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Archives for May 2014

Cubs Rumors: Samardzija, Soriano, Burnett

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The Cubs figure to be rather active this summer with plenty of arms that can be used as trade chips.   Ace Jeff Samardzija is obviously the biggest name in the group, but there’s also Jason Hammel, Nate Schierholtz, and Jose Veras.  Here’s more on Samardzija and other items out of Wrigley..

  • After netting what was generally considered to be the best package of the trade season in the Matt Garza trade last season, the bar figures to be very high for Samardzija, writes Buster Olney of ESPN.com (Insider subscription required).  At the time Garza was traded, he was about ten weeks from qualifying for free agency. Samardzija, on the other hand, won’t be eligible for free agency until after the 2015 season.  Samardzija also doesn’t have the injury history that Garza had.
  • Yankees veteran Alfonso Soriano understands Samardzija’s desire to win now, writes Jason Rubinstein of the New York Daily News.  Soriano, of course, left the Cubs last season via a July 26 trade after Chicago went into full rebuilding mode.
  • Free agent right hander Alex Burnett, who last pitched in the majors for the Cubs,  will throw for teams today in hopes of landing a deal, tweets Chris Cotillo of MLBDailyDish.  Over 177 major league appearances, mostly with the Twins, Burnett owns a 4.70 ERA with 5.6 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9.

Outrighted To Triple-A: Rodriguez, Germano

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We’ll keep track of today’s outright assignments here..

  • Athletics first baseman Daric Barton cleared waivers and has been outrighted to Triple-A Sacramento, according to Joe Stiglich of CSNBayArea.com (on Twitter).  Barton, 28, has yet to repeat his outstanding 2010 campaign, when he played in 159 games and put up a .273/.393/.405 line while leading the league with 110 walks.
  • The Marlins announced that they have outrighted Henry Rodriguez to Triple-A New Orleans. Rodriguez, designated for assignment on Wednesday, displayed what have become typical command problems for him in 2014, walking five batters in just 1 2/3 innings pitched for the Fish.
  • The Rangers have outrighted Justin Germano to Triple-A Round Rock, according to the MLB.com transactions page.  Texas designated the right-hander for assignment on Wednesday to make room on the roster for Scott Baker.  Germano appeared in just two games for the Rangers, yielding seven runs in 5 1/3 innings of work. The veteran swingman has seen time in the Major Leagues in each of the past five seasons and owns a career 5.40 ERA in 330 innings pitched.

Astros Sign Kyle Farnsworth

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10:50am: Farnsworth can earn up to $1.2MM with the Astros if he hits all of his performance bonuses, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.

10:38am: Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (on Twitter) confirms that it’s a big league deal.

10:24am: The Astros have signed Kyle Farnsworth, according to Brian McTaggart of MLB.com (on Twitter).

Earlier today, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter) cautioned everyone not to be surprised if the Astros wound up signing Farnsworth.  Houston, after all, is the team with the greatest need for the veteran as they have the highest bullpen ERA in the majors.

The Mets outrighted Farnsworth this week before his advance consent clause was set to lapse.  Had the Mets kept Farnsworth, they would have been on the hook for $750K for the rest of the season.  Rather than accept the assignment, the Barry Meister client elected free agency.

Prior to his release, Farnsworth, 38, served as the Mets’ closer at times and carried a 3.18 ERA through 17 innings. The veteran righty sports a 5.29 K/9 against 3.18 BB/9 to go with a 35.2% groundball rate on the year. That strikeout rate falls well below his career average of 8.80 K/9, continuing a precipitous decline in that mark in recent years. Over 977 career MLB innings, Farnsworth has a 4.24 ERA.

To make room for Farnsworth on the roster, Houston has optioned Paul Clemens to Triple-A.

This Date In Transactions History: Yogi Berra

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On this date in 1965, Yogi Berra’s playing career, and his brief stint as a player for the Mets, came to a close.  If you don’t remember Yogi’s time playing for the Mets, there’s a good reason for that.

