Olney On Padres, Wood, Pirates
Teams like the Yankees, Rangers and Cardinals may not have to wait much longer for bullpen help. There will probably be relievers available immediately, according to ESPN.com’s Buster Olney. Here’s the latest on the relief market and other notes from Olney:
- The industry-wide expectation is that the Padres will trade Heath Bell soon.
- Executives wonder if the Padres will decide to take advantage of Mike Adams' substantial trade value and trade him now. The setup man is under team control through 2012.
- Rival teams will presumably call the Cubs to see if Kerry Wood would accept a trade. The right-hander signed a discounted $1.5MM contract last offseason because he wanted to return to Chicago.
- Grant Balfour, Luke Gregerson and Michael Wuertz are other possible trade candidates, according to Olney.
- Though the Pirates have developed more top talent under Neal Huntington, it’s an important year for the GM, who doesn’t have a contract after 2011. The Pirates drafted aggressively once again this year, so Huntington and his scouting staff will have a number of tough signs this summer, such as high schooler Josh Bell.
AL East Notes: Barnes, Wakefield, Orioles
The latest from the AL East before the first-place Red Sox attempt to complete a sweep of the Yankees in New York…
- Red Sox first rounder Matt Barnes grew up rooting for the Yankees, according to Nicole Auerbach of the Boston Globe. Barnes is preparing to switch his allegiances and he doesn't expect the change to be too difficult, since he has "always respected" the Red Sox.
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports says he was wrong to question Tim Wakefield's place on the Boston roster earlier this spring. The knuckleballer has a 4.84 ERA with 4.3 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9 through 48 1/3 innings this year and is a Hall of Famer in the eyes of Robinson Cano.
- Jim Callis of Baseball America gives the Orioles high marks on their draft, according to MASNsports' Steve Melewski. "They got the best pitcher in the draft and depth after that," Callis said. "They got tremendous quality and quantity."
- Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun says he would have interest in signing J.J. Hardy to a two-year extension if he were running the Orioles. Hardy has a .276/.346/.457 line 131 plate appearances into the season.
A’s Notes: Geren, Willingham, Boras
The Athletics lost their ninth consecutive game last night, falling 3-2 to the Orioles. Here's the latest on the slumping A's, who are now nine games below .500…
- Questions about the job security of manager Bob Geren will only intensify if the A's keep losing, as Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle points out. It's considered unlikely that A's GM Billy Beane would fire Geren, a longtime friend, during the season, according to Slusser. The skipper is signed through 2011.
- The A's haven't had talks with Josh Willingham about signing a long-term deal, according to Slusser. The outfielder would draw interest if the A's made him available, as he has ten homers and a .239/.317/.438 line. Alternatively, the A's could avoid the trade rumors and lock Willingham up long-term, like the Brewers did with Corey Hart last summer.
- As we noted last night, the A's selected Shane Boras, the son of agent Scott Boras, in this year's draft. Slusser reports that the A's draftee will have a different advisor than you might expect: his mother, Boras' wife Jeanette.
Padres Notes: Rizzo, Ludwick, Heisey
On this date 30 years ago, the Padres drafted future Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn in the third round of the amateur draft. Gwynn collected 3141 hits and eight batting titles in 20 seasons as a Padre before being enshrined in Cooperstown in 2007. We wish Gwynn all the best in his battle with cancer. Here are today's Padres links…
- Padres first base prospect Anthony Rizzo will be called up and will be starting in Thursday night's lineup against the Nationals, tweets Dan Hayes of the North County Times. Corey Brock profiles the competitive 21-year-old at MLB.com in a piece that’s worth checking out.
- It appears that the Padres would trade Ryan Ludwick to Cincinnati for Reds outfielder Chris Heisey or prospects, according to Hal McCoy of the Dayton Daily News. Reds left fielders have combined to hit .222/.315/.385 this year, while Ludwick has a .256/.327/.402 line.
- Heisey, 26, has a .281/.345/.438 line in 110 plate appearances this year and has played all three outfield positions.
Draft Notes: Giants, Angels, Hudson, Garrett
The MLB draft is coming to an end, which means scouting directors will start preparing for next year's draft before we know it. Here at MLBTR, we're still focused on the '11 draftees. Here's the latest:
- The Giants selected Benny Sosnick out of Jewish Community High School of the Bay with their 49th round pick. Sosnick led Northern California high schoolers in batting average and is the younger brother of Matt Sosnick, the agent for Jay Bruce, Josh Johnson, Ricky Nolasco and others.
- If this year's draft is any indication, Angels scouting director Ric Wilson appears to like college players, according to Mike DiGiovanna of the LA Times.
- MLB.com's Tom Singer runs through the current Major Leaguers who were drafted latest, including Kyle Farnsworth (47th round), Orlando Hudson (43rd round) and Mark Buehrle (38th round).
- John Manuel of Baseball America explains that Amir Garrett is a natural at two sports: baseball and basketball. The Reds will try to convince their 22nd rounder to give up a basketball scholarship at St. John's for a pro baseball career.
Contract Notes: Ortiz, Reyes, Ichiro, Ethier
Trade candidate Jose Reyes, 2012 free agent David Ortiz and 2013 free agents Ichiro Suzuki and Andre Ethier are earning a combined $50MM this year, but it's never too early to look ahead at a player's next contract, so here's an update on the outlook for each player's future earnings…
- Ortiz is going to be well-paid in 2012 if he keeps this up, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. The Red Sox DH has 14 homers and a .324/.390/.602 line this year. I looked at the market for Ortiz last week.
