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Mets Claim Kirk Nieuwenhuis

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The Mets have re-claimed outfielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis, ESPN New York’s Adam Rubin tweets. The team has announced that it has moved reliever Jerry Blevins (forearm) to the 60-day disabled list to clear space on its 40-man roster.

The Mets designated Nieuwenhuis for assignment last month, then traded him to the Angels for cash. The Angels then designated him for assignment last week after 24 plate appearances for the club. Overall, Nieuwenhuis has posted a dismal .100/.156/.167 line in 64 plate appearances between the two teams this season. In the past, though, the left-handed hitter has been modestly productive, with a good eye and moderate power, and he posted a .259/.342/.482 line in 130 plate appearances last year. Nieuwenhuis can also play all three outfield positions, so he can be a useful player if he regains his stroke.

He is, however, out of options. Rubin thinks (again via Twitter) that the Mets might try to pass Nieuwenhuis through waivers again, as they’ll soon have to open spots for Dillon Gee (bereavement list), Ruben Tejada (paternity list) and Daniel Murphy (disabled list).

California Notes: Dipoto, Ethier, Giants

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Months ago, the Angels exercised their 2016 option on GM Jerry Dipoto’s contract, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register tweets. That news had not been reported until now. The option is the last one on Dipoto’s original contract, a three-year deal that included two options. That the organization has not extended Dipoto to this point might or might not be notable. The Angels have not always quite lived up to lofty expectations in the last few seasons, and Dipoto’s tenure has been shaped in part by an unfortunate contract and ugly dispute with Josh Hamilton (which, to be fair, were both at least partially the fault of owner Arte Moreno), but the team is coming off a 98-win 2014 campaign. Here are more notes from the West Coast.

  • Outfielder Andre Ethier has reestablished himself this year after a winter in which the Dodgers couldn’t trade him, Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register writes. “I don’t think anybody wanted me either,” says Ethier. “It takes two to tango like in a lot of things. … At the same time, maybe they knew what they were doing. Maybe the reason it didn’t happen was because they were asking more than other teams were willing to give.” Now, Ethier is in the midst of a resurgent .287/.369/.506 season, and Plunkett points out that, as the dollars remaining on Ethier’s contract continue to shrink (he’s currently owed about $49MM more through 2017, including a buyout for 2018), it might become a lot easier for the Dodgers to trade him than it was last winter.
  • Giants executives Brian Sabean and Lee Elder were on hand to watch today’s Reds/Cubs game in Chicago, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal writes (all Twitter links). As Rosenthal points out, the natural conclusion is that Sabean and Elder were in town to watch Reds starter Johnny Cueto — Cueto will be a sought-after trade target this summer, and the Giants need rotation help. It could be, though, that the pair were at Wrigley for other reasons.
  • Giants outfielder Hunter Pence is headed to the disabled list with wrist tendinitis, as Rosenthal tweets. Pence has not played since June 2, so he should be able to return within a week if he’s ready. To take Pence’s place on the active roster, the Giants selected the contract of righty Mike Broadway today after promoting an outfielder, Jarrett Parker, earlier this week.

Angels Sign First-Rounder Taylor Ward

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7:22pm: The Angels have officially announced the signing.

6:54pm: Ward’s bonus is $1.67MM, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register tweets. That will give the Angels a savings of $364K against their pool that they can use to sign other picks.

3:56pm: The Angels have agreed to terms with first-round pick Taylor Ward, MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez tweets. Ward, a 21-year-old junior catcher from Fresno State, was the 26th overall pick of the draft. Terms of the deal have not yet been disclosed, but the pool value of the pick is $2,034,500.

MLB.com calls Ward “primarily a catch-and-throw guy,” noting that his arm and overall defensive potential should make him at least an MLB backup but that his hitting isn’t as strong. Baseball America (subscription-only) offers similar praise for Ward’s excellent arm but notes that his offense is a concern despite a bit of power, pointing out that he “lacks a natural feel for hitting.”

