Archives for June 2016

Angels Designate David Huff, Select Al Alburquerque

By Jeff Todd | June 13, 2016 at 6:38pm CDT

The Angels made a series of roster moves involving their oft-rotated pitching staff. As MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez first suggested (Twitter links), the team will designate lefty David Huff for assignment and place righty Cory Rasmus on the 15-day DL, clearing active roster spots for right-handers A.J. Achter and Al Alburquerque.

Huff, 31, surrendered ten earned runs in just 5 1/3 frames over two starts, allowing 13 hits and four home runs along the way. He had been tasked with stepping into the rotation while the club awaits Tim Lincecum, who is expected to be ready for major league action this weekend.

Achter has provided 11 1/3 innings of 4.76 ERA pitching on the year to the Halos’ pen, but this’ll be the first shot for the veteran Albuquerque. He has thrown 21 2/3 frames at Triple-A on the season, working to a 2.49 ERA with 10.4 K/9 with 4.2 BB/9.

Dodgers Release Carl Crawford

By Jeff Todd | June 13, 2016 at 4:59pm CDT

The Dodgers have released outfielder Carl Crawford, as MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick tweets. Recently designated for assignment, Crawford obviously did not draw any interest on the waiver wire.

Crawford is still owed $35MM or so on the ill-fated contract he first signed with the Red Sox, after all, and there was no chance that was being taken over by another organization. That cash will remain on the Dodgers’ books, with other teams free to add Crawford at the league minimum rate.

Though the waiver clearance was fully expected, it would be surprising if there isn’t at least some interest in the 34-year-old veteran. He has struggled this year, and continues to deal with a variety of maladies, but Crawford still owns a useful .278/.320/.400 batting line in over 1,000 plate appearances over his four seasons in Los Angeles.

That’s solid league-average hitting, which is all the more appealing when combined with his other skills. Crawford continues to move well on the bases when healthy. And he’s long been viewed as a quality outfielder. The recent returns from defensive metrics aren’t as promising, but he’s only been seen as a negative in a small and injury-riddled sample.

The fleet-footed Crawford certainly isn’t the player he once was, but as an essentially free asset he makes for an interesting addition to the open market. Organizations interested in a left-handed-hitting outfielder could do a lot worse, at a much higher cost, so he could be pursued relatively broadly for a just-released player.

Yankees Designate Layne Somsen For Assignment

By Steve Adams | June 13, 2016 at 3:52pm CDT

The Yankees announced that they’ve designated right-hander Layne Somsen for assignment in order to clear a spot on the roster for first baseman Ike Davis, whose previously reported Major League deal is now official.

The 27-year-old Somsen was claimed off waivers from the Reds in late May and assigned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He’s posted a combined 1.44 ERA with 10.4 K/9 against 4.3 BB/9 in 25 innings between the Triple-A affiliates for New York and Cincinnati and also made his big league debut for the Reds this season, surrendering five runs in 2 1/3 innings. A 22nd-round pick by the Reds in 2013, Somsen has a strong 2.42 ERA in 189 2/3 career minor league innings to go along with a 193-to-77 K/BB ratio.

Minor MLB Transactions: 6/13/16

By Steve Adams | June 13, 2016 at 3:10pm CDT

Here are the day’s minor moves from around the league…

The Angels announced today that right-hander Cody Satterwhite has been released from Triple-A Salt Lake so that he may sign with the Hanshin Tigers of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball (Twitter link). The 29-year-old Satterwhite — a former farmhand of the Tigers and Mets — was in his first season in the Angels organization and had pitched to a 1.80 ERA with 7.9 K/9 against 2.9 BB/9 in 18 relief appearances, totaling 25 innings. The former second-round pick (Tigers, 2008) has a career 3.71 ERA in 96 innings at the Triple-A level.

Earlier Moves

The Blue Jays are set to select the contract of left-hander Scott Diamond from Triple-A Buffalo, reports Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith. The Canadian-born southpaw hasn’t appeared in the Majors since 2013 with the Twins, but he has a strong 3.16 ERA through 74 innings in the minors this season. Diamond, 29, isn’t one to miss many bats (4.5 K/9 at Triple-A this season, 4.2 K/9 in 343 MLB innings), but he’s displayed excellent control throughout his career and keeps the ball on the ground quite well. He’s been starting with Buffalo but could step into a multi-inning relief role for the Jays; Nicholson-Smith writes that manager John Gibbons said the team’s bullpen is “on fumes right now.” The Jays will need to make a 40-man move to add Diamond to the mix, but they could simply move fellow lefty Franklin Morales to the 60-day DL in order to create room.

