Tigers Rumors

Draft Signings: Marshall, Hillman, Blankenhorn, Davila

By Jeff Todd | June 19, 2015 at 8:52pm CDT

It’s time to get caught up on some draft signings. Slot values courtesy of Baseball America.

The Giants have agreed to a well-above-slot, $750K bonus with fourth-round pick Mac Marshall, Chris Cotillo of SB Nation tweets. You might remember that Marshall was taken in the late rounds last year by the Astros, who fell short of a rumored last-minute attempt at a deal with him as they tried to work things out with Brady Aiken. Marshall had been set to play for LSU, but ultimately ended up in Junior College so that he could re-enter the draft.
Second-rounder Juan Hillman inked with the Indians, the club announced. The deal is for $825K, per Paul Hoynes of the Plain Dealer (via Twitter). Cleveland also announced several other signings, including third-rounder Mark Mathias and fourth-round pick Tyler Krieger. MLB.com rated Hillman the 52nd-best player available, noting that the prep lefty is the son of long-time big leaguer Tom Gordon and half-brother of Dee Gordon. ESPN.com’s Keith Law had the highest grade on Hillman, ranking him 31st heading into the draft on the basis of his excellent feel and command at a young age.
Twins third-rounder Travis Blankenhorn gets a $650K bonus, Callis tweets. The high school third baseman was taken 80th overall, which came with a $754K slot allotment. Baseball America rated Blankenhorn 75th on its board, citing his athleticism, nice swing, and overall solid tools. Minnesota also added fourth-round pick Trey Cabbage for an above-slot $760K bonus, also per a Callis tweet. His signing was previously reported, but not the bonus amount, which lands well above the slot value of $517,900.
The Royals went over $300K above slot ($431,100) to sign high school lefty Garrett Davila, Callis tweets. He receives a $746K bonus after entering the draft rated within Law’s top 100 list. His fastball is not a very impressive offerin at present, but he has an above-average curve and still has some growing to do.
Javier Medina, the third-round pick of the Rockies, gets $740K to forego his commitment to the University of Arizona, Callis reports on Twitter. The 77th overall pick came with a $789,700 allotment, so Colorado will pick up some savings to add a pitcher who shows more feel than pure stuff, per Baseball America.
Pirates third-round selection Casey Hughston lands a $700K bonus that lands $107,300 above the slot value, per Callis (via Twitter). The Alabama outfielder has good all-around tools in addition to plus raw power, MLB.com wrote in raking him 95th among available players. Pittsburgh fourth-rounder Jacob Taylor, a righty from Pearl River Community College, has agreed to a $500K bonus, Callis tweets. That represents a $60.6K bump over the slot value for the 127th overall pick.
The third-round pick of the Tigers, Dallas Baptist pitcher Drew Smith, announced that he has signed (h/t to MLB.com’s Jason Beck). Callis reports on Twitter that the live-armed college righty will take home the slot value of $575,800.
The Braves have agreed to a $550K deal with third-round pick Anthony Guardado, Callis tweets. That signing saves the club $106,300 against the slot value of the 89th pick. Callis calls the high school righty a true pop-up prospect, and indeed he did not receive much pre-draft attention.
Fourth round pick Demi Orimoloye will sign for a $450K bonus, according to Callis (on Twitter), just shy of the $456,600 allotment for the 121st pick. The Canadian outfielder (who was born in Nigeria) drew rave reviews from BA, which rated him 41st heading into the draft based upon his loud tools and tall ceiling. There’s a lot of polishing that needs to be done, it seems, but Orimoloye looks to be a nice risk for the Brewers at this price tag.
Phillies fifth-round pick Bailey Falter, a projectable lefty, gets an above-slot $420K bonus, Callis tweets. Philly took him 144th overall, which came with a $373,100 slot value.
The 11th-round pick of the Mets, lefty Jake Simon, has agreed to a $400K bonus, Callis tweets. $300K of that money will count against New York’s overall pool, as any amount over $100K does for players taken after the tenth round.

