Cafardo On Youkilis, Lowrie, Manny, Red Sox
Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe asked 55 people in baseball if they'd rather have Bryce Harper or Mike Trout. The final tally: Harper 25, Trout 24, six undecided. Athletics GM Billy Beane was one of the six on the fence and likely had the best quote of anyone. "Beatles or Stones? They’re both great, aren’t they?" Here's more from Cafardo's column..
- The Pirates and Dodgers could be the teams most willing to pull the trigger on Kevin Youkilis. The recent shift from third base to first has been a plus for scouts watching him, though he hasn’t performed well enough yet to wow anyone.
- Astros shortstop Jed Lowrie has 12 homers this year and his offensive ability may make him a target at the trading deadline. However, one AL GM pointed out that health concerns will impact his value.
- Cafardo wonders if the Blue Jays might consider Manny Ramirez after letting Vladimir Guerrero go.
- While Daisuke Matsuzaka would probably like to remain in the major leagues and in Boston, Matsuzaka will be in demand in Japan since he is still relatively young and still considered a big name, according to a major league source. The right-hander could earn another multiyear deal if he does well this season.
- Some baseball people wouldn't be shocked to see the Red Sox move Daniel Bard if he gets himself straightened out. Theo Epstein has always been a big fan and Cafardo wonders out loud if something could be worked out with the Cubs for Matt Garza. Garza, he opines, would be a perfect fit for an AL East team.
- The Dodgers could pull the trigger on Ryan Dempster soon and the Blue Jays also seem to have serious interest.
- Teams are reassessing their commitment to scouting Japanese players. One GM said, “Is all the money spent and devoted to scouting really yielding any great player? You’ve had Kei Igawa, Daisuke Matsuzaka, the kid from Minnesota [Tsuyoshi Nishioka], and really, is the money spent worth it?"
Minors Moves: Hill, Carlson, Ka’aihue
We'll keep track of today's minor league moves here, with the latest up top..
- The Cubs outrighted catcher Koyie Hill to Triple-A Iowa, writes Doug Padilla of ESPNChicago.com. Hill, who appeared in 11 games with the North Siders this season, was designated for assignment Thursday.
- The Red Sox released reliever Jesse Carlson, tweets Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal. Carlson, a left-hander, missed most of 2010 and all of 2011 due to a shoulder injury. He signed a split contract with Boston last offseason.
- The A's announced that first baseman Kila Ka'aihue cleared waivers and has been outrighted to Triple-A Sacramento. The Hawaiian, acquired from the Royals for Ethan Hollingsworth last September, was designated for assignment by Oakland last week.
Quick Hits: Manny, Youkilis, Indians, Hernandez
Manny Ramirez is a free agent after being cut loose by the Athletics and says that he wants to continue playing, but it's not clear where he might get the major league opportunity that he's seeking. The Rockies don't have any need for Manny, tweets Troy Renck of The Denver Post. Orioles GM Dan Duquette, who brought Ramirez to Boston, told Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe (via Twitter) that he has no interest in signing him. Unsurprisingly, the Dodgers aren't interested in bringing Mannywood back to Chavez Ravine, Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times tweets. Here's more from around baseball..
- Scouts from around baseball aren't terribly hot on Red Sox third baseman Kevin Youkilis, writes Cafardo. "He’s been an outstanding hitter in this league for a long time. But given some of the injuries, he’s got to show that he’s completely healthy and that he can still be the same hitter he was," a veteran scout said.
- Indians GM Chris Antonetti says that the trade market is still not clear, tweets Jordian Bastian of MLB.com. There are more buyers than sellers but the team will look at bats and arms as the market develops.
- Pitcher Livan Hernandez doesn't plan on retiring after being DFA'd by the Braves yesterday, writes Mark Bowman of MLB.com. The 37-year-old posted a 4.94 ERA with 5.5 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9 in 31 innings out of the bullpen for Atlanta.
Olney On Hamels, Dempster, Cubs, Red Sox, Draft
Some rival executives believe that unless the Phillies run off a string of victories between now and the deadline, they will seriously consider offers for left-hander Cole Hamels, writes ESPN.com's Buster Olney. In today's column (Insider subscription required), Olney looks at the pros and cons of trading Hamels and more..
