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Pirates Will Take Gerrit Cole First Overall

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Dejan Kovacevic of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette hears that the Pirates will select UCLA right-hander Gerrit Cole with the first overall pick in Monday's amateur draft (subs. req'd). ESPN's Buster Olney says (on Twitter) that other teams anticipate the Mariners will select a position player with the second overall pick. Based on recent rumors, Rice third baseman Anthony Rendon would seem likely.

A few weeks ago we heard that Pittsburgh was considering a handful of players for that top pick, but they're going with Cole because he represents their best chance to land truly elite starting pitching, as Kovacevic notes. Tim Dierkes introduced us to Cole earlier this week, a hard-throwing righty that spurned the Yankees as the 28th overall pick out of high school in 2008. Ben Nicholson-Smith spoke to Cole back in March.

This is the fourth time the Pirates have held the first overall pick. They selected college shortstop Jeff King in 1986, and college righties Kris Benson and Bryan Bullington in 1996 and 2002, respectively.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Soria, Phillies, Kubel, Cubs

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On this date in 1995, Pedro Martinez fired nine perfect innings against the Padres, though the two teams went to extra innings with no score. The Expos scored a run in the top of the tenth, but Pedro allowed a leadoff double in the bottom of the inning. Mel Rojas relieved Martinez and recorded the final three outs. That was just a hint of what was to come from Pedro, who produced two of the most dominant seasons in baseball history in 1999 and 2000.

Here is this week's batch of links from around the blogosphere…

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

Mets Could Deal Wright Instead Of Reyes

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8:00pm: A source with knowledge of the situation told Andy Martino of the New York Daily News that the Mets have had no serious internal discussions about trading Wright (Twitter links). Though the Mets haven't ruled out signing Reyes, they won't be interested in making a $130-140MM commitment, according to Martino.

7:14pm: There has been plenty of speculation about a potential Jose Reyes trade this summer, but a source told Adam Rubin of ESPN New York that the Mets could choose to trade David Wright instead. That doesn't mean it'll be easy, despite what we can assume would be tremendous interest.

"It will be a very ticklish situation because of what David has meant to the team for so long, but that's not a concern of Sandy [Alderson]," said the source. "There will be some capital there to spend on Reyes if they choose to go that direction. Now, he can't obviously get monster money. If Reyes wants monster money, no, the Mets won't keep him."

Rubin says that the biggest obstacle in a Wright trade would be convincing COO Jeff Wilpon to sign off on a deal given his strong regard for the third baseman, both on and off the field. The source added:

"If they wanted to move Wright, there's no better time to move him than now, because there still will be teams out there thinking, 'Well, David Wright was sabotaged by the stadium. He's still a good player. He'd be a good fit where he doesn't have to be the guy,' which he's been here for so long. So they can get some return on Wright. Plus the fact that he has two years left on his deal, so you're not talking about long-term financial damage for any team that does pick him up."

The source also told Rubin that the most likely scenario has both Wright and Reyes ending the season with the Amazins, then they could try to re-sign Reyes to a deal of five years or less. Their hope, as unrealistic as it may be, is three years. If no deal can be reached, they would simply take the two drafts picks. Rubin notes that Reyes has reasons to stay in New York, namely the easy flights to the Dominican Republic and the fact that his kids are in school there.

We've looked at both Wright and Reyes at trade candidates recently, and also broke down what Fred Wilpon's recent comments meant for both.

MLBTR Originals: 5/22/11 – 5/29/11

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Time to recap all of the original content we've provided over the last seven days…

Week In Review: 5/22/11 – 5/29/11

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We're already just two months shy of the trade deadline, so make sure you tell all your friends where they can find the latest and greatest rumors involving their favorite team, right here at MLBTR. Here's a recap of the big stories from the last seven days…

Dodgers Designate Travis Schlichting For Assignment

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The Dodgers have designated Travis Schlichting for assignment according to the team's official Twitter feed. Eric Stephen of True Blue LA originally reported the news. The move frees up a 40-man roster spot for Josh Lindblom, who takes the place of the injured Kenley Jansen (shoulder inflammation) in the bullpen.

Schlichting, 26, had a 6.55 ERA with just 4.9 K/9 and 5.7 BB/9 in 22 relief innings for the Dodgers' Triple-A affiliate. In 16 relief appearances with LA over the last two years, he posted a 3.55 ERA in 25 1/3 innings. The 23-year-old Lindblom was the Dodgers' second round pick in 2008, and he struck out 12.2 batters per nine innings with a 2.96 ERA in 24 1/3 relief innings for their Double-A affiliate this year. Baseball America ranked him as LA's 16th best propect in the 2011 Prospect Handbook, noting that his future appears to be in relief after an unsuccessful stint as a starter.

