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Red Sox Notes: Rodriguez, Papelbon, Peavy, Ranaudo

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With yesterday's unfortunate news on reliever Andrew Bailey and extension talks surrounding second bagger Dustin Pedroia, things are getting interesting in Boston as the trade deadline nears. Here's the latest:

  • Brewers reliever Francisco Rodriguez could make sense for the Red Sox, ESPN's Buster Olney opines on Twitter. When MLBTR's Tim Dierkes first listed preliminary relief trade candidates earlier in the year, Rodriguez had yet to appear for the Brewers after signing in mid-April. More recently, however, MLBTR's Steve Adams noted and explored Rodriguez's emergence on the trade market for righty pen pieces.
  • If he is even made available by the Phillies, former Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon shouldn't be considered by Boston, according to Bill Chuck of BaseballAnalytics.org. As Chuck explains, Papelbon's ERA and WHIP are masking significant declines in the velocity and effectiveness of Papelbon's fastball, making his $13MM annual salary over 2014-15 an unwise investment.
  • Boston is sending a scout to the White Sox game today, presumably to take a look at starter Jake Peavy, Olney reports via Twitter. As noted earlier today, Peavy will make his first outing since going on the DL this afternoon in an inter-league matchup against the Braves.
  • If the Sox do look to make a big splash on the trade market, pitcing prospect Anthony Ranaudo is one piece that it could consider moving, write WEEI.com's Alex Speier and Katie Morrison. While Ranaudo's value was down after being shut down last year, he has been overpowering (if inconsistent) at times this year in Double-A. The 23-year-old sports a 2.87 ERA with 9.1 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9. Given the organization's upper-level minor league starting pitching depth, say Speier and Morrison, Ranaudo is a candidate to be dealt.
  • Looking at the overall pitching needs of the Red Sox in light of the loss of Bailey and uncertainty surrounding injured starter Clay Buchholz, Speier says (in another piece) that the team's recent trade history shows that it is unlikely to act rashly. Of course, as Speier's breakdown shows, the failure to shore up the roster has left the team shorthanded at times over the post-season push.
  • Indeed, while the Red Sox may feel pressure to go out and find a replacement for Bailey, the team's management and ownership appear to be in unison in not wanting to mortgage the future to do so, writes Sean McAdam of CSNNE.com. While McAdam notes that the organization could feel pressure to make a post-season drive at all costs, he quotes a source as saying that ownership "trust[s]" and is "on the same page" with the baseball operations team. GM Ben Cherington said that he is determined to attack this season's trade deadline "in a way that makes us better but doesn't alter our long-term course."

Aramis Ramirez Unlikely To Be Dealt Before Deadline

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Brewers third baseman Aramis Ramirez will likely not see game action for the next ten to fourteen days, tweets FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal. According to Rosenthal, this news means that Ramirez will not be dealt before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline. Teams like the Yankees and Red Sox had been rumored to be looking at the slugging veteran.

Ramirez is still a possible post-deadline trade chip, Rosenthal notes. Indeed, Ramirez's contract calls for him to make a robust $16MM next year, which is something of a double-edged sword. While the added year of control is attractive, the high price is prohibitive for many teams and significant for all. As a result, it is not difficult to see Ramirez clearing waivers or being claimed by a contender after the deadline. (Remember, after July 31, teams must pass players through revocable waivers before they can be dealt. Since a team can always change its mind if a player is claimed, most players show up on the wire at some point after the deadline. Big-name, big-money players are no exception. Last year, Joe Mauer reportedly cleared waivers, while Cliff Lee was apparently claimed by the Dodgers. Of course, neither Mauer nor Lee changed teams.)

Of course, Ramirez's ultimate value will depend upon how he returns from injury, especially at 35 years of age. He has been remarkably consistent since emerging as a regular, posting an OPS+ of at least 125 in every year but one between 2004 and 2012. This season, however, Ramirez has maintained his on-base capabilities but has seen a drop from his historic power levels. Over 209 plate appearances so far, he has a .271/.359/.414 line with just five home runs. 

Cafardo On Rios, Young, Peavy, Aramis

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The Red Sox have scouted both Alex Rios and Michael Young recently, according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe (on Twitter). Cafardo adds that the team is likely to scout Jake Peavy's next few starts for the White Sox as he returns from the disabled list. In a separate tweet, Cafardo reports that the Yankees and Red Sox are both likely to scout Aramis Ramirez next week when he returns from the disabled list.

