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Pirates Designate Mike Zagurski For Assignment

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The Pirates have designated left-hander Mike Zagurski for assignment, the team announced via press release. In a corresponding move, the team selected the contract of righty Brandon Cumpton and announced that he will make his MLB debut this afternoon against the Dodgers.

Zagurski, 30, made six appearances and threw six innings for Pittsburgh this year, struggling to a 15.00 ERA and surrendering a troubling eight free passes in the process. He was signed to a minor-league deal by the Pirates in the offseason after posting a 5.54 ERA in 37 1/3 innings for the Diamondbacks in 2012.

Cumpton is a 24-year-old who had been working in Triple-A Indianapolis. He made ten starts, posting a 3.31 ERA in 65 1/3 innings and putting up 6.8 K/9 against 3.0 BB/9. Cumpton appeared at number 25 on Baseball America's pre-season ranking of Pirates prospects.

Which Team Had The Best Draft?

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Now that we've had some time to digest the results of last week's MLB amateur draft, and have begun to see team's signing strategies unfold, let's see how MLBTR readers view things. The poll below is simple: choose the team that, in your estimation, had the best draft.

"Best," in this case, does not necessarily imply "most talent," or even "most value." Let's define it this way: the team that best utilized the entire draft process (including the acquisition or sacrifice of picks, as well as the selections made with its picks) to improve its present and future capacity to win baseball games.

Here are a few resources you may want to consider in evaluating this question:

  • Baseball America has a useful list showing the draft order, recommended bonus for each slot, and manner by which each pick was obtained.
  • Check River Avenue Blues for a similar list that includes the draft picks that teams forfeited by signing free agents who had received a qualifying offer. (Scroll to bottom.)
  • ESPN's Keith Law broke down the draft results in two segments: American League and National League. (ESPN Insider subscription required and recommended.)
  • Likewise, Baseball America provided a brief narrative for each of the American League and National League teams, in addition to breaking down the draft destinations of BA's top 500 prospects.
  • Minor League Ball's John Sickels assessed the draft on a team-by-team basis, broken out by division: AL East; AL Central; AL West; NL East; NL Central; and NL West.
Which Team Had The Best Draft?
Chicago Cubs 10.31% (1,182 votes)
New York Yankees 9.26% (1,062 votes)
Boston Red Sox 8.18% (938 votes)
St. Louis Cardinals 7.59% (870 votes)
Pittsburgh Pirates 6.80% (780 votes)
Houston Astros 5.97% (685 votes)
New York Mets 4.95% (568 votes)
Philadelphia Phillies 3.84% (441 votes)
Toronto Blue Jays 3.80% (436 votes)
Seattle Mariners 3.49% (400 votes)
Los Angeles Dodgers 3.03% (347 votes)
Atlanta Braves 2.82% (323 votes)
Baltimore Orioles 2.49% (286 votes)
Minnesota Twins 2.28% (261 votes)
Cincinnati Reds 2.16% (248 votes)
Kansas City Royals 2.10% (241 votes)
Oakland Athletics 1.98% (227 votes)
Texas Rangers 1.98% (227 votes)
Detroit Tigers 1.96% (225 votes)
San Diego Padres 1.86% (213 votes)
San Francisco Giants 1.72% (197 votes)
Cleveland Indians 1.68% (193 votes)
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 1.66% (190 votes)
Tampa Bay Rays 1.37% (157 votes)
Chicago White Sox 1.34% (154 votes)
Milwaukee Brewers 1.34% (154 votes)
Arizona Diamondbacks 1.29% (148 votes)
Colorado Rockies 1.16% (133 votes)
Miami Marlins 0.82% (94 votes)
Washington Nationals 0.78% (90 votes)
Total Votes: 11,470

Quick Hits: Molina, Rangers, Hoyer, Yankees, Dotel

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Earl Webb's Major League record of 67 doubles in a season has stood since 1931 but Orioles phenom Manny Machado could be putting that mark in jeopardy.  Machado now has 30 doubles through 68 Baltimore games after collecting a pair of two-baggers in Friday's 2-0 win over the Red Sox.  Only five 21st century players have come within even 11 doubles of Webb's record, one of whom was Machado's teammate Brian Roberts, who hit 56 doubles in 2009.

