East Notes: Phillies, Lawrie, Fox, Uggla
Some items from the eastern divisions….
- "You will not see a major move this year," Phillies GM Ruben Amaro tells Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com about his team's trade deadline plans. Amaro feels the Phils are already good enough to compete and it's just a matter of the club finding its peak form. He also notes that the team has very little payroll flexibility, but "for $170 MM-plus, we should be good enough to be a World Series contender.”
- Blue Jays prospect Brett Lawrie will be out for two-to-four weeks with a non-displaced fracture in his left hand, tweets Rogers Sportsnet's Arash Madani. Lawrie was tentatively scheduled to make his Major League debut last week before being hit by a pitch in a Triple-A game.
- Jake Fox was put on waivers by the Orioles earlier today and he might get some attention from the Pirates. Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review notes that the Pirates had some interest in Fox during Spring Training, and the Bucs might have need for a catcher since Chris Snyder left today's game with a back injury. (Twitter link)
- The Dan Uggla trade hasn't panned out well for either the Braves or the Marlins thus far, writes Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald.
Athletics Notes: Weeks, Matsui, Anderson, Draft
Jemile Weeks collects walks just like his older brother Rickie, but while the elder Weeks hits for power, Jemile is more of a contact hitter, writes Fangraphs' Jack Moore in his analysis of the two Weeks brothers. Jemile went 0-for-4 in his Major League debut last night for the A's, leading off and playing second base.
Here are some more items from Oakland, courtesy of Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle…
- "Hideki Matsui's future is cloudy" with the A's, but the veteran may get one more stint of regular playing time to see if he can turn around his disappointing season. As Slusser notes, Matsui has been a better hitter in the second half of the season (a career .855 OPS after the All-Star break), but the team might not want to wait that long. I'd suggest Oakland could probably trade Matsui to a contender for a low-profile prospect rather than release him for nothing.
- Right-hander Graham Godfrey will make his Major League debut in a start against the White Sox on Friday. The A's will have to make a 40-man roster move to make room for Godfrey and Slusser guesses the team will have to designate someone for assignment. That is, unless, the A's have already gotten word that Brett Anderson will need Tommy John surgery and he can be moved to the 60-day DL. Anderson will get a second opinion from Dr. James Andrews next week.
- While the A's are struggling right now, "I don't see Billy Beane pulling the plug in early June no matter how many injuries they've absorbed, or even if Anderson does need Tommy John surgery." Slusser notes that "Josh Willingham's name is definitely out there" in terms of trade rumors.
- Oakland's late-round draft picks included Brett Geren (manager Bob Geren's son) in the 42nd round and Shane Boras (son of agent Scott Boras) in the 39th round. Shane is the second Boras child to be drafted in this year's amateur draft; his brother Trent was taken in the 30th round by the Brewers.
- Andy LaRoche has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A, Slusser tweets. LaRoche was designated for assignment by the Athletics on Monday.
New York Notes: Posada, Reyes, Citi Field
As Paul McCartney gets ready to make his debut at the new Yankee Stadium, here's the latest news from the Big Apple…
- The Yankees "don't want to release [Jorge Posada] at all," but they may be forced into such a move if Posada's hitting doesn't pick up by the All-Star Break, writes ESPNNewYork.com's Ian O'Connor. For now, there is no talk of a Posada release since the club wants to keep him on the roster until Derek Jeter reaches the 3000-hit plateau. Of course, baseball is the last thing on Posada's mind today as his 11-year-old son underwent his latest surgery to attempt to correct a birth defect in his skull. We at MLBTR send our best wishes to the entire Posada family.
- Can the Mets afford the fan backlash that will come from trading Jose Reyes? Brian Costa of the Wall Street Journal asks the question, and also gets this interesting quote from author Vince Gennaro: "The odds that this is the new [Reyes] and that he's going to have a five-year run that even remotely resembles this are miniscule….But that's not where the fan base is going to come from. They're going to look at this as one more sign, if he gets dealt, of a lack of commitment by ownership."
- The Mets may explore moving in the fences at Citi Field this winter, reports Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com. “There’s always going to be a preferred class, whether it’s pitchers or hitters, in situations like this, but I want to make sure it’s a fair ballpark,” said GM Sandy Alderson.
- Tyler Clippard and Mark Melancon are two of the ex-Yankee relievers who are having fine seasons in 2011, writes Mike Axisa of the River Ave Blues blog.
Ivan Rodriguez Not “The Answer” For Giants
The Giants "don't consider [Ivan Rodriguez] the answer" for their catching problems, tweets USA Today's Bob Nightengale. San Francisco at least asked the Nationals about Rodriguez when Buster Posey was lost to a season-ending injury and are known to be looking for other options behind the plate.
Rodriguez is hitting just .205/.255/.330 in 95 plate appearances this season, while the man he'd be replacing, Eli Whiteside, collected two hits today to raise his line up to .190/.284/.293 in 67 plate appearances. While Whiteside is obviously nowhere close to Rodriguez's stature in career numbers, the negligble difference in what the two men have produced in 2011 makes it no surprise that the Giants aren't interested in matching Washington's reported high asking price for their veteran catcher.
Central Notes: Humber, Cubs, Rasmus, Draft
The Central divisions are home to not just the four worst records in baseball (the Twins, Astros, Cubs and Royals) but also to the Cardinals and their MLB-best 37-25 record. Here's some news from the middle of the baseball map…
- Phil Humber's improbable journey from being a third overall pick to injury-riddled obscurity to a star in the White Sox rotation is chronicled by ESPNChicago's Jon Greenberg.