Boston's in Rios is somewhat of a surprise, as both Shane Victorino and Jacoby Ellsbury have played well across the board, and Daniel Nava is hitting .288/.374/.429 while playing the outfield corners. Nava's OPS has declined in each month this season, however, and he grades out as a poor defender according to both Ultimate Zone Rating and The Fielding Bible. Rios would also present the Sox with a right field option if they wish to move Victorino to center field in 2014, should Ellsbury sign elsewhere (my own speculation).

The Young connection makes sense in light of recent reports that they're looking at upgrades on the left side of their infield. There's said to be "intense" interest in Young from a number of teams, and the Phillies could probably move him even if they don't wish to fully commit as sellers.

Ramirez hasn't hit for much power this season when on the field, but he's hitting .271 with a .359 on-base percentage, which should appeal to both teams. Neither has received much production at the hot corner. He's under control through 2014, but the $16MM salary that he is guaranteed next year could be prohibitive for interested parties.

Earlier today it was reported that the Red Sox are also interested in Houston's Bud Norris, and last night the Pirates were also connected to Rios.

Braves Eyeing Left-Handed Relievers

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The Braves' priority is to add a left-handed reliever, writes MLB.com's Mark Bowman, with James Russell of the Cubs, Mike Gonzalez of the Brewers, and Wesley Wright of the Astros on their wish list.  The Braves are more interested in Russell and Gonzalez, he adds.

The Braves' need for a southpaw reliever has increased with the plan to put Alex Wood in the starting rotation, possibly swapping roles with right-hander Kris Medlen.  That would leave Luis Avilan as the only lefty in the Braves' pen, with Eric O'Flaherty and Jonny Venters both out for the season due to Tommy John surgery.

Russell, 27, has a large platoon split.  He'd held lefties to a .187/.218/.284 line, but righties have hit him hard (small sample size warning).  Russell is earning $1.075MM this year, and he's under team control through 2015 as an arbitration eligible player.  Gonzalez, 35, joined the Braves from the Pirates in the January 2007 Adam LaRoche trade.  He racked up 125 innings and 26 saves for the Braves over three seasons, mostly after recovering from June '07 Tommy John surgery.  The Braves allowed him to leave as a free agent for Baltimore, drafting Matt Lipka as a supplemental pick in 2010 as compensation.  After spending time with the Rangers and Nationals, Gonzalez signed with the Brewers as a free agent in January this year.  He's always been prone to the free pass, especially against righties this year, but he's been strong against lefties.

Wright, 28, came to the Astros in the '07 Rule 5 draft, from the Dodgers.  They were able to retain him by keeping him in the Majors for all of '08, and he's improved since then.  Similar to Russell, Wright is under team control through 2015 as an arbitration eligible player.  His problem this year, against righties and lefties, has been an abnormally high batting average on balls in play and rate of flyballs leaving the yard.

Which other left-handed relievers might be available?  We'll have a full post on the topic later today, but Mike Dunn, Charlie Furbush, Oliver Perez, Jose Mijares, Darren Oliver, Scott Downs, Joe Thatcher, Javier Lopez, and Jeremy Affeldt are names to consider.

The Braves also seek a backup infielder to fill the void after the loss of Ramiro Pena to season-ending surgery; they'd prefer a left-handed hitter with more offense than Paul Janish, writes Bowman.  The Cubs' Luis Valbuena could be a logical candidate there, in my opinion.

2014 Competitive Balance Lottery Results

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The Competitive Balance Lottery for the 2014 MLB Draft took place today. Twelve competitive balance picks are awarded, with the first six taking place after the first round's conclusion and the next six taking place following conclusion of the second round. Here are the results, per MLB.com (Twitter links)…

Competitive Balance Round A

  1. Rockies
  2. Orioles
  3. Indians
  4. Marlins
  5. Royals
  6. Brewers

Competitive Balance Round B

  1. Padres
  2. Diamondbacks
  3. Cardinals
  4. Rays
  5. Pirates
  6. Mariners

As explained by MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo, the teams in the 10 smallest markets and teams with the 10 lowest revenues were eligible to be entered into the Round A lottery. This doesn't mean there were 20 teams in the lottery, as there's overlap in that criteria. All teams who don't win a pick in the first round are re-entered into the second round, along with any team that received revenue sharing this year, which accounted only for the Mariners.

