Brian Bass Clears Waivers
SATURDAY, 12:47pm: MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch reports that Bass has cleared waivers and accepted an assignment to Triple-A.
MONDAY, 3:03pm: The Pirates designated Brian Bass for assignment, according to Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (via Twitter). The right-hander is out of options, so he'll be exposed to other clubs, but the Pirates wanted to make room for Ross Ohlendorf.
Bass, 28, allowed nine hits and eight walks in 6.1 innings for the Pirates this season for a 12.79 ERA. The Pirates signed Bass to a minor league deal in January, a month after the Orioles non-tendered him. Bass appeared in 48 games for the Orioles last year, logging 86.1 innings. He allowed 106 hits a year ago with 5.6 K/9 and 4.6 BB/9 so it wasn't a surprise when the Orioles declined to offer Bass a contract.
Within ten days we'll see Bass traded, released or, if he clears waivers, assigned to the minor leagues. Bass has been just part of the problem for a Pirates pitching staff that ranks last in the National League in runs allowed (195) and earned runs allowed (179).
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Greinke, Blalock, Berkman
Lots of cool things have happened on May 14th throughout baseball history. Mickey Mantle joined the 500 homerun club in 1967 (just the sixth player to do so at the time); Reggie Jackson passed Mantle on the all-time homer list with his 537th on the same 1986 day that Cardinals' utility player Jose Oquendo became the first non-pitcher in history to get a decision when he took the loss in extra innings; Doc Gooden threw his no-hitter in 1996, and the Mets set a single game franchise record with seven steals against the Giants in 2009 without the help of Jose Reyes. Also, this happened in 2008.
Here are a few links from around the web…
- Royals Authority thinks about the unthinkable: trading Zack Greinke.
- Pittsburgh Lumber Co. busts the myth that Neal Huntington can't spot talent.
- DRays Bay wonders if the Rays should cut Pat Burrell and replace him with Hank Blalock.
- The Crawfish Boxes looks at Lance Berkman's trade value.
- Feeling Dodger Blue says that Garret Anderson may not be long for the Dodgers.
- At Home Plate says that Carl Crawford's future is uncertain.
If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here.
Latin Links: Alderson, Coa, Batista, Pirates
The latest from the Caribbean and beyond…
- Sandy Alderson has been doing the rounds stateside to describe his reform efforts in the Dominican Republic. Aside from last week's lengthy interview with MLB.com's Jesse Sanchez, Alderson spoke with the New York Times' Michael S. Schmidt on Saturday and the San Diego Union-Tribune's Tim Sullivan yesterday. One interesting revelation from the most recent piece: Alderson concedes that the strongest resistance to his presence has come not from the oft-vilified independent agents known as "buscones," but rather from what Sullivan labels "MLB employees whose interests appear to be in conflict and whose income may be a product of working both sides of the street."
- The Yankees signed 17-year-old Venezuelan catcher Rainiero Coa, according to Annelida Yoris Rivas at the Venezuelan paper Nueva Prensa (link in Spanish). A lengthy bio in the decidedly lo-fi Diario el Progreso gives more details: Coa is a recently converted third baseman/shortstop whose hitting in international junior tournaments drew interest from a number of clubs. However, his defense and arm behind the plate were what sealed the deal at a recent Yankees tryout in Venezuela.
- Switch-hitting shortstop Jean Carlos Batista has agreed to terms with the Astros, according to the Dominican Prospect League site. Batista reportedly led the league in average and led his team in every offensive category for most of the DPL's season. Last year, Kiley McDaniel at Baseball Prospectus labeled Batista a "five-tool talent" and reported heavy interest in the prospect.
- The Pirates also inked two 17-year-olds from the DPL, right-handed starter Isaac Sanchez and speedy left-handed outfielder Miguel DeAza.
Odds & Ends: Pirates, Astros, Castro, Crawford
Let's start this Friday off with some links…
- Jon Paul Morosi of FoxSports.com feels that Neal Huntington's rebuilding plan has yet to yield results.
- Olney tweets that rival executives feel that both Oswalt and Lance Berkman would have trade value, but only if Houston was willing to eat a lot of money and accept secondary prospects in return. Yesterday we learned that Berkman would be willing to waive his no-trade clause.
- SI.com's Melissa Segura hears that MLB will announce a pilot program that will allow international amateurs to register before the July 2nd signing period begins, which should streamline age investigations and signings (link goes to Twitter).
- Meanwhile, MLB.com's Jesse Sanchez chatted with MLB's Dominican office consultant Sandy Alderson about what he hopes to achieve regarding how he hopes to improve the international market.
- ESPN's Enrique Rojas tweets that the Cubs have called up top shortstop prospect Starlin Castro. The 20-year-old was rated as the 16th best prospect in the game by Baseball America prior to the season, and was hitting .376/.421/.569 in 121 Double-A plate appearances. Chicago has already pushed his free agency back a year, but he can still qualify as a Super Two after 2012.
