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Draft Notes: Judge, Yankees, Bryant, Dodgers

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Here’s a look at today’s draft news..

  • Yankees first-round pick Aaron Judge says that he’s “real confident” that he’ll be signing soon with the Bombers, tweets Bryan Hoch of MLB.com.  The Fresno State outfielder is known for jaw-dropping batting practice displays according to Baseball America and got to show off a bit as he took BP with the club today.  Judge was one of three late first-round picks for the Yankees along with Eric Jagielo and Ian Clarkin.
  • Jim Callis of Baseball America only sees two draftees this year becoming the top prospect in their respective organizations.  Third baseman/outfielder Kris Bryant had the best power in this year’s draft and even though it’s an extremely close call, Callis ranks him ahead of shortstop Javier Baez and outfielders Albert Almora and Jorge Soler in the Cubs system.  He also puts righthander Jonathan Gray over outfielder David Dahl in the Rockies system.
  • The Dodgers’ prospects are making an impact in the big leagues and there are even more on the way, writes MLB.com’s Austin Laymance.

July 2 International Prospect Update

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It's been a busy time for the minds at Baseball America recently with the MLB Draft taking place last week, but BA's Ben Badler has a different focus in his most recent piece, profiling more of the top names available in this year's class of July 2 international prospects. Here's a look at some of the highlights, though Badler's actual piece offers far more depth and information, as well as scouting videos…

  • The Red Sox have shown heavy interest in left-handed hitting Venezuelan outfielder Freddy Rodriguez, who is training at Carlos Guillen's baseball academy. Rodriguez runs the 60-yard dash in 6.8 seconds and some scouts think he projects well enough to play center field.
  • The Nationals have shown strong interest in Dominican third baseman Anderson Franco, although he will have to wait until Aug. 15 to sign due to the fact that he's not yet 16 years of age. The switch-hitter has big raw power and a strong throwing arm.
  • Dominican shortstop Lucas Tirado has become one of the Dodgers' main targets. The 16-year-old played in the Under Armour All-American game at Wrigley Field last season and figures to be in line one of the summer's biggest bonuses. Badler notes that he has a nice left-handed swing, but his other tools are questionable.
  • The Brewers are very intrigued by Dominican outfielder Nicolas Pierre, who many project to be able to stay in center field. Badler notes that he doesn't have one standout tool but is solid across the board.
  • Badler also profiles shortstop Carlos Hiciano and right-hander Mayky Perez, though he doesn't list specific suitors for any of those highly regarded talents.

NL West Notes: Gonzalez, Dodgers, Padres

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Here's a look at the latest out of the National League West..

  • Cuban right-hander Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez, who has drawn the attention of the Dodgers, has been declared a free agent and will have a showcase in Tijuana, Mexico on June 20th, a source tells Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com (via Twitter).  The Cubs, Rangers, Twins and Red Sox have also been linked to the promising hurler.
  • Yasiel Puig is the talk of the baseball world and his Arizona League manager had some very high praise for him, writes Scott Miller of CBSSports.com.  "I said, 'He's [reigning NFL MVP] Adrian Peterson.' That's how much God-given ability this guy has," Martin said. "That's the comparison I had to give. He's Adrian Peterson."
  • On the heels of the 2013 draft, MLB.com's Corey Brock took a peek into the Padres' war room.  With the No. 13 overall pick in the draft, San Diego tapped Mississippi State outfielder Hunter Renfroe.

Cafardo On Lowe, Blue Jays, Ross, Pirates, Norris

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A few notes from Nick Cafardo's latest column in the Boston Globe:

  • Free agent Derek Lowe seems to have retired, telling Cafardo that he asked agent Scott Boras not to look for opportunties for him. Lowe pitched in nine games for the Rangers this year before being released in late May.
  • The Blue Jays' situation is "a nightmare," Cafardo says, noting that some in the organization don't know whether GM Alex Anthopoulos will stick with the team he has. Toronto is 27-35 after bringing in R.A. Dickey, Jose Reyes, Josh Johnson, Mark Buehrle and others last offseason.
  • Catcher David Ross says the Rays, Yankees and Rangers pursued him, and the Pirates would have been interested in him if they hadn't signed Russell Martin instead. Ross signed a two-year, $6.2MM contract with the Red Sox in the offseason.
  • The Pirates, whose rotation depth has been damaged by injuries to Wandy Rodriguez, Jeanmar Gomez, James McDonald, Jeff Karstens, Kyle McPherson and Phil Irwin, "would now have to be interested in" Astros pitcher Bud Norris, Cafardo says. Cafardo also notes that talent evaluators wonder how Norris, a competitive player currently pitching for a last-place team, will do if placed on a competitive team.
  • It's unclear what the Tigers would do if they lost Jhonny Peralta to a suspension. Peralta has been connected to the Biogenesis scandal, and his production at shortstop would be tough to replace internally or in the trade market, Cafardo notes.
  • The Dodgers have already received calls about Andre Ethier's trade availability, Cafardo says.

