John Russell On The Hot Seat In Pittsburgh?
WEDNESDAY, 12:52pm: Rosenthal and Morosi report that there is some sentiment among those above and below Coonelly and Huntington that Russell should be dismissed. That could mean that ownership is unhappy with Russell, though the FOX Sports duo reports that majority owner Bob Nutting has not discussed firing Russell with the team's president and GM.
TUESDAY, 9:31pm: ESPN's Buster Olney hears from sources that "there is absolutely nothing to the speculation" about Russell being fired (via Twitter). Rosenthal also tweets that Pirates president Frank Coonelly has denied that discussions about Russell's future have taken place.
8:58pm: With Pedro Alvarez on the verge of making his debut in the black-and-gold, the young prospect might never get to play for current Pirates manager John Russell. Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOXSports.com report that the team is "holding internal discussions" about Russell's fate, though it isn't apparent if the manager might be fired soon or possibly until after the season.
Russell "has drawn criticism within the industry for his stiff, impassive demeanor," according to Rosenthal/Morosi. With the likes of Alvarez, Brad Lincoln and Jose Tabata either on the major league roster or nearing it, Pittsburgh management might want a new face in the dugout to signify this fresh start for the organization.
Russell has a 152-234 record since being hired as the Pirates' manager before the 2008 season, though given Pittsburgh's roster, it's hard to attribute their lack of success to Russell's managerial skills. Rosenthal/Morosi say that the Bucs will look inside the organization for an interim manager to finish out the season, and note that former Indians manager Eric Wedge and Cardinals bench coach Jose Oquendo are long-term candidates to take over the job.
2004 Draft Throwdown
Now that six years have passed since the 2004 draft, let's take a look at a few of the choices teams made between prospects at the same position to get a sense of who came out ahead in the great pick-by-pick spin of fate.
- Justin Verlander (Tigers) vs. Phil Humber (Mets) vs. Jeff Niemann (Rays): Here we have a textbook study in the perils of pitching prospects. In Verlander, the second overall pick, the Tigers got a true ace. He has posted three top-seven finishes in the Cy Young voting already, and struck out an incredible 269 batters in 240 innings last year. Picking third, the Mets got an ace as well, sort of: Humber was eventually traded in the deal that landed them Johan Santana. Needless to say, Humber has not been an ace himself, pitching to an ERA over 5.00 at Triple-A for a second straight year in 2010. Niemann, meanwhile, has profiled somewhere in-between, though his 2010 so far suggests he may be fulfilling the promise of his status as fourth overall pick. He's pitching to a 2.83 ERA in 2010, though the strikeout rate (just 5.8 per nine innings) suggests that ERA will likely rise. Overall winner here? Everyone except the Twins.
- Billy Butler (Royals) vs. Josh Fields (White Sox): Well, it certainly appears the Royals got the better of this battle of third basemen. Butler, picked 14th, didn't stick at third, but he is finally getting some attention as a legitimately excellent bat, putting up a .341/.396/.494 line in 2010 so far. Meanwhile, Fields, picked 18th, has struggled to remain on the field, and is actually now property of the Royals as well, coming over this winter in the deal for Mark Teahen. But he will miss most, if not all, of the 2010 season after having hip surgery in April. Fields, 28 in December, has had some impressive Triple-A seasons, so he may eventually fulfill his promise. Butler, however, is clearly here to stay. Overall winner? The Royals. Almost makes up for Alex Gordon!
- Glen Perkins (Twins) vs. Phil Hughes (Yankees): Lost in the many months of Johan Santana trade talks back in 2007-2008, which centered around whether the Yankees would deal Phil Hughes, was the realization that the Twins could have drafted Hughes themselves. Instead, at pick 22, Minnesota took Glen Perkins, a college product out of University of Minnesota. The outlook isn't brilliant for Perkins at this point, with a 7.76 ERA in Triple-A, though his strikeout rate is at least relatively strong. Meanwhile, Phil Hughes has become one of the best pitchers in the American League, with a fantastic 74 strikeouts and 22 walks in 75.1 innings in support of his 3.11 ERA. Hughes won't be 24 until later this month. And among those who won't be celebrating his birthday? The Twins.
Berkman’s Preferred Destinations
Despite all the rumors surrounding him and Roy Oswalt, Lance Berkman told Yahoo's Jeff Passan that he doesn't expect to be traded. Berkman has at least $10.6MM remaining on his contract when you include his 2011 buyout, and he realizes that figure scares teams off, especially in this market.
"Teams value their prospects more than they ever have," Berkman said. "I’m 34. I’m not having a great year."