These picks are eligible to be traded, as we saw in 2012. Last year, the Tigers and Marlins swapped Competitive Balance picks as part of the Anibal Sanchez trade. The Marlins received a second Competitive Balance pick when they traded Gaby Sanchez to the Pirates in the offseason.

The A's and Reds are the two eligible teams from this year's selection that were not awarded a Competitive Balance pick.

Quick Hits: Shortstops, Indians, Hart, Papelbon

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The All-Star Futures Game demonstrated how strong the future of the shortstop position can be, writes Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com. The World roster alone featured Xander Bogaerts of the Red Sox, Francisco Lindor of the Indians and Carlos Correa of the Astros, leaving the Cubs' Javier Baez out in the cold. (Addison Russell of the Athletics started for the U.S. team.) There has been a bit of a void at the position since the heyday of Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter and Nomar Garciaparra in the 1990s, Castrovince says. It's unclear whether the new group is good enough to yet again raise the bar for the position. "The more competition I have, the better it's going to make me," says Lindor. "I see Bogaerts got called up [to Triple-A], I see Correa's doing great, I see [Jurickson] Profar is in the big leagues, I see what Baez is doing, and I think that's awesome." Here are more notes from around baseball.

  • The Indians are 51-44 through the first half of the season, and their best path to improving at the trade deadline and staying near the top in the AL Central is improving their bullpen, Bud Shaw of the Plain Dealer writes. Upgrading their shaky rotation will be tricky, since they can't justify trading a top-notch prospect like Lindor, particularly not for a rental player. Upgrading their bullpen, rather than their rotation, would allow them to keep Lindor and pitching prospect Danny Salazar.
  • After having knee surgery, Corey Hart is now out for the season, and it's unclear what his future holds, reports Todd Rosiak of the Journal Sentinel. He's a free agent this offseason, and he'd like to stay with the Brewers. Due to the injury, it likely won't take a large financial commitment for Milwaukee to keep him. "I’ve talked to my agent. This is my home – I’ve been them almost half my life," says Hart. "I’d like to continue as long as they’ll let me. This might have been the silver lining to let me stay here – maybe a lower salary with incentives helps my case."
  • The Red Sox appear unlikely to pursue Jonathan Papelbon of the Phillies as the trade deadline approaches, Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe tweets. Abraham cites both Papelbon's recent performance and his salary. Papelbon has a 2.33 ERA, but his strikeout rate (8.0 K/9) has dipped substantially this year, and his velocity is down a bit as well. He's still an effective reliever overall, but there's little doubt that his contract, which will earn him $13MM per year through 2015 with a vesting option for 2016, is worrisome.

Minor Moves: Eric Patterson

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You can check here throughout the day to learn of any notable minor moves …

  • The Brewers have signed utilityman Eric Patterson to a minor league deal and plan to assign him to the club's Double-A affiliate, reports Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The 30-year-old Patterson is not only the younger brother of long-time big leaguer Corey Patterson — who was recently released from his own minor league deal – but has seen MLB action in parts of five seasons (2007-11). Over 575 career plate appearances spread across 226 games with the Cubs, A's, Red Sox, and Padres, Patterson has managed a cumulative .217/.294/.343 line to go with ten home runs and 35 stolen bases.
  • Four players currently reside in DFA limbo: Pedro Ciriaco of the Padres, Jair Jurrjens of the Orioles, Travis Ishikawa of the Yankees, and Cole Gillespie of the Giants.

