Twins Sign Kendrys Morales
SUNDAY, 10:34am: The Twins confirmed the signing via press release.
SATURDAY, 2:00pm: Kendrys Morales and the Twins have agreed to terms, CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman tweets. The deal is pending a physical. Morales will receive one year and a prorated portion of a $12MM salary, MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger tweets. That amounts to about $7.5MM. As FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal noted, that’s fairly similar to, but less than, the $10MM deal Stephen Drew recently received from the Red Sox. Since Morales will not spend the full season with the Twins, they will not be able to extend him a qualifying offer next offseason. Morales is represented by Scott Boras.
Morales had been connected to the Mariners, Rangers, Yankees and Brewers, and his signing with the Twins comes as a bit of a surprise. Morales, of course, was a free agent over the winter but had a minimal market after he declined a qualifying offer from the Mariners, which meant that any team that signed him (other than Seattle, which added Corey Hart and Logan Morrison in the offseason) would have to forfeit a draft pick. When the draft began, however, teams became free to sign Morales without losing a pick.
Morales, who turns 31 this month, has hit .280/.333/.480 in parts of seven seasons with the Angels and Mariners, including .277/.336/.449 last year. Since 2010, he has mostly been a designated hitter, although he played 31 games at first last season.
Morales seems likely to serve as Minnesota’s full-time DH, as Twins designated hitters have batted just .216/.323/.403 this year, and they have Joe Mauer at first base. The Twins have struggled in the outfield, but Morales has not played in the outfield since 2008. The Twins have used a variety of DHs this year, however, and by having Morales as their regular DH, they could use hitters like Josh Willingham less at DH and more in the outfield, potentially reducing the number of plate appearances for less productive outfielders like Jason Kubel and Chris Parmelee. Catcher Josmil Pinto has also logged significant time at DH.
Morales was one of several players this offseason who struggled in the free agent market after declining a qualifying offer. Drew only recently signed his prorated one-year deal with the Red Sox, and Nelson Cruz ultimately took a one-year deal with the Orioles. All three players ended up with significantly less than they would have gotten if they had accepted their qualifying offers.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Minor Moves: Spears, Pineiro, Worth, Angels
Here are today’s minor moves from throughout baseball.
- The Phillies have signed former Red Sox infielder Nate Spears, reports Mike Ashmore of MyCentralJersey.com (via Twitter; hat tip to Chris Cotillo of MLBDailyDish.com). Spears, 29, had been playing with the indy league Somerset Patriots. Despite two very brief cups of coffee with Boston, Spears has not recorded a hit in eight MLB plate appearances. He owns a career .244/.335/.371 line through 1,442 career plate appearances at the Triple-A level.
- Joel Pineiro has signed a minor-league deal with the Angels, according to MiLB.com, and he will start tonight for the Triple-A Salt Lake Bees. The Cubs had recently released him. Pineiro is attempting to make it back to the big leagues after having last appeared in the Majors in 2011. He had made four starts with the Double-A Tennessee Smokies, posting a 4.43 ERA in 22 1/3 innings with 4.0 K/9 and 1.6 BB/9.
- Infielder Danny Worth has accepted his outright assignment and will head to Triple-A Toledo, Chris Iott of MLive.com tweets. The Tigers designated worth for assignment on Wednesday after he hit .167/.217/.190 in 46 plate appearances.
- The Angels have outrighted pitchers Michael Brady, Jarrett Grube and Brooks Raley, according to MiLB.com. After a strong 2013 season in the Marlins organization, Brady has struggled in the high minors in 2014, posting a 7.18 ERA with 7.9 K/9 and 4.4 BB/9. Grube, 32, made his big-league debut for the Angels last week. He had posted a 3.52 ERA in 61 1/3 innings for Triple-A Salt Lake with 7.5 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9. The Angels claimed Raley from the Twins last month, and he struggled for Salt Lake, allowing 26 runs in 21 innings there. These moves likely signal that the Angels are about to make other transactions that will affect their 40-man roster.
