Quick Hits: Blue Jays, International Signings, Astros
A few items of note as the White Sox pick up a rare "balk-off" win over Aaron Crow and the Royals….
- The Blue Jays have signed Nicaraguan right-hander Osman Gutierrez, reports Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com. Terms of the deal were not announced. Gutierrez is only 16 years old but stands 6'4", weighs 200 pounds and has a "power arm."
- In a mailbag piece, Jim Callis of Baseball America questions the double standard between international signings and draft picks, wondering "why it's OK for the Rangers to give $5 million to Nomar Romaza and $3.5 million to Ronald Guzman, both Dominican outfielders, yet it's a capital offense for any club to exceed MLB's ridiculously low bonus recommendations for the draft." Callis also discusses the history of draft picks making quick debuts in the Majors and the progress of Angels prospect Randal Grichuk, who was taken 24th overall in the 2009 draft — one pick ahead of Mike Trout.
- The Astros' signings of Luis Reynoso and Arturo Michelena are the latest examples of the team's renewed focus on Latin American scouting, writes Stephen Goff of the Houston Examiner.
Astros Sign Luis Reynoso
The Astros have signed Dominican shortstop Luis Reynoso, reports Ben Badler of Baseball America. The 16-year-old received a $700K signing bonus.
Badler's subscriber-only scouting report says Reynoso "has an athletic, projectable body and combines solid tools with instincts and feel on both sides of the ball." He's a contact-oriented hitter with speed from the right side, and it's expected that he'll be able to man the middle infield long-term.
Quick Hits: Mariners, Rangers, Astros, Hendry
Some Quick Hits for Saturday night..
- The Mariners are looking for bullpen help in addition to bats and they've shown interest in what the Padres have, sources tell Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (via Twitter). However, the M's aren't likely to overpay for a rental and they'd much prefer players under who are under control for '12 (also via Twitter).
- The Rangers appear to be close to another international signing, writes Enrique Rojas for ESPNDallas.com. The club is nearing a deal with Dominican pitcher Pedro Payano for $500-600K.
- A few inexpensive international signings went down today. The Astros signed Venezuelan shortstop Arturo Michelena for $220K according to Ben Badler of Baseball America. The Braves signed Iosif Bernal, a Panamanian outfielder, for a $230K bonus and the Indians inked Dominican outfielder Francisco Miguel for $200K, writes Badler. The Cardinals signed Venezuelan catcher Jose Godoy for $200K, says Badler.
- Cubs GM Jim Hendry said that he's not concerned about what other people have to say about his job security in an interview on ESPN1000.
Minor Moves: Torra, Storey
A couple of minor league transactions to pass along:
- The Rays have acquired right-hander Matt Torra from the Diamondbacks in exchange for cash considerations, according to Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times (via Twitter). Torra, a first-round pick of Arizona in 2005, has a career era of 4.52 in 800 innings in the minors.
- The Astros acquired righty Mickey Storey in a trade with the Athletics on Thursday, according to Brian McTaggart of MLB.com (via Twitter). Storey's minors numbers are solid: 3.04 ERA, 9.3 K/9, 2.5 BB/9 in 195 2/3 innings.
Quick Hits: Wandy, Venezuela, Trade Deadline
Here are some loose items of note as Jair Jurrjens works on a gem against the Orioles …
- The Astros face a tough decision in whether to trade Wandy Rodriguez, writes Stephen Goff of the Houston Examiner. Rodriguez's trade stock is at an all-time high, according to Goff, but it's unclear of how the Astros' incoming owner, Jim Crane, will want to proceed with the current roster. If an option for 2014 vests, the balance of Rodriguez's current deal would end up being $44.5MM.
- There is a proposal for a new law in Venezuela that would alter MLB teams' access to the country's players, according to Melissa Segura of Sports Illustrated (via Twitter). Venezuela, of course, is a hotbed for Major League talent, having produced Miguel Cabrera, Victor Martinez, Francisco Rodriguez and many, many others.
