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Archives for June 2014

Rangers Release Daniel Bard

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The Rangers have released Daniel Bard, according to Gerry Fraley of the Dallas Morning News.  Texas signed the 28-year-old to a minor league deal in late January.

Bard was once a dominant setup man for the Red Sox, but following an outstanding run from 2009-11, things have deteriorated significantly.  A failed experiment by the Red Sox to move him into the rotation saw the beginning of severe control problems for Bard and health issues haven’t helped things either.

In those strong three seasons for the Red Sox, Bard posted a 2.88 ERA with 9.7 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9.  In a handful of outings for the Rangers’ Single-A affiliate this season, Bard allowed 13 runs, allowed nine walks, and hit seven batters.

Stark On Rays, Zobrist, Utley, Cubs, Padres

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The trade deadline is rapidly approaching and while things figure to get exciting over the next month and change, not everyone is drooling over what might be available.  “To be honest, I don’t see much out there,” an official of one contender told Jayson Stark of ESPN.com. “Who’s even selling? And what are they selling? I know there will be guys to trade for. But where’s the quality?”  The whole column is worth a read, but here are some of the highlights from Stark’s latest..

  • The Rays front office believed that they had the talent to win it all this year and that optimism could play into how they approach the deadline.  The Rays aren’t selling and Stark writes that if they believe what they have can power them to a championship next season, they might stand pat and keep the band together.  Teams that have spoken with Tampa Bay see a fire sale as unlikely.
  • The Rays might listen on Ben Zobrist, but one exec who has spoken with the club gets the sense that it would be “really, really difficult” for them to part with him.  The exception to all of this, of course, is David Price.
  • The Phillies are expected to be open for business between now and the deadline, but they might not like the offers that come in.  “Look at their trade chips,” said an NL executive. “Even if they blow it up, dangle [Cole] Hamels and dangle all these other guys, each one of those guys has some reason it will be hard for them to get back what they want.“
  • Meanwhile, one exec flatly said a Chase Utley trade is “not happening.”  The sticker price might not be met on Phillies like Cliff Lee, Jonathan Papelbon, and Jimmy Rollins, but teams see Domonic Brown as someone whom the Phillies would like to swap for a different young change-of-scenery candidate.
  • Teams that have spoken with the Cubs expect them to move pitcher Jason Hammel in the next two weeks.  That could just be the warm up for Jeff Samardzija, but they continue to tell teams that they’d like to hammer out a new contract with him.  This week we learned that the Cubs ace rejected a five-year, $85MM+ offer.
  • While some teams are beating around the bush, the Padres are aggressively letting teams know that they want to sell.  All of their outfielders, except Cameron Maybin, are available, and that includes Seth Smith, Chris Denorfia, and Will Venable.
  • Several teams report the Dodgers are telling them they’ll listen right now on every one of their outfielders except Yasiel Puig.
  • The Yankees have been asking almost exclusively about starting pitching in their preliminary conversations.
  • Teams that have talked with the Tigers say they’re focused on bullpen upgrades, not shortstop.
  • The Angels are in the bullpen market, but they’re looking hard at left-handed-relief options, not closers.
  • Things are murky around the D’Backs since no one really knows who is in charge their or what their goals are.
  • Royals GM Dayton Moore has indicated that the Royals can add payroll, but clubs believe that he won’t get to go-ahead to spend until mid-July.  When and if KC starts buying, they are expected to target right fielders and bullpen arms since that is what they’ve been asking about in conversations.

This Date In Transactions History: June 19th

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Here’s a look back at some of the more important and interesting transactions that have taken place on June 19th..

  • On this date in 2006, the Red Sox designated J.T. Snow for assignment.  Snow, who had a very notable career with the Giants, had a rather forgetful partial season in Boston.  After batting .205/.340/.205 in 38 games and seeing sparse playing time, Snow requested to be DFA’d.  That marked the “real” end of his playing career, though San Francisco signed Snow to a one-day contract in September of 2008.  Snow took the field on September 27th against the Dodgers and was removed before the first pitch to allow him to retire as a member of the Giants.
  • On June 19, 1999, the Dodgers signed Hong-Chih Kuo to a free agent contract with a $1.25MM bonus.  Unfortunately, elbow problems kept Kuo from taking the mound for the Dodgers until the 2006 season.  Kuo proved to be well worth the wait.   From 2005-2010, the left-hander posted a 3.19 ERA with 10.5 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9 and even earned an All-Star selection in ’10.
  • On this date in 1995, Darryl Strawberry signed with the Yankees after serving a suspension stemming from cocaine use.  In 32 regular season games for the Bombers that season, Strawberry posted a .276/.364/.448 slash line.  Over parts of five seasons with the Bombers, Strawberry slashed .255/.362/.502.

