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Draft Notes: Pirates, Astros, McGuire

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We're a little more than a month away from the 2013 Amateur Draft, which kicks off June 6. (Here's the full draft order.) Here's the latest:

  • The Pirates, who pick at No. 9 (a compensation pick for failing to sign Mark Appel last year) and No. 14 (their regular first-round pick) could take UNC third baseman Colin Moran, Conor Glassey of Baseball America suggests in his preview for National League teams. That's about as definitive as anyone can get, at this early stage — it's unclear what will happen after the Cubs select either Appel or Jonathan Gray with the No. 2 overall pick.
  • The Astros, who pick first in the draft, are scouting eight prospects, Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle reports (on Twitter). GM Jeff Luhnow tells Ortiz he has personally scouted seven players.
  • While Appel and Gray stand out in this year's draft class, the next tier of college pitching talent is still establishing itself, ESPN.com's Jason Churchill writes (Insider-only). That includes Ryne Stanek of Arkansas, Ryan Eades of LSU and Sean Manaea of Indiana State. Manaea could be the first to be drafted, Churchill notes, possibly going to the Rockies at No. 3, the Indians at No. 5 or the Red Sox at No. 7.
  • Churchill also writes that at least some teams in this draft would prefer to pick position players, and might draft them a bit earlier than their talent might suggest.
  • There is a wide range of opinions about high school catcher Reese McGuire, who might go anywhere from No. 4 to No. 21, Churchill writes. The Pirates have scouted McGuire heavily and have two picks in that range.

Rockies, Astros Complete Wilton Lopez Trade

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The Rockies announced that they have received outfielder Jose Monzon from the Astros as the player to be named later in the Wilton Lopez trade.  The 21-year-old will report to extended spring training before being assigned by Colorado.

Colorado received Lopez and a PTBNL or cash considerations from the Astros in exchange for starter Alex White and minor leaguer Alex Gillingham in December.  Lopez hasn't been terribly sharp so far in 2013 as he has posted a 6.17 ERA across 11 and 2/3 innings of work, though he does have eight strikeouts with no walks issued.

Monzon has yet to advance above Rookie ball in his four seasons in the Houston organization.  The youngster was not rated amongst the top 30 prospects in the Astros' farm system by Baseball America.

 

Astros Links: Appel, Gray, Rotation

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The Astros enter Wednesday tied for eighth in terms of runs scored in the American League, but their pitching has been far and away the worst in baseball thus far (5.42 ERA). Here's more on Houston's team in its first year as a member of the American League…

  • Mark Appel and Jonathan Gray are the consensus top two prospects in the 2013 Draft, but Jon Heyman of CBS Sports tweets that there are no guarantees Houston will select either right-hander. Heyman notes that the Astros like the "2 for 1" method they employed last year when they signed Carlos Correa to a below-slot bonus and re-allocated the funds to add high-priced talent with their later picks.
  • Manager Bo Porter told Brian T. Smith of the Houston Chronicle that the team isn't afraid to make changes if there aren't improvements in the near future: “We won’t (continue). It’s either these guys are going to get it done, or we’re going to find five that will get it done,” Porter told Smith in regards to Philip Humber, Erik Bedard and Brad Peacock.
  • Within that same piece, Smith notes that the tandem starter experiment for the Astros has been discontinued at the Triple-A level.
  • The Astros' offseason plan to make risk-reward additions like Bedard and Humber made sense at the time, writes MLB.com's Matthew Leach, but it's started to "look pretty ugly." Leach notes that the team can't punt the season entirely, as losses where they're out of the game before they knew what hit will be a mental grind on the young players.

AL Notes: Astros, Draft, Andino, Nelson

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The Astros haven't yet decided who they're taking with the first overall pick in the 2013 Draft, Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com reports. Possible candidates for the top pick include college pitchers Mark Appel, Jonathan Gray and Sean Manaea; college hitter Kris Bryant; and high school outfielders Clint Frazier and Austin Meadows. "I think it's important to keep scouting them until the very end," says Astros scouting director Mike Elias. "We're making sure we're keeping the field as open as we can. We are not going to make that decision when there's no reason to, six weeks before the Draft." The Astros' draft signing bonus pool, which stands at $11.7MM this year, could play into their decision about who to draft. In 2012, the Astros took Carlos Correa first overall and signed him for significantly less than his bonus pool allotment, allowing them to take high-upside talents like Lance McCullers Jr. later in the draft. Here are more notes from around the American League.

