Badler Examines July 2nd Class
Less than thrilled by your team's draft haul? Don't forget about the July 2nd class of international players. This year's group is an improvement on the 2011 class, writes Ben Badler of Baseball America. He names the Yankees, Blue Jays, Rangers, Royals, Mariners, Pirates, Red Sox, and Reds as teams that could be active in the international market. Badler's info on a few of the top prospects:
- Outfielders Ronald Guzman, Elier Hernandez, and Nomar Mazara could challenge Miguel Sano's $3.15MM record for a Dominican hitter, writes Badler. The Rangers, Red Sox, and Blue Jays have been connected to Guzman and the Royals are the frontrunner for Hernandez.
- Speedy Venezuelan shortstop Wilmer Becerra has been linked to the Cardinals, Twins, and Athletics, says Badler. Becerra is projected by many to move to the outfield.
- Mexican righty Roberto Osuna, nephew of Antonio, is a top prospect who is currently pitching in the Mexican League. The 15-year-old is battling all kinds of former big leaguers. Venezuelan righty Victor Sanchez is another one to watch, according to Badler.
- Key MLBTR posts are translated into Spanish at our Rumores De Béisbol site, which has a unique Latin American focus with features such as Hits Latinos. Tell your Spanish-speaking friends!
Quick Hits: Indians, Beede, D’Backs, Giants
On this day in 2005, the Rangers released Andres Torres, a 27-year-old outfielder who had compiled a .534 OPS in parts of four big league seasons. While things looked bleak for Torres at the time, he eventually worked his way back to the bigs four years later with San Francisco. Since then, he has hit .266/.345/.477 and played a key role on the Giants' World Champion squad in 2010. Here are today's links:
- Indians GM Chris Antonetti isn't ready to make additions via trade, writes MLB.com's Jordan Bastian. The club is reluctant to part with prospects like Lonnie Chisenhall and Jason Kipnis, but the solution may ultimately be to turn to those two as they did with Cord Phelps last week. Chisenhall and Kipnis were ranked 25th and 54th, respectively, on Baseball America's Top 100 Prospects list entering 2011.
- ESPN's Keith Law tweets that he expects the Blue Jays to sign their first-round pick, Tyler Beede, for around $3MM. Beede, selected out of high school, has said his decision will come down to the money.
- Diamondbacks GM Kevin Towers has targeted "about 20 guys" who could be on the trade market over the next few weeks, according to the Arizona Republic's Nick Piecoro. While most teams aren't ready to deal yet, Towers says "that doesn't mean I don't do my due diligence and still call."
- Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News argues that, while the Giants need to acquire a catcher at some point, there's no urgency to do so immediately.
- Bartolo Colon's trip to the DL is a reminder that the Yankees likely won't be a championship-caliber team in 2011 without at least one more starting pitching acquisition, says John Harper of the New York Daily News.
- All the 40-man roster moves the Cardinals have made recently could suggest there's need for a trade, tweets Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
- With labor uncertainty surrounding many other professional sports, Bud Selig is proud that baseball is avoiding similar issues, as the commissioner tells Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Hummel's piece includes a rundown of a few key items on the table during CBA talks.
2012 Vesting Options Update
Now that the calendar has flipped to June, let's check in on the status of the various vesting options around the league…
- Bobby Abreu, Angels: $9MM option vests with 433 plate appearances. Abreu has already come to the plate 276 times this year, so this one seems life a safe bet to vest, barring injury.
- Rafael Furcal, Dodgers: $12MM option vests with 600 plate appearances. Furcal is back on the disabled list with an oblique strain, and he's still a month away from returning. He has only 69 plate appearances this year, so this one won't vest.
- Jon Garland, Dodgers: $8MM option vests with 190 innings pitched. Garland has been on the disabled list twice this year (the first two times of his career), and he's currently out with a sore shoulder. He only has 54 innings to his credit and won't be back anytime soon, so this one won't vest.
- Francisco Rodriguez, Mets: $17.5MM option vests with 55 games finished and if doctors declare him healthy at the end of the year. K-Rod has already finished 25 games, putting him on pace for 65 at season's end. A trade to a team that would use him as a set-up man would change everything, but right now the option figures to vest.
- Koji Uehara, Orioles: $4MM option vests with either 55 appearances or 25 games finished. Uehara has appeared in 26 games and finished 11, putting him on pace for 69 and 29, respectively.
