Royals Sign Hunter Dozier
The Royals have signed first-round selection Hunter Dozier for a bonus of $2.2MM, reports Jim Callis of Baseball America (on Twitter). Dozier, the eighth overall selection of the draft, is advised by Frontline Sports Management. 
A shortstop out of Stephen F. Austin State University in Texas, Dozier first appeared to be a puzzling selection by the Royals. While most projected him to go on the first day of the draft, he ranked 40th on Baseball America's Top 500 list, 46th on Jonathan Mayo's Top 100 list and 38th on Keith Law's Top 100 list. The method to the Royals' perceived madness was made clear, however, when the team selected Indiana State left-hander Sean Manaea with the No. 34 overall pick in the draft.
By getting Dozier at a below-slot price of $2.2MM — the assigned value of the No. 8 overall pick is $3,187,800, according to BA — the Royals have secured a Top 50 prospect while saving extra money to pursue Manaea, who was a potential No. 1 overall pick before hip injuries derailed his junior season.
Dozier will turn 22 in August, and while he played shortstop at Stephen F. Austin State, most project him to move to third base, where he has enough bat to fit the position. Mayo noted that Dozier is "not among the few elite college bats in this class, but he's not too far behind them, either." BA notes that he has "exceptional" power to the opposite field and could be a 20-25 homer player.
In a separate article for BaseballAmerica.com, Callis writes that the Royals felt they had no chance to draft Dozier at No. 34, as the Rays would've selected him at No. 21 or 29, and the D-backs had considered him with the 15th overall selection.
Photo courtesty of Stephen F. Austin State University media relations.
Reds Sign Phillip Ervin
The Reds have signed first-round pick Phillip Ervin for the exact slot recommendation of $1,812,400 according to Baseball America's Jim Callis (on Twitter). 
Ervin is advised by Moye Sports Associates.
Cincinnati selected Ervin, an outfielder from Samford Universtiy, with the No. 27 overall pick in the 2013 draft. Callis notes that Ervin has the potential to stick in center field and was one of his favorite prospects in the entire draft class.
Ervin ranked 23rd on Baseball America's list of Top 500 draft prospects, 21st on Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com's Top 100 list and 54th on Keith Law of ESPN's Top 100 list (ESPN Insider required). With this agreement, Ervin becomes the highest draft pick to sign thus far and the first player from the 2013 first round to sign as well.
Ervin is the first college bat selected by the Reds in the first round since Yasmani Grandal back in 2010 and their first college outfielder since they selected Drew Stubbs eighth overall out of Texas in 2006. Cincinnati did select Cal outfielder Jeff Gelalich in the supplemental round of last year's draft as compensation for losing Francisco Cordero.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Nationals Release Zach Duke
The Nationals have released left-hander Zach Duke, according to Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post (on Twitter).
Duke, 30, was designated for assignment last week after posting an 8.71 ERA in 20 2/3 frames for the Nationals this season. He was an asset for the team in the final month of 2012, allowing just two runs in 13 2/3 innings of work out of the bullpen in September. The former Rookie of the Year candidate has just a 4.84 ERA with 4.5 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 in 990 2/3 innings since his tremendous 2005 debut campaign.
Red Sox Designate Pedro Ciriaco For Assignment
The Red Sox have designated out of options infielder Pedro Ciriaco for assignment to clear a 25-man roster spot for the returning Will Middlebrooks, according to Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe (on Twitter).
Ciriaco, 27, hit .216/.293/.353 in 58 plate appearances for the Red Sox this season — a far cry from last season's line of .293/.315/.390 (in 272 plate appearances). The Red Sox have used him all over the diamond, as he's seen at least three innings at every position aside from catcher since signing a minor league deal prior to the 2012 season. As Abraham notes, there's a decent chance that Ciriaco could clear waivers and be outrighted to Triple-A.
Ishikawa Nearing Opt-Out Date With Orioles
First baseman Travis Ishikawa is able to opt out of his minor league contract with the Orioles this coming Saturday, MLBTR has learned.
