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NL Notes: Mazzaro, Pirates, Phillies, Capps

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Pirates reliever Vin Mazzaro has been placed on outright waivers but has not yet cleared, reports MLBTR’s Zach Links (Twitter links). A source tells Links that a full resolution of Mazzaro’s situation will occur today. Mazzaro was designated for assignment on May 26th, which, as MLBTR’s DFA Tracker shows, would have suggested resolution yesterday; Links posits that the extra day could be a result of a delay in processing owing to the Memorial Day holiday.

  • The Pirates have a glaring need for a starter, writes Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Kovacevic says that the team should be able to afford a player like Jeff Samardzija or even David Price, both in terms of prospects and payroll.
  • While it is easy to say that the Phillies should become sellers, the reality is that the club lacks attractive pieces or a young core that can be built around, writes ESPN.com’s Buster Olney (Insider subscription required and recommended). Even the players who are performing well — such as Jimmy Rollins, Carlos Ruiz, Marlon Byrd — have middling value because they are owed significant amounts of money beyond the season (or, in the case of Rollins, soon will be; his $11MM option will vest barring injury). While that might be less of a deterrent in the cases of Cliff Lee and Chase Utley, the former has still not yet resumed throwing while the latter may be too intertwined with the franchise’s identity to be dealt. Of course, any hypothetical trade scenarios could be complicated yet further by the fact that many of the team’s veterans have limited or full no-trade protection.
  • In a seemingly rare bit of good news after a pitcher travels to see Dr. James Andrews, Marlins reliever Carter Capps will forego surgery in favor of rest and rehabilitation, reports Juan C. Rodriguez of the Miami Sun-Sentinel. An extended delay is still in the cards, as Capps will be shut down for at least a month. He was originally placed on the 15-day DL retroactive to May 26, but has since been transferred to the 60-day DL.

Minor Moves: Rhiner Cruz, Rusty Ryal

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Here are today’s minor moves from around the league…

  • Astros reliever Rhiner Cruz has been allowed to sign with Japan’s Rakuten Eagles, tweets Ben Badler of Baseball America. The 27-year-old righty had a 2.25 ERA through 20 Triple-A innings this year, and owns a 5.31 ERA with 6.6 K/9 against 4.7 BB/9 through 76 1/3 career MLB frames. He originally came to Houston as the first pick in the 2011 Rule 5 draft.
  • Former big leaguer Rusty Ryal has landed a minor league deal with the Phillies, reports Chris Cotillo of MLB Daily Dish (on Twitter). The 31-year-old hasn’t appeared in the bigs since a 2009-10 stint with the D’Backs but had been hitting well in 125 plate appearances for the independent Atlantic League’s Sugar Land Skeeters. He’s a career .273/.321/.430 hitter in 1166 Triple-A plate appearances.

AL East Notes: Yankees, Johan, Red Sox

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While the Yankees have had “at least” internal discussions regarding Kendrys Morales, his bat wouldn’t solve all of the problems with the team, writes Ken Davidoff of the New York Post. The Bombers’ bullpen has faltered of late and doesn’t have room for error given the lackluster offense, he opines. Meanwhile, Mark Teixeira’s wrist offers no certainty, even if he did homer last night. Davidoff notes that Teixeira looked “tentative” from both sides during batting practice and “fiddled” with his surgically repaired right wrist while others took their cuts.

More notes from the AL East…

  • The Orioles could be looking at a six-man rotation when Johan Santana is ready to join the club, manager Buck Showalter told reporters, including MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko. As the Baltimore Sun’s Eduardo A. Encina notes, the plan for Santana, who was placed on the 15-day DL after his contract was purchased on Monday, is to make one more start in extended Spring Training before heading on a rehab assignment. After two starts, the former ace would be on track to join the team on June 20. Said Showalter: “I’ve been hinting at going to six starters anyway. It’s easy to solve. It’s not a problem. Any time there’s good pitchers available, I’m in, especially with his pedigree.”
  • The Red Sox continue to search high and low for an outfielder, reports Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe, who points out that the Sox are on pace to field their least-productive outfield group of the 162-game era. Cafardo runs down a list of some names that might potentially be available as the summer wears on, and he also reports that the Phillies have had three scouts following the Sox for their past five series.

