Blue Jays Release Michael Schwimer
WEDNESDAY: The Blue Jays have released Schwimer, according to Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star (Twitter link).
TUESDAY: The Blue Jays designated righty Michael Schwimer for assignment to open a 40-man roster spot for southpaw J.A. Happ, tweeted Mike Wilner of the Fan 590 last night. Happ will take on the Mariners in Seattle Wednesday afternoon, his first start since being struck on the head by a line drive in a May 7th outing against the Rays.
Schwimer, a 27-year-old reliever, hasn't pitched since May either. Perhaps he's been dealing with an injury, as he'd been on the DL earlier this year for a lat strain. The Jays acquired him from the Phillies in February for A-ball first baseman Art Charles. His relationship with the Phillies became strained in August of last year, when Schwimer claimed he should have been placed on the Major League disabled list with a biceps injury instead of being demoted to Triple-A.
Schwimer was drafted by the Phillies in the 14th round in 2008, a round which also produced David Phelps of the Yankees. Schwimer made his big league debut in 2011, after which Baseball America ranked him 30th among Phillies prospects. At the time, they noted his "super-sized frame" and deception, profiling the "thinking man's pitcher" as a middle reliever.
Which Players Will Be Extended Before Free Agency?
Five days after the World Series ends, free agents will be free to sign with any team. Our current list is here, but often a few key names are plucked off the market early by signing an extension or new contract with their team. For example, in October 2011, the Yankees were able to negotiate an extension with C.C. Sabathia prior to him opting out and reaching the open market. Such deals could even happen now, like when the Astros added two years for Brett Myers in August 2010. Below we've identified six players teams may want to retain before they hit the open market. Let us know which will get a deal done! You can choose multiple players. You can view the poll results here.
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Giants Back Off On Lilly
5:44pm: Upon reviewing Lilly's medical history, the Giants decided to hold off on pursuing a minor league contract at this time, MLBTR has learned. As we had mentioned earlier, his agreement had been pending a physical.
1:45pm: The Giants have signed lefty Ted Lilly, reports Chris Cotillo of MLB Daily Dish. MLBTR has confirmed the minor league deal, which is pending a physical. Lilly, 37, was designated for assignment by the Dodgers last month and released a few days ago. The Dodgers are on the hook for the remaining $3.7MM or so on his contract, less the prorated portion of the league minimum of Lilly returns to the Majors with San Francisco. Lilly is represented by Larry O'Brien of Full Circle Sports Management.
Lilly joined the Dodgers from the Cubs at the 2010 trade deadline. In October that year, he signed a below-market three-year, $33MM deal in lieu of exploring free agency again. He was solid in 2011, but missed most of 2012 due to shoulder pain, culminating in September surgery. This April, the Dodgers faced a rotation surplus after signing Zack Greinke and Hyun-Jin Ryu, and got into a standoff with Lilly when he refused a minor league assignment. Lilly eventually made a couple of starts that month when Chris Capuano went down, but went on to have separate DL stints for rib cage and neck injuries prior to his release.
The Giants make sense for Lilly in that he's a California native, though with Ryan Vogelsong slated to come off the DL Friday, the Giants don't appear to have a rotation spot for the southpaw unless they trade Tim Lincecum or move Chad Gaudin or Barry Zito to the bullpen. A relief role is also possible for Lilly, however.
August Trade Candidates: Relievers
It's still possible to trade for relief help in August, as we've seen Matt Lindstrom, Jose Mijares, Pat Neshek, and Mike Gonzalez moved in the last few years. Some trade candidates to consider this month, listed by team:
- Blue Jays: Darren Oliver (L)
- Twins: Brian Duensing (L)
- White Sox: Matt Lindstrom (R)
- Mariners: Oliver Perez (L)
- Angels: Joe Blanton (R)
- Astros: Wesley Wright (L), Travis Blackley (L)
- Phillies: Jonathan Papelbon (R)
- Mets: David Aardsma (R), Scott Atchison (R), Pedro Feliciano (L), LaTroy Hawkins (R)
- Marlins: Chad Qualls (R), Ryan Webb (R)
- Cubs: Kevin Gregg (R), Matt Guerrier (R), James Russell (L)
- Brewers: John Axford (R), Burke Badenhop (R), Mike Gonzalez (L)
- Padres: Huston Street (R), Tim Stauffer (R)
- Rockies: Matt Belisle (R), Manny Corpas (R), Wilton Lopez (R), Josh Outman (L), Rafael Betancourt (R)
- Giants: Javier Lopez (L)
Keep in mind that availability varies by player – the Padres may not be open to moving Street, even though he could clear waivers. Relievers who are under control cheaply beyond this year stand a good chance of being pulled back if claimed. Papelbon, the biggest name here, would clear waivers but would prove difficult to trade. I haven't listed relievers from the Yankees or Nationals in this post, but if those teams slip further, they could be willing to make a few deals later this month.