Minor Moves: Owings, Gardner, Rosales

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Here are Friday's minor moves from around the league…

  • The Brewers signed pitcher/outfielder Micah Owings to a minor league deal, the club announced.  Owings will both pitch and play the outfield in the Brewers' system, assistant GM Gord Ash told Todd Rosiak of the Journal Sentinel.  On the mound, Owings had a 4.86 ERA with 6.5 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9 across six big league seasons.
  • Joe Gardner, who was designated for assignment by the Rockies earlier this week, was outrighted to Colorado's Triple-A affiliate, according to the Texas League's transactions page.
  • Adam Rosales has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Sacramento, the Athletics announced on Twitter. The 30-year-old Rosales had been designated for assignment earlier in the week after hitting .200/.273/.331 in 147 plate appearances this year.
  • The Red Sox signed right-hander Bobby Lanigan and assigned him to Double-A Portland after he was released by the Twins, tweets Alex Speier of WEEI.com. The 26-year-old pitched to a 3.68 ERA with 5.2 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 in 29 1/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A for Minnesota this season. He was the Twins' third-round pick in 2008.
  • Three players currently reside in DFA limbo: Jair Jurrjens of the Orioles, Travis Ishikawa of the Yankees, and Cole Gillespie of the Giants.

AL West Notes: Perez, Mariners, Norris, Astros

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

  • Peter Gammons of MLB.com tweets that every General Manager he has spoken with says the Mariners are asking for "premier prospects" in exchange for lefty relievers Oliver Perez, Charlie Furbush and Brian Moran.  We learned recently that Perez has drawn interest from the Orioles, Braves, and others.
  • In his latest Scouts Corner column, CBS Sports' Danny Knobler cites an executive who suggests that the Astros' Bud Norris could be the next starting pitcher to be traded. "He's got good stuff. It's about the consistency of command. I think most contending teams will see him as a fourth starter. The problem is they're going to ask a lot for him," a scout tells Knobler.  Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com wrote earlier tonight that the asking price is high for Norris as Houston is seeking two highly-rated prospects in return.
  • An executive on the hunt for pitching tells Andy Martino of the New York Daily News that the Astros' Norris is basically one of three decent available starters right now.  The others are the Cubs' Matt Garza and Yovani Gallardo of the Brewers.  The asking price for all three is really high, according to the exec, which is consistent with what we've been hearing.

Aaron Steen contributed to this post.

Minor Moves: Jeremy Bonderman, Aaron Laffey

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On this date ten years ago, the Marlins were making a surprising wild card push and traded for one of the best available relievers, Rangers closer Ugueth Urbina.  Double-A first baseman Adrian Gonzalez was part of the package going to Texas.  The first overall pick by the Marlins three years prior, Gonzalez began the year at Triple-A following offseason wrist surgery, but had been demoted to Double-A in May.  Said Marlins GM Larry Beinfest at the time, "In Adrian, we thought we were dealing in an area of strength, but we wanted to do something now."  Beinfest was referring to first basemen Derrek Lee and Jason Stokes.  The Marlins installed Urbina in a setup role and went on to win the World Series.  John Hart was the man behind the Urbina signing and trade as Rangers GM.  

Two years later, Hart stepped down to make way for the youngest GM in MLB history, 28-year-old Jon Daniels.  Daniels later admitted to WEEI's Alex Speier his new front office "tried to step on the gas before we were ready," and with Mark Teixeira entrenched at first base, Gonzalez, Terrmel Sledge, and Chris Young were traded to the Padres for Adam Eaton and Akinori Otsuka.  Today's minor moves, as we ponder the status of Urbina's comeback attempt…

  • Jeremy Bonderman has refused an outright assignment from the Mariners and elected free agency, the team announced. He was designated for assignment on Monday. In 38 1/3 innings for Seattle this season, the 30-year-old posted a 4.93 ERA with more walks (17) than strikeouts (16). It was his first MLB action since 2010 and the only time he has pitched for a team other than the Tigers.
  • The Brewers signed lefty Aaron Laffey, announced the team's player development department on Twitter early today.  The 28-year-old signed a minor league deal with the Mets in December, was designated for assignment in April, claimed by the Blue Jays, designated days later, elected free agency, was signed by the Dodgers, and opted out of his deal with that club earlier this month.  He made five big league appearances this year, and also tossed 61 Triple-A innings for the Dodgers, with much more success on the road than at Isotopes Park.  There is no opt-out in the Brewers deal, MLBTR has learned.
  • Five players currently reside in DFA limbo: Travis Ishikawa of the Yankees, Joe Gardner of the Rockies, Cole Gillespie of the Giants, Jeremy Bonderman of the Mariners, and Adam Rosales of the Athletics.  The Mets asked for unconditional release waivers for Brandon Lyon on Tuesday.
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