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Zambrano, Farnsworth Placed On Waivers

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The Cubs' Carlos Zambrano and the Rays' Kyle Farnsworth were among the players placed on waivers yesterday, according to MLB.com's Peter Gammons (via Twitter).  Teams have 48 business hours to make a claim on either player, giving them until Tuesday.  This news doesn't necessarily mean that the Cubs and Rays are looking to deal Zambrano and Farnsworth, respectively.  Hundreds of players are expected to hit the waiver wire in the month of August.

Earlier this week, both players were identified as August trade candidates by MLBTR's Tim Dierkes.

West Links: Maybin, Balfour, Dodgers

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As Dave Cameron of FanGraphs notes (on Twitter), only two teams have yet to score 400 runs this year: the Mariners and the Giants. Although the two west coast clubs share concerns about their offense, San Francisco is in first place while Seattle is in last. Here's the lasted from the two west divisions…

  • ESPN's Jerry Crasnick wrote about Cameron Maybin, who is breaking out with the Padres after being acquired this past offseason. "This is the first time in two or three seasons where I've felt comfortable," said Maybin, who is hitting .278/.332/.405 overall but .328/.378/.508 away from Petco Park. "I'm not worried about the consequences of going out there and trying to get a hit every night. Even if I have a bad week or a bad month, I feel like these guys are still with me."
  • Grant Balfour signed with the Athletics over the winter because he felt like they would be a contender, writes Susan Slusser of The San Francisco Chronicle. "I definitely signed here for that reason," said Balfour. "Looking at this team, I thought we'd be better in the standings than we are, and now we're in a tough spot. But we can't worry about it; we'll just take each day as it comes and see what happens at the end of it all."
  • Richard Sandomir of The New York Times explains how the terms of MLB's $150MM loan to the Dodgers eases the club's fear of being seized by the league. "The worst that can happen — in the narrow case of default — is they can stop funding," said Bruce Bennett, one of the team's lawyers. "It is not a secured loan, so baseball can't foreclose on anything." Sandomir also notes that Bennett has his doubts about MLB's ability to finance the loan.

Quick Hits: Jones, Stanton, Francisco

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The Cardinals acquired Larry Walker from the Rockies seven years ago today. The waiver trade sent minor leaguer Jason Burch and two players to be named later to Colorado, one of whom turned out to be Chris Narveson. 

Will we see any big name players dealt in waiver trades this month? I'm thinking yes. Until then, here are the links for Saturday…

2012 Vesting Options Update

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Bobby Abreu's $9MM option for next season vested last weekend, so let's look around the league to see where some other players with vesting options stand…

  • Rafael Furcal, Cardinals: $12MM option vests with 600 plate appearances. Injuries have limited Furcal to just 179 plate appearances this year, so this one won't be vesting.
  • Jon Garland, Dodgers: $8MM option vests with 190 innings pitched. Garland is unlikely to pitch the rest of the season due to a shoulder issue, and he's only thrown 54 innings. The Dodgers won't have to worry about this one.
  • Koji Uehara, Rangers: $4MM option vests with either 55 appearances or 25 games finished. Uehara has appeared in 46 games and finished 20, putting him on pace for 67 and 29, respectively.
  • Arthur Rhodes, Rangers: $4MM option vests with 62 appearances and if he's not on the disabled list at the end of the season. Rhodes made 32 appearances with the Rangers before being designated for assignment earlier this week. Even if another team picks him up in short order, he's still unlikely to appear in enough games for the option to kick in. 
  • Joakim Soria, Royals: $6MM option vests with 55 appearances. With 47 appearances already to his credit, Soria is on pace to pitch in 68 games this year.
  • Dan Wheeler, Red Sox: $3MM option vests with 65 games; increases to $3.25MM with 70 games. Wheeler has appeared in 34 games this year with a disabled list stint mixed in. He'd have to appear in 31 of the team's final 51 games for the option to vest, which seems unlikely.

Francisco Rodriguez agreed to waive his vesting option in exchange for additional compensation following the trade that sent him to the Brewers. He would have been guaranteed a $17.5MM salary for next season had he finished 55 games this year and been declared healthy by doctors. 

Adam Wainwright's 2012 ($9MM) and 2013 ($12MM) options will not vest because he will finish the season on the disabled list after having Tommy John surgery. Aramis Ramirez's option depends on MVP Award finishes and whether or not he's traded, not plate appearances or another counting milestone.