- If the Red Sox are waffling about whether to get involved in talks for Ryan Dempster, then the right-hander must have opened their eyes with his strong outing Friday. However, it remains to be seen if the Cubs and BoSox can move past the Theo Epstein compensation drama to make a deal.
- Matt Garza could also figure to be one of the top pitchers on the market leading up to the deadline and execs say that he has been talked about a lot more in recent days.
- A pair of baseball execs told Olney that they're in favor of the new draft rules putting prospects into their respective systems more rapidly. "For them, it's one less year to the major leagues. High school kids do not have to spend as much time in rookie league. College players who are high draft [picks] can get more easily get to Double-A in Year Two," said Mark Newman, Yankees senior VP of baseball operations.
- The Padres are extremely high on top pick Max Fried and one evaluator compared his breaking ball to Clayton Kershaw's. Fried, the No. 7 pick, agreed to a $3MM deal with the club yesterday.
D’Backs Notes: Youkilis, Parra, Saunders
Here's the latest on the Diamondbacks courtesy of Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic..
- The D'Backs have had multiple looks at Red Sox third baseman Kevin Youkilis and GM Kevin Towers is reluctant to go down that road for several reasons. Towers is turned off by the money owed to Youkilis and is also balking at the asking price. The Red Sox apparently were asking for Gerardo Parra to be included in a deal for the veteran.
- There are still indications that Arizona would be willing to trade left-hander Joe Saunders if the right deal came along. Interested clubs include the Braves, Orioles, Red Sox, and Pirates. Trading Saunders, who makes a reasonable $6MM this year, would open up room for top prospect Trevor Bauer.
- On the whole, the Diamondbacks are on the fence about whether to make moves that will help their cause in 2012 or to instead look to add a piece for 2013 and beyond.
Draft Signings: Brewers, Rockies, Red Sox, Mets
So far this year we haven’t seen as many substantial draft bonuses as in years past, Yahoo’s Jeff Passan notes (on Twitter). In the previous five drafts, 16 players obtained $6MM or more, but Byron Buxton may be the only player to sign for $6MM this year, now that the new collective bargaining agreement is in place. Here are today’s noteworthy draft signings from the second round and on…
- The Indians announced that they signed second round selection Mitch Brown. The high school right-hander obtained an over-slot bonus of $800K, MLBTR has learned. Adam Karon and Tripper Johnson of Sosnick/Cobbe Sports represent Brown, who entered the draft as the 44th-best eligible prospect, according to Baseball America.
- The Brewers signed second rounder Tyrone Taylor for $750K, Jim Callis of Baseball America reports (on Twitter). MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy had reported earlier in the week that the Brewers were nearing a deal with the athletic high school outfielder.
- The Rockies announced that they have agreed to sign 28 selections, including their top six picks and 12 of their first 14 selections (Twitter link).
- The Red Sox announced that they have signed 11 picks, including second rounder Jamie Callahan and fourth rounder Ty Buttrey. Callahan obtained a $600K bonus, according to Callis (on Twitter). Buttrey obtained an over-slot bonus of $1.3MM, Callis tweets.
- The Mets signed fourth rounder Branden Kaupe for $225K, Callis reports (Twitter link). The switch-hitting shortstop has very good speed, according to Baseball America.
Red Sox Sign Pat Light
The Red Sox have officially signed supplemental first rounder Pat Light, according to Alex Speier of WEEI.com. The hard-throwing right-hander out of Monmouth University agreed to a bonus of $1MM, shy of the $1.394MM bonus earmarked for the No. 37 pick.
Light routinely worked in the mid-90s in college and flashed fastballs of 96 mph and better at the end of games last season. The right-hander posted a 2.40 ERA in his junior year with 102 strikeouts and just 16 walks across 101.1 innings.
The Red Sox also signed second-round pick Jamie Callahan, a hard-throwing right-hander from Dillon High School in South Carolina. The amount of the 17-year-old's bonus is unknown.
Olney On Red Sox, A’s, Trout, Harper, Morneau
It’s still a little early for struggling teams to acknowledge to fans that it’s time to start looking ahead to 2013 and beyond, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney writes. As a result the trade market remains relatively quiet. Here are some of Olney’s notes on team needs and possible deals:
- The Red Sox are now focused on adding starting pitching.
