Rockies Likely To Trade Ramon Hernandez; Release Possible
TUESDAY, 9:50am: A release is possible for Hernandez, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, since the Rockies might not find a taker.
MONDAY, 7:30pm: All signs point to Yorvit Torrealba making the Rockies' roster and Ramon Hernandez being traded, according to Troy Renck of the Denver Post (Sulia link). Renck feels that there will be resolution of the situation no later than Thursday — the last game of Spring Training.
Torrealba, 34, batted .227/.293/.330 with four homers over the course of 218 plate appearances between the Rangers, Blue Jays and Brewers in 2012. He caught 22 percent of potential base-stealers, but his career mark of 30 percent is much stronger. Torrealba signed a minor league contract with the Rockies in January.
The 36-year-old Hernandez missed more than two months of action last season due to hamstring and hand injuries and posted a meager .217/.247/.353 batting line with five homers as a result. He's set to earn $3.2MM as he enters the second year of a two-year, $6.5MM contract he signed prior to the 2012 season. Like Torrealba, he's caught 30 perecent of potential base-stealers throughout his career, but had a down-season in that area last year (25 percent).
Regardless of which catcher makes the roster, he will playing second fiddle to sophomore powerhouse Wilin Rosario. The 24-year-old Rosario hit .270/.312/.530 with 28 homers in just 426 plate appearances last season and finished fourth in the National League Rookie of the Year voting.
NL West Notes: Capuano, Garland, Nelson, Giants
Scouts from the Indians, Rangers, Mariners and Pirates were in attendance on the back fields of the Dodgers' Spring Training complex today to watch Chris Capuano in a minor league game, according to MLB.com's Ken Gurnick. Capuano dominated, striking out 11 hitters and yielding just three hits over seven shutout innings (85 pitches). Capuano is pleased with his improved mechanics and results over his past two starts, Gurnick writes. Here's more out of the NL West…
- Gurnick also notes that many of those same scouts (and possibly others) are likely to gather tomorrow for Aaron Harang's start. Capuano, Harang, Ted Lilly and Matt Guerrier are all trade candidates for the Dodgers.
- Troy Renck of the Denver Post tweets that new Rockies pitcher Jon Garland said he "strongly considered" signing with the Rox as a free agent this offseason before accepting a minor league deal from the Mariners. When that didn't work out (they released Garland on Saturday), he quickly reached an agreement with Colorado on a one-year, Major League deal.
- Top prospect Nolan Arenado has had a great Spring Training and is still in camp with the Rockies, but MLB.com's Thomas Harding tweets that the team isn't planning a Chris Nelson trade to clear a starting spot for Arenado.
- The Giants are in the market for a backup middle infielder, according to CSN Bay Area's Andrew Baggarly, who opines that Nick Noonan makes for a fine internal option (Twitter link).
Rockies Release Miguel Batista
The Rockies have announced (via Twitter) that they have released right-hander Miguel Batista, who had signed a minor league deal with the club this past January.
In 52 2/3 innings between the Braves and Mets last season, Batista registered a 4.61 ERA, 6.2 K/9, 5.2 BB/9 and a 46.2 percent ground-ball rate. His fastball has lost a tick with age, but he still managed to average 91.7 mph. Batista has appeared with eleven different Major League clubs over parts of 18 seasons. The Dominican hurler has a 4.48 career ERA in 1956 1/3 Major League innings.
Rockies Sign Jon Garland
6:15pm: Garland has officially signed with the Rockies, Thomas Harding of MLB.com reports (on Twitter).
2:25pm: Garland will sign a Major League contract worth $500K with more than $2MM in incentives and he will be in the starting rotation, tweets FOXSports.com's Jon Paul Morosi.
12:41pm: The Rockies have reached an agreement with Jon Garland on an incentive-laden deal, tweets Jon Heyman of CBS Sports.The LSW Baseball client was released by the Mariners over the weekend.
Colorado's interest in Garland became known last night, and it was reported earlier today that Garland was in the Rockies' camp to take a physical.
Garland, 33, hasn't pitched in the Majors since 2011 due to a host of shoulder injuries. In 2083 1/3 career Major League innings, he owns a 4.32 ERA, 4.9 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 to go along with a 45.1 percent ground-ball rate. In 12 Spring Training innings with the Mariners, Garland allowed three runs on 10 hits (including a pair of homers), five walks and four strikeouts.
Edward Creech contributed to this post.
Rockies Return Rosenbaum To Nationals
2:35pm: The Nationals announced, via Twitter, they have accepted Rosenbaum back from Rockies and he will report to minor league camp.
12:58 pm: The Rockies are returning Rule 5 Draft pick Danny Rosenbaum to the Nationals, according to Amanda Comak of the Washington Times (Twitter link). MLB.com's Thomas Harding adds, also via Twitter, that the move will become official once Colorado's signing of Jon Garland is finalized.
The Rockies selected Rosenbaum with the third pick in December's Rule 5 Draft. In eight Spring Training innings for Colorado, Rosenbaum allowed four runs on nine hits and three walks without registering a strikeout.
Last season, Rosenbaum fired 155 1/3 innings over the course of 26 starts for the Nats' Double-A affiliate, compiling a 3.94 ERA, 5.7 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9. The Xavier University product was a 22nd-round selection by Washington in the 2009 draft.