AL Central Notes: Buxton, Sox, V-Mart, Tigers, Young

By Steve Adams | June 17, 2015 at 9:03pm CDT

Speaking about the team’s recent promotion of top prospect Byron Buxton, Twins GM Terry Ryan told Kris Atteberry of Twins Radio (audio link): “We brought up Buxton because he’s the best one we had available at the time. We have a few guys down there that we considered, but they aren’t as good as Buxton, so we brought up Byron to give him a shot. … I’m hoping that things go well enough that we don’t have to worry about it.” Based on Ryan’s comments, it seems that Buxton will have the opportunity to play his way into a regular role moving forward. A productive Buxton would certainly increase Minnesota’s chances of remaining in the hunt for the division and could also eliminate a potential area of need in trades — an upgrade in the outfield.

Tigers Sign First-Rounders Burrows, Stewart

By Steve Adams | June 16, 2015 at 12:10pm CDT

The Tigers have agreed to terms with first-rounders Beau Burrows and Christin Stewart. Burrows himself tweeted that he is now officially a member of the Tigers organization after signing. Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reports (via Twitter) that he’ll receive the full slot value of $2,154,200 for the No. 22 overall pick (slot values via Baseball America). Meanwhile, MLB.com’s Jim Callis was the one to break the Stewart news, adding that he’ll receive the full slot value of $1,795,100 for his 35th overall selection (Twitter link).

Burrows, a high school right-hander out of Texas, ranked 42nd, 47th, 30th and 33rd on the respective draft rankings of Fangraphs’ Kiley McDaniel, ESPN’s Keith Law, Baseball America and MLB.com. Stewart’s respective ranks from that same group were 98th, 64th, 66th and 84th.

Burrows’ fastball velocity has jumped from the mid-90s in 2014 to the upper 90s in 2015, with BA saying he touched 97-98 mph and ESPN writing that he’s reached as high as 99. MLB.com notes that he throws as consistently hard as nearly any arm in this year’s draft class. However, Burrows is also about 6’0″ or 6’1″ and 200 pounds, making him somewhat undersized. McDaniel and BA both mention some concerns over Burrows’ delivery, though BA notes that some may look at Sonny Gray’s success and be intrigued by a similarly sized/polished arm.

As for Stewart, he’s said to have very good bat speed and plus raw power. McDaniel gives his raw power a 65 grade on the 20-80 scale, though his game power comes in at an average rating of 50. MLB.com gives him 55 power and notes that fringy speed and arm strength make him a likely left fielder but notes that his home run power was on display more in 2015 than in previous years. BA calls him aggressive and mentions some swing-and-miss tendencies in addition to the aforementioned defensive question marks. All that said, both ESPN and MLB.com note that a team that loves his bat — as the Tigers must — could very well see a regular corner outfielder.

Burrows was selected with the Tigers’ natural pick based on their place in the 2014 standings, whereas Stewart was selected with the pick the Tigers received when Max Scherzer signed with the Nationals as a free agent.

AL East Notes: Sox, Cueto, Parmelee, Reimold

By Mark Polishuk | June 14, 2015 at 8:42pm CDT

It was only a couple of weeks ago that the AL East boasted only one team with a winning record. Now, the Yankees, Rays and Blue Jays are over the .500 mark and the Orioles are right on the line with an even 31-31 record. The only team yet to turn things around are the Red Sox, who have lost six in a row to drop to 27-37 on the season (tied with the Marlins for the fourth-worst record in baseball). Here’s some news from around the division…

