Callis On Draft Signings
Jim Callis at Baseball America notes that 20 of 32 first-rounders remain unsigned, and the last one was almost a month ago. He's got some very helpful news to expand upon our update on unsigned draft picks from last night. Check out his post for more specifics on names, but here's a quick rundown:
- MLB seems very keen on their push to keep draft pick signings at their recommended slot price tags. They've gone so far as to essentially re-calculate the contract given to Jiovanni Mier, the only first-rounder signed above slot, by saying that a part of his bonus is deferred, thus making his bonus officially below slot.
- Stephen Strasburg will likely have to settle somewhere in between the record $10.5MM bonus awarded to Mark Prior and the $50MM figure Scott Boras has previously suggested.
- Five of the top high school players had "alarmed clubs" with high bonus demands, some likely due to the fallout of Rick Porcello's record-setting $7MM figure from '07.
- High-school arm Zack Wheeler didn't demand nearly as much as his peers, but still figures to sign above slot.
- Aaron Crow, Grant Green and Alex White, all once highly-touted as top-five talent, are seeking a payout more in line with such touting despite their mid-round draft spots.
- In general, high-schoolers have been asking for more slot money than their draft positions called for even last year, where slot recommendations were higher.
Odds & Ends: Glaus, Prospects, Mariners
Some evening appetizers as (most) games commence this evening:
- Marc Hulet at Fangraphs gives part two of his rankings of the prospects moved this past deadline.
- A "back issue" has sidelined Troy Glaus yet again, reports Joe Strauss at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. This would seem to lessen the chances he gets traded this month even further.
- Matt Eddy at Baseball America has a comprehensive list of the most recent minor league transactions.
- Ben Badler at Baseball America gets official confirmation on all the Mariners' international signings, including the highly-touted Guillermo Pimentel, who received a $2MM bonus. In all, they signed ten amateurs, eight from Latin America and two from Korea.
- Impending free agent Adrian Beltre is back in the Mariners' lineup, says Geoff Baker at the Seattle Times, and says he's not concerned about his contract going forward.
- The Cubs signed their sixth-round pick, LHP Brooks Raley, for $750k, reports Jim Callis at Baseball America. That's a notable figure, as it's $600k more than the recommended slot and the highest figure above-slot we've seen before the deadline, Callis says.
Reds Rumors: Rolen, Harang, Arroyo
John Fay at the Cincinnati Enquirer caught up with Reds GM Walt Jocketty and got him to spill out some fairly interesting hot stove info. Let's dig in:
- From Jocketty's words, Fay believes that the Blue Jays may have kicked in more money to the Scott Rolen deal than originally thought. Fay was told it was $3MM for this year and next. The Cardinals are already on the hook for a $4MM signing bonus in 2010. The deal has been oft-maligned, but extra cash involved might make it slightly more palatable.
- With Edinson Volquez likely on the shelf for a large chunk of next season, Jocketty indicates that a trade to beef up the pitching staff could be on the horizon this offseason.
- Jocketty claims he's "not soliciting offers" for Bronson Arroyo or Aaron Harang, whose names have come up as potential waiver trade targets.
- Fay notes that the Reds have little wiggle room as far as payroll goes next year–more than $57MM is committed to six players.
Marti, Gomez & Serrano Declared Free Agents
The agent for Yadel Marti, Yasser Gomez and Juan Yasser tells ESPN.com's Jorge Arangure Jr. that the three Cubans have all been declared free agents. Marti and Gomez defected in December and a few weeks later their agent, Jaime Torres, said his clients were big-league ready. Now the bidding can begin…
Torres tells Arangure Jr. (via Twitter) that three NL teams and two AL teams have expressed interest in signing Gomez and Marti for the stretch run. As Arangure Jr. points out, potential suitors would have to activate either player by the end of the month for them to be playoff-eligible. Apparently Marti could boost any team's rotation.
Pirates And Mariners Exchange Minor Leaguers
The Pirates aren't finished dealing after all. Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that they traded Mike Koplove to the Mariners for shortstop Deybis Benitez. Benitez, 22, is hitting .304/.407/.304 in A ball. Koplove, a 33-year-old righty, has allowed 42 hits and 21 walks in 54.1 innings for two Triple A teams this year, striking out 50. He spent six years with the D'Backs and last appeared in the majors a couple years ago on the Indians.