- The Athletics are ready to talk trades now, so Brian Fuentes, Grant Balfour and Bartolo Colon are available.
- General managers are impressed by Mike Trout and Bryce Harper, just like everyone else. One GM told Olney Trout’s faster than Rickey Henderson. "He just rockets around the bases; you don't find players that skilled," the GM said. “They're all tooled-up, and they know how to play," another GM said in reference to the pair of young stars.
- Rival executives view Justin Morneau as a tremendously risky trade target because of his $14MM salary and history with concussions (Twitter link).
- Olney had more details on the trade market last night.
Olney On Red Sox, Quentin, Willingham, Pirates
ESPN's Buster Olney shared a number of items (via his Twitter feed) about a variety of hot stove topics and rumors…
- The Red Sox might be forced to deal Kevin Youkilis due to a "roster crunch" at the corner infield positions and players returning from the DL. Rival executives, however, think Youkilis currently has "no trade value" so it doesn't make sense for Boston to move him right now.
- The Angels and Yankees are "still waiting for needs to be defined" before exploring trades, while the Red Sox are only focused on acquiring starting pitching.
- Many baseball executives believe the Padres will trade Carlos Quentin, though Olney reports the Padres "would like to" offer Quentin a long-term extension sometime this summer. Olney's phrasing may relate to the uncertain status of the Padres' ownership situation.
- Teams have checked in on Josh Willingham but have been told that he isn't available. Some believe this could change but others believe Twins GM Terry Ryan "is, generally speaking, conservative with in-season deals" so the Twins could hold onto their slugger.
- The Pirates are looking for hitting but thus far found few sellers willing to deal.
- The Dodgers are asking about first basemen as they look to upgrade from James Loney but have "no reason to go crazy" finding a second base replacement for Mark Ellis, who will return from the DL at some point.
- The Rockies aren't seen as a team with much to trade, as their roster is split between "untouchables" (i.e. Troy Tulowitzki) and "role players" (such as Rafael Betancourt).
- Jim Thome could be a trade target for AL teams but Olney believes Phillies GM Ruben Amaro would first ask Thome if changing teams was something the respected veteran would want.
AL East Notes: Epstein, Cherington, Encarnacion
It was on this day in 1996 that Cal Ripken Jr. became professional baseball's all-time iron man. Though Ripken eclipsed Lou Gehrig's Major League record for consecutive games played in 1995, it took a while longer to surpass Japan's Sachio Kinugasa, who played in 2215 NPL straight games between 1970 and 1987.
Here's some news from both Ripken's Orioles and elsewhere around the AL East…
- Theo Epstein spoke to media (including WEEI.com's Alex Speier) about his days as the Red Sox general manager, noting that he felt some of the club's free agent signings deviated from the franchise's long-term plan and were made due to the pressure of staying competitive. It's a must-read piece for Red Sox fans, not to mention Cubs fans who could see what Epstein hopes to avoid during his tenure in Chicago.
- “We’re going to go see hundreds of players over the next few weeks,” Red Sox GM Ben Cherington tells Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald. “We may end up just acquiring one of those or none of them. In this particular year, we do believe we’re going to get impact players just by getting healthy. Still, we have to come together. I think this team still will be very good.”
- The Blue Jays could look to move Edwin Encarnacion, Kelly Johnson or "any bullpen piece" at the trade deadline if the team isn't in serious contention, opines FOX Sports' Jon Paul Morosi in a radio interview with the Brady & Lang show on Sportsnet 590 The Fan (Sportsnet.ca's Jeff Simmons has a partial transcript).
- Encarnacion's breakout season could put him in line for a big free agent contract this winter but Morosi says "a lot of GMs are wary" about Encarnacion's ability to play first base on a regular basis. "If you're viewed as a DH, that will affect his valuation going forward," Morosi said. "So we'll see how often he plays in the field and not having [Vladimir Guerrero] coming will certainly change how often he'll play first base."
- The Orioles and Blue Jays have both been scouting the Cubs, reports Bruce Levine of ESPN Chicago. Levine specified that Baltimore was looking at the Cubs' starting pitchers and Alfonso Soriano.
- For more AL East news, check out this batch of Yankees notes and the latest on the Kevin Youkilis trade rumors.