Indians To Sign Luis Vizcaino
1:08pm: MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince reports that the Indians could announce a move this afternoon.
FRIDAY, 12:19pm: Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports heard that the Indians intend to sign Vizcaino. He will either join the team immediately or tune up in the minor leagues first. The Indians' pitching struggled again last night, allowing 12 runs without recording an out at one point.
THURSDAY, 1:43pm: The Twitter post from Gaylord Sports linked below has been removed.
10:46am: According to Luis Vizcaino's agency Gaylord Sports, the reliever has been acquired by the Indians. The Cubs designated Vizcaino for assignment on April 23rd to make room for Jeff Samardzija. Vizcaino is owed $4MM, and presumably the Cubs will assume $3.6MM of that. They released him at some point, so he signed with Cleveland as a free agent.
The Cubs jettisoned Vizcaino after 3.6 scoreless innings. It seems they never wanted him; acquiring him was just a way to move some of Jason Marquis' salary.
Heyman On Berkman, Oswalt, Cliff Lee
The latest rumors from SI.com's Jon Heyman…
- Astros owner Drayton McLane is unlikely to deal Roy Oswalt or Lance Berkman because of his "personal feelings for them plus the Astros' recent history of strong finishes."
- Cliff Lee is more likely to be traded. Heyman says Lee's value should be "fairly high even in a depressed market."
- D'Backs people wondered why players such as Carlos Quentin performed better after leaving the team and these doubts contributed to Bob Melvin's firing.
- Heyman also looks at some feel-good stories around the game.
Orioles Shopping Ryan Freel
FRIDAY, 12:01pm: Roch Kubatko of MASN Sports expects that Freel will be dealt or released. Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun reports that Andy MacPhail expects "resolution in a day or two that will be to everyone's satisfaction."
THURSDAY: According to Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun, Orioles baseball operations president Andy MacPhail has been calling around to gauge interest in utility man Ryan Freel. Freel is done with his rehab assignment, and Schmuck says he's probably the odd man out. One small problem: Freel is still owed $3.3MM this year.
Freel made it clear in late April that he'd weclome a trade.
Discussion: The Yankees’ Catcher
3:11pm: It's official now; as MLB.com's B.J. Rains reports, Molina's headed to the DL.
11:27am: When the Yankees lost Jorge Posada to the DL for two to three weeks, Jose Molina became their starter. Now, Molina's quad is injured and, as Anthony McCarron of the New York Daily News reports, Joe Girardi isn't optimistic about the injury. This leaves the Yankees with Francisco Cervelli behind the plate, a 23-year-old with a solid minor league resume, but only 41 games played above A ball and seven big league plate appearances. So what should the Yankees do if Molina has to spend time on the DL?
- Let Cervelli play until Posada returns in a couple weeks.
- Sign a free agent catcher like Johnny Estrada or Paul Lo Duca to fill in.
- Trade for a catcher.
Matt Wieters Update
Matt Wieters began the season as baseball's number one prospect, but we haven't heard much about him so far in 2009. Some took notice when he missed a bit of time because of a hamstring issue, but his season at AAA Norfolk has mostly been quiet. He's played well, though not incredibly, hitting one homer and batting .297/.391/.405 with 12 walks and 17 strikeouts. Gregg Zaun and Chad Moeller have combined for only 21 hits in 100 at bats for the O's, so they're not blocking Wieters' path. His main obstacle is time.
- If the Orioles called Wieters up today, he'd accumulate enough service time this year (almost 150 days) to become a Super Two player. This means he'd cost the Orioles more money in the future because he'd go to arbitration four times.
- If they wait until June 1st to call Wieters up, he won't accumulate more than 126 days service time. This would likely prevent him from becoming a Super Two and would likely save the Orioles millions of dollars in years ahead.
- Waiting until June 1st or later also allows the Orioles to make sure Wieters is ready for the majors when he arrives. They can endure their soft-hitting catchers this year, because they're not a contender, so it would be a surprise to see the prospect called up soon.
Odds And Ends: Hinch, Manny, Longoria
Links for Friday…
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports believes the D'Backs' new manager, A.J. Hinch, is a "strange choice" because he has no managerial or coaching experience.
