Quick Hits: Branyan, Bedard, Vazquez, Turner
On this date in 1999, the Twins traded Scott Downs and Rick Aguilera to the Cubs for Kyle Lohse and Jason Ryan. Aguilera and Ryan ended their careers years ago, but Downs has a 0.84 ERA in 10 2/3 innings for the Angels this year while Lohse owns a 2.17 ERA in 66 1/3 innings for the Cardinals.
Here are Saturday's links, as Cliff Lee prepares to pitch against his former Rangers' teammates…
- Since joining the Red Sox, the club has learned that Adrian Gonzalez is a great mentor for their young Latin players, writes Peter Gammons of MLB.com.
- As Matt Eddy of Baseball America (via Twitter) points out, the Diamondbacks' release of Russell Branyan marks the end of his time with his tenth different club. He's had multiple stops in the same place as well as the Indians had and traded him four different times while the Brewers and the Mariners each had him twice.
- In today's Insider-only blog post, ESPN's Buster Olney says that any team interested in trading for Erik Bedard would have to convince themselves that he could find the same comfort zone on their team that he has with the Mariners.
- Seattle is "almost certainly in position to ask for a top prospect" for Bedard according to Olney, who has a 3.94 ERA in eight starts this year but remains an injury risk given all his shoulder trouble.
- Marlins manager Edwin Rodriguez indicated that Javier Vazquez is not pitching for his job today, writes Manny Navarro of The Miami Herald. Vazquez has a 7.55 ERA with more walks (24) than strikeouts (20) in 39 1/3 innings across eight starts this year, in part because his fastball velocity has disappeared.
- Joel Sherman of The New York Post points out that the Yankees once drafted Mets' infielder Justin Turner, but he turned down a $200K offer as 29th round pick in 2005 and returned to school for his senior season. Turner signed with the Reds for $50K as a seventh round pick in 2006, then was traded to the Orioles in the Ryan Freel–Ramon Hernandez swap and was later claimed off waivers by the Mets. He went 3-for-4 with an RBI against the Yanks last night.
Minors Notes: Jennings, Transactions, Red Sox
The Phillies' Domonic Brown became the latest prospect to get the call up to the big leagues today (although he debuted in 2010), but some blue-chippers remain down on the farm. Here's a note about one of them, and some other interesting items …
- Rays manager Joe Maddon said Desmond Jennings wasn't called up after Dan Johnson was designated for assignment because Tampa wants the speedy outfielder to play every day, tweets Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times. Of course, Maddon was implying that the decision was not related to Jennings' service time.
- The Phillies' signing of 17-year-old Australian catcher Liam Bedford was among last week's notable minors transactions, compiled by Matt Eddy of Baseball America. Another noteworthy move: The Angels have finally signed UC Irvine catcher Francis Larson, their 22nd-round pick in last year's draft.
- The Red Sox have a unique sales pitch for minor league free agents, writes Alex Speier of WEEI.com. Boston has a recent track record of awarding promotions to players like Nick Green and Darnell McDonald, which is appealing to guys like Drew Sutton who are looking to latch onto organizations that will give them a legitimate shot of playing in the Majors.
Red Sox Sign Kevin Millwood
The Red Sox and Kevin Millwood have finalized a minor league deal, Alex Speier of WEEI confirmed (on Twitter). Yahoo's Tim Brown first reported the agreement (on Twitter).
Millwood, 36, signed a minor league deal with the Yankees earlier this year but opted out of his contract after posting a 4.50 ERA through three minor league starts. Millwood's numbers appeared to be good through his first two starts, but scouts said otherwise, citing that his fastball was sitting around just 85mph.
Over the past few days, we've heard that the Cubs, Red Sox, and possibly the Angels have all shown interest in Millwood. Boston's rotation depth has taken a hit with injuries to both John Lackey and Daisuke Matsuzaka, so the Red Sox were a logical destination for the 14-year Major League veteran.
Red Sox Designate Daniel Nava For Assignment
The Red Sox designated outfielder Daniel Nava for assignment to create 40-man roster space for Drew Sutton, according to Alex Speier of WEEI.com (Twitter link). The Red Sox created room on the active roster for Sutton by optioning Jose Iglesias to the minor leagues.
Nava, 28, has a .192/.321/.262 line in 156 plate appearances at Triple-A this year. In 2010 he was a major contributor in Pawtucket, hitting .289/.372/.458 and earning a promotion to Boston. He made an impression early, hitting a grand slam on the first MLB pitch he saw and posting a .242/.351/.360 line in 188 plate appearances for the Red Sox.
Here's a more detailed look at Nava's path to the Major Leagues.
Red Sox Notes: Millwood, Morales, Okajima
The Red Sox made a pair of moves yesterday and won again, boosting their record to a season-best 23-20. Here’s the latest on Boston as they prepare to take on the Cubs…
- If recent signing Kevin Millwood reaches the Major Leagues, he’ll earn a pro-rated portion of $500K, plus incentives, according to Alex Speier of WEEI.com. In other words, he's guaranteed slightly more than the MLB minimum.
- If the Rockies had sent Franklin Morales to the Pirates instead of the Red Sox, Colorado would have asked for a prospect rather than former Rockie Joe Beimel, according to Troy Renck of the Denver Post (on Twitter).
- The Red Sox designated Hideki Okajima for assignment to create roster space for Morales, but the Japanese left-hander says re-signing in Boston this offseason was not a mistake, according to Speier.
