AL East Notes: Orioles, Rays, Soriano, Red Sox
Here's a look at the AL East as the Rays and Red Sox jostle for control of the division..
- Orioles Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations Dan Duquette told reporters, including CSNBaltimore's Rich Dubroff, "We’ve pursued some hitters, but we haven’t been able to find the right fit." Duquette added he's looking at options to improve the bullpen, but those may come from Triple-A.
- The Rays were able to acquire outfielder David DeJesus and his approximately $2.4MM salary committment because they are "under budget," a Major League source told Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe (Twitter link).
- Rays executive VP Andrew Friedman made moves this summer with depth in mind, writes Roger Mooney of the Tampa Tribune. “We talked about it in July, our biggest focus was on augmenting our depth,” Friedman said before Friday’s win. “Essentially right now we have a 37-game season and we’re doing everything we can to put together the most talented team we can going down the stretch. The fact that we play 37 games in 38 days also factored in, something where us having as much depth as we could was important. In our minds this is arguably the deepest roster we’ve had.” The Rays added reliever Jesse Crain in late July, signed designated hitter Delmon Young to a minor league deal on Thursday, and traded for outfielder David DeJesus on Friday.
- The Yankees' acquisition of Alfonso Soriano represents the sixth time in 19 years the club landed an established slugger during the season who had at least the following season left on his contract. Joel Sherman of the New York Post runs down the previous five occurences and ranks them by success. He concludes that those acquisitions - Ruben Sierra, Cecil Fielder, David Justice, Raul Mondesi, and Bobby Abreu - helped the Yanks in the season they were acquired but most of them were problematic beyond that.
- A year after shocking the baseball world, Red Sox GM Ben Cherington has no regrets about his megatrade with L.A., writes Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald.
Edward Creech contributed to this post.
Cafardo On Kuroda, Zduriencik, Choo, Arroyo
The waiver trade deadline is one week away, meaning that teams have to work fast if they want to make an out-of-house upgrade for their playoff roster. Will there be a flurry of moves to close out August? “I doubt it,” one National League General Manager told Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. “There’s a lot more blocking going on this year.” Here's more from today's column..
- The Yankees increased Hiroki Kuroda’s salary from $10MM in 2011 to $15MM in 2012 and Cafardo wonders aloud if they'll have to tack on another $5MM to keep him in 2014. One Yankees official said they need to do whatever they can to make that happen, as the right-hander, even at 39, would still be the best starting pitcher on the open market. Kuroda has pondered retirement but a sizable deal like that could keep him in place.
- Baseball people would be surprised if the Mariners replace Jack Zduriencik with one year remaining on his contract. The feeling is the M's have some good young talent on the way and if Zduriencik can retain Kendrys Morales, Raul Ibanez, and Mike Morse, he has a chance to really make some progress. Zduriencik raised some eyebrows when he held on to that trio this summer, but he believes he can re-sign a couple or all three.
- It doesn’t appear that the Reds will have the finances to sign Shin-Soo Choo for the long term and the Mets, Yankees, Phillies, Cubs, and Red Sox could all have interest. Industry sources told Patrick Mooney of CSNChicago.com last week that the Cubs are expected to make a run at Choo. The outfielder ranks No. 5 on Tim Dierkes' 2014 Free Agent Power Rankings.
- Speaking of the Reds, Bronson Arroyo probably won't be back with the club and a National League team like the Cardinals, Mets, or Braves would probably suit him. Cafardo also notes that Cubs president Theo Epstein has an affinity for Arroyo.
- Agent Scott Boras would like to see clients Stephen Drew and Jacoby Ellsbury re-sign with the Red Sox long term. Naturally, he expects a vibrant market for both players.
- A.J. Burnett could be a candidate to stay in with the Pirates, even though he's hinted about retirement. If he goes elsewhere, it's hard to see him getting a long-term deal, but the Blue Jays could try to bring him back for the short term.
Quick Hits: Dodgers, Nationals, DeJesus, Ripken
Last August's blockbuster Adrian Gonzalez / Carl Crawford / Josh Beckett deal between the Dodgers and Red Sox is a winner for both teams, FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal writes. Despite Gonzalez, Crawford and Nick Punto all playing fairly well and the Dodgers having a very successful season so far, however, there is still a case to be made that the Dodgers would have been better off to hold onto James Loney and their prospects and spend their money elsewhere — Rosenthal notes that the deal may have helped the Red Sox, themselves in the midst of a strong season, to pursue veterans like Shane Victorino and Jake Peavy. In any case, Rosenthal's article is a fascinating look behind a major deal. He chronicles how conversations involving the two teams' presidents and even Red Sox owner John Henry helped shape the trade. Here are more notes from around the big leagues.
