NL Central Notes: Astros, Fielder, Pirates, Cubs
When the Brewers take on the Cardinals tonight, St. Louis skipper Tony La Russa will be managing his 5,000th MLB game. Here are notes on the Cardinals, the Brewers and their NL Central rivals…
- The Astros announced that they have signed second round pick Adrian Houser via press release. His signing bonus is unknown, but MLB's slot recommendation for the 69th overall pick is approximately $530K.
- Prince Fielder says he isn't competing with Albert Pujols or thinking about his next contract. But Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports says the Brewers' first baseman may be a safer free agent target than Pujols this coming offseason.
- Pirates owner Bob Nutting told Bob Cohn of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that he is "extremely pleased" with the progress the 30-31 Pirates have made this year. “Tremendous improvement from last year,” Nutting said. “I'm very pleased where we are. And, I really believe that we're beginning to see the impact of the changes we've made in the organization over the last three and a half years.”
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports wonders how long A’s GM Billy Beane will want to remain in Oakland and points out that the Cubs and Astros could be looking for new leadership before long. Beane would be a “leading candidate” for any GM job if he were not in Oakland.
- Jeff Gordon of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says new Astros owner Jim Crane should aim to draft and develop players as successfully as the Cardinals have.
Padres Sign Cory Spangenberg
Padres first round pick Cory Spangenberg has passed his physical and signed, reports MLB.com's Corey Brock (Twitter links). He received a $1.86MM bonus, approximately MLB's slot recommendation.
Spangenberg, in infielder out of Indian River Junior College in Florida, was the tenth overall pick in this week's draft. The Padres received that pick as compensation for failing to sign Karsten Whitson last year. San Diego would not have received another compensation pick next year if they failed to sign Spangenberg.
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Harper, Braves, Madson
Two former Seattle Mariner superstars hit milestone home runs on this date. Three years ago it was Ken Griffey Jr., who took Mark Hendrickson of the Marlins deep for this 600th career homer. Six years ago it was Alex Rodriguez hitting his 400th career long ball off Jorge de la Rosa of the Brewers. Will any of this week's links be historically great? Let's see…
- Lasorda's Lair interviewed former big leaguer and one time elbow surgery test subject Tommy John.
- 1 Blue Jays Way interviewed Blue Jays prospect Zach Stewart.
- Phoul Ballz interviewed Phillies prospect David Buchanan.
- Pitchers & Poets wrote about Bryce Harper and the element of style.
- The Nats Blog compared Harper's minor league debut to Albert Pujols'.
- Capitol Avenue Club imagines a Braves team with Kelly Johnson, Omar Infante, and Mike Dunn.
- Crashburn Alley compared Ryan Madson to the rest of the upcoming class of free agent closers.
- Brotherly Glove, meanwhile, wonders if Madson is a must-sign for the Phillies.
- Redleg Nation explains why Brandon Phillips is still the Reds' second baseman of the future.
- Climbing Tal's Hill wonders if the Astros would listen to offers for Michael Bourn.
- Camden Crazies tells us why Mark Reynolds is both better and worse than we think.
- Bleacher GM lists some players the Orioles could look to trade.
- The Friarhood says Anthony Rizzo arrived just in time to make a run at the NL Rookie of the Year award.
- Wahoo Blues broke down the positions the Indians could try to upgrade at the trade deadline.
- Cubs Stats analyzed the Cubs' losing streak.
- Bleacher Nation wonders how the Cubs' debt will impact them in free agency.
- The Process Report looks at how Kyle Farnsworth has improved with age.
- DRays Bay assessed B.J. Upton's trade value.
- DC is for Baseball covered the Nationals draft from head to toe.
- FanSpeak explains why the Nationals need to sign third round pick Matt Purke.
- the composite looks at the last year of Stephen Strasburg's career.
- Tomahawk Chop doesn't think the Braves played it safe with their first round pick, Sean Gilmartin.
- Blogging From The Bleachers says the Athletics' pitching depth is being tested.
- Bronx Bombers Report wonders if the Yankees could make a run at Francisco Rodriguez.
- Rising Apple looked ahead to the Mets' arbitration cases.
- COSFBA compared some nameless fantasy options.
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Royals Designate Kevin Pucetas For Assignment
The Royals announced that they designated Kevin Pucetas for assignment to create 40-man roster space for top prospect Mike Moustakas (Twitter link).
The 6'4" right-hander has a 5.07 ERA with 6.7 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 in 60 1/3 innings at Triple-A. Pucetas, a 17th round pick of the Giants in 2006, has a 3.85 ERA with 6.5 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9 in six seasons as a minor league starter. However, the 26-year-old has yet to post an ERA below 5.00 in three seasons at Triple-A.
NL West Notes: Giants, Ludwick, Burroughs
No team in baseball has scored fewer runs than the Giants, who have the best record in the National League West. They aren't the only team in the division that's having trouble scoring. The Padres are 29th in MLB in runs and the Dodgers are 25th. Here's the latest from the low-scoring NL West…
- The Giants promoted 21-year-old catching prospect Hector Sanchez from Class A to Triple-A, according to Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle. Giants GM Brian Sabean has expressed confidence in Eli Whiteside, but the club is eyeing other catchers.
- Padres GM Jed Hoyer and Reds GM Walt Jocketty shot down a rumor about a possible Ryan Ludwick–Chris Heisey swap, according to Bill Center of the San Diego Union-Tribune and Tom Groeschen of the Cincinnati Enquirer, respectively.
- D'Backs third baseman Sean Burroughs is back in the Major Leagues after five years of late nights and parties, writes MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch. "I always say I went out to Vegas to become a rock star," Burroughs said.