Padres Acquire Steve Tolleson

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The Padres have acquired infielder Steve Tolleson from the Athletics for a player to be named later according to MLB.com's Corey Brock (on Twitter). Susan Slusser of The San Francisco Chronicle hears the A's will instead receive cash considerations (Twitter link), so there's some confusion about the (modest) return. He is likely headed to Triple-A.

Tolleson, 27, was playing with Oakland's Triple-A affiliate for the second straight season after being claimed off waivers from the Twins last February. The A's designated him for assignment in January after signing Brian Fuentes. Tolleson is a .293/.376/.425 hitter in nearly 1,000 career plate appearances at the Triple-A level, and his first big league call-up went pretty well last season (.286/.340/.408 in 53 PA).

Baseball America's 2009 Prospect Handbook said Tolleson's "best-case scenario would be a career akin to Ryan Freel." He has plenty of experience at the three non-first base infield spots and has even dabbled in the outfield, so he's a candidate for a reserve role. The Padres just lost Orlando Hudson to injury (groin strain), so they replenished some depth while the A's cleared up a bit of a logjam following their Scott Sizemore pickup.

Draft Notes: Bell, Stilson, High School Pitchers

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It was just three years ago that the Astros drafted right-hander Jordan Lyles in the supplemental first round of the 2008 draft (38th overall), but now the 20-year-old will make his big league debut in place of the injured Wandy Rodriguez on Tuesday. Some team will draft the next Lyles nine days from now, so here are some news and notes for the meantime…

  • Conor Glassey of Baseball America reports that high school outfielder Josh Bell sent a letter to the Major League Scouting Bureau informing teams that he doesn't want to sign a professional contract and will instead follow through on his commitment to Texas. Bell, who is being advised by Scott Boras, is "a surefire first-rounder on talent" according to Glassey.
  • Jim Callis of Baseball America reports that Texas A&M righty Josh Stilson will miss the rest of the season due to a SLAP tear in his shoulder. Callis notes that Stilson, a likely first rounder before the injury, has been worked hard during his college career.
  • MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo wrote about the top high school pitchers available this year, including Dylan Bundy, who "some claim he's the best pitcher, period, in this class."

Rosenthal’s Full Count Video: Red Sox, Capps, Padres

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Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports has a new Full Count video up, so let's dive in…

  • If the Red Sox have one need, it's a right-handed hitter that can play multiple positions and come off the bench. Jeff Baker of the Cubs fits the bill, but Yamaico Navarro could be an in-house solution. He's on the minor league disabled list with an oblique issue, however.
  • The Twins usage of Matt Capps could impact the way teams view him at the trade deadline and as a free agent after the season. The righty has thrown multiple innings six times already, and is dealing with some forearm issues.
  • Team are calling the Padres about not just Heath Bell, but also Mike Adams and Luke Gregerson. They will listen to offers for all of their relievers, but they have to get the right bats in return to move them.
  • Mitch Talbot will get a few more starts for the Indians following his elbow issue, but righty Zach McAllister represents an alternative. They acquired him from the Yankees for Austin Kearns last year.

Closer Notes: Rodriguez, Bell

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Happy 23rd birthday to Braves' closer Craig Kimbrel, who has struck out 78 of 192 batters he's faced as a big leaguer (40.6%). Make sure you follow @closernews for all the latest on fantasy's most unpredictable category, the save. Here are some notes on the ninth inning…

  • Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated tweets that the Rangers will consider K-Rod along with other top right-handed relievers, though he doesn't see them accounting for his $17.5MM option.
  • Andy Martino of The New York Daily News explains why Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez might be more tradeable than we think. "Instead of signing someone like (Jonathan) Papelbon or(Heath) Bell this winter for three or four years, a team could pick up that option and have K-Rod for a year and a half," said one NL executive. "That could be very tempting, and the Mets might actually get a prospect back in that case."
  • In today's Insider-only blog post, ESPN's Buster Olney says it would make sense for the Cardinals to try to acquire Padres closer Heath Bell to solve their ninth inning woes. Olney wonders if they would attempt to expand a deal to include Jason Bartlett, who St. Louis had interest in over the winter.
  • Dan Mennella looked at both K-Rod and Bell as trade candidates recently, and Tim Dierkes listed some potentially available relievers.

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