Evan Englebrook Clears Waivers
THURSDAY: Englebrook cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple A, according to Footer (via Twitter).
TUESDAY: The Astros designated minor league reliever Evan Englebrook for assignment to make room for Casey Daigle, tweets Alyson Footer.
Englebrook, 28, has a 6.46 ERA, 8.7 K/9, and 5.3 BB/9 in 23.6 Triple A relief innings this year. Baseball America ranked him 23rd among Astros prospects heading into the season, noting that his mid-90s fastball is his only above-average pitch.
Royals Claim Kanekoa Texeira
The Royals claimed pitcher Kanekoa Texeira off of waivers from the Mariners and designated right-hander Brad Thompson for assignment to make room for Texeira, according to a team press release.
The Mariners designated Texeira and Jesus Colome for assignment two days ago. The Yankees acquired Texeira in the 2008 deal that brought Nick Swisher to the Bronx, but they saw the Mariners claim the 24-year-old Hawaiian in last winter's Rule 5 draft. The Royals have to expose Texeira to waivers if they decide to take him off their active roster this year. If no team were to claim Texeira on waivers, the Royals would have to offer him back to the Yankees.
Kanekoa relied on a 90 mph fastball, a change-up and a slider in Seattle, where he posted a 5.30 ERA with 6.8 K/9 and 4.8 BB/9 in 16 appearances this year. He has a 2.49 ERA with 8.7 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 in four minor league seasons.
Celebrating Ken Griffey Jr.
After 22 seasons and 630 home runs, it's over - Ken Griffey Jr. has announced his retirement. Here are some links that start evaluating Griffey's place in the game's history:
- Tom Singer and Doug Miller of MLB.com note that Griffey and the 1995 Mariners may have "saved baseball in the Emerald City and basically built Safeco Field."
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports says fans will remember Griffey for being clean. Junior was never linked to performance enhancing drugs.
- Scott Miller of CBS Sports says Griffey had two lives in Seattle: the "very first baseball all-timer Seattle could call its own" and the elder statesman.
- Danny Knobler of CBS Sports points out that Griffey retired 75 years to the day after Babe Ruth did.
- Tim Lincecum tells Steve Kroner of the San Francisco Chronicle that Junior was "the epitome of Seattle baseball."
- Jay Bruce grew up idolizing Griffey and eventually became his teammate, as MLB.com's Mark Sheldon reports.
- Yahoo's Tim Brown says Griffey "had no peers" on the baseball diamond.
- ESPN.com's Rob Neyer says "maybe [Griffey] wasn't as good as he could have been. But he was better than almost everyone else."
Cubs Haven’t Begun Serious Trade Talks
Whether or not the Angels want to acquire a Cubs bat may not matter just yet. Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times reports that there has been very little trade talk recently for the 24-29 Cubs. That could change, but GM Jim Hendry says he’s still waiting for his team to get hot.
''If we get it going and have a couple of good weeks, we can [get back in it],” Hendry said. “We've done that before. We need to do it now.''
It’s not clear whether the Angels are interested in Derrek Lee, but the first baseman obviously doesn’t want to talk about it. Lee declined to answer questions about his no-trade clause.
As Wittenmyer notes, Lee, Xavier Nady and Ted Lilly are free agents after the season and the resurgent Carlos Silva could appeal to teams looking at starters. For now, though, trade talks have yet to pick up.
Phillies Sign Willy Taveras
The Phillies signed Willy Taveras, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (Twitter link). Yesterday, DeWayne Wise opted out of his contract with the Phillies, who restore some minor league outfield depth by signing Taveras. The Nationals signed Taveras in February, but released him unconditionally two weeks ago after an unproductive stint in Washington.
Taveras, 28, hit .200/.243/.257 in 37 plate appearances for the Nats this year. The former stolen base champ was successful in just one of three attempts. He has had trouble reaching base for the last three seasons, but he was an above-average defender (according to UZR) as recently as last year.
Taveras will report to Triple A, where Wise was playing before he opted out, according to Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer (via Twitter).
D’Backs Open To Major Changes
The last-place Diamondbacks, losers of ten consecutive games, are considering a major restructuring of the major league roster, according to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. Team president Derrick Hall said the team has to consider changes when losing like this.
"We're going to have to look at the budget and at doing business a little differently," Hall said. "Sticking with the same guys year after year when their salaries are going up and we're not getting results, that's not efficient or responsible."
D’Backs managing general partner Ken Kendrick also expressed disappointment in the team, though he didn't blame manager A.J. Hinch. Kendrick suggested the players “look themselves in the mirror.” And Kendrick says the same applies for everyone in the organization, including GM Josh Byrnes.
"We owe it to ourselves to frankly look in the mirror, for me to look at myself and say what am I doing or not doing that I should be doing as an owner," Kendrick said. "It goes for me, Derrick Hall, Josh Byrnes and right on through to all of us who don’t wear the uniform and are involved in the organization."
Yesterday, Byrnes did not deny to Jim Bowden that the D’Backs could listen on Dan Haren. Adam LaRoche is one of the other D’Backs with some trade value.
2010 Draft Prospect: Karsten Whitson
Major League Baseball's amateur draft will be held from June 7th-9th, so we're going to introduce you to some of the top players available between now and then.
The 2010 draft class features one truly elite high school righthander in Jameson Taillon, but Karsten Whitson of Chipley High School in Florida isn't far behind him. He offers a nice 6-foot-4, 195 lb. frame that scouts can dream on, but unlike most other prep pitchers, he also offers command and poise beyond his years.