Draft Signings: Twins, Royals, Rangers, D’Backs, Cubs
Here’s a roundup of today’s key news regarding signings from the draft.
- The Twins have agreed to a slightly below-slot bonus with 9th rounder Max Murphy, tweets Cotillo. The Bradley outfielder will get $130K, just over $20K below his slot amount.
- A few more drafted players have agreed to terms with the Royals, per Pete Grathoff of the Kansas City Star (Twitter link), though bonus amounts have not yet been reported. High school shortstop Dawon Burt (fourth round; $420K slot) and Texas A&M righty Corey Ray (fifth round; $314K slot) are both in agreement, joining sixth-rounder Logan Moon (see below).
- The Rangers have agreed to terms with fourth-rounder Brett Martin on a $475K deal, MLB.com’s Jim Callis tweets. The deal comes in $67K above the $408K bonus pool value of the pick. The lefty Martin hails from a Tennessee junior college.
- The Rangers have also agreed to terms with tenth-rounder and Abilene Christian catcher Seth Spivey for $10K, tweets MLB Daily Dish’s Chris Cotillo. The signing would allow the Rangers to save about $128K against their bonus pool, which would appear to help them balance their budget after the Martin signing is complete.
- The Diamondbacks have signed third-rounder Matt Railey, the outfielder himself tweets. Railey, a Florida high-schooler, had a commitment to Florida State. There is no immediate word on his bonus, but the pool value of the pick is $603K.
- The Cubs have agreed to terms with third-rounder and Virginia Tech catcher Mark Zagunis for $615K, Cotillo tweets. The deal saves the Cubs about $100K against the draft pool value of the pick.
- The Astros have agreed to terms with eighth-rounder Bobby Boyd, MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart reports. There is no immediate word on a bonus for the junior outfielder from West Virginia University, but pool value for that pick is around $163K. McTaggart also reports that the Astros have agreed to terms with tenth-rounder Jay Gause, a junior pitcher from Faulkner University. The pool value for Gause’s pick is $142K.
- Georgia high school lefty Mac Marshall plans to head to LSU rather than going pro, the pitcher himself tweets. MLB.com had ranked Marshall the No. 66 prospect in the draft, but he was not taken until the 21st round by Houston, surely due in large part to teams’ awareness of his reluctance to sign.
- The Reds have agreed to terms with fifth-rounder Tejay Antone, a tall righty from a Texas community college, at the bonus-pool figure of $308K, Cotillo tweets. Antone had planned to head to Auburn next year if he didn’t end up signing.
- The Royals have agreed to terms with sixth-round pick Logan Moon, Cotillo tweets. The senior outfielder from Missouri Southern will get less than the bonus pool value of about $235K.
Brewers Agree To Terms With Monte Harrison
The Brewers have agreed to terms with second-round pick Monte Harrison for a bonus of $1.8MM, well above the bonus pool value of $1.1MM, MLB.com’s Jim Callis tweets. Harrison, a high school outfielder from Missouri, was committed to play both baseball and football at Nebraska.
The Brewers took high school lefty Kodi Medeiros with the No. 12 overall pick, slightly higher than many draft analysts thought he would go. It’s possible the Brewers could sign Medeiros for somewhat less than his pool value of $2.81MM in order to free up money for the Harrison deal. They also drafted four college seniors between the fifth and tenth rounds, and they could free up some pool money there. In addition to Harrison, the Brewers took another high-upside high school talent, infielder Jacob Gatewood, in Competitive Balance Round A.
Astros Close To Deal With Brady Aiken
The Astros are close to a deal with top overall draft pick Brady Aiken, Mark Berman of FOX Houston reports. Aiken’s father Jim says his son will soon travel to Houston to make the deal official.
“I would say we have a verbal agreement in place,” says Jim Aiken. “Next thing is to hammer out the details of the contract and hopefully that’ll be done in the next week or two.”
