Tigers Acquire Delmon Young
In a surprising intra-division deal, the Twins announced today that they've traded left fielder Delmon Young to the Tigers for minor league lefty Cole Nelson and a player to be named later. The press release notes that the PTBNL must be chosen on or before October 15th. The Tigers already had an open spot on the 40-man roster for Young. It's not yet clear whether Young cleared waivers, or just made it past the seven American League clubs that would have allowed the Tigers to win the claim. Young won't have to alter his plans, as the Twins were headed to Detroit tonight to begin a three-game set.
Young, 25, is hitting just .266/.305/.357 in 325 plate appearances in a season that has included separate DL stints for oblique and ankle strains. Though he's generally regarded as a subpar defender, his UZR is positive in this year's 642 inning sample. Young (pictured) is under team control through next year, but with a mild raise likely from this year's $5.375MM salary, the Twins weren't necessarily going to tender him a contract in December. By trading Young now, the Twins saved about $1.3MM in salary.
Drafted first overall by the Rays in 2003, Young was the key part of the '07 challenge trade that sent Jason Bartlett and Matt Garza to Tampa Bay. He hasn't lived up to his potential, posting solid batting averages but failing to draw walks or hit for power outside of his .493 slugging percentage last year. Still, a year ago it was hard to picture the Twins moving Young, especially to a division rival.
With the Tigers' Brennan Boesch expected to return from a strained thumb tonight and Young now in the mix, the job of right fielder Magglio Ordonez is in jeopardy.
Nelson, 22, has a 4.87 ERA, 7.4 K/9, 4.3 BB/9, and 0.5 HR/9 in 105 1/3 innings for the Tigers' High-A club this year. He's spent time in the rotation and bullpen. As our transaction tracker shows, this is the first trade between GMs Dave Dombrowski and Bill Smith.
Photo courtesy of Icon SMI.
Astros Choose Santana To Complete Pence Trade
The Astros have selected outfield prospect Domingo Santana from the Phillies as the player to be named later to complete the Hunter Pence trade, tweets Alyson Footer. The Astros had previously acquired prospects Jarred Cosart, Jonathan Singleton, and Josh Zeid from the Phillies for Pence and $2MM on July 29th.
Santana, 19, is hitting .269/.345/.434 in 391 Low-A plate appearances this year while playing right field and DH. Baseball America ranked him ninth among Phillies prospects prior to the season, praising his athleticism and raw power.
White Sox Release Brian Bruney
AUGUST 15th: The White Sox released Bruney, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.
AUGUST 6th: The White Sox have designated Brian Bruney for assignment according to Mark Gonzales of The Chicago Tribune (on Twitter). The move frees up a roster spot for Zach Stewart, who will start tomorrow and push Jake Peavy back to Sunday.
Bruney, 29, pitched to a 6.86 ERA with 7.3 K/9 and 5.5 BB/9 in 19 2/3 innings for Chicago this year. Stewart will be making his ChiSox debut after being acquired from the Blue Jays in the Edwin Jackson–Mark Teahen trade last weekend. Peavy appears to be getting an extra day of rest after throwing 115 pitches on Monday, his most since last May.
Marlins Notes: Ramon Vazquez, Morrison, Fernandez
The latest on the Marlins…
- The Marlins signed infielder Ramon Vazquez, tweets SI's Jon Heyman. The 34-year-old last appeared in the Majors with the Pirates in '09; this year he's played for the Triple-A affiliates of the Cardinals and Blue Jays. Presumably he'll head to Triple-A for Florida.
- The Marlins took a hit in credibility in optioning Logan Morrison to Triple-A and telling him it was because of his batting average, writes Dave Cameron of FanGraphs.
- Marlins' first round draft pick Jose Fernandez has an interesting back story as a Cuban defector. Drafted 14th overall, the Fish appear to have offered Fernandez a bonus right around the $1.6MM slot so far. His advisor, Richard Arena of Team One Management, told Juan C. Rodriguez of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel on August 7th, "It’s definitely going to get done. There’s no question."
Explaining Major League Deals For Draft Picks
2011 draft pick Trevor Bauer already received a Major League deal from the Diamondbacks, and a few more players might receive one today. Via email, Baseball America's Jim Callis named Gerrit Cole (Pirates), Danny Hultzen (Mariners), Dylan Bundy (Orioles), and Anthony Rendon (Nationals) as candidates. Be sure to follow Jim on Twitter to get all of the latest draft pick signing scoops.
