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Archives for April 2011

Dodgers Notes: Zach Lee, Mattingly, McCourt

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Some news as the Dodgers start a weekend series in San Diego…

  • Zach Lee, the Dodgers' first-round pick in the 2010 amateur draft, made his pro debut tonight for the Class A Great Lakes Loons of the Midwest League, reports Steve Dilbeck of the L.A. Times.  Lee allowed two hits and three walks in four scoreless innings for the Loons, striking out five.  Lee was recently ranked as the 89th-best prospect in the game by Baseball America.
  • From that same item, Dilbeck reports that the Dodgers have brought back Preston Mattingly, son of manager Don Mattingly.  The younger Mattingly was drafted 31st overall by L.A. in the 2006 amateur draft, traded to the Indians in September and released by the Tribe last week.
  • Major League Baseball has not yet reached a decision about Frank McCourt's proposed new TV deal with Fox, tweets Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times.  SI's Jon Heyman reported earlier that MLB wasn't going to approve a $200MM loan from the network to McCourt, but that was in reference to a seperate proposal that Bud Selig rejected last month.
  • Tony Gwynn Jr. talks to ESPNLosAngeles.com's Tony Jackson about how he's enjoying playing for the Dodgers and how disappointed he was to be non-tendered by San Diego over the winter.
  • Matt Kemp is off to a strong start, and ESPNLosAngeles.com's Ramona Shelburne looks at some of the little things the center fielder is doing to rebound from a disappointing 2010 season.

Angels Sign Nataneal Rodriguez

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The Angels have signed left-hander Nataneal Rodriguez to an $180K contract, according to the Dominican Prospect League.  Rodriguez is "a power pitcher whose fastball works between 92-94 MPH and has topped out at 96 MPH," according to the DPL's release.  Rodriguez is projected as a closer, but "could turn into a quality starting pitcher in the future" with more confidence in his changeup.

Rodriguez, 20, is described as having "a small frame," but was pursued by five other clubs besides the Halos.

Manny Ramirez Retires: Reaction And Fallout

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Manny Ramirez was "being Manny" one more time, with even his retirement announcement coming under unusual circumstances.  The slugger's abrupt departure from the game has already generated a great deal of controversy, and here's a sampling of some of the reaction…

  • The overwhelming feeling from media members is that Ramirez's latest brush with a drug suspension probably ends his chances of being voted into the Hall of Fame.  One anonymous Cooperstown voter tells CBSSports.com's C. Trent Rosecrans that he "would have had a hard time voting for [Ramirez] before today. The fact that it happened again, I wouldn't vote for him now." ESPN's Amy K. Nelson wonders if Ramirez will even stay on the HOF ballot past his first year of eligibility.  (Twitter link)
  • As Jon Paul Morosi of FOXSports.com puts it, "if [Ramirez] had two positive tests after MLB began issuing steroid suspensions in 2005, how can we give him the benefit of the doubt that his numbers from the 1990s weren’t juiced, too?"
  • Adding to Ramirez's ignomy is this fact tweeted by ESPN's Buster Olney: Ramirez would've been the first player to face a 100-game suspension under Major League Baseball's drug policy.  Technically, Ramirez would've just been the first Major League player to face such a long suspension — Ramon A. Castro and Prentice Redman received suspensions for 105 and 100 games, respectively, while on minor league rosters.
  • Bobby Jenks tells WEEI.com's Kirk Minihane that his former White Sox teammate is "a really good guy" but didn't mince words about Ramirez's situation.  "You do it, you get caught, you’re an idiot. If you do it again you’re a dumbass,” said Jenks. “I mean, it’s sad to see. One of the greatest hitters, or one of them, to make the same mistake twice, same bad choice."
  • Ozzie Guillen, Ramirez's manager last year in Chicago, praised Ramirez as a quality player and good teammate, but also praised the strength of MLB's drug-testing policy.  “It shows people that Major League Baseball is after [drug users]," Guillen said.  "They’re not playing around. They’re letting the players know how tough they’re going to be.”
  • The retirement is "a miserable way to go," writes Steve Dilbeck of the L.A. Times.  Ramirez's career "ends in shame, the story of a phenomenal hitter who tried to hang on too long and by any means. There’s no final Manny quip, no dramatic last at-bat, no last chapter to make it right.
  • Jonah Keri of Fangraphs thinks Ramirez's retirement, Evan Longoria's injury and an 0-6 start may inspire the Rays to already throw in the towel on the 2011 season.  Keri thinks Jeff Niemann, James Shields, Johnny Damon and Dan Johnson could become trade bait, though Keri also notes that Tampa Bay could just as easily keep some veterans around so as to keep young stars like Desmond Jennings from accumulating service time.
  • Cork Gaines of the Rays Index predicts the team will stay mostly silent about the circumstances surrounding Ramirez's departure: "They will defer everything to Manny and Scott Boras and try to push as much of the stink in their direction."
  • Rays manager Joe Maddon tweets that Ramirez's retirement "is a galvanizing moment for us."

Rangers Sign Manny Corpas

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The Rangers signed Manny Corpas to a minor league deal, according to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News (on Twitter). The Rockies released Corpas this November, two months after he underwent Tommy John ligament replacement surgery. Corpas probably won't pitch in 2011, while he recovers.