Berkman, who is hitting .238/.340/.392 with six homers, has a no-trade clause, so like Oswalt, he controls his future to an extent. The Angels have a clear need for a first baseman, but Berkman says the Angels "wouldn't be an automatic yes." Berkman would rather go east than west, though that's not his number one consideration.
"There is absolutely no way I would consent to going somewhere that didn’t have a good chance not just to get to the playoffs, but to win the whole thing," he said.
Berkman realizes the Astros are probably not going to pick up his $15MM option for 2011 at this point. Earlier in the month, Jon Heyman of SI.com reported that Berkman would approve a trade if the acquiring team picked up his option.
Maybin Still Part Of Marlins’ Plans
Mike Stanton's getting all the attention and at least Cody Ross and Chris Coghlan are getting playing time. Cameron Maybin's getting benched, but Marlins president of baseball operations Larry Beinfest told Manny Navarro of the Miami Herald that Maybin is a "big time" part of the team's future.
"I'm not sure that's going to happen right now," Beinfest said. "But definitely in the future [Maybin figures in]."
Now, Maybin is struggling. He has a .225/.290/.341 line in 201 plate appearances this year, with five homers. Maybin, who was considered a top-ten prospect by Baseball America leading up to 2007, 2008 and 2009, has the potential to do considerably more on offense. To his credit, his defense has been above-average in about 1000 major league innings.
Beinfest told Navarro that he doesn't believe Maybin deserves a demotion to the minors. Maybin is on track to be a borderline super two candidate after 2011, so the cost-conscious Marlins could prevent him from obtaining super two status by demoting him for a few weeks now.
It seems like Maybin has been in the majors for ages, but like the man he was traded for (Miguel Cabrera) he reached the majors at an extremely young age. Maybin, 23, is younger than prospects like Desmond Jennings and Pedro Alvarez, so he has plenty of time to realize his potential and it's no surprise that Beinfest expects that to happen in a Marlins uniform.
D’Backs Seem Likely To Keep Trading
Now that the D'Backs have started trading, they don't seem likely to stop. That doesn't necessarily mean they are going to rebuild completely, but as GM Josh Byrnes told Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic, the club could be making more deals this summer.
"There's a good chance, yeah," Byrnes said. "We aren't where we need to be in the standings and as far as sort of the things we'd like to do to adjust the roster, there's also payroll considerations as we try to sort of get ready for next year."
The sooner Arizona trades players, the more money the team can save. The club, which has $44.5MM committed to its 2011 payroll according to Cot's Baseball Contracts, could potentially use savings to spend more aggressively for 2011.
As Dan Haren explained to Piecoro, the D'Backs have "a tremendous amount of talent" and don't need to start over, so he doesn't necessarily want to be traded. However, Jon Heyman reported last week that the D'Backs would listen on Haren and every other player not named Justin Upton or Ian Kennedy.
Click here to vote on which one of the D'Backs will be traded next.
Poll: Arizona’s Next Trade
The D'Backs started the summer trading season off yesterday when they sent Conor Jackson to Oakland. It doesn't look like they're done, either. The team is 26-39 and they're considering major changes. Today's poll question:
Who will the Diamondbacks trade next?
Click here to take the survey and here to view the results.
Minnesota’s Trade Deadline Wish List
La Velle E. Neal of the Minneapolis Star Tribune examined the Twins' biggest needs (starting pitching, third base, bullpen) and threw out a few names that the current AL Central leaders are known to be looking at, or could potentially look at as the calendar turns to July. Let's examine the likelihood of some of Neal's possibilities…
- Roy Oswalt. Thanks to Target Field, the Twins have raised their payroll to account for such big moves as Joe Mauer's extension. Absorbing the rest of Oswalt's contract, however, could be a bit much for the club. He is owed a little more than $9MM over the rest of this season, $16MM in 2011, and $16MM in 2012 with a club option for a $2MM buyout. As noted over the weekend, Oswalt could demand that that option year be automatically picked up in any trade, making it an even bigger financial pill for the Twins to swallow.
- Cliff Lee. Neal notes that acquiring Lee will come at a hefty cost, given the two compensatory draft picks that the soon-to-be free agent could bring back in the winter. Neal raises the possibility that Lee might be enough to entice Minnesota into swapping touted (and Mauer-blocked) prospect Wilson Ramos.
- Rich Harden, Dan Haren, Ben Sheets. Neal doesn't delve into detail about these three, probably because Harden and Sheets don't fit the profile of the "big workload" ace that Neal thinks the Twins need to complement Francisco Liriano. Haren has a cleaner injury history than the other two, but he's struggled this year and is due to earn $25.5MM in 2011-12 (plus a $3.5MM buyout of his $15.5MM club option for 2013).
