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Archives for May 2014

Minor Moves: Ramirez, Brach, Newby, Buckner, Boyer, Lo

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We’ll keep tabs on the day’s minor moves right here …

  • The Royals have signed catcher Max Ramirez to a minor league deal, reports Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (via Twitter). Ramirez, 29, was once a top-100 prospect with the Rangers, but has only seen 140 career MLB plate appearances (all with Texas). He was the primary backstop for the Royals’ Triple-A affiliate from 2012-13, but posted an interesting .192/.382/.192 line in 68 plate appearance with the Reds’ top farm club this year before hitting the open market.
  • Two Somerset Patriots right-handers have been signed away to affiliated ball on minor league pacts, tweets Mike Ashmore of MyCentralJersey.com. Brett Brach has signed with the Nationals, while Kyler Newby will join the Angels. Brach, 26, had spent his career in the Indians organization, briefly reaching the Triple-A level. The 29-year-old Newby, who has spent ten seasons in the minors and owns a lifetime 9.9 K/9 against 3.3 BB/9, threw to a 2.70 ERA in 60 innings split between Double-A and Triple-A in the Athletics organization last year.
  • Billy Buckner and Blaine Boyer have each accepted assignments with the Padres’ Triple-A affiliate, Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports on Twitter. The pair of righties was designated for assignment (and, it turns out, exposed to outright waivers) on Sunday, in conjunction with a series of roster moves relating to the team’s acquisition of lefty Troy Patton.
  • The Astros have released righty Chia-Jen Lo, according to the PCL transactions page. The 28-year-old Taiwanese native tossed 19 1/3 big league innings and even notched two saves last year for Houston. He worked to a 4.19 ERA with 7.4 K/9 against 6.1 BB/9. Lo, who was outrighted off of the club’s 40-man early this season, had struggled to a 4.74 ERA in 19 Triple-A innings in 2014, getting hit hard while striking out 8.1 and walking 5.7 batters per nine.
  • MLBTR’s DFA Tracker shows several players in DFA limbo, with Blake Wood of the Indians joining Phil Irwin, Wandy Rodriguez, and Vin Mazzaro of the Pirates.

Mariners To Sign Xavier Nady

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The Mariners have agreed to terms with free agent outfielder Xavier Nady, reports Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (via Twitter). The sides were said to be in discussion on a minor league deal, according to an earlier report from Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune.

As Dutton explains, Nady will likely join the club’s Triple-A affiliate in hopes of earning a call-up. Should that occur, he would offer an outfield option to slot in against opposing southpaws for a club that has struggled in that department. (Seattle’s outfielders have mustered only a .273 wOBA and 70 wRC+ against lefties, as a unit.)

Though Nady is obviously past his prime, he does carry a career 112 wRC+ against opposite-handed hitters (against a 93 wRC+ against righties). He has continued that trend both in recent major league action and in his solid Triple-A campaign last year, when he put up a .879 OPS in 135 plate appearances against lefties.

Mariners Nearing Deal With Xavier Nady

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The Mariners are close to reaching agreement on a minor league deal with veteran utilityman Xavier Nady, according to Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune. Nady, 35, recently declined an outright assignment with the Padres.

Nady will head to Triple-A for a virtual tryout, Dutton explains, with a call-up likely if he impresses at Tacoma. The Mariners outfield mix is rather lefty-heavy at the moment, with Cole Gillespie (.580 OPS) and Stefen Romero (.566 OPS) providing minimal production from the right side of the plate.

Since his last season as a big league regular in 2008, Nady has managed only a .234/.287/.353 slash over 807 plate appearances. But he was solid at Triple-A last year, putting up a .296/.360/.456 line and 15 home runs in 495 trips to the plate for the Royals and Rockies organizations. Nady carried some of that regained pop forward to 2014, hitting three long balls in 42 plate appearances with the Padres this year, though he slashed just .135/.238/.405 in that stretch.

Indians Designate Blake Wood For Assignment

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The Indians have designated righty Blake Wood for assignment, the club announced via press release. Though Wood had previously been optioned to Triple-A, his 40-man spot was needed for the club’s selection of the contract of catcher George Kottaras.

Wood, 28, had tossed 6 1/3 innings for Cleveland this year, allowing five earned runs and striking out seven while surrendering seven free passes. Over eight Triple-A frames, he had allowed just one earned and struck out seven, though he had also issued a troubling 11 walks. Wood was a mainstay in the Royals pen from 2010-11, but missed the 2012 campaign due to Tommy John surgery and has seen mostly spot time in the bigs since joining the Indians organization before the 2013 season.

