Mariners Promote Nick Franklin; Demote Ackley
Second baseman/shortstop Nick Franklin has been called up and will join the Mariners today, tweets Ryan Divish of The News Tribune. Franklin will have to be added to the team's 40-man roster; he'll take the place of a minor leaguer, tweets Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times. The news comes on the heels of Carlos Triunfel's season debut, which occurred Friday. Triunfel's one start came at second base, though both Mariners prospects can play both middle infield positions. Former first-rounder Dustin Ackley, meanwhile, has limped to a .205/.266/.250 line and will join Jesus Montero at Triple-A, according to Shannon Drayer of ESPN 710.
Franklin, 22, was drafted 27th overall by the Mariners out of high school in 2009. He was hitting .324/.440/.472 in 177 Triple-A plate appearances, a vast improvement from his production at that level last year. Franklin's rankings on top 100 prospect lists prior to the season: 69th by ESPN's Keith Law, 79th by Baseball America, and 43rd by MLB.com. BA ranked him fifth among Mariners prospects prior to the season, noting, "He profiles as a solid regular who could play in a few All-Star Games."
If he stays up all year, Franklin will accumulate 126 days of big league service, making Super Two arbitration eligibility possible after the 2015 season. It's unknown whether that amount of service will put Franklin within the top 22% of the two-to-three class at that point. Super Two players go to arbitration four times instead of the usual three.
Free Agent Stock Watch: Jarrod Saltalamacchia
One of the game's most powerful regular catchers is in his contract year. Jarrod Saltalamacchia is on track to become a free agent the old-fashioned way – by accumulating the necessary six years of Major League service time. Because the Red Sox catcher never signed a multiyear extension, he'll be just 28 when he signs his next contract.
Salty was drafted 36th overall by the Braves in 2003, a supplemental pick for the loss of free agent Mike Remlinger. When backup catcher Brayan Pena hit the DL in May of '07, Saltalamacchia got the call. The Braves had Scott Thorman at first base at the time, so Saltalamacchia was able to stick even after Pena returned. Catcher Brian McCann had signed an extension with the Braves months earlier, however, so the switch-hitting Saltalamacchia was prime trade bait in what turned out to be one of the decade's most memorable deals. At the 2007 trade deadline, he was a major part of the Rangers' haul for Mark Teixeira, a deal that also sent Elvis Andrus, Neftali Feliz, Matt Harrison, and Beau Jones to Texas.
The '07 Rangers had Gerald Laird behind the dish, but first base was vacated with the Teixeira deal. Saltalamacchia split his time evenly between the two positions that year. The two battled for playing time in '08, though both dealt with injuries. Laird was dealt after the season, leaving the Rangers with a tandem of Saltalamacchia and Taylor Teagarden. Though Salty won the gig, he was sidelined by thoracic outlet syndrome in '09, and the Rangers acquired Ivan Rodriguez in August. Saltalamacchia spent the early part of 2010 recovering from surgery for that condition and battling other injuries, also developing a mental block regarding throwing the ball back to the pitcher.
Though the Rangers' depth at catcher wasn't what they thought it'd become, they still felt comfortable trading Saltalamacchia to the Red Sox that summer for three minor leaguers: first baseman Chris McGuiness, starter Roman Mendez, and catcher Michael Thomas. Only Mendez charted as one of Boston's top 30 prospects according to Baseball America (#23), and it seemed the Rangers were selling low on a player they once regarded very highly. Salty didn't see much time with the Red Sox in 2010, as he battled a lower leg infection and they had Victor Martinez behind the plate.
The Sox still had Jason Varitek in the mix in 2011, but Saltalamacchia did catch in 100 games for the first time. Salty has been the team's primary catcher since then, even with David Ross added this past offseason. Saltalamacchia has compiled a .231/.295/.453 line in 977 plate appearances for the Red Sox from 2011 to present, hitting 46 home runs. Among those who have caught at least 200 games since then, Salty's home run total ranks fifth, and his slugging percentage ranks second. He's lacking in the OBP department, with a .288 mark from 2011-12 reminiscent of Rod Barajas.
