trade Jonathan Papelbon:

To illustrate the difficulty that the Phillies are experiencing in trying to trade Jonathan Papelbon, consider a recent turn in their discussions with the Brewers.

The Phillies only were willing to pay a significant part of Papelbon’s contract if the Brewers parted with a top prospect, according to major-league sources.

The Brewers, unwilling to make such an exchange, instead proposed sending reliever Jonathan Broxton to the Phillies as a way to balance the finances.

Given the nature of that update, it really shouldn’t come as much surprise that Rosenthal also noted any talks between the Phillies and Milwaukee Brewers are currently dormant.

Papelbon may be 34 years old, but he turned in an excellent 2014 campaign for Philadelphia. He finished with an impressive 2.04 ERA and 39 saves in 66.1 innings and could certainly help a team on the fringe of contention, be it the Brewers or someone else. However, he is due to earn $13 million this season.

The Brewers were third in the MLB last season in quality starts but finished a disappointing 17th in team ERA. That is not exactly a testament to greatness from the bullpen, which is why they are likely looking to upgrade the back end with a potential trade or free-agent signing. 

It just doesn’t look like that trade will be for Papelbon.

Cole Hamels

Rosenthal also had an update on Cole Hamels in a separate piece and noted the San Diego Padres made an offer for the left-hander before ultimately signing James Shields:

The Phillies, though, are adamant about getting one blue-chip prospect in any trade for Hamels, sources say. It is not known precisely how they view the Padres’ top three prospects — righty Matt Wisler, catcher Austin Hedges and outfielder Hunter Renfroe. But a source last month said that in the Phillies’ view, the Padres might “not have enough.”

Rosenthal pointed out that the Phillies would prefer to trade Hamels to the Boston Red Sox in an effort to get a package back that includes either Mookie Betts or Blake Swihart. Still, Boston hasn’t made that desired offer, and it looks like Philadelphia may have to start the season with Hamels if it doesn’t lower its demands.

Rosenthal touches on this, but keeping Hamels as potential trade bait would put the Phillies in direct competition with other teams looking to unload pitchers at the trade deadline. Whether that is the Cincinnati Reds and Johnny Cueto or someone else remains to be seen, but the Phillies would likely get less back in return if there are other pitchers out there for cheaper.

Still, Hamels finished last season with a 2.46 ERA and is only 31 years old. He is a true ace and could instantly bolster a team’s World Series chances, especially if it was a talented squad such as the Red Sox or Padres that has already made some noise this offseason. 

Interestingly, Philadelphia general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. commented on the Hamels rumors, via Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com: “Eight teams have kicked the tires…If there was an offer commensurate to what we believe is [Hamels’] value we would strongly consider it.” 

Apparently, that offer is yet to come.

New York Mets Pitchers 

Marc Carig of Newsday noted that the New York Mets likely won’t be trading any of their pitchers:

Carig specifically mentions Dillon Gee, which isn’t that surprising since he is 28 years old and there are plenty of young pitchers trying to make the team this season. Among those pitching prospects are Noah Syndergaard, Steven Matz and Rafael Montero, but cracking the rotation could be difficult for any of the three.

Montero at least has major league experience, which could help his cause in terms of making the roster (at least as a bullpen option).

The bottom line is the Mets have plenty of depth in the pitching department but an offense that was 28th in batting average and 21st in runs scored in 2014. It would make sense on paper if they traded a pitcher or two for more offense, but it appears that won’t be in the works before the season. 

New York better hope for better offense this time around if that strategy is going to pay off.

Follow me on Twitter:

Follow @ScottPolacek

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Jonathan Papelbon, it seems, has officially attained “toxic asset” status. That’s too bad, because the polarizing Philadelphia Phillies closer could legitimately help a contender in need of late-inning relief.

Like, say, the Milwaukee Brewers, who are hoping to crash the party in the hyper-competitive National League Central.

