Quick Hits: Mets, Harang
The Tidewater Mets may just be the best team you've never heard of, writes Mark Bowman of MLB.com. With B.J. Upton and David Wright manning the left side of the infield, Ryan Zimmerman was forced to split time at second (with Mark Reynolds), and Justin Upton was relegated to bench duty. Of course, those Mets were a high school travel club. Now, through a combination of the draft, extensions, free agency, and trade, all of those players (excluding Reynolds) are stars on their respective National League East clubs.
- The New York Mets could be buyers at the trade deadline whether or not the club is in contention, writes Ken Davidoff of the New York Post. With Davidoff expecting an active in-season trade market, he says that the Mets could target big bats such as Carlos Gonzalez, Andre Ethier, Chase Headley, Giancarlo Stanton, Carl Crawford, Josh Willingham, and Alfonso Soriano. As this outfielder-heavy list suggests, and MLBTR noted earlier today, the Mets appear to be interested in acquiring a premier outfielder.
- One way or another, Mets fans should prepare for life without a hot-hitting John Buck, writes Daniel Nelson of MetsmerizedOnline.com. If the backstop fails to cool off and return to his historical levels, Nelson believes that the club will likely try to flip him for young talent.
- Aaron Harang threw 180 innings last year, logging a 3.61 ERA. In 2011, he tossed 170 innings with a 3.64 ERA. Yet the Rockies dumped him to the Mariners right after he was offloaded by the Dodgers. The reason is simple, according to Dave Cameron of U.S.S. Mariner: Harang's worsening walk and strikeout rates make him "basically a worse version of Jon Garland." Of course, Garland joined the Rockies when Seattle let him walk rather than promising a rotation spot.
- Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik addressed the Harang trade, saying that the deal was motivated in large part by Erasmo Ramirez's health issues, tweets Shannon Drayer of ESPN Radio Seattle. The Seattle GM also noted that, if the 34-year-old Harang is not yet ready to start, he will work out of the bullpen until another starter moves there permanently, according to Greg Johns of MLB.com and Drayer. (Twitter links.)
AL Notes: Mendonca, Freiman, Shields
Here are some notes from around the American League:
- The Athletics have released minor league third baseman Tommy Mendonca, tweets Melissa Lockard of OaklandClubhouse.com (hat tip to the San Francisco Chronicle's Susan Slusser). Originally a 2009 second-round pick of the Rangers, Mendonca was selected by Oakland in this year's minor league Rule 5 draft. Mendonca, who turns 25 tomorrow, struggled in his first Triple-A action last season, when he hit .208/.249/.329 in 251 plate appearances at the upper level of the minors.
- Meanwhile, the A's seem more inclined to hang onto another Rule 5 pick, Nate Freiman, who the club picked up off of waivers from Houston, writes Yahoo Sports' Tim Brown. Manager Bob Melvin likes Freiman's power and patience. The 6'8", 26-year-old first baseman hit safely in his first two big league at-bats, though he has failed to register a base knock in his eleven subsequent plate appearances.
- The Royals' trade for James Shields was not just about acquiring a rotation anchor, writes Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports. The club was also hoping to import some of the Rays' clubhouse culture, which Shields has brought to Kansas City along with his solid start on the hill. Meanwhile, MLB.com's Dick Kaegel writes that the club is confident that it has plenty of talent in the pipeline in spite of the haul it gave up in the Shields trade.
Quick Hits: Bruce, Dodgers, Astros, Cano
Jay Bruce had some interesting comments on the state of free agency in a piece authored by MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince. Bruce noted that the extension boom will lead to greater team continuity, recalling the Reds' famed Big Red Machine. "Of course," he said, "if you had that today, you might have a $600MM payroll." Bruce continued: "Fortunately for us, the dollars have become so large that even when you're signing deals with your team early, they're still close to market. I understand the competitive market and not pushing the market down for players coming after you. I respect that, and that's a big part of keeping things on the up and up on our side. But I don't think that guys are just signing anything put in front of them. There's so much information out there that if you do any due diligence at all, you're going to understand [what's fair]."
- Right-handed starter Chad Billingsley appears set to return to the Dodgers for a Wednesday start, reports Quinn Roberts of MLB.com. With lefty Ted Lilly also making minor league rehab starts, the Dodgers will again have to shuffle their rotation. Los Angeles moved one of their surplus starters earlier today when they shipped Aaron Harang to the Rockies for Ramon Hernandez.
- The Astros are all-in on rebuilding, with a payroll that barely exceeds the $20MM the team has set aside for draft spending, writes Phil Rogers of the Boston Herald. GM Jeff Luhnow is preaching not "patience," but what he calls "discipline." According to Luhnow: "We all feel a sense of urgency to get this to the endpoint as quickly as possible. But to do that, we have to be disciplined about how we implement (our plan). That means not doing things that are going to give us an extra win or two this year at the expense of an extra five wins two or three years down the road."
- Robinson Cano's agency swap is an admission that the contract pressure is getting to him, opines Bill Madden of the New York Daily News. Madden feels that Cano wants to get his big pay day but also doesn't want to have it hanging over him.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
David Aardsma Clears Waivers
David Aardsma has cleared release waivers, MLBTR has learned. The right-handed reliever has generated interest from around ten teams, and hopes to decide on a new destination by the middle of next week.
Aardsma was released on Thursday by the Yankees. As MLBTR's Tim Dierkes wrote upon Aardsma's release, there should be interest in the newly-minted free agent since he showed his health and hit 94 on the gun during the spring.