- Mike Lowell. We heard about Minnesota's interest in Lowell over the weekend, and how Twins management had obvious concerns about Lowell's health and his big salary. Boston's catch-22 with Lowell seems to be that teams will want to know he's healthy before dealing for him, but the Red Sox can't find a way to showcase him without taking a hot player like Adrian Beltre, David Ortiz or Kevin Youkilis out of the lineup.
- Michael Wuertz. The Austin, Minnesota native was pursued by the Twins last summer, and we heard last week that the Twins were looking for bullpen help. Neal points out that the Twins' bullpen is pitching well already and they have some good relievers in the minors, so Wuertz would strictly be a depth pick-up. Also, if Oakland remains in the AL West hunt, the A's may not be willing to swap the right-hander.
Pedro Alvarez Called Up By Pirates
9:24pm: Colin Dunlap of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that Alvarez has been officially called up. The prospect got the news after Indianapolis' game on Tuesday night. ESPN's Buster Olney tweets that Alvarez will be in the lineup against Chicago on Wednesday.
6:55pm: Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com reports that Pedro Alvarez, the No.2 overall pick in the 2008 Amateur Draft, could make his major league debut for Pittsburgh before the end of the week. Langosch reports that Alvarez is in the lineup tonight for Triple-A Indianapolis, and could be called up as soon as Wednesday for that evening's White Sox/Pirates game. One might think the Bucs might announce Alvarez's first game in advance to sell a few extra tickets either against the Sox or when the Indians come to town for a weekend series.
Alvarez will play every day at third base for the Pirates, thus making current baseman Andy LaRoche into a backup or utilityman; Langosch notes that LaRoche has already been taking grounders at second base in preparation for his new role. With Neil Walker locked into the second base job, LaRoche (who was a well-regarded prospect him not too long ago) could be made available to a team looking for an infield backup. The Bucs would certainly have an easier time moving LaRoche than they would dealing Akinori Iwamura's big contract.
Odds & Ends: LaRoche, Lee, Nationals, Simpson
It was on this day in 1938 that Reds lefthander Johnny Vander Meer became a baseball immortal by throwing his second consecutive no-hitter. What better way to commemorate the Vanderversary than with some news items?
- Adam LaRoche is prepared for another summer of hearing rumors and possibly being traded again, reports Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal.
- What would be fair value for Cliff Lee? Fangraphs' Dave Cameron breaks down the question.
- ESPN.com's Jayson Stark is impressed by how the entire Nationals franchise seems to have turned around in a year's time.
- Hayden Simpson seemed to be a reach for the Cubs as the 16th overall pick, but Mark Potash of the Chicago Sun-Times thinks that Chicago scouting director Tim Wilken's past drafting record "has earned [him] the benefit of the doubt." Maybe so, but implying Simpson could be "the next Roy Halladay" is a bit much.
- Had the Dodgers picked up a veteran starter or two in the offseason, the L.A. Times' Steve Dilbeck says the team could've avoided using so many young arms to plug holes in their injury-plagued rotation.
- Omar Minaya hinted that the Mets could add a starting pitcher, but "is reluctant" to do so at the expense of dealing promising minor leaguers, reports Andy Martino of the New York Daily News.
- R.J. Anderson of Fangraphs thinks the Marlins will likely be sellers at the trade deadline. Responding to Anderson's story, Juan C. Rodriguez of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel agrees, but thinks a potential deal could bring back more than just prospects for the Fish.
- Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette chats with Pirates fans and covers a few hot stove topics, including the likelihood of Zach Duke being dealt.
- Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times reports (via Twitter) that Ozzie Guillen thinks "it was a good sign" that A.J. Pierzynski wasn't traded before his ten-and-five rights kicked in. Guillen believes the non-deal "sends a message to the Sox players that there is still time to fix things."
Is Kelly Johnson The Next D’Back To Be Traded?
Conor Jackson's trade to Oakland may be the first of several moves in what could be a big shake-up in Arizona. The only remaining question is what other players will soon be leaving the desert. Jon Paul Morosi of FOXSports.com (via Twitter) hears from a source that moving second baseman Kelly Johnson may be next on the list for Diamondbacks GM Josh Byrnes. Tony Abreu's activation from the disabled list today could be the first step towards Abreu taking over at second base should Johnson be on the move.
Johnson has put up an All-Star caliber slash line this season (.282/.383/.546) and seems to be heating up again after posting a .769 OPS in May. His contract is reasonable enough for any contending team to take on — a one-year, $2.35MM contract signed last December after he was non-tendered by Atlanta. Johnson would be a major upgrade over, for instance, Skip Schumaker in St. Louis, Luis Castillo in New York or Clint Barmes in Colorado.