As always, a slew of players have suffered serious injuries this year. My question to you: which one will ultimately hurt the player's team the most? Leaving Manny Ramirez aside, examples include Carlos Quentin, Josh Hamilton, Aramis Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez, Joe Mauer, Jose Reyes, Rickie Weeks, Carlos Delgado, Jake Peavy, Brett Myers, Ervin Santana, Brandon Webb, Jose Valverde, and John Lackey. Who's your pick?
Archives for June 2009
Arguellez, Iglesias Declared Free Agents
SUNDAY, 4:52pm: Baseball Prospectus' Kiley McDaniel explains the situation at greater length. The two Cubans are free to sign with any club, but not before thorough background checks are administered.
FRIDAY, 5:02pm: According to John Manuel of Baseball America, Cuban defectors Noel Arguellez and Jose Iglesias have been declared free agents by Major League Baseball after clearing the unblocking process. Both players defected while in Canada last July for the World Junior Championships.
Arguellez is a 19-yr old lefthanded pitcher that Manuel says has drawn Francisco Liriano comparisons. Iglesias, also 19, is said to be a shortstop in the Orlando Cabrera mold. Jamie Torrez, the agent for both players, says he has been contacted by several teams already, but did not speculate on any bonus demands.
Marlins Rumors: Hermida, Francoeur, Ross
Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald has a couple of baseball-related updates in his most recent "Florida Sports Buzz" column:
- The Marlins have received several calls about Jeremy Hermida, but the offers "haven't been enticing." Sounds like it'll take a good chunk of talent to land the 25-year-old outfielder, who is hitting .276/.373/.421 with eight home runs and 29 RBI in 228 at-bats this season.
- Altanta offered Jeff Francoeur straight up for Cody Ross last week, but the Marlins quickly declined. For reference, Francoeur, 25, is batting .250/.282/.345 this season with four home runs and 29 RBI. Ross, 28, is batting .270/.320/.482 with 10 home runs and 39 RBI.
If the Braves are truly shopping Francoeur, what other clubs make sense? A change of scenery would probably serve him well.
Phillies Sign Top Draft Pick
According to Todd Zolecki of MLB.com, the Phillies have reached a deal with second-round draft pick Kelly Dugan.
Dugan, a switch-hitting high school outfielder from California, was actually the club's first overall selection. Phillies assistant general manager Benny Looper had some nice compliments for the kid on Saturday evening:
"I think several things impressed me," said Looper. "A lot of it isn't what I saw, but what I know about his character. His personality. His work ethic. What we were able to see was the athleticism and the tools. The run tool. The throw tool. He's a switch-hitter. He's got a good looking swing."
Dugan is expected to report to rookie ball later this month.
Izzy To Hang Up His Spikes?
Rays right-hander Jason Isringhausen was placed on the 60-day disabled list Sunday morning with an injury to his surgically-repaired right elbow, leading some in the media, including the St. Petersburg Times' Joe Smith, to speculate that the 36-year-old former closer may soon call it a career.
If he never throws another major league pitch, Isringhausen would finish up with a 3.60 career earned run average and 293 saves (good enough for 22nd all time).
The Cardinals declined to offer him arbitration this winter and he went on to sign a minor league contract with Tampa Bay.
Brad Penny Drawing Interest
A major league source informed the Boston Globe's Nick Carfado Sunday that the Red Sox "have fielded multiple calls and some offers" for Brad Penny. As Carfado writes,
So far the Red Sox, who feel they are dealing in a position of strength, haven't heard anything that would want to make them deal the right-hander even with a logjam in their starting rotation. The source indicated the Sox like their depth situation and would need to be overwhelmed to make a deal. While that scenario could take place as teams get more desperate to find pitching, the Red Sox feel they can hold off even it if creates tough decisions internally.
"I think they learned from the Bronson Arroyo situation that depth is fleeting," said the major league source. "They won't make that mistake again."
Penny, a 31-year-old right-hander, is 5-2 this season with a 5.32 ERA, 1.56 WHIP and 44/20 K/BB ratio. This report jives with Jon Heyman's tweet from yesterday. We discovered last week that the Phillies have some level of interest.
Eric Chavez To Retire?
Athletics manager Bob Geren informed the San Francisco Chronicle's Henry Schulman this afternoon that Eric Chavez is headed for back surgery. The Oakland third baseman told the Chronicle's Susan Slusser last month that another procedure "would spell the end to his career," leaving his body "too unstable for baseball."
Chavez, 31, has a career batting line of .268/.345/.482 over 11 major league seasons, but has appeared in just 121 games since the start of the '07 season.
Brewers Sign First-Round Pick
SUNDAY, 1:06pm: The Brewers official announced the signing of Arnett this morning along with 20 other draftees. Here's the press release.
SATURDAY, 3:44pm: According to MLB.com's Adam McCalvy, the Brewers have a press conference scheduled for 10:30am CST tomorrow, presumably to announce the signing of first-round pick Eric Arnett.
Arnett, a right-hander out of Indiana University, told the world he was officially a Brewer through his Twitter account Friday morning. He's expected to land a $1.2MM signing bonus and immediately report to rookie ball.
Odds & Ends: Donald, DeRosa, Tigers, Boras
Three years ago today the Diamondbacks cut ties with righthander Russ Ortiz. With $22MM remaining on the four year, $33MM deal he signed before the 2005 season, Ortiz became the highest paid player ever to be released by a Major League team.
On to the links…
- Despite his knee injury, Jason Donald remains one of the Phillies' best trade chips according to Scott Lauber.
- Derrick Goold writes that Mark DeRosa's trade value is rising with the team's recent hot streak.
- The Detroit Free Press polled it's readers, and 32.7% want to see the Tigers trade for a bullpen arm to stay in contention.
- Bill Shaikin writes about master negotiator Scott Boras and his affect on the draft.
- Kurt Streeter reports that 36-year-old Jose Lima is still hoping to make it back to the big leagues. Lima Time is currently 1-1 with a 3.16 ERA for the independent Long Beach Armada, and last pitched in the big leagues for the Mets in 2006.
- ESPN's Jorge Arangure tweets that the Padres are targetting Dominican outfielder Jose Alberta Pena.
- Miami linebacker Glenn Cook was surprised when the Cubs drafted him in the 48th round because he hasn't played baseball in six years.
Bryce Harper Enrolls In Junior College
According to Matt Youmans of The Las Vegas Review-Journal, 16-yr old phenom Bryce Harper has enrolled at the College of Southern Nevada, and plans to attend classes this August. He will also get his GED this fall. Because CSN is a two-year institution, the move allows Harper to be eligible for the 2010 draft rather than waiting for 2011, when he would graduate high school.
Harper was introduced to the masses in a SI feature last month, and at the moment is the odds on favorite to go first overall in either the 2010 or 2011 drafts.