- The Cubs have no plans to rush Brett Jackson to the Major Leagues, reports MLB.com's Carrie Muskat. Jackson just recently returned to action after a finger injury. Muskat's piece also contains updates on several other Cubs prospects.
- The Cardinals would be "crazy" to think about dealing Colby Rasmus, writes Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
- The Tigers took position players with 10 of their first 11 draft picks, and 24 of their first 29 picks were college players. Baseball America's John Wagner looks at how both trends were a departure from Detroit's recent draft strategies.
- Bill Hall has cleared waivers and is now a free agent, tweets Steve Campbell of the Houston Chronicle. Hall was put on release waivers by the Astros on Monday.
- The Astros can also claim the first signing of the 2011 Amateur Draft, as 44th-round pick Blake Ford told Stephen Goff of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link) that he will sign tonight. Ford, a right-hander from Lamar University, happened to have tickets to tonight's Astros-Cardinals game so he figured he would take care of his contract while at the ballpark. Also from Goff, the Astros have already signed two other draft picks.
Padres Notes: Rizzo, Ludwick, Heisey
On this date 30 years ago, the Padres drafted future Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn in the third round of the amateur draft. Gwynn collected 3141 hits and eight batting titles in 20 seasons as a Padre before being enshrined in Cooperstown in 2007. We wish Gwynn all the best in his battle with cancer. Here are today's Padres links…
- Padres first base prospect Anthony Rizzo will be called up and will be starting in Thursday night's lineup against the Nationals, tweets Dan Hayes of the North County Times. Corey Brock profiles the competitive 21-year-old at MLB.com in a piece that’s worth checking out.
- It appears that the Padres would trade Ryan Ludwick to Cincinnati for Reds outfielder Chris Heisey or prospects, according to Hal McCoy of the Dayton Daily News. Reds left fielders have combined to hit .222/.315/.385 this year, while Ludwick has a .256/.327/.402 line.
- Heisey, 26, has a .281/.345/.438 line in 110 plate appearances this year and has played all three outfield positions.
Draft Notes: Giants, Angels, Hudson, Garrett
The MLB draft is coming to an end, which means scouting directors will start preparing for next year's draft before we know it. Here at MLBTR, we're still focused on the '11 draftees. Here's the latest:
- The Giants selected Benny Sosnick out of Jewish Community High School of the Bay with their 49th round pick. Sosnick led Northern California high schoolers in batting average and is the younger brother of Matt Sosnick, the agent for Jay Bruce, Josh Johnson, Ricky Nolasco and others.
- If this year's draft is any indication, Angels scouting director Ric Wilson appears to like college players, according to Mike DiGiovanna of the LA Times.
- MLB.com's Tom Singer runs through the current Major Leaguers who were drafted latest, including Kyle Farnsworth (47th round), Orlando Hudson (43rd round) and Mark Buehrle (38th round).
- John Manuel of Baseball America explains that Amir Garrett is a natural at two sports: baseball and basketball. The Reds will try to convince their 22nd rounder to give up a basketball scholarship at St. John's for a pro baseball career.
Orioles Likely Place Jake Fox On Outright Waivers
The Orioles have been unable to trade Jake Fox since designating him for assignment, and it appears likely the catcher has been exposed to outright waivers, writes Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun. Any team can claim a player once he's on outright waivers.
Teams are not permitted to comment on waivers, but considering the lukewarm interest in Fox on the trade market and the time that's passed since he was DFA'd, this scenario appears likely, explains Zrebiec. If no team claims Fox during the 48-hour waiver period, the O's would probably outright him to Triple-A Norfolk.
Fox, acquired by the O's last season from the A's, was hitting .188/.250/.396 in just 52 plate appearances this season for Baltimore.
Yankees Claim Jeff Marquez
The Yankees claimed pitcher Jeff Marquez off waivers from the White Sox, MLBTR has learned. The 26-year-old righty had been designated for assignment by Chicago on Sunday. The move will require the Yankees to open up a spot on the 40-man roster; Marquez will be in uniform for tonight's game against the Red Sox.
Marquez was drafted 41st overall by the Yankees in 2004 and was later traded to the White Sox as part of the Nick Swisher deal in November of 2008. This year in nine Triple-A starts he posted a 3.97 ERA, 6.8 K/9, 2.8 BB/9, and 0.9 HR/9 in 47 2/3 innings.
Contract Notes: Ortiz, Reyes, Ichiro, Ethier
Trade candidate Jose Reyes, 2012 free agent David Ortiz and 2013 free agents Ichiro Suzuki and Andre Ethier are earning a combined $50MM this year, but it's never too early to look ahead at a player's next contract, so here's an update on the outlook for each player's future earnings…
- Ortiz is going to be well-paid in 2012 if he keeps this up, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. The Red Sox DH has 14 homers and a .324/.390/.602 line this year. I looked at the market for Ortiz last week.
- ESPN.com’s Buster Olney suggests Reyes could be in position to sign for more than the $142MM Carl Crawford obtained this offseason. Reyes leads the National League with a .339 batting average, 84 hits and 11 triples. His .387 OBP and .512 slugging percentage would be career bests.
- Ichiro's agent, Tony Attanasio, told Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports that “nothing has been done on Ichiro’s contract beyond 2012,” when it expires. Unlike Ortiz and Reyes, Ichiro is in the midst of a disappointing season. The 37-year-old has a .260/.313/.303 line with 14 stolen bases.
- Ethier has left something to be desired as the three-hole hitter in the Dodgers' lineup this year, writes Steve Dilbeck of the Los Angeles Times. Dilbeck wonders how much a team might pay Ethier considering his relative power outage — the 29-year-old has five homers on the season.