A year ago today, the Athletics traded reliever Sam Demel to the Diamondbacks for first baseman/outfielder Conor Jackson and cash. Demel is on the DL with a shoulder injury, though the groundballer should prove useful for Arizona. Today's links:
- Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista is profiled by Yahoo's Jeff Passan in a must-read article.
- YES Network's Jack Curry talked to Brian Gordon, the 32-year-old converted outfielder who could start for the Yankees tomorrow. Joel Sherman of the New York Post has more on Gordon, who he's heard compared to Aaron Small or Dustin Moseley.
- Sherman also discusses Hiroki Kuroda, who he feels could be a target for the Yankees if the Dodgers want to dump his salary and the righty is willing to waive his no-trade clause.
- Baseball America's Ben Badler looks at the top Dominican shortstops for July 2nd, including Raul Mondesi's son Adalberto.
- The Red Sox will not be serious players for Jose Reyes in free agency, tweets SI's Jon Heyman. They would probably not be inclined to block Jose Iglesias.
- Yusei Kikuchi's NPB debut was unimpressive, writes Patrick Newman. Kikuchi was a popular MLBTR topic in October of 2009, as the teenage southpaw considered bypassing Japan's draft to sign with an MLB club.