Yankees Release Ben Francisco
Outfielder Ben Francisco, designated for assignment by the Yankees last Wednesday, has been released, tweeted Wallace Matthews of ESPNNewYork.com last night. Francisco, 31, struggled in 50 plate appearances for the Yankees this year.
A right-handed hitter, Francisco has a .253/.323/.418 career line spanning seven seasons. He was drafted in the fifth round in 2002 by the Indians. That was two picks after Clete Thomas, who recently had his contract purchased by the Twins. Francisco signed with the Yankees in March after being released by Cleveland.
Nationals Designate Zach Duke For Assignment
The Nationals designated lefty Zach Duke for assignment, according to a team press release. In a series of moves, the Nats also designated reliever Henry Rodriguez, reinstated Jayson Werth from the DL, placed Danny Espinosa on the DL, recalled Anthony Rendon, and selected the contract of Ian Krol.
Duke, 30, posted an 8.71 ERA, 4.8 K/9, 3.5 BB/9, 0.87 HR/9, and 54.4% groundball rate in 20 2/3 innings this year. He faced more right-handed hitters than left, but those in those 30 plate appearances from lefties they hit .448/.467/.552 against him. The Nats had re-signed Duke to a Major League deal worth $700K in December.
Duke was drafted in the 20th round by the Pirates in '01, and finished fifth in the NL Rookie of the Year voting when he came up and posted a 1.81 ERA in 14 starts in '05. He also snagged an All-Star nod in '09.
Krol was acquired from the A's in March to complete the three-way trade that sent Mike Morse to Seattle, John Jaso to Oakland, and A.J. Cole to the Nats. The 22-year-old lefty was dominant in Double-A this year, with a 0.69 ERA, 10.0 K/9, 2.4 BB/9, and one home run allowed in 26 innings.
Royals Claim Quintin Berry
The Royals claimed outfielder Quintin Berry off waivers from the Tigers, announced the team on Twitter. The Royals optioned Berry to Triple-A Omaha; it's unknown where his 40-man roster spot will come from once Salvador Perez is activated from bereavement. Berry had been designated for assignment by the Tigers on Sunday upon their re-acquisition of outfielder Francisco Martinez.
Berry, 28, was drafted by the Phillies in the fifth round in 2006, a round which also produced big leaguers Jeff Samardzija and Chris Davis, among others. He bounced around various organizations until hooking on with the Tigers before the 2012 season. That was his rookie campaign, and he posted a .258/.330/.354 line in 330 plate appearances while playing all three outfield positions. This year at Triple-A, he's limped to a .168/.278/.234 line in 199 plate appearances.
Prior to the 2009 season, Baseball America ranked Berry 25th among Phillies prospects, right after Jarred Cosart and John Mayberry, Jr. and ahead of Trevor May. BA said Berry was a speedster with slightly above-average center field defense, with his offensive ceiling limited by his lack of power.
Hoyer On Bullpen, Walks, Feldman, Soriano, Draft
Cubs GM Jed Hoyer was on Buster Olney's podcast for ESPN today; here are some highlights.
- The Cubs' bullpen sports a 4.26 ERA, 13th in the National League. Hoyer knows it needs to get better, and espoused his philosophy: "A big part of it is drafting power arms and having a surplus and inventory of those kind of guys. Usually you draft starters in the draft, and a lot of the best relievers are failed starters and I think you have to really do that year after year after year. I think that's how you end up with a good bullpen. Going out in the offseason and deciding, OK, we're going to spend money on the bullpen, that's a total fool's errand." Hoyer splurged on Kyuji Fujikawa for two years and $9.5MM this offseason, and he's having Tommy John surgery this month.
- Regarding the Cubs' inability to draw walks, Hoyer said, "We've got to change up the whole culture. The culture of the Cubs was always, swing early in the count, walks were never something that was emphasized. It's a really slippery slope, you don't want to have a bunch of passive hitters on your team. At the same time, walks are indicative of a good approach at the plate, and we don't have that. We've tried to bring in hitters…Rizzo has a good approach at the plate, DeJesus is excellent, Nate Schierholtz, Valbuena's a good on-base guy. But a lot of the guys we inherited have struggled with that adjustment, and something we have to keep on pounding away at. We've said, if guys we inherited aren't going to do that, we have to find other people because we're just not going to win baseball games if we don't get on base more."