2014 Free Agent Power Rankings
The MLB season is about 69% over, and it's time for another round of 2014 Free Agent Power Rankings. Our previous installment was published July 11th. You can check out our full list of free agents here.
1. Robinson Cano. Cano's spot atop this list remains secure. Surely his agents will attempt to dismiss Dustin Pedroia's recent eight-year, $110MM extension as a team-friendly pact that was not signed on the open market.
2. Jacoby Ellsbury. "Jacoby Ellsbury is a very durable player," spun agent Scott Boras at last month's All-Star Game, adding, "He just has to make sure that people don’t run into him." The 29-year-old missed significant portions of the 2010 and 2012 seasons, which won't easily be shrugged off by potential suitors even if they believe Boras has a point. Boras went on to praise Ellsbury, saying, "The reality of it is you’re going to pay him for the melding of his power, but what you’re really paying him for is the ability to score runs and the ability to get on base and the ability to provide up-the-middle defense."
3. Brian McCann. McCann jumps up a spot on this list, as his .528 slugging percentage (seventh in the NL) establishes him as the top power bat on the free agent market who won't require $100MM+. Plus, he won't turn 30 until February and can handle catching duties.
4. Matt Garza. Garza, 29, moves up a spot on the list. He's posted a 3.09 ERA in 14 starts this year, and has averaged over seven innings per start since the Cubs let him loose in late May following a long layoff for injuries. But the main reason he gains a spot is the July 22nd trade to the Rangers, establishing him as the best available free agent who is not eligible for a qualifying offer. There's real value in that.
5. Shin-Soo Choo. Choo drops a few spots in the list, though he hasn't done anything wrong. In fact, his .416 on-base percentage dwarfs that of the next free agent, with Cano checking in at .371.
6. Hiroki Kuroda. With a 2.38 ERA, Kuroda ranks second in the American League behind Felix Hernandez. The 38-year-old is unlikely to maintain a .255 batting average on balls in play moving forward, but his excellence cannot be denied.
7. Ervin Santana. Santana has positioned himself for the second-largest free agent contract given to a starting pitcher. Unlike Garza, however, Santana is likely to require draft pick compensation if he reaches the open market. The 30-year-old sports a 2.97 ERA in 151 1/3 innings, which is partially backed up by the best strikeout and walk rates since his stellar '08 campaign. One major change since then: Santana has a career-best 47.4% groundball rate.
8. Carlos Beltran. The 36-year-old Beltran has a 5.1% walk rate this year, which would be his lowest for any full season. Nonetheless, he's still a middle of the order bat in a market light on them. The Cardinals could complicate his situation by making a qualifying offer.
9. A.J. Burnett. Burnett might be the NL's version of Kuroda, as he ranks eighth in the league in ERA at 2.73 and turns 37 in January. Burnett should also have a limited market, as he said in March, "If I was to keep playing, I wouldn't want it to be anywhere else but Pittsburgh."
10. Chase Utley. Utley, 34, climbs back onto this list and gets an edge over other bats becaues he plays second base. The Phillies declined to trade him last month, instead working to extend him.
Notes on a few other free agents who have occupied spots on the top ten:
- Hunter Pence has ranked as high as fifth on this list. While he's a useful bat, he doesn't get on base much and has slugged a modest .438 since 2012. This year's 3.6 wins above replacement owes much to his fielding and baserunning, which I'm not sure can be counted on for value moving forward. Throw in a qualifying offer, and you can see why I'm a bit down on Pence as a free agent.
