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Archives for June 2011

Giants Sign Max Ramirez

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The Giants signed catcher Max Ramirez, MLBTR has confirmed. Earlier tonight, CSNBayArea.com reported the deal, which provides the catching-starved Giants with some depth at Triple-A.

Ramirez has a .229/.267/.339 line for the Cubs' and Astros' Triple-A affiliates this year. In parts of two MLB seasons with the Rangers, the 26-year old has a .217/.343/.357 line.

Ramirez has bounced around constantly in 2011. The Rangers designated him for assignment in January and saw the Red Sox claim him. The Cubs claimed him less than a week later only to release him in May. The Astros then signed him, but his stint with Houston was short, as they released him last week.

Team Facebook/Twitter/RSS

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If you prefer your MLBTR fix limited to only your favorite team, we've got you covered.  Below are links to our team Facebook, Twitter, and RSS pages and feeds.

AL East

AL Central

AL West

NL East

NL Central

NL West

Transactions only: Twitter / RSS

Reyes Not Interested In Negotiating During Season

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Jose Reyes is headed for the open market. The shortstop has told the Mets that he isn't interested in negotiating an extension during the season, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post (on Twitter). The Mets approached Reyes' agent only to learn that negotiations will have to wait until after the season, according to Adam Rubin of the New York Daily News (on Twitter).

As recently as this morning it appeared that the Mets had interest in discussing a deal in the near future. COO Jeff Wilpon said today that he hasn't given up hope on re-signing Reyes, who is scheduled to hit free agency for the first time this fall.

If Reyes is waiting until after the season to negotiate, there's a good chance that he'll become available to all 30 teams. But if the Mets miss the playoffs, they could negotiate a deal during the month of October. Even if New York makes the playoffs, they would have five days of exclusive negotiating rights after the World Series ends.

Reyes has arguably been the best player in the National League to this point in the season. The 28-year-old leads the Senior Circuit with a .341 average, 12 triples, 54 runs, 103 hits and 4.2 WAR (according to FanGraphs).

Padres Request Release Waivers For Jorge Cantu

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The Padres announced that they have requested unconditional release waivers on Jorge Cantu, who was designated for assignment last Thursday. In related moves, the team designated Luis Durango for assignment, optioned Wade LeBlanc to the minor leagues, placed Brad Hawpe on the 15-day DL, recalled Kyle Phillips and promoted Josh Spence.

Cantu hit .194/.232/285 in 155 plate appearances this year, playing some first, second and third. The 29-year-old signed with the Padres in January, but was unable to reverse the offensive struggles that intensified last year. Cantu had a .788 OPS as recently as 2009, but he has just a .223/.260/.312 line in 382 plate appearances over the course of the last calendar year.

Padres Designate Luis Durango For Assignment

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The Padres designated outfielder Luis Durango for assignment to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for lefty Josh Spence, tweets MLB.com's Corey Brock.

Durango, 25, picked up 53 MLB plate appearances as a backup center fielder last year, hitting .250/.308/.250. He has spent this season as the center fielder for Triple-A Tucson, where he has a .243/.328/.294 line with ten stolen bases.

Spence, 23, was selected in the 9th round of last year's draft and is the first member of San Diego's 2010 draft class to reach the Major Leagues. The reliever posted a 1.71 ERA with 8.0 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 in 47 1/3 innings (35 appearances) at Double-A this year and he posted an eye-popping 15.8 K/9 after signing last summer.