The pool value of Aiken’s pick is about $7.92MM. There has been some speculation about the possibility that Aiken will take less, which would allow the Astros to spread some of that money to later picks. Aiken, who hails from Cathedral Catholic High School in California, is committed to UCLA.
Aiken’s stock rose this spring, and he gradually emerged as the top overall talent in the draft. As MLBTR’s Steve Adams noted when the Astros picked Aiken, Aiken already has good velocity for a lefty, and he has the potential to have a plus curveball and changeup to go along with a plus fastball. He also has outstanding command for a high school pitcher.
Draft Notes: Whitson, Ripken, Rivera, Manziel
Most of the top talents in the MLB draft are taken in the first two days, and many of the highest-upside players remaining on Day 3 are high school players who are likely to go to college rather than turn pro. The 11th round is the first round of Day 3 and also the first round in which teams don’t lose pool money if they don’t sign a player, so several of the top prospects remaining, such as Oklahoma junior college pitcher Dean Deetz (Astros), Oklahoma high school pitcher Nick White (Marlins) and Fresno State pitcher Jordan Brink (Cubs), went early in that round. In general, however, many of the big stories of Day 3 are players who made waves in the draft in previous years or players with connections to past MLB players. Here are a few of those.
- The Red Sox drafted pitcher Karsten Whitson in the 11th round. Whitson, now a college senior, was the No. 9 overall pick by the Padres in 2010, but he turned down an offer of about $2MM so that he could enroll at the University of Florida instead. As Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal explains, Whitson had shoulder surgery last year and spent this season trying to establish himself. He struggled with his command, but threw as hard as 96 MPH in the SEC tournament. He has a year of NCAA eligibility left, so he can return to school if the Red Sox don’t sign him.
- The Nationals selected first baseman Ryan Ripken, Cal Ripken Jr.’s son, in the 15th round. The younger Ripken is a 6-foot-6 lefty first baseman out of a Florida junior college.
- Cal Ripken wasn’t the only former Oriole whose son was drafted. The Orioles selected Brandon Bonilla, the son of Bobby Bonilla, out of Grand Canyon University in the 25th round. Brandon Bonilla is left-handed, can touch 97 MPH, and made it to Baseball America’s list of the top 500 draft talents, so he appears to be a legitimate prospect and not a legacy pick.
- The Yankees, meanwhile, took right-handed pitcher Mariano Rivera in the 29th round. Stan Grossfeld of the Boston Globe descries the Iona College junior as a “bearded, wiry, shorter version of his dad,” the great Yankees closer.
- The Padres picked shortstop Johnny Manziel — yes, that Johnny Manziel — in the 28th. Manziel considered playing baseball for Texas A&M, but for the Padres, he may be a tough sign.
Quick Hits: Athletics, Phillies, Red Sox, Denorfia
The Athletics have been successful recently because they excel at finding role players, and because manager Bob Melvin helps keep them happy, Andy Martino of the New York Daily News writes in a piece contrasting the A’s with the Yankees and Mets. “(Melvin) has a good feel of the heartbeat of the clubhouse. You can look around and see when a guy is unhappy, and he calls him in the office. The rest of us might not even know he is doing it,” says Nick Punto. The A’s also get lots of mileage out of players acquired from outside their organization, like Josh Donaldson, Brandon Moss and Jesse Chavez. Being in a lower-pressure environment may also help the A’s, who managed to keep their GM in place and take the time to build a top team despite not having a winning season from 2007 through 2011. Here are more notes from around the big leagues.
- The Phillies deny that they make a mistake in including prospect Domingo Santana on a list of potential players to be named in the 2011 Hunter Pence trade with the Astros, Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com reports. A story in the Houston Chronicle last week stated that Santana had been placed on the list of potential PTBNLs by accident. “There was no mistake,” says Phillies GM Ruben Amaro. “If someone said that, they are misinformed because it’s absolutely, unequivocally wrong. It’s false.” Then-Astros GM Ed Wade requested that Santana be placed on the list, Amaro says. Santana, 21, is now a top prospect with the Astros, hitting .292/.368/.485 so far this season with Triple-A Oklahoma City.
