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Archives for May 2014

Central Notes: Cardinals, Chapman, Moustakas

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The Pirates and Cardinals faced off tonight on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball, but the matchup meant something different for each team, MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch writes. It was the first time ESPN had hosted the broadcast in Pittsburgh in 1996, and for Pirates manager Clint Hurdle, appearing on the show demonstrates that the Pirates are relevant once again. Cardinals manager Mike Matheny, though, doesn’t like playing on Sunday nights, especially given the travel headaches it causes when playing on the road. “I don’t think it’s taken into consideration at all that it makes it harder for us,” Matheny says. “You get in at four o’clock in the morning and … if they tell you that playing the next day that’s not going to affect you, I’d say they’re wrong.” Here are more notes from the Central divisions.

  • Reds closer Aroldis Chapman made his first appearance of the season on Sunday after missing the first six weeks after being struck in the face with a line drive in spring training, and he appears he hasn’t missed a beat. Chapman threw 15 fastballs of at least 100 MPH and topped out at 102 MPH while striking out three batters and collecting his first save against the Rockies.
  • The Royals are considering demoting infielder Mike Moustakas as they open roster space for a reliever, Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star tweets. It’s been a disappointing season for Moustakas, who’s hitting just .147/.215/.321. The 2007 second-overall pick has struggled since a strong season in 2012 and has been below replacement level in 2014, even though he’s a skilled defensive third baseman.

MLBTR Originals

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A look back at the original reporting and analysis found on MLBTR the last seven days:

  • Steve Adams was the first to report right-hander David Aardsma has a May 15 opt-out date in his minor league deal with the Cardinals.
  • Zach Links confirmed the retirement of catcher Matt Treanor, who decided to call it a career with the impending birth of his first child and after suffering a setback in his rehab from a hamstring injury.
  • Zach revisited the trade made 24 years ago today in which the Yankees dealt Dave Winfield to the Angels for right-hander Mike Witt.
  • Steve hosted the weekly live chat.
  • Zach gathered the best the baseball corner of the web had to offer in Baseball Blogs Weigh In. 

Minor Moves: Hector Ambriz Accepts Outright

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Here are Sunday’s minor moves from around MLB:

  • The Reds have released pitcher Nick Schmidt, tweets Chris Cotillo of MLB Daily Dish. The 28-year-old lefty pitched 14 1/3 innings for Triple-A Louisville, posting a 7.53 ERA with 11 strikeouts and ten walks. He had previously pitched in the Padres and Rockies systems.
  • The Indians have released pitcher Brett Brach, who had been at Triple-A Columbus, Cotillo tweets. Brach, the brother of Orioles pitcher Brad Brach, was a 10th-round pick in 2009. He spent most of the 2013 season with Double-A Akron.
  • Cotillo also notes that the Mariners have released pitcher Jonathan Arias, who had made eight relief appearances for Triple-A Tacoma. He had a 9.82 ERA there, striking out ten batters and walking seven in 14 2/3 innings. Arias, 26, had posted very good strikeout numbers at several previous minor-league stops, however.
  • Right-hander Hector Ambriz has accepted his outright assignment to Triple-A by the Padres, tweets MLBDailyDish.com’s Chris Cotillo. Ambriz, who was designated for assignment Thursday, could have refused the assignment and elected free agency.
  • Infielder Josh Wilson has cleared waivers, tweets Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Wilson, who was designated for assignment by the Rangers Thursday, now has 72 hours to accept an outright assignment or elect free agency.
  • Catcher George Kottaras has cleared waivers, tweets CBSSports.com’s Jon Heyman. Kottaras was designated for assignment by the Indians Tuesday and now has 72 hours to accept an outright assignment or elect free agency. The 30-year-old saw only four plate appearances during his brief stint with the Indians, but he was productive smashing a pair of solo home runs and drawing one walk. 
  • There are four players currently in DFA limbo, per MLBTR’s DFA Tracker: Buddy Boshers (Angels), Maikel Cleto, (White Sox), Carlos Marmol (Marlins), and Chris Getz (Blue Jays).

