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Minor Moves: Buckner, Bourgeois

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Here are today's minor moves from around baseball.

  • The Angels have outrighted pitcher Billy Buckner to Triple-A, according to MLB.com's transactions page. The Angels designated Buckner for assignment last Friday when they promoted Cory Rasmus. Buckner has a 4.60 ERA with 7.0 K/9 and 4.6 BB/9 in Triple-A so far this season.
  • Outfielder Jason Bourgeois has accepted the Rays' outright assignment, and he'll head to Triple-A Durham, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. The Rays designated Bourgeois for assignment on Friday. Bourgeois has spent most of the season with Durham, hitting .291/.336/.371 in 363 plate appearances.
  • More information about players recently designated for assignment can be found at MLBTR's new DFA Tracker.

West Notes: Mattingly, Angels, Padres

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At one point, the Dodgers might have been two days away from firing manager Don Mattingly, Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times writes. That was on June 21, when the Dodgers were 30-42 following their second straight loss to the Padres. Shaikin cites a source saying that if the Dodgers had lost the last two games of that four-game series, they would have dismissed Mattingly. Since then, the Dodgers have got 46-11, and Mattingly appears to be a contender for the NL Manager of the Year award. Here are more notes from out west.

  • For the Angels, one of the few bright sides of an awful season is that they now have the opportunity to see which of their zero-to-three players can help in the near future, MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez writes. Gonzalez notes that, with several big contracts (Albert Pujols, Josh Hamilton, Jered Weaver, C.J. Wilson) consuming much of their payroll, it's particularly important that the Angels get value out of cost-controlled players. The Angels will look to players like Grant Green, Chris Nelson and Cory Rasmus (all of whom were acquired this year) to see if they might be able to contribute.
  • Padres pitcher Andrew Cashner and Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo have become friends since being traded for each other in early 2012, Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times reports. Rizzo says he's rooting for a win-win deal. "I hope [Cashner] has a great career; I hope I have a great career as well," Rizzo says. "There’s no winning or losing this trade. … I hope we both have Hall of Fame careers and everyone’s a winner.”

AL West Notes: Rangers, Reddick, Kendrys Morales

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On this date 17 years ago, A's outfielder Brian Lesher became the first Belgian to play in a MLB game contributing a RBI single off Andy Pettitte (who went on to win a career-high 21 games and finished second to Toronto's Pat Hentgen in the AL Cy Young voting that year) as Oakland beat the Yankees 6-4. Lesher would go on to play parts of five seasons with the A's, Mariners, and Blue Jays posting a slash line of .224/.275/.380 with nine home runs and 38 RBI's in 288 plate appearances (108 games). To this day, Lesher is the only Belgian ever to appear in a MLB contest. In other news and notes from the AL West: 

  • Rangers Assistant GM Thad Levine told Jim Bowden and Jim Duquette of MLB Network Radio (via Bowden on Twitter), if the club is going to make a trade before August 31st (players acquired after this date are ineligible for the post-season), it will be for a starting pitcher.
  • Levine adds (again from a Bowden tweet) the Rangers have been searching the waiver wire actively, but most of the quality players are being claimed before them.
  • A's outfielder Josh Reddick left today's game against the Orioles with discomfort in his right wrist and he thinks it's 50-50 as to whether he lands on the disabled list, reports the San Francisco Chronicle's Susan Slusser. John Hickey of the Bay Area News Group tweets Daric Barton was pulled from Triple-A Sacramento's game after one at-bat and may join the A's to replace Reddick. Slusser isn't surprised Barton would get the call over outfielders Michael Taylor and Michael Choice because Barton was slated to join the team when rosters expand September 1st and he plays first base very well allowing Brandon Moss to move to the outfield (all Twitter links). The A's 40-man roster currently sits at 39, so Barton could be added without a corresponding move.  
  • A reunion between Kendrys Morales and the Angels would not be shocking, if the pending free agent doesn't re-sign with the Mariners, tweets the Boston Globe's Nick Cafardo. The Mariners acquired Morales, hitting .283/.339/.450 with 17 home runs in 522 plate appearances this year, from the Angels last December for left-hander Jason Vargas. 
  • Earlier today, Angels manager Mike Scioscia denied reports he has philosophical differences with GM Jerry Dipoto.

Angels Likely To Replace Jerry Dipoto Or Mike Scioscia

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SUNDAY, 11:25am: Scioscia told reporters that there isn't a rift between him and Dipoto, according to the Associated Press.  "There's no philosophical differences," Scioscia said. "Jerry and I are certainly, as far as our baseball philopsophies, in line."

Scioscia went on to say that the only decision he's publicly had a problem with was the firing of hitting coach Mickey Hatcher last year.  Beyond that, Scioscia said the only other differences he's had with Dipoto have to do with disagreements in player evaluations, a normal occurence between a manager and GM.

FRIDAY, 5:18pm: The Angels are likely to replace either GM Jerry Dipoto or manager Mike Scioscia before the 2014 season, FOX Sports' Jon Morosi reports (in a series of tweets). Morosi explains that there are "philosophical differences" between DiPoto and Scioscia that make continuing on with both of them "not tenable."

Relations between Dipoto and Scioscia have been strained since, at least, early in the 2012 season, as Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times noted in May of that year. The two disagreed over the firing of hitting coach Mickey Hatcher, and Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports wrote in late 2012 that Scioscia also disliked assistant GM Scott Servais, and was "resistant" to using Dipoto's staff's statistical data.