Berra first retired following the Yankees’ 1963 World Series loss to the Dodgers and took over as manager for the Pinstripes in 1964.  When he was fired from the job despite guiding the Yanks to the AL Pennant, Berra decided that he would return to the field for the Mets’ crosstown rivals in a player-coach role.  The soon-to-be 40-year-old inked a deal with the orange and blue in late April and made his debut on May 1st against the Reds as a reserve.

Berra’s playing stint for the Mets lasted a grand total of four games and he notched two hits in his nine plate appearances.  His time on the field for the Mets wasn’t all that memorable but it did add another fun wrinkle to the Hall of Famer’s resume.  It also helped give birth to yet another Yogi-ism.  As legend goes, when he was asked if he and teammate Warren Spahn were the oldest battery in baseball, Yogi responded, “I don’t think we’re the oldest battery, but we’re certainly the ugliest.”

The first half of Berra’s player/coach title didn’t work out as planned and the Mets “released” him after he saw time in just four May games on this date 49 years ago.  However, Berra would stay with the organization for the next eight seasons as a coach until 1972, when he became manager after the passing of Gil Hodges.

Yogi’s short time on the field became an entree to a post-playing career with the Mets, but it also delayed is eligibility for the Baseball Hall of Fame by a couple of years.  After garnering just 67.2% of the vote in his first try in 1971, Berra cruised to a nomination in 1972 with 85.6% approval, putting him only behind Sandy Koufax in that year’s class.

Quick Hits: TJ, Martinez, Dodgers, Cubs, Amateur

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Pitching injuries are the big topic around the league, so let’s catch up on some of the latest commentary. Writing for GammonsDaily.com, Neil Weinberg offers a hypothesis (which, as he notes, may not really be testable) on the seeming Tommy John epidemic: what if the reason that more high-end professional pitchers are experiencing UCL tears is simply because better management at younger ages has actually prevented them from blowing their arms out at an earlier age? Meanwhile, pointing to the contractual effects of the injury bug, a GM tells Peter Gammons (Twitter link) that, “with all these injuries, I think pitchers will be reluctant to turn down extensions.” At Fangraphs, Wendy Thurm explores the costs to pitchers who lose time to TJ recovery, providing a bevy of salary information on past and current pitchers who have experienced the career-saving procedure.

Here are more notes from around the game:

  • One player coming off of surger (on his shoulder) is righty Cristhian Martinez, who Chris Cotillo of MLBDailyDish.com says (Twitter link) is expected to throw for teams by the end of May. The 31-year-old, who was non-tendered by the Braves, was good for a 3.63 ERA in 151 1/3 innings over 2011-12.
  • The Dodgers need to make some moves if they want to get back on trajectory, opines Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com. While the team is among the most well-rounded in baseball, that does not mean it is without its faults; one scout tells Castrovince that “the bench is awful, the bullpen is fringy at best, maybe below average, and there’s no situational hitting.” Though Castrovince says that the stats don’t really bear out the latter concern, he says the team should take the much-discussed step of shipping out one of its highly-paid outfielders.
  • Trading away players is an expectation for the Cubs, of course, and Jesse Rogers of ESPNChicago.com discusses the team’s most likely pieces (after ace Jeff Samardzija). Though Jason Hammel just suffered his worst start of the year, Rogers says he still looks to be on track to bring back a strong prospect return. Nate Schierholtz and Jose Veras still look like trade chips to Rogers, though both will need to improve rather substantially to maximize their trade value to their current club.
  • The latest amateur draft mocks are out, with MLB.com offering a first-round projection and Baseball America putting out its second version. The BA staff now sees a shake-up in the early portion: their board has the Marlins going with catcher/outfielder Alex Jackson at second overall, the Cubs choosing lefty collegiate Kyle Freeland in the fourth slot, and big-armed high schooler Tyler Kolek falling to the Phillies at number seven. Both MLB.com and BA like the Jays to take N.C. State shortstop Trea Turner and prep righty Touki Toussaint. Meanwhile, the Twins have interest in Jackson with their fifth-overall pick — if he lasts that long — tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN, though he notes that there is still no consensus as to whether he can stick behind the dish.
  • Turning to the international market, there has of course been much discussion over whether — and, if so, how — a draft might be implemented. Writing for the Hardball Times, Alex Remington argues against a draft. Among his reasons are the concern that less young international players would have a chance to play professionally; various deleterious consequences that could occur in Latin America (without solving the issues that currently persist); and that implementation could pose a “logistical nightmare.”

