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AL East Notes: Red Sox, Lester, Orioles, Reynolds

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Yesterday, Red Sox President Larry Lucchino took some time to talk to the press in the midst of the team’s recent turmoil.  Lucchino told reporters, including Tim Britton of The Providence Journal (via Twitter), that despite the criticism the club has faced in recent weeks, “The cynical, jaded media do not necessarily capture the voice of the fan base.”  Here’s more out of Fenway and the rest of the AL East..

  • Boston has been a desirable free agent destination for the better part of the last decade, but pitcher Jon Lester isn’t sure if that is still the case, writes Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald.  “I don’t know,” Lester said. “It’s always been a demanding place to play, but until the last two years, it always was about baseball. Now we’ve got things written and said about guys’ personal stuff as human beings, as people. Now you’re starting to question people’s manhoods. That’s where it gets hard.”  Meanwhile, Lucchino doesn’t believe that the drama will dissuade players from wanting to come to Boston.
  • Steve Melewski of MASNsports.com wonders if Mark Reynolds may be playing himself into the Orioles’ plans for 2013 with his recent hot streak.  Baltimore is unlikely to pick up his $11MM option for next season but they could non-tender him and bring him back for considerably less.  In total, Reynolds isn’t having a stellar year by his standards, hitting .220/.335/.413 with 12 homers in 355 plate appearances.
  • If the Red Sox decide to make a managerial change, Joel Sherman of the New York Post suggests Jason Varitek as a good fit for the clubhouse.  The success of Robin Ventura of the White Sox and the Cardinals’ Mike Matheny should make clubs feel better about first-time managers, Sherman opines.
  • Meanwhile, Sean McAdam of CSNNE.com has a different ex-player in mind: Bill Mueller.  Mueller is currently serving as a special assistant in the Dodgers’ front office and like Varitek, doesn’t have any managerial experience.

Quick Hits: Villanueva, Hammel, Cabrera, Hamilton

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Orioles pitcher Jason Hammel is on the mend and set to return next month.  With that in mind, O's General Manager Dan Duquette doesn't seem terribly focused on adding a starting pitcher, tweets Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com.  Here's more from around baseball..

  • Blue Jays right-hander Carlos Villanueva hopes to stay in Toronto, but wants to do so as a starting pitcher, writes Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.  Villanueva avoided arbitration with a $2.2775MM deal this winter but would likely look for a significant pay bump as a starter.
  • This winter's free agent market figured to be light on heavy hitters anyway, but Melky Cabrera's situation means that the Rangers would have an even harder time replacing Josh Hamilton, writes Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com.  One Texas official cautiously predicted that the slugger would re-sign with the team, but we learned last week that Hamilton will wait until the offseason to negotiate.
  • It hasn't been a successful year for the Astros, but things could get worse upon their arrival in the American League West, writes Randy Harvey of the Houston Chronicle.
  • Speaking of the Astros, they released 2008 second-round pick Jay Austin earlier today (hat tip to Jayne Hansen of What The Heck, Bobby).  The 22-year-old outfielder never advanced beyond Advanced-A ball in his time with Houston.
  • Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine is staying upbeat in the face of the latest controversy surrounding him and the club, writes MLB.com's Ian Browne.  Adrian Gonzalez and Dustin Pedroia were reportedly the most vocal in a meeting between the players and principal owners regarding Valentine.

Outrighted To Triple-A: Chavez, Richmond, Zagurski

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Here are Wednesday's outright assignments, courtesy of the MLB.com transactions page…

  • The Orioles have outrighted Endy Chavez to Triple-A. The 34-year-old outfielder hit .190/.222/.281 in 129 plate appearances for Baltimore this season before being designated for assignment earlier this month.
  • The Blue Jays have outrighted right-hander Scott Richmond to Triple-A. Toronto designated the 32-year-old for assignment last week after allowing two runs in three relief innings. Richmond pitched to a 5.89 in 117 2/3 Triple-A innings this year.
  • The Diamondbacks have outrighted Mike Zagurski to Triple-A. The 29-year-old southpaw pitched to a 6.18 ERA in 27 2/3 relief innings this year, and left-handed hitters tagged him for a .256/.320/.395 batting line. Arizona designated Zagurski for assignment this past weekend.

Orioles Designate Miguel Socolovich For Assignment

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The Orioles have designated right-hander Miguel Socolovich for assignment, according to Britt Ghiroli of MLB.com (via Twitter).  The move will allow the Orioles to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for J.C. Romero.

The native of Venezuela pitched ten and one-third innings for the O's this season, allowing eight earned runs with six strikeouts and six walks.  In 28 games for Triple-A Norfolk in 2012, Socolovich posted a 1.90 ERA with 9.0 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9.

Orioles Acquire J.C. Romero

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The Orioles have acquired J.C. Romero from the Indians for minor league infielder Carlos Rojas, reports Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com (all Twitter links). The southpaw signed a minor league deal with Baltimore in May, but exercised his opt-out clause in July.

Romero, 36, signed a minor league contract with the Indians last month. He allowed nine runs in eight innings for the Cardinals earlier this season, and has pitched to a 2.74 ERA in 23 Triple-A innings since. Paul Hoynes of The Cleveland Plain-Dealer says (on Twitter) that Romero could have opted out of his contract with Cleveland on Wednesday, but they weren't ready to call him up.

Rojas, 28, hit .226/.285/.248 in 147 plate appearances split between Double-A and Triple-A this season. He spent some time in the Cubs' farm system earlier in his career and has never been called up to the big leagues.

Cafardo On Damon, Braves, Youkilis, Saunders

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Dan Duquette was out of baseball for ten years and wasn’t sure if he’d find his way back, but the Orioles GM has surprised many by putting together a strong club for 2012, writes Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe.  The GM was quick to credit the work of manager Buck Showalter for the team’s success and also pointed to some good breaks for the club as they dealt with a young and oft-injured rotation.  Here’s more from Cafardo..

