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Rosenthal On Blue Jays, Bautista, D’Backs, Ahmed

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Now with the Angels, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports wonders if shortstop Andrelton Simmons can develop into a better hitter.  Simmons is working hard on the offensive side of his game, but he is also appreciative of the fact that the Halos value him highly for what he does in the field.

“It feels great, man. It helps you build that confidence,” Simmons said. “I don’t have to go up there and be that big-name hitter. I just have to play my part — hit-and-run, bunt the guy over. That might take a little pressure off me and make it easier. I’m still trying to be a better hitter. Everybody is. You try to pick up from guys like Mike Trout and Albert Pujols. Hopefully by the end of the year, I learn a lot from them.”

Here’s a look at some of the highlights from Rosenthal’s column:

AL West Notes: Weaver, McCullers, Gray, Beltre, Fielder

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Angels starting pitcher Jered Weaver has been diagnosed with mild degenerative changes in his cervical spine, tweets Mike Digiovanna of the L.A. Times. The cervical portion of the spine includes the upper back and neck. Weaver will still be bumped from his next scheduled start, but he’s not expected to be shut down (tweet). The soft-tossing righty averaged just 83 mph with his fastball last season and was throwing even softer in his spring work. He’s scheduled to see a spine specialist to decide next steps.

Here’s more from the AL West:

  • An MRI has revealed no damage in Lance McCullers sore right shoulder, writes Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle. The Astros’ starter threw a career high 164 innings last season, and the club has plans to limit his innings. Carefully addressing this current injury seems like a good way to manage McCuller innings while looking after his health. As such, he may not open the season on the big league roster.
  • “Everyone” inquired about Athletics ace Sonny Gray this winter, tweets Jon Heyman of MLB Network. The Red Sox were apparently the first to pick up the phones on the day after the World Series ended. No deals were close per Heyman. Oakland leadership has been vocal about holding onto Gray, although the club is also known to be very open minded about looking for roster upgrades.
  • While there is a gap in talks between the Rangers and Adrian Beltre, it’s thought that the two sides are motivated to find a middle ground, tweets Heyman. Beltre, soon-to-be 37, is in the final year of his current contract with Texas. Heyman speculates that the Angels could be a top suitor for Beltre if he reaches the open market. If an extension isn’t reached soon, Beltre’s performance this season could be the difference between a moderate one-year deal and a sizable multi-year offer.
  • The Rangers tried to sign Austin Jackson for about $4MM before pivoting to Ian Desmond, tweets Heyman. Texas’ need was in left field with Jackson preferring to remain an up-the-middle player. He ultimately signed with the White Sox for $5MM.
  • Slugger Prince Fielder has been diagnosed with sleep apnea, writes Gerry Fraley of the Dallas Morning News. He will use a mask and breathing apparatus to combat the disorder. The player and club are hopeful that better rest will translate to a more successful season. Fielder does not plan to undergo the painful and complicated jaw reconstructive surgery used to cure sleep apnea. Mike Napoli underwent that particular procedure prior to the 2015 season.

Al Alburquerque Looks To Bounce Back After Virus Slowed Him In 2015

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  • The Angels are hoping that reliever Al Alburquerque will be able to bounce back after a tough 2015, and improved health is one reason for optimism, as MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez reports. Albuquerque says that he was hobbled for all of the spring and much of the regular season last year after contracting the Chikungunya virus over the winter. His fastball velocity steadily increased over the course of the year, and Albuquerque says he feels “much better” in camp.

AL West Notes: Weaver, Parker, Hill, Mariners’ Bullpen

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Angels right-hander Jered Weaver experienced tightness in his neck this morning and underwent an MRI that is being described as precautionary, tweets MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez. While a fair number of players have undergone such tests and checked out just fine early in spring, there’s been some added concern surrounding Weaver given the fact that his fastball didn’t top 80 mph in his second spring outing, during which he served up three homers and yielded a total of five runs on six hits and a walk without a strikeout in 2 2/3 innings. Pedro Moura of the L.A. Times was among the reporters to speak to Weaver following yesterday’s start, with Weaver telling the media, “I wake up every day hoping this is the day that it’s going to click, and it just hasn’t happened yet.” Weaver voiced confidence that he can retire hitters even with diminished velocity, but after averaging 83-84 mph on his heater last season, the former ace’s velocity figures to be an ongoing point of intrigue. Weaver is earning $20MM in the final season of a five-year, $85MM contract in 2016.