Though the Red Sox have continued to struggle, manager John Farrell and GM Ben Cherington “remain safe for now,” Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe reports. Earlier this month, owner John Henry said both men were in no danger of being fired.
The Red Sox, Yankees and Tigers each had a scout at Johnny Cueto’s last start, FOX Sports’ Jon Paul Morosi reports (Twitter links). As Morosi notes, it’s hard to see Boston buying at the trade deadline given their current record, and Cueto isn’t a fit on a non-contender since he’s only under contract through 2015.
Chris Parmelee is thought to have a June 15 opt-out date in his minor league deal with the Orioles, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reports (via Twitter). Parmelee, owner of a .709 OPS over 901 PA with the Twins from 2011-14, took a .319/.388/.454 slash line over 260 Triple-A plate appearances into today’s action. If the Orioles don’t promote Parmelee and he opts for free agency, Rosenthal lists the Rays as a team that could be interested the first baseman/outfielder’s services.
Nolan Reimold’s agent and some family members thought a “fresh start” might be best for the outfielder rather than rejoining the Orioles last offseason, but he tells MASNsports.com’s Steve Melewski that he wanted to return to Baltimore. Reimold signed a minor league deal with the O’s and returned to the bigs last Tuesday, already delivering two homers and a 1.232 OPS over his first 16 plate appearances.

Quick Hits: Harper, DBacks, Phillies, Gregorius

By | June 13, 2015 at 10:58pm CDT

Here’s the latest from around the league as the evening winds down:

Bryce Harper may be likely to enter free agency after the 2018 season, but Yankees fans shouldn’t start counting their chickens just yet. Bill Shaiken of the LA Times believes the Dodgers have a better chance to sign Harper. The Yankees roster is aging and none of their prospects are among Baseball America’s top 30. Meanwhile, the Dodgers may have a brighter future when Harper is a free agent. They have a young, talented active roster with Corey Seager and Julio Urias waiting in the minors. Harper could prove to be a valuable supplement to young assets like Joc Pederson, Yasiel Puig, and Yasmani Grandal. Of course, this all assumes the Nationals can’t manage an extension or that they won’t trade him to another team that can.
Diamondbacks GM Dave Stewart “does not seem inclined” to trade for pitching at the trade deadline, tweets Steve Gilbert of MLB.com. The club has plenty of young depth both in the majors and the minors, but Stewart wants to continue developing internally. Arizona is currently fourth in the NL West and 7.5 games behind the first place Dodgers. They’re also five games back in the Wild Card hunt. In my opinion, there will be more pressure to improve the rotation and bullpen if the club is within a few games of the plays at the deadline.
Don’t expect the Phillies to sit on their veteran assets at the trade deadline, writes Ryan Lawrence of the Philadelphia Daily News. Last July, the Phillies controversially opted to hold steady, but the club is now more thoroughly committed to rebuilding. Lawrence runs through possible destinations and hypothetical trade packages for the team’s remaining veterans. Interestingly, he believes the performance and complicated contracts of Chase Utley and Carlos Ruiz will make them harder to trade than Ryan Howard.
The Yankees trade to acquire Didi Gregorius doesn’t look so bad after the Tigers optioned starter Shane Greene to Triple-A, opines Brendan Kuty of NJ.com. Greene began the season with a 0.39 ERA in three starts, but he has since allowed just under a run per inning. Of course, Gregorius has hardly lit the world on fire with a .228/.287/.298 line and 0.4 UZR. While it’s much too early to declare a winner of this modest trade, perhaps we should be looking at the Diamondbacks. They acquired Robbie Ray in the swap. Through three starts, he has a 1.53 ERA with 6.62 K/9 and 2.55 BB/9. Just don’t forget how Greene looked through three starts!

Tigers Option Shane Greene To Minors

By charliewilmoth | June 12, 2015 at 1:28pm CDT

The Tigers have announced that they’ve optioned righty Shane Greene to Triple-A Toledo. The move was initially reported by Catherine Slonksnis of Bless You Boys. Greene’s demotion clears a spot on the Tigers’ active roster for lefty reliever Ian Krol. As Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press notes, the team will have to make another move on Saturday to open a spot for Justin Verlander, who’s set to return from the disabled list after missing the first two months of the season with a triceps strain. The Tigers don’t seem entirely sure of the reasons for Greene’s struggles, as comments from Greene and manager Brad Ausmus to MLive.com’s James Schmehl suggest, but perhaps a stint in Triple-A will help Greene get back on track.

