Yankees Links: Joba, Prospects, Relievers
The Yankees were just swept by the Red Sox at home for the second time this season, the first time that's happened since 1912. The Yankees were still the Highlanders back then. That qualifies as a crisis in the Big Apple, so let's round up the latest links…
- Joba Chamberlain will undergo Tommy John ligament replacement surgery on his right pitching elbow next week, according to Danny Knobler of CBS Sports (on Twitter).
- Joel Sherman of The New York Post says the Yankees need to move their young prospects along more aggressively, particularly pitchers like Dellin Betances, Manny Banuelos, and Hector Noesi to help shore up an injury-depleted bullpen. GM Brian Cashman, however, said yesterday that the team will not rush their top arms no matter what.
- Earlier today we heard that prospect Kevin Whelan could be an option for the bullpen. He's pitching well in Triple-A and was part of the trade that sent Gary Sheffield to the Tigers a few years ago.
- In a separate column, Sherman explains that while there should be plenty of right-handed relievers available on the trade market, the history of those guys performing in new surroundings is not good.
- We also heard that Cashman told SI.com's Jon Heyman that he doesn't see an ace-caliber starter on the trade market.
Stark On Rollins, Fielder, Pujols, Olivo, Tigers
A number of iconic players are in contract years, so ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark looks ahead to their free agent stock and provides other rumors from around the league. Here are the details:
- No one Stark spoke with predicts David Ortiz will leave the Red Sox for another team.
- Jose Reyes will be the number two free agent on the market this winter behind only Albert Pujols, according to one executive.
- Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. acknowledges that it wouldn't be easy to replace Jimmy Rollins, even though the shortstop is no longer an MVP-caliber player. The Phillies ‘poked around’ for possible alternatives at short last offseason, according to Stark, who predicts a two-year deal for Rollins and the Phils this winter.
- Prince Fielder will no doubt sign a lucrative free agent deal, but one executive says the first baseman’s body will be an issue: "It has been since high school, and it always will be." Fielder is 27 now, so an eight-year deal would expire after his age-35 season.
- Pujols will test the market, but Stark and his sources find it hard to believe that he’d leave St. Louis for any old team. One executive predicts that the Cubs are the Cardinals’ main threat.
- The Cubs aren’t ready to start selling and haven’t started shopping Carlos Zambrano, despite his recent outburst.
- The Red Sox offered Miguel Olivo a one-year deal before re-signing Jason Varitek last offseason. Olivo eventually signed a two-year deal with the Mariners.
- The Rangers are ‘stepping up’ their search for a right-handed setup man and maintain interest in Nationals reliever Todd Coffey.
- Rival teams say the Tigers are looking for a left-handed reliever. Southpaws Daniel Schlereth, David Purcey, Charlie Furbush and Adam Wilk are currently in Detroit’s bullpen.
Regular MLBTR Features
If you're a regular MLBTR reader, you'll be familiar with our chats, our Week In Review posts and Mike Axisa's Baseball Blogs Weigh In feature. Here's some more detail on when you'll see our weekly features and exactly what to expect from them:
- MLBTR Chats – Come by every Wednesday at 2pm CDT to chat about the latest trades, signings and rumblings around the major leagues.
- Baseball Blogs Weigh In – Every Friday morning, Mike Axisa directs you to some of the best writing on baseball blogs around the web. Whether it's opinion, stats or something else entirely, you can connect to the best of the blogosphere once a week on MLBTR. If you want to send Mike a post of yours, reach him at: mike@riveraveblues.com.
- Week In Review – It's amazing how much happens in seven days. Every Sunday night, we summarize the week's biggest stories in our Week In Review posts.
- MLBTR Originals – We gather all our original analysis and reporting in one place every Sunday night.
Olney On Yankees, A’s, Moustakas
The Yankees have lost reliever after reliever to the disabled list this year, but that doesn’t mean they’re about to rush top pitching prospects like Manny Banuelos to the Bronx. GM Brian Cashman told ESPN.com’s Buster Olney that he’ll try to strengthen the team’s bullpen in other ways. Here are the rest of Olney's rumors:
- Triple-A reliever Kevin Whelan could be an option for the Yankees, who have a depleted bullpen instead of the dominant one they expected after the offseason.
- Olney says turnover was inevitable for the A’s “because the franchise continues to rot day by day.” Oakland’s ballpark situation remains unclear and Olney says the franchise will continue to “rot” until there’s resolution on that front.
- Royals GM Dayton Moore told Olney that the time is right for top prospect Mike Moustakas to play in the big leagues. “Ned [Yost, the manager] wanted to get another bat in here, and our people feel like he's ready," Moore said. Moustakas has a .287/.347/.498 line with ten homers at Triple-A and he still has enough time to pick up a few hundred MLB plate appearances this year.