Yordano Ventura Has Clean MRI

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TODAY: The MRI came back clean and the current expectation is that Ventura will only miss one start, Royals GM Dayton Moore said on MLB Network today (hat tip to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports).

YESTERDAY: Royals pitcher Yordano Ventura left tonight’s start against the Astros after allowing five runs in 2 2/3 innings and exhibiting inconsistent velocity. Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star tweets that Ventura is experiencing “lateral elbow discomfort.” Royals manager Ned Yost says the team’s training staff does not believe Ventura injured his elbow ligament, but Ventura will have an MRI on Tuesday. In 57 1/3 innings this season, Ventura has posted a 3.45 ERA with 9.3 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9.

A significant injury for Ventura would represent a serious blow not only to the Royals, who would be losing their most exciting young talent, but also to baseball in general, which has suffered a terrible year for pitcher health. Jose Fernandez, Matt Moore, Jameson Taillon, Jarrod Parker, Patrick Corbin, Martin Perez, Ivan Nova, Kris Medlen and Brandon Beachy are among the pitchers to suffer serious injuries in recent months, along with top draft prospects like Jeff Hoffman and Erick Fedde.

Blue Jays To Sign Mike Zagurski

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The Blue Jays have signed southpaw reliever Mike Zagurski to a minor league deal, reports MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes (via Twitter). The 31-year-old southpaw opted out of his prior minor league pact with the Indians on Saturday.

Zagurski has posted strong numbers thus far at Triple-A, working to a 2.76 ERA with 12.1 K/9 against 5.5 BB/9 over 16 1/3 frames. He has been consistently excellent during his time at the highest level of the minors, posting a cumulative 2.87 ERA with 11.9 K/9 and 4.4 BB/9 in 194 1/3 career Triple-A innings. But he has allowed 7.05 earned runs per nine over 75 1/3 career big league innings, spread over five separate MLB campaigns (including each of the last four).

Reds To Sign Carlos Marmol

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The Reds have agreed to terms with free agent right-hander Carlos Marmol on a minor league contract, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports (on Twitter). Marmol, a client of the Kinzer Management Group, was released by the Marlins on May 19.

The 31-year-old Marmol signed a low-risk, $1.25MM deal with Miami in the offseason but struggled by allowing 12 runs in 13 1/3 innings (8.10 ERA). He whiffed 14 hitters in that time, displaying his typically strong strikeout rate, but he also displayed his typical erratic nature by walking 10 batters, hitting a batter and throwing two wild pitches. His average fastball velocity of 93.7 mph was nearly as strong as it’s ever been, as at his peak he averaged 94.1 mph.

Marmol was an All-Star for the Cubs back in 2008 and saved 114 games for the team from 2008-12, but his command deteriorated after his first two full seasons in the Majors. He averaged a manageable 4.4 walks per nine innings in that time but has walked 6.8 hitters per nine innings since. His solid velocity and power slider have always allowed him to miss bats at an elite rate, but the Reds will need to do wonders with his command for him to reestablish himself as a reliable late-inning reliever.

Red Sox Exploring Trade Market For Center Field Help

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While nothing appears imminent at this time, an industry source tells WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford that the Red Sox are exploring the trade market for outfielders — particularly those that can provide some help in center field to remove some pressure from the struggling Jackie Bradley Jr.

One name that often surfaces on the rumor circuit when mentioning outfield trade candidates is the Dodgers’ Andre Ethier, but Bradford reports that he is not someone the Red Sox are interested in at this time. Including the remainder of the 2014 season and the $2.5MM buyout on his vesting option for the 2018 campaign, Ethier is still owed more than $66MM total.

Publicly, as Bradford notes, Cherington said to media members yesterday that it’s “a little bit early to think about trades because teams are not really of that mindset yet,” but that doesn’t mean the team is stating the same thing behind closed doors, of course. Bradley is batting just .193/.280/.283 and has fanned in 30 percent of his plate appearances. Shane Victorino, one logical alternative, is on the disabled list for the second time in 2014 already. And Grady Sizemore, who has played left field more than center field, is hitting just .221/.291/.353.

Cherington touched on the topic of Mookie Betts in the outfield during yesterday’s media session but said the top second base prospect is merely  “starting to be exposed to the outfield,” and the GM doesn’t think that will be an option for the team at this point of the season. Betts is hitting .363/.451/.568 with six homers and 22 steals through 48 games at Double-A Portland, but he’s played just seven games in center field this season — the first seven of his pro career.

