Minor Moves: Teahen, Laffey, Wells, Patterson
We'll keep track of today's minor moves here.
- The Reds acquired infielder/outfielder Mark Teahen from the Diamondbacks for cash or a player to be named later, according to the D'Backs. Teahen, 31, was hitting .209/.321/.254 in 81 Triple-A plate appearances after struggling offensively in the Washington organization at that level last year. He was drafted in the first round by the A's in 2002 and spent five seasons with the Royals, hitting 18 home runs in '06.
- The Dodgers have signed pitcher Aaron Laffey to a minor-league deal, Chris Cotillo of CLNS Radio reports. MLBTR's Tim Dierkes has confirmed the signing. Laffey has been designated for assignment by the Mets and Blue Jays so far this season, and he elected free agency yesterday instead of accepting an outright assignment from the Jays. Laffey has appeared in five big-league games so far this year.
- Rangers minor-leaguer Randy Wells has retired, FOX Sports Southwest's Anthony Andro reports (on Twitter). Wells, 30, finished sixth in NL Rookie of the Year balloting in 2009, when he was with the Cubs. He appeared in 98 big-league games, mostly with Chicago, posting a 4.08 ERA, 5.9 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9. He made five starts in 2013 for the Rangers' Triple-A affiliate in Round Rock.
- The Mariners have signed outfielder Corey Patterson to a minor-league deal, MLB.com's Greg Johns reports (on Twitter). Patterson will report to extended spring training. Patterson, 33, hit .251/.285/.410 for the Brewers' Triple-A team in Nashville in 2012. He has played for the Cubs, Orioles, Reds, Nationals, Brewers, Blue Jays and Cardinals.
Diamondbacks Sign Juan Rivera
The Diamondbacks have signed veteran 1B/OF Juan Rivera to a minor-league contract, MLB.com's Tyler Emerick reports. Rivera will spend the next week to ten days in extended spring training, and will likely play in the minor leagues after that, Jack Magruder of FOXSportsArizona.com tweets.
Rivera, 34, spent spring training with the Yankees, who released him in March. He hit .244/.286/.375 in 312 at bats for the Dodgers in 2012. In his career, Rivera has hit .274/.323/.443 with the Yankees, Expos, Angels, Blue Jays and Dodgers.
AL Notes: Astros, Draft, Andino, Nelson
The Astros haven't yet decided who they're taking with the first overall pick in the 2013 Draft, Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com reports. Possible candidates for the top pick include college pitchers Mark Appel, Jonathan Gray and Sean Manaea; college hitter Kris Bryant; and high school outfielders Clint Frazier and Austin Meadows. "I think it's important to keep scouting them until the very end," says Astros scouting director Mike Elias. "We're making sure we're keeping the field as open as we can. We are not going to make that decision when there's no reason to, six weeks before the Draft." The Astros' draft signing bonus pool, which stands at $11.7MM this year, could play into their decision about who to draft. In 2012, the Astros took Carlos Correa first overall and signed him for significantly less than his bonus pool allotment, allowing them to take high-upside talents like Lance McCullers Jr. later in the draft. Here are more notes from around the American League.
- The Red Sox might be looking for Frazier to fall to them with the No. 7 overall pick, Conor Glassey of Baseball America writes in a draft breakdown for American League teams. Red Sox scout Tim Hyers was Frazier's neighbor growing up. Meanwhile, the Indians could look to add a college pitcher like Manaea or Nevada's Braden Shipley at No. 5.
- Mariners infielder Robert Andino was "a little bit" surprised when the Orioles traded him to "Alaska" (that is, Seattle) for Trayvon Robinson last November, Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun reports. Andino is hitting .200/.250/.267 for the Mariners this season. He has taken the team's starting shortstop job, or at least a portion of it, from Brendan Ryan.
- The Yankees have had trade talks with the Rockies regarding infielder Chris Nelson, but New York's interest in Nelson seems to be limited, says Andy McCullough of the Star-Ledger (on Twitter). The Rockies designated Nelson for assignment Saturday night.
Orioles Designate Luis Exposito For Assignment
The Orioles have designated catcher Luis Exposito for assignment in order to make room on their 40-man roster for catcher Chris Snyder, MLB.com's Brittany Ghiroli reports. The Orioles acquired Snyder from the Angels on Sunday, and it appeared likely that Snyder, rather than Exposito, would be the backup to Matt Wieters while Taylor Teagarden was out with a thumb injury.
Exposito, 26, made his big-league debut with the Orioles in 2012, playing in nine games. He hit .218/.259/.273 for Triple-A Norfolk this year, after hitting .268/.326/.420 there in 2012.
AL West Notes: Astros, Hamilton, Mariners
GM Jeff Luhnow and the Astros have some unusual methods, but don't believe everything you hear, says Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. There's no truth to the rumor that the Astros won't allow their minor-league hitters to swing at 3-2 pitches, for example. The Astros are using a piggyback system at all their minor-league levels, planning to use two starting pitchers, one after the other, in each game. The Astros feel that system allows them to distribute innings to their best pitchers, and to protect their health. But that system appears to be breaking down at the Triple-A level, since some Triple-A pitchers have already been promoted to the majors and another, John Ely, went down with Tommy John surgery. "Basically, the argument for having eight instead of five (at Triple A) is dissipating quickly," says Luhnow. Here are more notes from the AL West.