AL Notes: Beane, Solarte, Bell, Harrison

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Athletics GM Billy Beane may have outdone himself with his most recent round of immense production from unheralded players, writes MLB.com’s Richard Justice. Third baseman Josh Donaldson, who has continued his torrid pace since seemingly emerging out of nowhere last year, stood out to Beane with his somewhat hidden elite athleticism and extreme competitiveness. Now, reclamation project Jesse Chavez is taking the league by storm from the mound. “We liked him in the minor leagues,” Beane explained, “and felt he’d never really got an opportunity in the big leagues.” While Beane’s much-publicized success with statistical analysis has required consistent adaptation to maintain an edge, he says that the club identified Chavez through the same use of “objective numbers” that drove the Moneyball era. “We’ve had to reinvent ourselves a few times,” he explained. “There were things we were doing 10 years ago we weren’t able to continue to do. To constantly solve the challenges we have is not easy. It’s very self-satisfying for all of us.” Given Beane’s comments on Chavez’s lack of opportunity, it will certainly be interesting to see whether recent addition Kyle Blanks is able to harness his potential with healthy, consistent playing time in Oakland.

Here’s more out of the American League:

  • If Chavez is not the most surprising top performer through the season’s first quarter, that is only due to the emergence of 26-year-old journeyman Yangervis Solarte, who sports a .907 OPS in his rookie campaign. The Tigers were keen to sign Solarte before acquiring Ian Kinsler, reports Joel Sherman of the New York Post. With Detroit assistant GM Al Avila reportedly a big fan of Solarte, the team had also unsuccessfully pursued him as a minor league free agent before the 2011 and 2012 campaigns. Solarte’s agent, Peter Greenberg, says that Solarte chose to go to the Yankees because the team had an easier path to a big league opening and ultimately gave him a relatively robust $22K monthly salary in the minors (with three months guaranteed).
  • Orioles executive VP Dan Duquette addressed today’s signing of free agent reliever Heath Bell, who will look to revive his career by starting over at Triple-A. “Bell is a proven veteran pitcher with experience who has agreed to a Triple-A deal,” Duquette told Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com (Twitter link). “We believe he can help our major league club later this season.”
  • Injured Rangers starter Matt Harrison will undertake an epidural injection in hopes of quieting the pain from his back condition, but the next steps remain unclear, reports Anthony Andro of FOX Sports Southwest. “It’s kind of put me in the position where either I deal with it or have the surgery and get it fused together and try to make a comeback from that,” said Harrison. “It’s going to be even tougher than it was the last time but I’m willing to give it a try. I’m still trying to wrap my head around what’s going on at this point in time and trying not to let it sink in that it may have been my last game.” Ultimately, while he clearly hopes to do whatever it takes to return, Harrison indicated that he would keep his long-term future in mind with the dangerous condition he has. “Obviously your health is most important but I know there are guys who’ve come back before,” he said. “I’m going to give that a shot if I end up having it but if I come back and things are the same or worse as they were before it’s not worth the risk. It’s really not worth me being 29 years old and not being able to walk.”

Orioles Sign Heath Bell

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9:17pm: Baltimore has announced the signing, pending a physical.

7:23pm: The Orioles have agreed to a minor league deal with reliever Heath Bell, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter). The contract includes two opt-outs and will only pay Bell at the major league minimum salary, tweets Chris Cotillo of MLBDailyDish.com, though of course he will still receive all of the $9MM he is owed under his old contract.