- Richard Justice of The Houston Chronicle mentions that the Astros have only $44MM in salary commitments for next season, most of which is tied up in Roy Oswalt and Carlos Lee. I respectfully disagree that Oswalt's $16MM salary "can easily be traded." How many teams have that much room in their budget?
- ESPN's Buster Olney tweets that Carl Crawford has put himself in a pretty good position going into free agency. The Rays' left fielder is hitting .343/.408/.571, but is only 7-for-11 in stolen base opportunities, and there's still 83% of the season left the play.
- ESPN's Keith Law and Jason Churchill go back and redo the 2004 draft. Both see Justin Verlander and Dustin Pedroia going 1-2 in a redraft.
Odds & Ends: Crawford, Raynor, Lackey, Strasburg
Links for Tuesday, as Tim Lincecum reclaims the MLB strikeout lead…
- Marc Topkin of The St. Petersburg Times spoke to Crawford, who said he was misquoted in the upcoming Sports Illustrated piece mentioned below. "Nothing's changed, no decisions," he said. "I don't know what Carlos [Pena] is doing.''
- Pirates' GM Neil Huntington told Chuck Finder of The Pittsburgh Post Gazette that he tried to made a deal with the Marlins that would allow Rule 5 pick John Raynor to remain with the Pirates, but to no avail. Raynor was returned to Florida today.
- John Lackey said he wasn't surprised when the Angels let him depart as a free agent given their trade record with letting home grown players leave, according to Mark Saxon of ESPN Los Angeles. "It's different," said Lackey. "The way they preach the team game and giving it up for the team. That's a little suspect. You're supposed to give it up for the team. When the time comes, they might not want to give it up for you. But I totally knew that was a possibility. I was prepared for that. That's the nature of the game today."
- Stephen Strasburg has been promoted and will make his Triple A debut Friday against Freddie Freeman and the Gwinnett Braves, reports MLB.com's Bill Ladson. ESPN's Rob Neyer notes that Strasburg seems to be on the Mark Prior path to the bigs, perhaps delayed a few weeks for cost savings.
- MASN's Ben Goessling says Nats 2006 first-round pick Colton Willems has decided to retire. The team has the pitcher on the restricted list in case he changes his mind.
- An upcoming Sports lllustrated piece on Carlos Pena features this quote from Carl Crawford: "This core group is going to still be together, me and Carlos are the only two guys that are going to be leaving."
- The Royals granted reliever Roman Colon his release so he can sign with the Kia Tigers of Korea, according to the team. Just three months ago, Colon and Juan Cruz were in the mix to be Joakim Soria's primary setup man. The Royals' bullpen sports an AL-worst 5.56 ERA in 81 innings.
- White Sox GM Kenny Williams wouldn't rule out a fire sale at a later date, but said the team's aggressive nature will probably prevent it (Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times reporting).
- ESPN's Buster Olney explains that his Saturday story about Cliff Lee being likely to reach free agency was prompted by a call Olney made to Lee's agent.
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets that the Blue Jays attempted to sign Kelly Johnson to play left field during the offseason, offering more than the $2.35MM Johnson received from Arizona. Johnson told Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic in March that he strongly considered offers from the Blue Jays, Pirates, and Indians.
- Joel Sherman of the New York Post points out that the upon acquiring Javier Vazquez, the Yankees considered two 2011 draft picks part of the deal. Already, Vazquez's Type A status and arbitration offer are in question. We'll be able to give you Vazquez's exact Elias standing later this month, when Eddie Bajek makes his first pass at 2009-10 rankings.
- Dejan Kovacevic's latest article for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette suggests the Pirates were overly optimistic about Akinori Iwamura, currently their highest-paid player.
- Click here to listen to my radio appearance on KFNS St. Louis from earlier today.
John Raynor Returned To Marlins
MAY 4th: Raynor was returned to the Marlins, tweets MLB.com's Joe Frisaro.
APRIL 27th: The Pirates designated outfielder John Raynor for assignment to make room for Jeff Karstens, reports Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Raynor is a Rule 5 pick from the Marlins, and GM Neal Huntington told Kovacevic he hopes to work out a trade to keep the outfielder in the organization. As it is, Raynor will be placed on waivers, and any team that claims him will remain subject to the Rule 5 restriction of keeping him on the 25-man roster all season.
Raynor didn't have a chance to prove himself, with just 11 big league plate appearances. As Kovacevic says, he was a casualty of the Pirates' "epic pitching problems." Raynor, 26, hit .257/.327/.360 in Triple A last year. Baseball America noted that Raynor has the speed to play center but his arm may keep him in left.
Odds & Ends: Harper, Escobar, Vazquez, Gordon
Links for Monday, as Joe Blanton makes his 2010 debut…
- Washington GM Mike Rizzo scouted Bryce Harper in person for the first time, and he and scouting director Kris Kline came away confident in Harper's makeup, according to Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post.
- Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com takes an in-depth look at the Pirates' arms throughout the organization.
