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Yankees Claim Kanekoa Texeira

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The Yankees claimed right-handed reliever Kanekoa Texeira off of waivers, the Royals announced. Kansas City had designated the former Yankees farmhand for assignment last Wednesday.

Texeira joined the Yankees organization in the 2008 Nick Swisher trade, but he has never donned pinstripes at the Major League level. The Mariners selected him in the 2009 Rule 5 draft and kept him on their roster for two months before exposing him to waivers. The Royals then claimed the Hawaiian and kept him on their roster for the remainder of the 2010 season to earn his rights.

In total, Texeira posted a 4.84 ERA with 4.8 K/9, 3.7 BB/9 and a 52.2% ground ball rate in 61 1/3 innings of relief last year. He has struggled in 2011, allowing 13 hits and 3 walks in 6 1/3 innings without a strikeout. Earlier in the year, Yankees GM Brian Cashman claimed reliever Jess Todd, only to lose him to the Cardinals, soon afterward.

Draft Notes: Bundy, Bauer, Bradley, Rendon

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You know the draft isn't far off when eye-popping asking prices start to circulate. Here's the latest on the amateur draft, which isn't much more than two weeks away…

  • High school right-hander Dylan Bundy would have no problem becoming a Royal, adviser Jay Franklin told Yahoo’s Jeff Passan. "We think Dylan would look great in Royal blue," he said (Twitter link)
  • Earlier today, it appeared as though Bundy had told several teams, including the Pirates (1st overall) and Royals (5th overall), that he’d prefer not to be drafted by them, according to Passan. Bundy believes in his long-toss program and doesn’t want teams to try to change his way of preparing for games, according to Passan. 
  • UCLA right-hander Trevor Bauer is also concerned that teams will ask him to stop his long-toss sessions, according to Passan.
  • As Jim Callis of Baseball America explained earlier in the week, players sometimes set exorbitant asking prices (like Bundy's) to make sure they fall to a team that values them highly and is prepared to pay more than most clubs would. Bundy and fellow high school right-hander Archie Bradley are asking for record deals, with Bradley looking for $20MM over five years. As Callis explains, neither pitcher will top Stephen Strasburg's record mark of $15.1MM, but each could earn over $5MM in bonus money.
  • MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes introduced us to Bradley earlier in the week.
  • Some executives are wondering if Anthony Rendon’s best position will ultimately be second base, according to ESPN.com’s Buster Olney. However, Rendon is a tremendous defender at third by most accounts and he told me he takes his defensive game seriously.

Draft Rumors: Pirates, Bundy, Royals, D’Backs

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MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo posted his first mock draft today, and within it he provides some info about what players are being targeted by what teams…

  • The Pirates are still looking at Gerrit Cole, Anthony Rendon, Danny Hultzen, Dylan Bundy, Bubba Starling, and perhaps even Archie Bradley.
  • Most believe that Bundy wants to turn pro despite his reported six-year, $30MM contract demand.
  • The Royals continue to look hard at college arms, but "there's a lot of chatter" about Starling, a semi-local kid.
  • The Diamondbacks will get a "bounty of college pitching" with the third and seventh overall picks.
  • The Cubs would love Starling if he is still on the board when their ninth overall pick comes around.
  • It's unclear if the Astros are leaning towards a college or high school player, but Texas native Taylor Jungmann could be too good for them to pass up at pick number 11.

Royals Designate Kanekoa Texeira For Assignment

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The Royals designated right-hander Kanekoa Texeira for assignment to create 40-man roster space for Danny Duffy, according to Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star. The Royals moved Kyle Davies to the 15-day disabled list to create room on the active roster for Duffy, who makes him MLB debut tonight.

The Mariners selected Texeira in the 2009 Rule 5 draft and kept him on their roster for two months before exposing him to waivers. The Royals pounced on the Hawaiian righty and kept him on their roster for the remainder of the 2010 season to earn his rights. In total, Texeira posted a 4.84 ERA with 4.8 K/9, 3.7 BB/9 and a 52.2% ground ball rate in 61 1/3 innings of relief last year. He has struggled in 2011, allowing 13 hits and 3 walks in 6 1/3 innings without a strikeout.

Click here for more on the implications of calling Duffy up now.

