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Archives for March 2014

Added To The 40-Man Roster: Friday

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Between now and Opening Day, several minor league signees will win jobs with their clubs and earn 40-man roster spots. Here are today's additions:

  • The Mariners have told lefty Joe Beimel that he will get an Opening Day slot, meaning that he'll need to be added to the club's 40-man, reports Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times (via Twitter). In addition to the 36-year-old,  Seattle will need to add 25-year-old lefty Roenis Elias to the 40-man after he made a surprise run through camp to join the Opening Day rotation, as Shannon Drayer of ESPN Radio Seattle reports on Twitter. To clear room, the club designated Carlos Triunfel and Xavier Avery for assignment.

Mariners Designate Carlos Triunfel, Xavier Avery

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The Mariners Have designated Carlos Triunfel and Xavier Avery for assignment, reports Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times (via Twitter). The moves opened 40-man spots for the club's final Opening Day roster moves.

Both players are 24. Triunfel is a middle infielder on a team that is stocked up the middle. He has only limited MLB experience, but in 413 Triple-A plate appearances last year he was good for a .282/.328/.394 line. Meanwhile, Avery came to Seattle in last year's Michael Morse deal. The speedy former Oriole came in with a chance to earn a spot in the outfield, but did not impress enough in camp to crack the Opening Day roster, or to keep his 40-man spot. 

It is worth noting as well that the club has decided to option Nick Franklin to Triple-A, where he is expected to handle the shortstop duties. Franklin has come up frequently in trade rumors, and had been experimenting in the outfield in hopes of landing a big league roster spot.

Mariners Sign Chris Young, Designate Bobby LaFromboise

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TODAY: Young agreed to an advance consent clause, tweets Dutton, which is somewhat notable because it was Seattle's demand for such a provision that led Randy Wolf to request his release.

YESTERDAY 5:31pm: Young gets a $1.25MM guarantee, reports Dutton. Performance bonuses could tack on an additional $3.475MM if maxed out, which would occur at 28 starts and 180 innings.

11:14am: The Mariners have officially signed starter Chris Young and designated Bobby LaFromboise for assignment to create space, reports Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune (via Twitter). After recently parting with veterans Randy Wolf and Scott Baker, Seattle had a clear need for starting pitching.

Young, 34, appeared to be rejuvenated this spring, spending camp with the Nationals after undergoing thoracic outlet surgery on his shoulder. The towering righty has not appeared in the bigs since 2012, but threw to a 3.48 ERA in 10 1/3 spring innings. In his last MLB turn, Young threw to a 4.15 ERA in 115 innings with the Mets.

Meanwhile, LaFromboise is a 27-year-old lefty who has seen only ten chances to make a big league appearance, all in a brief stint in the Mariners pen last year. He has put up some solid numbers in the upper minors in recent seasons, working to a 3.39 ERA in 61 innings at Triple-A last year and putting up a 1.36 mark in 66 1/3 innings at Double-A and Triple-A in 2012. LaFromboise has averaged better than nine strikeous and less than three free passes per nine innings in both of the last two years.

MLB, MLBPA Announce Changes To Joint Drug Program

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In a joint press release, Major League Baseball and the Major League Player's Association have announced a newly enhanced testing and suspension protocol in the Joint Drug Program (often abbreviated "JDA"). 

First come changes to the number of PED tests conducted. The new standards more than double the number of in-season random urine tests. Also, the number of random blood tests for hGH will increase to 400. 

Second, the new agreement enhances the suspension penalties that can be applied. A first offense will now carry an 80-game suspension; a second offense comes with a full-season, 162-game suspension and loss of the full year's salary; and a third offense will result in a permanent ban. Notably, also, a player hit with a suspension cannot return to play in that years post-season.

Notably, the new terms make clear that an Arbitration Panel may choose to reduce the discipline in the event that the player can prove that the use was not intended to enhance performance. But any player who has a suspension upheld will be subject to six additional random, unannounced urine tests and three blood tests for every year in the remainder of his career.

Several months back, I took a look at the question of how best to craft deterrents to curb PED use, and argued that merely enhancing the current regime would not provide the best set of disincentives (for all parties involved). Of course, it is worth noting that today's agreement comes well in advance of its December 1, 2016 expiration. And, as ESPN's T.J. Quinn assesses things on Twitter, with these enhancements, MLB is "now miles ahead of NFL, and light years ahead of NBA, NHL, [and] FIFA" in its PED program.

Rays To Sign Mike Fontenot

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The Rays have added infielder Mike Fontenot on a minor league deal, tweets Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Fontenot was released earlier today by the Nationals.

The 33-year-old had seen at least some time at the Major League level in every season since 2006 before spending last year with the Rays' Triple-A affiliate. He hit .264/.335/.379 in 120 games.

Rays To Re-Sign Erik Bedard

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The Rays have agreed to re-sign left-handed starter Erik Bedard to a minor league deal, reports MLB.com's Bill Chastain via Twitter. Bedard will provide the club with some depth in the upper minors.

Bedard posted a 4.59 ERA in 151 innings (26 starts and six relief appearances) last year with Houston. He struck out 8.2 and walked 4.5 batters per nine, registering a 36.4% ground ball rate.

Orioles Outright Johnny Monell To Triple-A

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FRIDAY: Monell cleared outright waivers and has been assigned to Triple-A, tweets Chris Cotillo of MLBDailyDish.com.

