Blue Jays Outright Brian Dopirak
The Blue Jays have outrighted first baseman Brian Dopirak, reports MLB.com's Jordan Bastian (via Twitter). Dopirak has cleared waivers and has been removed from the team's 40-man roster, which now stands at 39.
The 26-year-old was playing with Toronto's Triple-A affiliate in Las Vegas, hitting .258/.281/.393 with six homers in 256 plate appearances. A former second round pick of the Cubs, Dopirak has never appeared in the big leagues, and is a career .279/.335/.480 hitter in the minors.
Amateur Draft Signings: Wednesday
It's only been ten days since the draft, but teams are quickly coming to terms with their picks. Here are the latest updates on the deals you need to know about. You can track first rounders and their bonuses right here:
- The Red Sox made ten draft pick signings official, according to WEEI.com's Alex Speier.
- John Lowe of The Detroit Free Press reports that the Tigers have signed eighth round pick Pat Leyland, the son of manager Jim Leyland.
- The Padres signed 20 players, including second rounder Jedd Gyorko, according to the team.
- The White Sox signed second rounder Jacob Petricka, third rounders Addison Reed and Thomas Royse and 19 others, according to the team.
- The St. Louis Post-Dispatch lists the 33 picks the Cardinals have signed.
- The D'Backs signed 15 picks, including ninth rounder Zachary Walters, according to the Arizona Republic.
- The A's signed fifth rounder Tyler Vail and five others, according to the team.
- James Jahnke of the Detroit Free Press reports that ninth rounder Tony Plagman and 15 other picks agreed to terms with the Tigers today.
- Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports (via Twitter) that the Indians signed their 40th rounder and three undrafted free agents.
Rays Release Ryan Shealy
The Rays have released first baseman Ryan Shealy according to the International League transactions page. Tampa signed Shealy to a minor league deal back in December.
The 30-year-old hit .238/.354/.512 with ten homers in 206 plate appearances for the Rays' Triple-A affiliate, so performance wasn't the issue. Shealy last appeared in the big leagues back in 2008 with the Royals, and he's a .271/.335/.429 career hitter in the show.
Odds & Ends: Chipper, DeJesus, Rincon
A few links to check out as you celebrate Kansas City being awarded the 2012 All-Star Game…
- Chipper Jones isn't ready to talk about his future yet, reports Dave O'Brien of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. A settlement of the $28MM left on his contract is one issue that has to be cleared up before Jones can announce any retirement plans, if any.
- Rustin Dodd of The Kansas City Star says the Royals should find a way to maximize David DeJesus' value, either through trade or letting him leave as a free agent and receiving compensation draft picks. DeJesus currently projects to be a Type-B free agent, assuming the team declines his $6MM option for 2011.
- Troy E. Renck of The Denver Post mentions that Rockies' manager Jim Tracy indicated that Juan Rincon would likely be the reliever to bounce back and forth between the big leagues and Triple-A this year, however he's out of options and would need to clear waivers each time he is sent down.
Athletics Sign Jamey Wright
The Athletics have signed righthander Jamey Wright and assigned him to Triple-A Sacramento, according to the Pacific Coast League's transaction's page. The Indians released Wright late last week.
The 35-year-old threw 21.1 innings for Cleveland, posting a 5.48 ERA with as many walks (nine) as strikeouts. Oakland would be Wright's eighth big league team if he were to join them at some point. He's got a 5.03 ERA in 1723.1 career innings, a sneaky high total.
Royals Release John Parrish
The Royals released John Parrish, according to Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star (via Twitter). The lefty has been sidelined with shoulder problems and last pitched on April 24th.
The Royals signed Parrish to a minor league deal in January and got six relatively productive innings out of the him. He struck out four and allowed as many hits in six innings, walking five. The 32-year-old has big league experience with the Orioles, Mariners and Blue Jays; until he joins his next franchise he's a free agent.
The move frees up a 40-man roster spot for Anthony Lerew, who has been recalled from Triple-A according to Daniel Paulling of The Kansas City Star.
Third Base Options For The Twins
The Twins are a good team, but it's in spite of the production they're getting at the hot corner. Ron Gardenhire's third baseman have combined to hit just .213/.283/.280 with a pair of home runs. Nick Punto and Brendan Harris each have slugging percentages below .300, so the Twins recently called on top prospect Danny Valencia. That move gives the Twins more power than the Punto-Harris combination, but it doesn't assure them of anything. Let's take a look at the Twins' options as they try to get some offense from their third basemen:
- Hope that Valencia hits - Baseball America named Valencia an untouchable before last year's trade deadline, and ranked him sixth among Twins prospects heading into the year. At that point, Valencia had a promising bat, but was an inconsistent defender because of "subpar concentration and footwork." Valencia, 25, has hit .323/.364/.323 since arriving in the majors in early June, so his bat is no sure thing either.
- Call up the Red Sox - Ken Rosenthal reported over the weekend that the Twins' field staff would like to add Mike Lowell, though the front office has concerns about his durability. The $7.1MM remaining on Lowell's 2010 salary would also be an obstacle.