- Newsday's Ken Davidoff says signing Manny Ramirez was the best move the Mets never made.
- MLB.com's Doug Miller and Ken Gurnick sift through a year's worth of Ramirez-related drama.
- Tim Sullivan of the San Diego Union-Tribune wonders if the Dodgers will have enough payroll flexibility to take on Jake Peavy's contract, now that Manny has been suspended without pay.
- Kirk Kenney of the Union-Tribune asks where Stephen Strasburg belongs in college baseball history.
- Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle has a plan to fix the Astros. He'd like to see them trade veterans like Jose Valverde and Carlos Lee and try to win with youth, even if it means losing first.
- Tyler Kepner of the New York Times says the contrast between what the Yankees owe Alex Rodriguez and what the Rays owe Evan Longoria illustrates the difference between the AL East rivals.
- Buster Olney profiled Longoria for ESPN the Magazine.
- More sad news for baseball: Dom Dimaggio died this morning, as MLB.com's Bobbie Dittmeier reports.
Bob Melvin To Be Replaced With A.J. Hinch
11:04pm: SI.com's Jon Heyman says A.J. Hinch will move out of the front office to take over as the new D'Backs manager. He'll be introduced Friday. During his playing career, Hinch was a catcher for the A's, Royals, Tigers, and Phillies.
8:05pm: According to John Gambadoro of 620 KTAR, Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin will be replaced before Friday's game. The writing had been on the wall for a few days now. At 12-17, the D'Backs are already 9 games back of the Dodgers in the NL West. SI.com's Jon Heyman says the D'Backs are staying in house, but it won't be Chip Hale, Kirk Gibson, or Brett Butler. He believes the new manager will come from the team's front office.
Stark On Pitchers, Vlad, Sabathia, Crawford
More from Jayson Stark's Rumblings and Grumblings column today…
- Stark rattles off a bunch of starting pitchers teams are "tracking" in advance of the trade deadline: Roy Halladay, Jake Peavy, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt, Aaron Harang, Erik Bedard, Kevin Millwood, Mark Buehrle, Doug Davis, Chris Young, Andy Pettitte, Bronson Arroyo, Jonathan Sanchez, Andy Sonnanstine, Jeff Niemann, Jason Marquis, Vicente Padilla, Jeff Suppan, and Russ Ortiz. Not all of these guys are actually available, so check out the article for more analysis.
- Teams are "backpedaling away" from Vladimir Guerrero as a free agent option after the season. One scout sees Vlad as a DH right now.
- C.C. Sabathia downplayed the importance of the out clause in his contract, talking to Stark. Sabathia said it was "just something my agent came up with, and I just went with it." Stark is skeptical though; he thinks the clause was specific to New York.
- Stark talked to a baseball man familiar with the Rays' thinking who sees "zero chance" they don't exercise Carl Crawford's $10.125MM option for 2010. The Rays have a three-year outlook on the budget.
- With Jason Isringhausen ready within a few weeks, the Rays may have a surplus in the bullpen. Stark doesn't expect Dan Wheeler or J.P. Howell to be moved, but teams are tracking them.
- Stark sees Jorge Cantu as a trade candidate after the season. He figures to make $5-6MM through arbitration.
Draft Update: Strasburg, Scheppers, Paxton
ESPN.com's Jason A. Churchill has an update on some top amateur players as June 9th draws closer:
- He confirms what we heard last week: Barring the unforseen, the Nats will select Stephen Strasburg with the first overall pick.
- Scouts expect Tanner Scheppers, who was drafted but never signed by the Pirates last year, to be selected within the first 15 picks. They're divided on whether the righty, who is pitching in an independent league, can crack the top ten.
- Scott Boras added a new client, Kentucky lefty James Paxton, according to one of Churcill's sources.
Nationals DFA Mike Hinckley
The Nationals have designated left-handed pitcher Mike Hinckley for assignment to make room for Ron Villone, according to the AP (via ESPN). Hinckley, 26, walked 11 batters in 9.2 innings this year, most recently against the Dodgers with the bases loaded last night.