Blue Jays Sign Jack Cust
The Blue Jays have signed Jack Cust to a minor league deal, according to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter). The slugger will report to the club's Triple-A affiliate in Las Vegas.
Cust, 33, was cut loose by the Yankees on Wednesday after signing a minor league deal with the club back in March. The designated hitter/corner outfielder posted a .249/.400/.475 slash line with 20 homers, 81 walks, and 127 plate appearances for Scranton Wilkes-Barre this year.
Orioles Designate Endy Chavez For Assignment
The Orioles have designated Endy Chavez for assignment, according to Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com (via Twitter). The outfielder was hitting just .190/.222/.281 in 47 games for the O’s this year.
Chavez, 34, signed a one-year, $1.5MM deal with Baltimore in December after also receiving interest from the Mets, Rangers, and Mariners. For his career, Chavez owns a .270/.309/.369 slash line across eleven big league seasons.
Poll: Should The Phillies Let Cliff Lee Go?
Last night, the Dodgers were awarded claiming rights on Phillies pitcher Cliff Lee after the nine other National League clubs with worse records declined. By claiming Lee, the Dodgers opened themselves up to the possibility of either trading for the left-hander or being assigned his contract which would saddle them with roughly $95MM in future commitments. The struggling Phillies could help kickstart their rebuilding effort and slim down their bloated payroll by letting Lee go out west, but as it stands it doesn't seem like Ruben Amaro Jr. wants to consider it. "It's irrelevant. [Lee] is not going anywhere," said the GM.
It's not hard to understand why the Phillies would be reluctant to let Lee go. The soon-to-be 34-year-old has been a bright spot for the club this year, posting a 3.73 ERA with 8.5 K/9 and 1.7 BB/9 in 18 starts. While his performance may not put him near the top in Cy Young voting this year as it did in 2011, there's no denying that Lee is still going strong and could help anchor the Phillies' rotation in 2013 and beyond.
However, Lee's contract calls for him to make $21.5MM in 2012 and $25MM per season through 2015. The committment could also extend through 2016 as he has a $27.5MM vesting option with a $12.5MM buyout. The Phillies stretched their payroll to retain Cole Hamels to a six-year (or, potentially seven-year) extension and wiping Lee's salary from the books would help restore some flexibility.
Should The Phillies Let Cliff Lee Go?
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Yes 68% (14,214)
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No 32% (6,807)
Total votes: 21,021
Quick Hits: Sheets, Braves, Phillies, Royals
Saturday afternoon linkage..
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports recaps the unusual story of how Ben Sheets wound up hooking on with the Braves. The 34-year-old, who had interest from a number of clubs, told Rosenthal that the situation in Atlanta fit him perfectly even though the offer wasn't necessarily the best. The veteran prefers the National League, likes the pitcher's advantage in Turner Field, and enjoys the humidity of the Southeast. Sheets' deal is for the prorated portion of $2.25MM and includes up to $1.4MM in incentives.
- While Ruben Amaro Jr. & Co. are staying positive about the 2012 season, the Phillies should be making moves with 2013 and beyond in mind, opines Marc Narducci of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
- We could see familiar August trade subjects such as Jeff Francoeur go through the process once more this year, writes Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated. Other top candidates to be moved include Carlos Lee of the Marlins, Jose Lopez of the Indians, and Scott Hairston of the Mets.
- Dominican third baseman Juan Carlos Arias failed his age investigation, a major league source told Ben Badler of Baseball America. The 6-foot-3, 220 pound prospect stood out for his raw power and strength but will now have to wait until June 12, 2013 to sign.
West Notes: Giants, Chavez, Dodgers, A’s
Last night, Dodgers right-hander Chad Billingsley held the Cubs to four hits over seven innings en route to the club's 6-1 victory at home. With Cliff Lee reportedly off the market and Ted Lilly perhaps out for the season, Mark Saxon of ESPNLosAngeles.com writes that the Dodgers will have to bank on more solid pitching out of the 28-year-old. Here's more out of the Western divisions..
- Before the trade deadline, the Giants offered Nate Schierholtz to the Yankees in an effort to land veteran Eric Chavez, according to Buster Olney of ESPN.com (via Twitter). The Giants presumably pursued Chavez prior to acquiring Marco Scutaro, who has been plugged in at third base. Chavez, 34, is hitting .269/.332..486 with ten homers on the year.
- After trading for Joe Blanton and putting a claim in on Lee, the Dodgers continue to show that money is no object, writes Steve Henson of Yahoo Sports. GM Ned Colletti seems to be happy with his newly-found flexibility, but it seems unlikely that the Phillies will part with Lee.
