By Mike Axisa | at
The Cardinals have released Blaine Boyer from their Triple-A affiliate according the the club's Twitter feed. St. Louis had signed him a minor league contract last month.
Boyer, 30, has bounced around quite a bit this year. The started the season with the Mets, then got designated for assignment in April. He hooked on with the Pirates soon thereafter, but they released him in June. Overall, Boyer has 10.80 ERA in 6 2/3 big league innings and 10.90 ERA in 34 2/3 minor league innings this season.
By Mike Axisa | at
The Diamondacks announced that they have designated right-hander Juan Jaime for assignment, making room on the 40-man roster for the recently signed Lyle Overbay.
Jaime, 24, had Tommy John surgery in April 2010 and has not pitched since. Arizona claimed him off waivers from the Nationals during this past offseason. He owns an impressive 11.8 K/9 in 111 2/3 career minor league innings, but has also walked 5.7 batters per nine innings.
By Mike Axisa | at
The Diamondbacks have signed Lyle Overbay, reports Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (on Twitter). In a corresponding move, they've placed Xavier Nady on the disabled list after having his hand broken on a hit-by-pitch last night. He'll miss up to six weeks.
The 34-year-old Overbay became a free agent earlier this week when the Pirates cut him loose. He hit just .227/.300/.349 in 391 plate appearances for Pittsburgh, but that's better than what Nady was doing: .248/.287/.359 in 223 plate appearances. The D'Backs could have also turned to Juan Miranda, who is hitting .268/.387/.500 in Triple-A after being outrighted last month.
Overbay started his career with the D'Backs after they took him in the 18th round of the 1999 draft. He hit .271/.357/.391 in parts of three seasons with Arizona before being one of six players they sent to the Brewers for Richie Sexson after the 2003 season. The Diamondbacks will only have to pay Overbay the pro-rated portion of the league minimum, with the Pirates being on the hook for the rest of his $5MM salary.
By Mike Axisa | at
2:56pm: The Cubs have placed Zambrano on the disqualified list, reports Sullivan (all Twitter links). Zambrano can not be with the team for 30 days and will not be paid during that time. MLB and the players' union will use the 30 days to discuss the next step, according to Gordon Wittenmyer of The Chicago Sun-Times (on Twitter).
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports (on Twitter) that the union will file a grievance on Zambrano's behalf, challenging the decision. Praver told Hendry that his client "is not in the retirement mode," and the GM also said he "[feels] badly about action towards Braves." He said saying that throwing at Chipper was "inappropriate."
12:52pm: Hendry and Praver have been discussing the situation and are trying to figure out "what Zambrano was actually thinking," according to Sullivan. If things are not resolved by this afternoon, Sullivan says the Cubs are likely to place the right-hander on the restricted list indefinitely. He has not filed retirement papers.
Zambrano still got paid during last year's stint on the restricted list, but the move will free up a roster spot for the Cubs.
8:34am: Carlos Zambrano gave up five home runs to the Braves in 4 1/3 innings last night, then was ejected after throwing two consecutive inside pitches to Chipper Jones. After the ejection, Zambrano cleared out his locker and told the team trainer that he was retiring, according to Paul Sullivan of The Chicago Tribune (Twitter links).
"We will respect his wishes and honor them and move forward," said GM Jim Hendry, though manager Mike Quade was understandably angry with his right-hander. "I'm really disappointed. His locker is empty. I don't know where he's at. He walked out on 24 guys that are battling their (butts) off for him. I don't know where he's gone or what he's doing. I heard he has retired, or talking about retiring … I can't have a guy walking out on 24 guys, that's for damn sure."
There are a number of reasons to be skeptical about Zambrano's retirement talk. For one, he's always been a behavioral wildcard, but more importantly, there is over $22MM left on his contract, which he'd forfeit by retiring. Zambrano is represented by Barry Praver of Praver Shapiro Sports Management, who will surely try to talk his client out of calling it quits.
The Cubs suspended Zambrano indefinitely following another tirade last June, keeping him on the shelf for a little more than a month. The team also suspended Milton Bradley for "conduct detrimental to the team" in September 2009, forcing him to sit out the rest of the year before trading him in the offseason. It seems unlikely that Zambrano will follow through on his retirement talk, but the Cubs could be so tired of his act that they'll trade him this winter no matter what the cost, similar to what they did with Bradley.
Zambrano, 30, owns a 4.82 ERA with career lows in strikeout (6.2 K/9) and ground ball (42.4%) rate this season. He is owed just over $4MM for the remainder of 2011 plus $18MM in 2012. A $19.25MM vesting option for 2014 based on Cy Young Award finishes is unlikely to kick in. Zambrano also has a full no-trade clause in his contract, but that didn't stop the Cubs from trying to unload him before the trade deadline.
By Mike Axisa | at
The Yankees will sign fifth round pick Greg Bird for a signing bonus in the seven figures, reports ESPN's Keith Law (on Twitter). MLB's slot recommendation for the 179th overall pick is just under $132K.
Bird, a high school first baseman/catcher from Colorado, is said to have "good bat speed and [he] gets plenty of loft and backspin on the ball" by Baseball America (subs. req'd). The left-handed swinger is expected to end up at first base long-term. Bird was committed to Arkansas.
By Mike Axisa | at
Padres GM Jed Hoyer appeared on XX1090 Sports Radio with Darren Smith yesterday, and you can listen to the interview right here. Let's recap the important stuff…
Gaslamp Ball recapped the rest of the interview, in which Hoyer discussed injuries, the surging Jesus Guzman, and more.
By Ben Nicholson-Smith | at
The latest draft signings from around MLB…
By Ben Nicholson-Smith | at
The A's announced that they have hired former MLB player and manager Phil Garner as a special advisor. The 62-year-old played for 16 seasons and managed for another 15. Here are the latest links from around MLB…
By Mike Axisa | at
On this date in 1994, the MLB Players' Association went on strike, leading to the cancellation of the World Series and a delayed start to the 1995 season. Dave Winfield was traded from the Twins to the Indians for a player to be named later two weeks after the strike but before the season was officially canceled, so the player to be named later was never actually named. Instead, Indians' executives took Twins' executives out to dinner and picked up the tab as compensation for the trade. Winfield, a Hall of Famer, was traded for dinner.
Here are this week's links, which will hopefully net the authors something more than a nice dinner one day…
If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here. Only one email per week, please.
By Ben Nicholson-Smith | at
FRIDAY, 5:32pm: Davies has cleared waivers and is now a free agent, tweets Dutton.
WEDNESDAY, 11:00am: The Royals are asking for release waivers for right-hander Kyle Davies to create roster space for catcher Salvador Perez, according to Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star.
Davies posted a 6.75 ERA with 7.3 K/9, 3.8 BB/9 and a 38.5% ground ball rate in 61 1/3 innings this year (for what it's worth, Davies' xFIP this season is just 4.42 and his SIERA is just 4.21). In seven seasons with the Royals and Braves, the 27-year-old has a 5.59 ERA with 6.4 K/9 and 4.3 BB/9. He earns $3.2MM this year and was headed for free agency after the season.
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