Stark On B.J. Upton, Boras, Dodgers

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The latest from ESPN's Jayson Stark…

  • The Rays are not likely to trade B.J. Upton this summer, though the Nationals have been monitoring the center fielder just in case.  Though the Rays feel they have a long-term need for catching, they're not enticed by the Nats' dangling of Jesus Flores and Ivan Rodriguez.
  • Scott Boras is the biggest culprit in trying to steal clients, says one agent.  However, the practice is legal if Boras reports all contact made with others' clients to the Players Association.  Last year Boras' free agent group looked weak before he snagged Jayson Werth and Rafael Soriano a few months before the offseason began.  This time, Boras won't be swiping Jose Reyes from Peter Greenberg, but he does have Prince Fielder, Carlos Beltran, Ryan Madson, and anyone else he manages to bring aboard.
  • Realignment is unlikely to happen for 2012, since the schedule needs to be finalized by September.  Stark also explains that realignment may depend on the decision to expand the postseason.
  • The Dodgers are telling teams they're weeks away from deciding whether to be deadline sellers.  If they do sell, it won't be because of money issues.  Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports agrees, saying MLB-appointed monitor Tom Schieffer would intercede if the team tries to make a move that's not in its best long-term interests.

Cardinals To Explore Trades For Bullpen Help

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The Cardinals will explore trades for bullpen help, GM John Mozeliak told Jim Bowden of MLB Network Radio (Twitter link).  Mozeliak also said he has not had conversations with the Phillies about recently-designated lefty J.C. Romero and doesn't consider Romero an upgrade.  On June 16th, Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch had written that the Cards planned to investigate Romero's availability.

With a 3.94 ERA, the Cardinals' bullpen ranks 12th in the National League.  The club was dealt a blow when Eduardo Sanchez hit the DL recently for a shoulder strain.  The Cards still have a strong group of righties in Fernando Salas, Jason Motte, and Mitchell Boggs.  I covered potentially available lefty relievers today, and the many right-handed relievers last week.

Quick Hits: Braves, Mariners, Balfour, Posting System

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Today the Diamondbacks purchased the contract of Wily Mo Pena with the aim of employing him in the middle of their order as a designated hitter during the AL leg of their interleague schedule.  The D'Backs had open spots on the 40-man roster for Pena, who hasn't played in the bigs since '08 but has a .363/.439/.726 line with 21 home runs in 271 Triple-A plate appearances.  Today's links…

  • Braves GM Frank Wren spoke to Dave O'Brien of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution about the state of the trade market, saying teams are "starting to reach out and talk to each other." He added that they "talked to a number of clubs about where they think they’re going to be going at the trade deadline, but that’s even somewhat nebulous on a lot of clubs."
  • Geoff Baker of The Seattle Times explored the idea of the Mariners trading either Jason Vargas or Doug Fister for offensive help and tried to figure out what a realistic return would be.
  • In today's Insider-only blog post, ESPN's Buster Olney mentions that Grant Balfour of the Athletics is among the relievers expected to be available this summer. He speculates that the Rangers could be a fit.
  • Brian MacPherson of The Providence Journal looked at how the Red Sox were about to snag Anthony Rizzo in the sixth round three years before he was a key piece in the Adrian Gonzalez trade.
  • NPB has decided against pursuing changes to the posting system according to a Japanese report passed along by Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker. Reasons include the difficulty of changing things on MLB's side, as well as the potential for large posting fees offered by the current system.
  • In the wake of Andrew Miller's return to the big leagues, WEEI.com's Alex Speier listed the seven pitchers in the last 15 years that reached the Majors the year they were drafted. It's not a pretty list.

Pirates Acquire Josh Rodriguez

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The Pirates have acquired Josh Rodriguez from the Indians for cash, reports MLB.com's Jordan Bastian (on Twitter). The infielder had been returned to Cleveland from Pittsburgh as a Rule 5 Draft pick back in April.

Baseball America ranked Rodriguez 24th among Pirates prospects before the season and suggested that he could become a big league utility player. In 364 plate appearances at Triple-A last year, he hit .293/.372/.486 and played shortstop. In 14 plate appearances for the Pirates this year, Rodriguez collected a single and a walk while playing second and short. His brief return to the Tribe resulted in a .193/.270/.316 batting line in 65 Triple-A plate appearances.

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