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Draft Signings: Indians, Smith, Kuhl, Wade, O’Neill

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Here's today's rundown of notable Day 2 and Day 3 draft picks to sign (all slot info courtesy of Baseball America's list of assigned pick values)…

  • The Indians announced, via Twitter, that they have signed four draft picks, including right-hander Trevor Frank, who served as the closer for the UC Riverside this season.
  • Baseball America's Jim Callis tweets that the Padres fourth-rounder Mason Smith received a $415K bonus. Smith signed slightly under the assigned pick value of $433K. The high school outfielder from Idaho was committed to Utah and projects to have a plus bat with average power. MLB.com's Corey Brock first reported the Smith signing, as noted below.
  • Pirates ninth-rounder Chad Kuhl signed for the full slot value of $145K, tweets Callis, who adds that the Delaware right-hander generates a lot of ground-balls with his sinker.
  • The Yankees have signed fourth-rounder Tyler Wade to a deal worth $371K, according to Callis (on Twitter).  The high school shortstop's bonus matches the assigned value of his pick.  Callis writes that Wade boasts plus speed and a plus arm with a line-drive bat.
  • Callis tweets that the Mariners signed third-round pick Tyler O'Neill to an above-slot $650K bonus (assigned value was $631K). O'Neill, a prep catcher from Canada, has drawn comparisons to Brett Lawrie because of his bat and power. He's likely to end up in the outfield.
  • The Diamondbacks have signed third-round pick and first baseman/outfielder Daniel Palka for $550K, Callis tweets. Arizona secured the Georgia Tech product under slot, as the assigned pick value for the No. 88 slot was $603K. Palka has big power and a strong arm that could profile in right field, Callis adds.
  • The Reds went over slot to sign their fifth-round pick, according to Callis (Twitter link), inking prep shortstop Cory Thompson for $367K (slot was $275K). Callis adds that Thompson is a solid runner with a good glove and some pop in his bat, but he also has a fastball in the low 90s.
  • MLB.com's Corey Brock tweets that the Padres have signed 20 draft picks, including Hofstra right-hander Bryan Verbitsky (No. 86 overall), high school center fielder Mason Smith (No. 118) San Francisco right-hander Adam Cimber (No. 268) and UNC right-hander Justin Livengood (No. 298). The slot values for those picks are $621K, $433K, $146K and $134K, respectively.
  • Two of those 20 picks that Brock mentions are Memphis lefty Erik Schoenrock (11th round) and junior college lefty Payton Baskette, tweets Callis. Each pick signed for an even $100K.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

Reds Sign Phillip Ervin

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The Reds have signed first-round pick Phillip Ervin for the exact slot recommendation of $1,812,400 according to Baseball America's Jim Callis (on Twitter). Ervin Ervin is advised by Moye Sports Associates. 

Cincinnati selected Ervin, an outfielder from Samford Universtiy, with the No. 27 overall pick in the 2013 draft. Callis notes that Ervin has the potential to stick in center field and was one of his favorite prospects in the entire draft class.

Ervin ranked 23rd on Baseball America's list of Top 500 draft prospects, 21st on Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com's Top 100 list and 54th on Keith Law of ESPN's Top 100 list (ESPN Insider required). With this agreement, Ervin becomes the highest draft pick to sign thus far and the first player from the 2013 first round to sign as well.

Ervin is the first college bat selected by the Reds in the first round since Yasmani Grandal back in 2010 and their first college outfielder since they selected Drew Stubbs eighth overall out of Texas in 2006. Cincinnati did select Cal outfielder Jeff Gelalich in the supplemental round of last year's draft as compensation for losing Francisco Cordero.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Reynolds Nearing Opt-Out Date With Reds

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Right-hander Greg Reynolds can opt out of his minor league contract with the Reds on Saturday, MLBTR has learned.

Reynolds, 27, has pitched to a 2.51 ERA with 5.3 K/9 and 1.6 BB/9 in 86 innings (12 starts) for the Triple-A Louisville Bats. The No. 2 overall pick in the 2006 draft is doing the best Triple-A work of his career, and the Reds do have an open spot in the rotation with Johnny Cueto on the disabled list. However, manager Dusty Baker recently noted that top prospect Tony Cingrani, who is already on the 40-man roster and pitched for the team earlier this season, is the likely candidate to replace Cueto (MLB.com's Mark Sheldon reporting). The team could, of course, elect to use Reynolds in a bullpen that needs some help. Cincinnati's relief corps has a 4.11 ERA on the season, which ranks 22nd in the Majors.

Reynolds, a Stanford product much like recent No. 1 overall pick Mark Appel, has a 7.47 ERA with just 40 strikeouts against 36 walks in 94 Major League innings — all coming with the Rockies in 2008 and 2011.