- It's not true that the Jim Hendry regime ignored walks and OBP til the very end, however. The Cubs led the NL in walks in 2008, when they won 97 games. They spent big money on Kosuke Fukudome prior to that season because of his approach at the plate, and signings like Milton Bradley and Carlos Pena were of a similar mindset. Regarding Hoyer's comment about "guys we inherited," Starlin Castro, Welington Castillo, and Alfonso Soriano all have walk rates below four percent this year. Then again, so do Schierholtz and Scott Hairston. And at .334 in his Cubs career, Rizzo hasn't been an OBP machine either.
- Though Hoyer suggested the team will replace low-OBP players, shortstop Starlin Castro (.294 this year) isn't considered part of the problem. "He'll figure out the on-base thing," said Hoyer, who says Castro is "just in a slump right now."
- If there was any doubt, it sounds like the Cubs will be trade deadline sellers once again. "If you are in a situation where you're not going to compete that year, and you have players that aren't signed for the next year, you're doing a disservice not to acquire young players at that time," said Hoyer. The Cubs' impending free agents include Matt Garza, Scott Feldman, Carlos Marmol, Dioner Navarro, Shawn Camp, Kevin Gregg, and Ryan Sweeney, while David DeJesus has a club option for 2014. Hoyer noted that the draft is a line of demarcation, after which teams start talking trade in earnest.
- The Cubs convinced Feldman to sign by offering an opportunity. "We told him flat out this winter when we recruited him that he'd be in the rotation and we'd try to give him as many starts as possible," said Hoyer, who admitted being able to offer that kind of opportunity is one of the few nice things about being in a rebuilding situation.
- Though the Cubs have "never really been in a huge hurry to move" Alfonso Soriano due to his positive clubhouse influence, Hoyer admitted, "At some point, it may make sense." Hoyer feels that Soriano might welcome a trade for a chance to get a ring. Hoyer said Soriano, who has a full no-trade clause, has not given the Cubs a list of teams, preferring to take it on a case-by-case basis. Back in February, Soriano told reporters there were "six or seven" clubs he's named to the Cubs as acceptable trade destinations, teams in the "east or center."
- The Cubs pick second in Thursday's draft, and Hoyer noted, "We've really made a concerted effort not to let that #2 pick derail the rest of the draft." The Cubs have narrowed their list down to four college players, thought to be Mark Appel, Jonathan Gray, Kris Bryant, and Colin Moran. Tomorrow or even on draft day, Hoyer and company will whittle their list and take the best player on their board that doesn't go to the Astros first overall.
- How have Hoyer and Cubs president Theo Epstein done since taking over in fall 2011? Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald judges their major moves.
Latest On Orioles’ Hunt For Pitching
The Orioles would like to add a veteran starter, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports, but it doesn't appear they'll be a player on what many assume will be the biggest names on the trade market. Heyman says the Orioles spending $25MM per year on Cliff Lee is "out of the question," nor would they consider trading Dylan Bundy or Kevin Gausman. Additionally, the O's "appear to have little to no interest" in the Cubs' Matt Garza.
Orioles pitching coordinator Rick Peterson "very much likes" the Brewers' Yovani Gallardo from Peterson's time as that team's pitching coach, says Heyman, yet Baltimore's interest in Gallardo "doesn't seem strong at all right now."
Heyman speculates on a few other lower-tier names, such as Josh Johnson, Ricky Nolasco, Bud Norris, and Jason Vargas. I'll add Scott Feldman, Carlos Villanueva, Jake Peavy, Jason Marquis, Kevin Correia, Kevin Slowey, Kyle Lohse, Erik Bedard, Joe Saunders, Edinson Volquez, Lucas Harrell, Mark Buehrle, Shaun Marcum, Aaron Harang, and Mike Pelfrey as a slew of others working for teams that aren't contending now or may not be come July. Ian Kennedy is one other name to watch, should the D'Backs decide they can spare him.