Aardsma had Tommy John surgery in July 2011, so he only ended up making one big league appearance for the Yankees. For his career, the right-hander owns a 4.22 ERA with 9.1 K/9 and 5.1 BB/9.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Diamondbacks Claim Will Harris
Righthander Will Harris has been claimed off of waivers by the Diamondbacks, the Athletics tweeted. Harris was waived to make room for starter Bartolo Colon, who the A's have reinstated from the suspended list. As expected, Dan Straily was optioned to Triple-A to clear a rotation spot for Colon, the team also announced on Twitter.
Oakland claimed Harris off of waivers from the Rockies just three days ago. As MLBTR's Steve Adams explained, Harris's high strikeout rate is intriguing, in spite of his shaky big league track record.
Daniel McCutchen Suspended For Positive PED Test
Orioles minor league pitcher Daniel McCutchen has been suspended for 50 games by MLB after testing positive for a performance enhancing drug, tweets Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com and Baseball America. The test revealed two banned substances, Crasnick tweets: "Methenolone and a metabolite of Trenbolone."
McCutchen, 30, saw big league playing time over 2009-12 with the Pirates, including a 2011 season in which he posted a 3.72 ERA over 84 2/3 innings. Last season, McCutchen gave up a walk and a home run in his only appearance, leaving his ERA for the season at infinity when he was pulled before recording an out. He spent most of the year at Triple-A, where he threw to a 2.98 ERA in 63 1/3 innings. The right-hander joined the Orioles this past offseason on a minor league deal.
Colby Rasmus Changes Agents
The Blue Jays' Colby Rasmus has changed agents, switching to Excel Sports Management and Casey Close over the spring, reports Sportsnet.ca's Ben Nicholson-Smith. Rasmus will join an impressive list of clients with Excel, including Derek Jeter and Clayton Kershaw. The center fielder was previously a client of the Beverly Hills Sports Council.
Still just 26, Rasmus is in search of a breakout year. He showed immense promise with a .276/.361/.498 season as a 23-year-old with the Cardinals in 2010, yet has failed to repeat that performance. Last year, Rasmus posted a .223/.289/.400 line for Toronto. After avoiding arbitration with a $4.68MM deal over the offseason, Rasmus enters his final year of arbitration eligibility after this season before reaching free agent eligibility in 2015.
Blue Jays Designate Jeffress For Assignment
The Blue Jays have selected the contract of righty Dave Bush and designated fellow reliever Jeremy Jeffress for assignment, the team announced via press release and on Twitter. Jeffress, 25, is out of options.
Jeffress gave up two walks and a home run in his first outing this year, after pitching 13 1/3 innings of 6.75 ERA ball for the Royals last year. Once a highly touted prospect, Jeffress was part of the deal that sent Zack Greinke to the Brewers. The Jays acquired him from Kansas City in the offseason for cash considerations.
Bush pitched in Korea in 2012 after eight big league seasons. His last season as a regular MLB starter was in 2010, when he started 31 games for the Brewers and logged a 4.54 ERA in 174 1/3 innings. In 2011, Bush struggled as a reliever and spot starter for the Rangers, sporting a 5.79 ERA over 37 1/3 innings.
Quick Hits: Brewers, Diamondbacks, Marlins
As the year's first full weekend of baseball gets underway, take a look at the latest on the Cubs' efforts to rehabilitate Chicago's venerable Wrigley Field. Hal Dardick of the Chicago Tribune writes that, with the club and the city nearing a deal, the owners of the famous Wrigleyville rooftops are preparing to fight any moves that would obstruct their view. On to some roster shuffling notes:
- The Brewers have some difficult roster decisions coming up, writes Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. With Corey Hart already out, the club needs to address injuries to Ryan Braun and Aramis Ramirez. While the club is hopeful that Braun will miss little (if any) time due to his neck spasms, Ramirez's knee sprain is concerning and could result in a DL stint. With a full 40-man roster, however, Milwaukee is short on choices. Potential reserve infielders Taylor Green and Jeff Bianchi are on the roster but are also on the DL, leaving prospect Scooter Gennett as the only apparent infield option on the current 40-man.
- The Diamondbacks added shortstops Cliff Pennington, Didi Gregorius, and Nick Ahmed this offseason, and already had prospect Chris Owings in place at the position, writes Nick Piecoro of AZCentral Sports. With Gregorius returning soon from an elbow strain, the club faces a complicated choice in allocating playing time among the players at the big league and upper minor league levels.
- Another injury-related roster crunch is playing out in Miami, where the Marlins are struggling to replace multiple injured first basemen (most recently, Casey Kotchman). Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald explains that, without any healthy replacements on the 40-man roster, the club is essentially holding tryouts among its other position players. The results reportedly included Chris Coghlan asking whether he could use his outfielder's glove and Miguel Olivo trotting out with his catcher's mitt on.
Phillies Return Inciarte To Diamondbacks
Not long after breaking camp with the Phillies, outfielder and Rule 5 selection Ender Inciarte has been returned to the Diamondbacks, tweets MLB.com's Todd Zolecki. Inciarte was designated for assignment by Philadelphia on Tuesday when the club claimed Ezequiel Carrera off of waivers from Cleveland.
Having failed to get a chance to swing the bat for the Phils, Inciarte still has not seen a plate appearance above the High-A level. He hit .307/.376/.421 across Class-A and Advanced-A last year as a 21-year-old.