NL Notes: Lane, D’Backs, Marlins, Phillies, Nationals

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There was a great story today in San Diego, as former Astros outfielder Jason Lane re-emerged onto a big league diamond with the Padres after last appearing in 2007. Now, the 37-year-old is a pitcher, and his first-ever MLB relief outing was a good one: ten up, ten down. Tyler Kepner of the New York Times recently profiled Lane and his now-consummate attempt at a return to the bigs.

Here’s the latest out of the National League:

  • The Diamondbacks placed middle infielder Cliff Pennington on the DL and recalled young shortstop Didi Gregorius to take his active roster spot, the club announced via press release. Arizona’s mix of middle infielders — including those two players, current MLB starters Aaron Hill and Chris Owings, and prospect Nick Ahmed — has often been discussed as a source of depth from which the team could trade. For Gregorius, who entered the year with 1.033 days of MLB service, staying on the active roster for most of the remaining 115 days of the season could position him for an eventual Super Two candidacy.
  • Meanwhile, the D’backs learned that they would be without one of their top pitching prospects for the rest of the season, as Jose Martinez will need surgery for a stress fracture in his right elbow, reports Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic (via Twitter). Baseball America rated Martinez as the team’s sixth-best prospect heading into the year, saying that he throws a mid-90s heater and outstanding power curve. Given his last name, Dominican heritage, and slight build, BA notes that comparisons to Pedro Martinez and Carlos Martinez are inevitable.
  • The Marlins’ recent series of transactions are a sad reflection on owner Jeffrey Loria, opines Dave Cameron of Fangraphs. Even putting aside the question whether it made sense for Miami to target the relievers it did (Bryan Morris and Kevin Gregg), Cameron says that there is no reason the team couldn’t have found the money without giving up a significant future asset in the 39th overall choice in the upcoming draft.
  • A fire sale is looming for the Phillies, writes Todd Zolecki of MLB.com, who says that the club has far too many holes to do anything but sell. Zolecki raises the point that GM Ruben Amaro Jr. has seemingly done rather poorly in generating returns when it has dealt veterans in the past. Having shipped out players like Cliff Lee, Hunter Pence, Shane Victorino, Jim Thome, Michael Young, and Joe Blanton in recent years, the return has been headlined by names such as Phillippe Aumont, Tommy Joseph, and Ethan Martin.
  • Ryan Zimmerman had a strong game in an interesting return to the Nationals tonight, appearing comfortable in his first ever appearance in left field and hitting the ball hard several times. As Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post reports, Zimmerman willingly moved off of his customary hot corner without complaint. “Our window is now,” he said. “This team’s good enough to win a World Series, I think. But you just never know. Realistically, we’re only going to be together for this year and next year.” Those comment seemed related, in particular, to the contractual status of Ian Desmond and Jordan Zimmermann, each of whom is set to reach free agency after 2015. “Guys like Desi, guys like Jordan — I don’t doubt that they want to stay here,” he said, “but baseball’s a business. You never know.”

Minor Moves: Horst, Tomko, McClendon

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Here are the day’s notable minor moves …

  • Phillies lefty Jeremy Horst has cleared outright waivers and accepted his assignment at Triple-A, the club announced today. Horst, 28, was designated two days ago to clear 40-man roster space. He has pitched to a 4.35 ERA (8.3 K/9 vs. 7.0 BB/9) across 20 2/3 innings at Triple-A this year.
  • 41-year-old righty Brett Tomko has been released by the Royals, according to the PCL transactions page. Tomko, a 14-year MLB veteran, had worked to a 3.80 ERA in 47 1/3 Triple-A innings (including eight starts) since hooking on with Kansas City.
  • The Rockies signed righty Mike McClendon, according to the MLB transactions page. McClendon, 29, tossed 48 2/3 MLB innings over 2010-12 with the Brewers, working to a 3.88 ERA with 6.5 K/9 against 2.8 BB/9 overall. He had been playing with the independent league York Revolution this year after spending 2013 with Colorado’s Triple-A affiliate.
  • With Horst no longer on the list, MLBTR’s DFA Tracker now features Vin Mazzaro of the Pirates, Justin Marks of the Royals, and Jose Veras of the Cubs as players in DFA limbo.

