- The White Sox aren’t planning to simply sit back idly after acquiring James Shields from the Padres, writes Bruce Levine of CBS Chicago. The amount of money that San Diego kicked in to cover the cost of Shields’ contract has the White Sox positioned to add “at least two more important cogs for a playoff push,” per Levine. Chief among the Sox’ needs at this point are a left-handed bat and a left-handed setup man for the bullpen. Levine lists Jay Bruce as a player of interest, though he notes that when the Sox spoke to the Reds about Bruce in Spring Training, Cincinnati was “adamant” that the Sox would have to cover at least $11MM of the $12.5MM that Bruce is earning in 2016. Beyond that, Levine writes that the chances of the South Siders parting with top prospects Tim Anderson and Carson Fulmer in any trade this season, regardless of target, are “close to zero.” For those interested in some names that could be available as targets for the Sox, MLBTR’s Jeff Todd penned an updated list of the game’s top trade candidates earlier today.
Reds Rumors
Reds Notes: Iglesias, DeSclafani
- In unfortunate news for the Reds, their top starter, right-hander Raisel Iglesias, will work out of the bullpen when he returns from a shoulder injury in a few weeks, reports Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer (Twitter link). The door isn’t closed on the 26-year-old rejoining the Reds’ rotation down the line, but he’ll have to show that his shoulder can hold up, per Buchanan. From a financial point of view, Buchanan notes that the likelihood of Iglesias opting out of his $27MM contract when he becomes eligible for arbitration will decrease if he doesn’t go back to starting (Twitter links). Iglesias has 154 days of major league service time under his belt and will soon reach the 172-day mark necessary for a full year, but he’s still a good distance from the three years needed to take a crack at arbitration. The Cuba native has so far made 23 big league appearances (21 starts) and compiled a 4.00 ERA, 9.68 K/9 and 2.55 BB/9 in 123 innings.
- On the bright side for the Reds, righty Anthony DeSclafani is likely to make his 2016 debut during the upcoming week – perhaps Friday – tweets Buchanan. The 26-year-old has been out all season with an oblique issue. He performed well in 2015, his first full big league campaign, totaling 184 2/3 innings of 4.05 ERA/3.67 FIP/3.97 xFIP pitching.
Reds Preparing For Creative Draft
- The Reds are gearing up for what could prove to be an interesting draft, as MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon reports. Cincinnati sports the highest overall draft bonus pool in the league, and scouting director Chris Buckley says that could open some opportunities to “get more creative throughout the entire draft — not just early in the draft but later in the draft.” Signability remains a key consideration, he noted. President of baseball operations Walt Jocketty also cited the benefits of the large pool, saying the team aims to “improve the depth and inventory” of the farm.
Reds Not Yet Receiving Trade Calls
- Reds president of baseball operations Walt Jocketty says that his organization has not been fielding calls on possible trade pieces, MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon reports. Jocketty says his expectation is that trade chatter won’t really pick up until late June. “It’s really hard to say,” said Jocketty. “I don’t think anything will happen much until after the Draft. That’s usually when it starts to happen, a couple of weeks after the Draft.” Of course, that’s not to say that there isn’t any action in the month of June; I recently looked back at some notable trades in recent years and we just saw a swap yesterday involving a veteran reliever.
Reds Notes: Alfredo Rodriguez, Draft
- The Reds, meanwhile, may yet be able to stay within their second-in-the-majors allotment, per Badler. Cincinnati is still expected to give shortstop Alfredo Rodriguez a $7MM bonus, but could still pick up enough slots via trade to keep the total spend within the limits.
- Speaking of mock drafts, there are several new ones worth taking a look at for those interested in prognostication. Frankie Piliere of D1Baseball.com still likes the Phillies to grab University of Florida lefty A.J. Puk at 1-1, which is also the prediction of ESPN.com’s Keith Law (Insider link). Law has Kyle Lewis going second to the Reds and Groome heading to the Braves with the third choice. Baseball America’s John Manuel, meanwhile, now thinks the Phils will go for high school outfielder Mickey Moniak, leaving Cincinnati to grab Puk and setting up Atlanta to take Louisville’s Corey Ray.
[SOURCE LINK]
When Should Reds Trade Zack Cozart?
