Minor Moves: Juan Miranda
Here are some of the day's minor transactions, with the newest moves at the top of the page…
- The Rays released Juan Miranda, according to the International League's transactions page. Miranda had just a .580 OPS in 176 plate appearances for Triple-A Durham after signing a minor league deal with the Rays last December. Miranda, 29, hit .213/.315/.402 in 202 plate appearances with the Diamondbacks last season.
Rays Sign Four To Minor League Deals
The Rays have signed Juan Miranda, Matt Mangini, Jhonny Nunez, and Ricky Orta to minor league contracts, tweets Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times.
Of the four signings, the 28-year-old Miranda is the most intriguing. He spent a good chunk of 2011 in the bigs with the Diamondbacks, posting a .717 OPS in 202 plate appearances.
Outrighted To Triple-A: Juan Miranda
Here's where we'll keep track of which players get outrighted to the minors…
- The D'Backs announced that they outrighted Juan Miranda to Triple-A Reno to create roster space for Geoff Blum and Brandon Allen. The 28-year-old posted a .213/.315/.402 line with seven home runs in 202 plate appearances for the D'Backs, who acquired him from the Yankees in a November trade.
D’Backs Notes: Kennedy, Miranda, Skaggs, Young
With the Cactus League in full swing, let's check out some news about the team that plays in Arizona year-round…
- The Diamondbacks renewed the contracts of Ian Kennedy and Juan Miranda for the 2011 season, according to a team press release. This means the club couldn't agree to terms on a one-year contract with either pre-arbitration player. Madison Bumgarner, Tommy Hanson and Jason Berken are a few of the notable pre-arb players who have settled for renewals this spring.
- The Snakes were pretty roundly criticized for not getting enough in return for Dan Haren last summer, but Tyler Skaggs (one of the prospects Arizona acquired in the deal with the Angels) tells Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic that he wants to "prove people wrong, to show people that I'm worth the trade." Skaggs, 19, was the 40th overall pick in the 2009 amateur draft, and he has a 3.16 ERA, a 4.26 K/BB ratio and a 9.3 K/9 rate in two minor league seasons.
- Piecoro also comments on the recent Michael Young talks between the D'Backs and Rangers, saying he is "being told not to expect it to happen." Piecoro thinks even if the Rangers agree to pay most of Young's $48MM salary over the next three years, the D'Backs will still have to pay some of it, and "wouldn’t that money be better spent on the draft or on international signings?" Piecoro also doesn't think the Diamondbacks should deal away young players for Young, except for possibly Brandon Allen, "whom they don’t seem to value anyway."
Yankees Acquire Scott Allen For Juan Miranda
It's no blockbuster, but Kevin Towers and Brian Cashman made a deal today. The Yankees acquired right-hander Scott Allen from the Diamondbacks for first baseman Juan Miranda, according to a team press release.
The Diamondbacks chose Allen, 19, in the 11th round of the 2009 draft. In 95 2/3 innings over two seasons, he has a 3.95 ERA with 8.9 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9. He won't figure into the Yankees' big league plans for a while, but Miranda could compete for Arizona's first base job in 2011.
Miranda, now 27, has played parts of three seasons with the Yankees and has a .253/.330/.458 line in 94 big league plate appearances. With Mark Teixeira at first base and Jorge Posada DHing, the Yankees don't have much room for Miranda, who has a .281/.367/.478 line in 1779 minor league plate appearances. He's out of options, so the D'Backs will have to expose him to waivers to send him to the minor leagues.
Towers worked for the Yankees in 2010, so he knows their farm system – and their general manager – well. It's not the first time in recent history the two GMs have matched up on a trade. Cashman acquired Chad Gaudin from Towers' Padres in 2009 and acquired Darrell May from San Diego for Paul Quantrill and Tim Redding in 2005.
Odds & Ends: Willis, Pierzynski, Mets, Miranda
Links for Sunday….
- Matthew Carruth at FanGraphs says that Dontrelle Willis could go from being a big sunk cost to a valuable investment if he flees to an NL club for the league minimum.
- Mark Gonzales of The Chicago Tribune reminds us that A.J. Pierzynski's ten-and-five rights kick in on June 14th, just over two weeks away. At that point the catcher will be able to veto any trade.