Phillies Sign Jason Marquis

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The Phillies announced that they’ve signed right-hander Jason Marquis to a minor league deal. The 35-year-old veteran is a client of ACES.

Marquis underwent Tommy John surgery last July but said a few months later that he didn’t intend for that operation to be the end of his career. He’s been working out for teams of late, recently throwing his fastball between 88 and 90 mph in an audition for the Reds.

Marquis’ command took a step back in 2013 with the Padres, as he walked a career-worst 5.2 hitters per nine innings (some of those struggles may have been due to his elbow injury, of course). However, his ground-ball rate remained a strong 52.3 percent — his fifth consecutive season with a ground-ball percentage north of 52.

The sinkerballing Marquis is a veteran of 14 Major League seasons with the Braves, Cardinals, Cubs, Nationals, Rockies, Twins, Diamondbacks and Padres. In 1921 career innings at the big league level, Marquis owns a 4.56 ERA with 5.3 K/9, 3.5 BB/9 and a 50.7 percent ground-ball rate. He can serve as veteran rotation depth for the Phils when healthy, as the team has already seen injuries to both Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels this season in the Major League rotation (the latter is healthy now). Additionally, Cuban signee Miguel Gonzalez is also working his way back from injury and isn’t close to appearing in the Majors.

Draft Links: Padres, Ryan, Phillies, Jays

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The 2014 amateur draft is only three days away, so here’s the first batch of what will surely be a ton of draft-related items this week…

  • The Padres won’t draft Jeff Hoffman or Erick Fedde with the 13th overall pick, sources tell Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune.  Both college right-handers recently underwent Tommy John surgery and though the team “briefly kicked the idea around” of taking one of the highly-touted pitchers in hopes of a full recovery, the risk seemed too high at that point in the first round.  “We want to take someone who is healthy. There are too many good options on the board,” assistant GM Chad MacDonald said.
  • The Twins are likely to again focus on pitching in this draft, general manager Terry Ryan tells Jim Crikket of the Knuckleballs blog.  “We’ll draft a lot of pitching just because of the attrition. We need to make sure we have numbers and competition,” Ryan said.  “Actually the depth and some of the talent in our organization is starting to lean toward pitching….But we won’t have enough, so we’ll take a bunch more.”  This doesn’t necessarily mean that Minnesota will draft a pitcher with the fifth overall pick, as Ryan says the team is just focused on drafting the best possible player.  I’d recommend reading the entire interview, as Ryan also touches on such topics as his health and the Twins’ performance this season.
  • The Phillies could be altering their draft strategy of taking good athletes with high ceilings by instead opting for more proven players who are closer to making the majors, CSNPhilly.com’s Jim Salisbury writes as part of an interview with Phillies scouting director Marti Wolever.
  • Recent comments from Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos hint that his team could also be taking a somewhat more cautious approach to their draft process, Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi reports.  “I’d say a big part of refining our process is maybe we’re starting to examine the level of risk we’re willing to take….It doesn’t mean we’ll be risk-averse, but maybe not take the same level of risk,” Anthopoulos told Sportsnet Magazine.  “We’re just trying to balance it out a little bit more as we’re going through it. That’s not to say we’re not looking for talent, upside, all that kind of stuff. We’re trying to balance it.”

