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Phillies Agree To Terms With Draft Pick Garner

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The Phillies have agreed to terms with second-round draft pick Perci Garner, MLBTR has learned. The right-hander, out of Ball State, was drafted 77th overall yesterday by Philadelphia.

According to MLB.com's Zach Schonbrun, Garner shot up a few draft boards after hitting 96 mph with his fastball earlier this season. Phillies scouting director Marti Wolever expressed optimism about Garner's potential:

"He's very athletic…. We think he's got tremendous topside, great live body, loose arm, [a] chance to have at least three quality pitches."

The Phillies also agreed to a deal with first-round selection Jesse Biddle, and have now locked up their top two picks from this year's draft.

The Plan For The White Sox

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The White Sox are off to a disappointing 24-33 start this season, 9.5 games out of first place, and earlier this week we heard that the club is "open for business." Today, GM Ken Williams provided a few more details on what exactly that means, and Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times has the quotes in his latest article.

"If we do something it will be along the lines of shuffling the deck with the expectation that we're going to add impact guys to win," said Williams, adding: "I have to listen. It's not that I want to, but I'm not blind."

When we discussed in April the possibility of the White Sox becoming sellers, Tim noted that the team could trade off parts and still field a competitive roster in 2011. Given Williams' comments, it sounds like the Chicago GM is thinking along the same lines. After all, even at nine games below .500, the Sox are still only in third place in a fairly weak AL Central, ahead of the Royals and Indians.

While Williams sounds ready to deal, he pointed out that the timetable isn't entirely up to him: "It's still the early part of June and a lot of clubs are trying to figure their situations out and determine whether they're in it or not in it or what kind of money they have to spend."

Even if the Sox decide not to hold a full-fledged fire sale, their potentially available power bats and bullpen arms should make them an active player in the trade market this summer.

Odds & Ends: Mets, Orioles, Cliff Lee

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Links for Wednesday, as the Pirates' Brad Lincoln hopes to capture just a small slice of Stephen Strasburg's success in his MLB debut…

Rangers Agree With First-Rounders Deglan, Skole

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WEDNESDAY, 2:49pm: The Rangers agreed to terms with both Deglan and Skole, tweets Wilson.  We learned earlier that Deglan's deal is worth $1MM, while MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo tweets that Skole agreed to a $1.557MM deal.

TUESDAY, 7:58am: ESPN's Richard Durrett confirmed the Rangers' agreement with Deglan last night.  He also noted that the team's #15 pick, high school outfielder Jake Skole, is close to signing.  Skole already told Georgia Tech he won't be attending, reports Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.  It's a pair of affordable first-rounders for Texas, though it should be noted that they had to be safe with #15 because they would not get a pick next year if the player doesn't sign.

MONDAY, 9:01pm: Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus hears that the Rangers have agreed to a $1MM deal with catcher Kellin Deglan (Twitter link). The Rangers selected the 18-year-old British Colombia native 22nd overall with their second pick of the first round.

LSU Coach Discusses Zach Lee

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Louisiana State head football coach Les Miles seems to think the Dodgers will not be signing their first-round pick Zach Lee this year.  In a statement on the LSU football website, Miles said:

"Zach wants to come to LSU, get a degree and play football and baseball for the Tigers.  I met with Zach and his parents today and I think that they are looking at LSU as a great opportunity both academically and athletically.  Zach is an outstanding student and he's excited about the college experience."

Lee begins summer classes today, though the Dodgers technically have until the August 16th deadline to sign him.  Dodgers assistant GM Logan White told Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times on Monday that he's cautiously optimistic about signing Lee and the team did not purposely select an unsignable player to save money.  ESPN's Keith Law wrote recently that the "rumor of the day had the kid saying $6 million wouldn't get him signed."

Mike Lamb Clears Waivers

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Third baseman Mike Lamb has cleared waivers and has been outrighted to Triple A, tweets MLB.com's Joe Frisaro.  Lamb was the casualty a few days ago when the Marlins called up top prospect Mike Stanton, who had three hits in his debut last night.  Lamb's last extended Triple A stay last year in the Mets' organization produced a .261/.299/.370 line.

Potentially Available Power Bats

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Several contenders could use a boost in the slugging department, especially the Padres and A's.  Let's take a look at potentially available power bats for the trade deadline.