- ESPN.com’s Buster Olney suggests Reyes could be in position to sign for more than the $142MM Carl Crawford obtained this offseason. Reyes leads the National League with a .339 batting average, 84 hits and 11 triples. His .387 OBP and .512 slugging percentage would be career bests.
- Ichiro's agent, Tony Attanasio, told Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports that “nothing has been done on Ichiro’s contract beyond 2012,” when it expires. Unlike Ortiz and Reyes, Ichiro is in the midst of a disappointing season. The 37-year-old has a .260/.313/.303 line with 14 stolen bases.
- Ethier has left something to be desired as the three-hole hitter in the Dodgers' lineup this year, writes Steve Dilbeck of the Los Angeles Times. Dilbeck wonders how much a team might pay Ethier considering his relative power outage — the 29-year-old has five homers on the season.
Springer On Athleticism, Astros, Bonus
George Springer credits his father – a “tremendous athlete” – for passing along the genes that prompted Baseball America to suggest that the Astros’ first round selection may be the best college athlete in this year’s draft. Springer’s mother passed along something other than athletic genes; she introduced her son to gymnastics at a young age.
“It helped me tremendously with body control and body awareness and just being able to understand my own strength,” Springer said on a conference call.
The 11th overall selection can do flips standing or on the run, but his biggest asset on the baseball field is speed. Springer plays an aggressive, energetic center field for the UConn Huskies, though he’s open to shifting to a different position if that’s what the Astros want.
Before Springer joins the Astros’ outfield, they have to sign him. The commissioner’s office has typically recommended bonuses in the $1.5-2MM range for 11th overall selections, but Springer’s college season is still underway, so he says he has a “long way to go” before negotiating a potential bonus with the Astros.
“I really don’t know,” he said. “I’m still focused on helping [UConn] win.”
Super Two Watch: Rizzo, Gordon, Weeks, Phelps
Since the Marlins called Mike Stanton up to the Major Leagues a year ago today, he has hit 35 home runs and posted a .257/.332/.520 line. Stanton was clearly MLB-ready and Florida's timing worked out in another respect, too. The Marlins slugger will have just two years and 118 days of service time after the 2012 season, which hasn’t typically been enough for super two eligibility and an extra year of arbitration.
A year later, another group of prospects is appearing on MLB rosters and, as always, there are service time implications for all involved. Before we get too worried about whether these prospects will qualify for super two status, let’s be clear about a few variables.
It’s too early to know how much service time will be required for super two status three offseasons from now, because the cutoff date changes most years. Plus, baseball’s collective bargaining agreement expires after 2011, so there’s no guarantee that the super two will even exist a few years from now (though coming up with an alternative that satisfies baseball’s owners and the players’ association will not be easy). Finally, most players who reach arbitration do get optioned to the minor leagues at some point, so there’s a good chance some of the players below will return to the minors before becoming arbitration eligible.
With that in mind, here are the service time implications for a few recent callups:
- Anthony Rizzo, Padres – If Rizzo debuts tomorrow, as Dan Hayes of the North County Times reports he will (Twitter link), he'll pick up a maximum of 112 days of service time this year and the Padres probably won't have to worry about super two status.
- Dee Gordon, Dodgers – Tom’s son was called up Monday and he has already had his first three-hit game. Gordon can pick up a maximum of 115 days of service time this year. Last year’s cutoff was unusually low at two years and 122 days, so the Dodgers appear safe.
- Jemile Weeks, Athletics and Charlie Blackmon, Rockies – Both players got the call yesterday, which means they can pick up a maximum of 114 days of service time this year. It’s likely not enough for super two status, even if they never see the minors again.
- Cord Phelps, Indians – Phelps, the first member of the Indians’ 2008 draft class to reach the majors, will debut today. He won’t pick up more than 113 days of service time this year, so the Indians probably won’t have to worry about super two status for Phelps, Lonnie Chisenhall or Jason Kipnis.
Giants Continue Eyeing Catchers
Exactly two weeks have passed since Buster Posey’s season ended with a gruesome home plate collision. Faced with the reality that Eli Whiteside is struggling as an everyday player, the Giants appear to be “ramping up their pursuit of another catcher,” according to Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News. It’s even possible that they’ll look to add two catchers.
Whiteside will continue to get most of the starts for now, but his .164/.266/.255 batting line doesn't inspire much confidence and he has thrown out just 15% of would-be base stealers. Whiteside has four singles and five walks in 37 plate appearances since the day Posey went down, so it's not surprising that the 34-27 Giants are considering ways of adding to a catching corps that includes Whiteside and Chris Stewart.
Rockies Release Jose Lopez
JUNE 7TH: The Rockies officially released Lopez, according to their Twitter page.
MAY 26TH: The Rockies designated infielder Jose Lopez for assignment, according to MLB.com's Thomas Harding (on Twitter). It has been a busy night for the Rockies, who sent Felipe Paulino to Kansas City earlier this evening.
Lopez, 27, has played second and third base for the Rockies this year, posting a .210/.234/.290 line. His .264/.295/.396 career line reflects his limited on-base skills and modest power. The 2006 All-Star averaged 15 homers per season for the 2006-10 Mariners.
Earlier tonight, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported that the Rockies were looking to add athleticism to their bench. Lopez, who earns $3.6MM this year, was generating minimal trade interest, according to Rosenthal. Jon Heyman of SI.com notes that the Blue Jays and Indians had some interest in Lopez over the winter (Twitter link).