In a 2008 article, ESPN's Keith Law explained that "a typical minor league contract signed by an amateur player will fix his signing bonus and his salary for the first year of his minor league playing career." A Major League deal, meanwhile, benefits the player by placing him on the 40-man roster and therefore making it easier to promote him to the Majors later. The player also has the potential of seeing a domino effect on future salaries, as his salary cannot be less than 80 percent of his total compensation from the previous year. For example, the Tigers' Rick Porcello is earning $1.536MM even though he is not arbitration eligible until after the season, and that lifts up all his future salaries.
The team loses roster flexibility with a Major League deal for a draft pick, though it gains the advantage of lowering the average annual value by spreading it over multiple years. This advantage can be gained through two-sport deals without the sacrifice of a 40-man spot. Callis notes that Bubba Starling and Archie Bradley will get this type of contract.
Players have three or four years in which they can be optioned to the minors without clearing waivers, and with a Major League deal the first option is typically going to be used in the player's first year. This sometimes accelerates a player's timetable and forces the team's hand.
Nine teams currently have at least one opening on the 40-man roster, though as one baseball source noted, most teams have two or three guys they could easily remove this time of year.
What Lies Ahead For The Boras Corporation
The Boras Corporation regained the top spot last offseason with big deals for Jayson Werth, Adrian Beltre, Carlos Gonzalez, and Rafael Soriano. Several of the likely $100MM+ players for the 2011-12 offseason – Albert Pujols, C.C. Sabathia, and Jose Reyes – are not represented by Boras, but let's see what lies ahead for baseball's most notorious agency after the situations of top draft picks like Gerrit Cole and Anthony Rendon are resolved today.
Boras has six notable free agents, unless he swipes a few more clients before the offseason begins.
- Prince Fielder is only 27 years old and ranks second in the NL with a .987 OPS. Power pays on the free agent market, and Fielder could be the second player in baseball history to receive a $200MM contract. However, if the Cubs don't get serious about the slugger, Boras will have to be creative in finding a few teams to create a bidding war.
- It'll be interesting to hear how Boras spins Edwin Jackson, owner of a career ERA of 4.53. Maybe the pitch will be that he's 27, he throws 95, he's consistently healthy (last night's hamstring injury notwithstanding), he's on the upswing, and we still haven't seen the best of him. Four years and $50MM wouldn't surprise me.
- A strong, healthy finish would go a long way for Carlos Beltran, who hasn't done much with the Giants and is battling a strained hand. We heard in July that Boras could aim for five years and $70MM, and I've suggested a four-year, $52MM finishing point, but so much depends on Beltran's finish. With Beltran turning 35 in April, that fourth year will be a tough sell.
- Boras has a couple of quality relievers in Ryan Madson and Francisco Rodriguez. As a 30-year-old with rare consistency for a reliever, Madson is positioned for a surprisingly big contract, maybe four years and perhaps a salary over $8MM per year. K-Rod's status is similarly strong, save for last year's stint on the disqualified list.
- Boras found Carlos Pena a $10MM deal coming off a .196 batting average. The numbers are a little better this time around, but it's hard to commit multiple years to a regular who hits around .220.
- The agency has many other once-prominent free agents, but Magglio Ordonez, Johnny Damon, Ivan Rodriguez, Andruw Jones and the like don't figure to score big contracts. Additionally, it's hard to picture Rafael Soriano opting out of his deal with the Yankees.
Boras has no shortage of arbitration eligible clients. The biggest names:
- Elvis Andrus, Dexter Fowler, Ian Kennedy, and Max Scherzer are among those who will be eligible for the first time. No records will be broken here, but Scherzer should push $4MM.
- Boras' second timers include Jacoby Ellsbury, Shin-Soo Choo, Jair Jurrjens, and Mike Pelfrey. Ellsbury won't get close to Miguel Cabrera's $11.3MM record, but he should get into the $6MM range. An MVP award would provide a nice salary boost for Ellsbury.
- The agency's notable third timers are Jered Weaver, Michael Bourn, and Jonathan Sanchez. Weaver is already the first and second time arbitration record holder for starters, and this winter he figures to topple Carlos Zambrano's $12.4MM mark for a third time starting pitcher.
Draft Pick Signing Deadline Is Tonight
The draft pick signing deadline is upon us, at 11pm central time tonight. Baseball America's Jim Callis explains what to expect, with 98 of the first 331 picks still unsigned. Several records figure to be broken, as most remaining players will sign on deadline day. MLB Network's Peter Gammons says on Twitter that teams are trying to use the possibility of slotting becoming part of the next collective bargaining agreement as leverage, while advisors counter by saying the players union won't accept slotting and 2012 has an inferior draft class. One more good read comes from former Nationals GM Jim Bowden at ESPN, as Bowden dissects the differences among negotiations for Ryan Zimmerman, Aaron Crow, and Danny Espinosa.
