Rosenthal: Neal Cotts May be In Demand

[wildcat2237]

I thought it was a misprint when I read it, but apparently according to Ken Rosthenthal Neal Cotts may draw some attention. It would be great just to dump his salary.

 

On the negative side, K-Rod is drawing limited interest due to his salary. That's a shame since its rumored that the Marlins were willing to give more for K-rod this winter than the he ending up taking from the Brewers this winter. You'd think after a good half season there would be some interest.

 

Here is the tidbit from MLBtraderumors:

 

The Brewers aren’t receiving very strong interest in Francisco Rodriguez, likely in part due to his backloaded contract, Rosenthal hears. K-Rod is still owed $1.95MM in 2015, plus $9.5MM in 2016 between his salary and the buyout on a $6MM club option for the 2017 season. Lefty Neal Cotts, however, figures to be in demand and may even be of interest to his former club, the Rangers, Rosenthal writes. Cotts’s 4.30 ERA isn’t anything to write home about, but he’s held lefties to a .546 OPS.

 

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2015/06/rosenthals-latest-desmond-toussaint-d-backs-samardzija-cotts.html

 

http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/story/washington-nationals-ian-desmond-non-waiver-deadline-buyers-sellers-ken-rosenthal-notes-062415?vid=471003715773

[nate82]

I am not sure why this is a surprise as LH relievers are always in demand. You are not going to get much even if Cotts had a zero ERA.

 

At best you are looking at a AAAA player for him.

[wildcat2237]

I am not sure why this is a surprise as LH relievers are always in demand. You are not going to get much even if Cotts had a zero ERA.

 

At best you are looking at a AAAA player for him.

 

That at least gets his salary off the books.

 

Guess I figured there would be other, better, LH relievers on the market and the brewers would get stuck holding the bag.

[torts]

his salary? he's not making that much money.. its not like the Brewers are broke

[reillymcshane]

I want to be rid of Cotts (and Broxton) simply because they do not represent the future of the team. Why continue to trot out either guy when they are almost assuredly gone after the season?

 

Milwaukee needs to start building for the future - that means letting potential big leaguers get their chance. I'd rather see Jaye Chapman, David Goforth or Ariel Pena get some big league experience rather than watch Broxton again. At AA Michael Strong and Damien Magnifico look like they could be part of the bullpen in a year or so as well. Plus there are lots of arms at AA and AAA who could be shifted to relieving.

 

Cotts has pitched pretty well of late, but he'll never net us much. Broxton has been plain bad. So you get rid of them - eating salary as needed. Let's let guys who could be part of our next winning team start showing us what they can do.

[torts]

he's making $3 million dollars. on a payroll over 100 million. So trading him saves 1.5 million. thats literally nothing (1% of the team payroll), and a moot talking point.

[LouisEly]

In 13 outings covering the last five weeks, in 15.1 innings has given up 13 hits (four in one outing), 2 earned runs, 5 walks, and struck out 18. I believe in the Royals outing where he gave up four hits and the two earned runs he was victimized by a poor decision to play the infield in which resulted in at least two extra hits and one extra earned run that wouldn't have happened if the infield had been playing back. All but one of his outings covered multiple batters - he wasn't being used as a LOOGY.

 

For the season he has a .213 OBP and .546 OPS vs. LHH. Any team that is competing against a team stacked with lefties would love to have him.

 

Regarding K-Rod and a lack of interest, I think it has very little to do with his contract and everything to do with practically all teams in contention with the exception of Toronto having solid closers and set-up men. With Papelbon making $13M this year, and a $13M option vesting if he finishes 55 games this year, K-Rod's contract is a bargain. And frankly, the way that K-Rod has been pitching, he's a bargain anyway at $6-7M/year - if he keeps pitching anywhere near like he has been, why the hell would you buy him out?

[JohnBriggs12]

he's making $3 million dollars. on a payroll over 100 million. So trading him saves 1.5 million. thats literally nothing (1% of the team payroll), and a moot talking point.

 

The company I work for has revenues not that far out of the range of the Brewers. Saving $1.5 million in costs is in fact significant to the bottom line to a company the size of the Brewers. We're not talking about a firm that has several billion in revenues.

[LouisEly]

Cotts himself won't bring back a top prospect, but I wonder if the Brewers might think outside the box and add a C-level prospect with Cotts to up the return. Cotts plus one of Roache, Goforth, Magnifico, Neuhaus, Yadiel Rivera, Hellweg, etc., would that be enough to get a B level prospect?

[brewmann04]

Neuhaus is still young and Gorforth and Magnifico are possible cheap Bullpen Arms

[Raw Biz]

I would put Rivera in the B/B- class of prospects now. He may have started out as a C but I think he's improved tremendously.

 

If we're giving up Yadiel Rivera, we better be getting a damn good prospect in return. He's arguably the best defensive player at the most important defensive position in our system and he's improved his hitting at every level (with the exception of his slow start this year since being called up to AAA).

[LouisEly]

Except for 32 games at Biloxi this season, Rivera has never put up as much as a .700 OPS line with a career OBP of <.300. Now 23, you can't play the age card much longer. That doesn't translate to much major league success, and to me is a C, maybe C+, prospect. Maybe he'll develop, but odd are he won't hit enough to be a starter, thus why he's generally considered a C prospect.