Here's the latest from around the baseball world…

  • Yadier Molina's value to the Cardinals is immeasurable, CBS Sports' Danny Knobler writes, and for a team that has been comfortable letting many key figures go in recent years, the Cards made a point to lock their catcher up to a five-year, $75MM extension in March 2012.  "[Owner Bill DeWitt and I] talked about players who were coming up on free agency, and we'd ask how do you replace them. He and I always felt that [Molina] was the one where we had no answer," Cards GM John Mozeliak said.  "It was imperative that we kept him."
  • Rangers GM Jon Daniels is waiting to see how his team performs over the next few weeks before determining what possible upgrades are needed at the trade deadline, Daniels said during an appearance on ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM's Fitzsimmons and Durrett Show (passed on by ESPN Dallas' Richard Durrett).  Daniels also noted that the club may keep Jurickson Profar on the Major League roster even after Ian Kinsler is back from the DL, and that Profar could get some outfield time if he is in fact sent back to Triple-A.
  • ESPN Insider's Jim Bowden lists 20 pitchers he feels could be traded this summer.
  • Cubs GM Jed Hoyer felt Kris Bryant was "the best player on the board" when Chicago had the second overall pick in the draft, though Hoyer tells Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune that pitching "is an organizational weakness….I don’t think it affects our timing, but it does mean that pitching will be an emphasis in future drafts and any kind of trades we might make, and in free agency.”
  • The Yankees' makeshift lineup has remained in contention but ratings on the YES Network are down 38% from last season, leading Brian Costa of the Wall Street Journal to speculate if the Bombers may feel obligated to acquire star players in order to maximize fan and business interest.
  • Tigers reliever Octavio Dotel's elbow injury could endanger his season, and since Dotel is 39, MLB.com's Jason Beck wonders if the veteran's career could also be threatened.
  • Andre Ethier isn't letting trade speculation bother him since "it's nothing you can have a say about except to go out there and play hard," he tells Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times.  Ethier could be expendable in the Dodgers outfield once Carl Crawford and Matt Kemp return from injury, given Yasiel Puig's emergence.
  • Baseball America's staff checks in on the progress of the 2012 first round draft picks.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Puig, Myers, Burke, Pettitte

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On this date in 2002, a designated hitter was not used in a full slate of major league games for the first time since 1972 thanks to 14 interleague contests all being played in National League parks.  Here's this week's look around the baseball blogosphere..

If you have a suggestion for this feature, Zach can be reached at ZachBBWI@gmail.com.  

Phillies Have “No Desire” To Trade Top Pitchers

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The Phillies have struggled to stay competitive this season and have been rumored to be a trade deadline seller for weeks, but GM Ruben Amaro Jr. doesn't plan on moving his most valuable pitching assets.  Amaro told reporters (including ESPN's Jayson Stark) on Friday that he has "no desire to trade those guys.  At all," referring to Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels and Jonathan Papelbon.

"My job is to try and put a contending team on the field every year, and we have a much better chance to be a contending team with both of those guys on the club," Amaro said. "If we have those guys at the top of our rotation, we're a better club. … It starts and ends with pitching, as far as I'm concerned. So the more quality pitching you have, the better chance you have to build around that to win."

The general manager didn't draw the line at any midseason moves, noting that "We have plenty of people to trade" and that "four or five guys come off the payroll" after the season, which could give the Phils more flexibility.  It could also seem to hint that four of Philadelphia's pending free agents (Roy Halladay, Carlos Ruiz, Chase Utley and Michael Young) could be trade bait in July, though Young is the only one of the quartet who isn't on the DL, and Halladay's and Ruiz's injuries have greatly diminished — if not destroyed — their trade value.

Amaro didn't rule out bringing any of those free agents back in 2014 but noted that moves would still be made with an eye towards contending next season rather than beginning a rebuilding process.

"Whether you're talking about retooling or rewrapping or taking a different direction, I think there are ways we can do that," Amaro said. "But when you start talking about blowing it up, you're basically saying you're going to start from scratch. And that's not happening."

Dealing Lee (owed at least $78MM through the 2015 season) or Papelbon (roughly $33.6MM owed through 2015 with a $13MM vesting option for 2016) would count as sign that the Phillies were taking a step back to reload, and dealing Hamels (who just signed a six-year, $144MM extension last July) would count as the first step towards a major rebuild.  Lee said yesterday that he wanted to play for a contender and that while his preference was to do so in Philadelphia, winning was his top priority.  Lee has a partial no-trade clause in his contract that allows him to block a deal to 20 teams each season.

