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Archives for May 2013

Blue Jays Designate Ramon Ortiz For Assignment

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The Blue Jays designated righty Ramon Ortiz for assignment, tweets Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca.  Ortiz, 40, tossed 23 1/3 innings for the Jays this year, most recently in relief of Brandon Morrow today after his early exit due to forearm soreness.  Thad Weber, who also was scored upon in today's loss against the Braves, was optioned to Triple-A.

Ortiz picked up a ring with the 2002 World Champion Angels, a club for which he tallied a career-high 217 1/3 regular season innings before adding 13 more in the postseason.  With 87 career wins, Ortiz is currently tied at 44th with Adam Wainwright.  Signed by the Blue Jays to a minor league deal in December, Ortiz had his contract selected April 15th, was designated for assignment April 23rd, rejoined the 40-man roster on May 9th, and was removed again today.

Dr. Lewis Yocum Passes Away

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Today baseball is mourning the loss of Dr. Lewis Yocum, the well-known sports surgeon who had served as the Angels' team physician.  Yocum, 66, fell victim to liver cancer.  Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times has a statement from the team:  

"The Angels family and Major League Baseball have lost one of baseball’s finest gentlemen and a truly outstanding professional with the passing of Dr. Yocum.  His talents extended the careers of countless professional athletes, and he extended quality of life for so many others he advised, treated and operated on during his distinguished career. His contributions and impact in the medical field will long be remembered across the country. He represents the standard for others in his profession to attain."

Several MLB players have already extended their condolences for the man who helped extend their careers, including Jordan Zimmermann, LaTroy Hawkins, C.J. Wilson, Josh Tomlin, Vinnie Pestano, and Mike Aviles.

Potential Non-Tender Candidates

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The non-tender deadline is December 2nd this year, a mere six months away.  Let's take a look at some arbitration eligible players who might be on the chopping (or at least trading) block before then due to the combination of rising salaries and lackluster performance.

  • Ike Davis, Mets.  If Davis doesn't turn things around this year, what will the Mets do in the offseason?  One thing about a player having a terrible year is that he doesn't get a big arbitration raise afterward.  So if Davis' salary for next year is to remain below $4MM, the Mets would at least be able to find a team willing to see if a change of scenery helps.
  • Clayton Richard, Padres.  The pitch-to-contact thing doesn't work so well when you also walk a bunch of guys and over 30% of your flyballs leave the yard.  Richard is earning $5.24MM, and should his struggles persist, I imagine the Padres would not bring him back even at the same salary.
  • James McDonald, Pirates.  McDonald's velocity is down, and walks have been a problem.  He's at $3.25MM this year and sports a 5.76 ERA.
  • Luke Hochevar, Royals.  This is a tricky one.  Hochevar's move to the bullpen has gone well, but will the team want to commit $5-6MM for a reliever in 2014?
  • John Axford, Brewers.  Axford quickly lost his closer job again and has a 6.33 ERA on the season.  The silver lining is that he is unscored upon in his last seven appearances.  Axford's save totals have gotten him to $5MM already, and even if he doesn't add any more this year and keeps pitching well, it will be a tough call to retain him through arbitration.
  • Chris Perez, Indians.  Similarly, saves have gotten Perez up to a $7.3MM salary.  He's struggled with walks this year and is currently on the DL with shoulder soreness.  If he comes back, pitches OK, and adds some more saves, the Indians might have a hard time committing $8MM+ for 2014.  Perez would probably be more of a trade candidate than a non-tender candidate.
  • Ryan Roberts, Rays.  Already earning nearly $3MM, Roberts has a .236/.288/.364 line so far.
  • Jeff Niemann, Rays.  Niemann had shoulder surgery in April, and the Rays will be forced in December to decide whether his 2014 season might be worth $3MM.
  • Alfredo Aceves, Red Sox.  Aceves survived last year's non-tender deadline and scored a $2.65MM salary, and the team wasn't able to trade him.  A 6.57 ERA so far in 2013 earned him a demotion today, so he might not make it to the non-tender deadline.
  • A few more non-tender candidates to consider: Nolan Reimold, Emilio Bonifacio, Roger Bernadina, Chris Heisey, Chris Getz, Brennan Boesch, Sam Fuld, John Lannan, Marc Rzepczynski, and Chris Volstad.
  • Plenty of other arbitration eligible players probably aren't non-tender candidates, though their teams could be reluctant to pay them higher salaries through arbitration.  A few names that come to mind in this bracket include Rick Porcello, Alex Avila, Tommy Hanson, Pedro Alvarez, Ivan Nova, Phil Coke, and Mitchell Boggs.  Some of these players could become trade candidates if their current teams prefer not to pay them next year.