- The Chicago Tribune's Mark Gonzales writes that GM Ken Williams is exercising patience when it comes to trading, despite the White Sox' slow start.
- Kelvim Escobar will undergo season-ending surgery to repair a torn capsule in the front of his right shoulder, tweets MLB.com's Anthony DiComo. Escobar signed a one-year deal with the Mets this winter for $1.25MM.
- Joe Pawlikowski of River Ave. Blues looks at the pitchers the Yankees were considering over Javier Vazquez, noting that they've all had concerns as well. The Yankees will delay Vazquez's sixth start until a week from today against the Tigers. John Harper of the New York Daily News wonders if the Yanks should ship Vazquez to the Mets.
- Joe Posnanski questions the Royals' decision to demote Alex Gordon. Gordon will play left field and first base in the minors, tweets Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star.
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports points out the Tigers' collection of young talent.
- Steve Dilbeck of the L.A. Times wonders what's happened to George Sherrill. The 33-year-old lefty has allowed 12 hits and 11 walks in nine innings so far. Given his $4.5MM salary this year, Sherrill is a prime candidate to be non-tendered after the season.
- RotoAuthority notes that while Vazquez and Ben Sheets have been brutal so far, they could still have fantasy value this year.
Odds & Ends: Rangers, Chapman, Capps, Choo
Links for Thursday, as Kelly Johnson and Paul Konerko jockey for the MLB home run lead…
- Richard Durrett of ESPN Dallas takes a look at what the Rangers could do with their roster once Ian Kinsler returns from the disabled list tomorrow.
- Reds' GM Walt Jocketty said that the team doesn't have a timetable for Aroldis Chapman's arrival in the Majors, says John Fay of The Cincinnati Enquirer.
- Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wonders why the Pirates didn't retain Matt Capps in hopes that he'd rebuild value. Capps is generating attention as MLB's saves (and save opportunity) leader. The righty told Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times it was a pretty close competition between the Cubs and Nationals for his services, once he was non-tendered.
- Yahoo's Tim Brown profiles Shin-Soo Choo, who his agent Scott Boras feels "has a chance to be the best Pacific Rim player ever over the course of his career."
- SI's Ann Killion writes about Barry Zito's apparent redemption. Zito is rocking a 1.32 ERA, an improved groundball rate, and an unsustainable .203 batting average on balls in play through four starts. If Zito can continue to keep the walks down, he could have his best year as a Giant. Of course, he flashed a similar walk rate in July and August of last year.
- Matt Kemp's agent Dave Stewart discussed Ned Colletti's recent comments on ESPN's Mason & Ireland show, saying the public criticism "should never have happened."
- Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times notes that the Mariners made the right call in not signing Jarrod Washburn.
- Baseball Prospectus' Kevin Goldstein does a mock draft of the first ten picks this year.
- Mark Zuckerman talked to a high-ranking Nationals official who finds Goldstein's criticism of Bryce Harper's makeup "way overblown." Meanwhile, Byron Kerr of MASNSports.com spoke to Harper's college coach about those same makeup concerns.
2011 Contract Issues: Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pirates face one contractual option after the season. For closer Octavio Dotel, they can choose a $4.5MM salary or a $500K buyout. Dotel's strikeout and walk rates have been typical so far, but he's allowed 15 hits and three home runs in 9.3 innings.
Akinori Iwamura, Brendan Donnelly, and Bobby Crosby will also be eligible for free agency after the season. They're earning a total of $7.2MM this year. If Dotel's option is declined, the Pirates will have $11.2MM coming off the books.
Increases to players under contract are light, with a total of $2.8MM. The Pirates have a big arbitration class though. First-time candidates include Joel Hanrahan, Lastings Milledge, Andy LaRoche, Delwyn Young, and possibly Ross Ohlendorf. D.J. Carrasco and Jack Taschner could be second-timers. Zach Duke and Ronny Cedeno are third-time candidates, while Ryan Church and Javier Lopez fit into the fourth-time class. There will be non-tenders in the mix, but it appears that the Pirates will have to raise payroll to retain all their key players. That shouldn't be a problem, since their Opening Day payroll was only $39MM.
Thanks to Cot's Baseball Contracts for the info.
Brandon Jones Clears Waivers
WEDNESDAY, 2:39pm: Jones cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple A, tweets MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch.
SUNDAY, 11:42am: The Pirates have designated Brandon Jones for assignment, according to Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (via Twitter). The move was one of many for the Pirates, who also optioned Daniel McCutchen to the minors and placed Chris Jakubauskas on the 15-day DL to make room for Brian Burres and Brian Bass. Jones' DFA was necessary to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for Bass.
The Pirates added Jones to their roster earlier this year, when they claimed him off waivers from the Braves. The 26-year-old outfielder had a .257/.313/.365 slash line in 166 career plate appearances for Atlanta, but has yet to appear in the majors this season. Prior to the 2008 season, Baseball America ranked Jones as baseball's 70th-best prospect, but his stock has taken a bit of a hit since then, given his inability to stick on a big league roster.