Nationals Acquire Gregor Blanco
The Nationals acquired Gregor Blanco from the Royals for a player to be named later, according to the team's Twitter account.
Blanco, 27, is a career .258/.358/.324 hitter who came to the Royals with Tim Collins and Jesse Chavez in the trade that sent Kyle Farnsworth and Rick Ankiel to Atlanta last season. Ironically, Blanco may be an option to challenge Ankiel for playing time in Washington. The Nationals have been looking for center field options after trading Nyjer Morgan to Milwaukee and making Ankiel their everyday center fielder. Ankiel has struggled with just a .221/.302/.288 slash line in 118 PAs.
Blanco's best assets are his ability to draw a walk (career BB% of 12.8%) and his speed. He owns 209 minor league stolen bases to go along with 26 at the Major League level. While he struggled early in his career, his success rate has improved over the past few seasons.
Week In Review: 5/1/11 – 5/7/11
Happy Mother's Day! Let's take a look back at the week that was:
- The Rangers officially signed Cuban defector Leonys Martin to a five-year, $15.5MM contract that includes a $5MM signing bonus. We'd been hearing a deal was close with the speedy outfielder for weeks. Martin, 23, will likely begin his pro career at Double-A.
- Kevin Millwood opted out of his contract with the Yankees and said he hoped to sign elsewhere this week, but hasn't done so as of yet.
- We've seen Justin Upton, Jay Bruce, and Carlos Gonzalez all locked up in the past year, and the Pirates may be looking to extend another of the game's best young outfielders. They're currently in talks with Andrew McCutchen about a long-term deal.
- The Giants have discussed attempting to acquire Jose Reyes internally, following Miguel Tejada's struggles at shortstop. Mike Fontenot is currently manning short on an everyday basis for the defending World Champs.
- Despite a dreadful start to the season, the White Sox aren't looking to make big changes yet. If they remain out of contention though, they'd have plenty of appealing pieces to sell off at the deadline.
- The Mets received terrible news this week when they learned that top prospect Jenrry Mejia has a complete tear of the MCL in his elbow and will undergo Tommy John surgery.
- Both Todd Wellemeyer and former first rounder Russ Adams officially retired this week. Best of luck to both in their lives after baseball.
- Ken Rosenthal's Full Count video provided updates on the job status of Dodgers GM Ned Colletti and Cubs GM Jim Hendry, and told us that the Royals could buy and sell this July if they remain in contention.
- Jason Heyward found himself a new agent this week. He'll now be represented by Casey Close, who also represents Derek Jeter and Ryan Howard.
- The Cubs released former top prospect Max Ramirez. Ramirez was claimed off waivers twice this offseason, but Chicago passed him through waivers to send him to Triple-A at the end of Spring Training. Given the number of teams who need catching depth, he should catch on elsewhere.
- Other moves this week included the Brewers acquiring minor leaguer Jordan Brown from the Indians, the Yankees claiming Jess Todd from Cleveland and subsquently designating Kevin Russo for assignment, and Felipe Lopez being DFA'ed by the Rays and clearing waivers. For all of the week's minor moves, check our Transactions tag or use MLBTR's Transaction Tracker.
Quick Hits: Morales, Padres, Cardinals, Hamels
Links for Sunday, as players around the league break out the pink bats. Happy Mother's Day!
- Kendrys Morales will travel to Vail, Colorado to see a foot specialist for a second opinion on his left ankle, writes Mike DiGiovanna of the LA Times. In a followup tweet, DiGiovanna says that they've "explored" the possibility of surgery. Mark Trumbo has filled in for Morales with a .265/.296/.500 line and six homers.
- Tim Sullivan of the San Diego Union-Tribune says the Padres should consider trading one of their late-inning arms, perhaps Heath Bell, for offensive help.
- Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak told Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he's open to exploring a trade for a closer. While Mozeliak is on board with Tony La Russa's current "hot hand" approach for the ninth inning, the GM would prefer to see more defined roles in the bullpen as the season progresses.
- Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer examines the likelihood of Phillies starter Cole Hamels playing in Philadelphia long-term.
- As Newsday's Ken Davidoff writes, there may not be any top starting pitching available at the trade deadline this year. MLBTR's Tim Dierkes drew the same conclusion after examining the midseason trade market for the AL and NL in mid-March.
