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Minor Deals: Kensing, Bautista

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Let's keep track of today's minor moves here…

  • The Yankees have signed Logan Kensing to a minor league contract according to his representatives, CAA Baseball, on Twitter. The 28-year-old right-hander did not pitch in affiliated baseball last year and has a 5.81 ERA in 161 big league innings. He pitched for Yankees manager Joe Girardi with the Marlins in 2006.
  • Righty Denny Bautista has signed with the Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Baseball Organization according to this report passed along by Dan of MyKBO.net. Bautista, 30, had a 4.21 ERA with 12.1 K/9 and 5.4 BB/9 in 36 1/3 innings for the Mariners' Triple-A affiliate this season.

D’Backs Will Be Able To Add Payroll At Deadline

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The Diamondbacks are 2.5 games back of the Giants in the NL West and two back of the NL Wildcard, and they’ll be able to add reinforcements at the trade dealine. Team president/CEO Derrick Hall told Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports that GM Kevin Towers will have the flexibility to add payroll in a midseason trade.

“We’ve got the flexibility,” said Hall. “Our ownership group is willing to invest in this team. We’ve told KT, ’If we’re in it, we’ll do whatever it takes to support you.'”

For now, the D’Backs are hopeful that recent callups Yhency Brazoban and Alberto Castillo can improve the bullpen. They will continue to monitor outside options, and Morosi notes the team with the most available bullpen help is Towers’ former team, the Padres. He also mentioned Matt Capps as a name to keep in mind. Arizona started the season with a $53.6MM payroll, the sixth smallest in the game.

Giants Have Shown Interest In Yorvit Torrealba

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The Giants have scored the fewest runs in baseball in part due to Buster Posey's season-ending injury, so it's not surprising that both Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports are reporting that a catcher upgrade is the team's focus right now. They've specifically shown interest in Rangers' backstop Yorvit Torrealba, who started his career in San Francisco.

There are two significant roadblocks to a deal according to the FOX scribes. First, Texas can not seriously consider moving Torrealba until Mike Napoli comes off the disabled list, at the very least. Secondly, the Giants are reluctant to pay the $3.25MM he's owned next season. The Rangers would want a bullpen arm in return, but San Francisco is hesitant to part with any of their relievers other than Guillermo Mota.

Rosenthal and Morosi say that Ivan Rodriguez, Ronny Paulino, and Ramon Hernandez have also been discussed internally by the Giants. The Reds are unikely to part with Hernandez even though Ryan Hanigan gets the majority of the playing time behind the plate.

Doug Waechter Retires

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Although he has yet to file official paperwork, Doug Waechter has retired from baseball according to Marc Topkin of The St. Petersburg Times. Three arm surgeries and a lack of interest from Major League clubs led to the decision.

"I know how lucky I am," said the right-hander. "I got to do a lot of things a lot of people don't get the opportunity to do. It was a great ride, and I had a blast doing it. The arm is held together now with duct tape … Or at least that's what the scouts are saying."

Waechter, 30, spent parts of six seasons in the big leagues, four with his hometown Devil Rays. He last pitched in 2009, when he allowed five runs in 5 1/3 innings for the Royals. Overall, Waechter's career in the show consists of a 5.34 ERA with 5.3 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 in 384 1/3 innings. Baseball-Reference.com says he earned just shy of $1.3MM in his career.

Quick Hits: Nationals, Pirates, MacPhail, Astros

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Links for Saturday…

  • The Nationals plan on having Davey Johnson meet up with the team tomorrow in Chicago before flying to Anaheim with them, reports Adam Kilgore of The Washington Post (Twitter links). ESPN's Buster Olney, meanwhile, notes that Johnson's contract ensures that he'll be the manager for this year only. The two sides will re-evaluate things after the season.
  • Tim Britton of The Providence Journal says the Pirates were the big losers in the Jason Bay-Manny Ramirez trade.
  • Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun spoke to Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail about his contract, which expires after the season. "I have always taken the position, unlike one of my good friends in the game Jim Riggleman, let's just see how we do," said MacPhail. "Let's get to the end of the year and see how we do and take it from there."
  • Richard Justice of The Houston Chronicle reports that the Astros transfer of ownership from Drayton McLane to Jim Crane likely won't happen until mid-July (or later) as MLB focuses its efforts on the Dodgers (Twitter link).
  • Joe Strauss of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch addressed the speculation about how Albert Pujols' injury could impact his contract negotiations with the Cardinals after the season.
  • McLaren will not be leaving the Nationals, reports Bill Ladson of MLB.com (Twitter links). He will not be bench coach and will instead stay in another capacity.
  • The Nats can expect another resignation, this time from acting manager John McLaren, writes Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. McLaren served as bench coach under Jim Riggleman.
  • Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports spoke to a source that is doubtful the Giants would move any of their big league pitchers to improve the offense (Twitter link). San Francisco has scored just 261 runs this year, the fewest runs in the game.
  • Gordon Wittenmyer of The Chicago Sun-Times says the Cubs front office plans to give the team a few more weeks to see if they can salvage the season before deciding to sell. The front office will meet next week to sort some of this stuff out.
  • Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun mentioned that Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail and Reds GM Walt Jocketty have swung trades in the past and spent some time together yesterday before their clubs played. He notes that the two clubs appear to match up well in a potential trade as well.
  • Baseball America's Matt Eddy has this week's collection of minor league transactions, which includes a slew of draft pick and undrafted free agent signings.