Deadline Notes: Utley, Rollins, Mayberry, Royals, Yankees, Mets

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There’s been quite a bit of chatter regarding Jeff Samardzija and the rest of the Cubs’ pitchers over the past few days, due largely to the fact that everyone is aware the Cubs will be sellers at this summer’s non-waiver trade deadline. For other clubs, the trade picture isn’t so clear. Here are some notes on players that are potential trade targets and on which clubs should buy and which should sell…

  • Phillies president David Montgomery tells Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer that the club can’t be stubborn and close itself off from trading certain players if it’s the best thing for the team — and that includes longtime cornerstones Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins. Referring to Utley, Montgomery noted that he’d like his second baseman to remain with the club beyond his playing days. Of course, both players have 10-and-5 rights and can veto any trade.
  • For his part, Rollins softened his stance on waiving his no-trade rights after surpassing Mike Schmidt for the franchise hits lead this weekend, Gelb notes. Said Rollins: “It really depends if everything is blown up. Then, you take that into consideration. Fortunately, I don’t have to worry about that right now. But if that time does come, and it’s time to go … people move on.”
  • Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com reports that the Red Sox and Yankees have some interest in John Mayberry Jr. as outfield depth. Boston has scouted several recent Phillies games, and one “plugged-in Major League source” tells Salisbury that the Yankees are a team to watch in regards to Mayberry as well.
  • In an ESPN Insider piece, Dan Szymborski opines that the Royals need to make a bold acquisition in an attempt to take the AL Central. Szymborski’s ZiPS projection system has the Royals as a 50-50 chance to make the playoffs and a 29 percent chance to win the division right now. With five regular position players ranking at or below replacement level (per Baseball-Reference), the team needs to make a splash, as the Tigers are far more vulnerable than most expected. He suggests that third base and right field are the two most viable spots, listing Aaron Hill, Ben Zobrist and Chase Headley as possible targets.
  • Yankees GM Brian Cashman expects to make a trade or multiple trades this July, writes Barry M. Bloom of MLB.com. “I feel that we need to get better from within, and I think I can speed up the process if I run into something outside at the same time,” said Cashman. “We usually make moves every year, so I expect to make moves again.” Bloom runs down a list of trade targets and notes that the stock of Dellin Betances has skyrocketed this season, though he wonders if Cashman would be willing to include a potential future closer for a short-term fix. Cashman said he didn’t want to wait to make a move but added that prices are often highest early on in trade season.
  • Though Joel Sherman of the New York Post said not long ago that the Mets should act boldly as buyers, the team’s recent woes have him convinced that the opposite may now be true. After a 4-11 skid, he writes that the Mets should deal two of Jon Niese, Bartolo Colon and Dillon Gee this summer and also make Daniel Murphy available in trades. Doing so will bring back valuable offensive prospects and position the Mets well for a high draft pick in 2015. He notes that Sandy Alderson’s regime has done well in trades, bringing in Zack Wheeler, Noah Syndergaard, Travis d’Arnaud, Vic Black and Dilson Herrera by trading veteran pieces.

Mitch Moreland Scheduled For Season-Ending Surgery

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After debating his alternatives for a little more than a week, Rangers first baseman Mitch Moreland is scheduled to undergo season-ending surgery on his left ankle next Monday, MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan reports. The Rangers expect Moreland to be healthy for Opening Day 2015.

The 28-year-old Moreland batted just .246/.297/.347 in 184 plate appearances for Texas this season despite being heavily platooned in an attempt to minimize his long-standing struggles against left-handed pitching.

General manager Jon Daniels shed some light on Moreland’s struggles in talking with Sullivan, noting that the recent ankle injury isn’t the only ailment Moreland has dealt with this season: “He has also had lower back stuff that we really didn’t talk about that he played through,” Daniels said. “In talking to him, this might put an end to the issues he has had to fight through.”

Moreland is earning $2.65MM this season as a first-time arbitration eligible player. Despite his lackluster performance and limited playing time, Moreland will likely be in line for a small raise in arbitration this coming offseason, which could make him a non-tender candidate in the offseason (as Gerry Fraley of the Dallas Morning News noted earlier in the week).

The injury is hardly anything new for the Rangers, who have already lost Prince Fielder, Matt Harrison, Martin Perez and likely Jurickson Profar for the 2014 season. Additionally, Derek Holland has yet to throw a pitch in 2014, and Geovany Soto is not yet recovered from knee surgery he underwent in Spring Training. Texas has also lost several bullpen and bench pieces to injury.

Yesterday, the team signed veteran slugger Carlos Pena to a minor league deal in an effort to replenish some first base depth.