- Mike Napoli should be able to secure the first multiyear deal of his career given a decent, healthy campaign as a first baseman for Boston. He has a shot at his sixth consecutive 20 home run season, but I thought he'd have more than 14 bombs at this point. .253/.341/.449 looks average coming from a first baseman.
- Josh Johnson looked pretty good in seven starts after coming off the DL in June, enough to get him ranked ninth on the last set of rankings. The wheels have fallen off since then, however, as he's allowed 25 earned runs in 16 innings spanning four starts. Johnson is pitching for his rotation spot tonight, and as his ERA climbs toward 7.00, a qualifying offer appears increasingly unlikely even though the Jays are all about draft pick compensation.
- Nelson Cruz accepted a 50-game suspension yesterday for violation of the Joint Drug Agreement, explaining in a statement that he made "an error in judgment" before Spring Training in 2012. The Rangers lost a player who ranked fourth in the AL with 27 home runs, but Cruz's teammates are supportive and would welcome him back if they make the playoffs. Cruz may have pulled off a best case scenario: he'll sign his next contract with a clean slate, and his reputation isn't taking much of a hit for abandoning his teammates. He's left ACES for Wasserman Media Group and hopes to finish his career with the Rangers, though someone with the club seems to have anonymously told Bob Nightengale it would be difficult to re-sign him. In November, the Rangers will have to decide whether to make Cruz a qualifying offer.
- Tim Lincecum has had his ups and downs since our last set of rankings, tossing a 148-pitch no-hitter on July 13th, posting his worst start of the year in his next outing nine days later, and then bouncing back with a pair of strong starts. The sum total seems to be a pitcher not all that different from 2011, and perhaps capable of a 3.50 ERA when the dust settles despite his current 4.43 mark. Projecting his next contract remains difficult – does he go for the biggest possible score, or a short-term deal to boost his value?
Reverse Standings
Nearly half the teams in baseball have virtually no chance of making the playoffs. For fans of those teams, the offseason can't come soon enough. However, MLBTR has a feature that can help those people get through the next few months: our reverse standings.
The reverse standings, which are updated automatically each morning, serve as a projection of the 2014 amateur draft order. With a 36-74 record at present, the Astros are in good position to draft first overall for the third consecutive year in 2014, a sustained level of being the worst team in baseball that has never been done since the draft was instituted in 1965. The White Sox could jeopardize Jeff Luhnow's dream of adding Carlos Rodon to his stash next June, however, as our standings show they're only 4.5 games "behind" the Astros. The last first overall White Sox pick worked out pretty well, as they drafted Harold Baines in 1977. There's also a tight race for the fourth overall pick. The Brewers project to get that at the moment, but ten teams are within five games of them.
Our reverse standings are also a good way to track which teams project to get protected first-round draft picks, meaning one in the top ten. You can always reference these standings on the right-hand sidebar under MLBTR Features. Enjoy!
Angels Request Release Waivers On Brad Hawpe
AUGUST 4: The Angels tweeted they have requested unconditional release waivers on Hawpe for the purpose of granting him his unconditional release.
JULY 29: The Angels designated DH/right fielder/first baseman Brad Hawpe for assignment to make room for reliever Daniel Stange, tweets Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times.
Hawpe signed a minor league deal with the Angels in April, and returned to the Majors in parts of June and July for the first time in two years. In 153 Triple-A plate appearances this year, the 34-year-old hit .305/.405/.504. Hawpe was an 11th round pick of the Rockies in 2000, and hit 99 home runs for them from 2006-09, made an All-Star team, and even received a few MVP votes.
Stange, 27, has four big league appearances to his name, coming in 2010 with Arizona.
Beat The Expert With DraftStreet
I'm putting my fantasy baseball reputation on the line for the second week in a row. DraftStreet is offering $2000 in cash prizes for an exclusive "beat the expert" MLBTR/DraftStreet league using Friday night's MLB games. The entry fee is $11, but DraftStreet is raising the pressure on me (Tim Dierkes) by offering $5 back to anyone who beats my team, separate from the regular prize pool. Last week's 200 slots filled quickly, so we brought back another.
Pick one player from each of eight tiers. You'll be competing based on the stats your eight players accumulate in Friday night's games. There are only 200 slots in this league, so sign up early. Tier one starter Jose Fernandez was an easy call for me, as he's been quietly dominant. One mistake I made last week was taking Jose Bautista over Jose Reyes; Reyes seems more of a multi-category contributor. You can see a screenshot of my team in the making below.
