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Archives for August 2013

Koji Uehara’s 2014 Option Vests

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Koji Uehara pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings last night and earned his third win of the season, but the appearance carried far more significance, as it triggered his vesting option for the 2014 season.

Uehara's contract was originally reported to be a one-year deal worth $4.25MM, but over the weekend, the Boston Globe's Nick Cafardo reported that Uehara has a vesting option, and on Monday, Alex Speier of WEEI.com reported that it is valued at $4.25MM.

Uehara finished his 24th game of the season last night, bringing him within 11 games finished of a clause in his contract that boosts his 2014 salary to $5MM. The 38-year-old right-hander has a very good chance to finish 35 games for the Red Sox this season and make that happen, and the Red Sox will have no problem spending a little extra to keep Uehara around.

In 54 2/3 innings this season, the Osaka native has a 1.32 ERA with 12.3 K/9 and 1.5 BB/9. Uehara's 2.1 wins above replacement (per Fangraphs) are second among relief pitchers, and he leads the Majors in WHIP (0.68) and swinging-strike rate (16.9 percent).

Barry Zito Clears Waivers

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Giants lefty Barry Zito has cleared waivers and is free to be traded to any team, tweets Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. As Heyman notes, however, Zito doesn't appear to be a trade candidate at this time.

The 35-year-old Zito is in the final season of a seven-year, $126MM contract with the Giants. The contract has been widely panned, and while Zito has had some respectable seasons in San Francisco, this hasn't been one of them. He's pitched to a 5.40 ERA with 6.0 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9. He's been outstanding at home for the Giants, totaling a 3.01 ERA In 71 2/3 innings, but he has an eye-popping 9.50 ERA away from AT&T Park, having allowed 44 earned runs in 41 2/3 frames.

Zito's contract contains an $18MM vesting option that would trigger if he were to reach 200 innings this season. That's extremely unlikely to happen, as he's 84 2/3 innings short of that mark. He's earning a whopping $20MM in 2013, of which about $5.14MM is remaining.

Because of his underwhelming performance and hefty salary, it seems likely that he will close out his massive contract with the Giants. Zito becomes the fifth player to reportedly clear waivers since the beginning of August.

Quick Hits: Konerko, Harrison, Bernadina, Guerrero

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Paul Konerko could draw interest from the Orioles, who tried to acquire another right-handed bat at the deadline, Rich Dubroff of CSNBaltimore.com opines. Konerko considered signing with the O's after the 2005 season, according to Dubroff, who says the 37-year-old could fill the club's DH slot. Though he's hitting just .243/.306/.359, Baltimore would prefer Konerko over a reunion with Mark Reynolds, Dubroff says.  Here's more from around baseball..

  • Rangers starter Matt Harrison's back issues will cause him to miss the remainder of the season, Anthony Andro of FOX Sports Southwest tweets. Harrison, 27, underwent surgery to repair a herniated disk in April. The Rangers were targeting a September return for the left-hander, but his back "isn't strong enough," according to Andro.
  • Bill Ladson of MLB.com ran down the Nationals that might not return to the club in 2014.  The list starts with non-tender Roger Bernadina and one talent evaluator tells Ladson that GM Mike Rizzo has never been a fan of his.
  • Cuban prospect Alexander Guerrero is still waiting to be unblocked by the U.S. Government and cannot enter into a contract until that happens, tweets Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com.  The infielder has three teams vying for him including the Twins and the Dodgers, who are believed to be the favorites.
  • The Twins placed Justin Morneau on waivers, but manager Ron Gardenhire doesn't think that it'll hurt the veteran's play, writes MLB.com's Rhett Bollinger.  "It just gets out there," Gardenhire said. "There's so many people getting run through waivers now. It's just part of the year here. We understand that this was probably going to happen. It happens to pretty much all our players and everybody else's players."

Aaron Steen contributed to this post.

Marlins Notes: Abreu, Reynolds, Eovaldi, Alvarez

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Last week we learned that the Marlins never got to the point where they received specific names in trade proposals for Giancarlo Stanton in July.  Four high-ranking officials shot down a rumored blockbuster proposal from the Pirates involving Starling Marte and Gerrit Cole in conversations with MLB.com's Joe Frisaro.  Here's more out of Miami, courtesy of Frisaro..

  • It's too early to determine whether the Marlins will attempt to sign Cuban defector Jose Dariel Abreu, Frisaro says. The team employs two young Cubans – pitcher Jose Fernandez and shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria – but Abreu could ask for a deal in the vicinity of six years and $54MM.
  • At last in the majors in runs scored, the Marlins are clearly on the hunt for bats to bolster their lineup, according to Frisaro. The Fish have discussed Mark Reynolds, whom the Indians recently requested release waivers for and whom the club considered at last year's Winter Meetings. However, it's thought that he'd be a better fit with an AL team.
  • Abreu could be an option this offseason because Miami isn't expected to pursue established players on the free agent market, but the club could also offer pitching prospects in a trade for a power hitter, Frisaro suggests. However, starters Fernandez, Nathan Eovaldi, Henderson Alvarez and Jacob Turner are untouchable. The Marlins appear to be targeting a hitting catcher, Frisaro says.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

Nats Insurance Lawsuit Details Kickback Scheme

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The Nationals have filed a lawsuit against the Westchester Fire Insurance Co. in a bid to recoup the bonus that Dominican prospect Esmailyn Gonzalez – now known as Carlos David Alvarez Lugo - received for signing with the club, a detailed article by Baseball America's Ben Badler reports. According to Badler, the lawsuit describes a scheme in which Alvarez allegedly kicked back $300K of his $1.4MM bonus to Jose Rijo, who ran the club's Latin American scouting operation at the time. Rijo, a special assistant to former GM Jim Bowden, was fired in February 2009, and Bowden resigned three days later.

