Nationals Release Elijah Dukes
The Nationals released outfielder Elijah Dukes, according to a team press release. According to a tweet from MASN's Ben Goessling, the move had nothing to do with off-the-field issues. This is very surprising news, as Dukes projected as the team's starting right fielder and has a minor league option left. Goessling talked to Nationals GM Mike Rizzo, who said the team made many attempts to trade Dukes but could not find an interested team (Twitter link). Dukes' time with Washington was marked by injuries and a disappointing '09 season.
Dukes, 25, hit .250/.337/.393 in 416 plate appearances last year, playing a below-average right and center field (according to UZR). He also played 22 games in the minors. Dukes has avoided off-the-field problems since Jim Bowden acquired him from the Rays in December of '07, with a June '08 dugout confrontation with Manny Acta probably his worst offense. Just a couple of weeks ago Goessling noted that the Nationals had "taken the reins off Dukes — letting his personal adviser go and allowing him more freedom with the media."
Nationals Release Logan Kensing
The Nationals released reliever Logan Kensing, tweets NatsTown News. Kensing had re-signed on a minor league deal on December 15th and tossed one scoreless inning this spring. The 27-year-old righty posted an 8.92 ERA, 4.8 K/9, and 4.3 BB/9 in 35.3 innings for the Nats and Marlins last year, but was impressive in 33.3 minor league frames.
The Nationals also released Shawn Estes, Eddie Guardado, and Ron Villone in the last week.
Astros Release Alex Romero
Outfielder Alex Romero was released by the Astros, tweets Alyson Footer. Romero had been signed to a minor league deal on December 8th, and went 4 for 11 this spring. The 26-year-old hit .348/.416/.462 for the D'Backs' Triple a club last year, but struggled in the Majors. Two years ago, Baseball America called Romero "the ideal fourth outfielder."
Odds & Ends: Lowell, Ohka, Towers, Washburn
Leftover links for Tuesday evening….
- Perhaps we shouldn't count on the Mike Lowell rumor mill immediately roaring back to life. ESPNBoston's Gordon Edes says (via Twitter) that scouts don't feel Lowell is moving very well in spring action. Of course, as Edes points out in a second tweet, the 36-year-old doesn't move overly well even when he's healthy.
- Greg Cote of the Miami Herald thinks Lowell's limited mobility isn't as big a concern as long as he's playing first base, and would like to see the Marlins go after him.
- The Quintana Roo Tigers of the Mexican League released Tomo Ohka, tweets NPB Tracker. The Tigers had just signed the Japanese right-hander last week.
- Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer assesses the progress of the players the Indians acquired in last season's Cliff Lee trade, focusing on Jason Donald.
- The Yankees have finally made their hiring of Kevin Towers official, naming him a Special Assignment Scout, per a team press release. It was first reported back in January that Towers would be joining New York's staff.
- Yesterday, we heard that the Mariners still have interest in Jarrod Washburn, but John Hickey of AOL Fanhouse tweets that the left-hander isn't close to signing yet with Seattle or anyone else.
- The Astros, not the Red Sox, signed minor-leaguer and former Mariners' first round pick, Michael Garciaparra, writes Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe.
- If he were a GM tasked with signing either himself and Vladimir Guerrero, Marlon Byrd would make the same choice the Rangers did, according to ESPNDallas' Richard Durrett. Byrd says that before he signed with the Cubs, he had some preliminary discussions with Texas, adding that the Rangers' decision to sign Vladdy was a "no brainer."
Discussion: Mike Aviles
Following a promising 2008 campaign in which he hit .325/.354/.480 and finished fourth in Rookie of the Year voting, Mike Aviles underwent Tommy John surgery last year. Now that he's playing again and working his way toward full health, a note in ESPN.com's Rumor Central (Insider only) speculates that he could become trade bait for Kansas City.
The Royals' incumbent starter at shortstop, a position where Aviles posted a +31.6 UZR/150 in 2008, is Yuniesky Betancourt. Aviles offers more upside than Betancourt, who displayed little value with the bat (.245/.274/.351) or the glove (-23.9 UZR/150) last season. However, Aviles' recovery from arm surgery has necessitated at least a temporary move to second base, where he'll compete for playing time with Alberto Callaspo and Chris Getz.
Presumably, the Royals are hoping Aviles builds up the arm strength needed for throwing across the diamond, taking away some of Betancourt's playing time at shortstop. Even so, the Royals may end up having more middle infield depth than they need, and GM Dayton Moore could consider moving Aviles or perhaps Callaspo, who was the subject of trade rumors earlier in the winter.
Are there any teams you see as a possible match for Kansas City? If you're a Royals fan, how would you like to see the club handle their potential middle infield surplus?
Giants Return Johnson To Orioles
The Giants returned Rule 5 pick Steve Johnson to the Orioles, tweets Henry Schulman of The San Francisco Chronicle. Baltimore will pay $25K for the transaction.
Johnson, 22, was part of the trade that sent George Sherrill to the Dodgers last July, and posted a 3.41 ERA with a 9.5 K/9 and a 3.8 BB/9 in 145.1 innings split between the two organizations in 2009. Baseball America ranked Johnson as San Francisco's 20th best prospect coming into the season, saying he profiles best as a back-end starter or middle reliever.
The 15th pick in the Rule 5 Draft walked six batters and allowed five hits in 4.2 innings this spring.