Rosenthal’s Latest: Royals, Collins, Padres, Rangers, Hardy, Amaro

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In his latest notes column for FOX Sports, Ken Rosenthal wonders just how long the Royals can stand behind GM Dayton Moore and manager Ned Yost given the team’s struggles to this point in the season. Moore called Yost a “consistent leader” when he spoke with Rosenthal and added that the team is only a hot streak or two away from a turnaround. Rosenthal writes that the entire team seems “too comfortable, waiting for a surge that might never come.” More from his column below…

  • On the other hand, Rosenthal doesn’t feel it’d be justified for the Mets to fire manager Terry Collins. Collins hasn’t been afforded the same talent that Yost has, he opines, and his front office has made some questionable decisions behind him regarding the bullpen and the underperforming crop of free agents the team brought in. He notes the team’s sparse spending despite their market, adding that it seems unlikely that Bud Selig would ever confront owner Fred Wilpon, with whom he is close friends.
  • Similarly, the Padres should hang onto skipper Bud Black, Rosenthal proclaims. Recent reports have indicated that he may be on the hot seat. Padres ownership too often has worried about alienating fans with personnel decisions, as they did when they neglected to trade Chase Headley after his 2012 season. Black is a highly regarded manager who has seen six of his pitchers hit the disabled list this season, though even Rosenthal admits that the offense’s follies have been virtually inexplicable.
  • The Rangers’ glut of middle infield depth could lead them to field trade offers for Elvis Andrus this summer. With Jurickson Profar, Rougned Odor and Luis Sardinas all representing possible starting-caliber infielders, Texas does appear to have a surplus. I, personally, would imagine that each of those players could hear his name circulating on the rumor mill in two months’ time.
  • One agent who isn’t affiliated with J.J. Hardy or Derek Jeter suggested to Rosenthal recently that he thought the former would be the latter’s successor with the Yankees. Hardy has a low-maintenance personality, steady glove and experience in the AL East.
  • As has been reported previously, the Astros tried to acquire Collin McHugh last summer when the Mets dealt him to the Rockies, but Rosenthal adds more light on the situation. The team’s scouting department felt McHugh was little more than a long reliever, but the team’s statistical analysts pushed hard for McHugh based on trends they’d seen dating all the way back to his minor league days in 2011. The Astros, of course, claimed McHugh off waivers from Colorado, and he’s cemented himself in their rotation. GM Jeff Luhnow said over the weekend he has no plans to trade McHugh or breakout lefty Dallas Keuchel.
  • Though Kendrys Morales could be a perfect fit for the Mariners’ offensive woes, rival executives say that the team is still showing the same payroll concerns that caused them to largely shut down spending after the signing of Robinson Cano this winter.
  • Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. called the possibility of trading Chase Utley a “moot point,” noting Utley’s no-trade protection and desire to remain in Philadelphia. Perhaps of greater interest (and perhaps to the dismay) of Phillies fans, is the following quote from Amaro: “I don’t know if we’ll completely ’sell’ ever. We can revamp, but we can’t completely sell out. We have to have a contending team in 2015 or ’16 — or at least a competitive team.”

NL Notes: Ryu, Alderson, Ramirez

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Dodgers pitcher Josh Beckett threw the season’s first no-hitter on Sunday, an act that must have seemed hard to follow. But fellow Dodgers hurler Hyun-Jin Ryu did his best on Monday, pitching seven perfect innings before allowing a double to the Reds’ Todd Frazier to lead off the eighth inning. Including a hitless inning by Paul Maholm against the Phillies in the eighth inning Saturday, the Dodgers pitched 17 straight no-hit innings this weekend. Here are more notes from around the National League.

  • It was a hard day for Mets GM Sandy Alderson, Andy Martino of the New York Daily News reports. He only reluctantly fired hitting coach Dave Hudgens, with whom he also worked in Oakland. “This is a very difficult decision to have to make,” said Alderson. “I’ve known Dave for many years — decades. I have tremendous respect for him, his expertise, his work ethic, his personal relationships with players.” Alderson says the Mets’ approach to hitting will not change dramatically under new hitting coach Lamar Johnson. Martino suggests that Hudgens was merely “the fall guy” for the performance of the team Alderson assembled.
  • David Ortiz believes the Cubs’ decision to hire his former Red Sox teammate Manny Ramirez as a Triple-A player/coach was a good one, Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe writes. Ortiz believes Ramirez has changed since he and the Red Sox parted company in 2008. “It’s a different guy. He’s been doing different things for the past couple of years,” says Ortiz. “I’ve been talking to him a lot on the phone and sometimes I get confused because I don’t know if I’m talking to him or not. This is legit.”

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