- Tom Singer of MLB.com provides a scene-setter for what promises to be an interesting month leading up to the non-waiver trade deadline. There are plenty of trade candidates this year, according to Singer, such as Heath Bell, but there are few, if any, no-doubt types, as there was a year ago in Roy Oswalt, Lance Berkman, Cliff Lee and Dan Haren.
Olney On Deadline Plans For NL Teams
The trade market is still developing at this point in the season, but it’s starting to take shape. Buster Olney outlines the plans for National League teams in a highly recommended insider-only piece at ESPN.com. Here are the details:
- The Dodgers can’t make long-term investments in young stars like Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier and Clayton Kershaw because of their uncertain financial status. The Los Angeles front office is now gathering information about some of their trade candidates and taking calls on some players. No teams have called on Jamey Carroll yet, though the Rockies are interested.
- James Loney and Casey Blake have next to no trade value, as Olney explains.
- No team has called about Jose Reyes, who won’t be traded for anything less than a top prospect and a solid secondary prospect.
- Rival executives expect the Phillies to acquire proven veterans this summer.
- Though the Astros will listen to offers on Hunter Pence and Wandy Rodriguez, they will be asking a lot for them.
- The Braves are checking out available hitters. Some rival executives have speculated on the possibility that the Braves will consider trading Jair Jurrjens, whose stock has never been higher.
- Some rival executives think B.J. Upton will be a borderline non-tender candidate this offseason. Upton will earn a raise from $4.825MM next year and he currently has a .223/.308/.396 line with 20 steals. I can’t envision the Rays non-tendering Upton, who would presumably have trade value if Tampa made him available.
- The Padres have told teams that they’re ready to take offers for Heath Bell and Mike Adams. Rival clubs believe Adams will be harder to obtain than Ryan Ludwick.
- The Rockies will wait a few weeks before deciding whether to buy or sell.
- The Giants are looking for catching help and Ramon Hernandez is a possible upgrade, as I explained earlier in the week.
- The Reds are concerned about starting pitching and will consider making moves for upgrades at left field or shortstop. Though rival teams don’t expect Reyes to end up in Cincinnati, GM Walt Jocketty may be aggressive enough to make a deal happen.
- GM Jim Hendry says there won’t be a fire sale, but the Cubs are “open for business,” Olney reports. Jeff Baker and Kerry Wood are “among the most coveted players in the trade market,” since they’re cheap and useful. Rival executives have mixed opinions about Carlos Pena, who is powerful but streaky.
- Wood is near the top of Arizona’s list of targets.
- The 40-39 Pirates will look for modest ways to improve and won’t be selling.
Ryan On Bullpen, Realignment, Astros
Rangers president Nolan Ryan told reporters yesterday that his team’s biggest problem has been inconsistency. Ryan believes the bullpen, a soft spot so far this year, is improving for the Rangers, who lead the AL West with a 43-38 record. Here are more of Ryan’s thoughts from Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle:
- It’s “premature” to say the Rangers will go outside of the organization for bullpen help, since it’s not clear which pitchers are available. The Rangers don’t have anything pending, but Ryan would have interest in the right pitcher. GM Jon Daniels said this week that he remains intent on upgrading the Texas ‘pen.
- Ryan likes the idea of adding the Astros to the AL West, partly because it would mean more games close to home and extra fan involvement. “I think if you had the Astros and Rangers in a pennant race it would stimulate a lot of interest in the state,” Ryan said.
- Jim Crane, who should officially become the owner of the Astros this year, will have to be patient if he wants to build through a strong farm system, Ryan said. “You have to keep putting people in the pipeline because you’re going to have all type of things happen from injuries to mis-evaluations to players not performing,” Ryan said. “There’s a tremendous fallout rate.”
Astros Claim Luis Durango
The Astros announced that they have claimed outfielder Luis Durango from the Padres and optioned him to Triple-A. They transferred right-hander Alberto Arias to the 60-day disabled list to create room on the 40-man roster. The Padres had designated Durango for assignment eight days ago.
