Central Notes: Humber, Cubs, Rasmus, Draft
The Central divisions are home to not just the four worst records in baseball (the Twins, Astros, Cubs and Royals) but also to the Cardinals and their MLB-best 37-25 record. Here's some news from the middle of the baseball map…
- Phil Humber's improbable journey from being a third overall pick to injury-riddled obscurity to a star in the White Sox rotation is chronicled by ESPNChicago's Jon Greenberg.
- The Cubs have no plans to rush Brett Jackson to the Major Leagues, reports MLB.com's Carrie Muskat. Jackson just recently returned to action after a finger injury. Muskat's piece also contains updates on several other Cubs prospects.
- The Cardinals would be "crazy" to think about dealing Colby Rasmus, writes Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
- The Tigers took position players with 10 of their first 11 draft picks, and 24 of their first 29 picks were college players. Baseball America's John Wagner looks at how both trends were a departure from Detroit's recent draft strategies.
- Bill Hall has cleared waivers and is now a free agent, tweets Steve Campbell of the Houston Chronicle. Hall was put on release waivers by the Astros on Monday.
- The Astros can also claim the first signing of the 2011 Amateur Draft, as 44th-round pick Blake Ford told Stephen Goff of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link) that he will sign tonight. Ford, a right-hander from Lamar University, happened to have tickets to tonight's Astros-Cardinals game so he figured he would take care of his contract while at the ballpark. Also from Goff, the Astros have already signed two other draft picks.
Draft Notes: Nationals, Bundy, Cardinals, Astros
Be sure to catch up on the results from the first and supplemental rounds of the draft. As we await day two of the big event, here's what you need to know:
- ESPN.com's Keith Law lists the Rays, Twins and D'Backs among his day one winners while questioning moves by the Braves, Rockies and others. High school outfielder Josh Bell heads Law's list of best remaining players.
- Bell, Daniel Norris and Dillon Howard are the best players remaining according to MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo.
- Anthony Rendon, Alex Meyer and Brian Goodwin, Washington's first three picks, are all Scott Boras clients, according to MLB.com's Bill Ladson. The Nationals have a history of selecting Boras clients, going back to first overall picks Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper.
- Rendon plays the same position as Nationals cornerstone Ryan Zimmerman, but "the point of the draft is to take the best player available" regardless of the big league roster, Zimmerman told Ladson.
- Top Orioles pick Dylan Bundy may be an especially difficult player to sign, according to Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun. “The numbers that were thrown out were true," Bundy said, without saying explicitly that he's looking for a $30MM bonus.
- Cardinals scouting director Jeff Luhnow sounds confident that he'll be able to sign first rounder Kolten Wong before the August deadline for deals, according to MLB.com's Matthew Leach.
- Red Sox GM Theo Epstein and scouting director Amiel Sawdaye broke down Boston's top four picks and Alex Speier of WEEI.com has the details. Epstein says he thought some things broke Boston's way.
- Stephen Goff of the Houston Astros Examiner gets the sense that Astros' amateur scouting director Bobby Heck will take a pitcher with the 69th overall selection (Twitter link).
Draft Links: Cole, Orioles, Phillies, Cardinals
The day of the First-Year Player Draft is finally upon us. Here's the latest news and rumors as tonight's event draws nearer …
- The Pirates, as has been speculated for several days, will take UCLA righty Gerrit Cole with the No. 1 overall pick, according to Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com.
- The Orioles have long been linked to prep pitcher Dylan Bundy out of Oklahoma with the No. 4 pick, but they may be shifting focus to Archie Bradley, another prep pitcher, writes Steve Melewski of MASNSports.com.
- Ed Barkowitz of Philly.com identifies TCU lefty Matt Purke as a possibility for the Phillies with their first pick, No. 39. Purke, who was a first-round pick of the Rangers in 2009 but didn't sign, has seen his stock tumble as a result of shoulder troubles.
- Because the Cardinals have only one pick on Day 1 of the draft and only two in the top 100, they're less likely to take risky players, writes Nathan Hart of the St. Louis Post Dispatch. The Redbirds are tentatively planning to take a position player, though that is not definite.
- The Rangers are looking at Massachusetts prep righty Tyler Beede, writes Jamey Newberg of the Newberg Report, noting how difficult it can be to accurately predict draft picks.
- The Rockies are still on Utah first baseman C.J. Cron at No. 20, according to Troy Renck of the Denver Post (via Twitter).