- Baseball America's Jim Callis says (via Twitter) that he remains unconvinced that the Mets would exceed MLB's recommended slot bonus in next month's draft. The Amazin's hold the seventh overall pick.
- Chad Jennings of The Journal News chronicles the story of Yankees' DH Juan Miranda, who wasn't able to successfully defect from Cuba until his seventh attempt.
- In his latest Inbox column at MLB.com, Joe Frisaro says that if the Marlins look to make any additions prior to this year's deadline, they will likely come in the form of bullpen arms. Florida's rotation has compiled a 3.65 ERA this season, but its bullpen ranks 11th in the NL at 4.46.
- More bad news for Indians fans from MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince: Grady Sizemore will undergo knee surgery that could potentially end his season.
- After being designated for assignment, Willis would like to play for a West Coast team, according to FOX Sports' Jon Paul Morosi. Morosi says the Diamondbacks are Willis' first choice.
- In a pair of tweets, Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times discusses the Paul Konerko-to-the-Angels speculation we mentioned this morning.
- Joel Sherman of the New York Post expects the Yankees to sign Cliff Lee after this season, and ESPN.com's Buster Olney (Insider-only link) agrees. One AL exec tells Sherman that he has "no doubt" the Yanks will sign the left-hander.
- Within the same ESPN.com piece, Olney opines that the Tigers could be the most logical fit for Roy Oswalt. Drew Sharp of the Detroit Free Press would like to see the Tigers make a run at the Astros' ace, while Morosi (via Twitter) thinks Lee makes more sense for the Tigers.
- Scott Schoeneweis cleared waivers and is now a free agent, tweets Amalie Benjamin of the Boston Globe. The Red Sox designated the lefty for assignment earlier this month.
- Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer examines the challenge Chris Antonetti will face when he takes over as the Indians' GM after this season.
- Adeiny Hechavarria is making a strong first impression at Single-A Dunedin, according to the Toronto Sun's Bob Elliott.
Odds & Ends: Beltre, Lyon, Nats, Rangers
Some more links for your Thursday night…
- John Tomase of the Boston Herald says the Red Sox believe Adrian Beltre to be "one of the most game-changing defenders in the majors."
- Two GMs tell Tom Verducci of SI.com that they were shocked to see the Astros commit $15MM to Brandon Lyon.
- Verducci reports that the Yankees called the Tigers about Curtis Granderson before the World Series began.
- The Nats still plan on adding multiple veteran starters, according to Thomas Boswell of the Washington Post.
- Kevin Sherrington of the Dallas Morning News says the Rangers have to be "extremely selective with multi-year deals, stock a good farm system, fill in with low-risk, high-reward short-timers and churn regularly." So far, Sherrington likes Jon Daniels' strategy.
- MLB.com's Ian Browne expects Mike Lowell to be a positive presence in the Texas clubhouse.
- Dodgers GM Ned Colletti tells MLB.com's Ken Gurnick that he's "not close" on any deals.
- Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski told Steve Kornacki of MLive.com that there's a chance Phil Coke starts in Detroit.
- The D'Backs don't appear to have much money to spend, according to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic.
- Marlins president Larry Beinfest tells MLB.com's Joe Frisaro that "there is still some stuff simmering." The club hopes to trade Dan Uggla, according to Frisaro.
- Orioles starter Brian Matusz told Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun that he grew up watching Kevin Millwood pitch for the Braves. Now, the two will be teammates.
- Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times reports that the Dodgers turned down a Japanese club that wanted to buy Eric Stults' contract.
- Brian Cashman told Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News that Juan Miranda could potentially DH for the Yanks next year.
Yankees Sign Cuban Defector Juan Miranda
The Yankees signed another Cuban defector, this time a position player. Juan Miranda, who is 23ish, signed for four years and $2MM. A small price to pay if there’s any decent chance he becomes an average regular.
Miranda plays first base and the outfield, presumably left. There isn’t much scouting info on him floating about; ESPN quoted a guy saying he can hit .280 with 20 HR eventually. Let’s see him do something in Double A first.
This shouldn’t affect the Yanks’ pursuit of a first baseman; Doug Mientkiewicz still appears to be on the radar. The A’s could also sign Mientkiewicz.