  • Johnny Damon could be a fit for the Braves as they are in need of a lefthanded pinch hitter. Atlanta is looking all around for a part-time lefthanded bat and they are scouting almost every team out of the race.  Damon posted a posted a .222/.281/.329 batting line with four home runs in 224 plate appearances for the Tribe this year.
  • The Braves aren’t optimistic that they can re-sign Michael Bourn when he becomes a free agent, in part because they don’t seem to do well with Scott Boras clients.  Given that, it also seems unlikely that they’ll aggressively pursue Jacoby Ellsbury this offseason. 
  • Atlanta will have to replace both Bourn and Chipper Jones, and one Braves official didn’t rule out Kevin Youkilis if the White Sox don’t pick up his $13MM option.  Of course, the Braves would be looking to spend considerably less than that to sign him.
  • D’Backs pitcher Joe Saunders would be an interesting trade piece if they feel they can’t make the playoffs.  The left-hander has looked strong as of late and is headed towards free agency, but Arizona doesn’t expect to resign him.  With Patrick Corbin, Tyler Skaggs, and Trevor Bauer all in the fold, Kevin Towers & Co. could easily part with him.  

2013 Vesting Options Update

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With a little less than one-third of the season left to go, let's check in on the various vesting option situations from around the league…

  • Jason Bartlett, Padres — $5.5MM option vests with 432 plate appearances. Bartlett came to the plate just 98 times before being placed on the disabled list with a knee injury. He won't return to the lineup anytime soon, so this option will not vest.
  • Kevin Gregg, Orioles — $6MM option vests with 50 games finished. Gregg has finished just 12 of the team's 113 games, so this one is very unlikely even though it's still mathematically possible.
  • Brett Myers, White Sox — $10MM option vests with 45 games finished or based on a points system. Myers has finished 33 games this season, and he has finished four of the ten games he's appeared in with Chicago despite not being the closer. This is one worth monitoring.

Chipper Jones has an option worth $9MM+ that will vest with 123 games played, but he's already rendered the option moot by announcing his plans to retire after the season. He recently said that he won't change his mind about retirement despite his strong play as well. Chipper has played in 71 of the Braves' first 112 games.

Alex Gonzalez has an option worth $4MM that will vest with 525 plate appearances, but he is expected to miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL. Gonzalez came to the plate just 89 times before the injury, so the Brewers do not have to worry about this one kicking in.

Quick Hits: Vizquel, Chavez, Hafner

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There are currently 52 starting pitchers on the disabled list, and it’s costing teams money as well as production, Yahoo's Jeff Passan reports (Twitter links). Executives estimate teams will spend $500MM on injured players this year, so let’s hope they took out some insurance. Here are today’s links…

  • Blue Jays infielder Omar Vizquel wants to manage at the MLB level next year, Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports reports. The 45-year-old 11-time Gold Glove winner said he'd like to manager close to his Seattle area home or for a team with which he has pre-existing ties. As Morosi points out, Mike Matheny and Robin Ventura are doing just fine this year despite their relative inexperience managing professionally.
  • Orioles outfielder Endy Chavez will report to Triple-A early next week, according to MLB.com’s Brittany Ghiroli (Twitter links). Chavez decided to stay in the organization instead of electing free agency, and the Orioles expect him to be back with the MLB team by the time rosters expand in September.
  • ESPN.com’s Buster Olney wonders if Travis Hafner’s tenure with the Indians could be over now that he’s on the disabled list and his contract is about to expire.

Orioles Notes: Overbay, Lowe, Chavez

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In our poll this afternoon, more than 3,300 MLBTR readers told us that they believe the Orioles will finish the season with an above-.500 record but will not qualify for the postseason. Baltimore came into the day in a four-way tie for the two AL Wild Card spots. Here's the latest from Charm City, courtesy of The Baltimore Sun's Dan Connolly…

  • “No, we are looking around every day,” said GM Dan Duquette when asked if the Manny Machado call-up means they are closing the door on acquiring players from outside the organization.
  • The Orioles have expressed some interest in the recently released Lyle Overbay, but they might not have room for him on the roster.
  • There's a sense that Derek Lowe will wind up back in National League once he clears waivers tomorrow, but the Orioles could have interest according to Connolly.
  • Endy Chavez is expected to clear waivers tomorrow and will likely accept an assignment to Baltimore's Triple-A affiliate.
  • We had some more Orioles links earlier this morning. 

Poll: How Will The Orioles Finish?

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The Orioles were one of MLB’s model franchises for decades, but teams of the 1960s, ‘70s and ‘80s have given way to clubs that have been unable to reach the .500 mark for the last 14 years. While no organization rivals the Pirates’ streak of losing seasons, the Orioles haven’t had a winning record or made the playoffs since 1997.

Everything could change this year if the Orioles continue to play well for the next two months. They're currently 60-51, tied with the Tigers and Athletics for the lead in the American League Wild Card race, and 1.5 games ahead of the Rays and Angels. With five teams playing for two spots, competition for the Wild Card spots will no doubt be heated.

The Orioles have allowed 47 more runs than they've scored, which suggests their .541 winning percentage is unsustainable. But their 60 wins aren’t going to disappear, so they’re very much in contention. Manny Machado is joining the team, and Dylan Bundy might be next. As Dave Cameron explained this morning, there’s a definite chance Baltimore could win enough to reach the postseason. Even if it’s not necessarily likely, the playoffs are within reach.

For the Orioles to end up below .500, they’d have to finish 20-31 or worse. To win 90 games, they’d have to finish 30-21 or better. There are still 51 games to go…

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