  • Prince Fielder, Brewers.  Fielder has shown less power than the others on this list, with a slugging percentage of just .437.  Still, he gets on base and has slugged over .600 in multiple seasons.  He has $6.7MM left on this year's contract and will get a raise in arbitration after the season.  Fielder obviously won't come cheap, if he's even made available.
  • Lance Berkman, Astros.  He's not showing power yet this year and has $11.2MM left on his contract.  And that's if he backs down from the idea of demanding his option be exercised upon a trade.
  • Paul Konerko, White Sox.  Konerko's .610 SLG ranks fourth in the American League, so in that regard he's the best available power bat.  Obstacles: he's owed $7.6MM and has a full no-trade clause.  With a surprising .583 SLG, Konerko's teammate Alex Rios is another consideration.  Rios is having a fine year, even if U.S. Cellular is giving his bat a boost.  His contract still has over $56MM through 2014, and he can block trades to six teams.  Andruw Jones should be widely available, though he's fared poorly since May 1st.
  • Corey Hart, Brewers.  Hart somehow leads the NL with 15 home runs.  Like Fielder, the Brewers might prefer to keep the arbitration-eligible outfielder around for 2011 if they want to contend.
  • Kelly Johnson, Diamondbacks.  Arizona's second baseman is also arbitration-eligible after the season.  He's plenty valuable, but keep in mind he's hitting a more reasonable .254/.361/.429 since May 1st.  Johnson's teammate Adam LaRoche should be attainable, though he's down to .250/.344/.443.
  • Luke Scott and Ty Wigginton, Orioles.  Both players are slugging over .500 and should be available.  Scott is under team control through 2012, but he's already earning $4.05MM.  Wiggy is owed $2.2MM through the rest of this season.
  • Jose Guillen, Royals.  He's hitting just .213/.322/.394 since May 1st.  Guillen is owed the same amount as Konerko, but could probably be had for just a slight amount of salary relief.  More interesting is Guillen's teammate David DeJesus, who's hitting .306/.378/.461 on the season.  He can be controlled through next year, so the Royals should get something useful in return.
  • Austin Kearns, Indians.  Kearns is a cheap rental with less than $500K remaining, and he's hitting .306/.380/.482.  Kearns' teammate Russell Branyan has a .463 SLG, if you prefer 1B/DH power.
  • Ryan Doumit, Pirates.  The Bucs' backstop is at .281/.366/.461 on the season.  He's got about $7.8MM left through 2011.
  • Others with pop: Jim Edmonds, Hunter Pence, Rickie Weeks, Garrett Jones, Ryan Raburn, Carlos Lee, Mike Lowell, Travis Hafner, Lyle Overbay, Jose Lopez, and Miguel Tejada.  For now we've left the Blue Jays, Nationals, and Cubs off the list, but that could change.

Phillies Agree With First-Round Pick Biddle

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The Phillies' deal with first-round pick Jesse Biddle is done, tweets Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer.  Gelb notes that the deal can't be made official until after Biddle graduates high school Friday.  Once signed the local lefty will join the rookie league GCL Phillies. 

The Phillies drafted Biddle 27th overall, with scouting director Marti Wolever comparing him to Clayton Kershaw.  MLB.com's Todd Zolecki notes that the Mariners signed the #27 pick last year for $1.28MM, which is around slot.  Baseball America ranked Biddle 116th overall, while ESPN's Keith Law had him at 90.

How To Use MLBTR

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2005 Draft Throwdown

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While dreams are coming true for hundreds of high school and college players this week, let's compare the paths of some 2005 first round draft picks. Nothing is more interesting than seeing how teams did choosing players at the same position. In a draft, it is the closest teams come to the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat. Meanwhile, those lists haunt fans' memories for years to come.

  • Ryan Zimmerman (Nationals) vs. Ryan Braun (Brewers): This battle between Zimmerman, picked fourth, and Braun, picked fifth, was to be a test of hot corner prowess. But while Zimmerman has excelled at the position, winning a Gold Glove in 2009 and grading well under more advanced defensive metrics, Braun settled in left field after proving to be a disastrous fielder at third base. So far, Braun has a .931 to .836 edge in OPS, but with Zimmerman putting up an .888 in 2009 and at .986 so far in 2010, that gap may well have disappeared. Moving forward, the edge goes to Zimmerman, a terrific hitter, though a notch below Braun, but a far more valuable defensive player. Both teams won here, though.
  • Cameron Maybin (Tigers) vs. Andrew McCutchen (Pirates): These high school center fielders went back-to-back, with Maybin going tenth and McCutchen going 11th. The early returns suggest that the Tigers made a poor choice here, though they ultimately packaged Maybin in a deal for Miguel Cabrera, so they're not exactly complaining. McCutchen has hit since he arrived in Pittsburgh last season, and a 23-year-old with an .847 OPS in his first 733 major league plate appearances stands an awfully good chance of being an elite player for years to come. Maybin is still immensely talented, and could turn into a star- but McCutchen already is one. Pirates win- how often do you get to read that?
  • Craig Hansen (Red Sox) vs. Joey Devine (Braves): This throwdown is a lesson in the perils of college pitchers. They seem like sure things, compared to high schoolers, and from the start, the Red Sox and Braves thought they had their ninth-innings mapped out for years to come. Hansen, drafted 26th out of St. John's, has yet to find command at the major league level, with 63 walks against 70 strikeouts in 93.2 innings. The right-hander was one of the moving parts in the three-team deal that sent Manny Ramirez to Los Angeles. Hansen's troubles were baffling, until the discovery of a degenerative nerve condition that has his career in doubt. Devine, chosen 27th, got traded to Oakland for Mark Kotsay, so Atlanta didn't benefit much from choosing him, either. The Athletics got a fantastic 2008 out of Devine- a 0.59 ERA in 45.2 innings with 49 strikeouts. Tommy John surgery kept him out for 2009, but he is currently on track to return to Oakland by the end of June. Winner here? Clearly, the Athletics.

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