Alvarez claimed to be 16 at the time of signing, but as Sports Illustrated reported in 2009, he's actually four years older than that and was using a fake name. According to the lawsuit, the player “executed an affadavit detailing his fraud," including information on the kickback arrangement, leading the Nationals to file an insurance claim to reclaim their loss. However, two years after the filing of the claim, Westchester denied it.

In the suit, the Nationals argue their contract with Westchester covered $1MM of commercial crime insurance coverage and that the signing resulted from fraud by their employees. The club notes that Chartis, its excess loss insurer, has paid the club "substantially all of the Nationals’ loss in excess of Westchester’s liability limit for this policy." The suit adds that the Yankees and Rangers were also interested in Alvarez, apparently to suggest that competition justified the $1.4MM bonus. Westchester has yet to file a response to the complaint.

As Badler notes, Rijo was charged with money laundering in the Dominican Republic in 2012 in connection with the activities of suspected drug trafficker Matias Avelino Castro, who's now a fugitive. Alvarez, 27, has a .291/.412/.409 line in 1,207 minor league plate appearances, and has appeared in just two games for a Nats' rookie affiliate this year.

Indians Sign David Cooper

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The Indians announced that they have signed first baseman David Cooper to a minor league deal.  Cooper can opt out of the contract in late August if he's not added to the major league roster by that time, Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com reports (Twitter links). The 26-year-old is a client of CAA Sports.

Cooper appeared in 45 games for the Blue Jays in 2012 as a first baseman and designated hitter and posted a .300/.324/.464 batting line in 145 plate appearances, including four home runs.  He was released in March by Toronto after missing significant time with a back injury.  The problem was apparently serious enough to make retirement a possibility.

Twins Acquire Miguel Sulbaran To Complete Butera Trade

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The Twins announced that they have acquired Class A left-hander Miguel Sulbaran from the Dodgers as the player to be named later in July 31's Drew Butera trade. It's a surprisingly good return for Butera, as Sulbaran was ranked as Los Angeles' No. 14 prospect by MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo.

The 19-year-old Sulbaran has pitched to a 3.01 ERA with 8.3 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9 in 92 2/3 innings this season. In his free scouting report, Mayo writes:

"Sulbaran has a good feel for his low-90s fastball and can add and subtract velocity from it as needed. His curveball is his best offspeed pitch and both his slider and changeup show promise."

Butera, 29, has hit .208/.239/.292 in 114 Triple-A plate appearances this season. He's strictly a defensive catcher, though his glove typically draws very high praise from scouts. He's received 534 Major League plate appearances and totaled a .182/.230/.262 batting line with five homers.

Rangers Release Manny Ramirez

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The Rangers have released Manny Ramirez from Triple-A Round Rock, according to Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (on Twitter). The slugger had signed a minor league deal with Texas on July 3.

The 41-year-old Ramirez hit .259/.328/.370 with three homers for the Rangers during his time at Round Rock but drew questions from scouts on his bat speed. Ramirez began the season in Taiwan playing for the EDR Rhinos, where he hit .352 with eight homers, but he was unable to translate that success back over to the United States.

In parts of 19 Major League seasons between the Indians, Red Sox, Dodgers, White Sox and Rays, Ramirez is a .312/.411/.585 batter with 555 homers.

Paul Konerko Placed On Waivers

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Paul Konerko has been placed on waivers, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter).  The White Sox slugger can say no to any deal thanks to his ten-and-five rights and is likely to clear waivers. The waiver claim period will expire tomorrow, Rosenthal adds in a second tweet.

The 37-year-old is owed roughly $3.25MM for the remainder of the season.  Konerko owns a slash line of .243/.306/.359 with nine homers in 87 games this season, a significant dropoff from his usual production.

It's possible that this will be Konerko's final go-round as he is on an expiring contract, dealing with back issues, and has stated that he doesn't want to stay in the game "just to chase some numbers."

Minor Moves: Quiroz, Paulino, Manzella

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Tuesday's minor moves from around the league…

  • The Giants have outrighted Guillermo Quiroz to Triple-A Fresno, according to Hank Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter).  The 31-year-old, who appeared in 43 games for the Giants this season and slashed .186/.237/.302, was DFA'd last week.
  • The Orioles have activated Ronny Paulino from the minor league disabled list and assigned his contract to the Tigers' Triple-A affiliate in Toledo, the team announced on Twitter. In other words, the Orioles announced, Baltimore has sold Paulino's contract to the Tigers for cash considerations after he was claimed off waivers. Paulino, 32, hit .234/.368/.319 between Double-A Bowie and Triple-A Norfolk this season and last appeared in the Majors with the O's in 2012.
  • The White Sox have signed Tommy Manzella to a minor league contract and assigned him to Double-A Birmingham after he was released by the Blue Jays, according to Chris Cotillo of MLBDailyDish.com. Manzella, 30, was a third-round pick of the Astros in 2005 and ranked among their Top 15 prospects from 2007-09, per Baseball America, largely due to his glove at shortstop. BA repeatedly ranked Manzella as the best defensive infielder in Houston's system, but his bat never caught up. He hit .225/.267/.264 in 282 plate appearances when the Astros gave him the starting job at shortstop in 2010. Manzella, who began 2013 with the Rockies' Triple-A club, is a career .256/.315/.357 hitter in the minors.
  • Two players are currently in DFA limbo: Delmon Young of the Phillies and Brett Hayes of the Royals.

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