Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Royals, Marlins, Peterson, Yankees
On this date in 2001, the two Texas teams played one another during the regular season for the first time in major league history. The Astros beat the Rangers, 5-4, in the first game of the Lone Star Series played in Arlington, Texas. These days, it's a little less rare as the two teams are divisional rivals. Here's this week's look around the baseball blogosphere.
- Kings Of Kauffman examines the Royals' defense and its impact on the pitching.
- Marlin Maniac spoke with Miami prospect Anthony DeSclafani.
- Guy Speed looks into how much luck helps in baseball with the help of Rick Peterson.
- Start Spreadin' The News talks Biogenesis and its implications for the Yankees.
- Blogging Mets suggests Andre Ethier for the orange and blue.
- A's Farm helps you get acquainted with Oakland's top three picks.
- Baseball Stooges says the Phillies must walk more.
- MLB Reports wonders how good the Diamondbacks' rotation can become.
- Replacement Level Red Sox breaks down Daniel Nava's hot and cold streaks.
- I R Fast discusses Henry Rodriguez.
- MLB Injury News asks if more can be done to prevent head injuries.
- AL Eastbound & Down goes hypothetical.
If you have a suggestion for this feature, Zach can be reached at ZachBBWI@gmail.com.
Chien-Ming Wang To Sign With Blue Jays
Chien-Ming Wang is set to sign with the Blue Jays, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). Wang is expected to start for the Jays on Tuesday of next week.
Wang, 33, posted a 2.33 ERA with 3.9 K/9 and 1.6 BB/9 in 58 innings for the Yankees' Triple-A affiliate this season, allowing just two homers along the way. He also fired 12 scoreless frames in this year's World Baseball Classic.
Wang neglected to exercise multiple opt-out clauses in his contract prior to this date, stating that he would only ask for his release from the Yankees if a Major League opportunity presented itself elsewhere. The Taiwanese sinker artist is represented by Octagon and has a 4.26 ERA in 765 1/3 innings between the Yankees and Nationals.
Steve Adams contributed to this post.
Yankees Release Chien-Ming Wang
Chien-Ming Wang has exercised the opt out clause in his contract and the Yankees granted him his release, according to Andy McCullough of the Newark Star-Ledger (via Twitter). Wang, who has been pitching for the Yankees' Triple-A affiliate, could have opted out on May 31st but put off the decision until today.
We heard last week that the right-hander had interest from six clubs but was unlikely to trigger his opt out clause as none of those teams were willing to offer him a major league deal. Wang made nine starts for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, posting a 2.33 ERA with 3.9 K/9 and 1.6 BB/9.
Nationals Claim Tyler Robertson
The Nationals have claimed Tyler Robertson off of waivers from the Twins, the clubs have announced. Robertson was designated for assignment by Minnesota on Monday.
The left-hander is the son of Jay Robertson, who works within the Nats' front office as a special assistant to the GM. Robertson owns a 5.54 ERA with 9.7 K/9 and 4.8 BB/9 across 26 innings of work over the last two seasons for the Twins. The 25-year-old has also spent parts of three seasons at Triple-A where he posted a 3.64 ERA with 9.8 K/9 and 5.1 BB/9.
Blue Jays Designate Henry Blanco For Assignment
The Blue Jays announced that they have designated catcher Henry Blanco for assignment. In related moves, Toronto has recalled catcher Josh Thole and selected the contract of infielder Andy LaRoche from Triple-A Buffalo.
Blanco, 41, appeared in 15 games for the Blue Jays this year and started as catcher in 13 of those contests. For his career, Blanco owns a .226/.291/.366 slash line across 16 years for the Dodgers, Rockies, Brewers, Braves, Twins, Cubs, Padres, Mets, D'Backs, and Blue Jays. By promoting Thole, the Blue Jays gain an experienced knuckleball handler; Thole was R.A. Dickey's catcher with the Mets prior to this offseason's trade.
Draft Reactions: Appel, Gray, Cubs, Red Sox
With the first round of the 2013 draft in the books, here's a look at the latest news on this year's top picks..
- Astros GM Jeff Luhnow told reporters, including Alyson Footer of MLB.com (via Twitter) Houston viewed Mark Appel as the pick to beat throughout the scouting year and never saw a player who became more appealing than the right-hander.
