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Joe Saunders Opts Out Of Mariners Deal

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Lefty Joe Saunders has opted out of his minor league deal with the Mariners, Triple-A Tacoma announcer Mike Curto reports on Twitter. The 33-year-old will head onto the open market in search of a more favorable situation.

Saunders, a starter for virtually all of his career, had been throwing from the pen for the Rainiers. He allowed seven earned runs in 11 frames, but did strike out a healthy number of batters (12) while issuing just four walks.

Over a decade in the bigs, Saunders has racked up over a thousand frames of 4.37 ERA ball. But he has struggled in his last two seasons, including a 32-start run in Seattle in 2013 when he managed only a 5.26 earned run average. The 42 innings that Saunders threw last year for the Rangers and Orioles were even less successful.

Rays Re-Sign Grant Balfour To Minors Deal

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5:47pm: Balfour confirms that he has indeed inked a new deal with the Rays, Topkin tweets.

5:41pm: The Rays may be in the process of re-signing struggling righty Grant Balfour to a minor league deal, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports on Twitter. Tampa Bay released Balfour on Tuesday and remains on the hook for his $7MM salary this year.

Balfour, 37, inked a two-year, $12MM deal to join the Rays before the 2014 season, and to say he has been a disappointment would be an understatement. Over 66 2/3 total innings in his second stint with the club, he has posted a 5.00 ERA with 7.7 K/9 against a troubling 6.1 BB/9.

Things got even worse this year, as Balfour failed to notch a strikeout while permitting four free passes in his first 4 1/3 innings of the season. His fastball was down about two full ticks as against last year, and he had already lost velocity from his prior years’ work.

Over a dozen years in the league, Balfour has worked to a 3.49 ERA while averaging 9.5 K/9 and 4.2 BB/9. Tampa’s plan to bring him back to (or, at least, near) that level of productivity would be to send him to Triple-A for a few weeks, says Topkin, in an effort to get him back on track.

Heyman’s Latest: A-Rod, BoSox, Bryant, Ventura, Gordon, Duda

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In this week’s edition of his Inside Baseball column, Jon Heyman of CBS Sports begins by looking at the contentious courtroom showdown that stands between Alex Rodriguez and as much as $30MM worth of home run milestone bonuses. As Heyman notes, people on all sides of the case have reasons to dislike A-Rod. Rodriguez filed a lawsuit (that was eventually dropped) against the MLBPA, and he parted ways with agent Scott Boras more than six years ago. The Yankees’ reasons for resenting Rodriguez are obvious, as are those of the league, with whom Rodriguez battled to reduce a 212-game suspension to a still-significant 162 game ban. Heyman looks at the arguments that can be made by both sides as well as the potential fallout once the situation is finally resolved.

Some highlights from the latest edition of Heyman’s newest weekly column…

  • Though the Red Sox aren’t blinking when it comes to trade talks with the Phillies regarding Cole Hamels, one rival GM considers Boston the favorite. The Phillies quite like center field prospect Manuel Margot, and Boston does have other nice pieces. Heyman notes that one scout actually expressed concern to him about Mookie Betts’ ability to hit the ball on the outer half of the plate, but the Sox remain steadfast in their refusal to part ways with Betts.
  • The Cubs aren’t concerned with a potential grievance being filed against them on behalf of Kris Bryant. Rather, their main concern is trying to find a way to extend him beyond his current allotment of team control. Heyman hears that Cubs are already considering trying to make him a Cub for life, though he also notes that it’s a bit early for those discussions.
  • White Sox skipper Robin Ventura signed an extension of an unreported length prior to the 2014 season, and Heyman now hears that Ventura is under contract through the 2016 season. The contract length is said to be of little importance to ChiSox owner Jerry Reinsdorf, who loves Ventura.
  • The Royals plan to try to do “whatever they can” to retain Alex Gordon beyond the 2015 season. The 32-year-old Gordon’s $12.5MM player option has increased to $13.25MM based on performance escalators, per Heyman. While Gordon has implied that he will exercise the option in the past, it’s exceptionally difficult to envision him merely picking up the option rather than trying for a highly lucrative multi-year deal. The Royals never felt they had a great shot at retaining James Shields, but their hope with Gordon is that the career Royal and Nebraska native might be easier to retain. Heyman adds that while the club is interested in trying to extend Salvador Perez beyond the 2019 season, those talks aren’t likely to come until after the season.
  • Juan Uribe is off to a decent start with the Dodgers, but the hot play of Alex Guerrero and the addition of Hector Olivera in Spring Training could eventually lead to Uribe becoming available on the trade market. Uribe’s at hasn’t lined up with his previous seasons to this point, but he’s hit a perhaps surprisingly strong .293/.333/.435 dating back to Opening Day 2013.
  • Rival executives are anxiously anticipating a Brewers fire sale following the club’s awful 5-17 start to the season, Heyman hears. One exec listed Carlos Gomez, Khris Davis, Jean Segura, Gerardo Parra, Kyle Lohse and Francisco Rodriguez as players who will draw interest, noting that Jonathan Lucroy is probably untouchable, while Matt Garza and Ryan Braun are somewhat overpriced.
  • The Mets were trying for a three-year extension that contained a club option and would’ve guaranteed Lucas Duda a bit shy of $30MM. I’d imagine that with Duda could end up the beneficiary in that scenario, particularly if he can sustain the increase in his walk rate and the more notable decrease in his strikeout rate.
  • Multiple Yankees people have shot down the notion that the team would pursue Hamels when asked by Heyman. One replied that the team is “not looking” at Hamels, while another wondered if Hamels is still a legitimate ace or more of just a big name.