Trade Market Notes: Top Targets, Papelbon, Jays, Mets, Cueto

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Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com ranks the top forty trade candidates around the league, adding observations and notes on each. Though he notes that clubs like the Red Sox and Orioles could potentially end up moving assets, Heyman restricts things to clubs that seem more likely than not to sell at this point. Cole Hamels of the Phillies lands in the pole position; though some top suitors remain unwilling to part with the top players targeted by Philadelphia, one GM tells Heyman that the club will probably be able to land a premium prospect for the lefty. He also argues that a deal involving Dodgers outfielder and Angels starter C.J. Wilson looks good on paper, though the teams have not discussed such an arrangement. You’ll need to read the whole post to take it all in, of course.

  • The Blue Jays and Phillies have not discussed Jonathan Papelbon in the last week, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports (Twitter links), adding that Toronto is looking at other arms at the moment. One name to watch, says Sherman, is Tyler Clippard of the Athletics, who Toronto had in-depth discussions about over the winter.
  • It’s academic at this point, but Clippard also drew significant interest from the Astros over the offseason, Sherman further tweets. Indeed, Houston was “very close” to acquiring the veteran reliever, says Sherman, which raises the interesting question of what the Nationals would have received in return. Ultimately, the club took infielder Yunel Escobar in return, though that deal did not occur until a month after the Astros had already spent big on free agent bullpen arms, which could indicate that the prospective Clippard acquisition might have been contemplated earlier in the winter.
  • Mets GM Sandy Alderson indicated that the club will not rely on a return from David Wright in making its summer moves, David Lennon of Newsday writes. Alderson said the club would not continue providing regular updates on Wright’s status, and said he would not be restricted in making moves. “Would we consider a third baseman who can’t do anything else?” Alderson queried. “Under the circumstances, yeah, we probably would. But we’re not just looking for any third baseman. It has to be something we think is an improvement that doesn’t cost us significantly.” The veteran GM continued to throw cold water on the idea of a move in the near-term, noting that the market was “narrow” and generally features underperforming players at this stage.
  • C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer discusses the Reds’ current predicament, with Zack Cozart out for the season, Devin Mesoraco likely to join him in that regard, and Marlon Byrd sidelined for a significant stretch. Cincinnati should not allow its hosting of the All-Star game to slow its efforts to deal Johnny Cueto, opines Rosecrans, who suggests that the team could reap a larger reward by moving him now (both by selling more starts and, perhaps, by getting ahead of the market). Dealing Cueto, of course, would also increase the appeal of shipping out Mike Leake and Aroldis Chapman. Rosecrans concludes: “At this point, the organization doesn’t need to think about the All-Star Game, or even 2016. This is a long-term move and needs long-term thinking.”
  • Though he’s a rental, Cueto is a true ace and should bring back a healthy return — even if it won’t be near what the Reds might have achieved last year (as Rosecrans explains). There should be no shortage of suitors, but MLB.com’s Phil Rogers lists the five most plausible landing spots: the Blue Jays, Red Sox, Dodgers, Rangers, and Padres.

Angels Designate Kirk Nieuwenhuis

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The Angels announced that oufielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis has been designated for assignment. His roster spot will go to the newly-promoted Kyle Kubitza, a third base prospect who will see his first big league action.

Nieuwenhuis, 27, was not able to turn things around in brief action with the Angels after struggling earlier in the year with the Mets. All said, he’s slashed just .100/.156/.167 in 64 plate appearances. It’s still possible that the Angels will be able to stash him in the minors, though Nieuwenhuis could be headed for his third organization of the year.

Meanwhile, Kubitza will have a chance to fill in temporarily for David Freese, who is battling a seemingly minor injury. He came over to the Halos in exchange for lefty Ricardo Sanchez in an offseason deal with the Braves. The 24-year-old has put up a solid .287/.362/.452 line in 260 plate appearances in the PCL. Los Angeles will be watching closely to see whether he is ready to take over for the free-agent-to-be Freese heading into 2016.

Angels Release Zach Stewart For KBO Opportunity

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The Angels have released right-hander Zach Stewart so that he can pursue an opportunity in the Korean Baseball Organization, according to a team release. Stewart has agreed to join the KBO’s NC Dinos.