- Luhnow went on to say that the Astros won't rush Appel to the big leagues and there's no timetable for when he could eventually make his way up to the varsity squad (Twitter links).
- Cubs scouting director Jason McLeod wasn't bothered by Jonathan Gray's positive test for Adderall, according to Meghan Montemurro of The Northwest Herald (Twitter link). The Cubs, of course, selected Kris Bryant with the No. 2 pick.
- Red Sox's first round pick Trey Ball sounds like he's ready to join the Red Sox rather than attend the University of Texas based on this quote from Brian MacPherson of The Providence Journal (viaTwitter). "Anything can happen, but I feel that Boston is right for me," said the left-hander, who was taken with the No. 7 pick.
- A's pick Billy McKinney says that the Yankees, Rangers, and Giants also expressed interest in him, tweets Paul Gutierrez of CSNCalifornia.com.
2013 Competitive Balance Round A Results
We’ll track the results of the Competitive Balance Round A portion of the draft right here. If you still need to get caught up on the first round, click here..
34. Kansas City Royals – Sean Manaea, LHP, Indiana State
35. Miami Marlins – Matt Krook, LHP, St. Ignatius High School (Calif.)
36. Arizona Diamondbacks – Aaron Blair, RHP, Marshall University
37. Baltimore Orioles – Josh Hart, Parkview High School (Ga.)
38. Cincinnati Reds – Michael Lorenzen, OF/RHP, Cal State Fullerton (announced as RHP)
39. Detroit Tigers – Corey Knebel, RHP, Texas
2013 MLB Draft Results
After months of anticipation, it's finally time for MLB's amateur draft. This year's draft is extremely intriguing not just for its talent, but for the lack of clarity we have at the top of the board.
The Astros surprised everyone last year when they selected Carlos Correa No. 1 overall and we know very little about what they might do with the top pick in this year's draft. We'll use this post to track each first round pick as it comes in..
- Houston Astros – Mark Appel, RHP, Stanford University — Agreed to sign for $6.35MM
- Chicago Cubs – Kris Bryant, 3B, University of San Diego
- Colorado Rockies – Jonathan Gray, RHP, University of Oklahoma — Signed for $4.8MM
- Minnesota Twins – Kohl Stewart, RHP, St. Pius X High School (Tex.) — Signed for $4.5444MM
- Cleveland Indians – Clint Frazier, OF, Loganville High School (Ga.) — Signed for $3.5MM
- Miami Marlins – Colin Moran, 3B, University of North Carolina
- Boston Red Sox – Trey Ball, LHP, New Castle High School (Ind.) — Signed for $2.75MM
- Kansas City Royals – Hunter Dozier, SS, Stephen F. Austin State University — Signed for $2.2MM
- Pittsburgh Pirates – Austin Meadows, OF, Grayson High School (Ga.) — Signed for $3.0296MM
- Toronto Blue Jays – Phil Bickford, RHP, Oaks Christian High School (Ca.)
- New York Mets – Dom Smith, 1B, Serra High School (Ca.) — Signed for $2.6MM
- Seattle Mariners – D.J. Peterson, 3B, New Mexico — Signed for $2.759MM
- San Diego Padres – Hunter Renfroe, OF, Mississippi State
- Pittsburgh Pirates – Reese McGuire, C, Kentwood High School (Wash.) — Signed for $2.368MM
- Arizona Diamondbacks – Braden Shipley, RHP, Nevada — Signed for $2.25MM
- Philadelphia Phillies – J.P. Crawford, SS, Lakewood High School (Ca.) — Signed for $2.2993MM
- Chicago White Sox – Tim Anderson, SS, East Central CC (Miss.) — Signed for $2.164MM
- Los Angeles Dodgers – Chris Anderson, RHP, Jacksonville — Signed for $2.1099MM
- St. Louis Cardinals – Marco Gonzales, LHP, Gonzaga — Signed for $1.85MM
- Detroit Tigers – Jonathon Crawford, RHP, Florida — Signed for $2.0017MM
- Tampa Bay Rays – Nick Ciuffo, C, Lexington High School (S.C.) — Signed for $1.9747MM
- Baltimore Orioles – Hunter Harvey, RHP, Bandys High School (N.C.) — Signed for $1.9476MM
- Texas Rangers – Alex Gonzalez, RHP, Oral Roberts – Signed for $2.215MM
- Oakland Athletics – Billy McKinney, OF, Plano West High School (Tex.) — Signed for $1.8MM
- San Francisco Giants – Christian Arroyo, SS, University of Florida — Signed for $1.8665MM
- New York Yankees – Eric Jagielo, 3B, Notre Dame — Signed for $1.8394MM
- Cincinnati Reds – Philip Ervin, OF, Samford — Signed for $1.81MM
- St. Louis Cardinals – Rob Kaminsky, LHP, St. Joseph High School (N.J.) — Signed for $1.8753MM
- Tampa Bay Rays – Ryne Stanek, RHP, Arkansas — Signed for $1.7583MM
- Texas Rangers - Travis Demeritte, SS, Winder Barrow High School (Ga.) — Signed for $1.9MM
- Atlanta Braves – Jason Hursh, RHP, Oklahoma State — Signed for $1.7042MM
- New York Yankees – Aaron Judge, OF, Fresno State
- New York Yankees – Ian Clarkin, LHP, James Madison High School (Ca.) — Signed for $1.6501MM
Astros Select Mark Appel First Overall
The Astros have officially drafted Mark Appel with the first overall pick in the 2013 draft. Keith Law of ESPN.com (via Twitter) heard minutes prior to the selection that the Astros were set to take the Stanford product with the first pick.
