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Minor Moves: Thomas, Berlind

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We'll keep track of Sunday's minor transactions here…

  • Clete Thomas has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Rochester by the Twins, the team announced (on Twitter). Thomas homered in his second plate appearance for Minnesota, but hit just .143/.172/.286 overall while striking out in 14 of his final 19 plate appearances.
  • The Cubs released right-hander Dan Berlind, according to MLB.com's Carrie Muskat. Berlind, a seventh round selection of the Twins in 2007, had walked 10 through 8 1/3 innings, leading to 16 earned runs.

Cubs Designate Blake DeWitt For Assignment

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The Cubs have designated Blake DeWitt for assignment, according to Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald (via Twitter).  The move will allow the club to make room for right-hander Travis Wood.

The 26-year-old started five games at second base for the Cubs this season and hit just .138/.133/.172 in 30 plate appearances.  In parts of five big league seasons, DeWitt owns a .257/.324/.380 slash line for the Cubs and Dodgers. 

DeWitt could be of interest to teams looking for depth at second or third base.  The former first-round pick also started 17 games for the Cubs in left field in 2011.

Cafardo On Broxton, Phillies, Span, Orioles, White Sox

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In today's column, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe writes that Mariano Rivera is arguably the most important player in the American League East.  The Yankees will look to in-house solutions in the back of their bullpen for now, but other teams in need of relievers will start combing the market for answers.  The Cubs would obviously part with Carlos Marmol.  The Pirates could move Joel Hanrahan, but the price would be steep. The White Sox might trade left-hander Matt Thornton and the Astros could be willing to deal Brett Myers. 

Teams are looking to see whether the Mets would deal Bobby Parnell and whether the Royals move Jonathan Broxton.  Kansas City, however, would need to receive his permission since he was signed as a free agent and otherwise couldn’t be moved until after June 15th.  Here's more from Cafardo..

  • Phillies people insist that they are not on the lookout for a third baseman/left fielder with Placido Polanco struggling.  "We’re just trying to hold our heads above water until we get our guys back," a Phillies official told Cafardo.
  • Twins center fielder Denard Span remains on the Nationals' radar, but with closer Drew Storen sidelined, a deal is on hold for a while.
  • According to an Orioles source, they have received calls on Kevin Gregg and Matt Lindstrom.  The O's would love to move part of Gregg's $5.8MM deal for 2012.  Lindstrom, meanwhile, will earn $3.6MM with a $4MM option for 2013.
  • The Astros will hang on to Wandy Rodriguez until late July when they can get the best possible deal for him.
  • Even though White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski is reaching the end of his contract and is 35, don’t be surprised if the club talks about keeping him for another year or two.  Many in Chicago feel the mantle will be passed to Tyler Flowers, but Jerry Reinsdorf is very loyal to his veteran players.
  • First baseman Derrek Lee is definitely on the Brewers’ radar with Mat Gamel out for the season.  They’re thinking about moving Corey Hart from right field to first, but there may be outside options.  The Red Sox’s Lars Anderson and the Orioles’ Mark Reynolds could be two names to consider.
  • The Red Sox expect to have Andrew Bailey, Jacoby Ellsbury, Carl Crawford, Kevin Youkilis, and Daisuke Matsuzaka back at some point this summer.  General Manager Ben Cherington believes, "that would be better than anything we could do in a trade deadline deal."

Trade Candidate: Bryan LaHair

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When I described Bryan LaHair as having "quality sleeper potential" in a column for Roto Authority back in January, I certainly didn't expect this.  Heading into Thursday's play, LaHair was hitting an absurd .381/.459/.794 in 74 plate appearances as the Cubs' regular first baseman and establishing himself as one of the best stories of this young 2012 campaign.  A 29-year-old with just 219 Major League PAs to his name entering the season, LaHair was expected to do little more than keep first base warm for Anthony Rizzo, but LaHair's success has in all likelihood required a shift in the Cubs' short-term plans.

Or has it?  LaHair is obviously not going to keep up his Ruthian numbers for the entire season, though his solid power numbers in the minors would hint that he's not going to fall completely off the map.  If LaHair regresses even to around an .850 OPS by June, that's still a very solid output, and if he tops that number, even better.  If LaHair is still swinging a hot bat by midseason, it would behoove the Cubs to at least test the market to see what they could get for the first baseman.

