Orioles Designate Davis, Hendrickson For Assignment
The Orioles announced that they designated infielder Blake Davis and left-hander Mark Hendrickson for assignment to create 40-man roster space for right-hander Jeremy Accardo and left-hander Clay Rapada. Baltimore's 40-man roster remains full.
Davis, 27, appeared in 25 games for the Orioles this year, posting a .254/.323/.390 line in 65 plate appearances. He played short, second and third in the Major Leagues and also appeared in the outfield at Triple-A. Davis posted a .280/.323/.384 line in 252 plate appearances for Baltimore's top affiliate this year.
Hendrickson pitched just 11 innings for the Orioles after signing a minor league deal with Baltimore in January. He posted a 2.87 ERA with 4.4 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 in 59 2/3 innings at Triple-A.
NL East Front Office Notes: LaMar, Phillies, Marlins
The Phillies announced that assistant GM of player development and scouting Chuck LaMar has resigned. LaMar, the Devil Rays' first GM, joined the Phillies in 2007 and became assistant GM in 2008. Here's the latest on the Phillies and other front office notes from their division…
- Chipper Jones told Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com that the acquisitions of Hunter Pence and Cliff Lee should make Ruben Amaro Jr. of the Phillies an executive of the year candidate. "When he swings moves like those, he throws a gut punch at everyone in the division," Jones said.
- As Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports predicted, the Marlins shook up their front office. Joe Frisaro of MLB.com notes that the Marlins reassigned Jim Fleming, who is now a special assistant to president of baseball operations Larry Beinfest. The Marlins also made former scouting director Stan Meek the VP of scouting and hired Marty Scott as VP of player development.
Mets Designate Mike O’Connor For Assignment
The Mets designated left-hander Mike O'Connor for assignment, according to Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com (on Twitter). The move cleared a 40-man roster spot for September call-ups.
The 31-year-old appeared in nine games for the Mets and 39 games for their Triple-A affiliate this year. He posted a 5.22 ERA with 9.8 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 in 60 1/3 innings at Buffalo, where he also spent the 2010 season. A year ago, he posted similar strikeout and walk numbers (8.9 K/9, 2.2 BB/9) with an ERA of just 2.67.
GM Candidate: Damon Oppenheimer
MLBTR’s list of general manager candidates introduced 20 people who were identified by their peers as potential Major League GMs. We’re now going to bring you closer to the candidates with a series of pieces. Today the series continues with Yankees executive Damon Oppenheimer.
The Padres were a natural fit for Damon Oppenheimer when his playing career ended in 1985. He was a) a sports-obsessed southern California native b) a former peanut vendor at Jack Murphy Stadium, then the home of the Padres and c) the son of a Padres’ front office employee - Oppenheimer’s mother handled San Diego's minor league operations for decades before retiring a few years ago.
The Brewers drafted Damon as a catcher out of USC in 1985, but it didn’t take long for him to join the Padres as an area scout and begin a career in player evaluation when his playing career ended after one season.
Oppenheimer scouted for the Padres, Rangers and Yankees, both in the U.S. and in Latin America before assuming his current role as the Yankees’ scouting director. Though he continues to scout on special assignments in Latin American and Asia, his primary responsibility is evaluating domestic talent for the amateur draft. Since becoming scouting director in 2005, Oppenheimer has selected the likes of Brett Gardner, Austin Jackson, Ian Kennedy and David Robertson with the help of his scouting staff.
He and I spoke last week; here are some highlights from the conversation:
Nationals Release Carr, Designate Mock
The Nationals announced that they released right-hander Adam Carr and designated right-hander Garrett Mock for assignment (Twitter link). In related moves, they reinstated Stephen Strasburg from the 60-day disabled list, selected the contracts of Brad Peacock and Steve Lombardozzi and transferred Cole Kimball to the 60-day disabled list. Washington's 40-man roster remains full.
Carr, 27, has yet to appear in the Major Leagues. He spent the 2011 season with Washington's top affiliate, posting a 6.63 ERA with 6.2 K/9 and 5.7 BB/9 in 19 innings. Mock, 28, last appeared in the Major Leagues in 2010. He spent this season with four of the Nationals' affiliates, posting a 6.39 ERA with 9.3 K/9 and 5.3 BB/9 in 49 1/3 total innings of work.
Yankees Designate Lance Pendleton For Assignment
The Yankees designated right-hander Lance Pendleton for assignment, according to MLB.com's Bryan Hoch (on Twitter). Though active roster spots are plentiful this time of year, the move opens up a spot on New York's 40-man roster for George Kontos, whose contract was selected from the minors.
The 27-year-old made his MLB debut in April and went on to post a 3.21 ERA with 5.1 K/9 and 6.4 BB/9 in 14 innings for the Yankees. He spent most of the season at Triple-A, where he posted a 3.10 ERA with 6.1 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 in 66 2/3 innings as a starter and reliever. The Yankees selected the 6'3" Houston native in the fourth round of the 2005 draft.