Twins Notes: Jimenez, Wang, Draft

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Here are some Twins-related items, courtesy of 1500ESPN.com's Darren Wolfson…

  • The Twins "are dealing…heavily" with Amauris Nina, a trainer/agent tied to several international prospects, most notably 16-year-old Dominican outfielder Elon Jimenez.  The Cubs are considered to be a "heavy favorite" to sign Jimenez once the international signing period begins on July 2.
  • The Twins didn't have any interest in right-hander Chien-Ming Wang, who signed with the Blue Jays earlier this week.
  • Club vice president Mike Radcliff said he expects the Twins will sign 27 or 28 of their 40 picks from this year's amateur draft.  He doesn't expect the club will sign 29th-round pick Logan Shore, a high school right-hander who is committed to the University of Florida.  Shore was ranked as the 202nd-best prospect in the draft by Baseball America, who speculated that Shore could've gone as high as the third round had he found a particularly interested suitor.
  • A Twins source tells Wolfson that "they fully expect" to sign fourth round pick Stephen Gonsalves.  The high school southpaw has committed to the University of San Diego and was ranked by MLB.com as the 98th-best member of this year's draft class.

Draft Signings: Wilson, Bashlor, Meisner

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We've already passed on one post's worth of notable signings from the second and third day of the amateur draft, and now here are the latest prospects to sign (slot information courtesy of Baseball America)…

  • The Mets have agreed to sign third-rounder Ivan Wilson, Jim Callis of Baseball America reports (Twitter link).  Wilson, a high school outfielder, signed for a $624.9K bonus, the exact assigned slot value of the 76th overall pick.  ESPN's Keith Law ranked Wilson as the 86th-best prospect available in this year's draft.  This pick was awarded to the Mets for their failure to sign Teddy Stankewicz as the 75th overall pick of the 2012 draft (Stankewicz has agreed to sign with the Red Sox after being drafted 45th overall this year).
  • The Mets have signed 11th-round draft pick Ty Bashlor to a $550K bonus, Callis reports (via Twitter).  As Callis notes, the $550K is a new record high for a player signed beyond the 10th round since the draft's new rules were instituted last season.  Bonuses beyond the 10th round are only counted towards a team's overall draft pool if they exceed $100K, so a whopping $450K of Bashlor's bonus will count towards the Mets' draft pool.  Bashlor is a right-hander from South Georgia junior college whose fastball can reach 97mph.  
  • The Mets have agreed to sign right-hander Casey Meisner, Callis reports (Twitter link).  Meisner agreed to a $500K bonus, significantly under the assigned slot value of the 84th overall pick ($640.9K).  The 6'7" Meisner, a high schooler from Texas, had committed to Texas Tech.  ESPN's Keith Law tabbed Meisner as the 91st-best prospect of this year's draft class. 

Minor Moves: Richardson, Cabral, Thomore

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Here are Friday's minor moves from around the league…

  • The Angels have signed left-hander Dustin Richardson to a minor league deal, MLB Daily Dish's Chris Cotillo reports.  Richardson posted a 3.31 ERA over 16 1/3 relief innings (despite issuing 15 walks and 18 hits in that stretch) with the Red Sox in 2009-10.  He has spent the last two seasons with the independent Sugar Land Skeeters.  Richardson was suspended for 50 games for PED use in 2012 but his suspension has since been lifted due to compliance with MLB and his time away from affiliated baseball.
  • The Yankees have outrighted left-hander Cesar Cabral to Double-A, the team announced today (passed on by Mike Axisa of the River Ave Blues blog.)  Cabral was taken by the Royals from the Red Sox in the 2011 Rule 5 draft and then dealt to the Yankees, though he missed the entire 2012 season with an elbow injury.
  • The White Sox have acquired outfielder Carl Thomore from the Rockies in exchange for cash, according to Baseball America's Matt Eddy (on Twitter). Thomore was a second-round pick by the Rox as recently as 2011, but he's hit just .196/.308/.309 in 58 games in the Rookie-level Pioneer League. Thomore has recovered from a devastating leg injury suffered in high school (as chronicled by Brian Falzarano of MaxPreps.com two years ago) to make it to pro ball.
  • Five players currently reside in DFA limbo: John Baker and James Darnell of the Padres, Ramon Ramirez of the Giants, Ramon Hernandez of the Dodgers and Kelly Shoppach of the Mariners.

Red Sox To Sign Third-Rounder Jonathan Denney

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The Red Sox have agreed to terms with third-round draft pick Jonathan Denney, Baseball America's Jim Callis reports (Twitter links).  Denney signed for a $875K bonus, well above the $671.2K assigned slot value (courtesy of Baseball America) of the 81st overall pick.  Denney is advised by the BBI Sports Group.

Denney was something of a steal for Boston in the third round given that the high school catcher was a consensus late-first round pick (20th overall by MLB.com, 22nd by ESPN's Keith Law and 25th by Baseball America) by most major draft analysts.  Law mentioned that Denney "struggled receiving this spring and is no longer seen as a lock to catch," which may have accounted for his fall in the draft.  Still, Law feels that Denney can still grow into the position and he has a good arm, plus Baseball America thinks Denney has a strong enough right-handed bat to stick at first base if necessary.

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