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Minor Moves: Rogers, Geltz, Sappelt, Ni, Rodriguez, Hottovy

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Here are today’s minor league transactions, with the latest moves atop the post…

  • The Mariners have released hurler Mark Rogers, tweets Tacoma Rainiers announcer Mike Curto (hat tip to Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times). Rogers, 28, is now far removed from his days as one of the game’s better pitching prospects. He was given a Spring Training invite in the offseason, but Seattle pulled the plug on his comeback attempt after Rogers walked 7 in his first 7 innings on the year.
  • Rays minor league reliever Steve Geltz has been hit with a 50-game suspension after a second positive test for a drug of abuse, Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times tweets. The 26-year-old righty, who came to Tampa last year in exchange for Dane De La Rosa, threw to a 2.82 ERA in 67 frames last year (10.7 K/9 against 3.2 BB/9) and was off to a 3.86 ERA start in his first 16 1/3 innings in 2014.
  • Outfielder Dave Sappelt has signed with los Acereros de Monclova in Mexico, tweets Chris Cotillo of MLB Daily Dish. Sappelt has split the past three seasons between the Cubs and Reds, posting a .251/.301/.343 batting line in 274 big league plate appearances.
  • Former Tigers lefty Fu-Te Ni has signed with the independent Atlantic League’s Lancaster Barnstormers in hopes of eventually landing a Major League or Triple-A opportunity, tweets Cotillo. Ni had a solid rookie campaign with Detroit in 2009 but struggled to a 6.65 ERA in 23 innings in 2010. Now 31 years of age, Ni has a strong Triple-A track record but didn’t pitch in affiliated ball last season.
  • The Rays have released catcher Eddy Rodriguez, Baseball America’s Matt Eddy tweets.  Rodriguez, 28, signed a minor league deal with Tampa in the offseason but had only a .443 OPS in 49 PA for Triple-A Durham.  The veteran catcher has a career .235/.286/.386 slash line over 2271 minor league PAs and he received a two-game cup of coffee in the majors with the Padres in 2012.
  • The Cubs have released southpaw Tommy Hottovy, Baseball America’s Matt Eddy reports (as part of his full recap of the week’s minor league moves).  Hottovy signed a minor league contract with Chicago in December but had yet to pitch this season due to injury.  The left-hander threw 13 1/3 innings for the Red Sox and Royals in 2011-12 and spent last season in the Blue Jays’ farm system.
  • The Angels have signed left-hander Dustin Richardson to a minor league contract, according to the team’s MLB.com transactions page.  Richardson will report to Triple-A Salt Lake City.  The 30-year-old southpaw appeared in 20 games in Salt Lake last season, as well as six games with the independent Sugar Land Skeeters.  Richardson has 16 1/3 Major League innings to his name (with the Red Sox in 2009-10) and he has also spent time with the Braves’ and Marlins’ Triple-A affiliates and served a 50-game PED suspension.

Steve Adams contributed to this post.

NL Central Links: Reds, Singh, Rolen

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Here’s the latest from around the NL Central…

  • With Jay Bruce possibly needing knee surgery and facing a 3-4 week absence, John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer (all Twitter links) looked at the Reds’ options for replacing the slugger on the roster.  They could recall Donald Lutz, who owns a 1.172 OPS in 82 Double-A plate appearances this season, but with Lutz currently suffering from the flu, Fay thinks the Reds could pursue a trade if Lutz doesn’t recover soon.  Fay thinks Cincinnati will try to bring back Roger Bernadina, who is currently in DFA limbo after being designated for assignment on Saturday; if Bernadina isn’t claimed by another team, the Reds can outright him to the minors and immediately recall him.
  • Rinku Singh’s journey from teenage javelin thrower to Indian reality show winner to Pirates farmhand will be chronicled in the upcoming film Million Dollar Arm, and Singh tells FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal (who has a cameo in the movie) that he hopes his story can help inspire children in his home country.  Singh missed last season due to injury and is sitting out the 2014 season as he recovers from Tommy John surgery but had he stayed healthy, Rosenthal notes, the southpaw would probably be in Double-A by now.  Singh posted a 3.00 ERA, 8.1 K/9 and 3.61 K/BB rate in 72 relief innings at high-A ball in 2012.
  • The trade of Scott Rolen to the Blue Jays in January 2008 is the one move John Mozeliak really regrets, the Cardinals GM tells Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (subscription required).  A rift between Rolen and then-manager Tony La Russa drove the deal rather than baseball-specific reasons, Mozeliak admits.  Troy Glaus, who St. Louis received in the deal, had a strong 2008 season but quickly declined, while Rolen delivered 11.3 fWAR between 2008-10.