Charlie Wilmoth contributed to this post.

Latest On Orioles’ Catching Situation

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With Matt Wieters now on the disabled list with an elbow injury, Orioles manager Buck Showalter confirms that the team is only the lookout for more catching, MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko writes. Showalter says, however, that the team is being cautious about pursuing trades. “Obviously, I’m not going to insult your intelligence,” Showalter says. “But it’s not like something you snap your fingers and people are going to bend over and give you what you need.”

FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal wrote yesterday that the Orioles, who now have Steve Clevenger and Caleb Joseph behind the dish, were looking for a backup catcher. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale also noted that the team could deal pitcher Troy Patton, perhaps for a catcher.

In the meantime, it’s unclear when Wieters will be able to return to the position, as MLB.com’s Britt Ghiroli reports. “Nobody knows exactly what’s going to happen tomorrow,” Wieters says. “We’re just going to go every day, come here ready to work, ready to rehab and when I’m ready I’m ready.”

AL West Notes: Perez, Young, Nady

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Rangers starting pitcher Martin Perez could be headed to the disabled list with elbow inflammation, Anthony Andro of FOX Sports Southwest tweets. That’s another potential blow to a Rangers team that has struggled to keep its starters healthy. The Rangers’ rotation currently includes Yu Darvish, Robbie Ross, Matt Harrison and Colby Lewis along with Perez. Three other potential starters, Derek Holland, Joe Saunders and Tanner Scheppers, are on the DL. Here are more notes from the AL West.

  • Randy Wolf and the Mariners had a falling-out this spring over Wolf’s refusal to sign a 45-day advanced-consent relief form that would have allowed the Mariners to cut Wolf within the first six weeks of the season without paying his full year’s salary. Chris Young signed one, though, and he appears to have none of the issues Wolf did, MLB.com’s Tracy Ringolsby reports. “A club can release you at any point,” Young says. “That just protects them financially if you don’t perform. … I was confident I’d be successful. You can’t [go in preparing] for the worst.” Young has posted a 2.63 ERA in 37 2/3 innings so far with the Mariners, although with only 4.3 K/9 against 3.8 BB/9.
  • The Padres recently designated outfielder Xavier Nady for assignment, and he just elected to become a free agent. The Mariners could be interested in him, Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News-Tribune tweets. The 35-year-old appeared in 22 games for San Diego, his first big-league stint since 2012. He played at the Triple-A level in 2013, hitting .296/.360/.456 in 495 plate appearances divided between Omaha and Colorado Springs.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Upton, Hamilton, Fielder

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On this date in 2004, after missing the previous day’s game to become an American citizen, Red Sox left fielder Manny Ramirez leads his teammates out of the dugout waving an American flag.  Later, Neil Diamond’s “America” was used as Manny’s walkup music.  Here’s this week’s look around the baseball blogosphere..

If you have a suggestion for this feature, Zach can be reached at ZachBBWI@gmail.com.

Blue Jays Claim Kenny Wilson From Twins

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The Blue Jays have re-acquired Kenny Wilson by claiming the outfielder off waivers from the Twins, tweets MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger. The Blue Jays lost Wilson on a waiver claim to the Twins April 24. Minnesota designated him for assignment Friday.

Wilson will report to Double-A, tweets Ben Nicholson-Smith of sportsnet.ca. The 24-year-old opened the year as Baseball America’s 22nd-ranked prospect in the Blue Jay organization and is said to have starter upside, if he can translate his tools into production, but he has struggled at the Double-A level this season slashing .204/.276/.291 in 118 plate appearances between the Toronto and Minnesota affiliates.

The Blue Jays cleared a spot on their 40-man roster earlier today when they designated second baseman Chris Getz for assignment.

