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Archives for June 2014

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Blue Jays, D’Backs, O’s

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On this date in 2010, the much anticipated big league debut of Stephen Strasburg lived up to its hype.  The 21-year-old struck out 14 Pirates batters in seven innings in the Nationals’ 5-2 victory in Washington, D.C.  That strikeout tally set a new record for Washington that still stands today, not counting the Expos years.  Here’s this week’s look around the baseball blogosphere..

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

Twins Sign Kendrys Morales

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SUNDAY, 10:34am: The Twins confirmed the signing via press release.

SATURDAY, 2:00pm: Kendrys Morales and the Twins have agreed to terms, CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman tweets. The deal is pending a physical. Morales will receive one year and a prorated portion of a $12MM salary, MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger tweets. That amounts to about $7.5MM. As FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal noted, that’s fairly similar to, but less than, the $10MM deal Stephen Drew recently received from the Red Sox. Since Morales will not spend the full season with the Twins, they will not be able to extend him a qualifying offer next offseason. Morales is represented by Scott Boras.

Kendys Morales

Morales had been connected to the Mariners, Rangers, Yankees and Brewers, and his signing with the Twins comes as a bit of a surprise. Morales, of course, was a free agent over the winter but had a minimal market after he declined a qualifying offer from the Mariners, which meant that any team that signed him (other than Seattle, which added Corey Hart and Logan Morrison in the offseason) would have to forfeit a draft pick. When the draft began, however, teams became free to sign Morales without losing a pick.

Morales, who turns 31 this month, has hit .280/.333/.480 in parts of seven seasons with the Angels and Mariners, including .277/.336/.449 last year. Since 2010, he has mostly been a designated hitter, although he played 31 games at first last season.

Morales seems likely to serve as Minnesota’s full-time DH, as Twins designated hitters have batted just .216/.323/.403 this year, and they have Joe Mauer at first base. The Twins have struggled in the outfield, but Morales has not played in the outfield since 2008. The Twins have used a variety of DHs this year, however, and by having Morales as their regular DH, they could use hitters like Josh Willingham less at DH and more in the outfield, potentially reducing the number of plate appearances for less productive outfielders like Jason Kubel and Chris Parmelee. Catcher Josmil Pinto has also logged significant time at DH.

Morales was one of several players this offseason who struggled in the free agent market after declining a qualifying offer. Drew only recently signed his prorated one-year deal with the Red Sox, and Nelson Cruz ultimately took a one-year deal with the Orioles. All three players ended up with significantly less than they would have gotten if they had accepted their qualifying offers.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Cafardo On Marlins, Burnett, Price, Cuddyer

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In today’s column, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe looks at the impact that hitting coach Kevin Seitzer has had on the Blue Jays thus far in 2014.  Toronto used to be a swing-for-the-fences team, but even guys like Jose Bautista are hitting to all fields.  With a new, more patient approach at the plate, Toronto is leading the league in runs, homers, and extra base hits.  Here’s more from today’s column..

  • A Marlins official told Cafardo there’s no reason they won’t add a player through a trade. The National League East seems wide open, and they believe that they can find their way to the playoffs, even without the services of Jose Fernandez.  Miami has lots of pieces to offer, so they shouldn’t have trouble finding a match over the next couple of months.
  • Phillies veteran A.J. Burnett is some contending teams are looking at, but as one AL scout tells Cafardo, “if he doesn’t pitch better he’ll be another guy the Phillies are stuck with. When he’s the A.J. we saw earlier in the year or last year, he’s a guy you want out there in a tough situation. Right now, you wouldn’t touch him.” In his last six starts he has a 7.25 ERA, after posting a 2.06 ERA in his first seven.
  • The Rays will have to get at least three top players for left-hander David Price and if they don’t get that offer this summer, they’ll probably pull back and wait until the offseason.  Price, of course, still has great stuff, but his velocity is down, which is always a red flag.  There’s also no guarantee that he’ll re-sign with the team that trades for him, which could keep the Rays from getting the haul they want.
  • Rockies veteran Michael Cuddyer didn’t appear to be one of the possibly available outfielders at the deadline a month ago, but he could be if Colorado’s slide continues.  The 35-year-old is a great clubhouse presence and would draw trade interest along with Drew Stubbs.  Cafardo mentions the Red Sox as a club that could have interest in Stubbs as they seek an outfielder with power.
  • The Yankees, Rangers, Angels, Mariners, and Tigers (if they lose Max Scherzer) are among the teams who will line up if Red Sox pitcher Jon Lester hits the open market. On their end, Boston must decide whether to go beyond a fifth year because the other teams surely will.
  • The A’s nearly traded right-hander Jim Johnson to the Marlins last week, so, they’re clearly willing to move him.  Cafardo mentions the Orioles, Yankees, and Tigers as clubs that could have interest, but his rocky start and onerous contract make him a gamble.

Notes On Kendrys Morales Signing

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In case you missed it, the Twins finally brought an end to this year’s post-qualifying offer market, inking first baseman/DH Kendrys Morales to a deal that will pay him at a $12MM annual rate (around $7.5MM for the rest of the year). Morales will ultimately take home slightly less than Nelson Cruz takes home from the Orioles, though he’ll have to play much fewer games to earn it and will not be eligible for a qualifying offer next year. (Of course, he will also fall well shy of the $14.1MM qualifying offer that he rejected.)