- If the Reds intend to trade Zack Cozart, Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer suggests that the club should move the shortstop before the deadline rather than wait until the offseason. Anything can happen to lower a player’s value if you wait too long to make a trade, Buchanan argues, as the Reds discovered with Aroldis Chapman last year. Cozart’s value may be at an all-time high since, in addition to his usual excellent defense, he’s been an above-average (104 wRC+) shortstop bat for the last two seasons.
Cafardo: Reds Shopping Jay Bruce
- While Reds right fielder Jay Bruce is available, he won’t come cheap if the team has its way. The Reds nearly sent Bruce to Toronto during the winter, but the deal fell through after Cincinnati got cold feet over the health of one of the prospects whom it was supposed to acquire. The lefty-swinging Bruce was coming off two uncharacteristically subpar offensive seasons at the time, but he has perhaps rebuilt some of his value with an above-average .261/.313/.497 line to pair with eight homers in 176 PAs this year. Bruce, 29, is currently on a $12.5MM salary and has a $13MM club option ($1MM buyout) for 2017.
[SOURCE LINK]
Steve Delabar Accepts Outright Assignment
- The Reds announced tonight that right-hander Steve Delabar has accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A after clearing waivers. (SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo first tweeted the move earlier this afternoon). Cincinnati designated Delabar, 32, for assignment on Sunday after he struggled through eight innings of relief at the big league level this season. Delabar, who posted a 3.49 ERA in 131 2/3 innings between the Mariners and Blue Jays from 2011-13, has struggled to rediscover that form in the seasons to follow. His 2016 work the the Blue Jays resulted in six earned runs on five hits and an alarming 10 walks in eight innings, though he did also pick up 10 strikeouts in that time. He’ll look to get back on track in Triple-A, where he excelled in 2014, 2015 and earlier this season as well.
Yankees Claim Layne Somsen From Reds
The Yankees have claimed righty Layne Somsen off waivers from the Reds, per an announcement from New York. It appears that he was placed on outright waivers to clear a 40-man spot.
Somsen, who’ll soon turn 27, was greeted roughly in his first two major league appearances. But he’s shown some promise in the minors, including a 19-inning run at Triple-A this year in which he’s allowed just four earned runs on ten hits with a strikeout per frame against seven walks.
Reds Acquire International Bonus Slots From Orioles
TODAY: The signing slots acquired are worth around $700K, per Dan Connolly of BaltimoreBaseball.com (Twitter link). That would appear to suggest that the Reds have added Baltimore’s first ($538,800) and fourth ($154,500) pool allocations.
YESTERDAY: The Reds have picked up two international signing slots from the Orioles in exchange for minor league righty Franderlyn Romero, according to a Baltimore announcement. Dayton Dragons pitching coach Derrin Ebert had revealed the news that Romero was headed to the O’s earlier today (via Dayton broadcaster Tom Nichols, on Twitter).
This move fits alongside Baltimore’s draft pick deal earlier today. In both instances, the club picked up questionable minor league talent while passing off some of its amateur spending capacity. The other trade also saw the O’s shed just under $3MM in salary, in the form of Brian Matusz’s contract. Only certain draft picks may be dealt, but teams are able to trade individual signing allotments, subject to certain restrictions.
It’s not yet known which slots were sent to Cincinnati, but Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer notes on Twitter that they are for the current signing season, not the one set to begin on July 2 of this year. What that means for the Reds’ plans remains to be seen, but it’s an important distinction. After all, most of the talent available for the 2015-16 period has already signed, though there are some notable Cuban players who could sign in either period.
Among those players is Cuban shortstop Alfredo Rodriguez, who had a reported deal with the Reds. As Steve Adams of MLBTR explains here, that created some issues and raised some questions. The organization has seemingly sought to push the signing back to this summer so as to avoid incurring a two-year ban on future signings. After all, Cinci enters the coming July 2 period with a total bonus pool of just over $5MM (second-highest in the league), and the club would surely like to utilize that availability to boost its talent pipeline.
In return, Baltimore picks up a 23-year-old hurler who’s yet to advance past the Class A level. Romero opened the year there after previously making just one outing above Rookie ball. He’s off to a solid start for Dayton, at least, with a 2.87 ERA in 47 frames and 8.0 K/9 against 1.7 BB/9.