- The Nationals recently traded outfielder David DeJesus to the Rays, but the Nats could try to acquire DeJesus again in the offseason if the Rays don't pick up his 2014 option, MLB.com's Bill Ladson writes (via Twitter). DeJesus is owed $6.5MM in 2014, with a $1.5MM buyout.
- The Nats are open to trading Dan Haren, but GM Mike Rizzo says they would want "a good package of players" in return, Ladson reports. It seems unlikely that any team would meet that price, since Haren has already cleared waivers. In 132 innings this season, Haren has a 4.64 ERA with 8.0 K/9 and 1.6 BB/9. He has about $3MM remaining on his contract before he becomes a free agent at the end of the year.
- Rays manager Joe Maddon says the depth DeJesus has added to the team makes his job "more difficult — in a good way," Sam Strong and Bryan Hoch of MLB.com report. "We have to be creative in resting people," says Maddon. "I don't want anyone too tired. We've taken advantage of these off-days to keep everyone spiffy to this point, but we have to be careful moving forward. New players help that. It takes more than nine people to win a World Series." DeJesus started in left field for the Rays as they took on the Yankees on Friday, while rookie Wil Myers did not play.
- Former Orioles great Cal Ripken is more interested in a big-league managerial job than he has been in the past, Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun reports. His interest could extend to the Nationals job, which will be open once Davey Johnson retires at the end of the season. "I’ve been asked to interview for many managing jobs, and I never said yes because I was never serious about it, and I thought it would be wrong to go through that process," says Ripken. "I haven’t been asked by [the Nationals]. … I think I would be more curious at this stage in my life than I have been."
Red Sox Notes: Crawford, Ramirez, Beckett, Ellsbury
One year ago, the Red Sox shocked the baseball world when they hit the reset button with their massive blockbuster deal with the Dodgers. Today, Boston finds themselves atop of the AL East, something that very few could have predicted after they shed roughly $270MM in payroll. Alex Speier of WEEI.com has a fascinating article today on the trade that altered the direction of the club and the possible alternatives that could have also taken place. Here's a look at some of the highlights..
- One rumor prior to last year's non-waiver deadline had the Red Sox considering a swap of Carl Crawford and Hanley Ramirez with the Marlins. However, such a deal never came close. One source familiar with the talks said that Boston would done the deal straight up, but the problem was the difference in salary. Such a move would have required the Marlins to break out the checkbook as there was $37MM+ owed to Ramirez through 2014 and a whopping $110.5MM owed to Crawford through 2017.
- However, there were other proposed deals that had legs, particularly ones involving Josh Beckett. According to multiple industry sources, the Rangers and Red Sox explored a number of possible deals including one that had a framework of Beckett and Jacoby Ellsbury going to Texas with the Red Sox getting left-hander Derek Holland. However, Beckett told WEEI's Rob Bradford that the talks never gained enough traction for the team to discuss the possibility of him waiving his no-trade rights.
- The Dodgers were among the clubs with interest in Beckett prior to the July 31st deadline and that was information that the Red Sox stored for later.
- The club's previous free-spending ways handcuffed them from even considering a run at Yu Darvish after the 2011 season. Of course, the blockbuster with L.A. gave them much more flexibility going forward. GM Ben Cherington acknowledged that a trade deadline deal like the Jake Peavy trade this year simply wasn't possible given the payroll constraints that the team previously faced.
- Boston considered using their prospects to help get out from under bad contracts, but they ultimately decided against that. "We'd made the decision long term, we were just going to need to start holding on to [top prospects] and figuring out what they could do," said one team official. "Instead of picking the right guy, keep them all in the tub and let them decide for us. Back when we were good, that's what we did."
- Up until the Dodgers deal happened, Cherington says that he wasn't planning on making any significant moves in August. There was some thought given to turning the Dodgers down and waiting until the offseason when they could revisit talks with L.A. and other clubs. However, Boston didn't want to let the opportunity to start fresh pass them by.
Red Sox Notes: Dempster, Belt, Cherington, Bogaerts
Ryan Dempster began serving his five-game suspension for throwing at Alex Rodriguez yesterday, and as MLB.com's Ian Browne writes, off-days on Thursday and Monday will allow the Red Sox to juggle their other four starters without forcing them to find a replacement starter. Of the suspension, Dempster said: "It [stinks], any time you get suspended. I've never been suspended in my career so it's not a fun feeling to have, but [I'll] start serving, be done with it on Sunday and get back to trying to help my team." Here's more on the Red Sox…
- Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal writes that the Red Sox selected Brandon Belt out of high school as a pitcher back in the 11th round of the 2006 draft, but the team didn't see enough in his mound potential to buy him out of his commitment to the University of Texas.
