Pirates, Twins Are Sano’s Top Suitors
ESPN.com's Jorge Arangure Jr. hears that the Pirates may not offer Miguel Angel Sano as much as $3MM, let alone $4MM. The Pirates are still tracking Sano closely, and, along with the Twins, they're the frontrunners to sign the 16-year-old shortstop once July 2nd comes around. The Orioles recently worked Sano out, but they are not expected to beome serious bidders.
- Padres director of international scouting Randy Smith says he hopes to acquire one "big-name" international player.
- Daniel Sanchez is a player to watch; Arangure says some consider him the year's best Latin American pitcher.
Pirates To Sign Tony Sanchez
According to Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Pirates agreed to terms with their first round pick, Tony Sanchez, on a signing bonus of about $2.5MM. The fourth overall selection caught during his career at Boston College. The Pirates agreed to choose Sanchez before Tuesday's draft began.
He will report to extended Spring Training before beginning to play at Class A West Virginia.
The Rule 5 Draft
The Rule 5 Draft takes place every year at baseball's winter meetings in December. Some years it's uneventful, but it's been a major source of talent for the teams that selected Dan Uggla, Johan Santana and Roberto Clemente. Here's how it works:
- Players who signed when 18 or younger are eligible for the draft after five years.
- Players who signed when 19 or older are eligible after four years.
- If these players aren't on their teams' 40 man rosters, they're exposed.
- As in the June draft, teams draft in reverse order of the previous season's standings.
- Teams that draft players must pay $50k to the player's original team.
- Those selected must remain on the 25-man roster or the major league DL for the entire season.
- Otherwise, the claiming team has to offer the player back to his original team for $25k.
- First, however, he must clear outright waivers.
- This gives the other 28 teams the opportunity to claim him. If any team claims the player, he must remain on their roster for the entire season or go through waivers again.
- The draft was more relevant before it was modified under the current Collective Bargaining Agreement, when players were eligible a year earlier.
Thanks to ESPN.com's Keith Law, Cot's Baseball Contracts and ESPN.com's Rob Neyer.
Heyman On Penny, Ackley, Milledge
SI.com's Jon Heyman places Marco Scutaro and David Ortiz atop his lists of over and underperforming players. In the same article, he provides some trade rumors:
- The Phillies, Mets and Cardinals are among the teams "in" on the Brad Penny discussions.
- Philadelphia would still like to acquire a premium pitcher; they're "aiming higher" than Penny.
- Dustin Ackley is apparently seeking "Mark Teixeira money." No, he's not looking for $180MM, but he'd like a deal worth $9.5MM, like the one Teixiera received out of college.
- And there's word of trade talks involving Lastings Milledge.
First Rounder Arnett Agrees To Deal With Brewers
12:28pm: MLB.com's Adam McCalvy confirms the deal and adds that it includes a $1.2MM bonus, which is in line with the commissioner's recommendations. Arnett will report to Rookie league after the weekend to begin his pro career.
11:30am: Eric Arnett, the Brewers' first round pick, has agreed to a deal with Milwaukee. His Twitter says he's now officially a Brewer. MLB.com has video of the college pitcher in action.
Tom Haudricourt suggested Arnett would sign today.
Odds And Ends: Draft, Francoeur, Crede
More links for your Friday afternoon…
- ESPN.com's Keith Law says next year's draft won't be as stacked as the 2011 edition and lacks one player who's clearly better than his peers.
- Todd Coppernoll of Brewerfan.net has a Rollie Fingers interview up, complete with Charlie Finley anecdotes and memories of the 1982 World Series.
- Mark Bradley of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution believes the Atlanta Braves and Jeff Francoeur would be better off without each other. Almost 80% of the readers polled agree.
- Charley Walters of the St. Paul Pioneer Press says Joe Crede, who now has ten homers, is on a pace to earn $4.5MM in incentives.
- Steve Rosenbloom of the Chicago Tribune doesn't think Pedro Martinez is the answer for the Cubs.