- Trade for an Oriole – The Twins could call the Orioles about Miguel Tejada (.676 OPS, $6MM salary) or Ty Wigginton (.854 OPS, $3.5MM salary). Tejada is playing third for the O's and Wigginton has spent most of his career at the hot corner and has recent experience there.
- Ask about LaRoche – There's no room for Andy LaRoche in Pittsburgh, now that the Pedro Alvarez era has begun. LaRoche has just a .232/.295/.316 line, but the 26-year-old posted a .731 OPS and played solid defense last year.
- Turn to the free agent market - Joe Crede defended well and hit 15 homers for the Twins in 2009. However, he had back, shoulder, hand, knee and hamstring issues last year and hasn't faced MLB pitching since.
- Hope that the Blue Jays keep slumping – There's no guarantee that the Blue Jays keep slumping or that they'll have interest in moving Jose Bautista if they do fall out of contention. Those 18 homers and the fact that Bautista doesn't become a free agent until after 2011 mean the Jays could ask for a highly-touted prospect or two. It wouldn't be the first time the Twins picked up a former Blue Jay with power to play third; the club added Tony Batista back in 2006.
Odds & Ends: Lee, Orioles, Cubs, Oswalt, Chipper
Links for Wednesday, before Pedro Alvarez makes his MLB debut…
- Jack Curry of the YES Network (via Twitter) hears from a baseball official that the Phillies are interested in adding a starting pitcher. Curry specifically names Cliff Lee, though I can't imagine the team re-acquiring him just a few months after shipping him to Seattle.
- The Orioles have contacted Buck Showalter about managing the team, according to Tim Kurkjian of ESPN.com.
- The Cubs hired a statistical analyst for the team's baseball operations department, according to ESPN.com's Bruce Levine.
- Jon Heyman of SI.com hears that it's an "extreme long shot" that the Rangers acquire Roy Oswalt.
- One GM told ESPN.com's Buster Olney that teams are now demanding big returns for players who will eventually be traded for less.
- DJ Bean of WEEI.com introduces us to Red Sox fourth rounder Garin Cecchini, who told every major league team he wouldn't sign for less than mid-first-round money. Specifically, Cecchini wants $1.75MM, according to Bean.
- White Sox GM Kenny Williams told Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune that he hasn't given up on his team and wants to see how it fares over the course of the coming week.
- Chipper Jones' agent, B.B. Abbott, told Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports that Chipper will "absolutely not" retire during the season.
- The Yankees released David Winfree from their Triple A team, according to Donnie Collins of the Times-Tribune.
- Joel Sherman of the New York Post points out that the Yankees won't have to pursue free agents Carl Crawford and Jayson Werth if Brett Gardner, Nick Swisher and Curtis Granderson keep playing this well.
Blue Jays Sign Asher Wojciechowski
The Blue Jays have signed sandwich pick Asher Wojciechowski, according to a team press release. Wojciechowski is the third and final of the Jays' supplemental round selections to reach an agreement with the club, following the signings of Aaron Sanchez and Noah Syndergaard.
Wojciechowski gets a $815K bonus, according to Jim Callis of Baseball America. That's in line with MLB's recommended bonuses.
The right-hander from The Citadel hits 96 mph on the radar gun and is considered a potential workhorse starter or closer. When Toronto nabbed him 41st overall on draft day, John Manuel of Baseball America praised the value, speculating that Wojciechowski's workload late this season may have caused him to slip a little.
Joe Nelson Clears Waivers
WEDNESDAY, 2:28pm: ESPNBoston's Joe McDonald tweets that Nelson has cleared waivers, so we should find out tomorrow whether or not the righty will accept a minor league assignment.
FRIDAY, 7:49pm: Nelson hinted at retirement following the move, according to MLB.com's Ian Browne.
"I've got a flight at 7:15, and I'm going to Florida and in all likelihood, if I clear waivers, I've probably thrown my last pitch," said Nelson. "I don't anticipate myself going back to [Triple-A] Pawtucket, but that's emotion talking right now and we'll probably reanalyze it when I'm not as disappointed. I had every opportunity and I didn't produce. The thought of going to Triple-A doesn't sound that great. We'll wait and see what options present themselves."
Nelson battled major arm injuries early in his career, including a pair of surgeries to repair the labrum in his throwing shoulder. He broke through with the Royals in 2006, but has bounced around quite a bit since. Baseball-Reference.com has his career earnings at just under $1.7MM.
2:41pm: The Red Sox designated Joe Nelson for assignment as part of a flurry of moves, according to Amalie Benjamin of the Boston Globe (via Twitter). The team also activated Jonathan Papelbon from the bereavement list, called up Scott Atchison and placed Jeremy Hermida on the DL.
Nelson, 35, had a 9.72 ERA in 8.1 innings this year with 9.7 K/9 and 6.5 BB/9. Those high strikeout and walk rates are characteristic of the ones the right-hander has posted over the course of his six-year MLB career. Nelson posted a 2.49 ERA in 21.2 innings at Triple A this year, with similarly high strikeout and walk numbers.