The Tigers, of course, acquired Greene as part of a three-team trade with the Yankees and Diamondbacks in December. He allowed just two runs over 23 innings in his first three starts as a Tiger, but he’s struggled badly since then, and he now has a 5.82 ERA with 5.8 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 for the season. Didi Gregorius has likewise struggled in New York, which leaves the Diamondbacks as the only team that’s likely currently happy with their end of the deal — Robbie Ray has been terrific in three big-league starts, although very young infield prospect Domingo Leyba has struggled with Class A+ Visalia.

Trade Notes: Sellers, Dodgers, Papelbon, Jays, Twins

By Steve Adams and Jeff Todd | June 11, 2015 at 10:37pm CDT

Dave Cameron of Fangraphs opines that we may be headed for the “most extreme sellers’ market in years” given the unprecedented parity in the American League and a lack of sellers in the National League. Only 8.5 games separate the best team in the AL and the second-worst, Cameron notes, and the worst club (the Athletics) can be reasonably expected to turn things around if one believes in the estimation of a context-neutral system like BaseRuns (of course, Oakland’s hole may be too deep to escape even if their luck turns). In the NL, only the Phillies and Brewers are clear sellers, and even potential sellers like the Diamondbacks and Marlins are loaded with young, controllable players as opposed to appealing veteran assets. The Reds and Rockies may eventually sell also, but they’re close enough to .500 at this time that they may wait until late in trade season to market their players. Cameron adds that if the Rox “really won’t trade Tulowitzki in this market, where there might not be another significant power hitter available, then they should just never trade him.” I’m inclined to agree that it’s difficult to imagine a better market for Colorado to move Tulowitzki, particularly if he continues a torrid hot streak that is silencing any previous concerns about his health.

A few more trade-related notes as we begin to get the time of year when teams will shift their focus to improving the 25-man roster…

It’s no secret that the Dodgers could use a quality starter, and Mark Saxon of ESPNLosAngeles.com writes that the club is looking at the very top of the market. The top Dodgers target is Nationals righty Jordan Zimmermann. Other preferred names include Johnny Cueto of the Reds and David Price of the Tigers. Of course, it’s far from clear what kind of deal would interest contenders like Washington and Detroit, and Saxon notes that Los Angeles has no reason to believe at this point that Zimmermann could be had via trade. While Cueto is obviously expected to be available, it’s hard to imagine the other two arms being dealt barring some significant change (e.g., loss of a major player to injury or a rather dramatic slide in the standings) or serious creativity in structuring a deal.
Phillies closer Jonathan Papelbon has seen his name in the news today, and ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark adds to the reports indicating that Philadelphia is increasingly interested in moving the veteran. Rivals think that the Phils may be looking to deal Papelbon sooner rather than later in order to get out ahead of other clubs that might sell off late-inning arms — namely, the Athletics (Tyler Clippard) and Reds (Aroldis Chapman).
It remains to be seen what kind of return the Phillies can achieve on Papelbon, but the club’s apparent willingness to keep some of the salary obligations will obviously help on the prospect side of the equation. Corey Seidman of CSNPhilly.com attempts to gauge Papelbon’s value by looking at recent deals involving late-inning arms, indicating that the club might be interested in bolstering its organization depth with multiple prospects if it can’t pry loose a single player that it really likes.
The Blue Jays undeniably have a need at the back of the pen, writes Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca, but the club does not seem any closer to reaching agreement on Papelbon. While the teams have indeed chatted recently, Davidi says that Philly is still not willing to take on enough of Papelbon’s salary to make an agreement palatable. And Toronto is not looking to part with its better minor league talent, perhaps buoyed by the fact that there is not a ton of demand for Papelbon. The Jays are definitely constrained by financial limitations, says Davidi, who sums it up thusly: “in all likelihood they have one, maybe two moves in them, so they can ill-afford a costly roll of the dice.”
Twins GM Terry Ryan says that the failure of last year’s mid-season Kendrys Morales signing will not cause the team to pause in pursuing an upgrade this summer, as Derek Wetmore of 1500ESPN.com writes. “I would do it again if I had an opportunity,” Ryan said of the Morales move. “It just didn’t work.” He went on to say that the club is looking to see what it can do to take advantage of its nice start: “We’re doing pretty good and we certainly have to have our eyes open,” Ryan said. “We’re in contention, there’s no secret here. We have an opportunity to do some things and hopefully we’ll be able to.”

