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Archives for September 2013

Quick Hits: McCann, Dotel, Tanaka, Astros

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The Pirates' acquisition of Justin Morneau is rated by Scott Miller of CBSSports.com as the August waiver trade with the highest "Cody Ross potential."  Ross, of course, was an unheralded pickup in August 2010 who ended up paying huge dividends in the Giants' World Series victory that season.  Here are some more items from around the majors…

  • Though Evan Gattis' storybook rookie season has been slowed by injuries and slumps, David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution still doesn't think the Braves will push to re-sign Brian McCann this winter.  Since the Braves won't be able to transition McCann from catcher to DH as he ages, O'Brien figures that an AL team who can offer this luxury will outbid Atlanta for McCann's services.  MLBTR's Tim Dierkes ranked McCann third the last edition of his 2014 Free Agent Power Rankings, though McCann's bat has cooled off (.674 OPS in 89 PA) in August.
  • There is a "99.9%" chance that Octavio Dotel will be shut down for the season, Tigers manager Jim Leyland told reporters, including Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press.  Dotel hasn't pitched since April 19 due to an elbow injury and he has experienced forearm tightness during his minor league rehab assignment.  Since Dotel turns 40 in November, it has been speculated that this injury could mark the end of Dotel's career, though Leyland said he wasn't aware of the veteran reliever's future plans.
  • The Yankees have "heavily scouted" Masahiro Tanaka, sending scouts to see many of Tanaka's starts for Rakuten, Mark Hale and George A. King III of the New York Post report.  Assistant GM Billy Eppler and special assignment scout Don Wakamatsu were in Japan last week for one of Tanaka's outings.  The Yankees and Rangers could be the favorites to make the highest posting bid for Tanaka should Rakuten make him available this offseason, though the Giants, Red Sox, Athletics and Twins are also known to be interested in the right-hander.
  • Fangraphs' Wendy Thurm explores when the Astros will start to raise their payroll by comparing the club's major payroll cuts to other teams who have slashed salaries in recent years.
  • With Alex Rodriguez facing a possible season-long suspension in 2014 and Mark Reynolds and Kevin Youkilis both question marks, ESPN's Jim Bowden (Insider subscription required) looks at some long-, medium- and short-term third base answers that the Yankees could acquire from another team.
  • The Twins should move Joe Mauer to first base next season and rely on either rookie Josmil Pinto to play catcher or sign A.J. Pierzynski, Jim Souhan of the Minneapolis Star Tribune opines.  Pierzynski, who spent his first six seasons in Minnesota, would also provide the Twins with some needed grit and leadership, Souhan adds.  Pierzynski will hit the free agent market again this winter and one would think he'd prefer to play for a contender at this late stage in his career.  He's hitting .283/.309/.452 with 16 homers in 424 PA with the Rangers this season so he'll certainly have a market for his services.

Mark Lowe Opts Out Of Contract With Nationals

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Mark Lowe has opted out of his contract with the Nationals and is now a free agent, MLBTR has learned.  The right-hander signed a minor league deal with Washington in June and already passed one opt-out date back on July 31.  Lowe is represented by Frye McCann Sports.

Lowe has signed minor league deals (and parted ways) with three different organizations this season after signing with the Dodgers in February, the Angels in late March and then the Nats in June.  The 30-year-old righty posted a 9.26 ERA over 11 2/3 relief innings with the Halos but was much more effective with the Nationals' Triple-A affiliate, posting a 3.14 ERA, 11.6 K/9 and 3.70 K/BB over 28 2/3 IP with Syracuse.

Prior to this season, Lowe had amassed a 3.94 ERA over 262 2/3 innings with the Mariners and Rangers from 2006-12.  Over his career, he has held right-handed batters to a .223/.309/.332 slash line.

Phillies Notes: Aumont, Franco, Kendrick, Bernadina

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Here are some items from the City of Brotherly Love…