- Check out my discussion with the Benchwarmers on KFNS 590 in St. Louis.
Gammons On Street, Amezaga, Tejada
It's a fantasy baseball show, but Peter Gammons discussed the trade market on ESPN's Fantasy Focus today. Here are his latest rumors:
- The Red Sox like Ryan Spilborghs, but the Phillies and other teams are interested, too. Plus, the Rockies are looking much better under Jim Tracy, so they're not dealing yet.
- The Angels have targeted Huston Street, in case the Rockies become sellers.
- Several teams have interest in Matt Murton.
- Gammons compares Eric Young Jr. to a young Chone Figgins because of his versatility.
- Another versatile player, Alfredo Amezaga, would interest 6-8 contenders if the Marlins shopped him, but they're not about to make him available.
- The market for Miguel Tejada should be pretty good, if the Astros decide to trade him. The Red Sox could be among the interested teams. Tejada would be a good fit for the Cardinals, but Gammons doesn't see Drayton McLane allowing Ed Wade to trade a key player to their divisional rival.
Olney On Astros, Penny, Glavine
ESPN.com's Buster Olney heard from Ed Wade that the Astros aren't ready to start trading away their players at this point, and may decide not to deal at all. Here are the details from Olney's column:
- Wade looks back to last season, when the Astros struggled initially before going on a surprise run to finish the season strong.
- He hinted that the Astros are not in a position to add any salary.
- Other teams are in similar positions, which could limit the trades we see this summer.
- The Red Sox have been discussing Brad Penny with other teams, but they don't have to deal him. John Smoltz isn't back yet and even when he is the Red Sox could use a six-man rotation for a turn or two.
- But if they get an offer from a team in need, such as the Mets, the Red Sox could deal Penny soon.
- There's "very little" interest in Tom Glavine, if any. If Glavine retires, he would end up in the same Hall of Fame class as Greg Maddux, and maybe even Pedro Martinez.
Red Sox Rumors: Penny, Lowrie, Smoltz
Here's the latest on Jed Lowrie and Brad Penny, and what it means for the Red Sox:
- Lowrie told Amalie Benjamin of the Boston Globe that he sees "light at the end of the tunnel." He's expected back at the end of June or the beginning of July.
- Ben Collins of the Boston Globe says the Penny-John Smoltz conversation won't be "either/or" anymore after Penny's impressive pitching last night. Maybe there's room for both to help the club out.
- But, as Rob Bradford of WEEI.com reports, Penny wouldn't want to pitch out of the bullpen.
- In the same article, we hear that Penny has "no idea" what will happen when Smoltz returns. He has a supporter in Josh Beckett, who made it clear he doesn't want to see his rotation-mate dealt.
- Dan Barbarisi of the Providence Journal says Terry Francona and the Red Sox have had "a lot of discussions" about their pitching surplus.
Odds And Ends: Arnett, El Duque, Crow
Links for Friday morning…
- Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that the Brewers are close to signing first rounder Eric Arnett.
- Ready for next year's draft? MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo is, with ten players to watch in 2010, including Cameron Bedrosian, the son of Steve Bedrosian, who won the 1987 NL Cy Young Award.
- Jamey Newberg walks his readers through the five step plan the Rangers used to set the team up to contend for years.
- Tyler Kepner of the New York Times looks at the big picture and determines that a lot has changed since 2004. More specifically, the Red Sox have a "stranglehold" on the Yankees.
- Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times says Milton Bradley is a "$30MM elephant in the room" because of his hitting struggles.
- Dave Sheinin of the Washington Post believes Felix Hernandez can and will become even better.
- Joel Sherman of the New York Post hopes Orlando Hernandez succeeds in Texas. What a great story that would be.
- Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star reports that Aaron Crow's in line for a $3-4MM bonus before the August 17th signing deadline. The deadline doesn't apply to college seniors, but Crow didn't go back to college for his senior year, so he has to sign by the 17th, like most players.