- Catcher Kurt Suzuki was surprised to hear that the Athletics traded him to Washington but the veteran believes that the trade will work out for him as he will play every day, write John Shea and Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle.
Blue Jays Designate Andrew Carpenter For Assignment
The Blue Jays have designated Andrew Carpenter for assignment, according to Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star (via Twitter). In related moves, Toronto called up shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria and right-hander Jesse Chavez.
Carpenter, 27, spent the bulk of July with the Blue Jays and saw just nine innings of work across six appearances. In parts of five Triple-A seasons, the right-hander owns a 3.37 ERA with 7.3 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9.
Xavier Nady Close To Deal With Giants
7:48pm: The Giants are talking with Nady about a Triple-A deal, pending a physical, tweets Andrew Baggarly of CSNBayArea.com. Nady is taking batting practice in Fresno tonight and is likely to be activated tomorrow, Baggarly adds (via Twitter).
7:39pm: Outfielder/first baseman Xavier Nady is close to agreeing to a minor league deal with the Giants, according to Andy Martino of the New York Daily News (via Twitter). The Nationals designated Nady for assignment in late July before granting him his unconditional release on Sunday.
Nady, 33, has been out of action since mid-June due to a wrist injury. Before that, Nady had a .157/.211/.275 slash line with three homers in 109 plate appearances for Washington. The veteran had interest from San Francisco over the winter but wound up inking a minor league deal with the Nats in March.
Quick Hits: Brewers, Pirates, A’s, Broxton, Snider
Phones across the country were ringing off the hook today, but it doesn't appear that was the case in Milwaukee. Brewers General Manager Doug Melvin said, "I didn’t have any calls from a General Manager all day," according to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (via Twitter). Here's more from around baseball as we head into August..
- Pirates skipper Clint Hurdle says that the club had inquired about Gaby Sanchez and Chad Qualls in each of past two offseasons, tweets Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
- A's assistant GM David Forst says that while the club had "plenty of conversations" leading up to the deadline, nothing was really close to happening, writes Jane Lee of MLB.com. Forst implied that Oakland will look to make a waiver deal if a solid opportunity arises.
- Reliever Jonathan Broxton strikes Keith Law of ESPN.com (Insider sub. req'd) as an odd fit for the Reds. Law notes that the Reds' bullpen is strong while they really could have used help at the top of the lineup.
- Travis Snider chose not to blame the Blue Jays for his shortcomings on the diamond and says that he is looking forward to a fresh start with the Pirates, writes Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com. The outfielder was sent to Pittsburgh for right-hander Brad Lincoln earlier today.
- After a busy July, Astros manager Brad Mills was glad to see the deadline pass without having to say goodbye to more players, writes Brian McTaggart of MLB.com.
West Notes: Rangers, Dempster, Feliz, Giants, Pence
Items out of the AL and NL West..
- Despite their acquisition of Ryan Dempster, Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (video link) still has doubts about the Rangers' starting rotation. With Roy Oswalt being less-than-stellar for Texas, the club needs to have Matt Harrison, Derek Holland, and Yu Darvish to be exceptional in the second-half.
- Further hurting the Rangers rotation is the news that pitcher Neftali Feliz is out for the season after tearing his ulnar collateral ligament and will undergo Tommy John surgery on Wednesday, writes Richard Durrett of ESPNDallas.com. General manager Jon Daniels admitted that the club knew about Feliz's injury for a few days but didn't want to say anything until after the deadline.
- Giants GM Brian Sabean said there is flexibility to re-sign both Melky Cabrera and Hunter Pence, tweets Andrew Baggarly of CSNBayArea.com. The Giants acquired Pence from the Phillies for right fielder Nate Schierholtz and minor leaguers Seth Rosin and Tommy Joseph.
Cubs Notes: Garza, Dempster, Villanueva
The non-waiver trade deadline came and went and Cubs hurler Matt Garza wound up staying put in Chicago. Cubs General Manager Jed Hoyer says that teams shied away in part because of the right-hander's tricep injury, tweets Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune. Here's more on the Cubs..
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports writes that the Dodgers didn't wind up with Ryan Dempster because of the pitchers that they were unwilling to part with. GM Ned Colletti's four untouchables in talks for Dempster were right-handers Zach Lee, Allen Webster, and Rubby De La Rosa, and left-hander Chris Reed.
- The Rangers will pay all of Dempster's salary while the Cubs will pay all of Soto's salary, making it a virtual wash in terms of money, tweets Bob Nightengale of USA Today.
- Landing a solid prospect in Christian Villanueva was a reasonable return for the Cubs considering that their leverage to move Dempster was limited by his 10-and-5 rights, writes Keith Law of ESPN.com (Insider sub. req'd). Villanueva was blocked in the Rangers organization but should have a chance to shine with the Cubs.