  • Right-hander Phillippe Aumont wasn't included in the first round of September callups and "faces an uncertain future" with the Phillies, writes Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer.  Aumont has posted a 3.97 ERA over 34 innings with the Phils over the last two seasons, racking up strikeouts (33) but also walking 22 batters.  Aumont has issued 36 walks over 34 2/3 IP at Triple-A this season.  The Mariners took Aumont with the 11th overall pick of the 2007 amateur draft and was dealt to the Phillies as part of the Cliff Lee trade in December 2009.  Aumont was ranked as a top-100 prospect by Baseball America every year from 2008-10.
  • Also from Gelb, the Phillies didn't call up top prospect Maikel Franco because the team wants to look at Cody Asche at third base this month.  GM Ruben Amaro did say that a Franco promotion was at least "discussed internally" among team officials.
  • Kyle Kendrick will probably end up with roughly a $7.5MM salary for 2014 following his final offseason of arbitration eligibility, projects David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News.  That's a reasonable price for a pitcher of Kendrick's caliber, Murphy feels, given how some other pitchers earning similar money in 2013 have been disappointments.  It hasn't been a great year for the right-hander (4.51 ERA, 5,2 K/9, 2.36 K/BB), though he's on pace to throw a new career high in innings and his advanced metrics (3.93 FIP, 4.16 xFIP, 4.39 SIERA) indicate that Kendrick has been a bit unlucky.  His 49% ground ball rate also makes him a valuable asset pitching at Citizens Bank Park.
  • Roger Bernadina went 1-for-3 for the Phillies in today's 3-2 win over the Nationals, the first time Bernadina had faced his former team since being released two weeks ago.  Before the game, Bernadina told reporters (including MLB.com's Bill Ladson) that he "was a little bit shocked" at his release but enjoyed his time in Washington and now enjoys being a Phillie.

California Notes: Zito, Colletti, Angels

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The Athletics moved into a tie for first place in the AL West with today's 4-2 victory over the Rangers.  Today's game was the first of six head-to-head matchups between Oakland and Texas in September, so it's very possible that we're in for another pennant race that goes right down to the last day between these two clubs.

Here's the latest baseball news out of the Golden State…

  • Barry Zito won't be designated for assignment or otherwise removed from the roster, Bruce Bochy told reporters, including Andrew Baggarly of CSNBayArea.com.  The Giants need to open two 40-man roster spaces to accommodate their September callups by tomorrow and Zito could've been a candidate given how poorly has had pitched since mid-May.  This cold streak may end Zito's tenure in San Francisco, as while the Giants obviously weren't going to pick up Zito's $18MM option for 2014, Baggarly notes the club could've pursued a new, less-expensive deal with the veteran lefty.
  • The Dodgers are known for spending freely but ESPN's Buster Olney illustrates (in an Insider-only piece) how general manager Ned Colletti has inexpensively added to his bullpen and bench depth.
  • The Brewers would appear to have gotten the better end of the 2012 deal that sent Zack Greinke to the Angels in exchange for Jean Segura and two minor league pitchers, but Halos GM Jerry Dipoto doesn't regret the trade. "I absolutely understand what the criteria was when we made the trade and why we made it," Dipoto says in an article by Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com, noting that the club was leading the AL wild card race at the time and needed to bolster its rotation.
  • If the Red Sox can quickly return to contention after a disappointing season, could the Angels rebound from this year's problems to contend in 2014?  Grantland's Jonah Keri thinks it would be "a gigantic long shot," given the Angels' deeper roster problems and a lack of minor league talent following several ill-advised trades of prospects, such as the Segura deal.
  • From earlier today, MLBTR reported that Mike Zagurski opted out of his Athletics contract and was now a free agent.

MLBTR's Charlie Wilmoth contributed to this post

Minor Moves: Giants, Phillies, Marlins

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Here are today's minor transactions, with the latest at the top of the page…

  • The Giants will call up eight minor leaguers before Tuesday's game, manager Bruce Bochy announced today (Andrew Baggarly of CSNBayArea.com has the details).  Two of those players, Heath Hembree and Johnny Monell, will have to be added to the club's 40-man roster.  Baggarly speculates that Kensuke Tanaka and Dan Runzler could be candidates to be removed from the 40-man since they weren't among the list of callups. 
  • The Phillies announced six September callups, including catcher Cameron Rupp, whose contract was selected from Triple-A.  Rupp, a third-round pick in the 2010 draft, has hit .258/.334/.401 with 33 homers over 1334 minor league plate appearances.
  • The Marlins have called up left-hander Brian Flynn, Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald tweets, and Flynn will make his Major League debut in a start against the Cubs on Wednesday.  The Marlins will officially select Flynn's contract from Triple-A New Orleans tomorrow, according to the team's transactions page.  Flynn, 23, has a 2.80 ERA in 23 Triple-A starts this season, with a 3.05 K/BB and 122 strikeouts over 138 innings.

