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Archives for June 2014

Angels Sign Wade LeBlanc

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The Angels have brought back lefty Wade LeBlanc on a minor league deal, according to the MLB.com transactions page. He was recently lost to the Yankees through waivers, but elected free agency after he was outrighted off of New York’s 40-man roster.

LeBlanc, 29, made only one appearance during his tenure with the Yankees. On the year, he has allowed six earned runs through 7 1/3 MLB frames, with four strikeouts and three walks.

Presumably, the Halos will look to have LeBlanc stretch out as a starter in the minors, since that was reportedly the team’s hope at the time he was originally placed on outright waivers. At Triple-A for Los Angeles, he had tossed 53 2/3 innings with a 3.69 ERA and 7.2 K/9 against 2.3 BB/9.

Rangers Sign Carlos Pena

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7:05pm: Pena’s deal includes an August 1 opt-out clause, reports Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (via Twitter).

12:06pm: The Rangers have signed veteran first baseman Carlos Pena to a minor league deal and assigned him to Triple-A Round Rock, executive VP of communications John Blake announced (on Twitter). Pena is a client of Scott Boras.

A veteran of 13 Major League seasons, Pena is a career .233/.348/.465 hitter with 285 big league home runs. Known for his prolific home runs and strikeouts, Pena homered 28 or more times in five consecutive seasons from 2007-11, including a 46-homer campaign for the 2007 Rays. He also struck out in nearly 27 percent of his plate appearances during that time, though some of that swing-and-miss negative is erased by his power and a career 13.9 percent walk rate.

Pena has struggled over his past two big league stints, slashing .201/.327/.351, striking out in nearly 30 percent of his plate appearances. He adds some first base depth for the Rangers, who have lost Prince Fielder to the season due to a neck injury and have relied heavily on Mitch Moreland but received just a .246/.297/.347 slash line despite heavily platooning him. To make matters worse, Moreland himself now could be sidelined for the year with an ankle issue as well.

For Pena, this marks a return to the organization that selected him with the No. 10 overall pick in the 1998 draft. He appeared in just 22 games with the Rangers before being traded to the A’s. With Texas, he batted a strong .258/.361/.500 as a 23-year-old in 2001.

Twins Release Jason Kubel

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TODAY: Kubel has officially been released by the Twins, reports MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger (via Twitter).

YESTERDAY, 12:59pm: The Twins haven’t yet released Kubel and have until the end of the official business day Tuesday to decide on him, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press tweets.

7:17am: The Twins have released outfielder/DH Jason Kubel, according to the MLB.com transactions page.  Kubel was designated for assignment last week and his release seemed inevitable after (as MLBTR’s Zach Links reported) Kubel refused his outright assignment to Triple-A.  The 32-year-old Kubel is represented by Joel Wolfe of the Wasserman Media Group.

It wasn’t a great return to Minnesota for Kubel, who only hit .224/.313/.295 with one homer in 176 PA this season.  After spending 2012-13 with the Diamondbacks and Indians, Kubel rejoined his original club on a minor league contract that ended up guaranteeing him $2MM when he made the roster out of Spring Training, plus he earned another $300K worth of incentives.

Central Notes: Verlander, Tigers, Cubs, Morris, Pinto, Marmol

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Justin Verlander’s recent struggles are “a giant concern” for the Tigers, writes James Schmel of MLive.com, because Verlander himself admits that he isn’t sure how to fix them. Verlander told reporters that he doesn’t feel he’s at the point in his career where he needs to reinvent himself on the mound, though he acknowledged that he doesn’t have the same velocity he used to have and said he didn’t blame the fans for booing him last night as he left the game. Verlander yielded seven runs on 12 hits last night and has posted a 7.83 ERA with a woeful 26-to-20 K/BB ratio over his last 43 2/3 innings (seven starts). He is averaging a career-worst (though still solid) 92.6 mph on his fastball.

