RealGM

The Yankees and Red Sox are neck and neck in the race to land reliever Scott Downs in a trade with the Blue Jays.

"It's the Yankees and Red Sox," said a source with knowledge of Toronto's plans. "And he is clearly the best reliever out there."

New York only has Boone Logan as a lefty reliever with Damaso Marte on the disabled list.

Fellow lefty Will Ohman is also available, but one talent evaluator said, "It's not even close between Downs and Ohman, Downs is far better."

Read more: http://www.realgmbaseball.com/src_wiret ... z0ut7AIT78

mods feel free to move this to the deadline thread after

Wow...do we really want to trade Downs to Yankees or Red Sox. Sure to cause us nightmares down the road....

The asking price better be very very high here.

He's a reliever, FAR from a nightmare

What are the intriguing prospects in there system?

Jays scouting Sox pitcher Roman Mendez

http://www.baseball-reference.com/minor ... ndez001rom
http://www.soxprospects.com/players/mendez-roman.htm

Mendez would likely be the throw in, not the principal prospect coming back.

Boy, his stock really appears to be on the rise. If a deal is likely, I'd really think twice about running him out there again. Want to maintain his last good impression.... And I personally have no problem trading him within the division.

ps - thanks for the tidbit on Mendez -- I'm salivating over this part:

His fastball sits between 94-96 mph and tops out at 99 mph with late hop,

Trade him for the best offer from whomever. Keep him for picks if the offers fall short. It is Frasor who absolutely must be dealt as if he ends up a class A, no-one will sign him and we are stuck.

luvtheteam wrote:Wow...do we really want to trade Downs to Yankees or Red Sox. Sure to cause us nightmares down the road....

The asking price better be very very high here.

Oh please. We're trading a 34 year old reliever ffs.

Jays are apparently asking for Joba in return for Downs. If true, that is not surprising. It would be buying low on a high upside talent who wouldn't even be available unless he was struggling. With that said, I doubt the Yankees would part with him for Downs. The Yanks are usually smarter than that. They could just sign Downs in the off-season, much like they will probably do with Cliff Lee.

I have a feeling Downs will ultimately stay the rest of the season. He is the only guaranteed Type A free agent on the team. If the Jays can't get talent for him, then just let him walk and see what the beefed up scouting staff can recoup for him next June. It is guys like Frasor, Gregg, and Buck that should be moved.

Michael Bradley wrote:Jays are apparently asking for Joba in return for Downs. If true, that is not surprising. It would be buying low on a high upside talent who wouldn't even be available unless he was struggling. With that said, I doubt the Yankees would part with him for Downs. The Yanks are usually smarter than that. They could just sign Downs in the off-season, much like they will probably do with Cliff Lee.

I have a feeling Downs will ultimately stay the rest of the season. He is the only guaranteed Type A free agent on the team. If the Jays can't get talent for him, then just let him walk and see what the beefed up scouting staff can recoup for him next June. It is guys like Frasor, Gregg, and Buck that should be moved.

yeah...they're not talking like he's on his way out:


http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseb ... hthin.html

Whether we get Joba back (which I doubt), at least AA has the balls to ask for Joba back instead of considering a trade for the bottom feeders in the Yanks farm system like JP would of prob taken by now.

An update I found, courtesy of:

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/toronto_blue_jays

"Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos has the best reliever available in Scott Downs, and he knows it. Check out these asking prices for two months of Downs' services, courtesy of George A. King III of the New York Post: Joba Chamberlain or Jesus Montero from the Yankees, Casey Kelly or Jose Iglesias from the Red Sox (Montero link from SI's Jon Heyman via Twitter). With almost 80 hours remaining until the trade deadline, it doesn't hurt to ask.

augustine wrote:An update I found, courtesy of:

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/toronto_blue_jays

"Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos has the best reliever available in Scott Downs, and he knows it. Check out these asking prices for two months of Downs' services, courtesy of George A. King III of the New York Post: Joba Chamberlain or Jesus Montero from the Yankees, Casey Kelly or Jose Iglesias from the Red Sox (Montero link from SI's Jon Heyman via Twitter). With almost 80 hours remaining until the trade deadline, it doesn't hurt to ask.

I like the way AA thinks in these situations. Why not ask for Joba while his stock is low? Sell high, buy low. JP would be telling the Yankees that Downs is better than Joba therefore he'll need Joba plus a top prospect.

If AA were able to pull off either of those deals, or even reasonable facimiles, for Scott Downs, he rockets to the top of my "Toronto Sports GM list", assuming he's not already there by the handful of deals he has done since assuming the post from that other guy who works at ESPN now.

Another update from http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/toronto_blue_jays

"Add the Giants to the teams pursuing Blue Jays lefty Scott Downs, based on this tweet from SI's Jon Heyman. From the right side, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote last night that they are "investigating" Seattle's Brandon League."

Anyone on the Giants that is of interest?

mwahahaha, AA making moves! So glad to have a competent GM in this city. Seems like it's been a long time.

augustine wrote:Another update from http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/toronto_blue_jays

"Add the Giants to the teams pursuing Blue Jays lefty Scott Downs, based on this tweet from SI's Jon Heyman. From the right side, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote last night that they are "investigating" Seattle's Brandon League."

Anyone on the Giants that is of interest?

Well if Montero or Joba are potentials, why not move up just a tiny bit more? Bumgarner or Posey sound like a pretty good return for Downs.

And yes, I know I'm being delusional.

Brandon Belt!! This kid is going to shoot up the prospect charts if he isn't already.