Guardians Rumors

Quick Hits: Gonzalez, Padres, Rays, Mariners

By Luke Adams 2 | April 17, 2011 at 11:04pm CDT

Links for Sunday, as Grady Sizemore homers versus the Orioles in his return to the Indians' lineup….

Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports explains why Adrian Gonzalez's contract extension makes sense for the Red Sox.
Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker takes a look back at his favorite offseason trades.
The Padres have hired former Major League outfielder Jeffrey Hammonds as a professional scout, writes MLB.com's Corey Brock. Hammonds was the #4 overall pick in the 1992 draft by the Orioles and represented the Rockies in the 2000 All-Star Game in his best season.
The Rays may add a bat to replace Manny Ramirez, but it likely won't happen anytime soon, reports Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times. Not only will the trade market develop as the season progresses, but the Rays should also have a better idea in a couple months whether they'll be buyers or sellers.
The Brewers have signed Luis Figueroa to a minor league deal, tweets SI.com's Jon Heyman. The infielder has only seen 16 big league plate appearances, most recently in 2007, but hit .319/.354/.429 in nearly 500 Triple-A PAs last season.
ESPN.com's Buster Olney (Insider link) wonders if Jack Zduriencik and Felix Hernandez will be a part of the Mariners' next winning team.
Adrian Gonzalez's extension with the Red Sox is another example of baseball's stars gravitating to a handful of high-payroll teams, writes Tim Sullivan of the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer fields questions about Sizemore, Nick Johnson, and potential contract extensions in an Indians mailbag.
The Rangers' rotation is holding its own without Cliff Lee so far, says Tyler Kepner of the New York Times.

Quick Hits: Mariners, Indians, Orioles

By Zachary Links | April 16, 2011 at 3:25pm CDT

Links on a rainy Saturday afternoon in New York..

Buster Olney of ESPN (via Twitter) believes that Jack Zduriencik's challenge with the Mariners is a lot like Neal Huntington's when he took over with the Pirates. Both GMs, he says, had to work from almost nothing in the farm system.
The Indians will have to make a move to create a roster spot for the returning Grady Sizemore, writes Paul Hoynes of The Plain Dealer. The Tribe could theoretically shed spare outfielders Austin Kearns or Shelley Duncan but will most likely demote Travis Buck as he has an option remaining.
Steve Melewski of MASNSports writes that Orioles newcomers Vlad Guerrero and Derrek Lee usually get off to solid starts. Early on in 2011, both veterans have struggled at the plate.

Quick Hits: Guillen, Royals, Harden, Tribe

By Mark Polishuk | April 15, 2011 at 11:16pm CDT

The Nationals have announced the passing of shortstop prospect Yewri Guillen due to bacterial meningitis. Guillen, 18, was signed by Washington in February and was playing at the club's Dominican Republic academy. He was honored with a moment of silence before tonight's Brewers/Nationals game. MLBTR sends our condolences to Guillen's friends and family.

Some news from around the majors…

Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star discussed potential call-ups and other roster moves for the Royals in a chat with fans this afternoon.
Rich Harden has suffered an injury to his teres major muscle that will likely elongate his stay on the disabled list, reports MLB.com's Eric Gilmore. Harden, who signed a one-year, $1.5MM deal with the Athletics in December, has been on the DL with an injury to his throwing shoulder.
Are the surprising Indians for real? Probably not, says Fangraphs' Steve Slowinski, but the Tribe has so many young players on the roster that it's hard to calculate if these players will drastically fall off or if some are just developing. Slowinski also notes that Cleveland is winning despite slow starts from expected stars like Shin-Soo Choo and Carlos Santana.
The White Sox closer will be "whoever is there in the ninth inning," Ozzie Guillen tells Dave van Dyck of the Chicago Tribune. We didn't get a chance to see a save situation tonight as Chicago lost to the Angels, but keep following @CloserNews (MLBTR's sister Twitter feed) for the latest on who will be finishing games for the Pale Hose.

Quick Hits: Votto, Davis, Matsuzaka, Indians

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | April 12, 2011 at 6:30pm CDT

Links for Tuesday, as the Rangers announce that Josh Hamilton will miss six to eight weeks with a non-displaced fracture of his right shoulder…

The other MVP from last year, Joey Votto, continues to adjust and improve his game, as Dave Cameron points out at FanGraphs. Votto appears to be chasing fewer pitches outside of the strike zone.
Trackman, a Danish technology company, is using 3D Doppler radar ball flight measurement to scout pitchers and pitches with hard data, as Tom Verducci reports at SI.com.
Doug Davis can opt out of his minor league deal with the Cubs on May 30th, according to Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com (on Twitter).
The Red Sox are, of course, unlikely to trade Daisuke Matsuzaka, despite his awful start yesterday. However, they are considering skipping his next start, according to the Boston Herald.
Yahoo's Tim Brown examines the Indians' hot start and says it provides us with the "opportunity to discover what is right in an organization that has been forced into hard decisions" since they took a 3-1 lead over the Red Sox in the 2007 ALCS.