- Arthur Rhodes, Rangers: $4MM option vests with 62 appearances and if he's not on the disabled list at the end of the season. He's appeared in 20 games so far, putting him on pace for 50. Rhodes' workload could increase down the stretch.
- Joakim Soria, Royals: $6MM option vests with 55 appearances. He's already appeared in 28 games and is on pace for 71. It's worth noting that even if the option doesn't vest, the Royals would still control Soria as an arbitration-eligible player in 2012.
- Dan Wheeler, Red Sox: $3MM option vests with 65 games; increases to $3.25MM with 70 games. Wheeler has appeared in 17 games so far, so a stint on the disabled list did not help his cause.
Adam Wainwright's 2012 ($9MM) and 2013 ($12MM) options will not vest because he will finish the season on the disabled list after having Tommy John surgery. Aramis Ramirez's option depends on MVP Award finishes and whether or not he's traded, not plate appearances or another counting milestone.
Mark Buehrle is scheduled to become a free agent after the 2011 season and although he doesn't have a traditional option in his contract, he gets an extra year at $15MM tacked onto his current deal if he's traded at some point this season.
Thanks to Cot's Baseball Contracts for the info.
Cardinals Release Ramon Vazquez
The Cardinals have released Ramon Vazquez according to Matt Eddy of Baseball America. St. Louis signed him to a minor league deal back in January.
Vazquez, 34, hit a respectable .275/.362/.321 in 150 plate appearances for the Cardinals’ Triple-A affiliate, playing all three non-first base infield spots. He hasn’t appeared in the majors since 2009, when he followed up a breakout .290/.365/.430 performance with the Rangers with a .230/.335/.279 effort with the Pirates.
Outrighted To Triple-A: Todd, Gibbons, Kouzmanoff,
Here's where we'll keep track of all players who get outrighted to Triple-A today…
- The Cardinals have outrighted Jess Todd to Triple-A, reports Rick Hummel of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Todd returned to the team that originally drafted him after being claimed off waivers last month.
- Dylan Hernandez of The Los Angeles Times reports (on Twitter) that Jay Gibbons has accepted his outright assigment with the Dodgers and will report to their Triple-A affiliate.
- The A's announced that they outrighted Kevin Kouzmanoff to Triple-A (Twitter link). Oakland initially demoted the third baseman on Monday and they outrighted him today to create a 40-man roster spot for Graham Godfrey.
- Jake Fox cleared waivers and the Orioles outrighted him to Triple-A, according to Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com (Twitter link). Fox is expected to report to the minors this weekend, according to Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun (on Twitter). Baltimore designated the utility player for assignment last week and were exploring possible trades, but rival teams, including the Pirates, weren't interested.
NL Central Notes: Astros, Fielder, Pirates, Cubs
When the Brewers take on the Cardinals tonight, St. Louis skipper Tony La Russa will be managing his 5,000th MLB game. Here are notes on the Cardinals, the Brewers and their NL Central rivals…
- The Astros announced that they have signed second round pick Adrian Houser via press release. His signing bonus is unknown, but MLB's slot recommendation for the 69th overall pick is approximately $530K.
- Prince Fielder says he isn't competing with Albert Pujols or thinking about his next contract. But Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports says the Brewers' first baseman may be a safer free agent target than Pujols this coming offseason.
- Pirates owner Bob Nutting told Bob Cohn of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that he is "extremely pleased" with the progress the 30-31 Pirates have made this year. “Tremendous improvement from last year,” Nutting said. “I'm very pleased where we are. And, I really believe that we're beginning to see the impact of the changes we've made in the organization over the last three and a half years.”
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports wonders how long A’s GM Billy Beane will want to remain in Oakland and points out that the Cubs and Astros could be looking for new leadership before long. Beane would be a “leading candidate” for any GM job if he were not in Oakland.
- Jeff Gordon of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says new Astros owner Jim Crane should aim to draft and develop players as successfully as the Cardinals have.
Stark On Rollins, Fielder, Pujols, Olivo, Tigers
A number of iconic players are in contract years, so ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark looks ahead to their free agent stock and provides other rumors from around the league. Here are the details:
- No one Stark spoke with predicts David Ortiz will leave the Red Sox for another team.
- Jose Reyes will be the number two free agent on the market this winter behind only Albert Pujols, according to one executive.
- Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. acknowledges that it wouldn't be easy to replace Jimmy Rollins, even though the shortstop is no longer an MVP-caliber player. The Phillies ‘poked around’ for possible alternatives at short last offseason, according to Stark, who predicts a two-year deal for Rollins and the Phils this winter.