Padres Designate Edinson Rincon For Assignment

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The Padres announced that they have designated Edinson Rincon for assignment.  The move is part of a roster shuffle that will allow for the reinstatement of Yasmani Grandal from the restricted list.

Rincon, 22, suffered an injury in minor league spring training camp and has not appeared in a game this season.  In six seasons in the Padres’ farm system, Rincon hit .285/.355/.422 in total 484 games.  The infielder has never advanced beyond Double-A.

Grandal is coming off of serving a 50-game suspension for violating MLB’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.  The 24-year-old catcher had a strong debut season for San Diego last year, hitting .297/.394/.469 with eight homers in 60 games.  Grandal came over from the reds Reds along with right-hander Edinson Volquez, infielder Yonder Alonso, and right-hander Brad Boxberger in exchange for Mat Latos in December of 2011.

Outrighted To Triple-A: Buckner, Rondon

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Today's minor moves…

Draft Notes: Gray, Appel, Bryant, Int’l Draft

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Earlier today, Tim Dierkes asked MLBTR readers who they think will go No. 1 overall in the 2013 draft.  More than 51% of you say that Oklahoma right-hander Jonathan Gray will go to the Astros with the top pick while Mark Appel came in second with roughly 30% of the vote.  Here's the latest on the upcoming draft..

  • Have you fallen behind on the latest draft news?  Baseball America (sub. req'd) has you covered with profiles of their top 500 prospects.  After Gray, Appel, and Kris Bryant – who could very well be the top three picks – outfielders Clint Frazier, Kohl Stewart, and Austin Meadows round out the top six.
  • Kiley McDaniel of ScoutingBaseball.com posted his second mock draft yesterday, with the Astros taking Appel and the Cubs taking Gray.  McDaniel offers thoughts on each of his 33 projected first round picks, so be sure to check it out.
  • Jim Callis of Baseball America fielded reader questions in a draft mailbag earlier today.  One reader asks which two-way guy in the draft has the most potential with the talent they won’t be drafted for, similar to Stetson Allie.  Callis believes that the player with the best fallback plan is Indiana high schooler Trey Ball, who likely will be a top-10-overall choice as a lefthanded pitcher but could also wind up as an outfielder.
  • Ben Badler of Baseball America has nine questions that MLB must address if they want to implement an international draft.  First and foremost, baseball must figure out which countries will be lumped into the draft and which ones won't, Badler writes.

Cardinals To Promote Michael Wacha

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The Cardinals announced today they will promote righty Michael Wacha to start Thursday against the Royals, tweets Danny Knobler of CBS Sports and others.  The Cards had scratched Wacha from his Monday start in anticipation of the possibility of having him start Thursday in place of the injured John Gast.  The Cardinals will need a 40-man roster spot for Wacha, but that can be opened easily by transferring Jaime Garcia to the 60-day DL.

Wacha, 21, was drafted 19th overall by the Cardinals last year out of Texas A&M, a pick the team received from the Angels as part of the compensation for the loss of Albert Pujols.  Wacha made nine starts at Triple-A this year, posting a 2.05 ERA, 5.8 K/9, 2.6 BB/9, and 0.85 HR/9 in 52 2/3 innings.  He'll be the fourth member of the 2012 draft class to reach the bigs, after Paco Rodriguez of the Dodgers, Kevin Gausman of the Orioles, and Michael Roth of the Angels.  Prior to the season, Wacha ranked 76th on Baseball America's top 100 prospects list and the same on MLB.com's, failing to rank on Keith Law's list for ESPN.  Law, however, elevated Wacha to #24 on a top 25 prospects list released today. 