Verlander Talks Career Development, Goals
Justin Verlander has made 173 regular season starts, pitched in the World Series and appeared in a pair of All-Star Games. Yet he has never felt as sharp as he did yesterday, when he no-hit the Blue Jays.
“I will say this is probably the best I’ve felt on a mound in my professional career so far,” he said this morning.
That includes his 2007 no-hitter and the 15 other times he has fanned ten-plus batters in a single game. Verlander, the American League leader with 55 strikeouts, pitched to contact yesterday and finished the game with four strikeouts.
“That was my game plan from the start,” he said. “It was to get contact. I wanted to get balls in play. Especially once I realized my curveball wasn’t that great.”
The result: an efficient outing for the Tigers’ ace, who finished the day with a season-low 108 pitches. His fastball reached triple digits repeatedly and remained his go-to pitch. Early in the contest, Verlander concluded that his curve was mediocre and that his slider was better than usual, so he adjusted his game plan with catcher Alex Avila and decided to throw more sliders.
“I commented to Alex after the second or third inning, ‘it’s pretty good, right?’ He said ‘Yeah, it’s nasty. Keep throwing it 82-83 [mph]. It’s got a lot of bite to it.’ So I went with what he said and just kept throwing it,” Verlander explained.
Avila caught Armando Galarraga’s near-perfect game last summer, so he has danced with history before. He says guiding Verlander’s 100 mph fastball through nine no-hit frames may have looked harder than it was.
“Yesterday was just amazing,” Avila said. “It’s an easy day for a catcher and especially to do it on a turf field is pretty impressive also. For a ball not to get through is pretty amazing.”
Nolan Ryan (7), Sandy Koufax (4), Bob Feller (3) and Cy Young (3) are the only pitchers with three or more no-hitters since 1900. Now that Verlander has two no-hitters, he has his sights set on making more history. The right-hander jokes that he intends to match Ryan’s record of seven no-hitters, but he’s serious about his ambition and intends to continue building his resume. At 28, he believes he’s entering his prime.
“I really feel like I’m coming into myself as a pitcher,” he said. “And I definitely think there will be more opportunities. I think things have to go in your favor to throw a no-hitter. Things just have to work out right. I feel as long as I continue to mature as a pitcher and grow the way I think I am, there’ll definitely be some opportunities there. Whether it goes in my favor or not, I don’t know.”
Verlander started the no-hit bid slowly and methodically and says he impressed himself with his in-game approach. He stayed calm with help from his backstop, who says nerves weren’t an issue at all for the battery.
“No, no,” Avila said. “When your pitcher is that good, it makes it easy to call the pitches, because you know he’s going to make his pitches. It makes for one easy day for me.”
If anyone was nervous, it was Verlander’s family. They followed the perfect game bid and eventual no-hitter without being able to see what was happening.
“They were following on their phones, which had to be the most nerve-wracking thing. Can you imagine sitting there in the 8th inning, looking at a perfect game, 3-2 count, a bunch of foul balls,” Verlander said, alluding to his face-off with J.P. Arencibia, the Blue Jays’ lone baserunner.
If Verlander has it his way, Saturday won’t be the last time his flirtations with history make his fans, friends and family squirm.
Photo courtesy Icon SMI.
Huntington Talks Taillon, Allie, Presley, Draft
Pirates GM Neal Huntington spoke to some reporters today, and Colin Dunlap of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has the audio up. Here's some highlights:
- Huntington feels it's unfortunate that top prospects Jameson Taillon and Stetson Allie are often linked so closely because they're very different cases. Taillon has been pitching his whole life and therefore has a more accelerated schedule with his innings, whereas Allie was more of a position prospect until his emergence on the mound during his senior year of high school and will be handled more slowly.
- Minor leaguer Alex Presley will continue to "make it a challenge" for the Pirates to keep him off the Major League roster if he continues playing at his current level. Huntington points out that it's a good problem to have when players are excelling at Triple-A but there isn't a Major League roster spot open. Presley is following up a .320/.373/.494 effort in 2010 with a .367/.413/.560 performance so far in 2011.
- Huntington says he trusts his scouts will make an informed decision to draft the best player possible, but it's difficult without a consensus #1 like the Nationals had with Stephen Strasburg. Most expect the Pirates to draft either UCLA right-hander Gerrit Cole or Rice third baseman Anthony Rendon.
- Ultimately, the decision will come down to scouting director Greg Smith, who has final veto power on the first overall pick. Huntington says he has "complete trust and faith" in Smith, but if the pick goes wrong, it will be his own fault, not Smith's.