MONDAY: The Orioles have announced they have designated catcher Johnny Monell for assignment to open a 40-man roster spot for newly-acquired infielder Steve Lombardozzi.

Monell, 28 on Thursday, was optioned to Triple-A by the Orioles last Wednesday after Steve Clevenger won the team's backup catcher job.  The Orioles acquired Monell from the Giants in November for cash considerations.  He hit .275/.364/.494 with 20 home runs in 481 Triple-A plate appearances last year, his first time at that level.  For the Giants' Triple-A club, Monell played 48 games at catcher, 47 at first base, and one at the hot corner.

Monell joins brief teammate Kelvin De La Cruz in DFA limbo, as well as Dodgers reliever Javy Guerra.

AL East Notes: Anthopoulos, Sizemore, Schoop

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We covered a couple of Yankees items as part of a New York Notes post earlier today, so now let's take a look around the rest of the AL East…

  • Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos said the team is open to possibly extending the contracts of Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Reyes, the GM tells The Toronto Star's Richard Griffin.  Bautista (33) and Encarnacion (31) are contracted through 2015 and the Jays have team options on both players for 2016, while Reyes (30) is locked up through the 2017 season.  Extensions would take any of the trio well into their late-30's, yet Anthopoulos points to David Ortiz and Carlos Beltran as older players who are still big hitters.
  • Also as part of the wide-ranging interview, Anthopoulos discusses his disappointment over the Ervin Santana non-signing, restocking the farm system and more.
  • Grady Sizemore will be the Red Sox center fielder on Opening Day, manager John Farrell told reporters (including Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald).  Star prospect Jackie Bradley was widely presumed the favorite to take over from Jacoby Ellsbury as Boston's new center fielder this season, yet Bradley struggled to hit in Spring Training and will start the year at Triple-A.  Sizemore, meanwhile, enjoyed a big spring and proved he was healthy after missing the last two seasons.  Sizemore signed a $750K minor league deal with Boston this winter that could be worth as much as $6MM if Sizemore meets all the incentives.
  • Farrell said that Sizemore will still receive regular rest in order to keep him fresh.  Since this will free up some outfield playing time, FOX Sports' Jon Paul Morosi wonders if the Red Sox could be in the market for a right-handed hitting outfielder who can play all three OF spots.
  • Red Sox sports-medicine coordinator Dan Dyrek played an important part in both convincing Sizemore to sign with Boston and in getting him back in playing condition, Sizemore tells Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal.  Dyrek was “the first guy who has understood not only how it happened but what caused it and how to fix it and how to prevent it from happening again,” Sizemore said.
  • The Orioles plan to have Jonathan Schoop on the Opening Day roster, FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal tweets.  Schoop will play both second and third base, splitting time with Steve Lombardozzi and Ryan Flaherty, respectively.  The 2014 Baseball America Prospect Handbook ranked Schoop as the fifth-best prospect in the Baltimore farm system, and Schoop fought his way onto the 25-man roster thanks to a huge Spring Training.

Pitching Notes: Hernandez, Cordero, Lewis, Gonzalez

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Diamondbacks reliever David Hernandez has a torn UCL and may require Tommy John surgery, Hernandez's agent Jason Hoffman tells FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal (Twitter link).  Hernandez is getting a second opinion but if the original diagnosis is confirmed, the right-hander will miss the entire 2014 season.  Since coming to Arizona in December 2010 as part of the Mark Reynolds trade, Hernandez has posted a 3.42 ERA, 3.17 K/BB and 10.8 K/9, though he struggled a bit last season due to an inflated home run rate.  Losing Hernandez would further hurt the Arizona pitching staff, which also lost Patrick Corbin to an UCL tear earlier this month.

Here are some more notes about pitchers whose roster status is in question…

  • Francisco Cordero has been told by the Red Sox that he isn't making the Opening Day roster, so the veteran reliever is now deciding whether to go to Triple-A Pawtucket or leave for another team, WEEI.com's Alex Speier reports.  While Cordero doesn't officially have an opt-out clause in his minor league deal with the Sox, the two sides have an agreement that Cordero would be released if he finds a job elsewhere.
  • Colby Lewis can opt out of his minor league deal with the Rangers on April 10, Gerry Fraley of the Dallas Morning News reports.  Lewis was brought back on a minors contract after missing the entire 2013 season recovering from hip-resurfacing surgery, and the Rangers have been easing him back into action during Spring Training.
  • If the Phillies are in need of another 40-man roster spot, GM Ruben Amaro said that Miguel Alfred Gonzalez could end up on the 60-day DL, Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer tweets.  Gonzalez was officially placed on the 15-day DL (backdated to March 21) today due to tendinitis in his right shoulder.

White Sox Outright Javy Guerra To Triple-A

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The White Sox have outrighted right-hander Javy Guerra off their 40-man roster and assigned the reliever to Triple-A Charlotte, Colleen Kane of the Chicago Tribune reports (Twitter link).  The Sox claimed Guerra off waivers from the Dodgers on Wednesday.

Guerra posted a 2.45 ERA in 91 2/3 relief innings with Los Angeles in 2011-12, though his peripherals suggested that he may have been a little fortunate to post such a low number.  He struggled in 2013, managing only a 6.75 ERA over 10 2/3 IP and spending much of his season in the minors.

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