AL West Notes: Astros, Hamilton, Mariners

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GM Jeff Luhnow and the Astros have some unusual methods, but don't believe everything you hear, says Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. There's no truth to the rumor that the Astros won't allow their minor-league hitters to swing at 3-2 pitches, for example. The Astros are using a piggyback system at all their minor-league levels, planning to use two starting pitchers, one after the other, in each game. The Astros feel that system allows them to distribute innings to their best pitchers, and to protect their health. But that system appears to be breaking down at the Triple-A level, since some Triple-A pitchers have already been promoted to the majors and another, John Ely, went down with Tommy John surgery. "Basically, the argument for having eight instead of five (at Triple A) is dissipating quickly," says Luhnow. Here are more notes from the AL West.

  • Josh Hamilton's aggressive approach at the plate is clouding his future and could make his contract with the Angels a very bad one, Dave Cameron of FanGraphs argues. Cameron says that Hamilton needs to make adjustments and stop chasing bad pitches, because right now, "Hamilton is just a hack who has terrible at-bats and makes a lot of outs." Currently, Hamilton is hitting .202/.246/.298 while swinging at 45% of pitches outside the strike zone.
  • The Mariners dodged a bullet when the Angels signed Hamilton, Cameron argues at USS Mariner. The Mariners reportedly offered Hamilton four years and $100MM, with two vesting options that would have brought the total value of the contract to $150MM. But Hamilton signed with the Angels for $125MM guaranteed instead.

AL Notes: Carp, Overbay, Grossman

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The Red Sox's offseason trade for Mike Carp appears to be paying dividends, the Providence Journal's Brian MacPherson reports. Carp is currently hitting. 455/.500/.864 in a very small sample after joining the Red Sox from the Mariners in February. "We've always liked him as a hitter," says Sox GM Ben Cherington. "There's a history of getting guys out of Seattle, the tough hitting environment. It was a combination of a pretty strong minor-league track record and some big-league success and, subjectively, our scouts have always liked his swing and approach." MacPherson says Carp is part of a recent trend in which the Red Sox cheaply acquire former prospects (like Jeremy Hermida, Andrew Miller, Mike Aviles and Franklin Morales) with the idea that they might take steps forward that they didn't with their previous organizations. Here are more notes from around the American League.

  • Lyle Overbay didn't know where he would be headed at the end of spring training before ending up with the Yankees, Vince Z. Mercogliano of the LoHud Yankees Blog writes. The Red Sox had released Overbay, but he quickly found a home with the injury-ravaged Yanks. "My agent was on the line from the get-go. He obviously thought that this might be a fit, and Milwaukee," says Overbay. "Realistically, I think this and Milwaukee were the only chances that I had in that short amount of time."
  • The Astros' main objective this year is to see which of their young players can be long-term contributors, GM Jeff Luhnow tells Tyler Kepner of the New York Times. One of those young players is outfielder Robbie Grossman, the main piece the Astros acquired when they traded Wandy Rodriguez to the Pirates last July. Grossman made his big-league debut last week after a strong start for Triple-A Oklahoma City.

AL Notes: Ankiel, Mariners, Twins, Ramirez, Ortiz

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Rick Ankiel could be nearing the end of his well-documented but still-surreal path through baseball, writes Joe Posnanski of NBCSports.com. Evoking the poet Dylan Thomas ("rage, rage against the dying of the light … do not go gentle into that good night"), Posnanski notes that Ankiel's journey has taken one more incredible turn. In 42 plate appearances this season prior to this evening's game, Ankiel posted a remarkable 26:0 strikeout to walk ratio, but was slugging over .600 thanks to his five home runs and two doubles. While long known as a free swinger with contact issues, Ankiel appears to be bringing both those labels to heretofore unseen extremes for the struggling Astros. Elsewhere around the American League:

  • It is time to wonder whether and when the Mariners will start firing people, writes Dave Cameron at U.S.S. Mariner. While Cameron is no fan of manager Eric Wedge, he feels that there is little to be gained from a mid-season firing of the team's skipper. And while the team might be tempted to can GM Jack Zduriencik, that could create major logistical difficulties with the upcoming draft and then trade deadline. Ultimately, says Cameron, Seattle will be hard pressed to avoid reaping what it sowed in a confounding offseason.
  • Twins GM Terry Ryan says it was "just happenstance" that this offseason saw the club acquire a series of groundball-inducing righties (Vance Worley, Mike Pelfrey, and Kevin Correia), Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press reports. Ryan has a background in what Berardino describes as "old-school scouting principles." Nevertheless, the GM says that he does not make any decisions without consulting his statistics guru, Jack Goin, whose official title is manager of major league administration and baseball research.
  • The Angels have outrighted right-handed Elvin Ramirez to Triple-A after the pitcher cleared waivers, writes Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com (via Twitter). Ramirez was acquired from the Mets for cash about a month back. The move means that the club has cleared a spot on its 40-man roster, Gonzalez also notes.
  • After being designated for assignment to make room for Aaron Laffey, pitcher Ramon Ortiz has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A by the Blue Jays, according to the club's Buffalo affiliate (on Twitter). He made one appearance for Toronto this year after spending all of 2012 in the Yankees' system.