The 29-year-old has torn apart International League pitching this season, posting a batting line of .318/.414/.532 with seven homers and 16 doubles in 203 plate appearances for Triple-A Norfolk. He enjoyed a partiularly torrid month of May, which was good enough for him to be named the Orioles' minor league player of the month. Originally a 21st-round pick of the Giants in the 2002 draft, Ishikawa a career .264/.328/.405 triple-slash line.
The Orioles are set at first base, with Chris Davis is enjoying a better season than nearly any hitter in baseball, but it seems logical that Ishikawa could be considered for a bench role or get a look at DH. Presently, Orioles' designated hitters are batting just .233/.292/.425, with Nolan Reimold and Steve Pearce getting the bulk of the playing time in that role. That, of course, is just speculation on my part.
Rockies Release Jon Garland
The Rockies announced (via Twitter) that they have released right-hander Jon Garland. The 33-year-old had been designated for assignment on Saturday.
Garland struggled in his brief stint with the Rockies, pitching to a 5.82 ERA with 4.2 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 in 68 innings of work (12 starts). He did manage a solid 49.1 percent ground-ball rate — markedly better than the league average of 44.5 percent. That positive trend is one of the reasons stats like FIP (4.95) suggest he's been the recipient of some poor luck.
In parts of 13 Major League seasons, Garland has pitched to a 4.37 ERA with 4.8 K/9, 3.0 BB/9 and a 45.2 percent ground-ball rate.
Giants Sign Ryder Jones
Saturday 7:00pm: Jim Callis of Baseball America tweets that the bonus is for $880k, just over the recommended slot.
Monday 11:44am: Giants second-round pick Ryder Jones has agreed to terms with the team, Ryder announced via his personal Twitter account (hat tip: Andrew Baggarly of CSN Bay Area on Twitter). There is no word on the No. 64 overall selection's signing bonus just yet, though the slot value of that pick is $872,100, per Baseball America.
Jones, who is advised by Legacy Sports, is a high school third baseman out of North Carolina who had committed to Stanford. BA noted that he has the fallback of moving back to the mound, as he can throw a fastball in the low 90s with a sharp slider.
Baseball America ranked Jones as the No. 197 prospect in this year's draft, noting that his current talent level fit him into the fifth or sixth round but he would need to be drafted higher to break his commitment to Stanford.
Trade Candidate: Scott Feldman
It's been a disappointing 2013 for the Cubs, but the rotation has had little to do with that fact. Cubs starters have pitched to a 3.62 ERA this season — the seventh-best mark in the Majors. Scott Feldman has been a huge part of that, posting a 2.84 ERA in 66 2/3 innings (11 starts). 
While Feldman isn't likely to sustain a sub-3.00 ERA, his season hasn't been entirely smoke and mirrors. His swinging-strike rate, while still below the league average, is among the best of his career, as is his first-pitch strike rate. He's inducing grounders at a 51.5 percent clip and demonstrating better command (2.7 BB/9) than he showed as a member of the Rangers' rotation from 2008-12.
Stats like FIP (3.86), xFIP (3.82) and SIERA (3.91) all figure Feldman to be a useful rotation piece even if his peripheral stats catch up to his ERA. Feldman's skill set and strong results thus far figure to make him an attractive trade chip over the next six to seven weeks, particularly for teams looking to bolster their starting rotation without breaking the bank.
Feldman, 30, signed a one-year, $6MM contract with the Cubs this offseason, and probably had a pretty good idea that he could see his name on the market if things didn't go well on Chicago's north side. That's clearly been the case, as the Cubs currently have a 25-35 record that puts them 14.5 games out of first place in the NL Central.