Brewers Looking To The Future
At 21-35, the Brewers have virtually no chance of making the playoffs this year. Speaking to Michael Hunt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, GM Doug Melvin was frank: "If we make any more trades this year, it's going to be for two or three years from now instead of now. I'm not going to be trading any young players to win games." It seems obvious that the last-place Brewers wouldn't be making win-now trades in July, but now Melvin has put it out there publicly.
The "two or three years from now" part is interesting to me, because I had assumed Melvin would focus more on acquiring players that can help them next year, to take advantage of the window of having Ryan Braun, Carlos Gomez, and Jean Segura relatively cheap and in their primes. Braun is under control through 2020, but his salary will jump from $12MM to $19MM in 2016. Gomez is signed through '16. Segura is under team control through 2018 and arbitration eligible after 2015, and the Brewers offered a long-term extension in April.
I wrote a trade candidate piece about Yovani Gallardo yesterday, and if the Brewers' focus is less on 2014, moving Gallardo makes even more sense. Notable on that front: initial word is the Orioles don't have strong interest in Gallardo, according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. Other potential trade candidates on the Brewers include Aramis Ramirez, Kyle Lohse, Rickie Weeks, John Axford, Tom Gorzelanny, Mike Gonzalez, Francisco Rodriguez, Yuniesky Betancourt, and Corey Hart when healthy.
2014 MLB Free Agent Power Rankings
About 35% of the MLB regular season is in the books, and it's time to update the 2014 free agent power rankings. Our previous installment was published on May 14th. You can check out our full list of 2014 free agents here.
1. Robinson Cano. Cano is having a fine campaign, though his offensive production is down from last year. The Yankees continue to discuss a contract extension with agent Brodie Van Wagenen, Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner said last month.
2. Shin-Soo Choo. Choo no longer has the best OBP in baseball, but his fourth-ranked .438 mark still impresses and he remains the free agent WAR leader. In a May 27th poll of over 12,000 MLBTR readers, 34% predicted Choo will get the second-biggest contract of the 2013-14 offseason, compared to 29% who chose Ellsbury. Either way, Scott Boras wins. Reds GM Walt Jocketty commented a bit on retaining Choo last month, and the player spoke briefly on the topic as well.
3. Jacoby Ellsbury. We're finally seeing signs of life from Ellsbury, who has a .400 OBP in 75 plate appearances since our last set of rankings was published. His 8.6% walk rate would be a career best, and if Ellsbury can continue to stay healthy and get his batting average up toward .300, he'll restore value and maybe even ignite the $100MM talk again. It's possible Ellsbury reclaims the #2 spot from Choo before the season ends.
4. Brian McCann. McCann has played about a month's worth of baseball since returning from offseason shoulder surgery, and the early returns are good. He recorded his 1,000th career hit last night. McCann won't turn 30 until February, and should score a large contract to fill some kind of catcher/DH role.
5. Hunter Pence. Pence is putting together a nice bounceback campaign so far, with a tidy .500 slugging percentage. He's not much for drawing walks, but Pence is a solid contributor with great durability.
6. Matt Garza. Garza's fourth big league start of the season comes tomorrow in Los Angeles. He's posted two solid outings in three tries, hardly enough for a full evaluation. But he's working around 94 miles per hour and certainly appears healthy. He should make ten more starts before the trade deadline, at which point we'll see whether the Cubs erase the qualifying offer issue by moving him.
7. Hiroki Kuroda. Kuroda will be 39 next season, but I can't keep leaving him off this list for that reason alone. Though his 2.59 ERA ranks seventh in the American League, Kuroda's skills don't support the idea that this is the best season of his career. He may intentionally limit his market in the offseason, but until he shows otherwise, Kuroda is a durable sub-4.00 ERA guy who can succeed in any environment.
8. A.J. Burnett. Burnett scuffled yesterday, but his ERA still sits at a well-deserved 3.22. He remains a bit loose with the free pass, but represents a rare high strikeout/high groundball rate pitcher. Like Kuroda, Burnett is getting up there in years and is likely to be picky about where he signs as a free agent.
9. Carlos Beltran. Beltran will be 37 next year, but he continues to be a middle of the order presence. After playing in 151 games last year, he's played in 52 of 57 for the Cardinals this year. Another two-year deal with a strong average annual value makes sense, perhaps in the American League this time.
