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Archives for June 2014

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Verlander, Lough, Cano

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On this date in 1897, the Chicago Colts set the record for most runs scored in a game by one team when they crushed the Louisville Colonels, 36-7.  Here’s this week’s look around the baseball blogosphere.

Please send submissions to Zach at ZachBBWI@gmail.com.

AL Notes: Indians, Santana, Red Sox

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Indians scouting director Brad Grant says he had indications on the first day of the draft that University of San Francisco outfielder Bradley Zimmer would be available when Cleveland picked at No. 21, Fangraphs’ David Laurila reports. “There are a lot of sources who provide information on who is going to go where,” Grant says. “You talk to different sources in order to kind of put that together. … You usually get a pretty good feel from that and can normally narrow it down to one or two players for your first pick.” Grant adds that the Indians became especially interested in No. 31 overall pick Justus Sheffield because they scouted his older brother Jordan, a 2013 Red Sox 13th-round pick who is now at Vanderbilt. Here are more notes from the American League.

  • Astros top prospect Domingo Santana isn’t likely to be promoted this summer, Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle reports. “Domingo still has some developing in Triple A, from our perspective,” says GM Jeff Luhnow. “We’re really excited about what he’s done, and I think the higher average at a higher level has been clearly a sign of better development and of him becoming a more complete player. But, the profile of the feast or famine is not something that we want to continue to have.” Santana has hit .305/.383/.508 so far this season for Oklahoma City, but with 94 strikeouts in 350 plate appearances. He’s already on the Astros’ 40-man roster, however, which makes him a good candidate for a September callup.
  • The Red Sox’ options this summer remain wide open, WEEI.com’s Alex Speier writes. The Red Sox, in the midst of a disappointing season but still only 6 1/2 games back in the AL East, could become buyers with a good month, and the recent addition of top prospect Mookie Betts could spark the Red Sox to add talent this July. If they don’t play well, they could sell. They could also pursue a multifaceted strategy in which they move players who are eligible for free agency after the season in exchange for players who might be around for the longer term but still could help this season.

MLBTR Originals

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

West Notes: Walker, McCarthy, Chavez, Rockies

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Top Mariners prospect Taijuan Walker will make his 2014 big-league debut on Monday, Greg Johns of MLB.com reports. (The Mariners optioned outfielder Stefen Romero to Triple-A Tacoma after today’s game, so it appears they’ll have space for Walker on their active roster.) Walker figured to be a key part of Seattle’s rotation this season, but he had shoulder troubles in spring training. Walker has made eight starts this season across three minor league levels, posting a 3.38 ERA with 10.4 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9. Elsewhere in MLB’s West divisions:

  • Diamondbacks right-hander Brandon McCarthy will receive a $1MM assignment bonus if he is traded, tweets ESPN’s Buster Olney. The Diamondbacks will likely have to eat that sum in any deal, Olney adds.
  • Eric Chavez says retirement is a “possibility” after being transferred to the 60-day disabled list by the Diamondbacks, writes MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert. “I’m just so close to the end, you know, where I’ve got to worry about feeling good for the rest of my life,” said Chavez, who is dealing with an injured left knee. “So surgery would be the worst-case scenario for me to kind of be going down that line.” 
  • The slumping Rockies have been hit hard by injuries with nine players currently on the disabled list, but are not yet ready to become sellers at the Trade Deadline, according to Nick Groke of the Denver Post. “We’ll get to see our club whole, or closer to the point we know it should be,” Assistant GM Bill Geivett said. “At that point we’ll sit down and discuss where we’re at.“

Charlie Wilmoth contributed to this post.

Diamondbacks Acquire Ronny Cedeno

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The Phillies tweeted they have traded infielder Ronny Cedeno to the Diamondbacks for catcher Raywilly Gomez. Cedeno will report to Triple-A Reno, tweets MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert. He’ll add depth after the injury to Chris Owings and the recall of Nick Ahmed. Philadelphia had outrighted Cedeno yesterday.

Cedeno saw limited action with the Phillies after being added to their roster in June. The 31-year-old appeared in seven games and was hitless in nine plate appearances. Cedeno has slashed .245/.289/.353 in parts of ten seasons with the Cubs, Mariners, Pirates, Mets, Astros, Padres and Phillies.

Gomez has spent the season at Double-A Mobile hitting .273/.355/.360 in 173 plate appearances and throwing out 28% of the runners attempting to steal. The 24-year-old has spent his entire seven-year minor league career in the Diamondbacks’ organization.

Brewers Notes: First Base, Weeks, Bullpen

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The Brewers enter play today with the most wins in baseball and a 6.5 game lead over the Cardinals in the NL Central. With Milwaukee’s success to date and the Trade Deadline looming, will GM Doug Melvin pull off a major acquisition like he did the last two times the Brewers made the playoffs (CC Sabathia in 2008 and Francisco Rodriguez in 2011)? Melvin told Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel he’s “always open for anything,” but there isn’t a lot of holes needing to be filled. “You have to ask, where are you going to play a guy?” said Melvin. “We have a pretty good lineup. I’m not going to trade for a catcher or a second baseman or shortstop or left fielder or center fielder or right fielder.”