- 2011 would be a great year to be able to trade the #1 overall pick if Major League Baseball's rules allowed it, due to the depth of the draft. Huntington says it's a great year to be Tampa Bay, San Diego, or Toronto with all of their high picks.
Overall, the 12-minute clip offers some great insight into the Pirates' means of evaluating players and their approach to the draft. It's definitely worth a listen.
Red Sox Still Considering Catching Options
The Red Sox have made contact with Bengie Molina, but aren't ready to move on him yet, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. With Jason Varitek and Jarrod Saltalamacchia hitting a combined .179/.246/.241 in 123 plate appearances this season, Molina could grow more appealing to the Sox in the near future.
We heard last month that Boston was eyeing catching help and that Molina was on the team's list of possibilities. Although Ivan Rodriguez and Chris Snyder were also on that list, Rosenthal says the Sox are "cool" on Pudge, and the Pirates are more inclined to move Ryan Doumit than Snyder.
Jeff Mathis, who received high praise from Varitek, could be available as well. However, as Rosenthal points out, while Mathis is a strong defensive backstop, his .199/.262/.311 career slash line wouldn't help the Sox.
New York Notes: Reyes, Jeter, Logan, Pridie
Let's catch up on the latest links relating to the first-place Yankees and the last-place Mets….
- Mike Vaccaro of the New York Post argues that Jose Reyes is the kind of player the Mets should be building around, and that cutting ties with him via trade or free agency would be risky.
- John Harper of the New York Daily News takes a similar stance, pointing out that, given the lack of star shortstops around baseball, Reyes is "too valuable not to be part of the Mets' future."
- Within a piece about slow starters, Joel Sherman of the New York Post says he talked to 12 scouts or officials and not a single one believes Derek Jeter will "approach his old self."
- Despite his recent struggles, Boone Logan, the only lefty in the Yankees' bullpen, received a vote of confidence from manager Joe Girardi, writes Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News.
- Newsday's Ken Davidoff says Jason Pridie exemplifies the sort of roster depth the Mets will need if they're going to have any chance of contending.
Cafardo On Rays, Mathis, Flowers, Red Sox
Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe opens this week's Sunday Notes column by taking a look at how the Rays have succeeded this year depite losing many key players in the offseason. Cafardo points out that the AL East looks like a "very flawed division" so far, meaning the Rays could once again be bunched up with the Yankees and Red Sox in the standings. Here are some other notes from Cafardo:
- Jason Varitek praised the defensive abilites of Jeff Mathis, who may be a trade candidate: "He’s a very athletic catcher. He has a good arm. He creates a good situation for his pitching staff. You can tell the pitchers really enjoy throwing to him. He’s fun to watch back there because he does things so easily. He’s one of the best."
- Tyler Flowers, the catcher for the White Sox' Triple-A club in Charlotte, could be available and was scouted by the Red Sox and a handful of other teams in Spring Training.
- Red Sox minor leaguer Josh Reddick has "generated a lot of chatter among scouts," according to Cafardo, who speculates the outfielder would draw plenty of interest if Boston made him available. One scout on Reddick: "He’s a major league player and he’d be playing for a lot of teams in the big leagues right now."
- Former Red Sox and White Sox catcher Carlton Fisk would like a chance to instruct young players for either organization, but says he's never received a serious offer to do so.
Quick Hits: Barnes, Chavez, Kasten, Simon, Berkman
Congrats to Justin Verlander. The Tigers' ace threw a no-hitter against the Blue Jays this afternoon, the second of his career. He's now one of only 28 men to throw multiple no-hitters in the big leagues. Here are Saturday's links…
- Red Sox GM Theo Epstein was personally scouting UConn RHP Matt Barnes tonight, reports Dom Amore of The Hartford Courant (on Twitter). Barnes is expected to go in the first round this year, in which the Red Sox have two picks.
- Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News reports that the Rangers called up Craig Gentry to replace Nelson Cruz, who was placed on the disabled list (Twitter links). He notes that one possible reason why they didn't call up Endy Chavez is because they'd have to place him on waivers once Cruz was healthy.
- In a guest post for Through The Fence Baseball, MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith took stock of the winter's biggest offseason deals.
- Bill Madden of The New York Daily News wrote about the numerous big-money players that are struggling this year, including Derek Jeter and Hanley Ramirez.