- Josh Hamilton's aggressive approach at the plate is clouding his future and could make his contract with the Angels a very bad one, Dave Cameron of FanGraphs argues. Cameron says that Hamilton needs to make adjustments and stop chasing bad pitches, because right now, "Hamilton is just a hack who has terrible at-bats and makes a lot of outs." Currently, Hamilton is hitting .202/.246/.298 while swinging at 45% of pitches outside the strike zone.
- The Mariners dodged a bullet when the Angels signed Hamilton, Cameron argues at USS Mariner. The Mariners reportedly offered Hamilton four years and $100MM, with two vesting options that would have brought the total value of the contract to $150MM. But Hamilton signed with the Angels for $125MM guaranteed instead.
AL Notes: Carp, Overbay, Grossman
The Red Sox's offseason trade for Mike Carp appears to be paying dividends, the Providence Journal's Brian MacPherson reports. Carp is currently hitting. 455/.500/.864 in a very small sample after joining the Red Sox from the Mariners in February. "We've always liked him as a hitter," says Sox GM Ben Cherington. "There's a history of getting guys out of Seattle, the tough hitting environment. It was a combination of a pretty strong minor-league track record and some big-league success and, subjectively, our scouts have always liked his swing and approach." MacPherson says Carp is part of a recent trend in which the Red Sox cheaply acquire former prospects (like Jeremy Hermida, Andrew Miller, Mike Aviles and Franklin Morales) with the idea that they might take steps forward that they didn't with their previous organizations. Here are more notes from around the American League.
- Lyle Overbay didn't know where he would be headed at the end of spring training before ending up with the Yankees, Vince Z. Mercogliano of the LoHud Yankees Blog writes. The Red Sox had released Overbay, but he quickly found a home with the injury-ravaged Yanks. "My agent was on the line from the get-go. He obviously thought that this might be a fit, and Milwaukee," says Overbay. "Realistically, I think this and Milwaukee were the only chances that I had in that short amount of time."
- The Astros' main objective this year is to see which of their young players can be long-term contributors, GM Jeff Luhnow tells Tyler Kepner of the New York Times. One of those young players is outfielder Robbie Grossman, the main piece the Astros acquired when they traded Wandy Rodriguez to the Pirates last July. Grossman made his big-league debut last week after a strong start for Triple-A Oklahoma City.
NL Notes: Gattis, Quintero, Nelson
The emergence of Evan Gattis as a power threat could soon create a logjam at catcher for the Braves, MLB.com's Mark Bowman writes. Brian McCann is nearly set to return from the disabled list, but the Braves don't want to demote Gattis (who has six home runs), and it's too early to get rid of Gerald Laird, in part because the Braves signed him to a two-year contract over the winter. (Laird has also hit well in limited time so far.) Jason Heyward's recent appendix surgery could create a temporary opportunity for Gattis in the outfield, but as the season progresses, it could be interesting to watch Atlanta's catching situation. McCann is a free agent after the season, and as Jeff Todd noted last week, Gattis' emergence, if it continues, could make the Braves feel better about McCann's likely departure. Here are more notes from around the National League.
- The Phillies recently designated catcher Humberto Quintero for assignment, but they want him to clear waivers, Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes. Now that Carlos Ruiz is returning from his suspension, the Phillies have settled on Erik Kratz to be his backup. But they want more veteran catching depth in their organization, and they value Quintero's big-league experience. "There's a chance he could still be with us, and selfishly, we hope he is," says assistant GM Scott Proefrock.
- The Rockies are waiting to see what happens to infielder Chris Nelson, who they designated for assignment on Sunday, according to MLB.com's Thomas Harding. Nelson was the Rockies' first-round pick in the 2004 Draft. "It's important to honor Nellie and what he's meant to this organization," says Rockies manager Walt Weiss. "Personally, my relationship goes beyond player-manager. They brought him in and worked him out before the Draft, and I was out there taking ground balls with him in front of our entire scouting department, and I was with him in our Minor League system."
Orioles Acquire Chris Snyder
The Angels have traded catcher Chris Snyder to the Orioles for minor-league pitcher Rob Delaney, Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun reports . MASNSports.com's Roch Kubatko notes that the Orioles will add Snyder to their active roster, which presumably means that he will serve as the backup to Matt Wieters while Taylor Teagarden is on the disabled list with a thumb injury.
Snyder, 32, was hitting .342/.388/.684 with Triple-A Salt Lake. He hit .176/.295/.308 in 221 at bats with the Astros in 2012.
Delaney, 28, struggled in three outings for Triple-A Norfolk in 2013, but was effective as a Triple-A reliever in 2011 and 2012. He has pitched a total of six big-league innings in his career, including five with the Rays in 2011.
Week In Review: 4/21/13 – 4/27/13
Here's a look back at the week that was at MLBTR.