The obvious question is, why wouldn't the Cubs just hang onto LaHair and move him to a corner outfield spot once Rizzo is called up?  Rizzo and his Triple-A slash line of .372/.422/.638 certainly look on pace to be in Chicago by midseason at the latest, and if he can translate even some of that quality to the Majors, then the Cubs would have a nice pair of bats to hit behind Starlin Castro. 

The problem could be that the Cubs' preferred trade candidate, David DeJesus, is playing poorly.  Teams aren't going to be be willing to acquire a 32-year-old who has a .687 OPS in 2011-12, is owed approximately $9.15MM through the end of the 2013 season and whose traditionally strong corner OF glove also seems to be failing him.  Chicago's other corner outfielder, Alfonso Soriano, is set to earn approximately $51MM through 2014.  Between Soriano's untradeable contract and DeJesus' lack of form, LaHair is a much more valuable trade commodity than either player and could become the trade chip that the Cubs hoped DeJesus could become.

The Tigers, Dodgers, Phillies and Brewers are just a few of the contenders and would-be contenders that could use a slugging left-handed bat at first, left, right or DH.  Suitors wouldn't pay a king's ransom for LaHair since they would also have an eye on his middling career history, but power is an increasingly rare commodity, so teams would definitely give the Cubs some value if LaHair continues to smash right-handed pitching.  LaHair would also be under team control through 2018 though since he's already 29, controllability is not a major factor in this case.

Cubs fans will no doubt be upset over the club dealing away the feel-good story in the midst of another sub-.500 year, but Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer have stated on many occasions that they're rebuilding the Cubs from the ground up and that 2012 is intended as a rebuilding year.  If Chicago can turn a 29-year-old career minor leaguer into a quality prospect or two, that's a better long-term move for the organization than hoping LaHair is a late-blooming superstar like Jose Bautista and can stay an elite hitter until the Cubs are ready to contend again.

Put it this way — if you asked a Cubs fan even one month ago if they'd be willing to see LaHair dealt for two of another team's top 15 prospects, even the most staunch Wrigleyville dweller would've jumped at that deal.  One red-hot outlier of a month (or even a few hot months) shouldn't be enough to alter the Cubs' rebuilding plan.

Minor Moves: Gonzalez, Hill, Barfield

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Today's minor moves..

Outrighted To Triple-A: Lopez, Carroll

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Here are the latest outright assignments from around MLB…

  • Rodrigo Lopez cleared waivers and accepted an assignment to Triple-A Iowa, Carrie Muskat of MLB.com tweets. The Cubs designated the veteran right-hander for assignment yesterday.
  • The Nationals announced that they outrighted outfielder Brett Carroll to Triple-A (Twitter link). Carroll, who was designated for assignment earlier this month, has accepted the assignment to Syracuse. The 29-year-old has a .201/.280/.319 line in 324 MLB plate appearances and experience at all three outfield positions.

Quick Hits: Willis, Pudge, Lopez, Alvarez

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As if the Phillies didn't already have enough stars on the disabled list, Hunter Pence missed Monday's game due to a shoulder injury suffered diving for a ball Sunday against the Padres.  The extent of the injury is yet unknown and Pence is considered day-to-day for the time being.