Draft Signings: Anfernee Seymour

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Here are Wednesday’s notable mid- to late-round draft signings, with all slot information coming courtesy of Baseball America…

  • The Marlins have agreed to an over-slot, $400K bonus with seventh-rounder Anfernee Seymour, reports Chris Cotillo of MLB Daily Dish (on Twitter). BA ranked Seymour 396th among draft prospects, noting that the high school outfielder has legitimate 80-grade speed and a strong throwing arm that make him an intriguing center field prospect. A native of the Bahamas, Seymour’s hit tool raises question, and he has well below-average power, per BA. His slot value was $205,700.

AL East Notes: Murphy, Blue Jays, Price, Rays

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Recently demoted Yankees catcher J.R. Murphy is garnering a lot of trade interest, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports (on Twitter). The 23-year-old Murphy batted .286/.308/.365 in 65 plate appearances for the Yanks this season and enjoyed a solid minor league season in 2013, hitting .269/.347/.426 between Double-A Trenton and Triple-A Scranton/Wikes-Barre. However, the Yankees’ offseason signing of Brian McCann to a five-year deal makes it unlikely that he’ll have an everyday spot with the club in the long-term.

Here’s more from the AL East…

  • Though there’s been a great deal of focus on the the Blue Jays’ search for pitching upgrades, GM Alex Anthopoulos tells Jeff Blair and Kevin Barker of 590 The Fan in Toronto that he has had active discussions to bring in an everyday infielder as well (via Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith). Anthopoulos spoke candidly about the fact that eliminating the current infield platoon would free up some bench flexibility. He added that carrying three catchers, as the club is currently doing, is far from an ideal scenario.
  • In his latest Fangraphs On FOX article, Dave Cameron examines the trade market for David Price and wonders if the Rays’ ace might end up being traded twice in the next year. Cameron notes that a number of big-spending clubs aren’t ideal fits due to sharing a division with Tampa, a poor farm system or a poor rank within the standings. As such, he speculates that a lower budget team (listing the A’s as an example) could acquire Price to fuel their 2014 World Series chances, then look to flip him in the offseason to recoup some of the prospect value lost in acquiring Price and his likely $18-20MM salary in 2015.
  • ESPN’s Jim Bowden speculates on the five most likely teams to trade for Price, listing the Angels, Blue Jays, White Sox, Yankees and Braves. Bowden runs down trade scenarios for each team within his Insider-only piece. From my point of view, the Halos don’t have the prospects to land Price, while the White Sox are a long-shot because the required prospect package goes against GM Rick Hahn’s long-term plan for the team.
  • In attempting to paint an accurate picture of what next year’s Rays roster could look like, Cork Gaines of RaysIndex lists Price, Desmond Jennings, Ben Zobrist, Matt Joyce and Jeremy Hellickson as potential trade chips either at this summer’s deadline or in the offseason. Jennings will see his price tag go up in arbitration, Gaines explains, and the potential emergence of Kevin Kiermaier could make him expendable. Of course, that would likely only be the case were Kiermaier to prove himself over a larger sample than 74 big league PAs.

Samardzija Rejected New Extension Offer From Cubs

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5:45pm: Jon Morosi of FOX Sports reports that Samardzija rejected a five-year offer that was worth slightly more than $85MM (Twitter link).

WEDNESDAY, 4:48pm: Jon Heyman of CBS Sports also hears that the Cubs have made a new five-year offer to Samardzjia, but he says the number is “definitely not in the vicinity” of Bailey’s $105MM guarantee and could be more in the $75-80MM range. Samardzija and his agents have not countered the offer, he adds.

Heyman notes that some Cubs people have spoken optimistically about trading Samardzija, only to sign him in a year and a half when he reaches the free agent market. Given Samardzija’s prioritization of winning, the Cubs would likely need to experience a drastic turnaround in 2015 to make that scenario plausible.

TUESDAY: Though most of the rumors surrounding Jeff Samardzija of late have understandably pertained to possible trade destinations, Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times reports that the Cubs are making a late push to extend their ace. Wittenmyer hears from multiple sources that the Cubs have offered Samardzija a new extension that would keep him in Chicago through 2019. While that contract length is the same as the previous five-year deals Chicago has offered, Wittenmyer says the new offer is for a higher guaranteed number than the previous $60-65MM figure that was proposed.

One source tells Wittenmyer that Samardzija would require something in the vicinity of the $17.5MM annual value that Homer Bailey received on his six-year, $105MM extension with the Reds. That deal, of course, essentially boiled down to a five-year, $95MM extension, as Bailey was already likely to earn about $10MM via arbitration in 2014.

Multiple sources also indicated to Wittenmyer that “at least” two teams, including the Blue Jays, have already had preliminary talks with the Cubs about Samardzija and exchanged potential names that could change hands. He adds that contenders that are looking for starting pitching this summer “still believe Samardzija is firmly on the market.”