AL East Notes: Blue Jays, Schoop, Gray

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The recent struggles of Yankees starters C.C. Sabathia (age 33) and Hiroki Kuroda (age 39) weigh on the minds of Red Sox management in regards to a possible Jon Lester extension, Peter Gammons tweets.  While the Sox are surely interested in keeping Lester in the fold through 2018, anything beyond that could be problematic given the history of guaranteeing big money to aging pitchers.  Lester would be 35 on Opening Day 2019, which could be why Boston’s most recent offer to the southpaw was a four-year extension.

  • The Blue Jays could make up their 2.5-game deficit in the AL East by making four changes, Paul Swydan writes in an Insider-only piece for ESPN.com.  One of those moves would be an upgrade at second base, and Swydan suggests that Rickie Weeks, Luis Valbuena, Emilio Bonifacio and Danny Espinosa could all be logical trade targets.
  • Chuck LaMar, former Rays GM and current Blue Jays special assistant of amateur scouting, recently scouted high schooler Alex Verdugo, Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun reports.  Verdugo, recently ranked as the 41st-best draft prospect by Baseball America, is both a left-handed pitcher and an outfielder “who prefers to hit anyway,” according to BA’s John Manuel.  Toronto has the ninth and eleventh overall picks in the 2014 draft, as well as the 50th overall selection.
  • Jonathan Schoop is only hitting .231/.278/.374 in 97 PA this season, but MASNsports.com’s Steve Melewski believes the Orioles’ star prospect deserves more time as a Major League regular.
  • The Athletics drafted Sonny Gray one pick ahead of the Red Sox in 2011, and WEEI.com’s Alex Speier notes that the Sox heavily evaluated the righty in the months leading up to the draft.  While Gray has already enjoyed Major League stardom, Boston still has to be pretty satisfied with its actual pick at #19 overall, as Matt Barnes is a well-regarded right-hander pitching at Triple-A this season and possibly in line for a late-season promotion to the bigs.

Quick Hits: Cain, Int’l Prospects, Bush, Boras

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Matt Cain has been placed on the 15-day DL in order to recover from a cut on his right index finger that already cost him one start earlier this week.  While making a sandwich in the Giants’ clubhouse last Tuesday, Cain dropped a knife and tried to catch it in mid-air, cutting his finger in the process.  While the injury isn’t serious and Cain could return to the rotation as early as Saturday, the Giants ace may have earned himself a mention in future lists of oddball MLB injuries.

Here are a few notes from around the baseball world…

  • The Rangers have done the best job of signing international prospects since 2006, as ranked by Baseball America’s Ben Badler.  Not only has Texas signed 14 international players (the second-most of any team in that span), but several of them are making waves in the minors and the likes of Martin Perez, Leonys Martin and Jurickson Profar have contributed to the Major League club.  The Royals, Pirates, Twins and Red Sox round out the rest of the top five in Badler’s rankings.
  • Former first overall draft pick Matt Bush is halfway through a 51-month prison sentence and he talks to FOX Sports’ Gabe Kapler about his regrets and his battles with alcoholism.
  • Scott Boras’ inability to adapt to the new qualifying offer system in free agency is why clients Kendrys Morales and Stephen Drew are still waiting for new contracts, Scout.com’s Kiley McDaniel opines.  While Boras has pulled impressive deals seeming out of nowhere for many clients in the past, McDaniel argues that teams have more information now and are less apt to give up a draft pick or commit major dollars to “second tier free agents.”
  • Fangraphs’ David Laurila catches up with right-hander Mike Ekstrom about playing in Italy and his Baseball Round The World website, which chronicles the experiences of Ekstrom and other players who continue their careers in far-flung locales.  Ekstrom pitched 61 Major League innings with the Padres, Rays and Rockies from 2008-12 and spent last season at the Triple-A level in the Athletics’ and Angels’ systems.

Quick Hits: Hoyer, Morrow, Hawkins, Angels

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A strong young pitching arm has long been the most valuable commodity in baseball, but as ESPN’s Buster Olney writes in his latest Insider-only column, some executives are beginning to put a greater premium on young hitters.  Position players may rate higher due to defensive value, not to mention that big bats are becoming a rarer commodity as scoring declines around the game.