Keith Law’s First Mock Draft

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There is still a lot that can and will change between now and the amateur draft in three weeks, but that didn't stop ESPN's Keith Law from posting his first mock draft today. It's an Insider-only piece, but here are the important points…

  • The Pirates are considering Gerrit Cole and Anthony Rendon, and have "done their due diligence" on Dylan Bundy. Law notes that "under Neal Huntington the Pirates have long considered value relative to cost in their drafts, sometimes preferring to spend less in the first round when they see opportunities to spend their savings on other appealing prospects in later rounds." He has them taking Danny Hultzen first overall.
  • Everyone Law has spoken to says the Mariners will take Rendon as long as the medicals check out, and he hears from the very good source that there is nothing structural wrong with the Rice third baseman's shoulder.
  • The Diamondbacks will take Hultzen third overall if he's available, and they're hoping for Bundy or Trevor Bauer with the seventh overall pick. That pick is compensation for failing to sign Barret Loux last year.
  • The Orioles have interest in Bundy, Bauer, and Jed Bradley with the fourth pick. Law emphasizes that everyone has told him the Royals want a college pitcher with the fifth pick. The Indians have their eyes on Bauer for eighth overall.
  • High school outfielder Brandon Nimmo is looking for $2MM, and Law has him going to the Rays with the 32nd pick.

AL Central Notes: Royals, McPherson, LaPorta

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Harmon Killebrew passed away today at the age of 74 after a battle with esophageal cancer, the Twins announced. MLBTR extends its condolences to the Hall of Famer's family and friends and the Twins organization. Here are today's notes on the AL Central…

  • Royals analyst Rany Jazayerli checks in on nine top Kansas City prospects, including Danny Duffy, who will be called up tomorrow. For more on Duffy's promotion, click here. 
  • Former top prospect Dallas McPherson is returning to the Majors to replace Mark Teahen on the White Sox, the team announced. The White Sox added McPherson to their 40-man roster (they still have four empty spots).
  • Joe Pawlikowski of FanGraphs asks where Matt LaPorta's power has disappeared to this month. The Indians' first baseman hasn't homered in May and has just four home runs for the season, but his batting line is a healthy .274/.354/.487 thanks to ten doubles. The centerpiece in the 2008 C.C. Sabathia trade, LaPorta could still become a useful player, according to Pawlikowski.

Service Time Implications For Danny Duffy’s Debut

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Eric Hosmer rewarded the Royals for promoting him aggressively instead of taking a more cautious financial approach and delaying his debut. Less than two weeks into Hosmer's big league career, he has two home runs and an .848 OPS. Now, one of Hosmer's former minor league teammates is on his way to Kansas City for his MLB debut.

Left-handed pitching prospect Danny Duffy will start for the Royals on Wednesday, according to Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star. For the second time in a month, GM Dayton Moore is calling on his young players despite the possibility that the early promotions will mean the players go to arbitration four times instead of three and cost the team millions in the process. 

That’s not to say that Duffy's early promotion will cost the Royals. The upcoming Collective Bargaining Agreement and the unpredictability of future super two cutoffs make it nearly impossible to predict with certainty. Plus, if the Royals option Duffy to the minors for at least 20 days at some point between now and the end of 2013, it's likely that he will only go to arbitration three times.

Duffy will have 134 days of service time if he stays in the Majors for the entire 2011 season. If he collects a full year of service time in 2012 and 2013, he’d likely qualify for salary arbitration after ’13 and go through the potentially lucrative process four times (though that’s subject to collective bargaining and the variable super two cutoff). He’s definitely not going to be eligible for free agency until after 2017 – the Royals assured themselves of that by keeping him in the minors for April.

Six weeks into the season, it's not hard to see why the Royals called the 22-year-old up. The former third rounder entered the season as the seventh-best prospect in Kansas City’s stacked system, according to Baseball America (68th in MLB). Duffy’s first seven starts against Triple-A hitters have been impressive; he now has a tidy 3.00 ERA with 10.8 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9.

There’s something to be said for calling on prospects – especially pitchers – when they’re ready, instead of obsessing over service time. The Royals need arms after last night’s drubbing at the hands of the Indians and Duffy appears to be the best option they have. There are risks involved with the move, just as there are advantages. It’s too early to tell for sure, but the unexpectedly early callup could provide Duffy with just enough service time to qualify for arbitration an extra time.

Boras Has No Plans To Discuss Eric Hosmer Extension

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Eric Hosmer's agent Scott Boras tells Yahoo Sports' Jeff Passan that he has no plans to negotiate a long-term contract between his client and the Royals.  “Athletes have to know that you have to look at the market you’re in,” Boras said. “You can’t look at the markets of the past. For players like Hosmer, as you go back and look, as  [Mark] Teixeira had his own market and [Prince] Fielder had his own market, Hosmer will have his own. And something tells me it’s going to be a rather eventful one.” 