Minor Moves: Andrew Albers, Casper Wells, Omar Duran

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Here are today’s minor transactions from around the league…

  • The Blue Jays announced that they have selected the contract of left-hander Andrew Albers and optioned struggling top prospect Daniel Norris to Triple-A. In order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for Albers, Maicer Izturis has been transferred to the 60-day disabled list. Albers, a native of Saskatchewan, signed a Minor League deal with the Blue Jays this winter after spending the 2014 season with the Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Baseball Organization. The Twins signed Albers out of independent ball in 2011, and he eventually was named their Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2013 — the season in which he made his MLB debut. Albers’ 60 innings that year is his lone sample of MLB work, the end result of which was a 4.05 ERA with 25 strikeouts against seven walks. Alexis Brudnicki of the Canadian Baseball Network first reported that Albers would be joining the Blue Jays (Twitter link).
  • The Tigers have released outfielder Casper Wells and left-hander Omar Duran, MLB.com’s Jason Beck tweeted earlier this morning. The 29-year-old Wells was in his second stint with Detroit after initially being a 15th-round pick of Detroit in the 2005 draft. Wells was sent to Seattle in 2011’s Doug Fister trade and has spent parts of four seasons in the Majors as a platoon/reserve outfielder. At his best, he handles lefties well and is capable of playing all three outfield spots. He hit just .209/.292/.326 in a small sample of 48 PAs at the Double-A level in 2015, however. As for Duran, the longtime A’s farmhand inked a Minor League pact with Detroit in the offseason but yielded nine runs (eight earned) in 8 1/3 innings at the Double-A level this year. The ability to miss bats at a high rate has allowed Duran to succeed in the lower levels of the Minors despite poor control, but the 25-year-old’s proclivity for walks figures to become more troublesome in the upper levels of the Minors. He’s worked just 22 1/3 innings at Double-A in his career.

Homer Bailey To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

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Reds starter Homer Bailey will undergo Tommy John surgery, the club announced. Cincinnati expects him to return during the 2016 season, per the announcement.

Bailey had missed the tail end of last year after needing surgery to repair a torn flexor mass tendon in his right arm. The 2014 campaign was something of a disappointment even before that point. While Bailey was effective enough, he failed to build off of a strong 2013 and seemed to be settling in more as a sturdy option than a top-of-the-rotation arm.

Now, Bailey’s arm troubles have clouded even that downgraded status. He was able to make it back early this season, but was throwing his average fastball at about 3 mph less than he had been over the last two seasons. With only three strikeouts in 11 1/3 frames, things were already not looking up when Bailey hit the DL.

While Tommy John surgery is obviously far from a death knell to a player’s career, neither is it a minor event. In Bailey’s case, it is particularly concerning given that he already underwent one surgery and has already shown a velocity decline. Then there’s the fact that he will not be back until next summer at the earliest, meaning that Cincinnati will not see any on-field production for its investment during that time.

The real issue for the Reds, of course, relates to Bailey’s contract. While the deal’s first year basically ratified an already-inevitable arbitration salary, the rest represented new money that kept the righty from testing free agency. Cincinnati still owes Bailey $86MM over 2016 through 2019, which includes the buyout of a mutual option for 2020, and it is increasingly unclear whether the club will get anything close to the expected value for that sum.