Appel, who celebrates his 22nd birthday next week, was selected with the No. 8 pick in last year's draft by the Pirates. However, the Scott Boras client couldn't come to terms on a contract with the Bucs, prompting him to return to school. The Astros considered taking Appel with the No. 1 pick last year but opted against doing so when their $6MM offer was rejected. They wound up taking high school shortstop Carlos Correa with the No. 1 pick instead and inked him to a $4.8MM pact.
The Astros have selected first overall on two other occasions. They selected Phil Nevin over Derek Jeter and others in 1992 and chose Floyd Bannister from a class featuring Alan Trammell in 1976. The slot recommendation for the top pick in this year's draft is roughly $7.79MM.
While Appel is not subject to the July 15th signing deadline, GM Jeff Luhnow says they'll sign him before then, tweets Brian McTaggart of MLB.com.
Draft Notes: Royals, Cubs, Bryant, Astros, Blue Jays
In his final installment of his Top 100 Draft Flashback series, Matt Eddy of Baseball America assigned values to each of the top ten picks and gave tiered values to the entire first round. Eddy lumps the together the picks in groups of five and uses WAR to weigh each tier against one another. He also identifies the best players to be plucked out of each group, starting with Alex Rodriguez (1-5), Frank Thomas/Derek Jeter (6-10), and Manny Ramirez (11-15). Here's the latest draft news as we close in on the first pick at 6pm central..
- Keith Law of ESPN.com (via Twitter) hears that the Astros will take Mark Appel No. 1.
- Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter) isn't sure if the Royals have a deal worked out with Phil Bickford but he's certain that some team does. The right-hander's adviser kept him from talking to club executives this week.
- It was reported earlier today that the Royals have reached a deal to take Bickford with the No. 8 pick, but the club is adamant that they have no such agreement, tweets Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star.
- There's some buzz around baseball that the Cubs are leaning towards taking Kris Bryant over a pitcher, tweets David Kaplan of CSNChicago.com.
- Jim Bowden of ESPN.com (Twitter link) spoke to one scouting director picking early in first round about how he thinks the top of the draft will play out. His guess is that the Astros will take Jonathan Gray, the Cubs will grab Mark Appel at No. 2, and the Rockies will draft Bryant with the third pick.
- Shi Davidi of Sportsnet broke down the Blue Jays' draft strategy and spoke with Matt Smoral about his draft experience last year. The left-hander, who saw his stock drop thanks to a stress fracture in his right foot, assumed he was UNC-bound as he didn't expect any club to meet his $2MM asking price. “Initially, I went, not into panic, but said, ‘Oh crap, I’m going to college,’” the No. 50 pick in last year's draft said. “[The new rules] definitely changed the game but the way I looked at was, I went in there with a number that me and my family and my agent got together, and I was good with going either way." Toronto found room in the budget for Smoral by essentially punting their picks from rounds 4-10, and Davidi surmises that they'll be open to getting creative this year if another opportunity falls into their lap.
- Marc Carig of Newsday (via Twitter) hears that the Mets will draft the best player available at No. 11, rather than target need.