- MassLive.com's Evan Drellich spoke with Red Sox GM Ben Cherington, assistant GM Mike Hazen, manager John Farrell and Dodgers president Stan Kasten about last August's blockbuster that sent Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, Josh Beckett and Nick Punto to Los Angeles. It's a lengthy piece that does a terrific job of illustrating the number of people involved in making the trade a reality and also explaining how technology has impacted trade negotiations over the years. Cherington said that he wasn't nervous to take the plunge and make a trade of historic proportions.
- Within the same piece, Farrell notes the differences between the Blue Jays, whom he calls a scouting-based organization, and the Red Sox, whom he calls a player-development-based organization.
- Xander Bogaerts' debut as a 20-year-old shortstop puts him in elite company, writes Marc Hulet of Fangraphs. Red Sox director of player development told Hulet that he's not worried about Bogaerts spending time at third base despite his lack of professional experience at the position: “Xander shows enough athleticism to play third base despite his limited reps, but will continue to get better the more he plays.”
Quick Hits: Morneau, Matsuzaka, Red Sox, Padres
We'll round out the evening with some links from around baseball:
- With a big night at the plate putting an exclamation point on his torrid run over August, Twins first baseman Justin Morneau is drawing increased attention on the trade market, 1500ESPN.com's Darren Wolfson reports on Twitter. According to a source, the resurgent Yankees are "back in" on Morneau, which could also increase the pressure on the Orioles to make a move on the veteran slugger. The Yanks are now just one game back of Baltimore, though both clubs have significant ground to gain in both the AL East and Wild Card hunt.
- Recently-released pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka expects to link up with a new team shortly with the hopes of returning to the big leagues, tweets Scott Miller of CBSSports.com. In a series of tweets, Miller quotes Indians GM Chris Antonetti: "We didn't have an immediate opportunity. Dice-K was throwing well in Triple-A and thought he may have a better opportunity."
- One team that will not be in on Matsuzaka is the Brewers, reports Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. GM Doug Melvin did say that Dice-K's agent, Scott Boras, had reached out to Milwaukee. "I told Boras I didn't have a spot for him," said Melvin. "We already have six starters for September."
- Looking ahead at the first base position for the Red Sox in 2014, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe says he expects the club to "stay in-house" rather than chasing a new player such as Jose Dariel Abreu. Cafardo opines that the club is most likely to shift Will Middlebrooks to first or employ a platoon of Daniel Nava and Mike Carp. Cafardo finds it less likely that Mike Napoli will be re-signed, but says a big September could lead the club in that direction.
- Mike Dee, the new president and CEO of the Padres, says that the club is poised to "invest more in the team moving forward," reports MLB.com's AJ Cassavell. Emphasizing that dealing with the team's less-than-perfect TV situation will be "a priority," Dee said that the baseball operations focus will be "to draft well and to develop [the team's] own talent." For his part, GM Josh Byrnes explained that more money did not just mean more big league spending: "Payroll is certainly part of it. But it's also investment spending, whether it's player development, medical or the international side; anything that we can do to give ourselves a better chance to produce talent."
Dodgers, Twins, Braves In On Guerrero; BoSox Out
8:42pm: David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link) confirms that the Braves have indeed evaluated Guerrero and would be "interested if [the] price is right." Since Andrelton Simmons is already locked in at shortstop, the Braves would move Guerrero to second or third base.
7:34pm: The Red Sox are not one of the finalists for Guerrero's services, Yahoo Sports' Tim Brown reports (via Twitter).
6:50pm: The market for Cuban shortstop Alexander Guerrero is down to four teams, according to Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN (Twitter links). The Dodgers, Twins, Red Sox and Braves are the clubs still in the mix to sign the 26-year-old. The Reds have also checked in on Guerrero, though they might not be (or are no longer be) a serious contender since Wolfson didn't include them in his first group.
The Dodgers and Twins had previously been cited as two of the then-three clubs known to be interested in Guerrero, and agent Rudy Santin denied reports that his client already had a seven-year deal in place with Los Angeles. Guerrero defected from Cuba in January and is still waiting to be unblocked by the U.S. government before he can pursue a contract with a Major League team.