Here’s more on the Tigers and the baseball’s Central divisions…

  • Jon Morosi of FOX Sports hears that the Tigers aren’t planning on making a move to upgrade at shortstop, as they like what they’ve seen from rookie Eugenio Suarez since his promotion to the Majors (Twitter link). It’s tough not to like what they’ve seen from the 22-year-old Suarez, who is hitting .346/.452/.808 with three homers through his first 10 games. Clearly, he’s due for some regression, but the optimism is understandable.
  • An AL scout tells David Kaplan of CSN Chicago that he’s spoken to the Cubs about both Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel, but he hasn’t gotten any indication from Chicago that any of their other starters are available (Twitter link). That contrasts recent reports that the team would be willing to listen to offers on Edwin Jackson and Jake Arrieta. Given Jackson’s remaining salary, it seems hard to believe that Chicago wouldn’t be open to moving him.
  • The Pirates weren’t looking to trade right-hander Bryan Morris before trading him to the Marlins, GM Neal Huntington tells Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. However, Miami expressed interest in the deal after being attracted to an increase in Morris’ velocity and the addition of a two-seam/sinking fastball to his repertoire, and the two sides were able to strike a deal. Pittsburgh received Miami’s Competitive Balance Round A pick (No. 39 overall), used to draft (and sign) Connor Joe, while Miami has been rewarded to this point with 9 1/3 innings of scoreless relief from Morris, who has shown greatly improved command.
  • Twins closer Glen Perkins offered some candid comments regarding catcher Josmil Pinto on 1500 ESPN Radio with Phil Mackey and Judd Zulgad (via Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press). While he was highly complimentary of Pinto’s offensive skills, the left-hander was blunt in his description of Pinto’s defense: “He’s a long, long ways away, to be honest with you. …his pitch framing, he’s got some work to do.” Perkins flatly he said Pinto is “surely not at the big-league level as far as catching for me.” Perkins went on to preach the importance of framing and praise veterans Jonathan Lucroy and Jose Molina for their prowess at the skill. Minnesota recently sent Pinto to the minors to get more consistent at-bats and consistent time behind the plate. He’s spent much of the season DHing while Kurt Suzuki, whose offensive contributions have been somewhat surprising, has done the bulk of the catching.
  • After leaving the Reds organization to take a “mental break,” the representative of reliever Carlos Marmol says that the righty may not look to return this season, reports Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. Agent Paul Kinzer told Heyman that Marmol decided to return to the Dominican Republic to deal with unspecified personal issues, and has had no physical problems.

Jeff Todd contributed to this post.

Pirates To Sign Competitive Balance Pick Connor Joe

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The Pirates have agreed to sign compensation round A selection Connor Joe, reports MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo (via Twitter). Joe will receive a bonus of $1.25MM. He was taken with the 39th overall pick, which carries a $1,457,600 slot allocation.

The University of San Diego product was rated as the 102nd-best draft-eligible player by Baseball America and was slotted at 110 by Mayo and Jim Callis of MLB.com. According to BA, Joe is a line-drive hitter with a patient approach. He has primarily served at first base during college, but has also seen time in the outfield and, most intriguingly, behind the plate. While Joe is still working to develop his skills as a backstop, BA says that he has the tools to potentially stick at the position.

According to MLB.com’s bonus tracker, the Bucs have now inked each of their selections from the first ten rounds. All said, Pittsburgh is now $130.9K beneath its potential achievable bonus allocation of $5,606,100.

Orioles Designate Josh Stinson For Assignment

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The Orioles have designated righty Josh Stinson for assignment, the club announced. The move creates active roster space for the activation of fellow righty Miguel Gonzalez.

Baltimore claimed Stinson off waivers from the Athletics in early April, then outrighted him on the first of May. He mad only one scoreless appearance in relief since returning to the MLB roster. On the year, Stinson has tossed 13 innings, allowing nine earned runs while both striking out and walking six batters.

Rays Sign Second-Rounder Brent Honeywell

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3:10pm: Honeywell receives $800K, which is $16K over his slot allocation, reports Jim Callis of MLB.com (via Twitter).

2:21pm: The Rays have announced the signing of Honeywell.

12:41pm: The Rays are nearing a deal with Competitive Balance Round B selection Brent Honeywell, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (on Twitter). Terms aren’t yet known, but Honeywell’s No. 72 overall draft slot comes with a $784K pick value.