Baseball America ranked Wacha sixth among Cardinals prospects, as he was part of what they considered the best farm system in baseball given the presence of Oscar Taveras, Shelby Miller, Carlos Martinez, Trevor Rosenthal, and Kolten Wong.  BA wrote that Wacha had the best changeup in the 2012 draft, adding, "It's easy to project him as a mid-rotation starter, and he could turn into something more if he finds a reliable breaking ball."  He may have since found it, as Law wrote today, "Multiple scouts have told me they've seen an above-average breaking ball from Wacha this year, which was the main concern about him coming out of Texas A&M last June."

Will there be room in the Cardinals' rotation for Wacha beyond Thursday?  Adam Wainwright, Lance Lynn, and Miller are holding down the first three spots, Garcia is out for the season, Chris Carpenter had a setback, and Jake Westbrook's elbow is improving.  Tyler Lyons is in the rotation mix, Martinez could be at some point, and Gast could be as well when he's healthy.  

If he stays up all year, Wacha will accumulate 123 days of big league service, making Super Two arbitration eligibility possible after the 2015 season.  It's unknown whether that amount of service will put him within the top 22% of the two-to-three class at that point.  Super Two players go to arbitration four times instead of the usual three, thus earning extra money.

Who Will Be Drafted First Overall?

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Carlos Correa of the Astros, Gerrit Cole of the Pirates, Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg of the Nationals, and Tim Beckham of the Rays have the honor of being the last five players drafted first overall.  Outfielder Byron Buxton was drafted after Correa last year by the Twins, yet was regarded as the draft's best player by both Baseball America and ESPN's Keith Law.  BA and Law both had Correa second.  2012 marked the first draft with MLB's firm slot values, and the Astros were allotted $7.2MM to sign their first overall pick and $11.2MM in total.

In what Baseball America's Jim Callis described as "a perfect storm for Houston," Correa was "a legitimate top-of-the-draft talent" who nonetheless would have been expected to last until the sixth or seventh pick, which had slot values of $3MM and $3.25MM, respectively.  Since the slot values are not firm for each pick but rather part of a team's pool for their first ten picks, the Astros were able to sign Correa for $2.4MM under slot (still worthwhile for him), and use the savings to draft and sign Lance McCullers, Jr. and Rio Ruiz to over-slot deals.

This year, Callis believes the top tier of the draft is limited to college pitchers Jonathan Gray and Mark Appel, and college third baseman Kris Bryant.  In BA's mock draft Friday, Callis mentioned the Astros have narrowed their field to those three plus college third baseman Colin Moran and presumably high school outfielder Clint Frazier.  BA and Law both see Gray and Appel as the draft's top two talents.  The Astros probably wouldn't admit it if they take one of the position players instead, but if that happens, they will seemingly be employing last year's strategy again with their bonus pool money.  That leads us to today's poll question:

Quick Hits: Wacha, Kawasaki, Mariners, Gomez

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The Cardinals will need another starter on Thursday to replace John Gast, and that could be Michael Wacha, Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch suggests. Wacha, who would be making his big-league debut, was scratched from his start Sunday, which the Cardinals now say is due to his innings count so far this year. Wacha ranked No. 76 in both MLB.com's and Baseball America's preseason top prospects lists, and he has pitched well so far in 2013 at Triple-A Memphis (albeit with a low strikeout rate), posting a 2.05 ERA with 5.8 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9. Cards GM John Mozeliak says that the team will likely decide on Tuesday who will make Thursday's start. Here are more notes from around the majors.