- Prince Fielder will no doubt sign a lucrative free agent deal, but one executive says the first baseman’s body will be an issue: "It has been since high school, and it always will be." Fielder is 27 now, so an eight-year deal would expire after his age-35 season.
- Pujols will test the market, but Stark and his sources find it hard to believe that he’d leave St. Louis for any old team. One executive predicts that the Cubs are the Cardinals’ main threat.
- The Cubs aren’t ready to start selling and haven’t started shopping Carlos Zambrano, despite his recent outburst.
- The Red Sox offered Miguel Olivo a one-year deal before re-signing Jason Varitek last offseason. Olivo eventually signed a two-year deal with the Mariners.
- The Rangers are ‘stepping up’ their search for a right-handed setup man and maintain interest in Nationals reliever Todd Coffey.
- Rival teams say the Tigers are looking for a left-handed reliever. Southpaws Daniel Schlereth, David Purcey, Charlie Furbush and Adam Wilk are currently in Detroit’s bullpen.
Quick Hits: Spangenberg, A’s, Beltran, Cubs, Twins
First Eric Hosmer, now Mike Moustakas. The Royals are calling up their other super-prospect according to Bob Dutton of The Kansas City Star (on Twitter), optioning Mike Aviles to Triple-A to make room on the roster. Moustakas hit .287/.347/.498 for Triple-A Omaha in 250 plate appearances, and congrats to him for reaching the show.
Here's the latest from around the league…
- Padres assistant GM Jason McLeod told Dan Hayes of The North County Times that first round pick Cory Spangenberg will be in San Diego tomorrow to take his physical, indicating that a deal is all but done (Twitter link).
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports says that the Padres and Athletics are unlikely to start selling pieces anytime soon (Twitter link). The call-up of Anthony Rizzo and firing of Bob Geren gives both clubs a new look that they'll first take a chance with.
- Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports says that Mets center fielder Carlos Beltran is willing to waive his no-trade clause to join a team with a chance at a championship.
- Although calls are being made for a fire sale, Gordon Wittenmyer of The Chicago Sun-Times says it won't be easy for the Cubs to move some of their bloated contracts.
- MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince explains why there is no quick fix for what ails the Twins.
- Big money contracts for relievers like Rafael Soriano, Pedro Feliciano, and Hisanori Takahashi haven't worked so far, and MLB.com's Tom Singer says that could change the way teams build bullpens in the future.
- The Diamondbacks have come to terms with 23 draft picks according to a team press release. The highest pick of the group is fourth rounder Evan Marshall.
- Derrick Goold of The St. Louis-Post Dispatch reports that the Cardinals have inked tenth round pick Lance Jeffries (Twitter link).
Jaime Garcia Changed Agents
Jaime Garcia switched agents earlier this year and Melvin Roman of MDR Sports now represents the Cardinals’ left-hander, the agency confirmed. Agent Bobby Barad, Garcia's previous representative, has also lost Robinson Cano and Jorge de la Rosa since leaving TWC Sports, as MLBTR's Tim Dierkes noted on Twitter.
Garcia has a 3.20 ERA with 7.9 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9 through 81 2/3 innings this year. With the exception of one ugly start at Coors Field in late May, Garcia has been consistently effective. The 24-year-old will be arbitration eligible for the first time this offseason and I projected his 2012 earnings at $3-4MM earlier in the season.
Olney On Padres, Wood, Pirates
Teams like the Yankees, Rangers and Cardinals may not have to wait much longer for bullpen help. There will probably be relievers available immediately, according to ESPN.com’s Buster Olney. Here’s the latest on the relief market and other notes from Olney:
- The industry-wide expectation is that the Padres will trade Heath Bell soon.
- Executives wonder if the Padres will decide to take advantage of Mike Adams' substantial trade value and trade him now. The setup man is under team control through 2012.
- Rival teams will presumably call the Cubs to see if Kerry Wood would accept a trade. The right-hander signed a discounted $1.5MM contract last offseason because he wanted to return to Chicago.
- Grant Balfour, Luke Gregerson and Michael Wuertz are other possible trade candidates, according to Olney.
- Though the Pirates have developed more top talent under Neal Huntington, it’s an important year for the GM, who doesn’t have a contract after 2011. The Pirates drafted aggressively once again this year, so Huntington and his scouting staff will have a number of tough signs this summer, such as high schooler Josh Bell.