 

I'd trade Goforth or Magnifico for a B level SP or 3B in a heartbeat. And if Neuhaus truly can't handle 3B or SS defensively and is limited to 2B, the Brewers might be better off packaging him to get a SP or 3B. For reference, Tyrone Taylor, Coulter, Harrison, and Gatewood are generally considered B level prospects. I'd trade Goforth or Magnifico plus Cotts for any one of those four.

 

You have to give up quality to get quality. I'm talking about getting a better prospect back that what those guys I mentioned are, that's the point.

[brewcrewdue80]

Except for 32 games at Biloxi this season, Rivera has never put up as much as a .700 OPS line with a career OBP of <.300. Now 23, you can't play the age card much longer. That doesn't translate to much major league success, and to me is a C, maybe C+, prospect. Maybe he'll develop, but odd are he won't hit enough to be a starter, thus why he's generally considered a C prospect.

 

I'd trade Goforth or Magnifico for a B level SP or 3B in a heartbeat. And if Neuhaus truly can't handle 3B or SS defensively and is limited to 2B, the Brewers might be better off packaging him to get a SP or 3B. For reference, Tyrone Taylor, Coulter, Harrison, and Gatewood are generally considered B level prospects. I'd trade Goforth or Magnifico plus Cotts for any one of those four.

 

You have to give up quality to get quality. I'm talking about getting a better prospect back that what those guys I mentioned are, that's the point.

 

 

Are we buying or selling? Aside from Arcia or Medeiros. Don't fathom any team trading a prospect for prospect.

[Eye Black]

Speculation from Twins beat writer Mike Berardino that they may have interest in Neal Cotts.

 

@MikeBerardino: I'm told Terry Ryan has checked in with Doug Melvin recently, but talks between #MNTwins and #Brewers have only been preliminary.

@MikeBerardino: Keep an eye on veteran LHP Neal Cotts. Had a miserable start for #Brewers, but 1.02 ERA, .536 OPS allowed, 10.19 K/9 past 17 outings.

One additional option in trading with the Twins is that their competitive balance pick can be acquired via trade. I don't think the Comp A and Comp B order is set until later this month, but I wouldn't rule out the Brewers seeking to pick up an additional draft pick for 2016.

[JohnBriggs12]

Twins have loaded farm system to be sure with lots of intriguing guys. Don't think Cotts alone gets all that much though. Might need to package him.

[reillymcshane]

Cotts won't get anything big. Perhaps a bullpen arm at A or AA ball. Or perhaps he can be a sweetener in a different deal.

 

I give Cotts a lot of credit. He started out horrible, but has really has been effective for a while now. I railed on the guy, but he's shown good resilience and just kept getting better. If Milwaukee was in the pennant race, I'd see him as a quality part of the pen.

[Mudville9]

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2015/07/ricky-nolasco-to-undergo-ankle-surgery.html

 

Looks like Nolasco is out for about two months. What about a package of Lohse and Cotts for a B-ish prospect. Not sure what they have, but a live arm or two in A or A+. Or as someone mentioned in a previous post as for a decent arm or bat plus their comp pick. Might turn out to be a very nice trade a few years down the road.

[JohnBriggs12]

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2015/07/ricky-nolasco-to-undergo-ankle-surgery.html

 

Looks like Nolasco is out for about two months. What about a package of Lohse and Cotts for a B-ish prospect. Not sure what they have, but a live arm or two in A or A+. Or as someone mentioned in a previous post as for a decent arm or bat plus their comp pick. Might turn out to be a very nice trade a few years down the road.

 

Hard to imagine any scout watching Lohse lately would recommend trading for him. Brian Anderson kept trying to spin it in his favor last night that he limited the damage and saying how frustrated he was, blah, blah blah, but there's no getting around the fact he's been hit hard repeatedly this year.

[Roderick]

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2015/07/ricky-nolasco-to-undergo-ankle-surgery.html

 

Looks like Nolasco is out for about two months. What about a package of Lohse and Cotts for a B-ish prospect. Not sure what they have, but a live arm or two in A or A+. Or as someone mentioned in a previous post as for a decent arm or bat plus their comp pick. Might turn out to be a very nice trade a few years down the road.

 

You would have to make that Lohse plus $4.5M (of the $5.5M owed) plus Cotts for a B prospect.

[SRB]

Lohse seems like a guy who would pitch for the Twins.

[brewmann04]

JB i was laughing at the same thing last night.

[superfly]

You guys think Lohse has been bad? He looks like an all star compared to Ricky Nolasco over here. I think there is truth to the Cotts rumor though, they need bullpen help in the worst way...especially LHP.

[brewmann04]

maybe you never know what a desperate team will do.

[molitor fan]

Gomez and Cotts for Kepler, Kohl Stewart and Alex Meyer is my guess on what could occur if the two teams go big on a deal

[Raw Biz]

Gomez and Cotts for Kepler, Kohl Stewart and Alex Meyer is my guess on what could occur if the two teams go big on a deal

 

I don't think I'd want Meyer. He's got good stuff but he has control issues. The Brewers, for whatever reason, just have not been able to work with these types of pitchers to harness their control. I'd much rather take someone who doesn't throw as hard, or even has less stuff, but that can control his pitches. Swap Meyer for Berrios and I'm on board.