Orioles Ink Freddy Guzman
According to the Minor League Baseball transactions feed, the Orioles signed free agent OF Freddy Guzman and assigned him to AAA Norfolk. The 28-year-old Guzman last appeared in the majors in '07 for the Rangers. He'll provide some minor-league depth.
Odds & Ends: A’s, Yankees, Brewers
Some links to peruse with your Sunday brunch:
- The A's are apparently in the process of finalizing a five-year naming rights contract with Verizon for Oakland Alameda County Coliseum, say Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross at the San Francisco Chronicle. Ownership could come into a lot of cash that way.
- John Harper at the New York Daily News believes the Yanks' handling of the Red Sox this weekend means Yankees GM Brian Cashman has outmaneuvered Theo Epstein.
- The Brewers have signed their fifth-round pick, D'Vontrey Richardson, but terms haven't been disclosed just yet, says Tom Haudricourt at the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
- Phil Rogers at the Baltimore Sun believes that the Indians' and Pirates' firesales "raise competitiveness issues."
- Dan Novick at the Hardball Times asks the $64,000 question: "Why should I care about Alex Rios?"
Red Sox Put In Claim On Guzman?
With the recent injury to Jed Lowrie, the Red Sox have accelerated their search for a big-league shortstop. That search has led them to claim Cristian Guzman from the Nationals, says Nick Cafardo at the Boston Globe. The Nationals can either allow Guzman to be claimed, pull him back from waivers, or try to work out a deal in the next 48 hours.
Guzman is in the first year of a two-year, $16MM contract, and the Sox would likely be on the hook for his prorated salary this year and $8MM next year. The 31-year-old Guzman is batting .315/.333/.437 this year. If the Sox are awarded the claim, which has not been confirmed, this means he has likely been passed on by all of the NL and a significant portion of the AL, or that the Sox were awarded the claim over the other claiming team(s).
Pirates Sign Sixth-Rounder For $1.2MM
The Pirates continue to pony up quite a bit of cash into the draft in their efforts to rebuild: According to John Perrotto at Pirates Report, they signed their sixth-round pick, Zach Von Rosenberg, for a bonus of $1.2MM. Rosenberg, a 6-5 high-school righty, had a scholarship to Louisiana State.
It's another move in which the Pirates paid significantly more than the recommended slot bonus for their draft choice, as they gave $1.125MM to their eighth-round pick Colton Cain and $600k to their fourth-rounder Zack Dodson. They're a team on a mission. Dejan Kovacevic at the Pittsburth Post-Gazette projects that Von Rosenberg would immediately jump to the top 10 of the Pirates' farm system.
Dodgers Move In The Works?
The Dodgers - who made valiant attempts to acquire Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, and seemingly every other available pitcher before the deadline – are in a bit of a pitching bind right now because of injuries to Jason Schmidt and Chad Billingsley. Manager Joe Torre had some interesting comments prior to tonight's game against the Braves when asked about who the team's starter would be tomorrow, courtesy of MLB.com's David Ely:
"Right now, we're in the discussion area on that one," Torre said. "We're not at liberty to talk about it at this point. You'll know later on."
"Could be somebody from the outside," Torre said, "we haven't decided on that."
League rules prohibit teams from talking about specific players on waivers, and Ely speculates that they "could be in the process of making a trade for a pitcher off waivers." Depending on how tonight's game plays out, the Dodgers could opt to start longman Jeff Weaver if no deal is made.
Discussion: Alex Rios
If you're an MLBTR reader, you already know that Blue Jays outfielder Alex Rios has been claimed off waivers by a mystery team, although popular belief is that the White Sox are the ones who put the claim in. I think you already know where this is going…
Pretend you're the one calling the shots in Toronto, what would you do? Would you save the $60MM or so and let the claiming club have him without getting anything in return, or would you trade him? Maybe you decide to hold on to him and try to compete next year or deal him over the winter when more teams can get involved. Whatever you think, tell us about it in the comments.
If you're unfamiliar with how waiver deals work, make sure you check out our primer.
Odds & Ends: Tate, Phillies, Pirates, Indians
Links? You can't handle the links!
- ESPN's Jason Churchill notes that third overall pick Donovan Tate was expected to report to UNC's football camp today, and that the Padres are "mum on the negotiations between Tate's adviser, Scott Boras, and the club." If he doesn't sign, Tate will play both football and baseball for the Tar Heels.
- Peter Gammons of ESPN writes about the Phillies and the rotation depth they've build this year. It seems like whenever we hear a team has pitching depth, it disappears. It's like the Madden cover curse, but crueler.
- Pirates skipper John Russell admits that his club will "have to look to find a left-hander to solidify [the bullpen], either this season or in time for next season," reports John Perrotto of PiratesReport.com. The Bucs haven't had a southpaw in the pen since trading John Grabow to the Cubs at the deadline.
- Terry Pluto of The Cleveland Plain Dealer writes that even though the Indians recent moves were driven by money, they still made sense for the organization.
Yankees To DFA Josh Towers
Mark Feinsand of The NY Daily News tweets that the Yankees intend to designate righthander Josh Towers for assignment tomorrow to make room on the roster for recent pickup Chad Gaudin. Towers had been pitching with New York's Triple-A affiliate, but the team called him up today as bullpen insurance following the 15-inning Yanks-Red Sox marathon last night.
Towers had a 3.42 ERA in 15 games (14 starts) with Triple-A Scranton. He hasn't pitched in the majors since 2007.
Rays DFA Joe Dillon and R.J. Swindle
According to Marc Lancaster of The Tampa Tribune, the Rays designated both Joe Dillon and R.J. Swindle for assignment today. Lancaster explains that Tampa first designated Swindle for assignment to claim Russ Springer off waivers this morning, then had to do the same to Dillon to open an active roster spot.
Dillon hit a clean .300-.400-.400 in 35 plate appearances for Tampa, and Swindle didn't make an appearance with the team after being claimed off waivers just yesterday.
Rosenthal’s Full Count Video: Rios, Mulder, Moyer, Masterson
Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com has a new Full Count video up. Let's dive in…
- Whatever the Blue Jays do with Alex Rios will tell us everything we need to know about the team's financial state and their opinion of Rios. Toronto could shed more than $60MM in obligation by letting the claiming team have him.
- Some executives believe Rios still has some trade value, and if the Jays wait until the offseason they'd be able to negotiate with all 29 other clubs. The problem is that the free agent market will again be flooded with outfielders.
- Free agent southpaw Mark Mulder could be throwing for teams within 7-10 days. Mulder is working with Rick Peterson, his former pitching coach, in New Jersey this weekend, The pair recently corrected a "minor mechanical flaw," and Peterson told Mulder's agent Greg Clifton that he was shocked the pitcher was in such good shape.
- Teams are looking at Mulder for September, with the Yankees, Brewers, Dodgers and Rangers are among the cubs that have expressed interest. Just as a reminder, if Mulder joins a big league team after August 31st, he would be ineligible for the playoff roster.
- Forget about all that talk from Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. about going with a six-man rotation, Jamie Moyer will "almost certainly" head to the bullpen once Pedro Martinez is ready. The team just hasn't figured out how to break the news yet.
- Justin Masterson was throwing 93-97 in his first appearance with Cleveland, causing some club officials to wonder if he should be a closer down the line. Short term, the Indians need him in the rotation and he has the everything needed to become a third or fourth starter.