Minor Moves: Marlins, Red Sox, Mortensen, Mock
Here are today's minor moves from around the league…
- The Marlins announced (via Twitter) the transfer of Marcell Ozuna to the 60-day disabled list. This frees up a roster spot for Gil Velazquez, called up from Triple-A to take the place of Placido Polanco, who is going on the seven-day DL for concussion issues.
- The Red Sox announced that they have moved Clay Buchholz and Andrew Bailey to the 60-day DL and sent Rubby De La Rosa, Ryan Lavarnway and Brock Holt to Triple-A in order to create roster spots for David Ross (activated from the 60-day DL) and call-ups Xander Bogaerts and Brayan Villarreal. Bailey is out for the season but Buchholz may soon return from a neck/shoulder issue that has kept him sidelined since June. Steve Adams examined the Bogaerts promotion earlier today on MLBTR.
- The Rays signed right-hander Jared Mortensen to a minor league contract and assigned him to High-A Charlotte last week, according to a release from the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball. Mortensen, 25, went undrafted out of LSU-Shreveport and had been pitching for the American Association's Grand Prairie AirHogs. In 100 1/3 innings for the AirHogs (15 starts), he posted a 3.77 ERA with 8.4 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9. Mortensen has made one relief appearance since reporting to the Florida State League, firing a pair of scoreless innings.
- The Diamondbacks released right-hander Garrett Mock from Triple-A Reno, according to the Pacific Coast League Transactions page. The 30-year-old Mock posted a 6.72 ERA with 6.5 K/9 and 4.6 BB/9 in 75 innings for the Aces this season. Mock spent parts of three seasons with the Nationals from 2008-10, posting a 5.17 ERA in 135 2/3 innings, but he hasn't pitched in the big leagues since. The D-Backs are his third organization since the Nationals, as he's also spent time with the Astros and Red Sox.
- Following the releases of Luis Cruz and Elliot Johnson earlier today, Sean O'Sullivan is the only player in DFA limbo at this time. O'Sullivan was designated for assignment by the Padres earlier today.
Red Sox Release Jose Contreras
The Triple-A Pawtucket Red Sox have announced that Jose Contreras has been granted his release, according to WEEI.com's Alex Speier (Twitter link). Chris Cotillo of MLB Daily Dish reported over the weekend (Twitter link) that Contreras had opted out of his minor league deal with the Red Sox, and with Boston calling up Brayan Villarreal earlier today, it appears as though the Sox opted for the younger option to help their bullpen.
Contreras signed his minor league deal with Boston exactly a month ago and posted a 6.52 ERA, 15 strikeouts and six walks over 9 2/3 relief innings for Pawtucket. The 41-year-old signed a minor league deal with the Pirates over the winter and was released last month after pitching five innings over seven games for the Bucs, posting a 9.00 ERA.
Red Sox To Promote Xander Bogaerts
The Red Sox will make a series of roster moves today, writes WEEI.com's Alex Speier, with none being more notable than the promotion of top prospect Xander Bogaerts. 
The 20-year-old Bogaerts has mashed his way into a universal Top 10 prospect, ranking third on Keith Law's Midseason Top 50 Prospect list (ESPN Insider required), fourth on Baseball America's Midseason Top 50 and ranking sixth on the current Top 100 list of MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo. The Aruban shortstop is batting .297/.388/.477 with 15 home runs in 515 plate appearances between Double-A Portland and Triple-A Pawtucket this season.
Prior to the season, Law noted that Bogaerts had vastly improved his chances to stay at short, and while he may never become a plus defender at the position, his bat will allow him to be a five-WAR player even with average defense. BA noted that he has plus-plus raw power which he hasn't quite tapped into yet, but his easy swing allows him to spray the ball to all fields and make hard contact. Mayo adds that while he's an average runner, he has surprising range at shortstop and a plus arm. Over at Baseball Prospectus, Chris Mellen projects Bogaerts' ceiling to be an annual 30-homer shortstop once he matures (with more power in his peak seasons), but cautions that he needs to continue to improve his defense at short and also work on his plate discipline.
If he's on the big league roster for good, Bogaerts will miss the Super Two cutoff and be eligible for arbitration three times before reaching free agency as a 26-year-old following the 2019 season. Had the Red Sox kept him down at Pawtucket for the remainder of the season and the first three weeks of the 2014 campaign, they'd have picked up an extra year of team control over Bogaerts and been able to keep him through 2020. As they've shown in the past with Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis, Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz, however, the Red Sox aren't shy about extending core players when they're amenable to a long-term contract. Clearly that's a discussion for a much later date though, as Boston's current hope is simply that the infusion of a young, talented player like Bogaerts will spark a team that has won just three of its past ten contests.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.