Here are some news and notes from around the baseball world…

  • The Cubs are widely expected to be sellers at the trade deadline but GM Jed Hoyer told reporters (including CSN Chicago’s Patrick Mooney) that trade talks are currently “non-existent” and things won’t get serious for at least a few more weeks.  “I certainly talk to a lot of GMs on a daily or weekly basis,” Hoyer said. “But having a GM call about a specific player? I’m not even sure I fielded one of those yet. Really, that trade talk always dies right at the end of spring training.”
  • The Blue Jays have shifted Brandon Morrow to the 60-day disabled list, the team announced to reporters, including MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm (Twitter links).  The right index finger injury that put Morrow on the 15-day DL earlier today was revealed to be a torn tendon sheath, and if the injury isn’t healed by July, Morrow will have to undergo season-ending surgery.  This looks to be the third time in as many years that Morrow has suffered an injury that cost him at least two months of the season.
  • LaTroy Hawkins’ presence could’ve greatly helped solve the Mets’ bullpen issues, which is why Andy Martino of the New York Daily News opines that the team isn’t serious about contending.  Hawkins signed a one-year, $2.5MM deal with the Rockies, a modest contact that Martino feels the Mets should’ve and could’ve easily topped in order to shore up their bullpen’s questionable depth.
  • The Angels’ struggling bullpen could get a boost from the farm system very soon, Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times writes.  GM Jerry Dipoto said that Double-A right-handers R.J. Alvarez and Cam Bedrosian could both be “a phone call away. They’re doing it against high-level professional hitters. I feel like both can help sooner rather than later.”
  • Indians catcher George Kottaras is likely to be designated for assignment once Yan Gomes returns from the paternity list, Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.  Kottaras was just called up today by the Tribe to take Gomes’ place, but he is out of options.  The 30-year-old catcher signed a minor league deal with the Tribe in late March.
  • In an Insider-only piece for ESPN.com, Mike Petriello identifies three early weaknesses plaguing the Cardinals, Dodgers and Tigers in 2014.
  • Ten well-known names ranging from Major League veterans to retired NBA star Tracy McGrady are active in the independent leagues, Zachary Levine writes for FOXSports.com in a brief review of these ten players’ career situations.
  • Giving minor league starting prospects Major League experience as relievers and eventually working them into the rotation is a strategy popularized by Earl Weaver’s Orioles in the 1970’s, and this idea has been one of the cornerstones of the Cardinals’ success over the last decade, Peter Gammons writes in his latest column for GammonsDaily.com.

Blue Jays To Promote Marcus Stroman

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The Blue Jays will call up right-handed pitching prospect Marcus Stroman, the team told reporters (including Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca) after tonight’s loss to the Pirates.  Stroman will pitch out of the bullpen for the Jays, at least at first, though he has pitched exclusively as a starter for the last two minor league seasons and there had been rumors that he was on pace to join the rotation.  A corresponding move will come tomorrow, as Stroman isn’t on Toronto’s 40-man roster.

Stroman, who just turned 23 years old on Thursday, was taken by the Jays with the 22nd overall pick of the 2012 amateur draft.  He began his pro career in ignominious fashion by serving a 50-game suspension for a PED violation, but returned to post a 3.30 ERA, 10.4 K/9 and 4.78 K/BB rate over 20 Double-A starts in 2013.  The righty has been even better in five Triple-A starts this season, posting a 1.69 ERA, 12.2 K/9 and 5.14 K/BB rate over 26 2/3 IP.

This performance earned Stroman a place on several preseason prospect lists.  MLB.com ranked Stroman 52nd on its list of the top 100 prospects in the game, while Baseball America ranked the righty 55th and ESPN’s Keith Law ranked him 58th.  The 2014 Baseball America Prospect Handbook ranked Stroman as the second-best prospect in Toronto’s farm system (behind only Aaron Sanchez) and praised his 92-95 mph “heavy fastball…with above-average movement” also counted his slider and cutter as plus pitches.  The knock on Stroman is his 5’9″ height, as the BA Handbook noted that “if Stroman does not defy the odds and become at least a No. 3 starter, then he could be a high-end late-game reliever.”

While the Blue Jays obviously hope Stroman becomes a quality starter in the long term, late-game relief help of any sort would be a boon for a struggling Jays bullpen.  Toronto relievers have a 7.45 ERA over their last 48 1/3 IP, which includes the five runs allowed by Aaron Loup and Todd Redmond over 1 2/3 IP in tonight’s loss.

