Heyman On Sandoval, Mets, Dodgers, Rangers
Pablo Sandoval has catching experience, but the Giants won’t attempt to re-position him behind the plate when he returns from the disabled list, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com. Here’s Heyman’s latest from around the league:
- Mets minority owner David Einhorn is expected to have a say in major team decisions, though he won’t have the final call. If the Wilpons have to sell the team, Einhorn will have the first opportunity to buy it.
- The Dodgers have not explored possible trades for Andre Ethier or Matt Kemp and rival teams haven’t called to express interest in the outfielders, according to Heyman. The Dodgers would like to lock both up long-term instead of allowing them to hit the open market after next year.
- One Dodger who won’t be getting a long-term contract offer: James Loney. The first baseman is a likely non-tender after the season, according to executives around the league.
- The Rangers are looking for a reliever and would prefer a right-hander. Heyman hears they’ll consider Francisco Rodriguez of the Mets.
- The Cubs don’t plan to exercise Aramis Ramirez’s $16MM option for 2012, according to Heyman.
The Indians’ Approach To The 2011 Draft
Yes, the Reds are scuffling. But the Indians aren’t the only first place baseball team in Ohio this year. The Columbus Clippers lead the Triple-A International League with a 33-14 record thanks to a roster that includes some of the Indians’ top prospects. The person who drafted many of them, director of amateur scouting Brad Grant, says it’s rewarding to see the players he’s selected approach the Major Leagues.
“It’s a good feeling,” Grant told MLBTR. “Our scouts have done a very good job at identifying talent that’s going to move through the system and up to the Major League club and that’s what we hope to continue to do. From Lonnie Chisenhall to Jason Kipnis, Drew Pomeranz, Alex White and a bunch of others, our scouts have done a very good job at identifying what fits for us .”
Cleveland’s system boasted the seventh-best group of prospects in the game entering the season, according to Baseball America. And so far in 2011, they’re performing like top prospects.
White posted a 3.60 ERA through three MLB starts after climbing through the Indians’ system in less than two years (he’s now on the disabled list). Chisenhall, selected when Grant was a rookie scouting director in 2008, has an .825 OPS at Triple-A and Kipnis, a 2009 selection, has an .856 OPS with the Indians’ top affiliate.
There’s a legitimate chance that Chisenhall and Kipnis make an impact for the Tribe in 2011. But when the Indians start selecting their next wave of talent on June 6th, Grant will be looking for players who will help the future teams, not ones that can bolster the AL Central-leading Indians this year.
“Those two things are separate,” he said. “They always have been in terms of our drafting philosophy. We’re looking again to try to get the best player available and try to get the player that fits best for us, but things change constantly at the Major League level and it’s changing for us right now, so to try to draft based on what the Major League team is doing is not the right thing to do.”
Instead of looking for short-term fixes, the Indians will rank over 700 players and determine which ones could contribute most in the long-term. The Indians figure to have lots of choice, as the consensus around the game is that the 2011 draft features a better collection of prospects than usual.
“Just looking at it in terms of the power pitching that’s out there this year, there are a lot of guys with power arms and there are position players as well,” Grant said. “It’s a very good draft.”
The Indians select eighth overall before selecting 67th, 97th and 128th. It doesn’t compare with the bevy of early picks held by the Rays, Blue Jays or Padres, but the Indians still figure to have a shot at an elite prospect with their top pick.
“I think we’ll have a good choice and I think it’ll be something where it comes down to a choice between multiple players that we like a lot,” Grant said.
Last year the Indians selected Pomeranz, a left-handed pitcher who has a 2.09 ERA with a 54K/15BB ratio in Class A. The price: $2.65MM, or nearly as much as the Indians spent on Major League free agents before this season’s surprise run.
All told, the Indians spent $9.4MM on draft bonuses a year ago, fifth in baseball and considerably more than large-market teams like the Angels, Dodgers, Yankees, Mets, Cubs and White Sox. This year, the Indians will approach players with imposing price tags on a case-by-case basis.
