Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Hoffman, Bay, Markakis
On this date back in 2004, Alex Rodriguez returned to Texas to play the Rangers for the first time since being traded (along with $71MM) to the Yankees for Alfonso Soriano and Joaquin Arias. He was booed loudly just like every other road game of his career, though he silenced the home crowd – at least temporarily – with a two-run homer in the first inning.
Here are a few links from around the baseball blogosphere…
- Disciples of Uecker thinks it's time for Trevor Hoffman to call it a career.
- Mets Merized wants to know what happened to Jason Bay's power.
- Meanwhile, Camden Crazies looks at Nick Markakis' lack of pop.
- The Kept Faith says that it's time for the Oscar Salazar era to end in San Diego.
- Nick's Twins Blog isn't sure if Jesse Crain can right the ship.
- Yankeeist wonders if Marcus Thames will be able to replace the injured Nick Johnson.
- The Friarhood examines some players the Padres could select in next month's amateur draft.
If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here.
Pat Burrell Clears Waivers
Pat Burrell has cleared waivers and is now a free agent, according to the Tampa Tribune (via Twitter). As Tony Fabrizio of The Tampa Tribune reported, the Rays designated Burrell for assignment on Saturday to free up a roster spot for Hank Blalock, who joined the team over the weekend.
Burrell can now sign with any team for a pro-rated portion of the major league minimum. In other words, it would cost teams just under $300K to sign him at this point. The Rays will be responsible for the remainder of his $9MM salary.
Burrell, 33, has been a major disappointment since signing a two year, $16MM contract prior to last season. Brought in to help balance out the lineup against lefties, Burrell has hit just .218/.311/.361 in 572 plate appearances since signing. He's been even worse than that against southpaws, if you can believe it.
2010 Draft Prospect: Yasmani Grandal
Major League Baseball's amateur draft will be held from June 7th-9th, so we're going to introduce you to some of the top players available during the next few weeks.
Quality catchers are a scarce commodity, even more so when they're young and cheap. There's always a premium placed on the position during the draft, and just last year we saw the Pirates reach for Tony Sanchez with the fourth overall pick even though he was generally considered a back of the first round talent.
The best all-around catcher in the 2010 draft class is Yasmani Grandal, a junior at Miami. ESPN's Keith Law rated him as the 10th best player available this year, while Baseball America had him 13th (subs. req'd for both). MLB.com's Draft Report says the switch hitter offers a "good amount of raw power," though "his individual defensive tools, other than his arm, don't grade out that well." Law maintains that Grandal "can absolutely stay behind the plate," which is obviously important. The MLB.com link also offers video.
Prior to last night's game against Georgia Tech, Grandal was hitting .425/.547/.754 with 20 doubles, 11 homers, 43 walks, and just 27 strikeouts in 47 games. The Red Sox selected him in the 26th round (804th overall) out of a Florida high school in 2007, but they obviously couldn't get him to sign on the dotted line.
Catchers are almost always over-drafted to a certain degree because of position scarcity, but Grandal is a legitimate top 10-15 talent. Jim Callis of Baseball America had him going to the Mets with the seventh overall pick in his latest mock draft, though the Royals were rumored to be looking at Grandal for their fourth overall pick last month.
Odds & Ends: Pirates, Chico, Burrell, Cust, Indians
Links for Saturday…
- MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch writes that Pirates outfield prospect Starling Marte may require surgery on his left hand. Baseball America's Prospect Handbook called the 21-year-old "the first tangible result of the Pirates' renewed commitment to scouting Latin America."
- Matt Chico could start for the Nationals on Wednesday, writes Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post. Chico was DFA'd by the club earlier this week, but only so that the club could place him in Triple-A.
- Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe tweets that the recently-DFA'd Pat Burrell is another reason why teams won't be spending major money on designated hitter-types anymore.
- Jack Cust is on his way back to Oakland after Eric Chavez managed just a .247/.298/.355 batting line during the first six weeks of the season, tweets CSNBayArea.com's Mychael Urban. The A's 40-man roster is full, so a move will need to be make to accommodate Cust.
- Paul Hoynes of The Cleveland Plain Dealer touched base with Indians' GM-in-waiting Chris Antonetti about having the fifth overall pick in June's draft. MLB's recommended bonus for that pick is in the $2.5MM-$3MM range, and Antonetti acknowledged that that money has already been set aside in the budget.
- Mike Morse is close to returning from the disabled list, which will create a bit of a roster crunch for the Nationals since he's out of options, writes MLB.com's Bill Ladson.
- Meanwhile, MLB.com's Owen Perkins notes that the Rockies would have a similar problem if they were to call someone up to help fill in for the injured Eric Young Jr.
- ESPN's Buster Olney spoke to Ken Griffey Jr.'s agent, who indicated that everything that happened this past week will have no bearing on his client's relationship with the club after he retires. Both links go to Twitter.
Blalock To Join Rays Today
2:31pm: Rays executive vice president Andrew Friedman confirmed the promotion of Blalock in a blog post by Topkin.
Friedman insists that the move has nothing to do with Blalock's contract situation and potential opt-out clause. The club, he says, talked during Spring Training about re-evaluating things at this point in the season.
He added that Dan Johnson, currently in Triple-A Durham, was also considered for promotion. The 30-year-old has been posting even stronger numbers than Blalock, hitting .311/.382/.647 with 11 HRs.
10:52am: The team has yet to confirm the move, but it appears that Hank Blalock will join the Rays for today's game against the Mariners according to Heath Baywood at DRaysBay. Marc Topkin of The St. Petersburg Times backs up the report.