Elsewhere in the AL West…

  • Jarrod Parker’s uphill battle to return from a pair of Tommy John surgeries and a fractured epicondyle in his right elbow appears to have hit a snag, per Matt Kawahara of the Sacramento Bee. The Athletics right-hander, facing live hitters for the first time today, left the mound “yelling in pain” after throwing a pitch, Kawahara tweets. Pitching coach Curt Young, somewhat surprisingly, told Kawahara (Twitter link) that he “thinks” Parker will be OK, though he declined to go into any detail. A bullpen role for Parker had been the club’s preference for Parker, club sources told John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle, but Young did term the incident a “setback,” and the A’s have announced the injury as a “lateral elbow impingement,” via John Hickey of the Bay Area News Group (Twitter link). Parker is headed for an MRI, per Hickey. MLB.com’s Jane Lee tweets that this injury is less severe than his previous maladies, as he currently has range of motion in his elbow.
  • Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports looks at the improbable (and that adjective is underselling the story) comeback of left-hander Rich Hill, who signed a one-year, $6MM contract with the Athletics this offseason on the heels of four brilliant September starts in Boston. Hill was granted his release from a minor league deal with the Nationals this past June and began working on throwing over the top for the first time after years of working more from a side-arm angle. Hill told his agent that he wanted an opportunity to start, and, finding no opportunities even with a Triple-A club, took to the independent Atlantic League to find a spot in the rotation. Hill parlayed that into a spot in the Red Sox’ Triple-A rotation and only received a call-up in September when Steven Wright suffered an injury. Four starts and a 1.55 ERA (with a 36-to-5 K/BB ratio in 29 innings) later, Hill says he received interest from 20 teams as a free agent and actually turned down an offer for more money than the $6MM he landed from the A’s.
  • Mariners relievers Evan Scribner and Ryan Cook are likely ticketed for the disabled list to begin the 2016 season, reports Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune. Each right-hander is dealing with a strained lat muscle in his back, per GM Jerry Dipoto, who said the news was actually better than he’d been expecting.
  • The outlook on Mariners lefty Danny Hultzen, however, is considerably less favorable, Dutton notes. The former No. 2 overall pick is again on the shelf due to shoulder pain, and manager Scott Servais said he “[doesn’t] see” when Hultzen could get into a game. Hultzen has been working exclusively as a reliever, but he experienced a setback recently, per Servais. One anonymous club official simply told Dutton that Hultzen’s status is “not good.” Dutton writes that the slew of injuries makes it easier for Joel Peralta to make the roster out of Spring Training, also reporting that Peralta is able to elect free agency late in camp if he is informed that he will not make the roster.

Latest On Angels' Left Field Competition

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Angels Sign Josh Roenicke

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  • Also inking a minor league deal last week was right-hander Josh Roenicke, who inked such a pact with the Angels. The 32-year-old Roenicke (nephew of former Brewers manager and current Halos coach Ron Roenicke) last appeared in the Majors with the 2013 Twins, recording a 4.35 ERA across 62 innings of work. Though he was once a notable prospect in the Reds’ system, Roenicke never blossomed into a regular contributor in the rotation or bullpen at any of his big league stops. He’s spent the past two seasons with the Triple-A affiliates for the Rockies, Nationals and Brewers, recording a collective ERA north of 6.00.

Gonzalez, Fletcher On Nava's Journey

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  • Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com and Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register each profiled the nearly unfathomable route that Daniel Nava took to the Major Leagues in a pair of columns this week. Angels fans that are unfamiliar with their new left fielder’s obstacle-ridden road to the big leagues will want to explore the 33-year-old’s journey from equipment manager of his college club to indy ball player that was signed by the Red Sox for one dollar to 27-year-old rookie that turned the first Major League pitch that he saw into a grand slam. Gonzalez notes, in fact, that Hollywood producers have contacted Nava to inquire about making a movie out of his journey, though the new Angels outfielder says he has no intention of entertaining any such inquiry while his career is still going.

Minor MLB Transactions: 2/29/16

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Outfielder Andrew Brown, who had been in big league camp with the Angels as a non-roster invitee, has now elected to retire from baseball rather than embark on a 10th professional season, MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez tweets. According to Gonzalez, the 31-year-old Brown decided he would rather spend time with his children than continue to pursue a playing career. Brown last appeared in the Majors as a member of the 2014 Mets. In parts of four big league seasons, the former 18th-rounder batted .220/.281/.390 with 14 homers in 362 plate appearances. Brown went overseas and enjoyed great success in Korea last year, where he batted .261/.360/.496 with 28 homers in his lone KBO experience. Best wishes to Andrew in whatever steps he takes following his playing career.