Some news from Monday in the Major Leagues…

  • Dontrelle Willis talks to MASNsports.com's Roch Kubatko about the situation that resulted in Willis being placed on the Orioles' restricted list.  Willis is "almost dumbfounded" by how things unfolded, as he thought he and the O's had agreed to part ways since he was injured and not adjusting well to relief pitching.  "I don't understand what's really going on. I don't know if there's been a miscommunication there," Willis said. "Not with me. I talked to my agent and we talked about it, I talked to the proper representation, I talked to Dan [Duquette] personally….It was face-to-face. I don't know what's going on. And now if I want to sign with another team, I can't."
  • Kubatko hears that Willis has drawn interest from a team in South Korea and a team in Japan, but Matt Sosnick, Willis' agent, denies that his client has received any offers.
  • The Marlins' signing of Ivan Rodriguez in 2003 was "money well spent," team president of baseball operations Larry Beinfest tells Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald.  Beinfest doesn't regret any of the moves the club made that season (even trading then-prospect Adrian Gonzalez for Ugueth Urbina) because it led to a championship. "You always hate to trade away a talent like Adrian Gonzalez. But you make it every day if you're going to win the World Series," Beinfest said.
    Read more here: http://miamiherald.typepad.com/fish_bytes/2012/04/quick-reflection-on-pudge.html#storylink=cpy
  • Cubs manager Dale Sveum hopes Rodrigo Lopez will clear waivers and remain with the organization, reports ESPN Chicago's Doug Padilla.  The right-hander was designated for assignment earlier today as the Cubs added Michael Bowden to the roster.
  • Pedro Alvarez's struggles inspired a discussion of the greatest draft busts in history in this mailbag piece from Baseball America's Jim Callis.  Alvarez, taken by the Pirates with the second overall pick of the 2008 draft, could be "the biggest waste of hitting talent in draft history" unless he turns himself around, Callis writes.
  • Twins President Dave St. Peter told Jim Memolo and Jeff Nelson on MLB Network Radio that his team needs to pitch better to recover from its 5-11 start. St. Peter suggested the Twins could move Francisco Liriano to the bullpen temporarily. “He’s an asset for this franchise and we need to get him back into a situation where he can go deep into ballgames,” St Peter said. The 28-year-old lefty faces a make or break year and it was announced today that Liriano would skip his next start and not pitch until May 1.

Cubs Designate Rodrigo Lopez For Assignment

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The Cubs have designated Rodrigo Lopez for assignment, Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune tweets. The move creates roster space for recently-acquired right-hander Michael Bowden.

The Cubs signed Lopez to a minor league deal in January and the 36-year-old right-hander made the team out of Spring Training. Lopez appeared in 26 games for the 2011 Cubs, posting a 4.42 ERA with 5.0 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 in 97 2/3 innings as a starter and reliever.

Quick Hits: Rays, Inge, Red Sox, Indians

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On this day in 1997, the Yankees traded Ruben Rivera, Rafael Medina, and $3MM to the Padres for players to be named later, Homer Bush, and minor leaguer Gordon Amerson.  A little more than a month later, the Padres later sent Hideki Irabu to the Yankees as one of the PTBNLs to complete the deal.  Here's a look at today's links..

Red Sox Acquire Marlon Byrd From Cubs

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Cubs outfielder Marlon Byrd confirmed that he has been traded to the Red Sox, tweets Bruce Levine of ESPNChicago.com. The Cubs will receive Michael Bowden and a player to be named later in exchange for Byrd while paying all but roughly $400K of his $6.5MM salary (the prorated minimum), according to Sean McAdam of CSNNE.com (via Twitter).

The Red Sox designated infielder Nate Spears for assignment to make room for Byrd on the 40-man roster, the club announced. Spears, 26, appeared in four games with Boston this season, including today's loss to the Yankees.

Meanwhile, the player to be named will not be left-hander Andrew Miller, according to Alex Speier of WEEI.com. 

Byrd, 34, has just three singles and one walk in 47 plate appearances this season, resulting in a .070/.149/.070 batting line. He hit .276/.324/.395 in 482 plate appearances last season while missing time with multiple fractures after taking a pitch to the face, an injury that occurred in Fenway Park. Byrd is in the final season of his three-year, $15MM contract and will earn $6.5MM this year. He is not in Chicago's lineup this afternoon.

Ellsbury's subluxed his right shoulder last week and there is still not timetable for his return. Carl Crawford is also on the shelf with wrist and elbow problems, leaving the Red Sox with an outfield of Jason Repko, Ryan Sweeney, Cody Ross, and Darnell McDonald. Byrd has played center field exclusively during his time with the Cubs, though he has experience in all three outfield spots.

Boston has been actively exploring the outfield market following Jacoby Ellsbury's shoulder injury.  The deal will be announced after today's Red Sox game, according to Levine's tweet.

Mike Axisa contributed to this post.

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