Here’s the latest on the Morales signing:

  • The Mariners did make an offer to Morales within the last two days, tweets Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times. The value of the offer was not reported. Seattle, of course, will not receive any draft compensation for losing Morales, since he waited to sign until after the first day of this year’s amateur draft.
  • Yankees manager Joe Girardi says that he was not involved in any discussions about the possibility of adding Morales, reports Brendan Kuty of NJ.com. “[W]e thought [Mark Teixeira’s] injury wasn’t going to keep him out for a long period of time,” explained Girardi. “We were pretty confident that we were going to get [Carlos Beltran] back.” While New York had been said to be a possible suitor, the most recent report indicated that the team had been rebuffed when it asked agent Scott Boras to hold off on signing while the team evaluated the health of Teixeira and Beltran.
  • Morales is likely to slot right into the Twins’ MLB lineup in spite of his layoff, reports Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. He figures to provide an immediate boost to the offense, even if he’s rusty, as Minnesota has received scant production from the first base and designated hitter slots in the lineup. On the other hand, it would be surprising to see the team take at bats away from Joe Mauer, and utilizing Morales as the primary DH will mean that the team can put only one of its two most productive hitters thus far (catchers Kurt Suzuki and Josmil Pinto) in the lineup. Of course, Suzuki remains a candidate to be traded away over the summer.
  • Adding Morales represents another move that increases the Twins’ ability to compete in the short term without sacrificing long-term value, writes Dan Szymborski for ESPN.com (Insider subscription required). Morales projects to be a roughly league-average DH, says Szymborski, but that sort of player would cost prospects to acquire via trade. And while the team may still have an uphill path to contention, it does sit just under .500, only five back in the AL Central and two-and-a-half out of the Wild Card. Like Ricky Nolasco and Phil Hughes, who were inked to long-term deals over the offseason, Morales does not require Minnesota to cough up a draft choice.

Minor Moves: Spears, Pineiro, Worth, Angels

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Here are today’s minor moves from throughout baseball.

  • The Phillies have signed former Red Sox infielder Nate Spears, reports Mike Ashmore of MyCentralJersey.com (via Twitter; hat tip to Chris Cotillo of MLBDailyDish.com). Spears, 29, had been playing with the indy league Somerset Patriots. Despite two very brief cups of coffee with Boston, Spears has not recorded a hit in eight MLB plate appearances. He owns a career .244/.335/.371 line through 1,442 career plate appearances at the Triple-A level.
  • Joel Pineiro has signed a minor-league deal with the Angels, according to MiLB.com, and he will start tonight for the Triple-A Salt Lake Bees. The Cubs had recently released him. Pineiro is attempting to make it back to the big leagues after having last appeared in the Majors in 2011. He had made four starts with the Double-A Tennessee Smokies, posting a 4.43 ERA in 22 1/3 innings with 4.0 K/9 and 1.6 BB/9.
  • Infielder Danny Worth has accepted his outright assignment and will head to Triple-A Toledo, Chris Iott of MLive.com tweets. The Tigers designated worth for assignment on Wednesday after he hit .167/.217/.190 in 46 plate appearances.
  • The Angels have outrighted pitchers Michael Brady, Jarrett Grube and Brooks Raley, according to MiLB.com. After a strong 2013 season in the Marlins organization, Brady has struggled in the high minors in 2014, posting a 7.18 ERA with 7.9 K/9 and 4.4 BB/9. Grube, 32, made his big-league debut for the Angels last week. He had posted a 3.52 ERA in 61 1/3 innings for Triple-A Salt Lake with 7.5 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9. The Angels claimed Raley from the Twins last month, and he struggled for Salt Lake, allowing 26 runs in 21 innings there. These moves likely signal that the Angels are about to make other transactions that will affect their 40-man roster.

Draft Signings: Twins, Royals, Rangers, D’Backs, Cubs

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Here’s a roundup of today’s key news regarding signings from the draft.

