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Quick Hits: Vlad, Lee, Hunter, Crawford

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Here's the latest from around the majors…

  • Diamondbacks GM Kevin Towers thought Vladimir Guerrero performed well in his tryout with the team but will have to consult with team management before deciding whether to offer Guerrero a contract, reports Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic.  Towers speculated that Guerrero's only possible role with the club could be as a DH during interleague games, a role that Wily Mo Pena filled for the Snakes last season.
  • The Brewers may check in with Derrek Lee in regards to their hole at first base, GM Doug Melvin told reporters (including Scott Miller of CBS Sports) earlier this week.  Lee said he didn't plan to officially retire despite a lack of interest this offseason, though he seemed to be holding out for "a perfect situation."  The Pirates, Lee's last team, would receive a compensatory draft pick if Lee were to sign a Major League deal, though it's likely that Lee would only be offered a minor league contract, if anything, by the Brewers or another club.
  • Torii Hunter tells Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star Tribune that he would consider returning to the Twins next season if he doesn't re-sign with the Angels.  Given that Hunter's stated goal is to play for a contender in 2013, it's hard to see him returning to Minnesota unless he gets no other offers (and, of course, presuming that the Twins would be interested).
  • Carl Crawford has been moved to the 60-day DL to create a 40-man roster spot for the called-up Aaron Cook, the Red Sox announced tonight.  In a corresponding move, Jose Iglesias was sent down to create space for Cook on the 25-man roster.
  • Right-hander Carlos Torres has been called up by the Rockies and filled the last spot on their 40-man roster, reports Troy Renck of the Denver Post.  Jhoulys Chacin has been sent down to Triple-A in a corresponding move that opens a spot for Torres on the 25-man roster.  Torres last pitched in the majors in 2010 as a member of the White Sox.
  • Major League Baseball and the NCAA are in talks regarding increased partnership between the two entities, such as MLB providing funding for scholarships, reports Bryan Fischer of CBS Sports.
  • White Sox starter John Danks told reporters (including MLB.com's Scott Merkin) that he isn't feeling any additional pressure from his offseason contract extension.  After allowing six earned runs in seven innings against Cleveland tonight, Danks' ERA stands at 6.51 through six starts.

Red Sox To Sign Mark Prior

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The Red Sox will sign Mark Prior, reports Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (on Twitter). John Boggs & Associates represent Prior, who last pitched in the Major Leagues in 2006.

The Cubs drafted Prior second overall in 2001 and he soon became one of the National League's best pitchers. He posted a 2.43 ERA with 10.4 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 as a 22-year-old just a year and a half after being drafted. A series of shoulder problems derailed Prior's career, but he has tried to resurrect it with stints in the Padres', Rangers' and Yankees' systems. Now 31, he's attempting another comeback.

Ben Nicholson-Smith contributed to this post.

Minor Moves: Larish, Brown, Bay

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The latest minor moves from around MLB…

  • The Red Sox signed first baseman Jeff Larish, Matt Eddy of Baseball America tweets. Larish, 29, has a .224/.308/.380 line in 276 MLB plate appearances with the Tigers and A's to go along with 112 minor league home runs.
  • The Brewers signed outfielder Jordan Brown, Eddy tweets. Brown, 28, appeared in the Major Leagues with the 2010 Indians. He has a .305/.364/.467 line in parts of eight minor league seasons.
  • The Padres signed free agent right-hander Ronald Bay yesterday, according to the transactions page at MLB.com. Bay, 28, has nine seasons of minor league experience with the Cubs, Indians, Rangers and Angels organizations. He has a 4.00 ERA with 7.4 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 in 1139 total innings, mostly as a starter.

Red Sox To Promote Aaron Cook

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The Red Sox plan to promote right-hander Aaron Cook to their active roster, according to Rob Bradford of WEEI.com. The Red Sox didn't call Cook up last night, which triggered an opt-out clause in his contract and pressed the team into action. 

Cook, 33, drew trade interest from multiple teams, according to Bradford. Instead of trading him, the Red Sox will use him out of the bullpen. Cook posted a 1.89 ERA with 13 strikeouts and 11 walks in 33 1/3 innings over the course of five Triple-A starts this year.