Reds To Sign No. 2 Overall Pick Nick Senzel

By Steve Adams | June 13, 2016 at 1:08pm CDT

The Reds have reached an agreement with No. 2 overall draft pick Nick Senzel and will sign the Tennessee third baseman for a $6.2MM bonus later today, reports MLB.com’s Jim Callis (on Twitter). The second pick came with a value of $7,762,900 this season, meaning that Cincinnati will save $1,562,900 on the pick. That money can be reallocated to other picks further down the team’s draft board.

Callis refers to Senzel as the best college hitter in this year’s draft class, and he’s not alone in that thought. as ESPN’s Keith Law called him the “most advanced college hitter in the draft” while ranking him eighth among draft prospects. Callis and his colleague Jonathan Mayo ranked Senzel seventh in the draft, while Baseball America had him ranked sixth on their Top 500 list. All of the scouting reports agree that Senzel quieted defensive concerns in 2016 and turned himself into a solid enough defender at the hot corner that scouts now believe he can stick their as a professional. Callis and Mayo rate his hit tool, power, speed, arm and glove all average or better, though both Law and BA note that his power, to this point, is more apparent in batting practice than in game settings. Senzel’s penchant for hard contact and his improved work at third base seemingly give him something of a high floor, even if his power never comes around to allow him to turn into a star.

Cincinnati entered the 2016 draft with the largest pool of any Major League team due to the size of that No. 2 overall slot and because they won the top pick in Competitive Balance Round A (No. 35 overall) in last summer’s lottery. That slot came with a $1,837,200 value and was used on outfielder Taylor Trammell — a two-sport star (football) in high school that some had projected to go in the first round and as such may require an over-slot deal to break his commitment to Georgia Tech. Overall, Cincinnati carried a pool of $13,923,700, meaning they now have $7,723,700 remaining to spend on Trammell and their picks in rounds two through 10. (Players selected after the 10th round do not count against a team’s pool unless the bonus exceeds $100K, in which case only the overage is subtracted from the pool.)

Yulieski Gurriel Declared Free Agent

By Steve Adams | June 13, 2016 at 10:58am CDT

Cuban third baseman Yulieski Gurriel has been declared a free agent by Major League Baseball and is now free to sign with any team, reports MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez (via Twitter). Gurriel, who just turned 32 last Thursday, is widely considered to be one of the top talents on the international market (if not the top talent). Because of his age and extensive professional experience in Cuba, Gurriel will not be subject to international spending limitations. He’s free to sign a Major League deal with the highest bidder, and Andy McCullough of the L.A. Times tweets that the Dodgers have expressed interest.

In parts of 15 professional seasons between Cuba and Japan, Gurriel is a .335/.417/.580 hitter with 250 home runs in 5491 plate appearances. Baseball America’s Ben Badler rated Gurriel as the No. 1 player in Cuba last spring, calling him an above-average defender at third base that had plus raw power as well as the ability to get on base at a high clip and hit for average. Badler noted that Gurriel has a 70-grade arm (on the 20-80 scouting scale) and is also capable of playing second base, even if he profiles best at the hot corner. While Gurriel is an MLB-ready talent, the lengthy layoff he’s had from playing in a game setting makes it likely that he’d require a tune-up at the minor league level before jumping into a Major League lineup.

While Gurriel’s advanced age may limit his earning power to some extent, as he’s most likely in the late stages of his prime, it seems that he should be able to secure a lucrative multi-year deal in free agency. Because he hasn’t been eligible to sign, there’s been very little talk about what type of contract his representatives at the Wasserman Media Group will pursue in negotiations with MLB teams, but today’s news should again bring Gurriel’s name to the forefront of the rumor mill. For some context, Hector Olivera inked a six-year, $62.5MM contract with the Dodgers at the age of 30, so there’s certainly precedent for a very significant payday for a Cuban free agent even if his 20s have passed. While Gurriel may not be able to challenge that type of contract length, there’s certainly reason to believe that he could look to achieve a similar, if not greater average annual value than Olivera ($10.41MM) or Jose Abreu ($11.33MM), though that’s purely my own speculation.