Marlins Release Derrick Turnbow
Righty reliever Derrick Turnbow has been released by the Marlins, tweets Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald. Yesterday Turnbow said his comeback attempt with the Marlins was over after he left today's Spring Training game favoring his shoulder, tweets Joe Capozzi of The Palm Beach Post. Turnbow told MLB.com's Joe Frisaro that the pain in his shoulder was ten times worse than when he broke his elbow (link goes to Twitter).
The 32-year-old Turnbow signed a minor league deal with Florida back in January, hoping to get back to the big leagues for the first time since 2008. He suffered from extreme control issues after his breakout campaign with the Brewers in 2005, walking 148 batters in 154 innings, majors and minors.
If this is indeed the end of the road for Turnbow, he'll retire with a 4.30 ERA, 65 saves, and a 9.3 K/9 in 257.2 innings. Baseball-Reference.com says he earned just over $7MM during his career.
Sidney Ponson Signs With Long Island Ducks
Righthander Sidney Ponson has signed with the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League according to Mike Ashmore of The Hunterdon County Democrat (via Twitter).
The 33-year-old Ponson appeared in 14 games (9 starts) for the Royals last season, posting a 7.36 ERA and a 1.28 K/BB ratio in 58.2 innings. He became a free agent in August after Kansas City designated him for assignment, and this is the first time we've heard his name since.
Ponson hasn't been an effective big leaguer since 2003, when he tossed up a 3.75 ERA for the Orioles and Giants. Baltimore signed him to three year, $22.5MM contract after that season, and all they got in return was a 5.64 ERA in 346 innings and numerous off-the-field headaches.
Lew Ford, Preston Wilson, Carl Everett, Danny Graves, and Bill Pulsipher are among the former big leaguers to have donned a Ducks' uniform.
Details Emerge About Hechevarria
Jorge Ebro at the Nuevo Herald interviewed newly signed Blue Jays prospect Adeiny Hechevarria in Spanish, digging out a few fresh insights concerning both the signing and the 19-year-old Cuban shortstop's potential.
Hechevarria avoids saying directly that the Blue Jays aren't the team of his teenage dreams, but he lets slip that he "played shortstop for Santiago imagining that it was Yankee Stadium." Nevertheless, Ebro notes that Hechevarria turned down an offer from the Yankees in the hopes of rising more quickly to prominence in Toronto's system. The New York Post's George King II wrote three days ago that the Yankees were likely willing to offer similar money to Toronto, and more recently, the Toronto Sun's Bob Elliott quoted an unnamed executive as saying that "the word in the scouting community" was that the Yankees' offer was larger Toronto's winning bid of $10MM for four years.
Shortstop for the Blue Jays has been a sorespot in terms of both reliable production and reliable attendance since back when the team was a perpetual contender, as last year's .789 OPS by Marco Scutaro was the highest by a Blue Jays shortstop logging at least 500 PAs since Tony Fernandez in 1987. Over those ensuing years, other AL East teams have built their lineups around the likes of Cal Ripken, Derek Jeter, Nomar Garciaparra, and Miguel Tejada. Even the Rays have been able to bank on shortstop with more reliability than the Jays, as Tampa Bay's recent history has witnessed the best years of Julio Lugo's career and the arrival of Jason Bartlett.
But what to expect from Hechevarria himself? In the absence of minor league stats and scouting reports, Ebro's sources reach for comparisons. One scout labels him "an Alfonso Soriano who can defend," while another describes him as more polished than last year's highly regarded Cuban shortstop prospect, Jose Iglesias, who will start the season in Double A Portland for the Red Sox. Comparisons between the two prospects are seemingly inevitable, for reasons of age (Iglesias is 20), nationality, contract size, and because Hechevarria got the nod over Iglesias at short for the Cuban team at the World Baseball Junior Championships in 2007.
Elliott at the Toronto Sun quotes an AL executive who calls Hechevarria "a much better player" than Iglesias, while another official from a team who made an offer to Hechevarria labeled him "probably more of a fielder than a hitter" for the time being, albeit one who will be "pretty offensive when it all plays out." Like Iglesias, Hechevarria will likely start out at Double A, notes Dave Perkins at the Toronto Star.
All comparisons with other prospects aside, though, Ebro's article starts out by comparing Hechevarria's potential to the next few years of his idol, Jeter, and writers in New York have noted the comparison as well. Mike Vaccaro at the New York Post most recently wrote that Hechevarria was widely believed to be "earmarked for the Yankees," and that that missing out on Hechevarria shows the team's commitment to an iconic shortstop who "will have to morph from shortstop into either a left fielder or a full time designated hitter" by the end of his next contract—especially if that contract stretches to six years, as Jon Heyman recently posited.
According to some, though, Hechevarria's future isn't even at short. One scout tells Elliott that the prospect's skills will eventually put him in the outfield, while Vaccaro notes that Hechevarria's bat could translate well to second base or center field, just one more reason why the newest Blue Jay "made all the sense in the world" for the Yankees.
Dodgers Return Zerpa To Red Sox
The Dodgers returned Rule 5 pick Armando Zerpa to the Red Sox, according to the AP (via Yahoo! Sports). Boston will pay half of the original $50K Rule 5 fee in the transaction.
Zerpa, 23, was selected by the Rays with the 13th pick in the Rule 5 Draft before being traded to the Dodgers for cash. The lefthander posted a 4.85 ERA with 8.2 K/9 in 29.2 innings for Boston's Class-A Advanced affiliate in 2009, but that came with an ugly 6.4 BB/9.
Even though high strikeout lefty relievers are in high demand, it was hard to see Zerpa sticking on the Dodgers' 25-man roster all season given his control problems and zero experience above A-ball.