Milwaukee has shown interest in Papelbon, but only in a “let’s swap bad contracts” sense, as Fox Sports‘ Ken Rosenthal notes:

The Phillies only were willing to pay a significant part of Papelbon’s contract if the Brewers parted with a top prospect, according to major-league sources.

The Brewers, unwilling to make such an exchange, instead proposed sending reliever Jonathan Broxton to the Phillies as a way to balance the finances.

Papelbon is owed $13 million this season and an additional $13 million in 2016 if he finishes 48 games. Broxton will make $9 million in 2015 with a $1 million buyout for 2016.

So that’s what it’s come to for the Phils: Keep Papelbon on a sinking vessel, or ship him off and save a few bucks.

We know which way Papelbon is leaning. He wants a one-way ticket out of the City of Brotherly Love—posthaste.

“Some guys want to stay on a losing team?” the right-hander asked MLB.com‘s Todd Zolecki in July, when his name was swirling in the deadline rumor blender. “That’s mind-boggling to me.” 

Did Papelbon think he’d be dealt then? “I don’t have that crystal eight-ball,” he told Zolecki.

Lucky for Papelbon, he slings baseballs better than metaphors.

In fact, the five-time All-Star enjoyed one of his best seasons in 2014, posting a 2.04 ERA with 39 saves and a career-low 0.905 WHIP.

Those numbers would slot nicely into any bullpen in baseball. So why isn’t there more interest?

Certainly money is a factor. But while $13 million is a lot to toss at a reliever, look at the four-year, $46 million contract the Chicago White Sox just handed closer David Robertson. 

More specifically, Chicago will pay Robertson $13 million in 2018, his age-33 season. Papelbon just turned 34.

On the other hand, Rosenthal reports, “Papelbon likely will require the Brewers or any other team on his no-trade list to guarantee his option before approving a trade.” The deal then effectively becomes two years, $26 million. Hence the desire for the Phils to eat some cash.

OK, now let’s talk attitude. Recall the incident in September when Papelbon blew a three-run lead against the Miami Marlins, then responded to the boo birds at Citizens Bank Park with an exaggerated crotch grab.

MLB lowered the hammer, fining Papelbon an undisclosed amount and suspending him for seven games.

Some of that can be chalked up to pitching in a losing environment. Put Papelbon on a winner, like in his salad days with the Boston Red Sox, and watch his attitude magically adjust. (Though, to be fair, his tenure in Beantown also ended with a little bad blood.)

According to Rosenthal, the Phillies want a “top prospect” if they’re going to swallow a significant portion of Papelbon’s contract. 

That’s probably not going to happen. But surely there’s some middle ground between that and swapping albatrosses. Surely there’s a win-now club willing to part with young talent in exchange for an experienced door slammer with gas in the tank? (Great, now he’s got me mixing metaphors.) 

At this point, the most likely scenario involves Papelbon spending a few more semi-miserable months in Philadelphia and getting dangled at the deadline, when part of his annual salary will be paid and teams in the heat of the race will be more apt to part with prospects. 

Here’s betting Papelbon will be an asset wherever he ultimately lands—and a non-toxic one at that.

All statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference. 

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The rumor mill doesn’t care what the calendar says. Just because we sit only two weeks away from the start of spring training and about a month off from Cactus and Grapefruit League action getting underway doesn’t stop it from spinning, and this past week has seen the mill pick up some serious speed.

James Shields and Yoan Moncada, the two biggest names left on the free-agent market, have seen their markets begin to take shape, while things are picking up on the trade front as well, as we could see a five-time All-Star soon change uniforms.

Let’s try and make sense of it all in this week’s edition of Fact or Fiction.

Begin Slideshow

The Philadelphia Phillies continue to shop two prominent pitchers whose names will festoon the MLB rumor mill until a resolution is reached.

It’s no secret that the 2008 World Series champions are trending southward. Following a string of five consecutive National League East titles, the Phillies have not finished above .500 in the last three years, stamping 73 wins in each of the past two seasons.