Plenty of contenders have rotation issues, and the Cubs' early standing as a seller could actually benefit them. With two wild card spots now attainable in each league, teams are more reluctant to part with talent early in the summer. The Cubs, however, likely have no delusions about their current status. Contending teams with rotation issues include the Orioles, Giants, Indians and Rockies, to name a few. Feldman's high ground-ball totals would seem to be particularly appealing to teams like Baltimore and Colorado, who play in very homer-friendly environments.
Feldman won't be the best name on the market, but Hoyer and Epstein could look for a high-risk, high-reward return as they did last season when they acquired Arodys Vizcaino (who was on the DL recovering from Tommy John surgery) for Paul Maholm and Reed Johnson. If they're looking to maximize their haul, it might be worth it to package Feldman with another trade candidate like David DeJesus (who I examined as a candidate a month ago) or even Matt Garza.
If they prefer to move Feldman on his own, they should still be able to get some useful pieces. For example, last July, the Twins shipped Francisco Liriano (and his 5.31 ERA and 5.0 BB/9) to the the White Sox for infielder Eduardo Escobar and left-hander Pedro Hernandez. Prior to 2012, Baseball America ranked Escobar as Chicago's No. 10 prospect and Hernandez as the Padres' No. 23 prospect (he was later traded to the Sox for Carlos Quentin). Feldman's numbers are vastly superior to Liriano's, so the Cubs could look to land a solid top 10 prospect from another team as well as a second in the 10-15 range.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Reynolds Nearing Opt-Out Date With Reds
Right-hander Greg Reynolds can opt out of his minor league contract with the Reds on Saturday, MLBTR has learned.
Reynolds, 27, has pitched to a 2.51 ERA with 5.3 K/9 and 1.6 BB/9 in 86 innings (12 starts) for the Triple-A Louisville Bats. The No. 2 overall pick in the 2006 draft is doing the best Triple-A work of his career, and the Reds do have an open spot in the rotation with Johnny Cueto on the disabled list. However, manager Dusty Baker recently noted that top prospect Tony Cingrani, who is already on the 40-man roster and pitched for the team earlier this season, is the likely candidate to replace Cueto (MLB.com's Mark Sheldon reporting). The team could, of course, elect to use Reynolds in a bullpen that needs some help. Cincinnati's relief corps has a 4.11 ERA on the season, which ranks 22nd in the Majors.
Reynolds, a Stanford product much like recent No. 1 overall pick Mark Appel, has a 7.47 ERA with just 40 strikeouts against 36 walks in 94 Major League innings — all coming with the Rockies in 2008 and 2011.
Cafardo On Lowe, Blue Jays, Ross, Pirates, Norris
A few notes from Nick Cafardo's latest column in the Boston Globe:
- Free agent Derek Lowe seems to have retired, telling Cafardo that he asked agent Scott Boras not to look for opportunties for him. Lowe pitched in nine games for the Rangers this year before being released in late May.
- The Blue Jays' situation is "a nightmare," Cafardo says, noting that some in the organization don't know whether GM Alex Anthopoulos will stick with the team he has. Toronto is 27-35 after bringing in R.A. Dickey, Jose Reyes, Josh Johnson, Mark Buehrle and others last offseason.
- Catcher David Ross says the Rays, Yankees and Rangers pursued him, and the Pirates would have been interested in him if they hadn't signed Russell Martin instead. Ross signed a two-year, $6.2MM contract with the Red Sox in the offseason.
- The Pirates, whose rotation depth has been damaged by injuries to Wandy Rodriguez, Jeanmar Gomez, James McDonald, Jeff Karstens, Kyle McPherson and Phil Irwin, "would now have to be interested in" Astros pitcher Bud Norris, Cafardo says. Cafardo also notes that talent evaluators wonder how Norris, a competitive player currently pitching for a last-place team, will do if placed on a competitive team.
- It's unclear what the Tigers would do if they lost Jhonny Peralta to a suspension. Peralta has been connected to the Biogenesis scandal, and his production at shortstop would be tough to replace internally or in the trade market, Cafardo notes.
- The Dodgers have already received calls about Andre Ethier's trade availability, Cafardo says.