Quick Hits: Waiver Trades, Hamilton, Blazek, Bard

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Twins GM Terry Ryan says he has no qualms about blocking potential August trades by making waiver claims, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press writes (via Twitter). Ryan says he was surprised that Marlon Byrd — who's having a strong season and makes a paltry $700K — made it all the way through waivers until the Pirates claimed him. The Reds, for example, had waiver priority on the Pirates and might well have chosen to claim Byrd, both because Byrd would have cheaply improved their own team and also to prevent the rival Pirates from getting him. Here are more notes from around baseball.

  • The Cardinals are the first big-league team that will have to figure out how to stop Billy Hamilton of the Reds, Max Schmetzer of MLB.com writes. Of course, that means that the basestealing phenom will have to battle against Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina. "We have film on [Hamilton]," says Cardinals manager Mike Matheny. "We're not going to ask the pitchers to be quicker on him or the catchers to throw quicker." Before the season, Hamilton was ranked the No. 20 prospect in baseball by Baseball America and No. 30 by ESPN's Keith Law. Even in a disappointing 2013 season, Hamilton managed to swipe 75 bases for Triple-A Louisville.
  • Reliever Michael Blazek spent several days in "limbo" before being shipped from the Cardinals to the Brewers in the John Axford deal, Adam McCalvy and Kevin Massoth of MLB.com write. The Cards technically optioned Blazek to Triple-A Memphis on Thursday, but he was actually just waiting in his hotel in St. Louis, presumably to be called up when rosters expanded on Sunday. Instead, in his third day away from the team, he learned he was headed to Milwaukee.
  • Daniel Bard was recently designated for assignment by the Red Sox, but claiming him on waivers could be a tricky proposition, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe writes. That's because the claiming team would have to decide by early December whether to take Bard to arbitration, where he would receive a minimum of about $1.5MM next year. That might be a lot to pay a player who appears to be nowhere near the pitcher he was in 2009 through 2011, when he was a solid relief option.

Aaron Steen contributed to this post.

AL Central Notes: Yost, Iglesias, Sulbaran

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Royals manager Ned Yost would like Major League Baseball to change its rules regarding September callups, Dick Kaegel and Kathleen Gier of MLB.com report. Teams who call up more players will have more tactical options than teams who call up fewer, so Yost would prefer to have teams limited to a specific number of players they can use each day, perhaps 28 to 30. Here are more notes from the AL Central.

  • Jose Iglesias is back in Boston after being sent from the Red Sox to the Tigers in the Jake Peavy deal, MLB.com's Jason Beck notes. New manager Jim Leyland is trying to help his new shortstop refine his play and become more consistent. "You don't want to take any of that aggressiveness and energy away," says Leyland. "You just have to make sure you channel it in the proper direction. I think it takes time to let that happen."
  • The Twins had a choice of players they could take as the PTBNL in the Drew Butera deal with the Dodgers, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press tweets. They eventually settled on 19-year-old lefty Miguel Sulbaran, who has pitched well as a starter in Class A this year. Sulbaran is undersized and may struggle as he ascends through the minors, but he still appears to be a very strong return for the Twins, given that Butera recently turned 30 and has only played in Triple-A in the Dodgers organization so far.

NL Central Notes: Pirates, Cardinals

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Here are a few notes on the Pirates and Cardinals, and their race (along with the Reds) for the NL Central crown.

Mike Zagurski Opts Out Of Contract With Athletics

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Lefty Mike Zagurski has opted out of his contract with the Athletics, MLBTR has learned. The 30-year-old reliever had signed with Oakland after opting out of his previous deal with the Yankees, and will now look for a big league job over the month of September.

During his brief stint with Triple-A Sacramento over the last couple of weeks, Zagurski gave up four earned and struck out eight batters over six innings. He sports a 3.04 ERA in 53 1/3 total Triple-A innings on the season, and has posted an eye-popping 14.0 K/9 against 4.0 BB/9. Though Zagurski was less successful in a short run with the Pirates earlier this year, his big strikeout potential could make him attractive now that rosters have expanded.

Reds Designate, Outright Pedro Villarreal

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The Reds designated righty Pedro Villarreal for assignment, then outrighted him to Triple-A after he cleared waivers, MLB.com's Mark Sheldon reports on Twitter. Billy Hamilton takes the 40-man roster spot vacated by Villareal.

The 25-year-old Villarreal has seen limited big league action in 2012 and 2013. He has tossed just 6 2/3 big league innings in three appearances, including one start, over which he gave up thirteen hits and eight earned runs. Villarreal has primarily pitched as a starter in the minors, where he has been remarkably consistent. As he moved from High-A to Triple-A over the last four seasons, Villarreal's annual ERA has stayed within the narrow range of 4.36 and 4.43.

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