The timeline for Gurriel’s younger brother, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., to be declared a free agent remains unclear. The 22-year-old reportedly left Cuba at the same time as his older brother and hired the same representation, but there has yet to be any report that he’s secured free agency from MLB as well. Unlike his older brother, Lourdes would be subject to international spending limitations, although if he signs after his 23rd birthday (October 19), that would no longer be the case. There’s been some talk in the past about the possibility of the brothers signing as a package deal, but Yulieski’s earlier timeline to free agency could conceivably make that less realistic.

AL East Notes: Ubaldo, Venters, Beltran, Red Sox

By Steve Adams | June 13, 2016 at 10:31am CDT

Ubaldo Jimenez’s dreadful results with the Orioles this season (specifically over his past seven starts) may soon force the Orioles’ hand, writes MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko. Manager Buck Showalter declined to give an inkling of the team’s intentions with Jimenez, stating: “We have to look at other possibilities, but if we do something, he’s going to hear about it from us long before he reads about it.” As Kubatko points out, that type of sentiment from Showalter in the past has typically preceded a change, and the real question surrounding Jimenez is how drastic of a move the team will make. Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun wrote last night that a release isn’t likely given the remaining money on Jimenez’s four-year deal, but Kubatko hears differently, writing that the O’s are willing to cut bait in spite of the financial considerations. Jimenez is owed about $7.89MM through the end of the season and is earning $13.5MM in 2017 as well. He has a 6.89 ERA through 62 2/3 innings this season and has seen his once blistering fastball dip to an average of just 89.8 mph.

Cubs Scouting Yankees’ Top Relievers

By Connor Byrne | June 12, 2016 at 11:14pm CDT

12:16pm: Schwarber, Baez and catching prospect Willson Contreras are likely off-limits in trade talks, though the same might not be true regarding Soler, according to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times.

8:48am: The Cubs’ Jason Parks was at Yankee Stadium this week to scout the Bombers’ all-world bullpen trio of Aroldis Chapman, Andrew Miller and Dellin Betances, reports George A. King III of the New York Post. Chapman, who’s in a contract year, could be a rental for the Cubs. Miller is under contract through 2018 at a palatable $9MM, while Betances is making the league-minimum salary of $507,500 and is controllable through arbitration for three more seasons. Betances seems the least likely of the three to go anywhere, but the Yankees are willing to listen to offers for him, according to King.

With a league-best 42-18 record, the Cubs clearly aren’t a team rife with flaws. One area of concern, though, is their bullpen, which could use another dominant arm to join the excellent late-game duo of closer Hector Rondon and setup man Pedro Strop. A few other Cubs relievers – namely Trevor Cahill, Travis Wood and ex-Yankee Adam Warren – have done well to prevent runs so far this year, but their peripherals suggest serious regression could be on the way. That isn’t the case for any of Chapman, Miller or Betances. All three have more than lived up to the hype this season in fanning a combined 128 batters, issuing a paltry 14 walks and surrendering 17 earned runs in 71 1/3 innings. Of course, given their importance to the Yankees – who have climbed back to .500 and sit three games out of a Wild Card position – it’s certainly not a sure thing any of them will switch uniforms prior to the Aug. 1 trade deadline.

In the event the Yankees do decide this isn’t their year and elect to put their star relievers on the block, it would likely take one or more enticing young pieces to land a member of the troika. The Cubs have plenty of quality youth in their farm system, which ESPN’s Keith Law (Insider required and recommended) ranked as the league’s fourth-best group entering the season. World Series-contending Chicago probably wouldn’t want to weaken its major league depth by moving the likes of Javier Baez or Jorge Soler, however, and the Post’s Joel Sherman reported last week that the Cubs are not interested in dealing injured catcher/outfielder Kyle Schwarber for Miller. It stands to reason they wouldn’t move him for Chapman, either, though it’s unknown in Betances’ case.