- Stan Kasten confirmed to Adam Kilgore of The Washington Post that he sold his ownership stake in the Nationals this March. Kasten stepped down as team president late last year, but it's unclear what he'll do next. He was mentioned as possibly trustee when MLB took over the Dodgers' financial operations.
- Alfredo Simon was in the Orioles' clubhouse today, and will continue working his way back with a minor league appearance next week according to Dan Connolly of The Baltimore Sun. Connolly says the team will have to recall, waive, or release Simon by "roughy May 22" after he spent two months in a Dominican Republic prison and being placed on the restricted list.
- Bernie Miklasz of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch spoke to Cardinals GM John Mozeliak about the resurgent Lance Berkman. "We did a lot of due diligence," said the GM. "We truly believed he could have a bounce-back year. When we looked at it, we knew he was working extremely hard on his conditioning, was getting the knee healthy, was getting himself in tremendous shape, and that he'd be a lot stronger. That was a big thing. We knew that he still had an eye for hitting, and he would work the count and take walks. The question was, how would he be physically. And once we knew how much he was putting into his training, it gave us confidence."
Free Agents Who Are Costing Their Team Money
That headline is probably a little misleading since technically every player costs their team money, but I'm talking in terms of performance dollars. Earlier this afternoon we listed the free agents from this past offseason that are already providing their team surplus value, but now let's turn the tables and list the guys that have been so bad that they're costing their team.
We're essentially talking about players below "replacement" level, which is defined as freely available talent. A replacement level player is one of those AAAA type of guys, someone easy to find (on waivers, etc.) and available only for the league minimum. Here's the free agents performing at a level below that…
Position Players
- Carl Crawford, Red Sox – $14MM salary, -$2.6MM value ($16.6MM deficit)
- Aubrey Huff, Giants – $10MM salary, -$4.5MM value ($14.5MM deficit)
- Adam Dunn, White Sox – $12MM salary, -$1.5MM value ($13.5MM deficit)
- Carlos Pena, Cubs – $10MM salary, -$1.5MM value ($10.5MM deficit)
- Miguel Tejada, Giants – $6.5MM salary, -$2.8MM value ($9.3MM deficit)
- Vladimir Guerrero, Orioles – $8MM salary, -$400K value ($8.4MM deficit)
- Lyle Overbay, Pirates – $5MM salary, -$1.8MM value ($6.8MM deficit)
- Bill Hall, Astros – $3MM salary, -$3MM value ($6MM deficit)
- Hideki Matsui, Athletics – $4.25MM salary, -$200K value ($4.45MM deficit)
- Miguel Olivo, Mariners – $2.25MM salary, -$1.9MM value ($4.15MM deficit)
- A.J. Pierzynski, White Sox – $2MM salary, -$400K value ($2.4MM deficit)
- Jack Cust, Mariners – $2.5MM salary, -$200K value ($2.7MM deficit)
Pitchers
- Rafael Soriano, Yankees – $10MM salary, -$500K value ($10.5MM deficit)
- Javier Vazquez, Marlins – $7MM salary, -$700K value ($7.7MM deficit)
- Hisanori Takahashi, Angels – $3.8MM salary, -$2MM value ($5.8MM deficit)
- Joaquin Benoit, Tigers – $5.5MM salary, -$200K value ($5.7MM deficit)
- Jon Rauch, Blue Jays – $3.75MM salary, -$1.6MM value ($5.35MM deficit)
- Dan Wheeler, Red Sox – $3MM salary, -$800K value ($3.8MM deficit)
- Koji Uehara, Orioles – $3MM salary, -$400K value ($3.4MM deficit)
- Jeremy Accardo, Orioles – $1.08MM salary, -$900K value ($1.98MM deficit)
- Chad Durbin, Indians – $800K salary, -$600K value ($1.4MM deficit)
- Mike MacDougal, Dodgers – $500K salary, -$400K value ($900K deficit)
- Alfredo Aceves, Red Sox – $650K salary, -$200K value ($850K deficit)
The performances of Orlando Cabrera, Todd Coffey, and Kevin Gregg are valued at exactly $0, so they aren't costing their teams just yet. Derek Jeter and Derrek Lee (both at $200K) aren't that far off from making the list. Obviously this does not mean that these players will contribute to be negative performers all season, just that they have been to date.
Thanks to FanGraphs and Cot's Baseball Contracts for the info used in this post.