A righty out of Walters State Junior College in Tennessee, Honeywell was a surprising pick to some given the lack of national fanfare he received prior to the draft and the fact that he went undrafted out of high school. Baseball America ranked him 195th among draft prospects, and his name didn’t appear on MLB.com’s Top 200 or ESPN’s Top 100. BA praised his 89-93 mph fastball (that touches 95 mph at times) but noted that his slider is below-average. He has the makings of an average changeup and also features a screwball that is tough to judge because he uses it infrequently, per BA’s report. In his recap of each AL team’s draft, Law called the selection of Honeywell “a clear money-saver” for the Rays, opining that Honeywell is almost certain to end up a reliever.

Tampa has agreed to a number of under-slot deals to this point, as can be seen in Baseball America’s draft database. Those picks could help offset over-slot deals for second-rounder Cameron Varga and fourth-rounder Blake Bivens. Varga’s $1.1MM was $167K over slot, while Bivens’ reported $465K is about $61K over slot. The Rays have a few players drafted after the 10th round that could require over-slot deals as well, such as 11th-rounder Spencer Moran.

Phillies To Sign Second-Rounder Matt Imhof

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The Phillies have agreed to terms with second-round choice Matt Imhof, reports Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (via Twitter). He will receive a bonus that corresponds to the $1,187,900 slot allocation that came with the 47th choice.

Imhof, a 6’5 lefty out of Cal Poly, was not even drafted out of high school but has seen his stock rise steadily during his time in the college ranks. MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo and Jim Callis rated him the 33rd best player available, citing his naturally cutting heater and opining that he could have some upside left to claim. Baseball America and ESPN.com’s Keith Law both had him in the 58th slot of their rankings.

Athletics Acquire Brad Mills

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The A’s have acquired left-hander Brad Mills from the Brewers in exchange for cash considerations, the Brewers’ player development department announced (on Twitter). Milwaukee will receive only nominal consideration in return, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter).

The 29-year-old Mills recently had an opt-out date come and go in his contract, but reports indicated that he was able to opt out at any time in favor of a Major League opportunity. Instead, he will head to the A’s where he will presumably have a chance to crack the big league roster in some capacity.

Mills has been excellent at Triple-A Nashville this season, pitching to a 1.56 ERA with 9.2 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9 in 75 innings of work (14 appearances, 12 starts). He’s struggled in 53 1/3 innings at the Major League level in his career, however, posting a 7.76 ERA with a 51-to-31 K/BB ratio.

Indians Sign Bradley Zimmer

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1:06pm: Zimmer and the Indians agreed to a $1.9MM bonus, Hoynes tweets.

12:52pm: The Indians have signed first-round pick Bradley Zimmer for an estimated $2MM signing bonus, reports Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer (on Twitter). Zimmer’s draft slot, No. 21 overall, carried a value of $2,008,100, according to Baseball America. The Indians have announced the signing as well (also on Twitter).

Bradley Zimmer

Zimmer, the younger brother of Royals prospect (and former No. 5 overall pick) Kyle Zimmer, was thought to be one of the best college bats in this year’s class. The University of San Francisco center fielder ranked 10th on MLB.com’s Top 200 list, 12th on the Top 100 of ESPN’s Keith Law and 14th on Baseball America’s Top 500 list. Zimmer batted a whopping .368/.461/.573 for the Dons this season, batting third early in the year and eventually batting leadoff. He hit seven homers, seven triples and 10 doubles, and he also stole 21 bases and walked nearly as often as he struck out (31 walks, 34 strikeouts).

Zimmer draws praise for his hit tool, above-average arm and athleticism, with many scouts expecting more power to come as he matures. While he’s played center field in college, some have wondered if his size — he’s listed at 6’5″, 205 pounds — will eventually push him to an outfield corner. Shortly before the draft, I had the opportunity to talk with Zimmer as part of MLBTR’s Draft Prospect Q&A series, and we discussed his approach at the plate, his growing power and who would win in a showdown between him and his brother.

Photo courtesy of the University of San Francisco Athletics department.

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