Baseball America, Keith Law, Kevin Goldstein, and others will be breaking news of signings throughout the day, and we'll cover it all here at MLB Trade Rumors. Click here for our updated list of first and supplemental round picks to sign; this post covers the first 60 picks overall. Today each of the remaining 23 first-rounders will receive a post. Additionally, the ten remaining supplemental round picks will have their statuses updated in one post. Finally, we'll have two more constantly-updated posts noting over-slot signings the American and National Leagues. If you'd like to know instantly any time we update a post, follow us on Twitter.
Phillies Sign Top Draft Pick Larry Greene
The Phillies signed top draft pick Larry Greene, reports Baseball America's John Manuel. Greene, a high school outfielder, was drafted 39th overall in the supplemental round as part of the compensation for the loss of Jayson Werth. He received a $1MM bonus, the largest amount so far outside of the first round. Greene is represented by ACES. The Phillies' first-round pick, #33 overall, went to the Rangers for Cliff Lee.
According to Baseball America, Greene is a "physical beast" known for "well above-average raw power."
Blue Jays Sign Dwight Smith Jr.
10:59pm: Smith received an $800K bonus, tweets Baseball America's Jim Callis. That's about $125K over slot. Smith is represented by Wasserman Media Group.
7:09pm: The Blue Jays announced they've signed supplemental first round draft pick Dwight Smith Jr. Smith, a high school outfielder, was drafted 53rd overall as compensation for the loss of Miguel Olivo. The Jays essentially purchased the draft pick for $500K (the cost of declining Olivo's option) as well as the cash sent to the Rockies in that deal.
Smith's father had a nice career in the Majors, beginning with a second-place Rookie of the Year finish for the Cubs in 1989. Junior doesn't have the speed his dad did, reports Baseball America, but his pure batting stroke "ranks among the best in the draft class."
The Blue Jays have until tomorrow's 11pm central time deadline to sign their first draft pick, Tyler Beede. There was a report Friday that Beede is likely to honor his commitment to Vanderbilt. For MLBTR's list of all first round and supplemental draft picks to sign so far, click here.
Quick Hits: Marquis, Aaron Hill, Ellis, Matsui
Dan Uggla's incredible 33-game hitting streak came to an end today. The Braves' slugger batted an insane .377/.438/.762 over that stretch with 15 homers, good for an even 1.200 OPS. Remarkably though, he still falls 23 games short of Joe DiMaggio's immortal record. Here are your Sunday links:
- After fracturing a fibula today, new Diamondbacks acquisition Jason Marquis will miss four to six weeks. SI's Jon Heyman tweets that it sounds like the team's inclination is to replace Marquis internally. The Arizona Republic's Nick Piecoro doesn't think the team will go with top draft pick Trevor Bauer for the rotation spot, but notes that it's not crazy to suggest it. The 20-year-old Bauer tossed five scoreless innings today in his Double-A debut.
- Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos told MLB.com's Gregor Chisholm, "We’re always open minded for Aaron [Hill] still being a long-term part of this team." Anthopoulos notes that Hill has flashed his talent at times this year. It's tough to picture the Jays picking up Hill's $8MM club option, but maybe they can work something out.
- Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post tweets that he would be surprised if the Rockies don't re-sign second baseman Mark Ellis. The 34-year-old had a .267/.304/.382 line in 139 plate appearances heading into tonight's action.
- If Bob Melvin is managing the Athletics again in 2012, he wants them to bring Hideki Matsui back, writes John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle. Matsui had just a .617 OPS in the season's first half, but has risen from the ashes to post a .410/.470/.630 slash line in 26 games since the All-Star Break.
- Similarly, the Cubs and Carlos Pena both seem to be open to working out a new deal, writes Patrick Mooney of CSNChicago.com. On a related note, ESPN's Buster Olney hears that "in some important corners of the Cubs' front office, there is concern about investing huge money in one player this winter." In other words, the Cubs' brass might be wary of signing Albert Pujols or Prince Fielder to play first base.
- Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review wonders if the Pirates can follow the path to prominence that their division rivals, the Brewers, followed to escape a similar tradition of losing.
- Olney tweets that in three days, Drew Pomeranz can officially become the player to be named later from last month's Ubaldo Jimenez trade with the Indians. Pomeranz is expected to report to the Rockies' Double-A affiliate in Tulsa.
Tim Dierkes contributed to this post.