Quick Hits: July 2 Market, Giants, Dodgers, Ubaldo

By Mark Polishuk | June 12, 2016 at 10:59pm CDT

Some news from around baseball as we wrap up the weekend…

With the next international signing window opening on July 2, Baseball America’s Ben Badler profiles (in two separate pieces) 10 youngsters likely to receive seven-figure bonuses. Kevin Maitan is perhaps the mostly highly-touted player of the entire 2016-17 class, as the 16-year-old Venezuelan shortstop is rumored to be in line for a bonus north of $4MM, most likely from the Braves. “Nobody is a can’t miss but it’s hard to see him missing,” one scout says of Maitan. As always, it’s well worth getting a BA subscription to read the full scouting reports and news, including how the Braves, Padres and A’s are connected to two players each, with others rumored to be signing with the Nationals, Astros, Rockies and Mariners.
The Giants and Dodgers both pursued some major free agent arms last winter, and the results of that hunt are being seen this season, Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times writes. After missing out on Zack Greinke, the Giants pivoted to Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija, who have both been workhorses for the club. The Dodgers weren’t interested in either Cueto or Samardzija at the price of their respective contracts with the Giants, and according to Cueto via an interpreter, the Dodgers never offered him a contract at all. “They were telling me to wait,” Cueto said. After missing out on Greinke, L.A. made two less-expensive signings in Kenta Maeda and Scott Kazmir, though as Shaikin notes, the Dodgers’ main issue this season has been a lack of offense.
Ubaldo Jimenez was rocked for five runs in just a third of an inning today, the shortest start of his Major League career. Jimenez now has a 6.89 ERA over 62 2/3 IP this season, leading Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun to wonder just how much longer the Orioles can continue using him in the rotation. Jimenez can’t be sent with the minors without his permission, and releasing him isn’t likely with roughly $21MM owed to him through the 2017 season.
If the Orioles do replace Jimenez in the rotation, Dylan Bundy won’t be a candidate, as Encina details in another Baltimore Sun piece that the O’s are focusing on slowly rebuilding Bundy’s arm strength with an eye towards having him contend for a starting spot next spring. Buck Showalter said the aim is to have Bundy throw 60-75 innings out of the bullpen this season. Bundy, the fourth overall pick of the 2011 draft, has had his career delayed by several injuries, including Tommy John surgery.
Robinson Cano’s decision to sign with the Mariners after the 2013 season led to shockwaves throughout the second base market that could still be felt in some of this past offseason’s moves, the New York Post’s Joel Sherman writes. Of the six teams (the Cubs, Nationals, Mariners, Pirates, Mets and Yankees) Sherman ranks as the most impacted by Cano’s signing, the Yankees are ranked last, as it is still unclear as to whether Starlin Castro is the club’s long-term answer at the keystone.

Central Notes: Stearns, Braun, Pirates, Burnett, Shaw

By Mark Polishuk | June 12, 2016 at 9:55pm CDT

Here are some news items from both the NL and AL Central…

In an interview with Jim Duquette and Jim Bowden on MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM (audio link), Brewers GM David Stearns discussed that his team’s plan “at this stage [is to] acquire and develop the best young talent we possibly can,” and thus if teams come calling about Milwaukee’s young players, Stearns would want an “exceptionally high” return. Stearns, however, didn’t exactly say that this makes a veteran player like Jonathan Lucroy or Ryan Braun more likely to dealt. In fact, he noted that the possibility of trading Braun hasn’t been something that he’s had to seriously consider in his brief time as Milwaukee’s GM, and “there is no motivation for us to move…an elite-level player.” That said, Stearns did say he’d already talked to both Braun and Lucroy about the trade rumors circling around both men and said he’d keep them appraised of any developments should they arise. Stearns expects “active discussions” leading up to the trade deadline he said the Brewers “are in a situation where we need to be open-minded and we need to be open to any possibility.”
If the Cubs keep running away with the NL Central, ESPN’s Buster Olney (subscription required) feels the Pirates may focus on deadline acquisitions that can help them in 2017, as reaching the coin flip that is the Wild Card game isn’t worth giving up substantial talent for a short-term rental.
While the Pirates may have a need at catcher, both Clint Hurdle and Neal Huntington felt John Jaso’s past concussion history ruled him out of consideration for work behind the plate, Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette tweets. Chris Stewart and the newly-acquired Erik Kratz look to handle the catching duties while Francisco Cervelli is on the disabled list.
It doesn’t appear that Sean Burnett will exercise his June 15 opt-out clause even he isn’t on the Twins’ Major League roster, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports (via Twitter). Burnett signed a minor league contract with Minnesota in May, his fourth minors deal with as many clubs since November following prior agreements with the Braves, Dodgers and Nationals. The veteran southpaw has a 2.66 ERA over 20 1/3 relief innings at Triple-A this season as he looks to return to the bigs for the first time since undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2014.
Bryan Shaw had another tough outing on Saturday, leading Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer to wonder if the Indians need to look for a more reliable setup man at the deadline. Shaw’s season has been a roller-coaster, going from a terrible April to lights-out in May and thus far shaky in June, all adding up to a 5.18 ERA, 9.25 K/9 and 3.33 BB/9 over 24 1/3 innings. Shaw’s main problem has been the long ball, as his whopping 2.2 HR/9 is more than triple his career average prior to this season.

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