Here are the day’s minor transactions from around the league…

  • The D-backs have signed former Pirates/Nationals/Twins closer Matt Capps to a minor league contract, according to Baseball America’s Matt Eddy. Earlier this month, FOX’s Jon Morosi reported that Capps was eyeing a big league comeback after having been absent from the Majors since 2012. After being non-tendered by the Pirates and signed to a one-year deal by the Nationals prior to the 2010 season, Capps was traded to the Twins in one of the more lopsided swaps in recent memory, with Wilson Ramos heading to the Nats in exchange. Capps did go on to pitch well in his first half-season with Minnesota before struggling in 2011 and 2012. The 32-year-old has a lifetime 3.52 ERA with 6.5 K/9, 1.7 BB/9 and a 39.5 percent ground-ball rate in 439 2/3 innings as a big league reliever.

West Notes: Rangers, Desmond, Choi, Pence, Marquez

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The Rangers have committed about $143MM to their payroll with just three players awaiting contracts, writes Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News. Pitchers Alex Claudio, Nick Martinez, and Yohander Mendez are expected to sign split contracts soon. Presently, payroll is about $2MM to $3MM more than the club spent in 2015. In my opinion, there is reason to believe the Rangers will have plenty of in-season payroll flexibility since the team unexpectedly made the postseason last year and should contend again in 2016. However, Grant writes (in a separate article) that payroll is expected to remain flat.

Here’s more from out West:

  • The Rangers have held preliminary talks with Ian Desmond, per Grant. The content of those talks related to using Desmond as a super-utility player. The most pressing need is in left field, although having flexibility throughout the infield is always in demand.
  • Angels Rule 5 pick Ji-Man Choi could factor into the Angels’ left field competition, writes Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com. Daniel Nava and Craig Gentry are expected to form a left field platoon. Choi has struggled to stay on the field in recent seasons, but he’s healthy entering Spring Training. Interestingly, Choi taught himself how to switch-hit during a 80 plate appearance 2016 season. He’s naturally a left-handed hitter.
  • Giants right fielder Hunter Pence is dealing with Achilles tendinitis, writes Chris Haft of MLB.com. The injury is thought to be minor. Pence spent most of 2015 on the disabled list for three unrelated upper body injuries. San Francisco has solid outfield depth including Angel Pagan, Denard Span, Gregor Blanco, Jarrett Parker, and Mac Williamson. Of course, Pagan and Span are hardly the poster children for good health. Several quality outfielders are still on the free agent market including Desmond, Austin Jackson, and Alex Rios.
  • Recent trade acquisition German Marquez is turning heads in Rockies camp, writes Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post. Marquez, the prospect acquired in the Corey Dickerson trade, throws an easy 95 mph fastball as part of a three pitch repertoire. The 21-year-old former Ray is coming off a 3.56 ERA with 6.73 K/9, and 1.88 BB/9 in 123 High-A innings.

AL Notes: Encarnacion, Coghlan, Trout

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Blue Jays slugger Edwin Encarnacion reiterates that remains open to an extension, but is setting an Opening Day deadline so that talks do not become a distraction, according to various reporters (including MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm). Via Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi (on Twitter), Encarnacion would like to finish his career in Toronto. “I love this team, I love this city,” he says. “But it (doesn’t) depend on me. It depends what they’re thinking.” It was reported earlier this month that the Blue Jays would explore extensions with Encarnacion and Jose Bautista, both of whom are eligible for free agency after the season. The 33-year-old Encarnacion has hit 34 or more homers in each of the last four years, and in response to a question about what figure he might have in mind for a new contract, he says (via Chisholm) the only number he’s thinking of right now is 40, for the number of dingers he’d like to hit this season. Here’s more from the American League.

  • GM David Forst says the Athletics see new acquisition Chris Coghlan as a “[Ben] Zobrist-type guy,” via a video from the Bay Area News Group’s John Hickey (on Twitter). Forst mentions that Coghlan has played second and third base in the past, along with left field and center field. Of course, Coghlan has mostly been a left fielder in his career, but it sounds like the Athletics could be preparing for him to take on a slightly different role this season. He did appear in 15 games at second base with the Cubs in 2015.
  • Angels star Mike Trout hopes to steal more bases in 2016, Pedro Moura of the Los Angeles Times writes. “I gotta get my confidence back,” says Trout, referring to his base-stealing. Trout led the AL with 49 steals in 2012, but that number dropped to 11 (against seven caught stealings) in 2015. Trout is, obviously, plenty valuable whether he steals bases or not, and Moura notes that much of the Angels’ brain trust isn’t concerned about whether Trout racks up big base-stealing totals.
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