Dodgers Links: Kuroda, Bankruptcy

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The Dodgers will send Chad Billingsley to the mound against the Diamondbacks later tonight as they try to make some late-season noise in the NL West. Here's the latest from Dodgerland…

  • Hiroki Kuroda told Dylan Hernandez of The Los Angeles Times that he wants to win the World Series with the Dodgers, which is why he was unwilling to waive his no-trade before the deadline. "I wanted that feeling [of wanting to win] to remain important to me," said Kuroda. "I think your self-identity is defined by certain decisions you make. If you go back on them, you lose a sense of who you are."
  • Meanwhile, Steve Dilbeck of The Los Angeles Times says he doesn't expect Kuroda to re-sign with the Dodgers after the season. He believes the right-hander will return to Japan to pitch for the Hiroshima Carp again, where he was their "greatest, most beloved player."
  • Bill Shaikin of The Los Angeles Times reports that the Dodgers and MLB have submitted a $150MM loan agreement to the U.S. Bankruptcy court, under which the league would loan the team the money it needs for the rest of the season at 7% interet. MLB will not be able to seize the Dodgers if they default. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Gross ordered the two sides to negotiate a loan geared towards saving the team money on interest last month.

Marlins Interested In Long-Term Deal With Stanton

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Marlins' slugger Mike Stanton won't be a free agent until after the 2016 season, but that hasn't stopped the team from thinking about signing him long-term. Joe Capozzi of The Palm Beach Post reports that clubs is having "preliminary internal talks" about a long-term deal for the 21-year-old, though they haven't come up with specifics and probably won't make an offer until next year.

Stanton leads the Marlins with 25 home runs this season, and since his debut last June, he's hit .259/.328/.518 with 47 homers. Only Jose Bautista (69), Mark Teixeira (56), Albert Pujols (53), and Curtis Granderson (49) have gone deep more times since Stanton reached the big leagues. He's hitting .259/.330/.528 this year, and UZR approves of his defense in right (+10.3 UZR).

The Marlins won't have to worry about Stanton getting expensive anytime soon; he'll earn $417K this year and won't be eligible for arbitration until after the 2013 season. As our Agency Database shows, Stanton is represented by the Wasserman Media Group, which has negotiated long-term deals for Chase Utley and Wandy Rodriguez in recent years. 

Giants Release Jose Casilla

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The Giants have released Jose Casilla according to Henry Schulman of The San Francisco Chronicle (Twitter links). The move frees up a 40-man roster spot for Waldis Joaquin, who could have opted out of his minor league contract had he not been added to the roster.

Casilla, 22, is the brother of Giants reliever Santiago Casilla. He had a 9.49 ERA in 12 1/3 innings for San Francisco's Single-A affiliate, and Schulman notes that he is recovering from Tommy John surgery. The team could opt to re-sign him to a minor league contract.

Joaquin, 24, has pitched to a 3.79 ERA in 35 2/3 relief innings for the Giants' Triple-A club, though he's walked nearly as many batters as he's struck out (18 to 17). He's made appearances for the Giants in each of the last two seasons, allowing 11 runs in 15 1/3 innings. 

Orioles Designate Brandon Erbe For Assignment

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The Orioles have designated Brandon Erbe for assignment, reports Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun (on Twitter). The move frees up a 40-man roster spot for Cesar Izturis, who was activated off the 60-day DL. Zach Britton was placed on the 15-day DL with a shoulder strain as well.

Erbe, 23, was ranked as the Orioles 27th best prospect before the season by Baseball America. He gave up four runs in 4 1/3 minor league innings this season after coming back for an August 2010 surgery to repair a torn labrum. Erbe owns a 4.45 ERA with 9.0 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9 in 580 minor league innings, though he has never reached the big leagues.

Minor Moves: Chad Gaudin, Brett Carroll

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Let's keep track of the day's minor transactions here…

  • The Blue Jays have signed Chad Gaudin according to Matt Eddy of Baseball America. Gaudin, 28, was released by the Nationals two weeks ago after pitching to a 3.52 ERA with 8.2 K/9 and 1.8 BB/9 in 15 1/3 innings during a minor league rehab stint. He allowed ten runs in 8 1/3 innings for Washington earlier this season.
  • The Red Sox have signed Brett Carroll, two days after he elected free agency after the Brewers designated him for assignment. The 28-year-old outfielder is listed on the roster of Boston's Triple-A affiliate. Carroll hit .281/.356/.469 in 381 plate appearances for Milwaukee's Triple-A club.

AL East Notes: Bundy, Carmona, Papelbon

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The AL East won't be short on storylines tonight, when the Red Sox host the Yankees in Boston and Blue Jays prospect Brett Lawrie makes his MLB debut against the Orioles in Baltimore. Here's the latest from the division…

  • Top Orioles draft pick Dylan Bundy is in Baltimore for a physical and he told Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun that he hasn't yet started negotiations with the team (Twitter links).
  • Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports that the Red Sox made a late push for Fausto Carmona before the trade deadline.
  • Jonathan Papelbon told Rob Bradford of WEEI.com that he is not going to set up for anyone. Papelbon, who hits free agency after the season, then reinforced his point by speaking about himself in the third person. "Cinco don't set-up," he said. "Never."
  • Justin Duchscherer had successful hip surgery today, according to Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun (on Twitter). The right-hander hopes to pitch in 2012, but it won't be with the Orioles, who released him earlier in the week.
  • As Zrebiec explains, the regression of the Orioles' top young arms is the biggest reason that it's hard to see the club threatening for a playoff spot in the near future.

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