The 28-year-old joined the Halos last winter as a minor league free agent. He has seen good results thus far at Triple-A, throwing 39 1/3 innings of 3.43 ERA ball over eight starts and four relief appearances. It has been quite some time since Stewart has maintained a full-season earned run mark at that level.

Over 103 big league innings, all coming over 2011-12, Stewart owns a 6.82 ERA with 5.6 K/9 versus 1.9 BB/9. He saw action with the Blue Jays, White Sox, and Red Sox in that span.

A 2008 third-rounder out of Texas Tech, Stewart entered professional ball as a reliever but converted to starting and has mostly stayed in the rotation since. It remains to be seen what role he’ll have in Korea.

Amateur Notes: Gourriel Brothers, Martinez, Draft

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We’ve had a lot of news of players leaving Cuba of late, but two of the country’s most prominent names — brothers Yulieski and Lourdes Gourriel, rated first and fourth among the island’s players as big league prospects — have thus far not made any public moves towards the big leagues. As Ben Badler of Baseball America explains, however, both players are now set to miss the Cuban national team’s upcoming appearance in the Pan American Games. The younger of the two, Lourdes, was surprisingly left off the original roster, while Yulieski (the country’s biggest star) is said to have taken himself out of the tournament — after both recently seemed to have passed on chances to earn significant money playing in Japan. For now, it’s entirely unclear whether there is any movement afoot for the brothers to come stateside, but Badler notes that MLB clubs are watching with keen interest.

Here are some more amateur notes as we enter the final weekend before the draft:

  • As he prepares to join the professional ranks after being declared a free agent, Cuban outfielder Eddy Julio Martinez has moved into the top spot on MLB.com’s international prospect list, as MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez writes. It’s unclear as yet whether Martinez will sign in this period or the new one beginning July 2, but he’ll have to put pen to paper in short order if he’s to head to the Yankees or Angels. Those two clubs will be unable to spend more than $300K after this July 2 class closes, and they are among the teams who Sanchez lists with interest. The Cubs, Blue Jays, Nationals, Rockies, Tigers, Dodgers, and Giants have also reached out to Martinez’s camp, per the report. “I’m working hard to get to my goal to play in the Major Leagues, ” says the 20-year-old. “That’s what I have always wanted to do.”
  • The makeup of the amateur draft has changed over time, as Ben Lindbergh of Grantland explains. Mocking the draft is a more-or-less hopeless endeavor, says Lindbergh, but some trends have emerged. For one thing, the number of pitchers has continued to rise rather significantly. While this year’s class lacks premium talent, Christopher Crawford of Baseball Prospectus tells Lindbergh, some teams — the Rangers (who have the fourth overall pick) chief among them, based on their recent history — could well continue to stockpile arms. The Diamondbacks, who of course sit at first overall, have leaned toward position players recently, although they have an entirely new front office installed this time around. Meanwhile, the percentage of high school players taken has plummeted in the long run, but has jumped more recently. In particular, says Lindbergh, the Red Sox and Blue Jays have moved toward heavy drafting of prep players, who of course represent generally riskier but (in some cases) higher-upside investments. The Nationals have skewed most heavily toward college players — the spread is rather amazingly wide — though that could be due in part to draft circumstances. There are plenty more details in the piece, and I highly recommend a read to prepare for the coming draft.
  • Bonus allocations (which come with the penalty of stark limitations in future drafts) have had a marked impact on clubs’ total outlay on draft-eligible talent, argues Ronald Blum of the Associated Press (via the Denver Post). Draft spending has remained flat over the last three years, with Blum calculating that an analogous increase of total cash commitments to that observed in free agency — which was often the case prior to the new rules — might have delivered an additional $100MM to amateur players over that span. This area is obviously full of complicated questions, including considerations of an international draft, and it’s extremely difficult to identify clear-cut solutions. The piece is full of interesting quotes from notable figures around the game, and is well worth a full read.