Quick Hits: Strasburg, Pujols, Wilken
Weather permitting, Nationals phenom Stephen Strasburg will make his 2011 MLB debut tonight, almost one year from the day of having Tommy John surgery performed on his elbow. Whether or not Strasmas is cancelled, here are today's links…
- Strasburg still needs to knock a little rust off his command, Nationals GM Mike Rizzo told ESPN's Jayson Stark. Stark takes the stance that the Nationals are not rushing Strasburg back. Stark's colleague Keith Law has a fantastic article discussing the Tommy John procedure and recovery, with help from pitchers Jarrod Parker and Chad Durbin. For a look at what Strasburg did during his down time and how he's changed in the last year, check out Dave Sheinin's article from the Washington Post.
- SI's Jon Heyman hears that the Cardinals are "not completely confident" Albert Pujols will remain in St. Louis, which is one reason they didn't trade Lance Berkman (Twitter link).
- The Chicago Sun-Times talked to Tim Wilken, the Cubs' director of amateur and professional scouting, about the possibility of an extension in the wake of Oneri Fleita's four-year deal. Such a move would quickly sour many Cubs GM candidates, hears Yahoo's Jeff Passan (Twitter link). Wilken recently told Baseball America's Phil Rogers that it's been 20 years since he's had the kind of ownership commitment toward draft and international free agent spending that he had in 2011.
- NPB Tracker's Patrick Newman explains why he's predicted against Yu Darvish being posted in past years, but also outlines why he can see the righty being posted this winter.
- Tigers righty Doug Fister has "basically turned himself into the modern version of Brad Radke," writes Dave Cameron of FanGraphs. Does he represent the best acquisition by a contender this summer? Hunter Pence belongs in that discussion as well.
Indians Claim Jason Rice
The Indians claimed minor league reliever Jason Rice off waivers from the Athletics, tweets Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. The A's had acquired Rice from the Red Sox in the Conor Jackson deal last Wednesday. The Tribe made room on the 40-man roster for Rice by moving Carlos Carrasco to the 60-day DL.
Rice, 25, posted a 3.69 ERA, 9.4 K/9, 4.4 BB/9, and 0.6 HR/9 in 85 1/3 Triple-A innings this year. The Red Sox had obtained Rice from the White Sox in the Triple-A phase of the Rule 5 draft, prior to the '09 season. Red Sox vice president of player development and amateur scouting Mike Hazen talked to Pawtucket announcer Dan Hoard about Rice's arsenal in this post from February.
Non-Tender Candidate: Luke Scott
Luke Scott had the best full season of his career in 2010, ranking sixth in the American League with a .535 slugging percentage. As a late bloomer with lightly-regarded defense, Scott has been going year to year through arbitration and is an oft-cited comparable due to the healthy raises he's received. In his last time through, he beat the midpoint of his and the Orioles' submissions and received a $2.35MM increase, bringing his 2011 salary to $6.4MM. Scott's offseason, of course, was better known for a Winter Meetings interview with Yahoo's David Brown than his arbitration raise.
Scott, 33, had his projected position changed twice during the offseason. When Derrek Lee was signed to play first base Scott became the designated hitter, and then he became the left fielder upon the Vladimir Guerrero signing.
Scott's season started out with a whimper as he battled a groin strain in April, and then a shoulder issue became public in May. He decided to play through a torn labrum in his shoulder, using a combination of rehab and a June cortisone injection. But then Scott bruised his knee in late June, and he landed on the disabled list a week later. During that DL stint the pain in his shoulder worsened, and after another cortisone shot and a rehab assignment he was activated in late July. It only took one game for Scott to realize he had to have surgery on his shoulder. From what I've heard, Scott is a disciplined and devoted offseason worker, and is expected to be ready for Spring Training next year.
Scott didn't add much in the way of counting stats in 2011 – nine home runs, 22 RBI, and 24 runs. So, we project his salary to be in the $6.4MM range again. Is that a worthwhile gamble for the Orioles, who have gotten power production this year from J.J. Hardy, Mark Reynolds, Adam Jones, and Matt Wieters? Scott's recovery progress leading up to the December non-tender deadline will be a big factor, but I'm leaning toward the Orioles tendering him a contract. The O's will have a lot of payroll space, and the free agent market doesn't offer much in the way of alternatives who have Scott's power potential and will sign a one-year deal under $7MM. The x factor will be a potential new GM in Baltimore, who could certainly find reasons to cut Scott as part of a mini-shakeup.
Photo courtesy of Icon SMI.
Twins Designate Chuck James For Assignment
The Twins announced today on Twitter that they've designated lefty reliever Chuck James for assignment to create a 40-man roster spot for Australia native Liam Hendriks.
James, 29, posted a 2.30 ERA, 9.6 K/9, 3.9 BB/9, and 0.6 HR/9 in 62 2/3 minor league innings, but was ineffective in 10 1/3 big league frames. James won 11 games in 119 innings for the '06 Braves, but he had rotator cuff surgery in September of '08 and was subsequently cut loose.