In other Brewers’ news and notes from Haudricourt:

  • One position Melvin did not mention was first base with the platoon of Mark Reynolds and Lyle Overbay producing a .683 OPS, which ranks 26th in the majors. Melvin says the duo has “done a nice job for us,” and “there’s not a big offensive first baseman available anyway.“
  • The Brewers could be in the market for relievers with Jim Henderson and Tyler Thornburg still on the disabled list. “We’ve talked about bullpen help,” Melvin said. “Over the course of the year, your bullpen gets worn down pretty good. A lot of teams are going to be looking for bullpen help.“
  • Melvin, however, will not sacrifice the future for short-term gain in any trade. “We’re not going to deal the young impact player to help our big club now. It’s going to be tough to do that. I think we do have a lot of players in our system that will play in the big leagues.“
  • Melvin acknowledged other teams have called about second baseman Rickie Weeks, but no specific proposals have been made. Weeks is earning $11MM this season with a $11.5MM vesting option for 2015. MLBTR’s Steve Adams recently noted the option isn’t likely to be triggered.

Central Notes: Finnegan, Indians, Frieri, Pirates

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Newly-signed Royals first round draft pick Brandon Finnegan will start his pro career at Class A+ Wilmington, Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star writes. The Royals project Finnegan will only pitch about 45 or 50 pro innings after pitching for TCU this season, but the start at Class A+ could indicate that the Royals hope Finnegan will be in the big leagues in a relatively short period of time. “I just have confidence in myself,” says Finnegan. “Now, I’m not 6-4. I’m only 5-11. But I feel like I’ve got the stuff that’s good enough to pitch in the pros right now.” Here are more notes from the Central divisions.

  • The Indians need to add a good starting pitcher more than they need a good hitter, Paul Hoynes of the Plain Dealer writes. Corey Kluber has excelled, but the rest of Cleveland’s rotation hasn’t been nearly so helpful — three pitchers who started the year in the rotation are now either in the bullpen or Triple-A.
  • New Pirates pitcher Ernesto Frieri looks forward to playing in a new league and division, Travis Sawchik of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review writes. “Maybe this is going to be good for me because it was a little bit of a struggle for me in the American League West,” Frieri said. “When you’re in one league for a while, hitters get to know you, and they make adjustments. I’m pretty confident everything is going to change over here.” The Pirates acquired Frieri on Friday for another struggling reliever, Jason Grilli.
  • Bucs GM Neal Huntington tells SiriusXM’s Jim Bowden (via Twitter) that the Pirates don’t have “glaring holes” but will still try to upgrade where possible. The Pirates’ offense has been about average and just added Gregory Polanco to fix its hole in right field. The Bucs’ pitching is perhaps questionable, but the Pirates have had a recent series of strong performances from starters like Jeff Locke and Vance Worley to aid what had been a weak rotation.

Minor Moves: Rosales, Ahmed, Bianchi

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We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here.

  • The Rangers have announced that they will purchase the contract of infielder Adam Rosales and optioned fellow infielder Luis Sardinas to the minors, where he’ll presumably have more regular playing time. The Rangers will need to make a 40-man roster move to make space for Rosales, who was hitting .276/.349/.434 in 307 plate appearances for Triple-A Round Rock.
  • The Diamondbacks announce that they have selected the contract of infielder Nick Ahmed. Fellow infielder Chris Owings will head to the 15-day DL with a shoulder strain, and the Diamondbacks will clear 40-man roster space for Ahmed by moving Eric Chavez to the 60-day DL. Ahmed, 24, was hitting .324/.390/.431 for Triple-A Reno, where he played shortstop and second base. He was originally drafted by the Braves, who traded him to Arizona in the Justin Upton / Chris Johnson / Martin Prado deal.
  • The Brewers have announced that they’ve selected the contract of infielder Jeff Bianchi from Triple-A Nashville, adding him to their 40-man and 25-man rosters. To clear space for him on the 25-man, they’ve optioned pitcher Alfredo Figaro to Nashville. Shortstop Jean Segura left yesterday’s game with leg cramps, which might be why the Brewers are adding another infielder. The Brewers outrighted Bianchi last month. He has a career .214/.249/.281 line in parts of three seasons, all with Milwaukee.

Phillies Designate Sean O’Sullivan For Assignment

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The Phillies have announced that they’ve designated pitcher Sean O’Sullivan for assignment. The move clears space for infielder Andres Blanco, whose contract the Phillies purchased from Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

The Phillies added O’Sullivan to their roster yesterday so that he could start the second game of a doubleheader yesterday against the Braves. He allowed four runs in 5 2/3 innings, striking out three and walking none. The Phillies made space for him yesterday by outrighting infielder Ronny Cedeno, so it makes sense that they would replace O’Sullivan on their active roster with an infielder. The veteran Blanco has appeared in parts of six seasons with the Royals, Cubs and Rangers, hitting .255/.301/.333. He last appeared in the big leagues in 2011.

Cafardo On Price, Hammel, Pirates, Tigers

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Here’s the latest from the Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo:

  • With David Price of the Rays on the trading block, Cafardo asks Brewers GM Doug Melvin about the process of trading, or trading for, a top starting pitching. Melvin has been on both sides of that process, having traded Zack Greinke and having acquired Greinke and C.C. Sabathia. Melvin says he would have been willing to trade Greinke within the NL Central, but for an extra charge. “I had teams within the division asking for him, and my approach to that is this: I had no problem doing it, but I had to get a little extra if I was going to do it. And that’s what I told them,” he says. Even assuming that’s the Rays’ policy too, though, it isn’t clear there’s a great matchup between them and any other AL East team. The Blue Jays are one possibility, but Cafardo writes that they seem to be more interested on a lower-tier starter like Jason Hammel of the Cubs.
  • A source tells Cafardo, “You could argue that Hammel is the most sought-after player, positional or pitcher, in the trade market right now.”
  • This season, the Pirates are likely to pursue a starting pitcher and a reliever, but not an offensive player.
  • Victor Martinez wants to stay with the Tigers. One potential hitch as he heads toward free agency, though, is that the Tigers will have to figure out how long Miguel Cabrera will be able to play defense until Detroit needs to move him to DH.

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