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Odds & Ends: Owings, Yankees, Counsell, Livingston

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Some more links for Tuesday as two of the game's best second basemen – Chase Utley and Dustin Pedroia – return to action…

Pirates Remain Favorites To Sign Heredia

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The Pirates are the “strong favorite” to sign Mexican pitching prospect Luis Heredia, according to Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The Pirates have been scouting the 16-year-old right-hander more aggressively than any other MLB club and have close ties to Veracruz, Heredia’s team. Not only do the Pirates have connections to Veracruz, which controls Heredia’s rights, Pittsburgh’s Mexican scouting suprevisor, Jesus Valdez, has known Heredia since the pitcher was five.

Veracruz cannot entertain formal offers until Thursday, but many teams other than the Pirates appear to have interest. The Yankees, Blue Jays, Rangers, A’s, Giants and Braves all scouted Heredia in Mexico last week, according to Kovacevic.

Odds & Ends: Red Sox, Harper, Canseco, Figgins

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Saturday afternoon linkage..

  • Boston sent catcher Michael Thomas to Texas to complete the trade for Jarrod Saltalamacchia, writes Alex Speier of WEEI.
  • Dusty Baker has no interest in becoming a general manager, writes MLB.com's Mark Sheldon.
  • A former teammate of Bryce Harper's doesn't see the first overall pick going back to school, writes Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post.
  • The Laredo Broncos, an independent minor league team, say they have signed Jose Canseco to a short-term contract, according to the Associated Press.  Canseco will serve as a bench coach and designated hitter during two Laredo homestands.
  • Chuck Finder of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that Pirates GM Neal Huntington and scouting director Greg Smith are expected to sit down with agents Randy and Alan Hendricks in Houston this weekend to discuss a contract for second overall pick Jameson Taillon. MLB's slot recommendation for that pick is $3.25MM, though Taillon is expected to receive more than that.
  • We know the Braves have not asked the Mariners about the availability of Chone Figgins in the wake of Chipper Jones' injury, but ESPN's Buster Olney says a deal is unlikely anyway. It would be pretty tough for GM Jack Zduriencik to tell ownership they have to eat tens of millions of dollars to move a player they just signed this past offseason.
  • Ken Fidlin of The Toronto Sun says that Blue Jays' second round pick Griffin Murphy and his father were on the field at Angels Stadium talking with club officials, "a surefire sign that a deal is done." MLB's slot recommendation for the 61st overall pick is just short of $600K. 
  • The Yankees have come to terms on well-overslot bonuses with a pair of draft picks. Baseball America's Jim Callis reports that they signed ninth rounder Taylor Morton for $450K while Kendall Rogers of Yahoo! Sports reports an agreement with tenth rounder Ben Gamel (Mat's brother) for $500K. Both deals are more than three times over MLB's recommendation, and Gamel's is the largest given to a player selected in a double digit round so far.

Draft Notes: Solis, Klein, Jenkins, Gumbs

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The deadline for signing draft picks is just days away. Teams have until August 16th (next Monday) at 11 CST to sign their picks, and the agreements are starting to trickle in. Here are the details:

  • Talks between the Nationals and second-round pick Sammy Solis are "amicable," and MLB.com's Bill Ladson hears from a source that a deal is close to being worked out.
  • Baltimore has agreed to terms with third-rounder Dan Klein, tweets Baseball America's Jim Callis.  Klein's bonus is worth just under $500K, or as Callis describes it, "second-round money."
  • The Cardinals officially announced their contract with Tyrell Jenkins, writes Matthew Leach of MLB.com.  It was reported earlier this week that Jenkins and the Cards had agreed to terms that included an above-slot bonus price for the 50th overall pick.
  • The Yankees signed second-rounder Angelo Gumbs for $750K, according to Jim Callis of Baseball America. The outfielder gets the largest bonus for any player drafted after the supplemental first round this year.
  • Here's another above-slot deal for an outfielder: the Padres signed eighth-rounder Jose Dore for $450K, according to Callis.
  • Not surprisingly, the Red Sox haven't had substantial talks with Scott Boras about signing Anthony Ranaudo, according to Alex Speier of WEEI.com. Ranaudo pitched well in the Cape Cod League this summer and maintains that he's ready to return to LSU.
  • MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo gives the latest updates on unsigned first round picks. Mayo reports indications that the D'Backs have continued talking to Barret Loux, who failed his physical.
  • Here's our list of top picks to sign.

Will The Yankees Offer Javier Vazquez Arbitration?

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The Yankees haven't offered a single free agent, Type-A or B, arbitration in either of the last two years because they were afraid of getting stuck with an unwanted player at an unwanted price (had they accepted), but it stood to reason that they would make such an offer to righthander Javier Vazquez. As one of the game's few true workhorses with a long track record, he was all but a lock to decline arbitration after 2010 and seek a multi-year deal (perhaps his last) elsewhere. Now four months into the season, suddenly that scenario doesn't seem as likely.