The left-hander ranked as Colorado's No. 22 prospect, according to Baseball America, who said that he "had a decent chance to be a touch-and-feel lefty at the back of a big league rotation" thanks to his ability to command an 84-90 mph fastball and a solid change-up.
Garland Taking Physical For Rockies
Jon Garland, who was released by the Mariners over the weekend, is in camp with the Rockies and taking a physical, according to MLB.com's Thomas Harding (on Twitter). An official announcement for a Garland signing could come at some point today.
Garland, 33, hasn't pitched in the Majors since 2009 due to a host of shoulder injuries. In 2083 1/3 career Major League innings, he owns a 4.32 ERA, 4.9 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 to go along with a 45.1 percent ground-ball rate. Garland is a client of LSW Baseball.
Rockies Interested In Jon Garland
The Rockies have inquired about starting pitcher Jon Garland, according to MLB.com's Thomas Harding. The Mariners officially released Garland on Saturday.
Jhoulys Chacin, Jeff Francis, Jorge De La Rosa and Juan Nicasio appear to be set in the Rockies' rotation, and Drew Pomeranz will likely join them if the Rockies don't acquire anyone from outside the organization. Chacin and De La Rosa have both recently missed spring training starts with what appear to be minor injuries.
Garland missed all of the 2012 season and much of the 2011 season with shoulder problems. He pitched 12 innings for the Mariners this spring, posting a 2.25 ERA while striking out four batters and walking five.
Jon Morosi of FOX Sports writes that Garland will also likely draw interest from the Padres and Rangers. Both teams appear to be in the market for starting pitching.
Jon Garland Likely To Opt Out Of Mariners’ Contract
Jon Garland will likely use the opt-out clause in his deal with the Mariners now that GM Jack Zduriencik has said there isn't any room for the veteran right-hander on the team's roster, reports Shannon Drayer of ESPN Radio Seattle (Twitter links). "At this time we cannot commit a rotation spot to [Garland] or a roster spot," Zduriencik said.
Garland signed a minor league deal with the M's in February that contained an opt-out clause Garland could exercise if he wasn't on Seattle's Major League roster by today. The 33-year-old pitched well during Spring Training but it appears as if the Mariners will instead go with younger arms (Blake Beavan, Erasmo Ramirez, Brandon Maurer) to fill out their rotation behind Felix Hernandez, Hisashi Iwakuma and Joe Saunders.
The Rockies have scouted Garland but only have "lukewarm" interest due to concerns about his durability, Troy Renck of the Denver Post reports. Garland has battled shoulder injuries that have kept him out of action since July 2011 but he averaged 205 IP per season from 2002-2010 and has a 4.32 ERA over 2083 1/3 career innings with the White Sox, Angels, Padres, Diamondbacks and Dodgers.
Kyle Lohse Rumors: Thursday
Agent Scott Boras told Peter Gammons of MLB Network that right-hander Kyle Lohse won’t wait until after the upcoming amateur draft to sign with a new team. Here’s the latest on which teams are interested in the free agent…
- The Rockies have done their due diligence on Lohse, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports. However, the club would have to increase payroll to sign Lohse and the sides would only complete a deal “if by a very, very remote chance he just flat-out doesn’t have anything,” in the words of Rosenthal’s source. The right-hander wants to match Ryan Dempster’s two-year, $26.5MM contract, Rosenthal reports. The Rangers and Brewers are maintaining contact with Lohse.
- One week after Spring Training began, Lohse was asking for a three-year, $45MM contract, Yahoo’s Jeff Passan reports (on Twitter). That asking price has continued to drop.
Earlier updates:
- Lohse could be close to contributing at the MLB level, Yahoo's Tim Brown reports (on Twitter). The 34-year-old is throwing 90-pitch simulated games in Arizona.
- The Angels maintain that they don’t have interest in Lohse, but the door isn’t fully closed, Jim Bowden of ESPN.com and MLB Network Radio reports (Twitterlinks).
- Brewers GM Doug Melvin doesn't want to surrender the 17th overall draft pick to obtain Lohse, Bowden reports. The Royals aren’t interested, Bowden notes.
- Despite speculation that the Reds could get involved with Lohse, GM Walt Jocketty told reporters not to expect anything. When asked about the pitcher, Jocketty said, "Who? Why? We couldn't afford him," according to John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer (Twitter link).
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Minor Moves: Padres, Cubs, Alvarado
We’ll track the day’s minor moves here…
- The Cubs acquired minor league infielder Jose Dore from the Padres for a player to be named later or cash, MLB.com's Corey Brock reports (on Twitter). Dore, 21, has a .222/.300/.353 batting line in three seasons as a professional. The Padres selected him in the eighth round of the 2010 draft.
- The Rockies signed Giancarlo Alvarado to a minor league deal before the World Baseball Classic began, Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports reports (on Twitter). Alvarado, who will start for Puerto Rico in the WBC tonight, will join the Rockies’ camp later this week. The 35-year-old right-hander spent the 2012 season with the Yokohama Bay Stars, starting eight games. He posted a 3.92 ERA with 9.7 K/9 and 4.2 BB/9 in 39 innings. Though Alvarado has yet to pitch at the MLB level, he has 17 seasons of minor league experience in affiiliated baseball, independent leagues, Mexico and Japan.