10. Mike Napoli. Napoli makes his first appearance on the list. He's batting a healthy .274/.350/.502 on the season. Playing first base regularly, Napoli's hip has not been a concern, and he's on pace to top 600 plate appearances for the first time in his career (he's only topped 500 once, actually). The stat doesn't mean much outside of fantasy baseball, but 110+ RBIs would still look great on Napoli's resume as he heads into free agency looking for the first multiyear deal of his career.
Shortly after the last power rankings were published, Chase Utley hit the DL for an oblique injury. It could end up knocking him out for a month, and while that type of injury generally isn't considered serious, it may reinforce the fact that the 34-year-old hasn't played 120 games in a season since 2009. At #4 last time, I probably had him too high.
Tim Lincecum loses his top ten spot for the time being. He's been a tiny bit better than last year, by virtue of a few more strikeouts and groundballs, but May went badly with a 6.37 ERA. As a starter, Lincecum is garnering a reputation for being inconsistent. Talking to Andrew Baggarly of CSNBayArea.com on Sunday about working in relief, Lincecum said, "I’m sure if my career takes that turn, I’m definitely open to changes, especially if it’s beneficial to the team I’m playing for." The idea of signing Lincecum as a lockdown closer is becoming more intriguing than adding him to a rotation.
The second chapter of Josh Johnson's season begins tonight in San Francisco, as the Jays face Lincecum of all people. Johnson, 29, missed over a month with a triceps injury, but he can partially redeem himself by making his next 20 starts or so. Others vying for the top ten include Kendrys Morales, Nelson Cruz, Nate McLouth, James Loney, Ervin Santana, Paul Maholm, and Curtis Granderson, Corey Hart, and Roy Halladay when healthy.
Minor Moves: Mitch Atkins, Alex Burnett
Today's minor moves…
- The Braves have signed right-hander Mitch Atkins, who had been pitching for the Somerset Patriots of the Atlantic League, according to Chris Cotillo of MLBDailyDish.com. David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution confirmed the move (on Twitter). Atkins, 27, has had brief Major League experience with both the Cubs and Orioles. He had a 3.98 ERA in 43 innings for Somerset and has a 5.16 ERA with 7.1 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 in 520 Triple-A innings. He will be assigned to Double-A Mississippi.
- Reliever Alex Burnett has cleared waivers and has been assigned outright to Triple-A, according to the Cubs via Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald. Burnett had been designated for assignment Saturday to open a spot for Blake Parker. Burnett made only one appearance for the Cubs, after making just two for the Orioles.
- Seven players currently reside in DFA limbo: Ben Francisco of the Yankees, Edinson Rincon of the Padres, Mark Lowe of the Angels, Tyler Greene of the White Sox, Vinnie Catricala of the Mariners, Tyler Robertson of the Twins, and Quintin Berry of the Tigers.
Steve Adams contributed to this post.
Draft Notes: Mock, Expert Draft, Mets, Phillies
It's draft week! On Thursday, the first 73 players will be chosen in MLB's first-year player draft. Draft order can be found here. The latest info:
- Need a refresher on MLB draft basics? Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca has you covered.
- How about a fresh mock draft from ESPN's Keith Law? Law is hearing high school righty Phil Bickford at #8 to the Royals, though he doesn't seem a fan of the idea. Law's mock draft requires a subscription, but is chock full of info and is well worth it.
- Baseball America editors John Manuel, Jim Callis, Conor Glassey, and Nathan Rode participated in an expert draft, taking turns making picks for teams.
- The Mets are targeting a college hitter in the draft, tweets Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. He suggests D.J. Peterson, Hunter Renfroe, Austin Wilson, and Aaron Judge as possibilities. The Mets draft 11th, and Law went with high school first baseman Dominic Smith.
- The Phillies pick 16th, their earliest since Gavin Floyd was chosen fourth overall in '01. Assistant general manager of amateur scouting Marti Wolever told Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com, "One guy in particular I saw last year and I thought he was one of the best position players I saw last year. I think maybe there is a chance we can snag him this year. I hope so. I have my fingers crossed."
Weak-Hitting Positions For AL Contenders
Last week we looked at some areas of need for NL contenders. Using weighted on-base average, let's identify the weakest offensive production by position in the AL today. Since they're all within 6.5 games of the division lead, we're going to loosely call all AL Central clubs contenders.