“As we go through the draft we’ll make those decisions depending on what’s available at the time of each selection,” Grant said. “As we get to those decisions, we’ll consult with ownership and with Mark Shapiro, our president, and see where we are, but those will be decisions we make as we go through the draft.”
Deciding which players to draft won't be simple, since the Indians will weigh reports on the hundreds of amateurs they have evaluated since last June. And the decisions probably won’t have an immediate impact at the Major League level. But the way current Indians prospects like Kipnis and Chisenhall are playing, there could be some job openings in the minors for the 2011 draft class before long.
Blue Jays Notes: Lawrie, Super Two, Escobar
Shaun Marcum has been Milwaukee's best starter this year, but Brett Lawrie is doing his best to make Blue Jays fans forget about the pitcher he was traded for. The 21-year-old infield prospect has a .343/.403/.632 line at Triple-A with 12 home runs. GM Alex Anthopoulos and Jeff Blair of Sportsnet Radio FAN 590 discussed Lawrie's hot start and a number of other issues pertaining to the Blue Jays this morning. Here are the details:
- Lawrie has improved his strikeout to walk ratio in Triple-A this month, a development that’s encouraging for the Jays’ front office.
- Super two status is a moving target at the best of times and Anthopoulos points out that over 80% of players who become eligible for arbitration are optioned to the minor leagues at some point. Players like Travis Snider and Brett Cecil don’t have continuous Major League service, which means projecting whether minor leaguers are on track for super two status is mostly futile.
- The Blue Jays have a record of not manipulating service according to Anthopoulos. He points to J.P. Arencibia and Kyle Drabek, both of whom got the call late last year.
- Anthopoulos has been on the phone with a few GMs, but he doesn’t expect trades to kick into high gear until after the draft, which starts June 6th.
- Anthopoulos saw the rumor linking Jose Reyes to the Blue Jays and though the GM declined to comment on another team’s player, he praised the Jays’ current shortstop, Yunel Escobar. “He’s young, he’s everything we want,” Anthopoulos said of Escobar, who is under team control through 2013. “Shortstop is not an area we need to improve. We think it’s a strength.”
Indians Notes: Antonetti, Shapiro, Phelps
A year ago, the Indians were last in the AL Central with a 17-28 record and about to trade some of their most recognizable players for the third consecutive summer. Things are a little different this year; here are the details:
- Could the Indians become buyers? Paul Hoynes of the Plain Dealer explores this question and hears from GM Chris Antonetti that the Indians will consider going outside of the organization to acquire talent.
- "There's been a demonstrated willingness to spend above projected revenues when we felt we had an opportunity to win," president Mark Shapiro told Bill Lubinger of the Plain Dealer, "and there will be an ability and a willingness to acquire a player in July if we're in position to do it."
- The Indians won’t want to part with key pieces of their highly-regarded farm system, but they may have more cash than expected, as Lubinger explains. Ticket sales, TV ratings, ballpark concessions sales and other merchandise sales are up which means the Indians have lots of revenue streaming in.
- If you're jumping on the Indians' bandwagon, be prepared, warns Michael K. McIntyre of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "Cleveland bandwagons come with no seatbelts, no shock absorbers and no brakes."
- Indians prospect Cord Phelps is playing well (.927 OPS at Triple-A), as Zack Meisel explains at MLB.com. Cleveland's system features lots of talent on the infield, so Phelps' path to the Majors isn't clear-cut.
Molina Open To Return With Giants
Free agent catcher Bengie Molina told Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News that he could catch for the Giants, who are without 2010 Rookie of the Year Buster Posey for an extended period of time. Molina hasn’t played since last year, so he wouldn’t expect to be placed on the Giants roster without getting into playing shape first.
"If I get it in my mind to do this, I would go,” Molina said. “If they need me and want me and they ask me to spend two weeks in the minors, I'd do it. Do I expect them to ask? I'd love to say yes, they will, but I don't think so because of the way things happened at the end."
As Baggarly explains, Molina had critical comments for Giants general manager Brian Sabean after the GM commented publicly on his decision to deal the catcher last summer. The Giants have already inquired on Ivan Rodriguez of the Nationals, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.
