Lukewarm Stove: Ross, Hamels, Chapman, Samardzija, Tulowitzki, More

Jul 28, 2015

What a day. Again. It started with Troy Tulowitzki being dealt to the Blue Jays right around midnight last night, continued with Ben Zobrist heading to the Royals, the Phillies seeking best offers on Cole Hamels, and then the Phillies dealing Jonathan Papelbon to the Nationals.

There’ve been other deals at the periphery, with the Angels picking up David DeJesus (Rays) and David Murphy (Indians) in trade at basically the same time (worried about Mike Trout?). And this all comes after a very busy day around the game yesterday. Save some for the deadline, eh boys?

Yesterday’s biggest Cubs rumors – Starlin Castro and Tyson Ross – may or may not be connected, but it’s not entirely clear that the Padres are going to move Ross, who is cost-controlled and highly-effective. Moreover, other teams are highly interested (because obviously). Ken Rosenthal notes that the Astros are among those teams. Also on the Astros:

Additional confirmation tonight that #Astros are making a strong effort for Hamels. How open he is to approving a deal to HOU is not known.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 28, 2015

I still think the Dodgers are the favorites on Hamels until he’s dealt elsewhere (even as I can acknowledge that the Rangers (or even the Cubs) might have an easier time putting together the right package), but they’re still not going to give up one of their top dogs:

#Dodgers prioritizing Hamels. Want to exhaust possibility b4 act on Plan B such as Gallardo, etc. Still insist will not move Seager/Urias

— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) July 28, 2015

In any case on Hamels, you can bet that the Phillies aren’t going to risk anything before the deadline – his Thursday start has now been pushed back to Friday evening. In other words, unless he’s not traded, he won’t start for the Phillies again.

If the Giants are as into Cole Hamels as many say they are, it’ll be tough for them to actually get him – Bob Nightengale notes that it’s unlikely they can put together a winning prospect package.

The Diamondbacks continue to confound, with their latest effort being a possible pursuit of Aroldis Chapman (Jeff Passan). Chapman is under control through next year, and, unless the Diamondbacks think they’re going to make a run in the next two months, they’d be paying an extreme premium for a guy from whom they’d only get value in 2016. That seems … silly.

The Blue Jays seems to be the team most connected to Jeff Samardzija, and, after picking up Tulowitzki, it seems like their incentive to patch the rotation would be even stronger. But, for whatever it’s worth:

Cubs fit the profile of a team that can offer multiple position players for Samardzija, who as a rental may not yield high-end return.

— Phil Rogers (@philgrogers) July 28, 2015

Speaking of the Tulowitzki trade, you’re going to want to read Jeff Passan’s inside account of how it happened, how Tulowitzki was informed, and how apparently troubled the Rockies’ front office and ownership situation has been. It’s also crazy now to think about the fact that Tulowitzki’s manager had to pull him and tell him of the deal in the 9th inning, as his team was coming back to take the lead and then blowing the game, all in one short stretch. Just a bizarre thing.

The Rockies might also be looking to deal Carlos Gonzalez, but that might not come before the Trade Deadline.

Not only are the Tigers not necessarily looking to sell yet, they’re reportedly looking to buy. Mike Leake might be a target (Bob Nightengale).

Also, if you missed it: Theo Epstein talked about the Cubs’ deadline plans this week.

written by

Brett Taylor

Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here. Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.

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