The Red Sox will have to remove someone from their 40-man roster to create space for Cook, who signed a minor league deal in January. They could create space by moving an injured player such as Carl Crawford to the 60-day disabled list.

Red Sox Do Not Recall Aaron Cook

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The Red Sox did not call up right-hander Aaron Cook by 12:01pm ET tonight, thus activating the opt-out clause in his contract according to WEEI.com's Alex Speier. Cook has 24 hours to exercise the opt-out, then the team would have 48 hours to respond by calling him up or trading him.

Speier reports that the Red Sox will likely work out an agreement with the 33-year-old to keep him on the Major League roster, but there is no formal agreement in place at this time. Boston sent Lars Anderson to Triple-A after Tuesday's game, creating an open 25-man roster spot. The Red Sox would need to clear a 40-man roster for Cook, however.

The long-time Rockie has pitched to a 1.89 ERA with 13 strikeouts and 11 walks in 33 1/3 innings across five Triple-A starts. He signed a minor league deal with the Red Sox back in January. Manager Bobby Valentine had previous told reporters that if the team does add Cook to the roster, he will work out of the bullpen.

Quick Hits: Abreu, Cespedes, Young, Phillies, Cook

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Former first overall draft pick Tim Beckham has been suspended for 50 games, MLB announced. The shortstop, who had reached Triple-A in the Rays' system, is in violation of MLB's drug policy for the second time. "I take full responsibility for my actions and I will use this experience to refocus my commitment to baseball," he said in a statement released by the team. Here are more links from around the league…

  • Bobby Abreu could make sense for the Orioles, opines Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (on Twitter). Nick Johnson remains hitless on the season and Nolan Reimold recently left the team to have numbness and tingling in his fingers examined.
  • An arbitration claim for breach of contract has been filed against Yoenis Cespedes of the Athletics reports Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes. Edgar Mercedes, who helped represent Cespedes during his free agency, is owed 17% of the outfielder's earnings but has not yet been paid.
  • It's encouraging that MLB suspended Tigers outfielder Delmon Young following last week's incident in New York City, Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports writes. Young's actions will cost him millions, Morosi explains. Before the incident I suggested a multiyear deal was within reach for Young if he had a strong season. It's definitely harder to imagine any team making a multiyear commitment today.
  • The Phillies announced that they selected the contract of right-hander Brian Sanches from Lehigh Valley. Sanches takes the place of David Herndon on the team’s active roster.
  • One agent suggested to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com that the Yankees might have interest in Aaron Cook if the Red Sox don’t make room for the right-hander on their roster by today (Twitter link). Cook can opt out of his deal with Boston if he’s not added to the roster today.
  • There haven’t been recent talks between Mike Napoli and the Rangers or Miguel Montero and the Diamondbacks, Heyman tweets. Montero is looking for a four-year deal in the $52MM range and Napoli seeks more than that. Heyman suggests Napoli is more likely than Montero to sign an extension.

Mike Axisa contributed to this post.

AL East Notes: Yankees, Blue Jays, Colon, Red Sox

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The AL East went 4-1 today as every team in the division won except for the Red Sox.  News and notes out of the division..

Quick Hits: Inge, Brewers, Dodgers, Red Sox, Angels

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Sunday afternoon linkage..

  • Brandon Inge clears waivers at 1pm CST and the A's are the frontrunner to sign him, a source tells Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter).
  • The Brewers are tenth in payroll this season, but that won't be the case for the club every year, owner Mark Attanasio told Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.  Rosenthal also spoke to GM Doug Melvin, who sounded skittish about doling out five- and six-year deals as a small-market club.
  • Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times wonders if the Red Sox's Carl Crawford could be a fit with the Dodgers.  If Boston were willing to pay off part of his $142MM contract and accepted some decent pitching in return, he believes there could be a match between the two teams.
  • More from Shaikin, who writes that the Angels could opt-out of their stadium deal in 2016 and potentially move right down the street from the Dodgers.  The Dodgers could not challenge such a move on the grounds of traditional territorial rights like the Giants are blocking the A's from moving to San Jose.
  • For Japanese imports such as Hiroki Kuroda and Yu Darvish, the major leagues represent a significant change, writes Jeff Bradley of the Star-Ledger.