Royals fans can't be too pleased to hear Boras comparing Hosmer to those other first basemen — both of whom, of course, are Boras clients.  Teixeira turned down an eight-year, $140MM extension with his original team, the Rangers, in 2007 and ended up signing a massive eight-year, $180MM deal with the Yankees before the 2009 season.  Fielder is widely expected to leave Milwaukee after this season since the Brewers can't afford the Teixeira-esque contract he is seeking.  That said, another notable Boras client (Carlos Gonzalez) recently signed a contract extension, so Hosmer leaving Kansas City when he hits free agency after the 2017 season isn't a foregone conclusion.

Boras expects forthcoming national and regional TV contracts to increase revenues all over baseball, including for smaller-market teams like the Royals.  It also makes sense on a more practical level for Hosmer to not commit to a new deal yet since, as MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith pointed out last week, Hosmer could be in line for an extra year of arbitration given his early call-up.  Hosmer could potentially cost himself millions by signing an extension before he learns if he's a Super Two, or even before Major League Baseball's new CBA with the players' union is worked out. 

Quick Hits: Sabathia, Cashman, Rzepczynski

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Jason Vargas and Zach Britton both threw nine shutout innings in a remarkable pitcher's duel tonight in Baltimore.  After falling behind 1-0 in the top of the 12th, the Orioles came back to win the game in the bottom half of the inning on a bases-loaded single from J.J. Hardy.

Some news from around the majors…

  • "The C.C. Sabathia opt out situation is sure to be messy," predicts Mike Axisa of the River Avenue Blues blog, but Axisa thinks Brian Cashman's upcoming contract negotiations with the Yankees "will be messier."  Cashman is in the last year of his deal with New York and, as per club policy, the team won't discuss an extension in mid-season.  There has been some speculation about Cashman's future in the Bronx given his disagreements with upper management about the Rafael Soriano and Derek Jeter signings last winter, but Axisa thinks those signings give Cashman the leverage in negotiations, "plus the fact that there’s no ready-made, in-house replacement available."
  • As for Sabathia, Axisa thinks he will almost surely opt out of his contract, and the southpaw will look at Cliff Lee's five-year, $120MM deal with Philadelphia "as a starting point."
  • The Blue Jays lost Scott Downs to free agency last winter, but as MLB.com's Arden Zwelling writes, Marc Rzepczynski has been a superb fit as Downs' replacement in Toronto's bullpen.
  • Fangraphs' Reed MacPhail wonders why teams are still paying top-dollar for relief pitching.
  • When the sale of the Astros to Jim Crane is finalized, Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle reports that former Houston Rockets president George Postolos will be the Astros' new CEO.  Justice also speculates that Crane may try to get Andrew Friedman to return to his hometown to become the Astros' new GM, but it's extremely doubtful Friedman would leave Tampa Bay just to start another rebuilding process elsewhere.
  • In his latest chat with fans, Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star would be "astounded" if the Royals didn't quickly pursue signing Eric Hosmer to a long-term extension, though it could be "a tough sell" given that Scott Boras is Hosmer's agent.  Earlier today, Dutton's Star colleague Sam Mellinger, proposed a six-year, $25MM extension for Hosmer (with three option years and possibly $40MM more added on), though MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith pointed out that Hosmer and Boras would surely turn down such an offer.

Gammons On A’s, Pirates, Royals, Rays

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Starting pitching is one of the most valuable assets in the game and, as Peter Gammons explains at MLB.com, small-market teams usually have to rely on the draft to obtain it. Here are Gammons’ latest notes from around the league…

  • A's GM Billy Beane says his current rotation, a group that’s more or less untouchable, could be as good as Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder and Barry Zito were. Trevor Cahill has “become one of the best pitchers in the game,” according to Beane.
  • "Let's face it, no small-market team can afford to go into the market to get starting pitching,"  Beane told Gammons. "To survive and compete, you have to draft and develop pitching, or go out and get it before it's on the Major League radar screen."
  • Gammons reports that some expect the Pirates to take Virginia left-hander Danny Hultzen with the first overall pick this June. Click here for MLBTR's Q&A with Hultzen.
  • Georgia Tech Lefty Jed Bradley will likely disappear within the first ten picks of the draft, and Connecticut righty Matt Barnes will likely be a top-15 selection.
  • The Royals are looking for a college starter who can arrive in the Major Leagues and make an impact in the rotation soon.
  • Royals GM Dayton Moore agrees that you need pitching to go along with premium position players. “They're not going to win if we don't find young, affordable pitching," Moore said.
  • The D’Backs, who hold two of the first seven picks this year (#3, #7), will take at least one arm early on and the Rays are also likely to take a number of pitchers with some of their many high picks.
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