Stroman’s minor league starts had been lined up with Dustin McGowan’s starts for the Jays, leading to speculation that Stroman would take his spot in the rotation and McGowan would be moved back to the pen.  The Blue Jays were also planning to go to a six-man rotation (with J.A. Happ starting) to keep their starters fresh during their current stretch of 20 consecutive games, though Brandon Morrow’s injury may have shelved that plan for the time being.

If Stroman remains on the Major League roster for the remainder of the season, he will accrue 148 days of service time and be virtually assured of reaching Super Two status.  (Two years and 146 days of service time has been the highest Super Two cutoff point of the last six years.)  This will earn Stroman an extra year of arbitration eligibility, though Toronto still controls his rights through the 2020 season.

AL East Links: Lester, Hinojosa, Cruz, Orr

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George Digby, a Red Sox scout from 1944 to 1994 and a scouting consultant until 2004, passed away on Friday at age 96.  Digby’s long career earned him a spot in the Red Sox Hall Of Fame and his many signings included such notable names as Wade Boggs, Mike Greenwell and Jody Reed.  An even bigger name, however, eluded Digby through no fault of his own.  As ESPN Boston’s Gordon Edes relates, Digby pushed the Red Sox to sign Willie Mays in 1949 yet got nowhere thanks to the club’s ban on black players that shamefully existed until 1959.  The MLBTR staff extends our condolences to Digby’s family and many friends around baseball.

Here’s the latest from the AL East…

  • Jon Lester recorded a career-best 15 strikeouts over eight innings of one-hit ball in a 6-3 Boston win over Oakland today.  MLB.com’s Mike Bauman notes that such performances are what makes Lester so valuable to the Red Sox and it only raises the southpaw’s asking price on his next contract.  When last we heard about negotiations, Lester and the Sox had reportedly suspended talks until the end of the season.
  • Dalier Hinojosa has a 7.15 ERA and 12 walks over his first 11 1/3 innings with Triple-A Pawtucket, yet the PawSox coaching staff isn’t yet concerned about the Cuban right-hander, Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal writes.  This is not only Hinojosa’s first taste of American pro baseball since signing a $4.25MM contract with the Red Sox in October, but it is also his first time pitching in cold weather, which the PawSox coaches believe is affecting his performance.
  • Nelson Cruz is off to a hot start and is only under contract through 2014, though MASNsports.com’s Steve Melewski opines that the Orioles shouldn’t be in any rush to extend Cruz’s contract.  The O’s have other long-term deals for building block players (i.e. Chris Davis, Matt Wieters, J.J. Hardy) to consider first, plus Baltimore can also extend a qualifying offer to Cruz in the offseason.
  • Infielder Pete Orr wanted to sign with the Blue Jays last winter, his agent Blake Corosky tells Sportsnet.ca’s Ben Nicholson-Smith.  “Pete made it clear to them that they were his first choice and starting in [Triple-A] Buffalo was fine.  But they were equally clear there were better options and that they liked him but not enough,” Corosky said.  Orr, born just outside Toronto in nearby Richmond Hill, instead signed a minor league deal with the Brewers.

AL Central Notes: V-Mart, Hunter, Zimmer

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We’ve already had one batch of AL Central news items earlier today, but here are a few more from around the division…

  • It seems “certain” that the Tigers will extend a qualifying offer to Victor Martinez this winter, MLive.com’s Chris Iott writes as part of a reader mailbag.  Though Martinez turns 36 in December, he’s still swinging a live bat, bringing an .859 OPS over 99 PA into today’s action.  This is just my speculation, but given Martinez’s age and defensive limitations, I wonder if he could actually accept the one-year qualifying offer (which should be worth roughly $15MM) to stay in a familiar situation in Detroit rather than risk facing a Kendrys Morales -esque extended wait in free agency.
  • Torii Hunter did a bit of recruiting to bring Joel Hanrahan to the Tigers, both players tell MLB.com’s Jason Beck.  Hunter and Hanrahan are both represented by agent Larry Reynolds and work out together during the offseason.
  • Kyle Zimmer, the fifth pick of the 2012 draft, skipped Spring Training and will see his first game action this coming week, Jim Callis writes for MLB.com.  While Zimmer is presently healthy, he had a bout of late-season biceps tendinitis and said his arm still didn’t feel when throwing in December.  As such, the Royals are taking it very easy with their star prospect and plan to cap him around 148 innings, though they could call on him for a pennant race.  “If he pitches like we expect him to, we’ll have a fresh Kyle Zimmer in September,” Royals assistant GM J.J. Picollo said.  “He’s as important as anybody in the organization for this year and the future, and this just made more sense.”
  • In other prospect-workload news, Twins assistant GM Rob Antony hinted to Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press that Alex Meyer could see roughly a 30-percent increase in his innings from 2013.  “I think 30 percent is pretty much the standard,” Antony said. “It’s kind of the guideline you work under. You monitor it….We just want him to stay healthy throughout the year and continue to progress.”  This projects to around 156 IP for Meyer in 2014, and since he’s pitched so well in five Triple-A starts, the big righty could be a late-season callup.  Antony didn’t address that possibility other than to say “The intensity is a lot different (in the minors).”

