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Archives for August 2012

Kelly Shoppach, Mike Aviles On Waivers

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The Red Sox put Kelly Shoppach and Mike Aviles on waivers today, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe reports (on Twitter). Nick Punto and Carl Crawford have now cleared waivers, according to Cafardo.

Teams routinely place players on waivers, even if they don't plan on trading them, so this is not an indication that the Red Sox intend to move Shoppach or Aviles. If the players go unclaimed, the Red Sox will be able to complete a trade just as easily as they could have before the current waiver period began ten days ago.

If a team claims Shoppach or Aviles, the Red Sox will have three choices. They can let the player (and his contract) go to the claiming team, they can complete a trade with the claiming team, or they can pull the player back off of waivers. American League teams will have claiming priority on Shoppach and Aviles.

Players Who Cleared Waivers

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This is a running list of players who have cleared waivers, based on published reports. Once a player clears waivers, he can be traded to any team (barring a no-trade clause). This list can always be found in the sidebar under MLBTR Features. Player names are linked to the source articles.

Updated 8-31-12

Infielders

Nick Punto, Red Sox - Punto earns $1.5MM this year and will earn the same amount in 2013.

Outfielders

Carl Crawford, Red Sox - Crawford has $102.5MM remaining on his contract after 2012, so he was expected to clear waivers. Crawford can block trades to two clubs, but no team can flip him to the Yankees after acquiring him from Boston.

Alfonso Soriano, Cubs – Soriano can block any trade. He earns $18MM per season through 2014.

Juan Pierre, Phillies – Pierre earns $800K in 2012 and he'll hit free agency after the season.

Catchers

Joe Mauer, Twins – Mauer earns $23MM per season through 2018.

Starting Pitchers

Joe Saunders, Diamondbacks – Saunders earns $6MM in 2012 and will hit free agency after the season.

Roy Oswalt, Rangers – Oswalt earns $5MM in 2012 and will hit free agency after the season.

Kevin Millwood, Mariners – Millwood earns $1MM in 2012 and will hit free agency after the season.

Relief Pitchers

Carlos Marmol, Cubs - Marmol will earn $9.8MM in 2013 before hitting free agency.

Rangers Designate Alberto Gonzalez For Assignment

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The Rangers have designated infielder Alberto Gonzalez for assignment, Anthony Andro of FOXSportsSouthwest.com reports (on Twitter). The move creates roster space for Mark Lowe, who is returning from the disabled list.

Gonzalez appeared in 24 games for the Rangers this year, playing second base, third base and shortstop. The 29-year-old has collected 13 hits, including two doubles and a triple, in 55 plate appearances. Gonzalez, who was signed to a minor league deal last offseason, earns $750K and will be arbitration eligible this offseason should the Rangers or another team choose to tender him a contract.

Cardinals Notes: Jackson, Furcal, Lohse

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The Cardinals lead the National League in runs scored even after losing their best hitter (Albert Pujols) to free agency and getting barely any offense from another one of last year's major contributors (Lance Berkman). Here are the latest Cardinals-related notes…

  • The trade of Tyler Greene and the promotion of Ryan Jackson serve as reminders that Cardinals have had trouble developing shortstops, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes. While Cardinals officials and scouts consider Jackson a strong defender, he wasn’t expected to pass former first rounders Greene and Pete Kozma on the team’s depth chart. Rafael Furcal is under contract for 2013, but he has lingering back issues.
  • Derrick Goold, Rick Hummel, Jeff Gordon and Larry Borowsky weigh in on Kyle Lohse's next contract at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Lohse hits free agency this coming offseason and should sign for at least three years at $10MM-plus per season, the writers suggest. 
  • Mark Buehrle’s name comes up in the Post-Dispatch discussion, and there are some similarities between Buehrle and Lohse, but I don’t expect Lohse to obtain a $56MM contract, like Buehrle did. That said, I think Lohse could match Ted Lilly's three-year, $33MM contract from two offseasons ago. Lohse has said he’s open to midseason extension talks, so he may not even reach the open market.
  • The Cardinals announced that they purchased Jackson's contract from Triple-A.

Indians Release Derek Lowe

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The Indians announced that they released Derek Lowe. They designated the right-hander for assignment ten days ago and had until today to trade or release him.

Lowe is willing to start or relieve, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports (on Twitter). There's a sense that Lowe will return to the National League Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun reported yesterday. The Cubs aren't interested and the Red Sox will pass.

Lowe, 39, posted a 5.52 ERA with 3.1 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 in 119 innings with Cleveland this year. He earns a $15MM salary, but the Braves and Indians are responsible for all but the pro-rated MLB minimum at this point.

Diamondbacks Sign Felipe Perez

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The Diamondbacks agreed to sign high school right-hander Felipe Perez for a reported bonus of $400K, Eric Sondheimer of the Los Angeles Times reports. Perez, who was about to start his college career at UCLA, went undrafted this year, so he became eligible to sign as a professional on the first day of school.

The Diamondbacks could have spent over $404K without losing a 2013 first round pick, Jim Callis of Baseball America reports (Twitter links). Perez was the top undrafted player from Baseball America’s pre-draft list of the 500 best prospects available, Callis notes. The publication ranked him 129th, noting his projectable three-pitch mix and 88-91 mph fastball. ESPN.com’s Keith Law suggests Perez went undrafted because of signability questions (Twitter link).

First round draft picks Max Fried and Lucas Giolito were also headed to UCLA until they signed professional contracts.

Blue Jays Designate Scott Richmond For Assignment

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The Blue Jays announced that they have designated right-hander Scott Richmond for assignment. The Blue Jays removed the British Columbia native from the roster to create roster space for right-hander Juan Abreu, who has been claimed off of waivers from Houston and optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas.

Richmond appeared in three games for the Blue Jays this year, but has spent most of the season at Triple-A. The 32-year-old has a 5.89 ERA with 7.3 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in 117 2/3 innings at Las Vegas. He has started 22 games and appeared out of the bullpen twice.

Blue Jays Claim Juan Abreu

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The Blue Jays claimed right-hander Juan Abreu off of waivers from Houston. The Astros, who announced the deal in a press release, had designated Abreu for assignment on Tuesday.

Abreu appeared in seven games for the Astros last year, but has spent the entire 2012 season at Triple-A Oklahoma City. The 27-year-old has a 7.09 ERA with 10.6 K/9 and 6.7 BB/9 in 45 2/3 innings for the RedHawks this year. He has struck out more than one batter per inning in seven seasons as a professional, but has a high walk rate of 5.6 BB/9.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Feinstein, Giants, Royals

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On this date in 2008, the Rays won their 71st game of the season to set a new franchise record. They finished the season with 97 wins and won the first pennant in team history as well. Here are this week's links…

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