Something has changed in that regard, as Saltalamacchia has a respectable .336 OBP so far in 143 plate appearances this year. One driver is his 11.2% walk rate, easily the best of his career if it holds up. He's also hitting for a little higher batting average than usual, which is surprising given the worst strikeout rate of his career (33.6%). That's Adam Dunn/Mark Reynolds territory, and often results in a batting average barely above the Mendoza line. A switch-hitter, Salty has struggled against left-handed pitching, with a .198/.257/.326 line in his career.
Saltalamacchia is firmly regarded as an offense-first catcher, though he's not satisfied with that. He's fairly easy to run on, but statistically might be quietly decent at blocking and framing pitches.
Speaking to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe last week, Saltalamacchia noted that the future is on his mind "In the sense that I don’t want to go anywhere else." Blake Swihart might be Boston's catcher of the future, but he's in High A currently. Ryan Lavarnway, 25, has already caught 38 games for the Sox since '11, more than quieting defensive concerns along the way. He's the biggest threat to Saltalamacchia's future with the team, especially with a solid backup already under contract for '14 in Ross. An everyday catcher, even with some flaws, often commands $6-8MM per year on the free agent market. And as the only regular who will be under 30 years old, Salty and agent Jim Munsey should easily find a multiyear offer. The Red Sox could find big savings in replacing him with Lavarnway.
If he does reach the open market, Saltalamacchia will be competing with John Buck, McCann, A.J. Pierzynski, and Carlos Ruiz for a regular spot somewhere. Salty is significantly younger than the other catchers, aside from former teammate McCann. McCann will have a different market, however, as he could receive a qualifying offer and pursue a contract at or above the four-year, $50MM deal Victor Martinez signed with the Tigers after the 2010 season.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Orioles Designate Alex Burnett For Assignment
The Orioles designated righty Alex Burnett for assignment to make room for heralded pitching prospect Kevin Gausman, according to Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com.
Burnett was claimed off waivers by the Blue Jays from the Twins on March 29th and quickly designated for assignment, at which point the Orioles claimed him. The 25-year-old made two relief appearances for Baltimore, surrendering three runs in his most recent outing. For his career, he has a 4.73 ERA, 5.7 K/9, 3.8 BB/9, and 0.74 HR/9 in 171 1/3 innings in parts of four seasons.
White Sox Place Angel Sanchez On Waivers
The White Sox have placed infielder Angel Sanchez on waivers, tweets Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. As a Rule 5 pick, he will be offered back to the Angels if he goes unclaimed. Sanchez is currently on a rehab assignment after suffering a lower back strain in April.
Sanchez, 29, posted a .240/.305/.285 line in 328 plate appearances for the Astros last year, playing shortstop, second base, and third base. The Puerto Rican was drafted in the 11th round by the Royals in 2001, one pick after the Pirates chose Stephen Drew, who of course did not sign and became a first-rounder in '04. Interestingly, the 11th round of the 2001 draft also produced big league All-Stars Geovany Soto and Dan Uggla.
Jocketty Discusses Choo
Shin-Soo Choo has been even better than the Reds expected in the early going, and as the projected second-best free agent on the market, the natural question is whether the Reds will try to sign him. Reds GM Walt Jocketty reluctantly addressed the topic, telling MLB.com's Mark Sheldon:
"I hate to even address it. We got him with the idea we would get him for the year and then try to develop [Billy] Hamilton to play next year. If we're in a position where we think we can sign Choo, it's a big bonus for us. Would we love to? Absolutely. But we have to really look and see where our financial revenues and financial projections of future revenues are. It's still a little early to do that." Jocketty admitted, "There's not a lot to spare, I can tell you that."
If the Reds allow Bronson Arroyo to leave, they might just be able to squeeze Choo in while keeping a payroll in the $110MM range, if he'd accept a somewhat backloaded contract. That includes some back of the napkin arbitration calculations on my part. There are always ways to find a few million bucks, though.
Choo has mostly deflected questions to date about his upcoming free agency. Talking to Sheldon, Choo didn't add much, but he did note, "I want to stay in the same area for a long time — wherever it is. Kids need their dad. It's hard in the baseball season — you spend six months away by yourself, and six months you get together in the offseason. I want to stay in one area. But I'm not thinking about it. I'm not thinking about teams or cities."