Earlier this week Scott Boras indicated that Blalock would exercise the opt-out clause in his contract if he wasn't called up within a week. The two-time All Star hit .349/.405/.505 with Tampa's Triple-A affiliate, though oddly enough he hit lefties better than righties. That could easily be a function of limited at-bats, however.
Tampa Bay has two open spots on it's 40-man roster, but they will need to clear a 25-man roster spot for Blalock. Topkin says that it remains to be seen if this is the end of the Pat Burrell era, even though he's hitting just .202/.292/.333 this year. Either way, the Rays are the hook for his $9MM salary this season.
Angels Unlikely To Overhaul Roster
The season is barely more than a month old, but the Angels are off to their worst start in 20 years thanks to a 16-21 record that places them 4.5 games back in the AL West. Even worse, their -47 run differential is last in the AL, and suggests they should have even fewer wins than they actually do. Ben Bolch of The Los Angeles Times caught up with GM Tony Reagins, who indicated that he's not quite ready to overhaul the roster.
"It's concerning when you're not playing well, but we believe the players we have assembled have the capability to play at a much higher level," Reagins said. "We have to get guys into their games, and that hasn't happened yet."
"Right now I'm not looking to make wholesale changes to this club," he said. "We're looking to get the guys that we have here to play the way they're capable of. If we do that, we'll be fine."
Reagins did acknowledge having "a couple of" conversations with other general managers about other players, but he maintained that it was still too early to assess the possibility of a trade.
The Halos are currently without Jeff Mathis, Bobby Wilson, and Maicer Izturis, all of whom are on the 15-day DL, and Brandon Wood is providing almost nothing (.165/.181/.233) at the hot corner. They have the dreaded combination of a high team ERA (4.83) and a low team OPS (.697), but if players like Hideki Matsui, Juan Rivera, Joe Saunders, Joel Pineiro start performing like they have in the past, things could turn around quickly.
2010 Draft Prospect: Drew Pomeranz
Major League Baseball's amateur draft will be held from June 7th-9th, so we're going to introduce you to some of the top players available during the next few weeks.
At 6-foot-5, 231 lbs., it's hard not to notice Drew Pomeranz of Ole Miss on a baseball field, even when he's not standing on a mound. The lefthander was the Rangers' 12th round pick (380th overall) out of a Tennessee high school back in 2007, though they were unable to sign him and he's now draft eligible again as a college junior.
Baseball America recently ranked Pomeranz as the third best talent available this year, while ESPN's Keith Law had him fourth (subs. req'd for both). MLB.com's Draft Report notes that he "sits comfortably in the 91-92 mph range" while touching 94 with his fastball, and he also features a power breaking ball, a greatly improved change, and command that is "solid-average to a tick above average." The MLB.com link also includes video.
Overall, Pomeranz heads into tonight's start against Alabama with a 2.17 ERA, a .183 batting average against, and a 112/36 K/BB ratio in 74.2 innings. However he's been dealing with a strained pectoral that's kept him from being his best down the stretch. Three weeks ago he walked nine in just three innings of work against fifth ranked Louisiana State in a nationally televised game. Against Southeastern Conference competition (college baseball's toughest conference), Pomeranz has a 2.45 ERA, .176 average against, and a 72/29 K/BB ratio in 51.1 innings.
College lefthanders with command of three pitches and that kind of size don't last very long in the draft, so Pomeranz should expect to hear his name called within the first five picks this year. Jim Callis of Baseball America has him going to the Pirates with the second overall pick in his mock draft.
Money Might Keep Mets From Pursuing Oswalt
Every team in baseball would like to add Roy Oswalt to its rotation, but some of them simply won't be able to afford the $33MM left on his contract. The Mets might be one of those clubs according to Mike Puma of The New York Post, who says the team is reluctant to eat even the $1.8MM they owe to Gary Matthews Jr.
The Astros' ace said that he would be willing to waive his no trade clause if the helped the team rebuild. The caveat is that he also wants to go to a "true contender," and it's up to him to decide if the Mets fit the bill. They came into the night 18-17, three games behind the Phillies in the NL East.
Oswalt, 32, has a 2.63 ERA and an 8.4 K/9 in seven starts this year, numbers like what he put up in his mid-to-late 20's. Mets' starters have a 4.25 ERA, basically middle of the back, but Oliver Perez is struggling and Mike Pelfrey recently dealt with some shoulder fatigue. We looked at their top trade chips last month.
Doug Mientkiewicz Opts Out Of Contract
6:34pm: MLB.com's Joe Frisaro says that Mientkiewicz opted out of his contract.
6:17pm: The Marlins have released first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz, reports Juan C. Rodriguez of The Sun Sentinel. They signed him to a minor league contract just nine days ago.
The 35-year-old Mientkiewicz appeared in just four games with Florida's Triple-A affiliate, going 4-for-16 with a double and a pair of walks. The Dodgers released the former gold medal winner back in April. Mientkiewicz has hit .281/.376/.380 in 354 big league plate appearances over the last two years, but most of his value stems from his stellar glove work at first base.
Ken Griffey Jr. Not Considering Retirement
Despite his offensive struggles and recent clubhouse napping controversy, Ken Griffey Jr. is not thinking about retirement according to MLB.com's Jim Street.
"I haven't gotten to that point," said Griffey. "What would it take? I don't know. I haven't thought about anything but coming here and getting ready for a game."
The 40-year-old Griffey is hitting .200/.270/.225 with just two doubles and zero homers in 89 plate appearances this year. He and Mike Sweeney have combined to form the least productive designated hitter in baseball, and because of that GM Jack Zduriencik is looking to add offense. Seattle reportedly has interest in Jose Guillen.
There was some talk that the Mariners could release Griffey before the end of the month, but that was refuted.