Mike Axisa | MLB Trade Rumors

Cubs Designate Brad Snyder For Assignment

By Mike Axisa | June 11, 2011 at 12:01pm CDT

The Cubs have designated Brad Snyder for assignment reports Paul Sullivan of The Chicago Tribune (on Twitter). The move creates room on the roster for Casey Coleman, who was called up to reinforce the bullpen.

Snyder, 29, started one game in left field for the Cubs this year, striking out three times in four hitless at-bats. He picked up one hit and three more strikeouts in five pinch-hitting appearances. The lefty swinger hit a fine .342/.374/.568 with seven homers in 155 plate appearances with Chicago's Triple-A affiliate before being called up.

2012 Vesting Options Update

By Mike Axisa | June 11, 2011 at 9:45am CDT

Now that the calendar has flipped to June, let's check in on the status of the various vesting options around the league…

Bobby Abreu, Angels: $9MM option vests with 433 plate appearances. Abreu has already come to the plate 276 times this year, so this one seems life a safe bet to vest, barring injury.
Rafael Furcal, Dodgers: $12MM option vests with 600 plate appearances. Furcal is back on the disabled list with an oblique strain, and he's still a month away from returning. He has only 69 plate appearances this year, so this one won't vest.
Jon Garland, Dodgers: $8MM option vests with 190 innings pitched. Garland has been on the disabled list twice this year (the first two times of his career), and he's currently out with a sore shoulder. He only has 54 innings to his credit and won't be back anytime soon, so this one won't vest.
Francisco Rodriguez, Mets: $17.5MM option vests with 55 games finished and if doctors declare him healthy at the end of the year. K-Rod has already finished 25 games, putting him on pace for 65 at season's end. A trade to a team that would use him as a set-up man would change everything, but right now the option figures to vest.
Koji Uehara, Orioles: $4MM option vests with either 55 appearances or 25 games finished. Uehara has appeared in 26 games and finished 11, putting him on pace for 69 and 29, respectively.
Arthur Rhodes, Rangers: $4MM option vests with 62 appearances and if he's not on the disabled list at the end of the season. He's appeared in 20 games so far, putting him on pace for 50. Rhodes' workload could increase down the stretch.
Joakim Soria, Royals: $6MM option vests with 55 appearances. He's already appeared in 28 games and is on pace for 71. It's worth noting that even if the option doesn't vest, the Royals would still control Soria as an arbitration-eligible player in 2012.
Dan Wheeler, Red Sox: $3MM option vests with 65 games; increases to $3.25MM with 70 games. Wheeler has appeared in 17 games so far, so a stint on the disabled list did not help his cause.

Adam Wainwright's 2012 ($9MM) and 2013 ($12MM) options will not vest because he will finish the season on the disabled list after having Tommy John surgery. Aramis Ramirez's option depends on MVP Award finishes and whether or not he's traded, not plate appearances or another counting milestone.

Mark Buehrle is scheduled to become a free agent after the 2011 season and although he doesn't have a traditional option in his contract, he gets an extra year at $15MM tacked onto his current deal if he's traded at some point this season.

Thanks to Cot's Baseball Contracts for the info.

Giants To Sign Bill Hall

By Mike Axisa | June 11, 2011 at 7:57am CDT

The Giants will sign Bill Hall, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. The move comes after second baseman Freddy Sanchez dislocated his shoulder diving for a ball on Friday night. San Francisco is also without Pablo Sandoval (hand) and Mike Fontenot (groin). Fontenot left last night's minor league rehab game with tightness in his groin.

Hall, 31, hit .224/.272/.340 with the Astros before being released last weekend. He did hit .247/.316/.456 with 18 homers for the Red Sox last year, plus he's capable of playing almost every position on the field. Houston will pay Hall the majority of his $3MM salary; the Giants will only be on the hook for the pro-rated portion of the league minimum (less than $300K according to Rosenthal). The Orioles, Nationals, and possibly the Yankees also had interest in signing Hall.

Cardinals Release Ramon Vazquez

By Mike Axisa | June 10, 2011 at 8:55pm CDT

The Cardinals have released Ramon Vazquez according to Matt Eddy of Baseball America. St. Louis signed him to a minor league deal back in January.

Vazquez, 34, hit a respectable .275/.362/.321 in 150 plate appearances for the Cardinals’ Triple-A affiliate, playing all three non-first base infield spots. He hasn’t appeared in the majors since 2009, when he followed up a breakout .290/.365/.430 performance with the Rangers with a .230/.335/.279 effort with the Pirates.

Blue Jays Sign Joe Musgrove

By Mike Axisa | June 10, 2011 at 7:59pm CDT

FRIDAY: Baseball America's Jim Callis reports that Musgrove received a $500K bonus, which would be below slot (Twitter link).

THURSDAY: The Blue Jays have signed supplemental first round pick Joe Musgrove according to information relayed by MLB, reports Baseball America's Matt Eddy (on Twitter). MLB says Musgrove is the first 2011 draft pick to sign a professional contract.

Musgrove, a high school right-hander from California, was selected with the 46th overall pick on Monday. The Blue Jays received the pick after Type B free agent John Buck turned down their arbitration offer and signed with the Marlins. Baseball America's Draft Database (subs. req'd) says "it's easy to dream on him becoming a big league workhorse starter" because of a heavy sinking fastball and a hammer curveball. Musgrove's signing bonus is unknown, but MLB's slot recommendation for the 46th overall pick is approximately $750K.