ESPN's Keith Law (sub. req'd) recently ranked Whitson as the fifth best player available this year while Baseball America had him 15th. MLB.com's Draft Report says he throws his fastball in the 91-96 mph range, and also features a swing-and-miss slider, an average changeup and good command. As I already said, it's Whitson's mound presence and polish that really separates him from the pack. The MLB.com link offers video.
High school arms carry the stereotype of being the riskiest demographic among amateurs, so it's often hard to predict where they'll be selected. Baseball America's Jim Callis projected to the Cubs to take Whitson 16th overall, while Law doesn't think he'll last quite that long, instead going 11th overall to the Blue Jays (sub. req'd for both). It's tough to envision him falling past the Red Sox at 20.
Odds & Ends: Griffey, Padres, Suzuki, Pedroia, Haren
Hard to believe that Ken Griffey Jr.'s retirement will only be the second biggest story of the day. Here are some more links to check out…
- Speaking of Griffey, Bob Nightengale of USA Today says (via Twitter) that he will remain with the Mariners in a front office role.
- Big League Stew lists ten players who could be traded before the deadline, headlined by Roy Oswalt and Cliff Lee.
- Tom Krasovic of AOL FanHouse grades the Padres' offseason pickups.
- The Red Sox almost drafted Kurt Suzuki instead of Dustin Pedroia in the second round of the 2004 draft, according to WEEI.com's Alex Speier.
- D'Backs GM Josh Byrnes did not deny that Dan Haren may be dealt this summer, according to Jim Bowden of Sirius XM Radio (Twitter link).
- ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick presents the nine most-hyped draft picks of all time.
- Ben Goessling of MASN.com imagines what a Roy Oswalt-Nationals swap might look like, just as MLBTR's Howard Megdal did. Last night we heard that Oswalt would consider a deal to Washington.
- ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick reports that Randy Wells switched agents "a while ago," leaving the Beverly Hills Sports Council for ACES (Twitter link).
- Lynn Henning of the Detroit News believes Oswalt and Cliff Lee would cost more than the Tigers can afford to give up.
- Scott Boras told Scott Miller of CBS Sports that Tony Gwynn was an "extraordinary" coach for Stephen Strasburg at San Diego State University.
- Boras doesn't want Bryce Harper to catch, but ESPN.com's Keith Law points out that Harper's bat is worth much more behind the plate than anywhere else.
- Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle predicts that Pat Burrell may make his Giants debut as soon as this weekend.
- Yahoo's Jeff Passan describes the journey Colby Lewis took from the majors to Japan and back.
- The Rangers need a reliable catcher more than anything else, writes Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News.
- The Indians had no interest in Dontrelle Willis, according to Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
- But other teams are eyeing an Indians starter. One executive told Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports that Jake Westbrook is "everything you look for if you want to add an arm down the stretch."
Draft Notes: Pirates, Blue Jays, Reds, Harper
Some links from around the majors with less than a week to go before the MLB draft:
- Pirates' president Frank Coonelly chatted with fans at the team's official site, with most of the questions involving prospects and the team's plans for Monday's draft.
- MLB.com's Jordan Bastian spoke to Blue Jays' director of amateur scouting Andrew Tinnish about the upcoming draft. Among other things, they discussed what the team's strategy will be with all of their extra picks. The Jays own ten of the first 126 picks.
- Reds scouting director Chris Buckley told John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer that the Reds are considering Christian Colon, Alex Wimmers, Deck McGuire, Gary Brown and Kolbin Vitek.
- In 2009, the Reds drafted Mike Leake in the first round. One year later, Bob Nightengale of USA Today shows that the 22-year-old is fitting in with older, more experienced teammates and impressing the opposition.
- Jon Heyman of SI.com hears that Bryce Harper and Scott Boras will seek a record bonus this year. However, Heyman says most people expect the Nationals to sign Harper for more than Mark Teixeira's $9.5MM bonus and less than Stephen Strasburg's $15.1MM bonus (if they draft him, as expected).
- The Mets won't pick Yasmani Grandal seventh overall, according to Heyman (via Twitter).
- Heyman has the Mets taking right-hander Matt Harvey in his mock draft.
Ken Griffey Jr. Announces Retirement
Ken Griffey Jr. has announced his retirement effective immediately, reports John Hickey of AOL FanHouse. He did not report to Safeco Field for the Mariners' game against the Twins tonight, saying "it's over." Geoff Baker of The Seattle Times provides a transcript of Griffey's statement.
Griffey has been in the news quite a bit this season, but not for the reasons the team hoped. There was talk that the Mariners could release him last month following an incident in which he slept through a pinch hitting appearance, and overall he hit just .184/.250/.204 on the year.
Regardless of what happened in 2010, Griffey was one of the greatest players to ever play the game. He retired as a .284/.370/.538 career hitter with 630 homers, good the fifth most all time. During his prime years from 1993-1998, Griffey hit .300/.388/.620 and played a Gold Glove caliber center field, which is the definition of a superstar.
After spending the first 11 seasons of his career in Seattle, Griffey was traded to the Reds for a four player package headlined by Mike Cameron. He signed a nine year, $116.5MM contract shortly thereafter, though his time in Cincinnati was plagued by injury. After a short stint with the White Sox, Griffey returned to the Mariners last season.
Junior earned more than $151MM during his career according to Baseball-Reference.com. The next stop for him is Cooperstown.