Rays Sign Draft Picks Brandon Martin, Lenny Linsky

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The Rays have signed supplemental first round pick Brandon Martin and second round pick Lenny Linsky, reports Marc Topkin of The St. Petersburg Times (Twitter links). It's unclear how much Martin received, but Baseball America's Jim Callis says Linsky signed for slot money (approximately $392K).

Martin, a high school shortstop from California, was the 38th overall selection in the draft, a compensation pick for the loss of Carl Crawford. Baseball America (subs. req'd) says he's been "showing off five legitimate tools" and draws praise for his "line-drive swing and bat speed." They note that Martin can make the highlight reel plays at short but still needs to refine his game overall. MLB's slot recommendation for the 38th overall pick is approximately $859K.

Linsky, a righty reliever out of Hawaii, was the 89th overall pick and Tampa's natural second rounder. Baseball America described him "nearly unhittable" thanks to heavy sink on his 92-94 mph fastball and a power slider that can run as high as 89.

The Rays have now signed 30 of their 60 draft picks according to Topkin. Check the status of all first and supplemental first round players right here.

Cards Agree To Terms With Draft Pick Kolten Wong

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The Cardinals have agreed to terms with first round pick Kolten Wong, reports Baseball America's Jim Callis (on Twitter). He will receive a $1.3MM signing bonus, slightly above MLB's slot recommendation of $1.287MM for the 22nd overall pick.

Wong, a second baseman from Hawaii, was expected to be in St. Louis this weekend as the two sides neared a deal. Baseball America (subs. req'd) says he has "professional approach at the plate and a good understanding of the strike zone" with surprising power for a 5-foot-9, 190 lb. middle infielder. They also mention that Wong might fit best as a "Chone Figgins type who moves around the field" down the road.

Check the status of all first and supplemental first round players right here.

Draft Links: Wong, Simon

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Teams have 51 more days to get their draft picks signed before the August 15th deadline. Let's round up the latest draft news here…

  • Cardinals first round pick Kolten Wong was expected to visit St. Louis today as he nears a deal with the team, reports The St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Wong ran into some travel issues but is still expected to meet with the team soon, and scouting director Jeff Luhnow said they are having "active ongoing and daily discussions." A second baseman from Hawaii, Wong was the 22nd overall pick earlier this month, which comes with a slot recommendation of $1.287MM from MLB.
  • Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun reports that the Orioles have signed fourth rounder Kyle Simon, a right-hander from Arizona. MLB's slot recommendation for the 125th overall pick is approximately $231K, but it's unclear how much he received.

Rockies Calling Other Clubs About Pitching

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A few days ago we heard that the Rockies could end up looking for pitching help later this summer, and today Troy E. Renck of The Denver Post reports that the team has started calling other clubs to "gauge the market" for rotation help. GM Dan O'Dowd believes the team needs some reinforcements for their starting staff, echoing something Todd Helton said recently.

Colorado lost Jorge de la Rosa to Tommy John surgery earlier this year, and Jhoulys Chacin (2.71 ERA) is their only current starter with an ERA under 4.00. Jason Hammel (4.13 ERA) and Ubaldo Jimenez (4.50 ERA) have both been up and down, while Aaron Cook (4.67 ERA) is struggling with his trademark sinker. Recent call-up Juan Nicasio (4.71 ERA) is searching for his secondary pitches after skipping over Triple-A. Swingman Clayton Mortensen has a 4.71 ERA in five starts and a 1.65 ERA in six relief appearances.

MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes recently previewed the trade market for starting pitchers.

McCourt Willing To Sell Minority Stake In Dodgers

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With his proposed Fox television contract rejected and end of the month payroll looming, Frank McCourt and his lawyers recently had dialogue with MLB that have focused on his willingness to sell part of the team to keep it afloat, writes Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports. A source tells Brown that McCourt has received “numerous inquiries” from parties willing to buy a piece of the team.

Bud Selig has been adamant in his refusal to allow clubs to use future earnings to pay off past debt, which is why the Fox deal was shot down. It’s unclear if the recent dialogue between McCourt and the league have resulted in any progress toward his retention of the club, but Brown’s source hears that the owner might not be able to meet payroll next week. If he doesn’t, MLB will likely step in and seize the team.

The Mets recently sold a minority share of the team to David Einhorn for about $200MM, giving that franchise a much needed cash infusion.

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