Be sure to sign up as soon as possible, before the 200 slots are all taken quickly again. DraftStreet has raised the stakes by challenging you to beat me; are you up to it?
This is a sponsored post from DraftStreet.
Lance Berkman Plans To Return This Season
3:28pm: Berkman feels optimistic after running at 50 percent today, he told Anthony Andro of FOX Sports Southwest (Twitter link). Big Puma is targeting August 8-9 to begin a rehab assignment and told Andro definitively, "I'm coming back."
THURSDAY, 11:17am: Berkman is not retiring, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.
WEDNESDAY, 7:17pm: Berkman has not made any decisions and has yet to discuss the possibility of retiring with GM Jon Daniels, reports Anthony Andro of FOXSportsSouthwest. Berkman says he wants to act in the best interest of the team, and his concern is with being ineffective by playing with the hip issue.
11:12am: Rangers designated hitter Lance Berkman is considering retiring as early as this afternoon and forfeiting the remaining $4.4MM on his contract, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. He's meeting with team officials today. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News, however, was told this report is premature, and reported previously about the possibility of a financial settlement. Berkman is thinking about retirement, he wrote in a text to MLB.com's Richard Justice.
Berkman, 37, signed a one-year, $11MM deal in January but has been battling a hip injury. The Rangers have been searching aggressively for offense, not being able to rely on Berkman or Nelson Cruz.
MLB Prepared To Suspend Alex Rodriguez For Life
THURSDAY, 7:46pm: There's a wide gap between the suspension Rodriguez is willing to accept and the one MLB would like to issue, two sources familiar with the talks told T.J. Quinn and Andrew Marchand of ESPN.com. Negotiations between A-Rod and MLB appear to be stuck on the 38-year-old's desire to make sure he can cash in on at least some of the remaining $100MM owed to him.
Meanwhile, Joel Sherman of the New York Post (on Twitter) hears that A-Rod's camp doesn't plan to settle, but instead will fight any suspension through an appeals process.
The Yanks announced that Rodriguez will join Double-A Trenton on Friday to play in a rehab assignment game. If he is not suspended and prevented from playing pending an appeal, A-Rod could rejoin the varsity squad as early as Sunday or Monday.
WEDNESDAY, 7:38pm: Rodriguez is negotiating with MLB on the terms of a suspension, reports ESPN's T.J. Quinn. (Links to Twitter.) Quinn says that MLB is holding out the possibility of a lifetime ban while also preferring to avoid an appeal process, with Rodriguez coming to the negotiating table after learning of the extent of the evidence against him. Most of the players facing suspensions appear prepared to accept 50-game bans, Quinn further tweets.
6:15pm: MLB is prepared to ban Alex Rodriguez for the remainder of his playing career, reports Bob Nightengale of USA Today. An announcement will likely come tomorrow or Friday, according to Nightengale's sources. Rodriguez's attorney, David Cornwell, says that the Yankee third baseman will appeal any suspension he receives. According to the report, MLB will base its action not only on Rodriguez's use of PEDs, but on the fact that he purportedly "lied to MLB officials while attempting to sabotage their investigation."
12:06pm: There is some potential Nelson Cruz might appeal a suspension, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post.
8:04am: MLB informed the players' union yesterday which players will be suspended this week, writes Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Settlements talks could push an announcement to Friday, reports the Associated Press.
6:16am: MLB's Biogenesis suspensions could be issued as early as Thursday, according to Ken Davidoff and Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Davidoff and Sherman confirm what Yahoo's Jeff Passan wrote yesterday: most players involved are leaning toward a plea in the case, aside from Alex Rodriguez, who intends to fight any suspension.
It's been rumored commissioner Bud Selig could sidestep the joint drug agreement by suspending A-Rod under his "integrity of the game" clause while also serving as the sole arbitrator of an appeal. However, Davidoff and Sherman note that "the union could jump through some legal hoops to get the case to an arbitrator." They also point out that upon striking the latest collective bargaining agreement, Selig assured MLBPA head Michael Weiner he wouldn't use the clause to negate players' rights. In my opinion, denying Rodriguez a chance to present his case to an independent arbitrator would be doing just that.