Reds Release Mike MacDougal

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Today's minor moves…

  • The Reds released reliever Mike MacDougal from their Triple-A club, according to the International League transactions page.  MacDougal, who signed a minor league deal in April, posted a 5.49 ERA, 9.2 K/9, 5.0 BB/9, and 0.92 HR/9 in 19 2/3 innings this year.  The 36-year-old made seven relief appearances for the Dodgers in April last year.  MacDougal has 71 career saves, mostly for the Royals and Nationals, and is well ahead of Rocky Biddle for the highest total among native Nevadans.  MacDougal was drafted by the Royals in the first round in 1999, a pick received from the Red Sox as part of the compensation for the loss of Jose Offerman.
  • Seven players currently reside in DFA limbo: Evan Crawford and Henry Blanco of the Blue Jays, Nate Adcock of the Royals, Zach Duke and Henry Rodriguez of the Nationals, Vinnie Catricala of the Mariners, and Jon Garland of the Rockies.

Draft Notes: Appel, Wren, Jones

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Astros owner Jim Crane is confident that his team can reach an agreement with the top overall pick in this weekend's draft, Stanford pitcher Mark Appel, reports Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle. "They had something worked out that they felt comfortable," says Crane. Appel did not sign after being selected by the Pirates with the No. 8 overall pick last year, but the Astros will be able to offer him more money this year — the bonus pool allotment for the No. 1 pick in 2013 is about $7.8MM. Here are more notes from the draft.

  • The Braves took Georgia Tech center fielder Kyle Wren in the eighth round on Friday, and his father, Braves GM Frank Wren, found that a bit awkward, Carroll Rogers of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes. "Selfishly we’re getting a player with talent, so I feel good about that," says Frank Wren. "But I think it’s going to be a little tougher on him than probably anyone else. That’s the (hard) part that as a dad, just knowing going in that he’s going to have endure some of that." Indeed, Kyle Wren looks like a credible pick from a talent perspective — Baseball America ranked him the No. 215 prospect in the draft, and the Braves picked him at No. 253. Rogers notes that, in 2002, the Braves also drafted former GM John Schuerholz's son Jonathan.
  • In the ninth round of the draft, the Reds picked Chad Jones — the same Chad Jones who was selected as a safety by the New York Giants in the third round of the NFL Draft in 2010. Jim Kleinpeter of the New Orleans Times-Picayune notes that Jones is taking a very unusual path back into professional sports. The former two-sport LSU standout almost lost his leg in a car accident soon after the Giants picked him, and now, years later and after lots of rehabilitation for his leg injuries, he's emerged as a left-handed pitching prospect. Jones played for LSU's 2007 national champion football team, as well as its 2009 College World Series-winning baseball team.

NL Central Notes: Pirates, Feldman, Mujica, Francisco

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The Pirates' record sits at 33-20, and while Fangraphs' Dave Cameron doesn't think the Bucs will keep playing .623 ball for the rest of the season, the team's expected regression shouldn't be enough to keep them from playoff contention, or at the very least their first winning record since 1992.  Of course, last year's Pirates also looked good before completely falling apart after the All-Star break, so Pittsburgh fans shouldn't count their chickens until their club actually posts that 82nd victory. 

Here's the latest from the NL Central…

  • Cubs right-hander Scott Feldman could be a major trade chip this summer, ESPN Chicago's Bruce Levine writes.  An AL scout tells Levine that Feldman is "one of those pitchers that you don't get that excited about unless you watch him over a period of starts.  He has really commanded his pitches this season and you see the confidence and consistent outings from him."  Feldman signed a one-year, $6MM contract with Chicago last winter and has rebuilt his value by posting a 2.82 ERA, 7.57 K/9, 2.68 K/BB and 50.6% ground ball rate through 10 starts.  (The advanced metrics indicate a bit of luck, as Feldman also has a 3.92 FIP, 3.78 xFIP and a .254 BABIP.)  The Cubs "may be reluctant" to move Feldman, Levine notes, though they would likely make a trade in exchange for a quality prospect.
  • The Cardinals' trade for Edward Mujica last July has turned into a steal, Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes.  The Cards added Mujica as bullpen depth last year and he has surprisingly blossomed into an elite closer after the club's other end-game options all had injury or performance issues.  Zack Cox, a 2010 first-round draft pick, was sent to the Marlins for Mujica and is hitting .298/.398/.381 at Double-A Jacksonville.  MLBTR's Steve Adams recently looked at how Mujica's performance has greatly enhanced his free agent stock for the coming offseason.
  • John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer (Twitter link) doesn't see the Reds making a play for Juan Francisco now that the third baseman has been designated for assignment by the Braves.  Francisco was originally signed by the Reds and played three seasons in Cincinnati before being dealt to Atlanta for J.J. Hoover in April 2012.  The left-handed hitting Francisco makes sense on paper as a complement to Todd Frazier, though I'd suspect the Reds would prefer to keep Frazier playing every day.