Minor Moves: Perry, Aardsma, Reimold

By Jeff Todd | June 9, 2015 at 10:45pm CDT

Here are the day’s minor moves:

The Tigers have released righty Ryan Perry, according to the International League transactions page. Perry, 28, struggled badly this year at Triple-A amid injury issues, and the same could be said, more or less, of the prior two seasons as well. His career started with real promise — he rose quickly through the minors and tossed 124 1/3 frames of 3.69 ERA ball out of the Detroit pen back in 2009-10 — but has failed to remain on course since. The 2008 first-round pick returned to the Tigers as a minor league free agent this winter after a few seasons in the Nationals organization.
Two veterans are headed back to the majors today, as the Braves selected the contract of just-signed reliever David Aardsma and the Orioles did the same with outfielder Nolan Reimold. Aardsma came to Atlanta after opting out of his deal with the Dodgers. He has thrown 19 2/3 solid innings at Triple-A, striking out 11.4 and walking 3.2 batters per nine en route to a 2.29 ERA. Reimold, who rejoined the Baltimore organization after departing last year, has slashed .286/.351/.389 over his 194 plate appearances at the highest level of the minors.

AL Central Notes: Price, Indians, Lindor, Santana

By Steve Adams | June 8, 2015 at 11:02am CDT

In an interview with Jon Morosi of FOX Sports (video link), Tigers ace David Price discussed his lasting connection with the Vanderbilt baseball program, the absence of Victor Martinez in his team’s lineup, his early picks for the AL Cy Young and, perhaps most interestingly to MLBTR readers, his upcoming free agency. Price says that free agency hasn’t been on his mind very often throughout the year to this point, as he tries to focus on the season at hand. Price adds that winning “takes precedent over everything else” when thinking about where he will play after 2015, but he feels the culture of the team will be important as well. “I want to have fun,” said Price. “There are some teams that are just a no-fun zone. I don’t care how much money I’m making. To me, I couldn’t imagine waking up and [not wanting to go to the field]. I couldn’t handle that. I’ll quit before that happens.” The 2012 Cy Young winner also reiterated that he wants a chance to win both immediately and long-term.

Rosenthal’s Latest: Mets, Tigers, Yankees, Coghlan

By | June 6, 2015 at 8:05pm CDT

The Mets appear to be keeping tabs on Brewers third baseman Aramis Ramirez and shortstop Jean Segura, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports in his latest video. Of the two, Ramirez is the more practical target for New York. He is expected to retire after the season and does not have a no-trade clause. The Mets are also interested in Ben Zobrist, but they believe other teams will outbid them.

The Tigers may not need to buy at the trade deadline due to the impending returns of Justin Verlander, Victor Martinez, Bruce Rondon, and Alex Avila. The lineup has struggled to push runs across the plate, but they lead the AL in OBP. When asked by Rosenthal, GM Dave Dombrowski said there are no scenarios under which the club could become deadline sellers. That means David Price, Yoenis Cespedes, and Alfredo Simon are unlikely to be traded.
The Yankees rotation may not be a priority at the trade deadline if the current starters remain healthy. In addition to the current options, Ivan Nova will begin a rehab assignment soon. Prospects Luis Severino and Bryan Mitchell provide further depth. The club could still acquire a star like Cole Hamels, but GM Brian Cashman says some of their top prospects are untouchable.
The easiest position for the Cubs to upgrade is left field. Chris Coghlan is hitting just .224/.298/.421 on the season. An unusually low .245 BABIP explains his low average. The club could hope for BABIP regression or replace him in one of several ways. They could trade for somebody like Zobrist. Alternatively, Javier Baez could be promoted to man third base with Kris Bryant moving to the outfield.

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