Quick Hits: Towles, Braves, Prospects

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There have been 23 perfect games in Major League history and 16 instances of a player hitting four home runs in one game, and both of these rare baseball events have taken place on April 30.  White Sox right-hander Charlie Robertson threw a perfecto against the Tigers on this day in 1922; 39 years later, the legendary Willie Mays homered four times as part of a 14-4 Giants rout of the Braves.  Incredibly, there have been two other instances of a four-homer game and a perfect game on the same day — July 18 (Pat Seerey in 1948 and David Cone in 1999) and May 8 (Josh Hamilton in 2012 and Catfish Hunter in 1968).

Here’s some news from around the majors as we head into May…

  • J.R. Towles is fully recovered from a home plate collision that ended his 2013 season and is receiving some interest from Major League teams, MLBTR’s Zach Links reports (Twitter links).  Considered a top-55 prospect headed into the 2008 season, Towles hit .187/.267/.315 in 484 PA with the Astros from 2007-11.  The catcher spent 2012-13 playing for the Triple-A affiliates of the Twins, Dodgers and Cardinals, and is currently hitting well for the independent Bridgeport Bluefish.
  • Three years ago, Jason Heyward was seen as the Braves’ signature star of the future while Freddie Freeman was projected to have a more modest ceiling, Sports Illustrated’s Ben Reiter writes.  Now, Freeman is emerging as one of the game’s best first basemen while Heyward has yet to truly break through thanks to both injuries and a hole in his swing.  Reflecting how the two players have switched roles, the Braves only locked Heyward up to a two-year commitment during their offseason extension frenzy, while Freeman was given an eight-year, $135MM contract.
  • In an Insider-only piece for ESPN.com, Jim Bowden looks at seven top prospects who could be making their Major League debuts sometime this season.
  • Fortitude is a quality that every scout wants to see in a pitcher, yet it’s one of those intangibles that is hard to both identify or even define, Jason Parks of Baseball Prospectus writes.

AL Notes: Abreu, Carbonell, Astros, Baker

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2014 looked like a rebuilding year for the White Sox, but with Jose Abreu bursting onto the scene to become a star power bat, could the Pale Hose contend this season?  GM Rick Hahn told reporters (including CSN Chicago’s Dan Hayes and MLB.com’s Scott Merkin) that “it really is a balancing act.  You don’t want to pass on a chance to win. They are sacred. At the same time, this is a long-term proposition we are trying to build here, sustain over an extended period, and we don’t want to hamper our ability to do that.”  It’s still too early in the season to make “short-sighted” moves, Hahn said, yet if the Sox are in the race in a couple of months, the team will re-evaluate its goals for the season.

Here’s some more from around the junior circuit…

  • White Sox executive VP Kenny Williams talked to Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times about his experience scouting Abreu and then his discussions with owner Jerry Reinsdorf about raising the club’s bid for the heavily-courted slugger.  It was Reinsdorf, Williams said, who actually endorsed paying more for Abreu.  The extra push seems to have paid off, judging by Abreu’s huge April performance.
  • The Yankees are interested in Cuban outfielder Daniel Carbonell, according to media outlet Diario de Cuba (hat tip to Mike Axisa of River Ave Blues).  The Yankees scouted Carbonell during a February workout.  The switch-hitting 23-year-old is a free agent and can be signed for any price as long as he signs before July 2.
  • Astros amateur scouting director Mike Elias discusses his team’s scouting process, current top prospects and the upcoming 2014 amateur draft with Sportsnet.ca’s Ben Nicholson-Smith.
  • It looks like Scott Baker will indeed stay with the Rangers’ Triple-A affiliate, sources tells Chris Cotillo of MLB Daily Dish (Twitter link).  Cotillo previously reported that Baker would only use his May 1 opt-out clause if he could find a Major League deal with another team, and the White Sox and Indians had some interest in Baker’s services.

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