Rosenthal On Roenicke, Freese, Ethier, Mets

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Here are some notes from a new video by FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal …

  • Despite the Brewers' 23-37 record, manager Ron Roenicke does not appear to be in immediate danger, Rosenthal says. The Brewers have struggled with injuries, and Rosenthal suggests that Brewers principal owner Mark Attanasio and GM Doug Melvin don't like firing managers during the season.
  • Second baseman Matt Carpenter of the Cardinals is emerging as a top hitter for the Cardinals, who have another second baseman, Kolten Wong, waiting in the wings. That leads Rosenthal to wonder about the possiblity that the Cardinals could deal David Freese in the offseason and move Carpenter to third. Freese will make $3.15MM this season, and will almost certainly receive a raise in arbitration in the offseason.
  • The Mets would make sense as a destination for Andre Ethier of the Dodgers, Rosenthal says. With Johan Santana, Jason Bay and Frank Francisco coming off the books, the Mets could have the financial flexibility to deal for Ethier and a chunk of the four years and $71.5MM that will be left on his contract by the time this offseason rolls around.

Stark On Miguel Cabrera, Kershaw, Nolasco, Stanton

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Jayson Stark's latest Rumblings & Grumblings column for ESPN came out yesterday; here are some highlights.

  • There have been enough informal conversations between Miguel Cabrera and the Tigers on a contract extension that both sides expect a deal to get done, a friend of the player tells Stark.  The tricky part is that a new deal would begin with the 2016 season, at which point Cabrera will be 33.  It seems likely that Cabrera would need an average annual value in the $30MM range, but Stark's sources picture anywhere from three to five additional years.
  • Some of Stark's sources don't consider Yankees second baseman and #1 2014 free agent Robinson Cano the type of player to build a team around.  One exec, though, told Stark, "I can't imagine him leaving."
  • Stark hears Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw seeks a ten-year deal, which would be the first for a pitcher since Wayne Garland signed a ten-year, $2.3MM deal in 1977 (those were different times).  One exec can't possibly see Kershaw leaving L.A., and could picture $200-210MM over seven years.  Even that would be well beyond C.C. Sabathia's record seven-year, $161MM deal, which was signed on the open market with the Yankees after the '08 season and included an opt-out clause.  I feel that Kershaw's agents at Excel Sports Management have to score an opt-out in any new deal, especially with the Dodgers giving them to Zack Greinke and Hyun-Jin Ryu.
  • One exec suggests the Angels offer Mike Trout the Buster Posey deal, which amounted to eight years and $159MM in new money.  Stark says "folks around the game" do not see Trout signing, however.
  • The Orioles and Yankees are "leading the parade of teams that already have interest" in Miami's Ricky Nolasco.  The 30-year-old is easily the highest-paid Marlin, and should have about $7.7MM remaining on his contract at the trade deadline.  Nolasco has a 3.61 ERA in 82 1/3 innings, and sports his best strikeout rate since 2010.
  • Would anyone sign Alex Rodriguez, if the Yankees end up releasing him?  "No chance," says one executive.
  • The Marlins have shown no interest in dealing right fielder Giancarlo Stanton midseason, say clubs that have inquired, though Stark thinks Marcell Ozuna's emergence could push them toward trading Stanton this winter.  Stanton should return from a hamstring injury next week.  

Dodgers To Sign Tom Windle

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The Dodgers have agreed to terms with second-round pick Tom Windle, and the left-handed pitcher will sign for the slot value of $986,500, according to Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN (Twitter links). Windle is advised by SFX.

Windle was selected 56th overall out of the University of Minnesota. He ranked No. 47 on Baseball America's Top 500 list, No. 60 on Keith Law's Top 100 and No. 32 on Jonathan Mayo's Top 100. Windle's three-pitch mix features a fastball in the 93-94 mph range as well as a slider and a changeup.