Mariners DFA Chris Woodward
The Mariners designated Chris Woodward for assignment today to make room for Adrian Beltre, according to Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times. Some expected the Mariners to option Jack Hannahan to the minors, but they're keeping him around at Woodward's expense. Woodward, 33, hit .239/.288/.254 in 20 games for the Mariners at short, second and third.
Verducci On Halladay, Pirates, Extensions
Tom Verducci of SI.com says the media has unfairly called the Blue Jays losers in the aftermath of the trade deadline. Verducci says the Jays should not have been expected to lower their asking price for Roy Halladay. Here are a few other notes to take a look at:
- Among all players 36 and older only Raul Ibanez, Chipper Jones, Mike Cameron and Craig Counsell play the field and have enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting title.
- Verducci says the Pirates chose "the proper philosophy" when they dealt so many players this summer. One executive says the Pirates obtained quantity, but not necessarily quality.
- Clubs would rather rely on youngsters than guarantee lots of money to veteran players in multi-year deals.
- The lack of extensions this year could lead to a collusion charge from the players' union.
List Of Players To Clear Waivers
We'll see some deals in August and the trading process becomes a whole lot easier if players clear waivers (here's the full explanation). We'll keep a constantly-updated list of the players to clear waivers right here as the month progresses. We won't hear of all players who clear waivers, so there could be surprise trades, but as soon as we know a player clears waivers, we'll add him to the list.
Cardinals - Khalil Greene (source)
Nationals – Cristian Guzman (source)
Orioles – Aubrey Huff, Melvin Mora, Danys Baez (source) and Mark Hendrickson (source)
Reds – Bronson Arroyo, Aaron Harang (source) and Alex Gonzalez (source)
Red Sox – John Smoltz (source)
Yankees – Brian Bruney, Robinson Cano, Mark Melancon, David Robertson (source)
D'Backs – Jon Garland (source)
Brewers – Mike Cameron, Jason Kendall, Craig Counsell, Braden Looper (source)
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Deadline Deals
On this date nine years ago the Rangers traded Dave Martinez to the Blue Jays. It was the third time Martinez had been traded since the beginning of the season. That night, Martinez would tie a big league record by playing for his fourth franchise in one season. He also appeared with the Devil Rays and the Cubs. Martinez' current club, the Rays, did not make any trade deadline deals, but plenty of other teams did. Let's take a look at what is being written in the Blogosphere…
- MLB Notebook hosted a round-table discussing the trade deadline winners and losers.
- Sully Baseball says declaring winners and losers this soon is meaningless.
- Zells Pinstripe Blog says the trade deadline was not as bad for the Yankees as many think.
- Rays Revolutionary explains why it was not important for the Rays to make any deadline deals.
- UmpBump wonders how Adam LaRoche makes the Braves better in 2010, as some have suggested.
- Capitol Avenue Club explains the reasoning behind the Adam LaRoche deal for the Braves.
- Talking Chop looks at what the Adam LaRoche trade means for Chipper Jones' future in Atlanta.
- Dodgers Rumors looks at some August waiver-wire trade targets for the Dodgers.
- MLB Insights makes a case that J.P. Ricciardi's tenure has been a successful one.
Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com. If you have a suggestion for this feature, Cork can be reached here, and followed on Twitter here.
Which Teams Shed Salary At The Deadline?
Yesterday we found that the Cardinals led the group of 12 teams that took on at least $1MM leading up to the trade deadline. They took on $6.6MM and were the only team to add as much as $5MM in payroll. So what about the sellers? Here's a look at the teams that traded away at least $1MM in 2009 salary this summer. Again, all totals are approximate:
- The Indians trimmed $8.1MM from their payroll, trading Mark DeRosa ($2.9MM), Victor Martinez ($2MM), Cliff Lee ($2MM) and Rafael Betancourt ($1.2MM).
- The Pirates shed $7.3MM in trades, according to Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
- The A's saved $5MM by dealing Matt Holliday ($3.7MM) and Orlando Cabrera ($1.25MM).
- The Mariners' decision to trade Jarrod Washburn saved them $3.6MM.
- The Padres saved $2.8MM in the Jake Peavy deal.
- The D'Backs shed $1.4MM by trading away Felipe Lopez.
- The Orioles saved $1MM by trading George Sherrill.
Seven teams saved $1MM or more this deadline. The Indians, Pirates and A's saved considerably more than that this year and the Padres saved considerably more than that in the future. Surprisingly, the Nationals don't appear on this list. Their decision to trade Joe Beimel saved them $700k and they're paying Nick Johnson to play for the Marlins, so ironically, the team everyone thought would sell wasn't much of a seller.