 

Tim Hudson “Definitely Leaning” Toward Retiring After Season

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Giants starter Tim Hudson tells Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports that he is “definitely leaning” towards retiring at the end of the season. The 39-year-old righty is playing out the second half of the two-year, $23MM deal he signed with San Francisco before the 2014 campaign.

Though family considerations appear to be drawing him toward hanging up his spikes, Hudson indicated that he is not quite ready to decide at this point. “I feel pretty good,” said Hudson. “I feel as good as most 40-year-olds can feel trying to play a young man’s game.”

Hudson threw 189 1/3 innings of 3.57 ERA ball for the Giants last year, making his fourth All-Star team and eventually winning the World Series for the first time in his career. In the sixteen big league seasons already under his belt, Hudson has a sub-3.50 ERA and has only finished two years having permitted more than four earned per nine.

The bottom line, then, is that Hudson sure looks like he would be able to continue being productive on the mound for some time after the year. But, as the piece explores, it’s never that simple. The piece includes interesting quotes from Hudson’s wife, Kim, about the process of contemplating retirement.

All Drafted Players Now Eligible To Be Traded After World Series

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Fangraphs’ Dave Cameron reports that Major League Baseball emailed all 30 teams today to announce that, effective following this year’s draft, players selected in the amateur draft will be permitted to be traded beginning the day after the conclusion of the World Series.

The change is a much-needed revamp of the previous iteration, which had prohibited clubs from trading players for one year after being drafted. However, because the rules regarding players to be named later (PTBNLs) stated that teams had six months to determine the PTBNL in question, a loophole had been exploited in which prospects from the most recent draft were simply included as a PTBNL in trades that occurred more than six months after the draft in which they were selected.

In order to prevent any further loopholes, MLB has explicitly stated that any PTBNL must be eligible to be traded at the time the trade is agreed upon. In other words, draftees cannot be included as PTBNLs between their draft and the completion of the World Series.

The most recent example of this, of course, is Padres 2014 first-rounder Trea Turner. It’s one of the worst-kept secrets in baseball that Turner, selected 13th overall by the Padres, will be revealed as the PTBNL in the three-team Wil Myers/Steven Souza trade. Turner will be officially eligible to be traded to the Nationals in early June, but he’s spent the entirety of Spring Training and the early portion of the season with the Padres organization due to the previous iteration of rules.

Via Cameron, the official wording of the email sent by the league is as follows:

Please be advised that the Commissioner’s Office and the Players Association have agreed to amend the Major League Rules in advance of this year’s Rule 4 Draft with respect to players-to-be-named-later (“PTBNLs”) under Rule 12(e)(2), and the trading of draft picks under Rule 3(b)(6). …commencing with players eligible for the 2015 Rule 4 Draft, (a) players selected in the Draft may be traded beginning on the day following the conclusion of the World Series, and (b) drafted players cannot be PTBNLs unless they otherwise could be traded pursuant to Rule 3(b)(6), as amended, at the time of the trade.

Turner’s situation certainly isn’t the first in which a recent draftee has been used as a PTBNL while waiting for official clearance to be included in a trade. For example, just one year ago, the Pirates acquired Ike Davis from the Mets in exchange for righty Zack Thornton and a PTBNL, who was later (on June 15) revealed to be 2013 second-round left-hander Blake Taylor.

As Cameron notes, the rule change does little for Turner, as it takes effect only in regards to players eligible in the 2015 Rule 4 (June amateur) draft. He’ll remain in development with the Padres until, presumably, June 6 — the day after the one-year anniversary of the 2014 amateur draft.

AL Central Notes: Young, Salcedo, Hu, Indians

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A conversation with Minor League teammate Shawn Hill and an email to a St. Louis-based surgeon Robert Thompson in 2013 saved the career of Royals right-hander Chris Young, writes Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star. Young was unknowingly suffering from thoracic outlet syndrome — a difficult-to-detect shoulder condition in which nerves are pinched between the collarbone and top rib. Young described his symptoms to Hill, who first suggested thoracic outlet syndrome as a possibility, having suffered through the condition himself a year prior. Young had difficulty even turning his head side to side and often felt numbness in his fingers and hands. The surgery to alleviate the pain led to a 2014 AL Comeback Player of the Year Award for Young, but the 6’10” righty found little interest on the free agent market this winter. He expressed confusion to McCullough that just three teams showed significant interest, though fatigue at the end of the season and a subsequent 8.35 ERA over his final five starts may have had something to do with that, he acknowledged. Young notes that he eventually vowed to prove himself to big league teams this year. “…I had to remind myself to step back and say, ’You know what? If I don’t like it, go perform better than I did last year.'”