Nationals Notes: Harper, Rodriguez, Werth
The latest on the Nationals, who rest today before hosting the last-place Padres this weekend…
- Top prospect Bryce Harper is hitting his way through the South Atlantic League with the help of his coaches and teammates and as Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com writes, last year's number one pick is just beginning his baseball odyssey.
- As Adam Kilgore points out at the Washington Post, Ivan Rodriguez could appeal to the Giants, who lost Buster Posey to the disabled list, possibly for the rest of the season. The Nationals are one of few teams with catching depth to spare.
- Jayson Werth, who signed a $126MM contract with Washington over the winter, has raised his OPS above .800 for the first time since April 14th and he tells Kilgore that he's feeling good. “I’m working in the right direction," he said. "I’m hitting balls hard, and I’ve got some confidence. I like where I’m at.”
Outrighted To Triple-A: Boggs, Weinhardt, Nava
Here’s the latest on some minor moves:
- The Brewers outrighted Brandon Boggs to Triple-A to clear roster space, according to MLB.com's Adam McCalvy. The outfielder can decline the assignment and elect free agency istead of accepting his third outright of the year.
- Robbie Weinhardt, who was designated for assignment earlier in the week, cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Toledo, according to the Tigers (on Twitter).
- Daniel Nava has cleared waivers after being designated for assignment, according to Red Sox reporter Maureen Mullen (on Twitter).
Angels Sign Russell Branyan
The Angels announced that they have signed free agent first baseman Russell Branyan. Howie Kendrick, who has been one of the best players in the league so far, has been placed on the DL with a right hamstring strain.
The Diamondbacks released Branyan on the weekend, prompting Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports to suggest that the Angels could sign him and have him share time at first base with Mark Trumbo. Because Kendrys Morales is out for the season, the Angels have less depth than expected at first.
Branyan, 35, hit just .210/.290/.339 with one homer in 69 plate appearances for Arizona before getting released. The left-handed hitter posted an .874 OPS against righties last year, when he hit 25 homers for the Indians and Mariners. That makes him a possible platoon partner for Trumbo, who has hit lefties (.805 OPS) better than righties (.630 OPS) in his brief MLB career.
Giants Designate Rohlinger, Sosa For Assignment
The Giants announced that they have designated Ryan Rohlinger and Henry Sosa for assignment to create 40-man roster space for Brandon Crawford and Chris Stewart (Twitter links). In related moves, the Giants called up Brandon Belt, placed Mike Fontenot on the disabled list with a groin strain, placed Darren Ford on the DL with an ankle sprain and placed Buster Posey on the DL with a fractured bone in his lower left leg.
Rohlinger, 27, appeared in one game with the Giants this year, but he has spent most of his season at Triple-A Fresno, where he has a .174/.294/.331 line with more walks (19) than strikeouts (14) in 144 plate appearances. Sosa, who is also at Triple-A, has a 10.41 ERA with 8.1 K/9 and 6.6 BB/9 in 23 1/3 innings this year. The 25-year-old was more effective at Fresno last year, when he posted a 4.07 ERA in 115 frames as a swingman.
NL Central Notes: Pirates, Fielder, Cubs
On this date in 1997, Sammy Sosa of the Cubs and Tony Womack of the Pirates hit inside the park homers in the same inning of the same game. Here’s the latest on the NL Central…
- The Pirates announced that they signed five amateur free agents: Nicaraguan right-hander Adolfo Flores, Dominican right-hander Juan Mendoza, Panamanian position player Edgar Munoz and Venezuelan outfielders Anthony Claudio and Keybel Escobar. Claudio "resembles a young Magglio Ordonez," according to Pirates Latin America scouting director Rene Gayo.
- Bob Nightengale of USA Today says Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder could get a $200MM deal in free agency if he keeps hitting like this (Twitter link). Fielder leads the NL with 41 RBI and has a .285/.380/.548 line 216 plate appearances into the season.
- There's only a slim chance that high school right-hander Dylan Bundy will be available when the Cubs select ninth overall in next month's draft, according to Jim Callis of Baseball America (on Twitter). If Bundy and high school outfielder Bubba Starling have already been selected, Vanderbilt right-hander Sonny Gray could be an option for the Cubs.