  • It's unclear what will happen to infielder Munenori Kawasaki of the Blue Jays once Jose Reyes returns, but Jays manager John Gibbons would like Kawasaki to stick around, Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com reports. "When the time comes, we'd definitely like to keep him, that's for sure. But we don't know when Reyes is coming back, either." Kawasaki has become a fan favorite, and he has played decently, hitting .247/.345/.320. But Chisholm notes that the Jays already have Maicer Izturis, Emilio Bonifacio and Mark DeRosa.
  • It's a bad day for the Mariners' rebuilding efforts, Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times writes. The Mariners promoted prospect Nick Franklin but demoted former No. 2 overall draft pick Dustin Ackley in the process. That move followed the demotion of Jesus Montero. Justin Smoak and Michael Saunders haven't hit particularly well, and Brandon Maurer has struggled. "Right now, the Mariners are being carried by a bunch of veterans on one-year deals who were supposed to be here to round out that young core and help stabilize the environment through which young guys were going to take their games to the next level," says Baker, noting that Kyle Seager is the only starting player who has accomplished that.
  • Ron Gardenhire feels Carlos Gomez of the Brewers "learned a lot" from his time with the Twins, MLB.com's Adam McCalvy reports. Gomez played with the Twins for two years before heading to Milwaukee in exchange for J.J. Hardy after the 2009 season. The Twins tried to help Gomez calm down as a player, McCalvy writes. "I thought he learned a lot with us," Gardenhire says. "Gomez was a lot of fun. I think everybody knew it from the time he was with the Mets, how much talent he had, if he could ever harness it and calm himself down enough."
  • It's questionable whether the Angels and Dodgers have spent their money well, but it's important that they're spending, says Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times. "You can't win on scouting and player development alone. That is a foundation, with free agency a necessary supplement. Spending does not guarantee winning, but spending absolutely correlates with winning," says Shaikin. Still, Shaikin notes that the Angels' core of homegrown players includes Mike Trout, Jered Weaver, and Howie Kendrick; the Dodgers' includes Matt Kemp and Clayton Kershaw. Shaikin quotes Dodgers president Stan Kasten, who reiterates that his team's long-term plan is to build through its farm system, just as the Braves did when Kasten worked there.
  • The Cubs aren't quite ready to declare themselves sellers, but it sounds like they're getting there, ESPN Chicago's Jesse Rogers reports. GM Jed Hoyer says that teams begin to assess their trading options "50-60 games within the deadline." Hoyer adds, "You always hold out hope you can string things together and make a run. It’s really hard in this division, I’ll say that. You have three teams playing really well." In a recent poll, MLBTR readers thought the Cubs' Matt Garza and Alfonso Soriano were among the players most likely to be traded.

Mets Notes: Hughes, Wheeler

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The Yankees' Phil Hughes could be a possible free-agent fit for the Mets this winter, MLB.com's Anthony DiComo tweets. Hughes' fly-ball tendencies would make homer-suppressing Citi Field a good ballpark for him, and the Mets will have plenty of money available, DiComo argues. Hughes has a 5.51 ERA so far this year, with 8.0 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9. Here are more notes from the Mets.

  • Mets GM Sandy Alderson says he "wouldn't say there's a timetable" for the promotion of Zack Wheeler, Fred Kerber of the New York Post reports. But it sounds like it won't be long. "I would say that if he continues to pitch well, he’d be here sometime in the near future," says Alderson. Wheeler struggled Monday for Triple-A Las Vegas against Salt Lake, allowing five runs, three earned, and two home runs in four innings while striking out four and walking three. For the season, Wheeler has a 4.13 ERA with 9.0 K/9 and 4.0 BB/9 while playing in the tough pitching environment of Las Vegas.
  • Wheeler feels like he's "just waiting on time," the Wall Street Journal's Brian Costa writes. "I think I'm ready, but it is really not my decision." Costa notes that Wheeler's service time clock could play a role in the Mets' decision, citing potential concerns that he could become a Super Two player and become eligible for arbitration after the 2015 season. Costa also discusses comparisons between Wheeler and Matt Harvey, and notes that it will be very difficult for Wheeler's start in the majors to equal Harvey's even if Wheeler pitches brilliantly. Harvey's phenomenal start to his career has lifted him above Wheeler in status, even though Wheeler has pitched perfectly well in his own right.

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