Draft Links: Day One Winners, Appel, Dodgers, M’s

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Yesterday was the first day of Major League Baseball's amateur draft, and the Astros kicked things off by selecting Houston native Mark Appel with the No. 1 overall pick. MLBTR covered the draft extensively last night; Zach Links kept track of the first round results as well as the results from the first competitive balance round, and I hosted a draft chat that ran for nearly four hours, covering the entirety of the first round. Here's more on the first day of the draft…

  • ESPN's Keith Law (Insider required and recommended for Law's draft work) lists the Rays' selection of Ryne Stanek at No. 29 atop his list of picks he "loves" from yesterday's selections. He also lists his top 10 remaining talents, headlined by high school right-hander Kyle Serrano.
  • Appel gives the Astros a "native son to build the organization around," writes Brian T. Smith of the Houston Chronicle. Appel told Smith that being selected by the Astros was "incredibly special" and "very exciting." He recalls the opening of Minute Maid Park as a child in 2000, and adds that most of his family still lives in Houston. GM Jeff Luhnow said Appel won't be rushed to the Majors, and Smith adds that late 2014 or early 2015 are realistic goals for his MLB debut.
  • Dodgers vice president of scouting Logan White told reporters, including MLB.com's Ken Gurnick, that the team views top picks Chris Anderson (Jacksonville University) and Tom Windle (University of Minnesota) as starters (Twitter link). The pair will not be rushed to the Majors as relievers like Paco Rodriguez was in 2012.
  • ESPN's Jerry Crasnick looks at some of the stories from day one of the draft, including the friendly rivalries between Georgia outfielders Clint Frazier and Austin Meadows and California infielders Dominic Smith and J.P. Crawford. "[Crawford is] just a great guy and a great person," Smith told Crasnick. "We're pretty tight. He's like my baseball brother."
  • Mariners scouting director Tom McNamara says that he doesn't prefer any specific type of player, but Dave Cameron of the U.S.S. Mariner points out that he leans toward polished college players. In four of his five drafts as scouting director McNamara has chosen Dustin Ackley, Danny Hultzen, Mike Zunino and now D.J. Peterson — all of whom were regarded as "safe bets."

Dodgers Interested In Cuban Right-Hander Gonzalez

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10:24pm: The Rangers, Red Sox, and Cubs are also interested in Gonzalez, a source tells Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com (via Twitter).  As it stands, there are seven teams in total that are in on the right-hander.

1:48pm: The Dodgers are one of the teams interested in Cuban right-hander Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez, Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times reports.  Gonzalez, who formerly pitched for Cuba's national team, defected earlier this year and is now living in Mexico.  At age 26, he is old enough to be signed without his salary counting towards a team's international spending cap.

Gonzalez "is said to be 6-foot-3 with a fastball in the 90s, a changeup, forkball and curveball" and at least one Major League scout thinks the righty could reach the Majors this season.  Gonzalez hasn't pitched much in Cuba over the last two seasons as he was suspended by the country's top league for a previous attempt to escape.

Gonzalez is expected to be declared eligible by MLB this week and will become a free agent upon clearance by the U.S. Treasury Department.  A showcase for scouts is tentatively scheduled for around June 20, a source tells Hernandez.

Mets Notes: Ethier, Davis, Murphy, Feliciano

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Acquiring Andre Ethier "would be a solid gamble" for the Mets, Metsblog.com's Matthew Cerrone opines.  Ethier could be forced out of the Dodgers outfield by Yasiel Puig and Scott Van Slyke, making him expendable at a discount price since it is believed the Dodgers would have to absorb at least half of the roughly $80MM remaining on Ethier's contract.  The Mets would be paying around $10MM per season to a player Cerrone sees as "a nice compliment to Lucas Duda in left field," but it would be the first step in the Mets upgrading their outfield now and this winter in the free agent market.

Here's some more on the Amazins from ESPN New York's Adam Rubin, who covered a number of topics during a live chat with readers today…

  • Ike Davis could be a trade candidate if the Mets thought he wouldn't be worth his growing salary over his arbitration years.  A Rubin source on another team projects Davis to earn $6.1MM in his second year of arbitration eligibility this winter, "assuming his production normalizes somewhat the rest of the way."  This could be a big if, as Davis has managed only a .509 OPS through 201 PA this season.  Davis signed a one-year, $3.125MM deal last winter in his first taste of arb-eligibility.
  • Rubin isn't sure if the Mets see Daniel Murphy as an extension candidate since "a New York team doesn't normally have to be consumed with locking up a player's arbitration years."  Murphy signed a one-year, $2.925MM deal last winter and is arbitration-eligible for the second time this winter.  The second baseman has been a bright spot for the Mets this season, hitting .290/.323/.439 and tying for the NL lead with 19 doubles. 
  • Pedro Feliciano has been on the minor league disabled list since May 9 with a "very serious" type of food poisoning that "can affect the person off and on for years."  The southpaw hasn't pitched in the Majors since 2010 after suffering a variety of arm injuries as a member of the Yankees in 2011-12.  Feliciano signed a minor league deal with the Mets in January.
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