Here’s more from the AL Central…

  • Twins Double-A right-hander Adrian Salcedo was suspended 80 games after testing positive for a PED and a stimulant (which USA Today’s Bob Nightengale identifies as Tamoxifen and Heptaminol, respectively), and GM Terry Ryan expressed disappointment and frustration in the situation to the St. Paul Pioneer Press’ Mike Berardino: “We met about it all spring. This is one where I guess it doesn’t matter how much you try to educate players. It happened, and it will happen again, unfortunately. No matter how much we preach and no matter how much the penalty, there are going to be people that are going to try to take advantage of the situation.” Salcedo is the second 80-game suspension in the Twins organization over the past month, though the first was far more detrimental to the organization, as it was issued to right-hander Ervin Santana, who signed a four-year, $55MM contract this winter.
  • Taiwanese right-hander Chih-Wei Hu, signed by the Twins for $220K in 2012, is seeing his prospect stock rise dramatically early in the year, writes Baseball America’s Josh Norris. Perhaps the most interesting note on Hu is his usage of a palmball — a pitch not often seen in today’s game. Norris notes that the pitch acts more like a splitter than a changeup but has changeup-like velocity, sitting in the mid-90s.
  • Though Terry Francona wouldn’t say he is questioning T.J. House’s slot in the rotation, the Indians skipper did note that House’s pronounced struggles this season are troublesome, writes Cleveland.com’s Zack Meisel. House’s five earned runs in three innings last night further ballooned an already concerning ERA to 13.15, and the lefty has walked nearly a batter per inning in four starts this season. Meisel wonders who might step into the rotation, noting that Zach McAllister looks more at home in the bullpen. He speculatively lists Triple-A veterans Bruce Chen and Shaun Marcum as options, noting that each his pitched well in the upper Minors this far.

7 Notable Transactions From May 2014

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May isn’t typically the most action-packed month of the season for the Hot Stove faithful, but it’s also not completely devoid transactions. As MLBTR’s Jeff Todd and Tim Dierkes discussed in yesterday’s episode of the MLBTR Podcast, this May could be even more active than usual due to the early rash of pitching injuries perhaps kickstarting the trade market early. Even if that’s not the case, Jarrod Saltalamacchia should find a new home within a matter of days, the Padres are known to be on the hunt for a shortstop, Rafael Soriano remains a free agent, and, if history is any indication, there will be a handful of other significant moves that impact the long-term outlook of a few organizations/players.

Here are the most notable transactions from the month of May in 2014 (with a helping hand from MLBTR’s Transaction Tracker)…

