No NL West Teams on Yovani Gallardo’s No Trade List

While the Giants have not been publicly linked to Milwaukee’s Yovani Gallardo in the trade market yet, San Francisco has been linked to two other starting pitchers that could be traded in Ricky Nolasco and Bud Norris. What would make Bud Norris and Yovani Gallardo more attractive than Ricky Nolasco are the guaranteed years of team control they would get. Gallardo has a $13MM club option for the 2015 season, while Norris would be a free agent after the 2015 as he goes into his two arbitration years after this season.

Jun 26, 2013; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Yovani Gallardo pitches in the 1st inning against the Chicago Cubs at Miller Park. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

Chris Cotillo of MLBDailyDish and Tim Dierkes of MLB Trade Rumors have confirmed that Gallardo cannot block any trades to any NL West teams, since the teams he has on his no-trade list are the Orioles, Red Sox, Indians, Tigers, Astros, Angels, Yankees, Phillies, Pirates and Blue Jays.

Jun 21, 2013; San Francisco, CA, USA; Miami Marlins pitcher Ricky Nolasco (47) prepares to deliver a pitch against the San Francisco Giants in the second inning at AT

Comparing the three, all have pitched in at least sixteen games this year, with at least 95.0 IP. All of them strike out between 16-19% of hitters, while walking 6-8.5% of batters. There isn’t even a huge difference in their ERA, FIP, or xFIP. May be the biggest difference happens to be Gallardo’s rate of home runs allowed. Take a look at this table I created on Fangraphs and you’ll see what I’m talking about.

June 1, 2013; Anaheim, CA, USA; Houston Astros starting pitcher Bud Norris (20) pitches during the second inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

When it comes down to it, maybe it makes sense that the Giants are going after the more affordable Norris while they let the Dodgers take the lead for the pricier Nolasco. The Diamondbacks have been rumored to be interested in Gallardo, and he would certainly be an addition to their rotation. Word on the street from Miami is don’t expect to see a Nolasco deal get done today, but you know never know, some team could step in with something crazy and snatch Ricky away from the Marlins.