Padres Sign Cory Spangenberg

By Mike Axisa | June 10, 2011 at 5:59pm CDT

Padres first round pick Cory Spangenberg has passed his physical and signed, reports MLB.com's Corey Brock (Twitter links). He received a $1.86MM bonus, approximately MLB's slot recommendation.

Spangenberg, in infielder out of Indian River Junior College in Florida, was the tenth overall pick in this week's draft. The Padres received that pick as compensation for failing to sign Karsten Whitson last year. San Diego would not have received another compensation pick next year if they failed to sign Spangenberg.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Harper, Braves, Madson

By Mike Axisa | June 10, 2011 at 5:36pm CDT

Two former Seattle Mariner superstars hit milestone home runs on this date. Three years ago it was Ken Griffey Jr., who took Mark Hendrickson of the Marlins deep for this 600th career homer. Six years ago it was Alex Rodriguez hitting his 400th career long ball off Jorge de la Rosa of the Brewers. Will any of this week's links be historically great? Let's see…

Lasorda's Lair interviewed former big leaguer and one time elbow surgery test subject Tommy John.
1 Blue Jays Way interviewed Blue Jays prospect Zach Stewart.
Phoul Ballz interviewed Phillies prospect David Buchanan.
Pitchers & Poets wrote about Bryce Harper and the element of style.
The Nats Blog compared Harper's minor league debut to Albert Pujols'.
Capitol Avenue Club imagines a Braves team with Kelly Johnson, Omar Infante, and Mike Dunn.
Crashburn Alley compared Ryan Madson to the rest of the upcoming class of free agent closers.
Brotherly Glove, meanwhile, wonders if Madson is a must-sign for the Phillies.
Redleg Nation explains why Brandon Phillips is still the Reds' second baseman of the future.
Climbing Tal's Hill wonders if the Astros would listen to offers for Michael Bourn.
Camden Crazies tells us why Mark Reynolds is both better and worse than we think.
Bleacher GM lists some players the Orioles could look to trade.
The Friarhood says Anthony Rizzo arrived just in time to make a run at the NL Rookie of the Year award.
Wahoo Blues broke down the positions the Indians could try to upgrade at the trade deadline.
Cubs Stats analyzed the Cubs' losing streak.
Bleacher Nation wonders how the Cubs' debt will impact them in free agency.
The Process Report looks at how Kyle Farnsworth has improved with age.
DRays Bay assessed B.J. Upton's trade value.
DC is for Baseball covered the Nationals draft from head to toe.
FanSpeak explains why the Nationals need to sign third round pick Matt Purke.
the composite looks at the last year of Stephen Strasburg's career.
Tomahawk Chop doesn't think the Braves played it safe with their first round pick, Sean Gilmartin.
Blogging From The Bleachers says the Athletics' pitching depth is being tested.
Bronx Bombers Report wonders if the Yankees could make a run at Francisco Rodriguez.
Rising Apple looked ahead to the Mets' arbitration cases.
COSFBA compared some nameless fantasy options.

If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here. Only one email per week, please.

Yankees Links: Joba, Prospects, Relievers

By Mike Axisa | June 10, 2011 at 3:30pm CDT

The Yankees were just swept by the Red Sox at home for the second time this season, the first time that's happened since 1912. The Yankees were still the Highlanders back then. That qualifies as a crisis in the Big Apple, so let's round up the latest links…

Joba Chamberlain will undergo Tommy John ligament replacement surgery on his right pitching elbow next week, according to Danny Knobler of CBS Sports (on Twitter).
Joel Sherman of The New York Post says the Yankees need to move their young prospects along more aggressively, particularly pitchers like Dellin Betances, Manny Banuelos, and Hector Noesi to help shore up an injury-depleted bullpen. GM Brian Cashman, however, said yesterday that the team will not rush their top arms no matter what.
Earlier today we heard that prospect Kevin Whelan could be an option for the bullpen. He's pitching well in Triple-A and was part of the trade that sent Gary Sheffield to the Tigers a few years ago.
In a separate column, Sherman explains that while there should be plenty of right-handed relievers available on the trade market, the history of those guys performing in new surroundings is not good.
We also heard that Cashman told SI.com's Jon Heyman that he doesn't see an ace-caliber starter on the trade market.

Outrighted To Triple-A: Gibbons, Castro, Vasquez

By Mike Axisa | June 9, 2011 at 10:52pm CDT

Let's keep track of all of today's outright assignments right here …

The Dodgers have outrighted both Jay Gibbons and Juan Castro to Triple-A, reports Dylan Hernandez of The Los Angeles Times (on Twitter). Both players were designated for assignment earlier this week, and Hernandez says it's unclear if either with elect free agency or accept the assignment.
The Dodgers have also outrighted Luis Vasquez, freeing up a 40-man roster spot for Trent Oeltjen according to Hernandez (Twitter links). Jerry Sands was optioned to Triple-A in a corresponding move.

Mets Designate Nick Evans For Assignment

By Mike Axisa | June 9, 2011 at 10:14pm CDT

The Mets have designated Nick Evans for assignment according to Adam Rubin of ESPN New York (on Twitter). The team will announce the corresponding call-up tomorrow.

Evans, 25, did not have a hit in a dozen at-bats with the Mets this year, drawing five walks instead. He hit .248/.285/.383 in 151 plate appearances with their Triple-A affiliate this season, which is pretty close to his .243/.298/.387 batting line in 242 trips to the plate as a big leaguer. Evans can play the outfield corners as well as first base, and this is the second time he's been removed from the roster this season.

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