Rangers Outright Scott Baker

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Right-hander Scott Baker has cleared waivers and has accepted his outright assignment to Triple-A, tweets Anthony Andro of FOXSportsSouthwest.com. Baker was designated for assignment Thursday.

Baker made his lone appearance for Texas on Wednesday allowing two earned runs during 5 1/3 innings of relief. Rangers GM Jon Daniels said Baker was designated because he needed several days of rest after his lengthy outing and the club couldn’t afford that luxury since their bullpen is taxed. Daniels added he would entertain trade offers; but, apparently, there wasn’t much of a market.

Baker has been solid at Triple-A this season. In six starts covering 38 innings, the 32-year-old has posted a 3.32 ERA, 7.1 K/9, and 2.6 BB/9. 

This Date In Transactions History: Dave Winfield

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On this date in 1990, the Yankees traded future Hall of Famer Dave Winfield to the California Angels for right-hander Mike Witt.  However, the deal was not truly consummated until almost a week later when the rightfielder would finally give the deal his blessing.  Winfield’s situation was a complicated one: the veteran had ten-and-five rights and therefore had the right to reject trades.  However, his contract included a list of seven teams that he would agree to be traded to and the Angels were on it.

“This has nothing to do with the California Angels. I respect them, like them, the city, the weather,” said Winfield on May 12th, according to Helene Elliott of the Los Angeles Times. “I played with [Angel Manager] Doug Rader [in San Diego]. Everything’s cool. I have nothing bad to say about the Angels. I’m going to play a lot of years for somebody, but it isn’t going to be determined today where or when..”

Donald Fehr, the executive director of the Players Association, argued that the list was given to the Yankees under protest and the club was aware that Winfield had final say over any trade.  Fehr cited another botched deal from 1988 which would have send the outfielder to the Astros until it was rejected by Winfield.  One could assume that Winfield’s refusal to sign off on on the trade stemmed from his infamous rift with Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, but there was a much simpler explanation for his veto.  The outfielder was in the final year of his ten-year, $20MM deal and was looking for a contract extension from the Halos.

The Angels were now in an awkward position and ultimately decided to give in to Winfield’s demands.  On May 17th, the club agreed to a three-year, $9.1MM deal with Winfield that was only guaranteed for the first season.  If released before the ’91 campaign, Winfield would receive a buyout of $2MM plus an additional $450K to cover the following year.  With that, the deal was finally put through.

For his part, Witt was excited by the prospect of joining the Yankees and resuming his role as a starter.  The 6’4″ hurler turned in a 4.47 ERA with 5.6 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 in 16 starts for the Bombers that season.  As for Winfield, he bounced back in spectacular fashion after getting off to a slow start in the first 20 games of the season.  Upon joining the Angels, Winfield hit .275/.348/.466 in 112 games and won the 1990 MLB Comeback Player of the Year Award.

Winfield would call it quits after the 1995 season, capping off a spectacular 22-year major league career.  The right fielder was inducted into Cooperstown in his first year of eligibility of 2001 and became the first player to go into the Hall as a San Diego Padre.

This post was initially published on May 11th, 2012.

Xavier Nady Elects Free Agency

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Xavier Nady refused his outright assignment and has elected free agency, a source tells Chris Cotillo of MLBDailyDish.com (on Twitter).  Nady was designated for assignment to clear room for Kyle Blanks before being outrighted on Thursday.  MLB.com’s Corey Brock tweeted over the weekend that it was a virtual certainty that Nady would turn down his assignment and hit the open market.

Nady, 35, belted three homers in 42 plate appearances for the Padres but also batted just .135 with a .238 on-base percentage in 2014. This season marked his first big league action since 2012 as well as a return to the organization that originally selected him in the second round of the 2000 draft.  Now, he’ll move on in search of his next big league opportunity.

Nady is represented by Scott Boras, as shown in the MLBTR Agency Database.

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