Corpas posted a 4.62 ERA with 6.8 K/9, 2.5 BB/9 and a 42.5% ground ball rate in 2010. Defense independent pitching stats suggest his ERA should have been lower last year, and he was one of the youngest free agents available.

D’Backs To Sign Ron Mahay

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The Diamondbacks agreed to sign left-handed reliever Ron Mahay to a minor league deal, the team announced. Mahay will head to extended Spring Training for a few days and will likely be assigned to Triple-A afterward, at which point left-handed reliever Joe Paterson may see his job security diminish.

Mahay, 39, appeared in 41 games for the Twins last year and posted a 3.44 ERA with a 42.5% ground ball rate, 6.6 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9. In 14 big league seasons, Mahay has posted 7.9 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 against left-handed hitters.

Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic first reported the agreement (Twitter links)

Rangers Claim Ramon Aguero

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The Rangers claimed Ramon Aguero off of waivers from the Pirates, according to Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (on Twitter). Texas optioned the right-hander to Triple-A and moved Omar Beltre to its 60-day DL.

Pittsburgh designated Aguero for assignment last week after optioning him to Double-A earlier in March. Aguero posted a 6.14 ERA with 7.7 K/9 and 5.2 BB/9 in 29 1/3 innings at Class A and Double-A last year. The 26-year-old Dominican has a 4.14 ERA with 7.9 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 in parts of five pro seasons.

Manny Ramirez Retires

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Manny Ramirez has retired, Major League Baseball announced. MLB says it notified Ramirez of "an issue" under its drug program and that the longtime slugger decided to retire instead of continuing with the process. 

Ramirez would have faced a 100-game suspension if he hadn't retired, because he tested positive for a banned substance, according to Bill Shaikin of the LA Times (on Twitter). The positive test occurred in Spring Training, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). It would have been Ramirez's second major drug-related suspension; he was suspended for 50 games after a positive drug test in 2009.

Five games into his one-year, $2MM contract with the Rays, Ramirez's brief tenure in Tampa is over. He went 1/17 with a single and an RBI, getting booed by his own fans in the process. The Rays did not anticipate this development.

"We are obviously surprised and disappointed by this news," the club said in a statement. "We will have no further comment on this matter."

Ramirez ends his 19-year big league career with 2574 hits, 1831 RBI, a .312 batting average, a .411 on-base percentage and a .585 slugging percentage. The 12-time All-Star ranks 14th all-time with 555 homers and 9th all-time with a .996 OPS. Ramirez played for the Indians, Red Sox, Dodgers, Rays and White Sox, winning nine Silver Sluggers, two Hank Aaron Awards and the 2004 World Series MVP. He earned over $200MM in his career, according to Baseball-Reference, but won't earn the bulk of his agreed upon 2011 salary.

Heyman On Marlins, White Sox, Jenks, Glaus

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There is likely an unusually short list of managers on the hot seat this year, writes Jon Heyman of SI.com. Marlins skipper Edwin Rodriguez is the lone manager who truly has uncertain job security, according to Heyman. Rodriguez received a one-year deal from the Marlins, which is rare for managers and suggests he doesn’t necessarily figure into the club’s long-term plans. Here are the rest of Heyman’s rumors.

  • Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria told Heyman that "no one's on the hot seat.”
  • Jim Leyland of the Tigers, Jim Riggleman of the Nationals and Ozzie Guillen of the White Sox are not necessarily on the hot seat, but they’re worth keeping an eye on, according to Heyman.
  • Leyland will likely be given the chance to return to Detroit after the season when his contract expires, but that’s not a sure thing, according to Heyman.
  • One White Sox person told Heyman that Guillen “isn't going anywhere.” 
  • Before the Yankees signed Rafael Soriano, GM Brian Cashman told Bobby Jenks that he wasn’t offering any setup man $8MM. The Yankees signed Soriano for $35MM over three years, though Cashman advised against it.
  • Free agent Troy Glaus is still at home after drawing some interest this winter.

Near Misses For Super Two Status

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Last offseason, two years and 122 days of service time was enough for super two status. It looks like players will need about three weeks more service time to qualify as super twos after the coming season, which means many players who won't qualify this year would have qualified last year. Keeping in mind that this list is subject to change until the season ends, here's a look at the players who may just miss super two status this offseason (Opening Day service time noted):

Three players, Chris Davis and Derek Holland of the Rangers and, Tommy Hanson of the Braves entered the season with one year and 120 days of service.

Thanks to Cot's Baseball Contracts for the service time info.

Possible Super Two Players For 2012

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The cutoff for super two players will be two years and 146 days of service time after the 2011 season, according to preliminary internal studies by the agency CAA (Twitter link). This would represent a decidedly late cutoff, especially compared to last year, when two years and 122 days of service was enough for players to head to arbitration an extra time. The possible 2.146 cutoff is subject to change, depending on callups and demotions, but here's a preliminary list of players who could qualify for super two status if they accumulate a full year of service time in 2011 (Opening Day service time noted).

Thanks to Cot's Baseball Contracts for the service time info.

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