Bell was cut loose by the Rays recently after being designated for assignment. The 36-year-old righty has not been effective since signing his infamous, $27MM contract with the Marlins. Since the start of the 2012 season, Bell has a 4.91 ERA through 146 2/3 innings. While some of his peripherals over that stretch (8.8 K/9, 3.3 BB/9, and 3.99 FIP) suggest that he has not been quite as bad as his results, he has been a disappointment regardless. After all, Bell had averaged just 2.53 earned runs per nine over 374 innings in the previous five seasons.

Tampa took on $5.5MM of Bell’s salary in the hope that he could work a turnaround (and to facilitate other aspects of a complicated trade), but Bell has been even worse this year. At present, he owns a 7.27 ERA with just 6.2 K/9 against 4.2 BB/9. Now, the division-rival Orioles will look for the same, albeit with essentially no risk.

Phillies Notes: Pettibone, Gonzalez, Pen, Prospects, Revere

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The Phillies currently sit at four games under .500. While that leaves them just 4.5 games back in the NL East heading into the day’s action, the team is carrying a -34 run differential (third-worst in baseball) and falls among the bottom five clubs in the game in hitting, pitching, and defense by measure of fWAR. Here are a few notes out of Philadelphia:

  • The club received some bad news on the injury front today. Righty Jonathan Pettibone, who was expected to be an important part of the rotation mix this year and in the future, has been placed on the minor league DL and will visit Dr. James Andrews to explore the possibility of surgery on his ailing right shoulder, reports Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com. After entering 2013 rated fourth by Baseball America among the organization’s prospects, Pettibone delivered 18 solid starts of 4.04 ERA ball. But he was shut down with shoulder troubles, and managed only two MLB starts this year (allowing nine earned in just nine innings).
  • In more positive news, international free agent signee Miguel Gonzalez has begun working through the low minors and is throwing in the low-to-mid 90s. “His control was a little off, but it sounds like he’s healthy,” said manager Ryne Sandberg. “He must be healthy if he’s throwing that hard. Now it’s just about getting his games in.”
  • The Phillies’ bullpen was an area that many thought could have used additional help, and the club has paid the price for failing to make any moves. Zolecki writes that the club’s talent evaluators believed they had the necessary pieces in place. “Looking back doesn’t do us all that much good,” said Amaro. “What we have to do is find either internal solutions to improve or just hope that the guys start to do their thing.”
  • One tantalizing option for relief help — young fireballer Ken Giles — will not be aggressively promoted, Amaro said, while also indicating that the same holds true for top prospect Maikel Franco. “We’re not going to force them because some other guys aren’t performing,” said Amaro. “They can’t be saviors for us. They might be able to help us at some point, but when they’re ready, when they have forced our hand to do it, they’ll come.”
  • The cost to acquire center fielder Ben Revere still looks low in retrospect, argues Corey Seidman of CSNPhilly.com, with Vance Worley falling apart and Trevor May still not quite matching results to his talent for the Twins. (I would push back somewhat on the characterization of May, who is a fairly valuable asset that could have been an important piece this year in Philly. Baseball America ranked him 8th in a deep group of Minnesota prospects, and he has 10.5 K/9 against 3.3 BB/9 in his first seven starts at the Triple-A level.) But while the deal seems okay in terms of value, says Seidman, that does not mean that it delivered a starter to Philadelphia. With middling defense, non-existent power, and lagging on-base numbers, Seidman argues that Revere is entering his prime years playing like a late-career Juan Pierre. Needless to say, the club would face yet more questions if Revere is not the answer in center for the next several years.
  • GM Ruben Amaro Jr. said that some of the club’s difficulties to start the year can be attributed to “part of the growing pains you have with young players,” Revere among them, as MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki reports. Though that comment strikes an unmistakably ironic chord for the veteran-laden Phils, Zolecki points out that the team’s aging, big-dollar stars are actually playing quite well on the whole, while its younger assets are scuffling. That is indeed the case — as the team’s fWAR hitter and pitcher leaderboards show, the team has thus far received a positive net contribution from just one player who has yet to turn 30 (Jake Diekman). It appears that the warning in my review of the Phillies’ offseason could be coming to pass; as I wrote then, even if the team gets production from all of its elder statesmen, the rest of the roster may not be good enough to support a legitimate post-season run. It is not as if injuries are to blame. With Darin Ruf returning from injury, there is little argument that the Philles are at “full strength” in terms of available personnel, notes Justin Klugh of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Minor Moves: Franco, LaPorta, Boggs, Bennett