  • The Twins have agreed to a slightly below-slot bonus with 9th rounder Max Murphy, tweets Cotillo. The Bradley outfielder will get $130K, just over $20K below his slot amount.
  • A few more drafted players have agreed to terms with the Royals, per Pete Grathoff of the Kansas City Star (Twitter link), though bonus amounts have not yet been reported. High school shortstop Dawon Burt (fourth round; $420K slot) and Texas A&M righty Corey Ray (fifth round; $314K slot) are both in agreement, joining sixth-rounder Logan Moon (see below).
  • The Rangers have agreed to terms with fourth-rounder Brett Martin on a $475K deal, MLB.com’s Jim Callis tweets. The deal comes in $67K above the $408K bonus pool value of the pick. The lefty Martin hails from a Tennessee junior college.
  • The Rangers have also agreed to terms with tenth-rounder and Abilene Christian catcher Seth Spivey for $10K, tweets MLB Daily Dish’s Chris Cotillo. The signing would allow the Rangers to save about $128K against their bonus pool, which would appear to help them balance their budget after the Martin signing is complete.
  • The Diamondbacks have signed third-rounder Matt Railey, the outfielder himself tweets. Railey, a Florida high-schooler, had a commitment to Florida State. There is no immediate word on his bonus, but the pool value of the pick is $603K.
  • The Cubs have agreed to terms with third-rounder and Virginia Tech catcher Mark Zagunis for $615K, Cotillo tweets. The deal saves the Cubs about $100K against the draft pool value of the pick.
  • The Astros have agreed to terms with eighth-rounder Bobby Boyd, MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart reports. There is no immediate word on a bonus for the junior outfielder from West Virginia University, but pool value for that pick is around $163K. McTaggart also reports that the Astros have agreed to terms with tenth-rounder Jay Gause, a junior pitcher from Faulkner University. The pool value for Gause’s pick is $142K.
  • Georgia high school lefty Mac Marshall plans to head to LSU rather than going pro, the pitcher himself tweets. MLB.com had ranked Marshall the No. 66 prospect in the draft, but he was not taken until the 21st round by Houston, surely due in large part to teams’ awareness of his reluctance to sign.
  • The Reds have agreed to terms with fifth-rounder Tejay Antone, a tall righty from a Texas community college, at the bonus-pool figure of $308K, Cotillo tweets. Antone had planned to head to Auburn next year if he didn’t end up signing.
  • The Royals have agreed to terms with sixth-round pick Logan Moon, Cotillo tweets. The senior outfielder from Missouri Southern will get less than the bonus pool value of about $235K.

Brewers To Sign Jacob Gatewood

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The Brewers have inked 41st overall choice Jacob Gatewood to a deal that includes a $1.83MM bonus, reports John Manuel of Baseball America (via Twitter). That means that Milwaukee will need to make up about $445K in savings, as the pick’s slot value is just under $1.4MM.

Gatewood’s agreement is the second over-slot deal for the Brewers. Earlier today, the club agreed to sign second-round pick Monte Harrison for $1.8MM, well over his slot value of $1.1MM. Combined, Milwaukee is now about $1.145MM over budget. While MLBTR’s Charlie Wilmoth noted at that time that an under-slot bonus for first-rounder Kodi Medeiros (12th overall) could make up the difference for the splurge on Harrison, the team may need to save money elsewhere to fit both slot busters.

As things stand, at-slot agreements with the team’s remaining choices from the first ten rounds would leave the club more than 15% over the $7.6MM total pool it enjoyed entering the draft. At that level of spending, Milwaukee would be penalized with the loss of their first pick in the next two Rule 4 drafts as well as a 100% tax on the overage. Needless to say, the Brewers will work hard to avoid that outcome.

Brad Johnson contributed to this post.

Padres Designate Jason Lane For Assignment

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The Padres have designated lefty Jason Lane for assignment, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports on Twitter. His roster spot will be taken by Andrew Cashner, who is set to come off the DL to start tonight.

A veteran of six MLB seasons as an outfielder, Lane received his first big league action as a pitcher at age 37. While it took quite an effort for Lane to return to the bigs, his stay was short. He tossed 4 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing only one hit with four strikeouts and no free passes.

Of course, Lane could well find his way back to San Diego this year. He currently owns a 4.36 ERA through 11 starts at Triple-A, and even remains a threat at the plate with a .407/.484/.667 triple-slash in 31 plate appearances.

Brewers Agree To Terms With Monte Harrison

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The Brewers have agreed to terms with second-round pick Monte Harrison for a bonus of $1.8MM, well above the bonus pool value of $1.1MM, MLB.com’s Jim Callis tweets. Harrison, a high school outfielder from Missouri, was committed to play both baseball and football at Nebraska.

The Brewers took high school lefty Kodi Medeiros with the No. 12 overall pick, slightly higher than many draft analysts thought he would go. It’s possible the Brewers could sign Medeiros for somewhat less than his pool value of $2.81MM in order to free up money for the Harrison deal. They also drafted four college seniors between the fifth and tenth rounds, and they could free up some pool money there. In addition to Harrison, the Brewers took another high-upside high school talent, infielder Jacob Gatewood, in Competitive Balance Round A.

Astros Close To Deal With Brady Aiken

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The Astros are close to a deal with top overall draft pick Brady Aiken, Mark Berman of FOX Houston reports. Aiken’s father Jim says his son will soon travel to Houston to make the deal official.

“I would say we have a verbal agreement in place,” says Jim Aiken. “Next thing is to hammer out the details of the contract and hopefully that’ll be done in the next week or two.”

The pool value of Aiken’s pick is about $7.92MM. There has been some speculation about the possibility that Aiken will take less, which would allow the Astros to spread some of that money to later picks. Aiken, who hails from Cathedral Catholic High School in California,  is committed to UCLA.

Aiken’s stock rose this spring, and he gradually emerged as the top overall talent in the draft. As MLBTR’s Steve Adams noted when the Astros picked Aiken, Aiken already has good velocity for a lefty, and he has the potential to have a plus curveball and changeup to go along with a plus fastball. He also has outstanding command for a high school pitcher.

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