Vazquez's season has been quite the roller coaster. The 34-year-old posted a 9.78 ERA in his first five starts, a 2.75 ERA in his next 11, and then a 6.43 ERA in his last five outings. The team has indicated that he's currently battling through a "dead arm" period, and last night Vazquez himself acknowledged that he's got a lot of miles on his arm and they may be catching up to him. Only Livan Hernandez has thrown more innings since the start of the 2000 season, and Javy's fastball velocity is down noticeably this season.

In the grand scheme of things, Vazquez's strikeout (7.0 K/9) and walk (3.5 BB/9) rates this season are among the worst of his career, and he's on pace to throw slightly more than 176 innings, which would be his lowest total since 1999. Still, he's well on his way to being a Type-A free agent after the season, but given his underwhelming performance and that aforementioned workload, an arbitration offer becomes a much riskier proposition.

With an $11.5MM salary this season, the Yankees would have to consider the possibility of Vazquez accepting arbitration and receiving a salary upwards of $13MM next season. We laugh at the idea of the Yanks having a budget, but that could put a serious dent in the payroll with the team expected to heavily pursue Cliff Lee.

When the Yankees re-acquired Vazquez from the Braves in the offseason, they apparently considered two draft picks part of the package since he comfortably projected to be a Type-A free agent. It's easy to understand why they'd think that following a season in which he placed fourth in the Cy Young voting, but as it tends to do, time may have changed things. 

Odds & Ends: White Sox, Olsen, Adam, V-Mart

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Another round of links for Wednesday, as Cliff Lee falls short of eight innings for the first time in two months…

  • The White Sox are cautiously optimistic about signing the team's top remaining unsigned picks, amateur scouting director Doug Laumann told MLB.com's Scott Merkin.
  • Scott Olsen made $250K in incentives for starting his 11th game of the season tonight, according to Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post (Twitter link).
  • 2010 draftee Jason Adam is close to signing with the Royals, according to Daniel Paulling of the Kansas City Star. Adam, ranked by Baseball America as the 54th-best prospect in this year’s draft awaits approval from the commissioner’s office.
  • Victor Martinez told Jim Bowden of Sirius XM Radio that the Red Sox have not offered him an extension (Twitter link). The catcher hits free agency after the season.
  • The Yankees agreed to sign third-rounder Rob Segedin for a $377K bonus, according to Jim Callis of Baseball America. Segedin, a third baseman, receives about $100K more than MLB’s recommended bonus for his slot.
  • Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News explains why he believes the Rangers shouldn't try to sign Cliff Lee long-term just yet. It's probably a moot point, since Lee seems destined to reach the open market.
  • MLB owners and executives approved the sale of the Rangers to the group led by Chuck Greenberg and Nolan Ryan, according to Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (on Twitter). The final vote occurs tomorrow.

Odds & Ends: Draft Signings, K-Rod

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Links for Wednesday, as newly acquired catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia joins the Red Sox…

Odds & Ends: Cardinals, Blue Jays, Morrow, Delgado

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Some links to check out as Brandon Morrow just misses no-hitting the Rays…

Odds & Ends: Yelich, Harper, Tigers, Minaya, Guillen

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Links on a Friday night…

  • MLB.com's Joe Frisaro reports that negotiations between the Marlins and first round pick Christian Yelich are progressing slowly, but all signs point to a deal being reached before the August 16th deadline.
  • Meanwhile, Adam Kilgore of The Washington Post says there is nothing new to report about talks between the Nationals and first overall pick Bryce Harper. 
  • Like the Marlins and Yelich, talks between the Tigers and their top picks will go down to the wire according to MLB.com's Jason Beck. Four of Detroit's top five selections remain unsigned, including their two first rounders Nick Castellanos and Chance Ruffin.
  • When asked about his job security, Omar Minaya responded "The fact of the matter is that I have a contract beyond this year, two years beyond this," according to MLB.com's Anthony DiComo. Owner Jeff Wilpon recently implied that Minaya's job is safe through 2011.
  • Jack Curry of the YES Network says (via Twitter) we shouldn't expect the Yankees to have any interest in Jose Guillen. We heard this morning that they were going to keep an eye on the recently DFA'd outfielder.
  • Mark Feinsand of The New York Daily News spoke to an American League GM who said he can't see Derek Jeter signing anywhere but back with the Yankees after the season. I suspect that's the general belief pretty much everywhere.
  • The Tigers have expanded the roles of three front office members, reports Steve Kornacki of MLive.com.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Mets, Park, Garza, Wieters

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On this date four years ago, the Mets locked up franchise cornerstone David Wright to a six-year deal worth $55MM guaranteed. A club option for 2013 could put another $15MM in his pocket, and he's already earned an extra $300K in award based incentives. Wright, just 23 at the time and now a .307/.387/.517 career hitter, would have become a free agent after this season had he not opted for the long-term security. Can't say I blame him.

Here's a look at what's being written in the baseball corner of the blogging universe…

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