Durango appeared in 28 games as a backup center fielder last year, but has yet to appear in a Padres game in 2011. The 25-year-old has a .243/.328/.294 line with 10 stolen bases at Triple-A Tucson as a center and left fielder this year.
Quick Hits: Nationals, Pirates, MacPhail, Astros
Links for Saturday…
- The Nationals plan on having Davey Johnson meet up with the team tomorrow in Chicago before flying to Anaheim with them, reports Adam Kilgore of The Washington Post (Twitter links). ESPN's Buster Olney, meanwhile, notes that Johnson's contract ensures that he'll be the manager for this year only. The two sides will re-evaluate things after the season.
- Tim Britton of The Providence Journal says the Pirates were the big losers in the Jason Bay-Manny Ramirez trade.
- Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun spoke to Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail about his contract, which expires after the season. "I have always taken the position, unlike one of my good friends in the game Jim Riggleman, let's just see how we do," said MacPhail. "Let's get to the end of the year and see how we do and take it from there."
- Richard Justice of The Houston Chronicle reports that the Astros transfer of ownership from Drayton McLane to Jim Crane likely won't happen until mid-July (or later) as MLB focuses its efforts on the Dodgers (Twitter link).
- Joe Strauss of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch addressed the speculation about how Albert Pujols' injury could impact his contract negotiations with the Cardinals after the season.
- McLaren will not be leaving the Nationals, reports Bill Ladson of MLB.com (Twitter links). He will not be bench coach and will instead stay in another capacity.
- The Nats can expect another resignation, this time from acting manager John McLaren, writes Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. McLaren served as bench coach under Jim Riggleman.
- Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports spoke to a source that is doubtful the Giants would move any of their big league pitchers to improve the offense (Twitter link). San Francisco has scored just 261 runs this year, the fewest runs in the game.
- Gordon Wittenmyer of The Chicago Sun-Times says the Cubs front office plans to give the team a few more weeks to see if they can salvage the season before deciding to sell. The front office will meet next week to sort some of this stuff out.
- Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun mentioned that Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail and Reds GM Walt Jocketty have swung trades in the past and spent some time together yesterday before their clubs played. He notes that the two clubs appear to match up well in a potential trade as well.
- Baseball America's Matt Eddy has this week's collection of minor league transactions, which includes a slew of draft pick and undrafted free agent signings.
How Many Sellers Right Now?
Just when you start to count out the Twins and A's, they reel off winning streaks and re-enter the contention picture. Right now, only six teams are at least eight games out of their division or wild card: the Orioles, Royals, Marlins, Cubs, Astros, and Padres.
Some teams may prefer to make trades now, to get an extra month from their acquisition. That means the best of the trade market looks like this, assuming the six non-contenders will listen on these players, their contracts don't prevent deals, and the players are healthy:
- Hitters: J.J. Hardy, Derrek Lee, Mark Reynolds, Luke Scott, Vladimir Guerrero, Melky Cabrera, Jeff Francoeur, Wilson Betemit, Omar Infante, Alfonso Soriano, Kosuke Fukudome, Jeff Baker, Carlos Pena, Reed Johnson, Hunter Pence, Jeff Keppinger, Carlos Lee, Michael Bourn, Clint Barmes, Ryan Ludwick, Brad Hawpe
- Starting pitchers: Jeremy Guthrie, Jeff Francis, Bruce Chen, Kyle Davies, Javier Vazquez, Carlos Zambrano, Ryan Dempster, Doug Davis, Brett Myers, Wandy Rodriguez, Aaron Harang
- Relievers: Jim Johnson, Koji Uehara, Kevin Gregg, Mike Gonzalez, Joakim Soria, Leo Nunez, Randy Choate, John Grabow, Kerry Wood, Chad Qualls, Heath Bell
Cross off the Cubs players with crazy contracts and the Astros and Orioles who may never hit the market, and there's not much out there aside from relievers right now. In theory, the state of the market should improve the return for guys like Ludwick and Francis, at least until more sellers show up.