Minor Moves: Wells, Reds, McPherson, Towles

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Here are your minor moves for Wednesday…

  • Salt Lake Bees radio broadcaster Steve Klauke reports (on Twitter) that the Angels have released veteran Kip Wells to make room on the roster for the recently outrighted Billy Buckner. Wells, 36, had a 10.36 ERA, 3.3 K/9 and 8.1 BB/9 in 24 1/3 innings at Triple-A.
  • Reds assistant director of media relations Jamie Ramsey reports that the team has purchased the contract of 21-year-old outfielder Sebastian Elizalde from the Mexican League. In 147 career games in that league, Elizalde is a .301/.353/.450 hitter. He will report to extended Spring Training (Twitter links).
  • Dallas McPherson has signed a contract with the York Revolution of the Atlantic League, according to Chris Cotillo of MLBDailyDish.com (on Twitter). McPherson has a pair of 40-homer minor league campaigns under his belt and was once one of the best power prospects in baseball. He's hit just .241/.292/.446 as a Major Leaguer, however.
  • The Dodgers have signed catcher J.R. Towles to a minor league contract, tweets Ken Davidoff of the New York Post. The former top prospect is now 29 years old and has a .265/.361/.423 batting line in 223 career games at Triple-A. At the Major League level, he's just a .187/.267/.315 hitter in 484 plate appearances — all coming with the Astros. He last saw the bigs in 2011.
  • The Blue Jays have selected the contract of Triple-A Buffalo closer Neil Wagner, tweets MLBTR's Tim Dierkes. The Jays already had an open spot on their 40-man roster. The 29-year-old NDSU product has a 0.89 ERA with 32 strikeouts and eight walks in 20 1/3 frames at Buffalo this season.

Central Notes: Reds, Cubs, Morneau

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Here are a few notes from around baseball's Central divisions:

  • With the Reds welcoming the division-rival Cubs for a three-game set on the same day that Cincinnati reliever Sean Marshall made another DL trip, Hal McCoy of the Dayton Times looked back on the December 2011 deal between these clubs that put Marshall in the Reds' pen. Travis Wood, the primary piece going to Chicago in that trade, is off to a sparkling start to the year with a 2.24 ERA over 60 1/3 innings. While he has posted a pedestrian 5.8 K/9 to go with 2.8 BB/9, Wood has managed a stellar .928 WHIP this season, good for seventh best among starters, tied with Shelby Miller. (Of course, that mark owes to the lefty's exceedingly low .193 BABIP-against. He sports a career mark of .262; league average currently sits at .292.) Marshall, meanwhile, continues to be effective when he is healthy: he sports an ERA of just over 2.50 over his two seasons in Cincinnati. It is worth noting, as well, that the Reds' rotation is in fine shape thus far without Wood: Cinci starters own the second-best collective ERA in baseball, after the Cardinals.
  • Even if the Cubs have played better than their record, the team is looking up in the standings at a host of strong ballclubs. Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times writes that the club is already feeling the mid-summer trade deadline, though it remains a ways away. Manager Dale Sveum acknowledged that, while the team is still "trying to put things together where you pull off some streaks … to give yourself a chance to give yourself hope," the team "all know[s] that if we don't, there can be changes." Wittenmyer says that a number of players could be on the trading block, including starters Scott Feldman and Matt Garza, relivers Kevin Gregg and James Russell, and outfielder David DeJesus. 
  • The Cubs' major offseason acquisition, pitcher Edwin Jackson, has been a disappointment among an otherwise solid rotation. Nevertheless, the Chicago Tribune's Paul Sullivan reports, Jackson is in no danger of losing his starting role. Sveum said that the team is "going to stick with him," in part due to Jackson's four-year, $52MM deal. Said Sveum: "You've got a commitment there and you've got to stick with the commitment."
  • Twins first bagger Justin Morneau, a soon-to-be free agent, has not engaged in any extension talks with his team, a source tells Darren Wolfson of 1500ESPN.com. As Morneau finishes off his six-year, $80MM deal with Minnesota, he has failed to restore the power that landed him that contract. Morneau slashed .345/.437/.628 over an injury-shortened 2010 season, but registered a .267/.333/.440 line last year and currently sits at .312/.353/.416 over 190 plate appearances this season. 