  • Braves sign 3B Chris Johnson to a three-year, $23.5MM extension that includes a $10MM club option for the 2018 season. — The contract was questionable at the time and looked regrettable for the Braves quickly. In hindsight, this move was probably one of several that led to the exit of GM Frank Wren from Atlanta. Johnson would end up hitting just .263/.292/.361 in 2014, and a broken hand suffered last night has sidelined him early in 2015. Johnson was hitting .279/.347/.372 at the time of the injury, though he’s batting just .233/.314/.333 against righties.
  • Red Sox sign SS Stephen Drew to one-year, $14.1MM contract. — Drew sat out all of Spring Training and looked to be waiting for the draft’s conclusion before signing in order to shed the draft pick compensation label he’d picked up after rejecting a qualifying offer, but he signed in May for the pro-rated version of the qualifying offer’s salary. Drew rushed through a brief assignment to Triple-A to try to get up to speed, but he never got his bat going and was ultimately traded to the Yankees, where he also struggled. Drew re-signed a one-year deal with the Yankees to man second base, and while a .179 BABIP is weighing down his average (in part due to a massive increase in fly-balls and a dip in his line-drive rate), he’s showing good power and walking at a 12 percent clip.
  • Tigers sign RHP Joel Hanrahan to one-year, $1MM contract. — Tigers fans spent the entire season hoping that Hanrahan would emerge as a much needed reinforcement for their club’s shaky bullpen, but Hanrahan’s recovery from Tommy John and flexor tendon repair surgery was slow and never completed. He didn’t pitch in 2014 and re-upped with Detroit a Minor League deal this past offseason, but sadly underwent a second Tommy John surgery and was released by the Tigers in Spring Training.
  • Astros sign LHP Tony Sipp to one-year, $700K contract. — The Sipp signing was one of the best and yet most unheralded moves of 2014. Sipp joined Houston with little fanfare, but he wound up firing 50 2/3 excellent innings last year, notching a 3.38 ERA with 11.2 K/9 against 3.0 BB/9. That earned him a boost to $2.4MM in arbitration this winter, and he’s looked to be worth every penny thus far, allowing one run on five hits and three walks with nine strikeouts in 11 1/3 innings in what will be his final season before free agency.
  • Padres sign RHP Odrisamer Despaigne to a $1MM Minor League deal. — Despaigne didn’t land the gaudy type of contract that many of his Cuban countrymen have secured, but he’s been a valuable piece for the Padres. In 117 2/3 innings between 2014-15, the 28-year-old has a 3.29 ERA, 5.7 K/9, 2.9 BB/9 and a 51.8 percent ground-ball rate. Despaigne has served as a starter and reliever in San Diego and could be a nice swingman for the club moving forward. The Friars control him through the 2020 season.
  • Padres traded C Nick Hundley to Orioles in exchange for LHP Troy Patton. — The long-term impact on both organizations was minimal, as each player is with a new organization in 2015. However, the trade gave the Orioles another option behind the plate following Matt Wieters’ Tommy John surgery and gave Hundley an opportunity for more playing time, which likely assisted him landing a two-year, $6.25MM contract from the Rockies this winter.
  • Padres traded 1B/OF Kyle Blanks to A’s in exchange for OF Jake Goebbert and a PTBNL (RHP Ronald Herrera). — Blanks hit the cover off the ball for 21 games with Oakland before a torn muscle in his calf ended his 2014 campaign and led him to sign a Minor League deal with the Rangers this winter. Goebbert struggled through 115 PAs with San Diego and is a depth piece at Triple-A this year, while Herrera has three average to solid-average offerings despite an undersized frame, Fangraphs’ Kiley McDaniel wrote while evaluating the Padres’ prospects. He projects as a possible fifth starter or a reliever.

Those may have been the most noteworthy transactions in terms of financial investment and lasting impact on an organization, but there were several more moves made over the course of the month. A more brief rundown…

  • Astros sign RHP Kyle Farnsworth to one-year $1.2MM contract. — Farnsworth’s time with the Astros was limited to 11 2/3 unsightly innings, as he yielded eight runs on 14 hits and nine walks with just eight strikeouts.
  • Marlins sign LHP Randy Wolf to one-year, $1MM contract. — Wolf appeared in six games for the Fish, including four starts, and posted a 5.26 ERA in 25 2/3 innings. A solid 19-to-6 K/BB ratio and his 4.38 FIP indicate that he might’ve been a bit better than his ERA otherwise suggested.
  • Blue Jays acquired OF Melky Mesa, RHP P.J. Walters from Royals in exchange for cash considerations. — The Jays acquired some organizational depth in this swap, though neither appeared in the Majors.
  • Blue Jays acquire LHP Raul Valdes from Astros in exchange for PTBNL or cash considerations. — Valdes served as a bullpen option at the Triple-A level after Toronto’s relief corps struggled in the early-going last year, though he didn’t appear in the Majors with Toronto.
  • Rangers acquire INF Jason Donald from Royals in exchange for cash considerations. — Similar to Toronto’s trades, this was about adding some depth to an injury-plagued Rangers organization, but Donald never appeared with Texas’ big league club.
  • White Sox claimed OF Moises Sierra from Blue Jays.
  • A’s claimed OF Nick Buss from Dodgers.
  • Angels claimed LHP Brooks Raley from Twins.
  • Blue Jays re-claimed OF Kenny Wilson from Twins.
  • A’s claimed LHP Jeff Francis from Reds.
  • Pirates claimed RHP Josh Wall from Angels.
  • Rangers claimed RHP Phil Irwin from Pirates.

Looking back at May 2013 and May 2012 also reveals significant moves, including extensions for Anthony Rizzo, Adam Jones and Miguel Montero in addition to a pair of Roy Oswalt signings. The month of May should also serve as a more telling example of which clubs will be buyers and which will be sellers as we head toward the followup to last year’s trade deadline, which was arguably the most chaotic in history.

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