Quick Hits: Buchholz, Ishikawa, Tabata, Rivera

By Luke Adams 2 | April 10, 2011 at 9:57pm CDT

Rounding up Sunday's links, as Andre Ethier celebrates his 29th birthday….

Jon Lester told WEEI.com's Rob Bradford that he didn't talk to Clay Buchholz about the pros and cons of signing a long-term extension before the right-hander inked a four-year pact today.
Travis Ishikawa admitted he hoped another team would claim him when he was placed on waivers earlier this season, according to MLB.com's Chris Haft. However, now he says he's glad he's still with the Giants organization and is excited to stay on the West Coast, playing for Triple-A Fresno.
Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette looks back at the trade that sent Xavier Nady to the Yankees. Kovacevic argues that even if three of the four players the Pirates received for Nady don't work out, Jose Tabata alone makes it a steal for Pittsburgh.
Juan Rivera isn't off to a good start with his new team, as Mike Rutsey of the Toronto Sun writes. The Blue Jays are reportedly interested in trading Rivera, but his performance so far likely isn't helping draw any interest.
The Indians will have some roster shuffling to do when injured players return, writes Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, who also addresses trade possibilites in a Tribe mailbag.
Nationals infielder Alex Cora should make a good manager someday, says MLB.com's Marty Noble.

Minor League Transactions

By Dan Mennella | April 7, 2011 at 6:31pm CDT

There was a slew of minor league transactions from March 30 to April 5, and Matt Eddy of Baseball America has written them up and included info on some noteworthy names. Here's more on those …

The Cubs released righty Chris Huseby, an 11th-round draft pick in 2006 who signed for a hefty $1.3MM. Huseby wasn't panning out as a pitcher and saw action in the outfield in recent seasons.
The Indians released third baseman Matt Cusick, one of the two players they received from the Yankees in last season's swap for Kerry Wood. The other player – Andrew Shive – had been previously released.
The Rockies released reliever Craig Baker, who led the Minors in saves in 2009 with 33. A fourth-round pick 2006, Baker's 2010 was derailed by the injuries that haunted him earlier in his career.
The Astros released reliever Bubbie Buzachero, who is among the active career leaders in minor league saves.
The Royals released speedy outfielder Hilton Richardson, a seventh-round pick in 2007 who has 77 steals in the minors in 100 attempts. The Braves then signed Richardson.
The Dodgers released lefty reliever James Adkins, a sandwich-round pick in 2007 out of Tennessee. The southpaw is the Volunteers' career leader in strikeouts but has struggled with control and against righties in the minors.
The Brewers released hard-throwing lefty Evan Frederickson, the 35th overall pick in 2008. Frederickson has been excessively wild in his minors career, never walking fewer than 7.6 batters per nine, according to Eddy.
Twins righty Chris Province, acquired from the Red Sox in the Boof Bonser trade in 2009, voluntarily retired. Province surrendered a lot of hits in 2010, but seeing as he posted solid groundball rates for two poor teams, Eddy wonders whether he might have fared better with a better defense behind him.
The Padres released catcher Mitch Canham, the 57th overall pick in 2007. The Friars hoped Canham would develop into an offense-first backstop, but he was abused by basestealers, and his production with the bat didn't hold up at other positions.
The Giants released righty Craig Whitaker, a supplemental-round pick in 2003. Whitaker, as Eddy notes, is something of a rarity as an unsuccessful power arm drafted by San Francisco. Outfielder Ben Copeland, the Giants' first pick (fourth round) in 2005, was also released.
The Rangers released righty Danny Gutierrez, formerly one of their top-10 prospects. Gutierrez had been acquired from the Royals, but his stuff has diminished and was suspended 50 games for amphetamines prior to the 2010 season.
The Blue Jays released speedy outfielder Eric Eiland, a second-round pick in 2007. Eiland has been an efficient basestealer but has struggled overall offensively.

The Brandon Phillips Trade Five Years Later

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | April 7, 2011 at 10:08am CDT

Today, Brandon Phillips may be the Reds’ most recognizable player. Five years ago? He was anything but. When then-GM Wayne Krivsky acquired Phillips from the Indians on this date in 2006, he was a 24-year-old unknown who had yet to convert his intriguing potential into Major League production.

He’d had his chances. In a season’s worth of plate appearances over the the course of four years in Cleveland, Phillips had just a .556 OPS. The minor league numbers which had once helped solidify his place among the game’s best prospects had fallen off; in his third season at Triple-A, Phillips’ average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage all dropped.

But Krivsky decided to give Phillips a chance and the Indians, unable to find room on their roster for the out-of-options infielder, had had enough. Three and a half seasons after acquiring him in the Bartolo Colon trade, then-GM Mark Shapiro sent Phillips to Ohio’s other team for a player to be named later.