Quick Hits: Beltran, D’Backs, Montero, Draft, Cashner

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Epifanio "Epi" Guerrero, one of the key figures in the history of Dominican baseball, passed today at age 71.  Guerrero signed a number of notable international talents (including Cesar Cedeno, Carlos Delgado and Tony Fernandez) while working in the Astros, Yankees, Blue Jays and Brewers organizations as a scout and coach during a career that began in 1965.  Guerrero was one of the first scouts to be involved in the development of the academy system that gave countless young Dominican prospects chances at a professional career.  We here at MLBTR extend our condolences to Guerrero's friends and family on his passing.

Here are some news items from around the baseball world…

  • While it has been assumed that the Cardinals will part ways with Carlos Beltran after this season, Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch thinks both Beltran and the Cardinals could benefit from Beltran re-signing a short-term contract, provided the veteran was willing to take a hometown discount.  While Miklasz has a point that Beltran is a surer thing to produce for a contender than youngsters like Oscar Taveras or Matt Adams, I would be surprised if Beltran returned to St. Louis in 2014.  If the Cards were confident enough in their young talent to let Albert Pujols and Kyle Lohse go, they'll do with the same with Beltran.
  • The Diamondbacks may not need to make any major moves before the trade deadline, FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal writes.  The Snakes have depth at several positions and further reinforcements are coming as some injured players return from the disabled list.  The only possible area of need could be at closer given J.J. Putz's elbow problems but GM Kevin Towers is "100% confident" that Putz will recover.
  • The Mariners talked with Jesus Montero about a long-term contract before he was linked to the Biogenesis scandal, but nothing came of those conversations, Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports tweets.  Earlier today, the M's demoted the 23-year-old to Triple-A.
  • If MLB announces that an international draft will take place in 2014, Baseball America's Ben Badler notes that teams like the Rangers, Yankees, Cardinals or Reds (who are likely to pick near the end of that draft's first round) could be wise to exceed the spending cap on international prospects this year.  Such teams would lose their 2014 or '15 international draft first-rounder for going over the cap, but it could be worth it to get a jump on the non-American/Canadian talent market.
  • MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo profiles some of the top corner infielders in the upcoming amateur draft, a list led by University of San Diego third baseman Kris Bryant.
  • ESPN's Keith Law discusses draft prospects, minor leaguers and other moves from around the game in a live chat with fans.
  • Andrew Cashner is making great strides as a starting pitcher for the Padres, MLB.com's Corey Brock writes.  Cashner has a 2.80 ERA in six starts for the Friars in 2013 after being limited to mostly bullpen work over his first three seasons due to injuries and concerns about his arm strength.  If Cashner develops into a solid starter, it will obviously give the Padres a much greater return on the Anthony Rizzo trade from January 2012.
  • The Rays' pitching depth is the envy of baseball, MLB.com's Bill Chastain writes, and that depth at the Major League level gives all their minor league arms time to properly develop into the club's next generation of rotation stalwarts.

MLBTR's Zach Links contributed to this post

Jocketty Discusses Choo

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Shin-Soo Choo has been even better than the Reds expected in the early going, and as the projected second-best free agent on the market, the natural question is whether the Reds will try to sign him.  Reds GM Walt Jocketty reluctantly addressed the topic, telling MLB.com's Mark Sheldon:

"I hate to even address it.  We got him with the idea we would get him for the year and then try to develop [Billy] Hamilton to play next year. If we're in a position where we think we can sign Choo, it's a big bonus for us. Would we love to? Absolutely. But we have to really look and see where our financial revenues and financial projections of future revenues are. It's still a little early to do that."  Jocketty admitted, "There's not a lot to spare, I can tell you that."

If the Reds allow Bronson Arroyo to leave, they might just be able to squeeze Choo in while keeping a payroll in the $110MM range, if he'd accept a somewhat backloaded contract.  That includes some back of the napkin arbitration calculations on my part.  There are always ways to find a few million bucks, though.

Choo has mostly deflected questions to date about his upcoming free agency.  Talking to Sheldon, Choo didn't add much, but he did note, "I want to stay in the same area for a long time — wherever it is.  Kids need their dad. It's hard in the baseball season — you spend six months away by yourself, and six months you get together in the offseason. I want to stay in one area. But I'm not thinking about it. I'm not thinking about teams or cities."  

If Choo keeps playing like an All-Star, there's little doubt his free agent contract will be one of the longer ones of the 2013-14 offseason.  Still, guarantees of four-plus years are hard to come by in free agency.  Only eight were given to free agents last offseason.  Of those, only three were for a player entering his age 31 or later season: Josh Hamilton for five years, Nick Swisher for four, and Angel Pagan for four.  If long-term security is a key for Choo, perhaps he can sacrifice a bit on his salary to ensure that fifth guaranteed year.  Swisher and Michael Bourn were not able to get it, instead settling for vesting options from the Indians.

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