Quick Hits: Young, Cook, Dodgers, Cashman, Beltran

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It was on this day in 1956 that Frank Robinson hit his first Major League home run, en route to 586 career homers and a legacy as one of baseball's all-time greats.  Today, the Orioles are honoring Robinson with a statue at Camden Yards that will be unveiled before tonight's game with the A's.

Some notes from around the Majors…

  • The Reds have made it a priority to establish a strong bond with their fans — and hopefully increase attendance — by retaining popular players like Joey Votto, Jay Bruce and Brandon Phillips, explains Tyler Kepner of the New York Times.
  • Former Expos/Nationals closer Chad Cordero told reporters, including Bill Ladson of MLB.com, that he'd like to make a comeback next season (Twitter link).
  • Delmon Young could be activated from the Tigers' restricted list by Tuesday or possibly even Monday night depending on the outcome of his evaluation by a counselor on Monday, Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski told reporters, including Chris Iott of MLive.com.  If Young is judged to require treatment for anger management and/or alcohol abuse, however, he would be sidelined for an indeterminate amount of time.
  • Bobby Valentine told reporters (including WEEI.com's Rob Bradford) that the Red Sox are considering using Aaron Cook as a reliever.  Cook can opt out of his contract if he is not called up to Boston's Major League roster by May 1 and the Sox have no clear spot for Cook in the rotation.  Cook has made just one relief appearance in the last eight seasons but recently said he's open to the idea.
  • There's no language in Cook's contract that would preclude a trade, notes Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal, although he adds there's no reason to think the Red Sox would want to do that (via Twitter).
  • The sale of the Dodgers to the Magic Johnson/Stan Kasten/Mark Walter ownership group is expected to be closed by Monday, reports Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times.
  • "This is a massive decision gone wrong right now," Yankees GM Brian Cashman told ESPN New York's Wallace Matthews in regards to the Michael Pineda/Jesus Montero deal and Pineda's subsequent season-ending shoulder injury.  "So all scrutiny is fair….Our fans are right to be upset about this. I'm devastated by it," Cashman said.
  • Besides the Cardinals, Carlos Beltran said the Indians pursued him the hardest in the offseason, reports FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal (via Twitter).  Beltran said he ultimately chose to sign with St. Louis because he wanted to play for the World Series champions and remain in the National League.
  • The Brewers have transferred Chris Narveson to the 60-day DL and called up reliever Vinnie Chulk to take Narveson's spot on the 40-man roster, the team announced via Twitter.  Mike McClendon was optioned to Triple-A in another corresponding move.  Narveson will undergo shoulder surgery on Tuesday that will sideline him for the rest of the 2012 season.

MLBTR's Dan Mennella contributed to this post.

Rosenthal On Dodgers, O’Malley, Cook, Angels

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Here's the latest pair of video news updates from Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports…

  • Even once their new ownership group takes over, the Dodgers "might not be as active at the trade deadline as a lot of people think."  While the team will now have the financial resources to absorb a big contract, the Dodgers' minor league system isn't very deep and they want to keep their few quality prospects. 
  • Peter O'Malley is "making a strong push" to buy the Padres and wants to have a deal arranged by the All-Star break.
  • The Nationals would've preferred to give Bryce Harper more minor league seasoning but their hand was forced due to their lack of production in left field, plus Ryan Zimmerman and Michael Morse going on the DL.
  • The Red Sox "aren't optimistic" they can convince Aaron Cook to stay put, as Cook is eager to pitch in the majors again.  The veteran right-hander can opt out of his contract on May 1 if he isn't called up to the Red Sox Major League roster before that date.  With Daniel Bard and Felix Doubront pitching well, Boston doesn't have a spot in the rotation for Cook unless, as Rosenthal notes, the club "does something" with Clay Buchholz.
  • Bobby Abreu is only the latest high-priced member of the Angels to have his contract eaten by the team under Arte Moreno's ownership.  The Halos have also let go of Kevin Appier, Scott Kazmir, Gary Matthews Jr. and Justin Speier in recent years, and those four plus Abreu amounted to around $60MM in dead money.  This doesn't mean that the Angels will release Vernon Wells, however, as Wells' contract alone would cost the team more than those five players combined; counting this year, Wells is set to earn $63MM through the 2014 season.
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