The Indians ultimately acquired reliever Jeff Stevens in the deal and would eventually send the right-hander to the Cubs in a trade for Mark DeRosa. The Indians later acquired current closer Chris Perez in exchange for DeRosa, so, in a roundabout way, they have something to show for Phillips.

It doesn’t compare to what the Reds got. In the five seasons since the trade, Phillips has hit .275/.326/.447, averaging 21 homers, 24 steals and 151 games per season, enough for 16.8 wins above replacement (42nd among MLB position players for that period). He has won two Gold Gloves (deservingly, according to UZR) and has a 30-30 season and two other 20-20 seasons to his name.

Phillips, the longest-tenured position player on the Reds, outlasted Krivsky, who was fired in 2008. But the former GM deserves recognition for a deal that helped the Reds return to the top of the NL Central standings.

Photo courtesy Icon SMI.

Antonetti On Masterson, Hagadone, Martinez

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | April 5, 2011 at 3:26pm CDT

Indians GM Chris Antonetti told Alex Speier of WEEI.com that Carlos Santana has fully recovered from last year’s knee injury and shouldn't face any limitations this season. He sure looked good when he dove to start a triple play over the weekend. Here are some highlights from Antonetti’s conversation with Speier:

The Indians expect Justin Masterson to build on last year’s success and become a reliable major league starter.
Nick Hagadone and Bryan Price, the prospects Cleveland acquired in the Victor Martinez deal “have a chance to contribute to [the Indians’] major league pitching staff in the near future,” Antonetti said.
Dealing Martinez wasn’t easy, but Antonetti knows difficult trades are part of the game. “Nearly every team faces the reality that it can’t retain every player it values,” he said. “Inevitably some players will leave via free agency and some players will be traded prior to reaching that point.
Antonetti says the Indians are on their way to becoming a championship caliber club. “The timing of our success will largely depend upon how quickly this group transitions from a collection of young players with potential to a championship caliber team that consistently produces at the Major League level,” Antonetti said.

Quick Hits: Zito, Orioles, Meyer, Cardinals

By Luke Adams 2 | April 3, 2011 at 4:00pm CDT

Links for Sunday, as Nelson Cruz and Ian Kinsler become the first set of teammates in MLB history to homer in each of their team's first three games…

Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter) knows that the point has been made before, but he finds it unfathomable that the Giants thought it smart to give $126MM to Barry Zito.
The Orioles released minor league outfielder Danny Figueroa, tweets Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com.
The Phillies have released Dan Meyer from their minor league camp, tweets Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.
Within his Sunday Baseball Notes, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe writes that the Rangers "haven't closed the door" on a Michael Young trade. Cafardo says not to rule out the Phillies, though the Phils are a little more optimistic about Chase Utley's health than they were a couple weeks ago.
Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. says his club has room to add payroll this season "if the right situation develops," according to Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
WEEI.com's Alex Speier discusses former first round pick Jason Place, who the Red Sox released yesterday.
In an article for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Terry Pluto takes a look at the Indians' future infield.

Tribe, Red Sox, Cubs Release Former High Draft Picks

By Mike Axisa | April 3, 2011 at 1:22pm CDT

SUNDAY: The Indians also released a former high pick according to this report from the AP (via ESPN), cutting ties with Preston Mattingly. The son of former AL MVP and current Dodgers manager Don Mattingly, Preston was drafted 31st overall by the Dodgers in 2006. The Indians acquired him in a minor league trade on Sept. 26 this past season.

The high school shortstop signed a $1MM bonus out of the draft, but has since been converted to an outfielder and tallied just a .232/.275/.334 line through 1,667 minor league plate appearances. At the time, Baseball America described him as a "well-kept secret … with bat speed, pop and an advanced approach. "

FRIDAY: The Red Sox have released outfielder Jason Place and the Cubs have released right-hander Aaron Shafer, MLBTR has learned. Neither player was among their team's top 30 prospects according to Baseball America's Prospect Handbook.

Place, 22, was the 27th overall pick in the 2006 draft and signed for $1.3MM. He had a fine professional debut that season (.292/.386/.442 in 132 rookie ball plate appearances), but has struggled in the four years since. He climbed as high as Double-A, and is a .234/.315/390 career hitter.

Shafer, 24, was a second round pick in 2008 (65th overall). He signed for $625K. Shafer picked well in relief last year (2.68 ERA in 80 2/3 IP), but that's only because he dominated Single-A (0.96 ERA in 46 2/3 IP) while getting hammered in Double-A (5.03 ERA in 34 IP).

MLBTR's Steve Adams also contributed to this post.

« Previous Page

Load More Posts

Show all

Headlines

Guardians Rumors

Navigation

MLBTR INFO

Connect