If Choo keeps playing like an All-Star, there's little doubt his free agent contract will be one of the longer ones of the 2013-14 offseason. Still, guarantees of four-plus years are hard to come by in free agency. Only eight were given to free agents last offseason. Of those, only three were for a player entering his age 31 or later season: Josh Hamilton for five years, Nick Swisher for four, and Angel Pagan for four. If long-term security is a key for Choo, perhaps he can sacrifice a bit on his salary to ensure that fifth guaranteed year. Swisher and Michael Bourn were not able to get it, instead settling for vesting options from the Indians.
Indians Designate David Huff For Assignment
The Indians designated lefty David Huff for assignment to open a spot for another southpaw, Scott Barnes, tweeted the team.
Huff, 28, was designated for assignment when the team could not find a spot for him as the season began, but he remained in the organization after clearing waivers. The team had re-added him to the 40-man roster ten days ago. After being scored upon in two of his three relief appearances, he's off the 40-man again. Should he clear waivers, Huff can elect free agency this time, but he would give up his contract in that case.
Huff, drafted 39th overall in 2006 by the Indians, has thrown 288 1/3 innings (52 starts, six relief appearances) in parts of five seasons, with a 5.40 ERA, 5.1 K/9, 3.1 BB/9, and 1.28 HR/9. After Huff was drafted, Baseball America wrote positively about Huff's command and control but also his fringe-average fastball velocity and lack of a weapon against left-handed hitters.
Mariners To Demote Jesus Montero
Mariners catcher Jesus Montero will be sent to Triple-A Tacoma today, reports Ryan Divish of The News Tribune. Catcher Jesus Sucre will be selected to join the big league club, and it appears Montero won't do much catching at Triple-A.
It was a blockbuster challenge trade of two extremely promising and valuable young players. Montero had 18 excellent big league games for the Yankees under his belt when he was sent to the Mariners in January 2012. The principal player coming to New York in the deal was soon-to-be 23-year-old righty Michael Pineda, who had averaged nearly 95 miles per hour on his fastball as a rookie, made the All-Star team, and finished fifth in the Rookie of the Year voting. Young players of this caliber are rarely traded. Things went south quickly for Pineda, as decreased velocity in his second Spring Training start was a harbinger of a shoulder injury that would lead to surgery in May 2012. What's more, Pineda was arrested for a DUI in August of that year. Pineda continues to work his way back from the surgery, with the expectation of making his Yankee debut this year. Whether Pineda's rookie campaign was the high point in his career is anybody's guess.
Montero's first full season in 2012 was disappointing. Known almost entirely for his offensive prowess, he posted a .260/.298/.386 line in 553 plate appearances. Montero caught in 56 games, serving as DH in 78. In a full-time catching role this year, he did even less with the bat. As "a man without a position," as Divish puts it, the bar for Montero to become a regular designated hitter in the Majors is quite high. Oh, and the reported connection to Biogenesis doesn't help.
There were a couple of additional players in the Montero-Pineda swap. The Mariners acquired righty Hector Noesi, who hasn't impressed in 120 1/3 big league innings so far. The Yankees added prospect Jose Campos, rated their fifth-best by Baseball America prior to the season. Campos made only five starts last year in low A ball, missing most of the season due to a bone bruise or a small fracture in his elbow. The injury has Campos on an innings limit in the 85-90 range this year.
One year and four months after the exciting Montero-Pineda swap, the players involved in the trade are a mess across the board, which leads to today's poll: which pair of players do you prefer moving forward?
Which pair of players do you prefer moving forward?
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Michael Pineda and Jose Campos 68% (6,933)
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Jesus Montero and Hector Noesi 32% (3,294)
Total votes: 10,227
AL West Notes: Angels, Jesus Montero, Cotts
The Angels are the only AL West team playing today, with Joe Blanton facing Ervin Santana and the Royals in Kansas City. Having won their last four games, the Halos have climbed to a 19-27 record. They'll need to play .612 ball moving forward to have a shot at 90 wins and the playoffs. The latest out of their division:
- Angels righty Jered Weaver had a successful extended spring training start yesterday, reports Kevin Baxter of the L.A. Times. Weaver is recovering from a fractured elbow suffered in April, and he may be ready to return to the Angels next week. It's quite possible Blanton, owner of a 6.62 ERA in nine starts, is auditioning for his rotation job tonight despite signing a two-year, $15MM deal in December. I was surprised to see today that Blanton still has a positive FanGraphs WAR, because that calculation does not consider his 86 hits allowed in 50 1/3 innings.