- It's never too late to draft a superstar, writes Jeff Passan of Yahoo!, who runs down some of the best steals in draft history.
- The Dodgers worked out Trevor Gretzky, Wayne's son, and Ryan Garvey, Steve's son, on Sunday, writes Ken Gurnick of MLB.com, though both players have committed to college.
- Red Sox outfielder Darnell McDonald has had a strange journey through the minors, which is why drafting two-sport stars is tricky, writes Mike Petraglia of WEEI.com. Ryan Hannable, also of WEEI.com, has tallied up the experts' projections for the Red Sox's draft picks.
- Owning the first overall pick in the draft does not guarantee future success, writes Rob Neyer of SBNation.com.
Free Agent Stock Watch: Lance Berkman
Most eyes are on Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder as it pertains to the upcoming class of free-agent first basemen, and rightly so. However, Pujols' teammate Lance Berkman, who signed a one-year, $8MM deal with the Redbirds in the offseason, bears watching, too.
Through his first two months in St. Louis, Berkman has largely regained the stroke that made him one of baseball's best and most consistent sluggers during the first decade of his career. His season line stood at .329/.444/.599 entering Sunday's game against the Cubs, which is vastly better than the .248/.368/.413 he posted during an injury-marred 2010 that he split between the Astros and Yankees.
Some regression is to be expected this season considering Berkman's career line of .297/.410/.547, but clearly a steep decline is not underway as 2010 may have indicated. However, 2012 will Berkman's age-36 season, and although he's playing the outfield now with St. Louis, he's best suited for first base or perhaps even DH, a role he filled during his time with the Yanks. As it is, he's been getting fairly regular rest as he works around various nagging ailments.
So, what does this mean for his Berkman's prospects on the free-agent market? Of course, a lot could happen between now and then, but barring injury, I think the Big Puma will be looking at a deal comparable to the one Aubrey Huff signed with the Giants last offseason: two years, $22MM, and perhaps some kind of option. Berkman has a more distinguished career than Huff, of course, but he is older and has had injury concerns the past couple years. As well, Berkman will be viewed as third-best free-agent first baseman after Pujols and Fielder. Carlos Pena, who is younger but not as good of a hitter as Berkman, will draw interest too.
With a lot of variables at play here – such as the Cards' dealings with Pujols, Berkman's health and his red-hot start – it'll be interesting to see how it plays out.
NL Central Notes: Reds, Cardinals, Bartlett, Cubs
Let's take a look at some items out of the NL Central, including a Point-Counterpoint on the Cardinals and Jason Bartlett..
- The Reds' biggest need at the trade deadline will be at shortstop if Paul Janish doesn't turn things around at the plate, tweets John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer. The 28-year-old is hitting .221/.250/.260 so far this year.
- Jeff Gordon of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says the Cardinals should be "all over" Jason Bartlett if the Padres make him available. While Gordon likes what Ryan Theriot has brought to the table this year, he believes that his substandard defensive play at shortstop is hurting the club.
- Meanwhile, Derrick Goold of the Post-Dispatch presents a respectful dissent to the case for Bartlett. While Bartlett is a better option defensively than Theriot, the gap between the two at the plate is too large to overlook.
- Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald wonders if it's time for a regime change with the Cubs’ baseball operation. Miles points out that GM Jim Hendry is getting to rebuild his club for a third time, something few major-market GMs get to do.
Cardinals Have Inquired On Heath Bell
Fernando Salas has converted all ten of his save opportunities in 2011, so the Cardinals may not need another closer this summer. But in case Salas, Ryan Franklin, Eduardo Sanchez, Mitchell Boggs and the rest of the St. Louis bullpen don't offer enough late-inning stability, the Cardinals are doing their homework. They're among the teams that have checked in on Padres closer Heath Bell, according to ESPN.com's Buster Olney (on Twitter).
Bell, 33, earns $7.5MM this year and hits free agency after the season. He converted his fourth save in as many days tonight and now has 14 on the season to go along with a 1.96 ERA, 7.0 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9. The Rangers have also checked in on Bell, whose trade value I explored last week.
Quick Hits: Pirates, Reyes, Mariners, Galarraga
Links for Sunday, after John Danks was unable to get his first win of 2011 this afternoon….