Phillies Designate Jeremy Horst For Assignment

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The Phillies announced that they have designated Jeremy Horst for assignment.  The move will create room on the 40-man roster for the arrival of Cesar Jimenez, who has been called up from Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

The left-hander reliever made 28 appearances for the Phillies last season and didn’t have a ton of success.  Horst posted a 6.23 ERA with 7.3 K/9 and 4.2 BB/9 in those outings.  In the two seasons prior, the 28-year-old pitched to a combined 1.74 ERA 9.5 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9 in 44 outings.  So far in 2014, Horst owns a 4.35 ERA with 8.3 K/9 and 7.0 BB/9 in 19 Triple-A games.

Cafardo On Samardzija, Arroyo, Mayberry Jr.

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In today’s column, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe ran down the 20 best stories in baseball, starting with the worst-to-first (so far) Blue Jays.  Toronto has gotten great hitting out of Jose Bautista, Melky Cabrera, Edwin Encarnacion, and Adam Lind and great pitching from Mark Buehrle, R.A. Dickey, and Drew Hutchison.  Now, it remains to be seen whether the Blue Jays will be willing to part with Hutchison in a deal for Cubs’ ace Jeff Samardzija.  More from today’s column..

  • The Red Sox and Rangers have the most to offer the Cubs for Samardzija, followed by the Giants.  Of course, Cubs president Theo Epstein is quite familiar with the Red Sox’s farm system. The Cubs need pitching, but Boston will definitely not part with lefthander Henry Owens. If that’s not a deal breaker, the Sox have other pitchers like Brandon Workman, Matt Barnes, Anthony Ranaudo, Allen Webster, and Rubby De La Rosa that they can offer.  Cafardo guesses that it would take two of them, plus perhaps a catcher, to pry Samardzija loose.
  • With the Diamondbacks likely out of the race by the deadline, Cafardo says that we should look for veteran Bronson Arroyo to change uniforms again. Arroyo isn’t a shutdown guy, but he’s an experienced starter who could solidify the back of a rotation, particularly for an NL team.
  • The Phillies have made John Mayberry Jr. available and Cafardo writes that the Red Sox could be interested.  The Phillies have been scouting the Sox for a third straight series and are looking at Boston as a possible trade partner.

Quick Hits: Tommy John, Commissioner, Mock Drafts

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For those interested in seeking to understand the root of the elbow injuries that have plagued the game this year, you’ll want to take a look at this position statement from the American Sports Medicine Institute (hat tip to Peter Gammons). The statement closely ties professional ligament injuries to risky throwing patterns in amateur baseball, including over-use, throwing while fatigued, and pitching year-round. Latin American pitchers have experienced a similar incidence of TJ as have their North American counterparts, the statement also says.

Here are some more notes from around the game:

  • As the search for a new commissioner picks up steam, sitting commish Bud Selig said today that it was possible that a successor could come from outside the game, ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark reports. “That’s a judgment call,” said Selig. “I know there’s been a lot of speculation in some stories. But that’s a judgment call this group will have to make. Understanding the culture of the sport is very important.” He emphasized that it “has to be an inclusive process,” though “people will have to make their own judgments on whether or not you want to stay inside baseball.”
  • A familiar trio of the pitchers sits at the top of the most recent mock draft of ESPN.com’s Keith Law (Insider link). In that scenario, Law sees the Cubs looking to strike a below-slot deal with a player like college outfielder Michael Conforto with the fourth overall choice. Some well-regarded prep arms could fall into the sandwich and second round, Law notes, where teams that saved on their first picks will pick them with intentions of spending over slot.
  • Attempting to approach the top ten picks of the draft as if he were the general manager making the final call, ESPN.com’s Jim Bowden (Insider link). While clubs often say they just want the best player available, Bowden says that few follow through with that. Clubs do draft with their needs (even at the major league level) in mind, says Bowden, in addition to financial, medical, and makeup considerations. Carrying through on his general observations, Bowden sends Evansville lefty Kyle Freeland to the Twins with the fifth overall pick and LSU righty Aaron Nola to the Phillies in the seven slot.
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