- The Tigers signed Jose Valverde to a Major League deal and made him their closer.
- MLB commissioner Bud Selig turned down a five-year contract extension because he plans to retire after the 2014 season.
- The Cubs plan to take Stanford's Mark Appel or Oklahoma's Jonathan Gray with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2013 draft.
- The Nationals exercised their 2014 option on GM Mike Rizzo.
- The Marlins claimed pitcher Duane Below, who had been designated for assignment by the Tigers.
- The Nationals claimed pitcher Xavier Cedeno, who had been designated for assignment by the Astros.
- The Phillies designated catcher Humberto Quintero for assignment.
- Days after acquiring outfielder Casper Wells from the Blue Jays for cash, the Athletics were the third team to designate outfielder Casper Wells for assignment this season.
- The Rockies designated infielder Chris Nelson for assignment.
- The Blue Jays designated Aaron Laffey for assignment after claiming him off waivers from the Mets.
- To make space for Laffey earlier in the week, the Blue Jays designated veteran pitcher Ramon Ortiz for assignment.
- The Indians outrighted pitcher Fernando Nieve to Triple-A Columbus after designating him for assignment.
- The Cubs outrighted infielder Alberto Gonzalez to Triple-A Iowa.
- The Marlins outrighted pitcher John Maine to Triple-A New Orleans.
- Pitcher Charlie Leesman rejected his assignment from the Rangers and became a free agent.
- Former Pirates pitcher Chris Leroux signed to pitch with the Yakult Swallows in Japan.
- The Mets signed pitcher D.J. Mitchell.
- The Dodgers signed pitcher Anthony Ortega to a minor-league deal.
- The Brewers released pitcher Jim Hoey.
- The Orioles released pitcher Scott Proctor.
- The Pirates traded pitcher Roman Colon to the Braves for cash considerations.
- The Rays received cash from the Athletics and Rangers for the trades of catchers Stephen Vogt and Robinson Chirinos, respectively.
Quick Hits: Cubs, Dodgers, Padres
Former Red Sox GM and current Cubs president Theo Epstein, speaking along with Athletics GM Billy Beane at a panel discussion in Boston on Monday, says that the big problem facing big-payroll teams is how to spend their extra money, Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal reports. New rules have made it difficult to splurge in the draft or in the international market, and more and more younger players are signing long-term deals that buy out free agent seasons. That leaves the free agent market as the next obvious place to find talent. Big-payroll teams have historically dominated the free agent market, of course, but with so many players signing long-term with their current clubs, the free agent talent pool will be shallower in the coming years than it once was. "It's one thing to have an advantage as far as the amount of dollars you have, but if there aren't effective places to spend that money, what do you do with that advantage?" says Epstein.
Beane, meanwhile, has a different take, lamenting that, as a small-payroll GM, he isn't able to keep his players longer. "If we could have one thing, it would be to draft, develop and keep our own players," he says. "Having capital, it's not just about signing free agents. Having capital allows you to take your Gio Gonzalez and keep him through the rest of his career." Here are more notes from around the big leagues.
- Cubs GM Jed Hoyer gave manager Dale Sveum his vote of confidence Tuesday, MLB.com's Carrie Muskat reports. "We’re all in this together," says Hoyer. "We’ve struggled, it’s been painful to watch because we keep on squandering leads. That’s on Theo and that’s on me. We have to figure out ways to get better. We’re not the most talented team in the league right now." The Cubs are currently 5-13.
- Dodgers team president Stan Kasten expects the team's currently-stratospheric payroll to decrease as the team adds more talent from the minors, CBS Sports' Jon Heyman reports. The Dodgers are focusing on scouting and development, Kasten says, so that, in the future, the payroll "is not going to be where it is." The Dodgers are currently 9-10 and have been racked by injuries.
- Ted Lilly is scheduled to start for the Dodgers Wednesday, and he'll be the Dodgers' eighth starter in their first 20 games, MLB.com's Ken Gurnick points out. (The other seven are Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Josh Beckett, Chad Billingsley, Chris Capuano, and Stephen Fife.) The Dodgers' quandary of what to do with their starting pitching depth was a major story in spring training, and the Dodgers did, in fact, deal Aaron Harang to the Rockies. But after a slew of injuries (including today's revelation that Billingsley will have Tommy John surgery), that starting pitching depth is no more.
- Playing badly might or might not yield big dividends for the Padres, notes Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune. Krasovic quotes Baseball America's Jim Callis, who points out that the top five picks in the draft are much more valuable than other picks, but Krasovic also notes that the Padres haven't done so well lately with top picks like Matt Bush and Donavan Tate. The Padres are currently 5-14.
- Veteran Eddie Bonine, who recently signed a minor-league deal with the Padres after being released by the Diamondbacks, is trying to make it back to the big leagues as a knuckleballer, MLB.com's Corey Brock reports. Bonine used the knuckleball as a secondary pitch in the past, throwing it 19% of the time as member of the Tigers bullpen in 2010. Bonine missed the 2012 season after having Tommy John surgery.