- It seems likely that the Pirates will place Ryan Doumit on the disabled list after he injured his ankle today, and Rob Biertempfel of The Pittsburgh-Tribune Review says (on Twitter) that Dusty Brown would get called up to replace him since Jason Jaramillo is also hurt. Pittsburgh's 40-man roster is full, so a move will have to be made to accommodate Brown.
- Andy McCullough of The Star-Ledger reports (on Twitter) that Mets shortstop Jose Reyes was again asked about his contract following today's game. "I've told you like a million times already," said Reyes, an impending free agent. "If [an extension] comes, it comes. If not, I'm going to continue to play."
- Larry Stone of The Seattle Times spoke to Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik about the upcoming draft, who indicated that he will not draft based on team need and that they have a group of about five players they're specifically targeting for the second overall pick.
- Bob Cohn of The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review wrote about the importance that decision-making plays into the success of small market teams.
- Armando Galarraga wasn't pleased about his demotion to Triple-A, writes Chris Gabel of the Reno Gazette-Journal. The right-hander was blunt about why he stayed in the Diamondbacks' organization and accepted his minor league assignment: "The money. They have to pay me $2.3MM to come here."
- The trade pulled off by the Yankees, Tigers, and Diamondbacks in 2009 was the rare three-way deal that worked out for each team, says Joel Sherman of the New York Post.
- Asked whether the Indians could pursue Jim Thome this summer, Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer points out that if the Twins make him available, it likely won't be until after he hits his 600th home run. Hoynes doubts that the veteran slugger is a fit for the Tribe anyway.
- While the Red Sox committed over $300MM to Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez this year, their smaller investments are also paying dividends, writes Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe.
- P.J. Walters was removed from the Cardinals' 40-man roster and cleared waivers earlier this weekend, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Quick Hits: Gonzalez, Cardinals, Posey
On this date in 1968, MLB announced two new expansion teams: the Montreal Expos and the San Diego Padres. The Expos’ ancestors (the Nationals) and the Padres occupy last place in their respective divisions this year. Here’s the latest from the Major Leagues:
- Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports hears that the Tigers kicked around the idea of trading for Adrian Gonzalez when he was with the Rangers in 2004-05 (Twitter link). However, talks never got very far and the Rangers dealt the first baseman to San Diego.
- A rival GM told Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports that he expects the Cardinals to make a “major push” to acquire talent this summer, since this could be St. Louis’ last playoff run with Albert Pujols.
- Giants catcher Buster Posey would be “infinitely safer” at first base because he’d stay fresher, according to Gwen Knapp of the San Francisco Chronicle (she acknowledges that Posey adds plenty of value as a catcher).
- An NL executive who could benefit from Posey’s absence was rattled by the catcher's injury because he's good for baseball, according to EPSN.com’s Buster Olney.
Astros Claim Blake King Off Of Waivers
The Astros have claimed right-handed pitcher Blake King off waivers from the Cardinals, according to a team press release. The 24-year-old was placed on the Astros 40-man roster and optioned to Double-A Corpus Christi.
King failed to impress in 2011 at the Triple-A level after spending the bulk of his time in Double-A Springfield. In 58 career Double-A appearances, the 6-foot-1 hurler has a 3.47 ERA with 11.1 K/9 and 7.1 BB/9.
Heyman On Reyes, Rodriguez, A’s, Minaya
We know that Mets owner Fred Wilpon doesn’t think Jose Reyes is a $142MM player, but how do other insiders see it? Jon Heyman of SI.com hears from five MLB executives who estimate Reyes will sign for somewhere between $45-108MM after the season when he hits free agency. Here’s the latest from around the majors, with a focus on Reyes’ Mets:
- Francisco Rodriguez, who can veto trades to ten teams, told Heyman that he understands baseball is “a business” and deals happen.
- There’s no chance the Mariners trade Felix Hernandez now that they’re playing better, according to Heyman.
- If the White Sox make a starter available, Edwin Jackson could be the one to hit the trade market, as he’s eligible for free agency after the season.
- Over the weekend, MLBTR’s Mark Polishuk weighed in on what a “bad” season would mean for Albert Pujols. Heyman says Pujols will surely do well even if his off-year continues, since the Cardinals “aren't going to lower their offer of nine years and more than $200MM.”
- Ivan Rodriguez repeated that he wants to play three more years.
- Despite the recent controversy involving A’s manager Bob Geren and relievers Brian Fuentes and Huston Street, Heyman says the skipper “isn't going anywhere.”
- The Indians are one of a few teams that has shown interest in former Mets and Expos GM Omar Minaya.