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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.

Red Sox Notes: Valentine, Shoppach, Gonzalez

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Earlier today, Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports reported that Red Sox players met with owners John Henry and Larry Lucchino in late July to voice their displeasure with manager Bobby Valentine.  Adrian Gonzalez and Dustin Pedroia were said to be among the most vocal in the meeting and GM Ben Cherington confirmed that the pow-wow took place.  Here's the latest out of Fenway..

  • Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (via Twitter) opines that the trade of Kelly Shoppach in order to give Valentine favorite Ryan Lavarnway more playing time can't be a bad sign for Bobby V.  Boston will receive a player to be named later from the Mets in exchange for the backstop.
  • Valentine told reporters, including Tim Britton of The Providence Journal, that he is glad to have the reported unrest behind him.  "Wow.  Is that what was said really?  That's what Dustin and Adrian said?  It did say that?  I didn't hear that.  I'm glad that July is over because they're still playing for me," said the skipper.
  • The Red Sox players haven't kept an open mind about Valentine ever since his remarks about Kevin Youkilis back in April, tweets Buster Olney of ESPN.com.  In an interview, Valentine said that he didn't think the veteran was "as physically or emotionally into the game as he has been in the past for some reason.”

Mets Acquire Kelly Shoppach From Red Sox

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The Mets have acquired catcher Kelly Shoppach from the Red Sox on a waiver claim in exchange for a player to be the named, New York announced (via Twitter).

Shoppach, 32, hit .250/.327/.471 in 158 plate appearances with Boston this season and is a career .227/.316/.422 hitter. He's notably tougher on lefties, though, hitting .270/.364/.530 in his career against southpaws, and has thus been deployed primarily in platoons. Shoppach earns $1.35MM in 2012 and will be a free agent at season's end.

Quick Hits: Lowe, Padres, Hairston, Twins, Tigers

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Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com notes (on Twitter) that the MLB owners meetings will be held in Denver later this week. They are expected to vote on the sale of the Padres, but the Athletics/Giants/San Jose issue is unlikely to be resolved. Here's the latest from around the league…

Quick Hits: Mets, Gerrit Cole, Aviles

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The Games of the XXX Olympiad came to a close today in London. Nearly 11,000 athletes from 204 nations took part in over 300 events in 26 sports. But, none of the Olympic pagentry involved baseball. So, let's celebrate America's National Pastime with the latest news, notes and quotes: 

  • Not everyone in the Mets front office is sold that they can be a sustained contender moving forward with Ike Davis at first base, writes Joel Sherman of the New York Post. One internal option would be moving Lucas Duda in from the outfield and some believe that he would be more comfortable at first.
  • Mets owner Fred Wilpon wouldn't speak with reporters following a rare on-field appearance before last night's game against the Braves, but he'll have to start answering questions soon, writes David Lennon of Newsday. There are a lot of unknowns surrounding the Mets, including what their projected payroll will be for 2013 and if the franchise is on the rebound financially.
  • Pirates GM Neal Huntington says Gerrit Cole, last year's top draft pick, will not be a September callup, according to Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (via Sulia). "We've not talked about it internally. My gut (feeling) is no." Huntington said. "To drop him into bullpen up here in September is not something we have lot of interest in doing. We have a lot of other options, instead of rushing a young prospect." Cole is currently starting at Double-A Altoona.
  • The A's had interest in Mike Aviles prior to the trade deadline, but a deal is unlikely now the Red Sox have placed the shortstop on waivers, reports Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. Slusser says the chances are slim the A's will acquire a shortstop before the August 31st deadline for playoff-roster eligibility.

Edward Creech contributed to this post.

Kelly Shoppach, Mike Aviles On Waivers

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The Red Sox put Kelly Shoppach and Mike Aviles on waivers today, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe reports (on Twitter). Nick Punto and Carl Crawford have now cleared waivers, according to Cafardo.

Teams routinely place players on waivers, even if they don't plan on trading them, so this is not an indication that the Red Sox intend to move Shoppach or Aviles. If the players go unclaimed, the Red Sox will be able to complete a trade just as easily as they could have before the current waiver period began ten days ago.

If a team claims Shoppach or Aviles, the Red Sox will have three choices. They can let the player (and his contract) go to the claiming team, they can complete a trade with the claiming team, or they can pull the player back off of waivers. American League teams will have claiming priority on Shoppach and Aviles.

Players Who Cleared Waivers

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This is a running list of players who have cleared waivers, based on published reports. Once a player clears waivers, he can be traded to any team (barring a no-trade clause). This list can always be found in the sidebar under MLBTR Features. Player names are linked to the source articles.

Updated 8-31-12

Infielders

Nick Punto, Red Sox - Punto earns $1.5MM this year and will earn the same amount in 2013.

Outfielders

Carl Crawford, Red Sox - Crawford has $102.5MM remaining on his contract after 2012, so he was expected to clear waivers. Crawford can block trades to two clubs, but no team can flip him to the Yankees after acquiring him from Boston.

Alfonso Soriano, Cubs – Soriano can block any trade. He earns $18MM per season through 2014.

Juan Pierre, Phillies – Pierre earns $800K in 2012 and he'll hit free agency after the season.

Catchers

Joe Mauer, Twins – Mauer earns $23MM per season through 2018.

Starting Pitchers

Joe Saunders, Diamondbacks – Saunders earns $6MM in 2012 and will hit free agency after the season.

Roy Oswalt, Rangers – Oswalt earns $5MM in 2012 and will hit free agency after the season.

Kevin Millwood, Mariners – Millwood earns $1MM in 2012 and will hit free agency after the season.

Relief Pitchers

Carlos Marmol, Cubs - Marmol will earn $9.8MM in 2013 before hitting free agency.

Red Sox Sign Scott Podsednik

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The Red Sox have signed Scott Podsednik to a Major League contract, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). Boston traded the outfielder to the Diamondbacks in the Matt Albers–Craig Breslow trade, but Arizona released him a few days later.

Podsednik, 36, hit .387/.409/.484 with six steals in 70 plate appearances with the Red Sox this year and .242/.308/.291 in Triple-A. The veteran speedster also missed a little more than two weeks with a groin strain earlier this season.

Indians To Release Johnny Damon, Jeremy Accardo

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The Indians will release Johnny Damon and Jeremy Accardo today, MLB.com's Jordan Bastian reports (on Twitter). The club has one more day to make a move involving Derek Lowe.

The Indians removed Damon from their roster six days ago, after he posted a .222/.281/.329 batting line with four home runs in 224 plate appearances as a left fielder and designated hitter. The club designated Accardo for assignment five days ago after he posted a 4.58 ERA with 7.1 K/9 and 4.1 BB/9 in 26 appearances.

Damon hasn't heard if any contenders are interested in signing him, but he wants to keep playing, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe reports (Twitter links). The Red Sox will pass on Lowe for now, Cafardo reports.

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