Many projection models anticipate an even worse 2015 from the elderly club. Baseball Prospectus‘ PECOTA and FanGraphs each forecast Philadelphia landing MLB’s worst record. There’s no relief in sight either, as ESPN’s Keith Law gave its farm system a No. 25 overall ranking. 

Given the bleak situation, general manger Ruben Amaro Jr. must dangle the few valuable assets remaining in his arsenal. That includes ace Cole Hamels, the team’s best player, and Jonathan Papelbon, a highly regarded closer with one year left on his contract.

These two pitchers have frequented trade discussions for months, but nothing has materialized. Let’s see if the latest chatter stands any chance at changing that stagnancy.  

Cole Hamels

Other than Papelbon, Chase Utley and Cliff Lee—who made just 13 starts last season due to an ankle injury—the Phillies are running out of currency to cash out for young talent. Perhaps some fans take that as reasoning to retain the 31-year-old righty, but that would mean wasting the remnants of Hamels’ peak years on a bottom-dwelling club.

He would certainly heat up the hot stove after notching a career-low 2.46 ERA last season. As stable as they come, he has amassed over 200 innings through each of the past five seasons.

A popular talking point during the winter meetings, possible deals have largely subsided in recent weeks. Yet Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal welcomed back an old speculated suitor, even if it remains a long shot.

Pitching is rarely a problem for the San Diego Padres, who registered a 3.27 team ERA last season. They can plug a decent hurler in there and watch Petco Park morph him into an ace.

So what would an actual ace in Hamels accomplish inside the pitcher-friendly park? Last season, he twirled an 1.82 ERA outside Citizens Bank Park, but his career home/road splits don’t reflect a significant difference.

He has dominated in eight career starts at Petco, albeit against weak Padres lineups. 

San Diego has a solid rotation nucleus in Tyson Ross, Andrew Cashner and Ian Kennedy, but there are no certainties after that. Odrisamer Despaigne held his own but posted a 5.31 ERA away from Petco. A.J. Preller rolled the dice on Josh Johnson and Brandon Morrow in hopes of receiving healthy innings from one or the other. Don’t hold your breath. 

Young arms Robbie Erlin and Matt Wisler are also waiting their turn for a permanent promotion. San Diego is hardly bereft of options, but one can see why it would consider an upgrade after making several high-impact splashes on offense.

Chances are Preller already used up too much capital to repaint his batting order, but don’t say never on a guy who landed three big-name outfielders in one offseason.

Jonathan Papelbon

On paper, trading Papelbon is a slam dunk. Last-place teams have no need for 34-year-old relief pitchers set to earn $13 million, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts. A team on the edge of contention, however, will derive more use from his services.

Two suitors have emerged in the Toronto Blue Jays and Milwaukee Brewers. While negotiations are believed to have hit a wall, MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki assured that the Phillies “are still talking” to both squads:

The Blue Jays don’t have last year’s closer as a fallback option. Casey Janssen already moved on, agreeing to a one-year contract with the Washington Nationals. In order to finally climb the American League East ladder, Toronto will need to bolster a bullpen that touted a 4.09 team ERA in 2014.

Papelbon does not come without his flaws. Once a lights-out stopper, his strikeouts per nine innings declined to a modest 8.55 last season. A steady dip in velocity, via FanGraphs, explains the decreasing punchouts for a man with a 10.34 career K/9 rate.

Yet he still managed a 2.04 ERA last year, and that tally has only veered over 3.00 once during 10 MLB seasons. Regression concerns will make some clubs a tad reticent, but Papelbon’s salary is a larger concern.

It wouldn’t be a major problem with a deal guaranteed to end after 2015. He also, however, carries a $13 million 2016 vesting option that will activate if he finishes 48 games this season. Last year, he completed 52.

If the Phillies can’t find a taker, expect an uncomfortable scenario where they monitor his appearances in hopes of avoiding that mark. If he could help Milwaukee or Toronto play October baseball, the looming option becomes less of a problem.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com