Yankees Links: Joba, Prospects, Relievers
The Yankees were just swept by the Red Sox at home for the second time this season, the first time that's happened since 1912. The Yankees were still the Highlanders back then. That qualifies as a crisis in the Big Apple, so let's round up the latest links…
- Joba Chamberlain will undergo Tommy John ligament replacement surgery on his right pitching elbow next week, according to Danny Knobler of CBS Sports (on Twitter).
- Joel Sherman of The New York Post says the Yankees need to move their young prospects along more aggressively, particularly pitchers like Dellin Betances, Manny Banuelos, and Hector Noesi to help shore up an injury-depleted bullpen. GM Brian Cashman, however, said yesterday that the team will not rush their top arms no matter what.
- Earlier today we heard that prospect Kevin Whelan could be an option for the bullpen. He's pitching well in Triple-A and was part of the trade that sent Gary Sheffield to the Tigers a few years ago.
- In a separate column, Sherman explains that while there should be plenty of right-handed relievers available on the trade market, the history of those guys performing in new surroundings is not good.
- We also heard that Cashman told SI.com's Jon Heyman that he doesn't see an ace-caliber starter on the trade market.
Stark On Rollins, Fielder, Pujols, Olivo, Tigers
A number of iconic players are in contract years, so ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark looks ahead to their free agent stock and provides other rumors from around the league. Here are the details:
- No one Stark spoke with predicts David Ortiz will leave the Red Sox for another team.
- Jose Reyes will be the number two free agent on the market this winter behind only Albert Pujols, according to one executive.
- Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. acknowledges that it wouldn't be easy to replace Jimmy Rollins, even though the shortstop is no longer an MVP-caliber player. The Phillies ‘poked around’ for possible alternatives at short last offseason, according to Stark, who predicts a two-year deal for Rollins and the Phils this winter.
- Prince Fielder will no doubt sign a lucrative free agent deal, but one executive says the first baseman’s body will be an issue: "It has been since high school, and it always will be." Fielder is 27 now, so an eight-year deal would expire after his age-35 season.
- Pujols will test the market, but Stark and his sources find it hard to believe that he’d leave St. Louis for any old team. One executive predicts that the Cubs are the Cardinals’ main threat.
- The Cubs aren’t ready to start selling and haven’t started shopping Carlos Zambrano, despite his recent outburst.
- The Red Sox offered Miguel Olivo a one-year deal before re-signing Jason Varitek last offseason. Olivo eventually signed a two-year deal with the Mariners.
- The Rangers are ‘stepping up’ their search for a right-handed setup man and maintain interest in Nationals reliever Todd Coffey.
- Rival teams say the Tigers are looking for a left-handed reliever. Southpaws Daniel Schlereth, David Purcey, Charlie Furbush and Adam Wilk are currently in Detroit’s bullpen.
Regular MLBTR Features
If you're a regular MLBTR reader, you'll be familiar with our chats, our Week In Review posts and Mike Axisa's Baseball Blogs Weigh In feature. Here's some more detail on when you'll see our weekly features and exactly what to expect from them:
- MLBTR Chats – Come by every Wednesday at 2pm CDT to chat about the latest trades, signings and rumblings around the major leagues.
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- Week In Review – It's amazing how much happens in seven days. Every Sunday night, we summarize the week's biggest stories in our Week In Review posts.
- MLBTR Originals – We gather all our original analysis and reporting in one place every Sunday night.
Olney On Yankees, A’s, Moustakas
The Yankees have lost reliever after reliever to the disabled list this year, but that doesn’t mean they’re about to rush top pitching prospects like Manny Banuelos to the Bronx. GM Brian Cashman told ESPN.com’s Buster Olney that he’ll try to strengthen the team’s bullpen in other ways. Here are the rest of Olney's rumors:
- Triple-A reliever Kevin Whelan could be an option for the Yankees, who have a depleted bullpen instead of the dominant one they expected after the offseason.
- Olney says turnover was inevitable for the A’s “because the franchise continues to rot day by day.” Oakland’s ballpark situation remains unclear and Olney says the franchise will continue to “rot” until there’s resolution on that front.
- Royals GM Dayton Moore told Olney that the time is right for top prospect Mike Moustakas to play in the big leagues. “Ned [Yost, the manager] wanted to get another bat in here, and our people feel like he's ready," Moore said. Moustakas has a .287/.347/.498 line with ten homers at Triple-A and he still has enough time to pick up a few hundred MLB plate appearances this year.
Heyman On Yankees, Red Sox, Twins, D’Backs
In the aftermath of Bob Geren’s dismissal, Jon Heyman of SI.com lists a handful of managers with suspect job security. Though 2011 probably won’t be a big year for managerial firings, Jim Riggleman of the Nationals and Edwin Rodriguez of the Marlins are on Heyman’s list. Here are the rest of his rumors:
- Geren had "lost" the Athletics' clubhouse, according to people with Oakland ties.
- Yankees GM Brian Cashman doesn’t expect elite starting pitching to be available this summer. "I just don't see a No. 1 pitcher you can pinpoint,'' Cashman said.
- The Yankees will look for starting pitching and left-handed relief.
- The Red Sox will also be looking to add a southpaw to their ‘pen.
- Boston people expect top prospect Jose Iglesias to prove himself as the shortstop of the future and people don’t expect the Red Sox to “make a play” for Jose Reyes.
- Competing executives say the Twins will “do what’s right” for the organization this summer, even if that means trading Major Leaguers for prospects. Watch out for the last-place Twins, who have won seven of eight.
- Executives say the D’Backs, Padres, Pirates, Rays and Red Sox had strong drafts.