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The Nationals announced today that they’ve selected the contract of Greg Dobbs and transferred Eury Perez to the 60-day DL while optioning Sandy Leon to Triple-A in order to clear roster space. Dobbs inked a minor league deal with Washington earlier in the week. Elsewhere on the minor moves circuit…

  • Julio Franco, who played professionally in parts of four decades, is not quite done yet. The independent league Fort Worth Cats announced today that the 53-year-old will serve as a player/coach for the team’s first homestand. Among his other stops, Franco saw time in 23 MLB campaigns, putting up a strong .298/.365/.417 triple-slash with 173 home runs and 281 stolen bases. While he spent time with eight MLB clubs, Franco did most of his damage with the Indians and Rangers in the late-eighties and early nineties. He then returned for a solid five-year run with the Braves (every season of which came in Franco’s forties). While it would be unwise to count out the ageless wonder, it seems rather unlikely that Franco has in mind another run at the bigs at this point.
  • ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick reports that Matt LaPorta has asked for and been granted his release from the Mexican League’s Campeche Pirates (Twitter link). The former No. 7 overall draft pick and top prospect batted .286/.366/.555 with seven homers in 32 games for Campeche.
  • The Atlantic League’s Bridgeport Bluefish announced today that outfielder Brandon Boggs has signed a minor league deal with the Braves. Boggs hit .324/.390/.426 in 78 PA with Bridgeport. This will be his second stint with the Braves, as he spent the bulk of last season playing with their Triple-A affiliate in Gwinnett. The 31-year-old Boggs has a nice track record at Triple-A and has seen action in parts of four seasons with the Brewers and Rangers.
  • Former big league right-hander Jeff Bennett, who had also been playing in the Mexican League, has inked a minor league deal with the Dodgers, reports MLB Daily Dish’s Chris Cotillo (Twitter link). The 33-year-old Bennett has a 4.30 ERA in 228 1/3 big league innings with the Braves, Rays and Brewers, but he hasn’t pitched in the Majors since 2009. He turned in a strong 2.44 ERA with 6.7 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 in 44 1/3 innings for los Broncos de Reynosa in 2014.

David Aardsma Does Not Exercise Opt-Out

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May 16: Aardsma decided not to opt out yesterday and will stay with Triple-A Memphis for the time being, tweets Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com.

May 7: Cardinals right-hander David Aardsma, currently with the team’s Triple-A affiliate in Memphis, has a May 15 opt-out date in his current minor league contract, MLBTR has learned (Twitter link).

The 32-year-old Aardsma signed with the Cardinals late in Spring Training after asking for his release from the Indians and has been solid for the Redbirds so far. Aardsma has a 1.98 ERA with 7.9 K/9, 4.6 BB/9 and three saves through his first 13 2/3 innings in Memphis.

Last season marked Aardsma’s first extensive work in the Majors since Tommy John surgery and labrum repair surgery slowed his career in 2011. He posted a 4.31 ERA with 8.2 K/9, 4.3 BB/9 and a 32.8 percent ground-ball rate in 39 2/3 innings with the Mets in 2013. Though his average fastball velocity was down from his career mark of 93.7 mph, he still averaged 91.2 mph and notched an 11.7 percent swinging-strike rate that was actually better than his career mark of 10.7 percent.

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