Outrighted: Tommy Field, Gary Brown

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Here are the day’s minor moves:

  • Middle infielder Tommy Field has accepted an outright assignment with the Rangers after clearing waivers, club executive VP of communications John Blake announced. The 28-year-old will provide a depth option for the big league club. He has seen 45 turns at bat this year with the major league club, slashing .195/.250/.366.
  • The Angels have outrighted outfielder Gary Brown to Triple-A after he cleared waivers, Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times tweets. Brown was designated for assignment on Monday to clear a 40-man spot. The former first-round pick has hit  a meager .202/.254/.331 this year at Salt Lake, but he’ll have a chance to stay in a familiar environment as he looks to engineer a turnaround and earn a crack at the big leagues.

AL West Notes: Trumbo, Angels, Rangers, Montgomery

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The AL West may not be the best division in baseball, but it could be the most interesting to watch at the trade deadline. At the bottom of the division, the Athletics could be one of the biggest sellers — or could still conceivably buy if they make a run. The Mariners have just declared themselves all-in (as if that needed emphasizing) by adding Mark Trumbo, while the Angels are in a similar boat and have both money and needs. And then there’s the Astros, who could take advantage of their surprising six-game lead by adding arms, and the streaking Rangers.

We’ll talk Texas later today on the podcast with Dallas Morning News beat reporter Evan Grant; for now, here’s the latest from the division:

  • Adding Trumbo is something of a sign of desperation from the Mariners, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports writes. Some around the league think they got him for a nice price, says Rosenthal, but the club obviously has quite a deep hole to dig out of at this juncture.
  • While the slugging Trumbo is obviously not going to provide good on-base numbers to a team that already lacks in that department, that doesn’t mean that the Mariners did not add productivity to their lineup, Dave Cameron writes at Fangraphs. Research shows that, for a team that is already filled with low-OBP/high-slugging bats, a similar player is actually more valuable than an equivalently productive but oppositely-skilled hitter. Meanwhile, Jeff Sullivan tackles the deal from all sides, explaining that the deal is not all that impactful for either club.
  • Trumbo’s former club, the Angels, never seriously pursued a reunion, Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times reports. While the team could use a bat in left field, and the club would consider adding a truly impactful right-handed hitter, it prefers to add a lefty swinger to the middle of the order. All said, per Shaikin, the Halos felt they are better off waiting to see who else becomes available over the summer.
  • There could be more Rangers prospects coming behind Joey Gallo and Chi Chi Gonzalez, writes Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. He suggests that backstop Tomas Telis could get a call, particularly with Robinson Chirinos nursing a sore hand after being hit by a pitch. Fortunately, as Grant also reports, the 30-year-old seems to have avoided a DL stint (or worse). He’s off to a great start, hitting .208/.328/.465 in 124 plate appearances.
  • Mariners lefty Mike Montgomery finally made his debut, putting up six quality innings, as Greg Johns of MLB.com reports. Now 25, Montgomery was once considered a top-100 prospect with the Royals, though his star has faded in recent years. Since coming to Seattle in exchange for Erasmo Ramirez this spring, however, Montgomery has produced an encouraging 3.74 ERA over 53 Tripe-A innings while posting a strong 8.0 K/9 against 2.5 BB/9 — all much better than he’s shown recently in the upper minors.

Angels Designate Gary Brown For Assignment

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The Angels have designated outfielder Gary Brown for assignment, the club announced. His 40-man spot was needed for left-hander Edgar Ibarra, who will be called up for his first big league action.

Brown, once a first-round pick of the Giants, received a brief look at the big league level last year in San Francisco. He was twice being designated for assignment this spring, claimed first by the Cardinals and then the Angels.

It has been a tough year thus far for Brown, who owns a .202/.254/.331 slash in 136 plate appearances at Triple-A. He has also succeeded in just two of six stolen base attempts. The Cal State-Fullerton product looked like a quick mover after his first full year as a pro, but has never quite mastered the upper levels of the minors.

As for Ibarra, who turned 26 yesterday, his first season with the Angels organization has been a good one. Long a Twins minor leaguer, Ibarra owns a 2.25 ERA through 24 frames at Triple-A, with an excellent 10.9 K/9 against 1.9 BB/9. Those strikeout-to-walk numbers both represent career-bests.

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