- Reliever Ryan Madson seemed like a solid signing for the Angels in November, with only a $3.5MM guarantee. The 32-year-old had Tommy John surgery in April 2012, but suffered a setback in a rehab appearance last week. Madson and the Cubs' Scott Baker, both signed to one-year free agent deals, serve as reminders that pitchers are not a lock to return to a Major League mound 12 months after Tommy John surgery.
- The Mariners have dropped six in a row, and at 20-27, and Dave Cameron of U.S.S. Mariner explains that "the season is lost." Cameron's plan calls for Brandon Maurer, Dustin Ackley, and Jesus Montero to be optioned to Triple-A and Nick Franklin to get a look at second base in the bigs, among other things. UPDATE: Montero will indeed be sent to Triple-A today, reports Ryan Divish of The News Tribune.
- Rangers reliever Neal Cotts has an amazing story, with a four-year gap between Major League appearances. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports has the details on Cotts' comeback from Tommy John and four hip surgeries.
Derek Lowe Clears Waivers
WEDNESDAY: Lowe has cleared waivers and now must decide whether to accept an assignment to Triple-A or become a free agent, according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports (on Twitter).
MONDAY: The Rangers designated righty Derek Lowe to open a spot on the active roster for Josh Lindblom, tweets Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The Rangers now have 38 players on their 40-man roster.
Lowe, 39, posted a 9.00 ERA, 5.5 K/9, 2.1 BB/9, 2.08 HR/9, and 55.8% groundball rate in 13 relief innings this year. He had signed a minor league deal in March and made the team out of Spring Training, receiving a $1.25MM salary. That salary should prevent a waiver claim, and result in Lowe becoming a free agent via release. At that point, a team could sign him for the league minimum $490K with the Rangers picking up the rest of the tab.
Lowe has pitched over 2,600 innings in his big league career with the Mariners, Red Sox, Dodgers, Braves, Indians, Yankees, and Rangers, and has had success as both a reliever and a starter. His 176 wins rank him 11th all-time among those born in Michigan, and his 86 saves rank tenth.
Minor Moves: Cotts, Boyer, Barton
The latest minor moves…
- The Rangers plan to purchase the contract of lefty reliever Neal Cotts if tonight's game is played, tweets Anthony Andro of FOX Sports Southwest. The 33-year-old hasn't seen big league action since 2009, but he's been dominant in 23 Triple-A innings this year. The Rangers already have an open spot on their 40-man roster for him.
- The Hanshin Tigers have a basic agreement with righty reliever Blaine Boyer, according to Sanspo (via Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker). Boyer, 31, pitched 15 relief innings for the Royals' Triple-A affiliate before exercising his out clause to pursue the opportunity in Japan.
- The Mariners signed 17-year-old Brazilian righty Daniel Missaki, reports Ben Badler of Baseball America. Badler notes that he was the youngest player in the 2013 World Baseball Classic.
- The Athletics announced that first baseman Daric Barton cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A, after he was designated for assignment Saturday to open a spot for Chris Young. He's earning $1.1MM this year, which may have limited interest. Barton led the American League in walks as a 24-year-old in 2010, but has battled injuries since. He's still a walk machine at Triple-A, though, with a .422 OBP through 128 plate appearances.
- The Angels outrighted outfielder Scott Cousins to Triple-A yesterday, according to the Pacific Coast League transactions page. Cousins had been designated for assignment on Saturday to make room for Chris Nelson.
- The Yankees outrighted infielder Alberto Gonzalez to Triple-A yesterday, according to the International League transactions page. Gonzalez had been designated for assignment on Saturday to make room for Reid Brignac.
- Three players currently reside in DFA limbo: Jon Rauch of the Marlins, Derek Lowe of the Rangers, and Michael Bowden of the Cubs. Rauch and Lowe figure to be released by their clubs in the coming days, while Bowden will have to decide whether to accept an outright assignment if he clears waivers.