Olney On Bell, Goldschmidt, Cuddyer
The latest MLB news and rumors from ESPN.com’s Buster Olney…
- Rival evaluators believe the Padres made a major mistake in not trading Heath Bell at the deadline, according to Olney. If the closer accepts arbitration, as he says he would, the small market Padres will be burdened with a big contract. And if they don’t offer arbitration, the Padres won’t get anything for losing Bell.
- The Twins want to keep hot-hitting Michael Cuddyer after the season, according to Olney (on Twitter). The versatile Cuddyer hits free agency this winter.
- Arizona GM Kevin Towers told Olney that he was impressed by Paul Goldschmidt's power and work ethic in Spring Training. The rookie first baseman homered against Tim Lincecum Tuesday and Towers says he'll be able to cope when things aren't going so well. "He's not a kid who's going to start hanging his head if he gets a couple of oh-fers," Towers said.
Updates On Converted Relievers Now Starting
It seems like MLB teams, even good ones, are always on the hunt for starting pitching. The Tigers, Indians, Red Sox, Cardinals and Diamondbacks acquired starting pitching at the trade deadline and other contenders inquired on starters before moving on to other targets.
Quality starting pitching is scarce and expensive so teams sometimes convert relievers to the rotation in case they can add value as starters. Here's a look at the four converted relievers have who started extensively in 2011. None of the pitchers below had more than two MLB starts to his name before the 2011 season and all of them were big league relievers last year:
- Alexi Ogando, Rangers - What a find for the Rangers. Ogando has a 2.88 ERA with 6.7 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9 in 125 innings as a starter. The converted outfielder has averaged 94.8 mph with his fastball, but it's hard not to wonder if he'll tire toward the end of the season. Ogando's previous professional high in innings is 70 2/3.
- Phil Coke, Tigers – Coke lost his rotation spot midway through the season after posting a 4.91 ERA with 4.3 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9 in 77 innings. The left-hander was solid in April and May, but put together a string of ugly outings in June and is now pitching out of the 'pen again.
- Kyle McClellan, Cardinals – McClellan, who replaced the injured Adam Wainwright, lost his rotation spot when St. Louis acquired Edwin Jackson. McClellan returns to the bullpen after posting a respectable 4.21 ERA in 104 2/3 innings from the rotation.
- Phil Humber, White Sox – The 28-year-old former third overall pick has a 3.44 ERA with 5.9 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9 in 117 2/3 innings. Though his last three starts haven't been pretty, Humber's emergence allowed the White Sox to part with Jackson last week.
Los Angeles Notes: Loney, Kershaw, Pineiro
On this date in 1948, the Brooklyn Dodgers acquired announcer Ernie Harwell from the Atlanta Crackers for catcher Cliff Dapper in an unconventional trade that the Dodgers won easily. Here's the latest on L.A.'s two teams…
- James Loney tells Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times that he loves playing for the Dodgers and hopes the team wants him back in 2012. The first baseman is under team control next year, but would earn a raise from $4.875MM if the Dodgers offer arbitration, which makes him a prime non-tender candidate.
- Clayton Kershaw was the National League's pitcher of the month in July and his season numbers are now more impressive than ever. The 23-year-old has a 2.68 ERA with a league-leading 177 strikeouts, a career-best rate of 2.3 BB/9 and a career-best 13 wins. It should all translate into a salary of $5MM or more next year, when Kershaw is arbitration eligible for the first time.
- Angels GM Tony Reagins tells Mike DiGiovanna of the LA Times that having lots of powerful bats at first base is a "good problem." Kendrys Morales, Mark Trumbo and C.J. Cron give the Angels an abundance of power at first base and Reagins says situations like this "have a way of working themselves out."
- The Angels are considering replacing the struggling Joel Pineiro in the rotation, according to Mark Saxon of ESPNLosAngeles.com (on Twitter). It's not clear whether the Angels will look to the bullpen, the minors or outside of the organization.
Draft Signings: Tigers, Indians, Pirates, Cron
MLB teams have until August 15th to sign their 2011 draft picks. Here are the latest signings, with less than two weeks to go before the deadline…
- The Tigers signed fifth round pick Brandon Loy to a deal with a $212K bonus, according to Jim Callis of Baseball America (via Twitter). The slot recommendation was $146.7K.
- Indians 16th rounder Ryan Merritt agreed to sign a $150K deal with Cleveland, according to Jim Callis of Baseball America (on Twitter).
- The Pirates announced that they signed high school right-hander Jake Burnette. The seventh rounder gets $550K, according to Callis (on Twitter).
- The Pirates agreed to sign fifth rounder Tyler Glasnow for $600K, according to Callis. It’s the highest known deal outside of the first 65 picks this year, Callis reports.
- Angels first rounder C.J. Cron, who signed in June, slugged three homers last night, according to Ashley Marshall of MLB.com. The 21-year-old has 11 homers in his first 137 professional plate appearances.
Quick Hits: Marlins, Yankees, Darvish
Dan Uggla hit his 23rd home run of the season and extended his hit streak to 25 games against the Nationals this afternoon. Here's the latest news from around MLB, starting with an item on Uggla’s former team…
- Greg Cote of the Miami Herald argues that the Marlins should stop focusing on finding a new manager for 2012 and let Jack McKeon lead the club into its new stadium next year.
- GM Brian Cashman's emphasis on the "bigger picture" has enabled the Yankees to keep the likes of Phil Hughes, Ivan Nova and Eduardo Nunez, as Newsday's Ken Davidoff explains.
- Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus (link at ESPN.com) and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com rank the top prospects traded at the deadline and Drew Pomeranz, who hasn't even been officially traded yet, tops both lists. The Rockies will acquire Pomeranz as the player to be named in the Ubaldo Jimenez trade.
- Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports suggests Yu Darvish could end up with the Rangers next year. The Rangers have two Japanese pitchers, Koji Uehara and Yoshinori Tateyama, and could bid for the rights to Darvish after the season. GM Jon Daniels saw Darvish pitch this year, but he was interested in more than one player. "I was there to get a feel for the lay of the land and the baseball culture, the same way I did in the Dominican a few years ago,” Daniels told Morosi. “If we’re going to invest in that universe of players, we need to understand where they’re coming from.”
Brett Carroll Elects Free Agency
Brett Carroll refused an outright assignment to Triple-A and is now a free agent, according to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (on Twitter). The Brewers designated Carroll for assignment on Saturday to create roster space for Jerry Hairston Jr.
The Brewers acquired Carroll from the Royals in March and made him their Triple-A center fielder. He hit .281/.356/.469 in 381 plate appearances in Nashville then appeared in two games for Milwaukee.
Outrighted To Triple-A: Buck, Hall, Hernandez
The latest players to get outrighted to the minors…
- The Indians announced that they outrighted outfielder Travis Buck to Triple-A. He has three days to accept or decline the assignment.
- The Giants outrighted Bill Hall to the minor leagues and he accepted the assignment, according to Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle (on Twitter). The Giants designated Hall for assignment last week to create roster space for Carlos Beltran.
- The Braves outrighted Diory Hernandez to Triple-A yesterday, according to MLB.com's transactions page. Atlanta designated the infielder for assignment five days ago to create 40-man roster space for Jose Constanza.
Heyman On Hendry, Yankees, Astros
Jon Heyman of SI.com looks back at the Cubs' quiet weekend and reports that rival teams were surprised when the Cubs said they wouldn't move Carlos Pena, Marlon Byrd and Jeff Baker. Here are the rest of Heyman's notes from around MLB…
- GM Jim Hendry has a strong rapport with Cubs ownership, according to people connected to the Cubs.
- Yankees people don’t think Erik Bedard would last 20 minutes in New York. Red Sox GM Theo Epstein said Sunday that he’s happy to let Bedard’s arm respond to his critics.
- The Astros hired an independent scout to watch their minor league affiliates and the scout found fewer than five players who should play in the Major Leagues.
- MLB officials “seem determined” to convince the players’ association to agree to a slotting system for the amateur draft. The union doesn’t want capped bonuses, which would limit amateur players' earning power.
NL Central Notes: Garza, Astros, Brewers
The Cardinals beat the Brewers in extra innings last night, and Albert Pujols and Ryan Braun got hit by pitches in the process. Here are some NL Central links for Wednesday, before the division rivals take the field again…
- Cubs GM Jim Hendry told Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times that he's glad to have Matt Garza under team control for 2012.
- Matt Eddy of Baseball America looks back at the Astros' forays into free agency and their subsequent trades for prospects in a subscriber-only piece. It's clear, Eddy writes, that the Astros are well-positioned to land the top pick in next year's draft. Houston has an MLB-worst 36-74 record.
- The Brewers announced that they've already sold more tickets for 2011 than they did in 2010, when they drew 2,776,531 fans. More fans mean more revenue for the Brewers, who have already committed $59MM to next year's payroll.
Checking In On Former Rays Relievers
When you consider what happened last offseason, it's not overly surprising that few bullpens in baseball have a worse strikeout rate, walk rate or ERA than the Rays. Six prominent Rays relievers hit free agency and signed elsewhere for a total of $67.65MM (a figure that the Rays’ payroll has surpassed exactly once since 2000).
- Rafael Soriano - three years/$35MM, Yankees - Soriano, who missed two and a half months with inflammation in his right elbow, has ugly numbers 16 innings into his new deal: a 5.06 ERA with 6.8 K/9 and 6.2 BB/9.
- Joaquin Benoit - three years/$16.5MM, Tigers - Benoit recovered from a slow start to post more respectable numbers. His season stats (4.62 ERA, 8.1 K/9, 2.3 BB/9) aren't nearly as impressive as they were last year, however.
- Grant Balfour - two years/$8.1MM, Athletics - Balfour has been an excellent addition to Oakland's pen, putting up similar numbers to the ones he had with the Rays last year. The 33-year-old has a 1.88 ERA with 9.0 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 43 innings into the season.
- Dan Wheeler - one year/$3MM, Red Sox - Wheeler has a 4.54 ERA with 7.1 K/9 and 1.8 BB/9 for the Red Sox. He spent time on the disabled list in May and has recovered from his slow start.
- Chad Qualls - one year/$2.55MM, Padres - Qualls, who was unlucky in 2010, has cut his ERA in half to 3.23 this year thanks to some improved fortune. He has posted 5.1 K/9, 2.2 BB/9 and a 53.0% ground ball rate in 53 innings.
- Randy Choate - two years/$2.5MM, Marlins - Choate, the Marlins' lefty specialist, has a 1.66 ERA with 11.2 K/9 and 5.0 BB/9 this season. He drew interest at the trade deadline, but the Marlins held on.
The Yankees surely regret Soriano's contract and the Benoit deal still seems like a coup for his representatives at ACES. The four smaller deals for Balfour, Wheeler, Qualls and Choate have worked out relatively well so far. Would Tampa Bay's bullpen be better with some of these relievers? No question. Worth $67.65MM for the low-budget Rays? No way.