- Catcher: White Sox (.275), Orioles (.277), Tigers (.278). The Orioles might prefer Matt Wieters get on base at better than a .297 clip, but most likely they're content with his production. The team's catcher production has been dragged down by backups Chris Snyder and Taylor Teagarden, who have soaked up about 14% of the ABs and have offered nothing. The Tigers have used Alex Avila and Brayan Pena, the latter of whom has actually been decent. It's looking like more of a timeshare at present. It doesn't seem like acquiring someone like John Buck or Nick Hundley would help the situation. Tyler Flowers hasn't done much as A.J. Pierzynski's replacement in Chicago, but giving Josh Phegley a look makes more sense than an acquisition.
- First base: White Sox (.284), Royals (.290), Twins (.305). The Royals have been suffering through another subpar season from Eric Hosmer. The White Sox are hoping for Paul Konerko to pull out of it, while the Twins have to hope Justin Morneau rediscovers his power stroke. Corey Hart and Carlos Pena could be available this summer, as first basemen go.
- Second base: White Sox (.235), Orioles (.237), Royals (.246). Jeff Keppinger has done much, but the White Sox reinstated Gordon Beckham from the DL today. The Orioles have used Ryan Flaherty, Alexi Casilla, Yamaico Navarro, and a few games of Brian Roberts before he suffered a hamstring injury. They might as well wait to see if Roberts really does return in mid-June, and then see if he can still hit. The Royals have mainly gone with Chris Getz and Elliot Johnson. Perhaps when Chase Utley returns from his oblique strain in mid-June, the Phillies' chances in 2013 will have tipped the scale one way or the other. The second base trade market offers little otherwise; perhaps Rickie Weeks or Darwin Barney.
- Shortstop: Yankees (.256), Royals (.263). Derek Jeter is recovering from an ankle injury, and it's unknown when he'll make his season debut. The Royals seem locked in with Alcides Escobar. The trade market appears barren anyway, unless perhaps the White Sox make Alexei Ramirez available.
- Third base: White Sox (.265), Royals (.268), Angels (.282), Yankees (.284). Have you noticed the Royals get no offensive production out of their infield? Mike Moustakas is the culprit here. Conor Gillaspie has been OK at third for the White Sox, and should eat into Keppinger's playing time. Alberto Callaspo and Luis Jimenez haven't given the Angels much production. The Yankees have Kevin Youkilis back, plus the possibility of Alex Rodriguez down the road. Aramis Ramirez, Chase Headley, Mark DeRosa, and Juan Uribe could be available.
- Right field: Athletics (.252), Royals (.262), Yankees (.280), Angels (.282). The A's hope Josh Reddick, back from the DL on Friday, will start hitting. The Royals can't expect that from Jeff Francoeur. The Yankees have tried Ichiro Suzuki and Brennan Boesch, and now Lyle Overbay is getting a start in right field as the team waits for Curtis Granderson to return to their outfield. For the Angels, Josh Hamilton at least showed some power in May. Thinking about the trade market? Giancarlo Stanton, Andre Ethier, Nate Schierholtz, Alex Rios, and Mike Morse are the commonly speculated-upon names.
- Center field: Twins (.257), White Sox (.292), Tigers (.303). Rookie Aaron Hicks had six home runs for the Twins in May, so maybe things will continue getting better. The White Sox have been using Alejandro De Aza and Dewayne Wise, and perhaps should just use less of Wise. The Tigers await the return of Austin Jackson.
- Left field: White Sox (.293). Dayan Viciedo hit 25 home runs last year, but has just four so far this year. The team has also been using De Aza in left. Josh Willingham, Jason Bay, Raul Ibanez, Carlos Quentin, Alfonso Soriano, and Melky Cabrera could be on the market, in a general sense.
- Designated hitter: Tigers (.263), White Sox (.284), Orioles (.308). Big commitments to Victor Martinez in Detroit and Adam Dunn and Konerko in Chicago hamstring this clubs at DH. The Orioles may want to see what Nolan Reimold can do when he returns later this month, but they should be flexible toward upgrades involving many of the aforementioned available hitters. As far as pure designated hitters, Kendrys Morales and Adam Lind might be out there.