Red Sox Acquire Franklin Morales
The Red Sox have acquired Rockies left-hander Franklin Morales for a player to be named later or cash considerations, according to Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald (via Twitter). In order to make room for Morales, Hideki Okajima has been designated for assignment by the BoSox.
Boston has until November to either agree on a player in the Morales trade or pay a nominal amount of money to the Rockies, tweets Buster Olney of ESPN.
Morales was ranked as the eighth-best prospect in baseball by Baseball America prior to the 2008 season. The left-hander throws the ball extremely hard as evidenced by his 94.4 mph fastball last year. Across parts of five big league seasons, he owns a 4.83 ERA with 7.1 K/9 and 5.1 BB/9.
The 25-year-old is out of options and the Rockies have reportedly been concerned about losing him to waivers. Yesterday we learned that the Rockies were measuring trade interest in Morales as well as fellow fireballer Felipe Paulino.
Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe (via Twitter) first reported that the two sides were close to an agreement while Troy Renck of The Denver Post (via Twitter) reported that a deal was completed.
Red Sox Notes: Rodriguez, Millwood
A pair of items on the Red Sox as they take on the Tigers at home..
- Scouts around the league tell Danny Knobler of CBS Sports that the Red Sox need to find another catcher. Could Ivan Rodriguez be the solution in Boston? "That's a good park to hit in," Rodriguez told Knobler. "I've always hit well there." The 39-year-old says he wants to play two or three more seasons.
- The BoSox are still talking with Kevin Millwood, but nothing is happening there yet, a source tells Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.com (via Twitter). Today we learned that the Cubs are interested in the veteran right-hander.
AL East Notes: Orioles, Martinez, Lowe, Posada
Hector Noesi got his first MLB win in unconventional fashion yesterday, pitching in and out of trouble through four innings of scoreless relief against the Orioles. Here’s the latest on the Yankees, the O’s and their division rivals after a bizarre game in Baltimore…
- Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail and manager Buck Showalter are likely weighing a variety of options after the extra-inning game and Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun explains them.
- John Tomase of the Boston Herald argues that letting Victor Martinez leave as a free agent last season was the right decision for Boston. Though the Red Sox will likely miss the backstop this year, they’ll also miss his decline years.
- The Red Sox are in ‘hang-in’ mode with Tim Wakefield and Alfredo Aceves starting and John Lackey and Daisuke Matsuzaka on the disabled list, according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. The Red Sox have inquired on Kevin Millwood and Cafardo suggests we should keep an eye on Derek Lowe, though he appears unavailable.
- Though Jorge Posada and Derek Jeter helped the Yankees win five championships, keeping the veterans in pinstripes when they’re no longer elite players has its consequences, in the opinion of Les Carpenter of Yahoo Sports. “The price of relative stability, of naming cornerstones and leaving them in place,” Carpenter writes, “is the inability to get rid of them.”
Gammons On Millwood, Catchers, Posada
MLB Network's Peter Gammons appeared on WEEI's Mut & Merloni show today, and Jerry Spar has the transcript. A few highlights:
- The Red Sox called on Kevin Millwood to see if he will go to Triple-A Pawtucket and pitch, according to Gammons (on Twitter). With John Lackey and Daisuke Matsuzaka on the DL, the Red Sox are short on starting pitching.
- Gammons does not consider Pedro Martinez a likely option. In a May interview, Pedro seemed to be leaning toward retirement. There's not much else on the free agent market – Jeremy Bonderman and Jarrod Washburn are unsigned, but it's not clear if they're looking to get back into the game or would consider the East Coast.
- "Raise your son to be a catcher," advises Gammons, as many teams around baseball in addition to the Red Sox are getting no production at the position. The average American League catcher is hitting .224/.294/.361 this year, a similar line to the one Ivan Rodriguez had in 2010.
- If Jorge Posada doesn't start hitting, Gammons can see the Yankees releasing him and calling up Jesus Montero, who is hitting .331/.363/.433 at Triple-A. In that case Gammons believes Posada would remain in the AL East, signing with the Orioles. Buck Showalter's final season managing the Yankees coincided with Posada's rookie year.
- Speaking of the Orioles, Mark Teixeira spoke to the Baltimore Sun's Luke Broadwater about the team's interest back in '08: "Of the five offers I received, the Orioles were by far the lowest offer and I don't know if they were ever that serious about signing me. We had one meeting and that was it. I'm not sure if they were ever very interested." Digging through the MLBTR archives, I think the Orioles topped out at seven years, $140MM. Teixeira added that he expects to finish his career as a Yankee.
Red Sox Notes: Matsuzaka, Lackey, Martinez
On this date nine years ago, Red Sox ace Pedro Martinez disposed of the Mariners in the first inning by striking out the side on nine pitches. Today, the outlook isn't nearly as rosy for Boston, which is above .500 for the first time this year. Here's the latest:
- The Red Sox announced that Daisuke Matsuzaka experienced elbow tightness during his last start. An MRI confirmed that the right-hander appears to have a sprained ulnar collateral ligament and strain to his common flexor mass. The Red Sox will re-examine him in two weeks.
- Boston's other injured starter, John Lackey, received a cortisone shot in his right pitching elbow, according to Sean McAdam of CSNNE.com (on Twitter).
- Tonight, Victor Martinez returns to Fenway Park for the first time this season. Back in March, Alex Speier of WEEI.com explained that the Red Sox didn't offer V-Mart more than $42MM in guaranteed money, but believed he would have returned if they had matched the Tigers' $50MM offer.
- Peter Gammons weighed in on all things Red Sox earlier today.