- The biggest problem in the Red Sox‘ disappointing season has been its outfield, Tim Britton of the Providence Journal writes. Britton suggests that the team’s decision to allow Jacoby Ellsbury to leave appears defensible, but there weren’t many good backup plans available if Jackie Bradley Jr. struggled, which he has. In addition, Daniel Nava has played poorly, and Shane Victorino has had injury trouble. In hindsight, Britton suggests, the best reasonable move might have been to acquire an outfielder like Chris Denorfia of the Padres in a trade.
- Denorfia could be a hot name on the trade market this summer, Jon Morosi of FOX Sports predicts (scroll down). Denorfia can play all over the outfield and hit lefties, and he’ll be a free agent after the season. The Padres, meanwhile, have struggled, going 27-34 so far. Denorfia is hitting .265/.313/.368 in 167 plate appearances so far this season, although he’s hit better than that in four straight seasons before this one.
Rays Designate Josh Lueke For Assignment
The Rays have designated reliever Josh Lueke for assignment, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. The move clears space on the Rays’ 25-man roster for fellow pitcher Kirby Yates, who had posted dominating numbers for Triple-A Durham (with a 0.36 ERA, 12.6 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 in 25 innings).
Lueke, 29, had posted a 5.64 ERA with 5.6 K/9 and 1.5 BB/9 in 30 1/3 innings with the Rays in 2014. He has been in the Rays organization since November 2011, when the team acquired him from the Mariners for John Jaso. Lueke posted extremely strong numbers for Durham in 2013, but has struggled to translate those results to the big-league level.
Week In Review: 6/1/14 – 6/7/14
Here’s a look back at this week at MLBTR.
Key News
- The Astros selected California high school pitcher Brady Aiken with the first overall pick in the draft. Here are the results from the first round.
- The Astros signed first baseman Jon Singleton to a five-year extension with three club options.
Signed / Agreed To Terms
- Marlins — P Kevin Gregg (link)
Trades
- Marlins — acquired P Bryan Morris from Pirates for competitive balance draft pick
- Athletics — acquired P Justin Marks from Royals for cash considerations
Claimed
- Yankees — P Wade LeBlanc (from Angels — link)
- Royals — P Blake Wood (from Indians — link)
- Pirates — P Wirfin Obispo (from Braves — link)
Designated For Assignment
- Giants — P David Huff (link)
- Athletics — OF Kent Matthes (link)
- Phillies — P Cesar Jimenez (link)
- Yankees — IF Scott Sizemore (designated off active roster — link) and P Alfredo Aceves (link)
- Mets — P Buddy Carlyle (link)
- Rockies — C Jordan Pacheco (link)
- Cubs — P Jose Veras (link)
Outrighted
- Angels — P Brooks Raley, P Michael Brady, P Jarrett Grube (link)
- Tigers — IF Danny Worth (link)
- Phillies — OF Tyson Gillies (link) and P Jeremy Horst (link)
- Pirates — P Vin Mazzaro (link)
Key Draft Signings
Key Minor-League Signings
- Blue Jays — P Luis Ayala (link)
- Phillies — P Jason Marquis (link)
2014 Competitive Balance Round A Results
Here’s where we’ll post the results of Competitive Balance Round A. Here’s where you can track the results of the first round.
35. Colorado Rockies — 2B Forrest Wall, Orangewood Christian (FL HS)
36. Miami Marlins — C Blake Anderson, West Collinsville (Miss. HS)
37. Houston Astros — OF Derek Fisher, Virgina
38. Cleveland Indians — OF Mike Papi, Virginia
39. Pittsburgh Pirates — OF Connor Joe, San Diego
40. Kansas City Royals — C Chase Vallot, St. Thomas More (LA HS)
41. Milwaukee Brewers — SS Jacob Gatewood, Clovis (CA HS)