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Indians Release Jensen Lewis

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The Indians released Jensen Lewis from Triple-A last night, according to Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer (on Twitter). The right-handed reliever has spent parts of four seasons with the Indians, but spent the 2011 season at Triple-A Columbus.

Lewis, 27, posted a 5.14 ERA with 7.1 K/9 and 4.8 BB/9 in 28 innings of relief at Triple-A this year. The former third round pick has a 3.68 ERA with 8.0 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9 in 198 innings as a Major Leaguer.

Orioles Notes: Guthrie, Roberts, Minor Leagues

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The Nationals may be generating most of the headlines today, but there's also some news coming from the Beltway's other team.  Here's the latest from the Orioles…

  • Jeremy Guthrie is perhaps Baltimore's most attractive trade candidate, but MLB.com's Brittany Ghiroli doesn't think the right-hander will be moved.  "It would take a significant haul on the Orioles' side to give up Guthrie," Ghiroli writes, and she also points out that Guthrie is the only veteran and only innings-eater on the club's pitching staff.  Ghiroli cites the Indians and Rangers among the teams who have shown interest in Guthrie.  
  • From that same mailbag item, Ghiroli thinks the Orioles should start looking for a new long-term answer at second base.  Brian Roberts will be 36 when his deal runs out after the 2013 season and the former All-Star is already a question mark due to injuries.  Short-term, however, the O's have no second base prospects ready to step in and Roberts has a no-trade clause in his contract.
  • The lack of minor league production from several of the Orioles' top prospects "has to be considered an organizational-wide failure," writes The Baltimore Sun's Jeff Zrebiec.  The development system has been further skewed since "for years, Oriole minor leaguers have been getting promotions because of a desperate need at the big league level, not because they’ve necessarily earned a shot."

Pirates Acquire Josh Rodriguez

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The Pirates have acquired Josh Rodriguez from the Indians for cash, reports MLB.com's Jordan Bastian (on Twitter). The infielder had been returned to Cleveland from Pittsburgh as a Rule 5 Draft pick back in April.

Baseball America ranked Rodriguez 24th among Pirates prospects before the season and suggested that he could become a big league utility player. In 364 plate appearances at Triple-A last year, he hit .293/.372/.486 and played shortstop. In 14 plate appearances for the Pirates this year, Rodriguez collected a single and a walk while playing second and short. His brief return to the Tribe resulted in a .193/.270/.316 batting line in 65 Triple-A plate appearances.

Quick Hits: Kazmir, McKeon, Indians, Gonzalez

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Some quick hits as we take in a full slate of games today..

  • The Pirates have checked into Scott Kazmir, but GM Neal Huntington did not indicate whether the discussions are ongoing or if it's moot issue, tweets Rob Biertempfel of MLB.com.
  • If asked, 80-year-old Jack McKeon says that he's capable of taking over the Marlins managerial job on an interim basis, tweets Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com.
  • The Indians have fired hitting coach Jon Nunnally and will replace him with Bruce Fields, tweets Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com.
  • The Cardinals scouted left-hander Scott Kazmir but they do not have interest in pursuing him, a club source told Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.  While several teams have denied interest in the former All-Star, we learned yesterday that the Mets will consider him.
  • Alex Speier of WEEI.com looks back at the long-term deal that Adrian Gonzalez signed with the Padres and how it ultimately affected his future with the Red Sox.
  • In response to a question, Ken Davidoff of Newsday (via Twitter) said that Carlos Zambrano is unlikely for the Yankees.
  • Baseball's international signing period is quickly becoming one of the most important dates on the calendar for many big league teams, writes Kevin Baxter of the Los Angeles Times.  The international signing period begins July 2nd.

Draft Pick Signings: Twins, Indians, Red Sox

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Let's round up some notable draft picks signings in one convenient spot…

  • The Twins have signed second round pick Madison Boer, reports MLB.com's Rhett Bollinger and Jordan Schelling. The Oregon righty was taken with the 87th overall pick, which comes with a slot recommendation of $405K from MLB.
  • The Indians announced via press release that they have signed third rounder Jake Sisco, a right-hander from Merced College. MLB's slot recommendation for the 97th overall pick is approximately $357K.
  • The Red Sox announced in a press release that they've signed a dozen more draft picks, including sixth rounder Miguel Pena and ninth rounder Alex Shaw. WEEI.com's Alex Speier reports that they received $85K and $110K, respectively.

Quick Hits: Connor, Andrew Miller, Tigers

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A second pitching coach change occurred today, as Mark Connor resigned from the Orioles post for personal reasons.  Rick Adair will take his place.  Today's links…

Quick Hits: Magglio, Betemit, Manny, Indians

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Wandy Rodriguez looked sharp in his return from the disabled list tonight.  The Astros left-hander allowed four walks and two hits over six shutout innings as Houston notched a 8-3 win over Atlanta.  You'll be reading a lot about Rodriguez at MLBTR this summer since, with so few difference-making pitchers on the market, Rodriguez could arguably be the top arm available at the trade deadline.

Some links….