A midseason extension for Samardzija certainly wouldn’t be unheard of; Cole Hamels was thought to be a trade candidate for a potentially rebuilding Phillies club in 2012, but Philadelphia instead inked him to a six-year, $144MM extension. Matt Cain signed a five-year extension that guaranteed him $112.5MM in new money shortly after the onset of the 2012 season, which could be a potential talking point in negotiations for Samardzija. That contract, however, was worked out entering Cain’s contract year, while Samardzija has one-and-a-half years of control remaining.

The Cubs are reportedly gauging the market value of Jason Hammel, Edwin Jackson and Jake Arrieta in addition to Samardzija — perhaps in an effort to assess what they can pull in via trade should they lock up their most valuable trade chip long-term rather than ship him elsewhere for what would surely be an impressive haul of prospects. Given Samardzija’s excellent season to date and the fact that he is controlled through 2015, it’s hard to envision the Cubs getting anything less than the package they received for two months of Matt Garza last summer. In my estimation, a team would have to top that package — C.J. Edwards, Mike Olt, Justin Grimm and Neil Ramirez — in order to pry Samardzija away from Chicago.

In 91 innings this season, Samardzija has pitched to a 2.77 ERA with 8.1 K/9, 2.6 BB/9 and a 50.2 percent ground-ball rate. Both the walk rate and ground-ball rate would represent the best full-season marks of his career, should he maintain them. Sabermetric ERA estimators love Samardzija’s work even more than usual, as FIP pegs him at 2.95, xFIP at 3.27 and SIERA at 3.39.

Mariners To Sign Alex Jackson

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5:23pm: Jackson and the Mariners have agreed to a bonus of $4.2MM, reports MLB Daily Dish’s Chris Cotillo (on Twitter).

That bonus is $624,100 over slot and should put the Mariners $317,100 over their allotted bonus pool. Seattle will have to pay a 75 percent luxury tax that comes out to $237,825, but the team will not have to forfeit any future draft picks because of the bonus.

4:08pm: The Mariners and first-round selection Alex Jackson have agreed to terms, reports Jim Callis of MLB.com (on Twitter). Callis isn’t sure of the exact bonus terms at this time, but he notes that the bonus will pay the high school catcher/outfielder north of $4MM. That’s well north of the $3,575,900 pick value with the No. 6 overall selection, but as Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune recently explained, the Mariners can spend $4,221,295 without losing a pick in next year’s draft. A bonus north of $4MM will subject them to a 75 percent overage tax on their bonus pool, however, as the max they could have spent without incurring overage penalties was $3,882,900 (also per Dutton).

Alex Jackson

Jackson’s power potential and advanced hit tool have led most to consider him the best bat in the 2014 draft class. Both Baseball America and MLB.com ranked Jackson as the No. 4 prospect in this year’s draft class, while ESPN’s Keith Law ranked him fifth. Jackson had been committed to Oregon and is advised by Scott Boras.

All three scouting reports on Jackson rave about his hitting prowess, with MLB.com noting that he could hit north of .280 in the Majors and BA adding that he has the potential for plus-plus power. Jackson’s arm is also regarded as a plus tool, and it plays well behind the plate, where Law notes he has pop times in the 1.8-1.9 second range. However, all three note that Jackson’s receiving and blocking skills need work. The consensus is that he’s athletic enough to be a solid defender in right field, and he could be fast-tracked to the Majors by being shifted to the outfield, but he could become a serviceable defender behind the dish with more work and more development time. Obviously, he’d have more value to the Mariners if he could reach the Majors as a catcher, though the team does have a promising young backstop in the form of 2012 No. 3 overall selection Mike Zunino.

The Mariners have already signed the remainder of their picks within the top 10 rounds, so they needn’t worry that going well over-slot on Jackson could have ramifications further down their draft board.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Dustin Moseley To Work Out For Teams Next Week

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Right-hander Dustin Moseley has recovered from shoulder surgery that sidelined him for the majority of the 2012 season and all of 2013, and he will audition for teams next Tuesday, MLBTR has learned.

Now 32 years of age, Moseley hasn’t appeared since injuring his shoulder in his lone start of the 2012 season. He originally underwent shoulder surgery late in what had been a solid 2011 campaign before re-injuring the joint and undergoing a second operation to repair his labrum and rotator cuff. With the Padres in 2011, Moseley tossed a career-high 120 innings and posted a 3.30 ERA with 4.8 K/9, 2.7 BB/9 and a 49.5 percent ground-ball rate.

Moseley, a client of Frontline Athlete Management, has never been one to light up radar guns (career average of 89.3 mph on his fastball) or miss many bats (career 5.0 K/9), but he’s averaged just 2.9 walks per nine innings in his career and posted a strong ground-ball rate of 47.8 percent. Overall, the former supplemental-round draft pick has a 4.67 ERA in 358 1/3 innings between the Angels, Yankees and Padres. He was originally drafted by the Reds with the 34th pick in the 2000 draft as compensation for losing Juan Guzman to free agency.

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