Heyman On Yankees, Red Sox, Twins, D’Backs
In the aftermath of Bob Geren’s dismissal, Jon Heyman of SI.com lists a handful of managers with suspect job security. Though 2011 probably won’t be a big year for managerial firings, Jim Riggleman of the Nationals and Edwin Rodriguez of the Marlins are on Heyman’s list. Here are the rest of his rumors:
- Geren had "lost" the Athletics' clubhouse, according to people with Oakland ties.
- Yankees GM Brian Cashman doesn’t expect elite starting pitching to be available this summer. "I just don't see a No. 1 pitcher you can pinpoint,'' Cashman said.
- The Yankees will look for starting pitching and left-handed relief.
- The Red Sox will also be looking to add a southpaw to their ‘pen.
- Boston people expect top prospect Jose Iglesias to prove himself as the shortstop of the future and people don’t expect the Red Sox to “make a play” for Jose Reyes.
- Competing executives say the Twins will “do what’s right” for the organization this summer, even if that means trading Major Leaguers for prospects. Watch out for the last-place Twins, who have won seven of eight.
- Executives say the D’Backs, Padres, Pirates, Rays and Red Sox had strong drafts.
Phillies Say Adding Offense Is Unlikely
Though the Phillies are 18th in the Major Leagues with 249 runs scored, their general manager doesn’t expect to make a trade for offense between now and the July 31st trade deadline. Ruben Amaro Jr. told David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News that he’s relying on the existing lineup to start producing more.
"We've got plenty of power," Amaro said. "They haven't hit with power. But we have it. They haven't performed like they can, yet. But they will."
Amaro says the Phillies will “live with it” if the offense doesn’t improve this summer. The Phillies are one of nine teams that are in violation of baseball’s debt service rules, so taking on payroll at the deadline will be trickier than expected for a club that leads the league in attendance. The 37-26 Phillies have allowed the second-fewest runs in the National League.
Free $300 Fantasy Baseball Contest (Sponsored Post)
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The MLBTR freeroll is for Friday night's games, so you have until then to create your team. You're given a $100K salary cap, and each player is assigned a price by DraftStreet. For Friday, Roy Halladay is considered the most valuable player since he starts against the Cubs, but he'll cost you over $17K. Your roster will cover these positions: C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, 3 OF, 2 utility, 2 SP, 1 RP, 1 P and 2 Reserves (14 starters). You get points based on how your team performs Friday. For example, you'll get 0.75 points for each strikeout Doc racks up and 1.5 points if he gets the win. The teams with the most points get the prize money. You can apply all kinds of strategy in building your roster – for example, check out the chance of rain at U.S. Cellular Friday before you decide to add A's and White Sox players. Below I've taken a screenshot of a roster in progress:
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Outrighted To Triple-A: Gibbons, Castro, Vasquez
Let's keep track of all of today's outright assignments right here …
- The Dodgers have outrighted both Jay Gibbons and Juan Castro to Triple-A, reports Dylan Hernandez of The Los Angeles Times (on Twitter). Both players were designated for assignment earlier this week, and Hernandez says it's unclear if either with elect free agency or accept the assignment.
- The Dodgers have also outrighted Luis Vasquez, freeing up a 40-man roster spot for Trent Oeltjen according to Hernandez (Twitter links). Jerry Sands was optioned to Triple-A in a corresponding move.
Mets Designate Nick Evans For Assignment
The Mets have designated Nick Evans for assignment according to Adam Rubin of ESPN New York (on Twitter). The team will announce the corresponding call-up tomorrow.
Evans, 25, did not have a hit in a dozen at-bats with the Mets this year, drawing five walks instead. He hit .248/.285/.383 in 151 plate appearances with their Triple-A affiliate this season, which is pretty close to his .243/.298/.387 batting line in 242 trips to the plate as a big leaguer. Evans can play the outfield corners as well as first base, and this is the second time he's been removed from the roster this season.
Orioles, Nationals Interested In Bill Hall
For a player that hit .224/.272/.340 before being released by the Astros, Bill Hall is drawing quite a bit of interest. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports that both the Orioles and Nationals have interest in Hall, and he mentions that the Yankees could get in the mix as well.
Baltimore's interest stems from Brian Roberts' injury and uncertain status while Washington sees him as a super-utility player. It's unclear how that would work, since Jerry Hairston Jr. figures to return to that role once Ryan Zimmerman comes off the disabled list. Rosenthal says New York's level of interest is unclear, but they would presumably use him off the bench.
Hall, 31, will be collecting checks for the rest of his $3MM salary from Houston, less the pro-rated portion of the league minimum that his new team (whoever that ends up being) will pay him. Despite his ugly showing with the Astros, Hall did hit .247/.316/.456 with 18 homers for the Red Sox just last year, and he can play pretty much any position on the field.