  • Magglio Ordonez could be on the market very soon, writes Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.  Ordonez is a defensive liability in the outfield the Tigers can't put him at DH since that could cost Victor Martinez or Alex Avila at-bats.  Ordonez is still owed $5.8MM this season and he has a no-trade clause, so Morosi figures Detroit "would probably need to swap one burdensome contract for another" to move the veteran slugger.  The Yankees, Mariners and Angels are listed as contenders who could use DH help.
  • Wilson Betemit is drawing attention from several scouts, tweets ESPN's Buster Olney.  Betemit is hitting .289/.348/.411 for the Royals this season but lost his starting third base job to Mike Moustakas.  MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith profiled Betemit's trade candidacy last month and noted that at a 2011 salary of just $1MM, Betemit is bargain for any club needing third base help.   
  • The Royals have signed five more of their draft picks, with seventh-rounder Kellen Moen the highest pick yet to sign with the club this year.
  • As if the Dodgers didn't have enough financial problems, the club owes Manny Ramirez a deferred payment of $8.33MM by June 30, reports Molly Knight of ESPN The Magazine.  Ramirez is owed a total of $25MM in deferred money from the Dodgers, which will be split up into three equal payments this year, next year and in 2013.
  • The Indians announced the signings of three picks from the 2011 draft.  Outfielder Bryson Myles (sixth round) was the highest-picked of these signings.

Quick Hits: Indians, Beede, D’Backs, Giants

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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.

Cafardo On Capps, Clippard, Athletics, Cabrera

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There are indications that Cubs owner Tom Ricketts could be considering a management overhaul in Chicago, and Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe thinks Ricketts would do well to hire as many Red Sox people as possible. Cafardo suggests that Allard Baird, Ben Cherington, and DeMarlo Hale are among the names that should be attractive to the Cubs. Here are some other highlights from the Globe's Sunday Notes:

  • Matt Capps should draw plenty of trade interest if the Twins decide to move him. However, the closer likely won't become available until the Twins are absolutely sure they're out of the race, as the defending AL Central champs will be reluctant to give up on their season.
  • If the Nationals are willing to deal him, there will be a strong market for setup man Tyler Clippard. Cafardo speculates that Clippard would be a good fit for the Yankees or Phillies.
  • An AL GM on the Athletics' decision to replace manager Bob Geren with Bob Melvin: "[GM Billy] Beane made the move now because he thought there was something to salvage. They still have the pitching. So it’s not out of the realm of possibility."
  • Any contenders with interest in Orlando Cabrera may be able to acquire him sooner rather than later, after the Indians' promotion of Cord Phelps reduced Cabrera to a part-time role.
  • Jason Bay's most recent slump had the Mets' $66MM man out of the lineup this week. "His bat is slow and he’s just not himself," said one veteran scout. "The ballpark [Citi Field] isn’t good for him, but the way he hit his home runs, I never thought that was a big issue."

Super Two Watch: Rizzo, Gordon, Weeks, Phelps

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Since the Marlins called Mike Stanton up to the Major Leagues a year ago today, he has hit 35 home runs and posted a .257/.332/.520 line. Stanton was clearly MLB-ready and Florida's timing worked out in another respect, too. The Marlins slugger will have just two years and 118 days of service time after the 2012 season, which hasn’t typically been enough for super two eligibility and an extra year of arbitration.

A year later, another group of prospects is appearing on MLB rosters and, as always, there are service time implications for all involved. Before we get too worried about whether these prospects will qualify for super two status, let’s be clear about a few variables.

It’s too early to know how much service time will be required for super two status three offseasons from now, because the cutoff date changes most years. Plus, baseball’s collective bargaining agreement expires after 2011, so there’s no guarantee that the super two will even exist a few years from now (though coming up with an alternative that satisfies baseball’s owners and the players’ association will not be easy). Finally, most players who reach arbitration do get optioned to the minor leagues at some point, so there’s a good chance some of the players below will return to the minors before becoming arbitration eligible.

With that in mind, here are the service time implications for a few recent callups:

  • Anthony Rizzo, Padres – If Rizzo debuts tomorrow, as Dan Hayes of the North County Times reports he will (Twitter link), he'll pick up a maximum of 112 days of service time this year and the Padres probably won't have to worry about super two status.
  • Dee Gordon, Dodgers – Tom’s son was called up Monday and he has already had his first three-hit game. Gordon can pick up a maximum of 115 days of service time this year. Last year’s cutoff was unusually low at two years and 122 days, so the Dodgers appear safe.
  • Jemile Weeks, Athletics and Charlie Blackmon, Rockies – Both players got the call yesterday, which means they can pick up a maximum of 114 days of service time this year. It’s likely not enough for super two status, even if they never see the minors again.
  • Cord Phelps, Indians – Phelps, the first member of the Indians’ 2008 draft class to reach the majors, will debut today. He won’t pick up more than 113 days of service time this year, so the Indians probably won’t have to worry about super two status for Phelps, Lonnie Chisenhall or Jason Kipnis.

 

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