Nationals Claim Xavier Cedeno

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The Nationals claimed lefty reliever Xavier Cedeno off waivers from the Astros, according to a tweet from the team.  They've optioned him to Triple-A Syracuse.  Cedeno had been designated for assignment by the Astros on Thursday.  He nearly made it through unclaimed, as the Nationals were the last team in the waiver order.

Cedeno, 26, was scored upon in four of his five appearances this year.  In 2012, he posted a 3.77 ERA, 10.5 K/9, 4.1 BB/9, 0.87 HR/9, and 50.0% groundball rate in 31 relief innings, tossing another 27 2/3 innings at Triple-A.  A native of Puerto Rico, Cedeno was drafted by the Rockies in the 31st round in 2004.  They released him in March 2010, and he signed with the Astros as a free agent in December of that year.  Cedeno made seven appearances in the World Baseball Classic this year for Puerto Rico.

The Nationals only have one other left-handed reliever on their 40-man roster: Zach Duke.

Astros Notes: Norris, Bedard, Clemens, Draft

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ESPN's Buster Olney relays (via Twitter) a stat from the Elias Sports Bureau, noting that the Astros have received just 15 1/3 innings from their starters over the past six games — tied for fewest in a six game span in the past 35 years. Offseason acquisition Brad Peacock will look to turn that trend around tonight when he faces a struggling Mariners offense. Here's more on the Astros in their first year in the American League…

  • General manager Jeff Luhnow told reporters, including MLB.com's Brian McTaggart, that the team's bullpen can't take much more of the past week's trends: "We can't take too many more hits before we have to go out and make some moves."
  • Luhnow has no plans to trade Bud Norris anytime soon, reports McTaggart. Luhnow told McTaggart that Norris is a "critical part of the team" and noted that the constant rumors are unfortunate for all parties involved. Norris hasn't been on the trading block for quite some time, according to Luhnow.
  • Luhnow also said that Erik Bedard is basically "going through the finishing touches of Spring Training" (Brian T. Smith of the Houston Chronicle reporting via Sulia). The Astros have limited Bedard to four innings per appearance thus far, which has contributed to the aforementioned 15 1/3 innings stat.
  • McTaggart reports that the Astros have sent Roger Clemens out to scout potential No. 1 overall draft picks (Twitter link). The Astros seem to be focused on college players, as McTaggart goes on to list right-hander Mark Appel (Stanford), right-hander Jonathan Gray (Oklahoma), left-hander Sean Manaea (Indiana State) and third baseman/outfielder Kris Bryant (San Diego) as players of interest.

Cafardo On Britton, Norris, Garza, Red Sox

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In today's column, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe writes that strikeouts are on the rise this season and there are an abundance of theories as to why.  One prominent AL GM believes that the umps are using a wider strike zone.  Former pitcher Curt Schilling believes the strikeouts are piling up because there are more power arms than ever before.  Others believe that there are a lot of youngsters in the game right now who may not be major league ready, leading to a lot of Ks.  Here's more from today's column..

  • As the Orioles look for pitching help, there’s an increasing feeling among baseball people that Zach Britton is the arm the Orioles could dangle in a deal.  The 25-year-old has begun the season well in Norfolk and has 1.98 ERA with five strikeouts and seven walks in three starts. 
  • Astros pitcher Bud Norris could be the No. 1 guy on contenders’ wish lists – along with the Cubs’ Matt Garza, if he’s healthy and productive – according to an AL GM.  Erik Bedard can also draw interest but he has an injury history, which scares teams off.  Carlos Pena has value because of his power and could find himself on a contender if he has a strong showing in Houston.
  • Scouts feel that Red Sox minor league outfielder Jeremy Hazelbaker has put himself back on the map as a player teams might be interested in trading for.  Early in the season, the 25-year-old has a slash line of .271/.308/.563 with four homers in Triple-A.  Scouts say he has taken a far more aggressive approach at the plate and is swinging at good pitches in good counts.  Hazelbaker is also showing some power and is considered a plus defensive outfielder.
  • The Red Sox never pursued Ted Lilly while he was available because it would have been too difficult to add him to the 25-man roster. The Sox have been looking for a veteran starter they can keep at Triple-A in reserve, but haven’t found the right guy. 
  • Brad Penny is still a free agent and looking to get back to the majors.  However, he's still waiting for a team to bite.  The 34-year-old last pitched for the Giants in 2012 and also had a disappointing few months with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks in Japan. 
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