Scioscia is signed to a ten-year contract that continues through 2018, with salaries of $6MM annually from 2016 through 2018. So if the Angels were to fire Scioscia, they would have to eat the remainder of that contract. Dipoto, meanwhile, is only signed through 2014. Scioscia's contract is mostly a sunk cost, of course, and hiring a new manager wouldn't require the Angels to pay nearly as much. There's also the possibility that Scioscia could end up with another team, thus limiting the Angels' obligation somewhat. Still, as Morosi notes, Scioscia's contract could be a factor.

Another factor potentially in Scioscia's favor is that he is not directly responsible for many of the Angels' most troublesome decisions in the past two years, including the big-ticket signings of Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton and the trade of Jean Segura and two other players for 13 starts by Zack Greinke. Scioscia also is not responsible for the Angels' farm system, which currently rates as one of the worst in baseball (although Dipoto, who has only been on the job since October 2011, bears limited responsibility for that as well).

AL Notes: Angels, Orioles, Mariners, Yost

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In a long article outlining the Angels' troubles under Arte Moreno, CBS Sports' Scott Miller reports that the Halos owner was the driving force behind the club's ill-fated trade for Vernon Wells before the 2011 season. Moreno threatened to fire former GM Tony Reagins if he failed to complete the deal within 24 hours, Miller says.  Here's more out of the American League..

  • The Orioles continue to scour the waiver wire in hopes of acquiring another bat, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com tweets. The club believes a deal is possible ahead of Aug. 31, but nothing's cooking at the present, Kubatko says.
  • Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik's job seems to be more secure as the club begins a "management shakeup," Yahoo! Sports' Jeff Passan tweets. Special assistant Tony Blengino has been fired, according to Passan.
  • Meanwhile, the club continues to remain silent on Zduriencik's future, FOX Sports' Jon Paul Morosi says. Neither President Chuck Armstrong or chairman Howard Lincoln have publicly stated that Zduriencik will return next season. 
  • Bill Madden of the New York Daily News runs through lame duck managers around the majors, calling the Yankees' Joe Girardi a manager of the year candidate and urging the Mets to bring back Terry Collins.  However, Ned Yost of the Royals and Eric Wedge of the Mariners are in line to be let go, while the Tigers' Jim Leyland should be on the hot seat, Madden says.
  • Erik Bedard confesses he was surprised after being informed he will shift into a relief role for the Astros, a move manager Bo Porter says will allow the club to get a look at a young pitcher. "They said they looked at my last two years and my innings total was around where I'm at right now, and they said if I keep pitching I'll be about 40 over, and I said, 'Yeah, that's the point,' Bedard is quoted as saying in an article by Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. Bedard, who signed a one-year, $1.15MM minor league deal with the Astros in the offseason, cleared waivers earlier ths month and is eligible to be traded.
  • Orioles pitching prospect Kevin Gausman could join the major league club prior to roster expansion in September, and would likely slot into the bullpen, Brittany Ghiroli of MLB.com says. Gausman was ranked the No. 26 prospect in baseball after the 2012 season by Baseball America, but posted an unsightly 6.21 ERA in 33 1/3 innings after being called up earlier this season.

AL West Notes: Angels, Rangers, Matsuzaka

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The Angels' apparent dysfunction seems to stretch back years, judging from a report by Scott Miller of CBS Sports. Miller reports that, in 2011, owner Arte Moreno threatened to fire then-GM Tony Reagins if he couldn't trade for outfielder Vernon Wells within 24 hours, effectively backing Reagins into a corner. That might partially explain the remarkable, and disastrous, result, which had the Angels taking on $81MM of the $86MM remaining on Wells' contract, while also giving up Mike Napoli in the process. The Jays, meanwhile, traded Napoli to the Rangers for Frank Francisco and cash.

Miller reports that Moreno's motivation for the Wells ultimatum was that he was upset that Texas had acquired Adrian Beltre weeks earlier. As a result, not only did the Angels take on $81MM in salary, they also set in motion a chain of events in which their division rivals also ended up with Napoli, who was one of the best hitters in baseball that season. Here are more notes from the AL West.

  • The Rangers were interested in Daisuke Matsuzaka, CBS Sports' Jon Heyman writes. Matsuzaka, who had previously been released by the Indians, recently signed with the Mets, with whom, Heyman notes, he could receive more playing time.
  • Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik still won't confirm recent reports that he has received an extension for 2014, MLB.com's Greg Johns tweets. Zduriencik does, however, say he's "raring to go" for 2014. Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times, meanwhile, tweets that there's "some debate" about whether team president Chuck Armstrong ever confirmed the extension.

Angels Designate Billy Buckner For Assignment

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The Angels have designated Billy Buckner for assignment, the club announced.  Buckner has now been DFA'd three times since the start of the 2013 season.  In a related move, Cory Rasmus has been recalled from Triple-A Salt Lake.

Buckner, who turns 30 next week, made two starts and five relief appearances for the Angels this season, posting a 4.67 ERA with 3.6 K/9 and BB/9.  He spent the bulk of the year at Triple-A, where he posted a 4.60 ERA with 7.0 K/9 and 4.6 BB/9 in 16 starts.  

You can keep up with the status of Buckner and other players in DFA limbo using our brand new DFA Tracker.

AL West Links: Angels, Trout, Int’l Signings, Gomes

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The Rangers' lead in the AL West has been built on taking care of business within the division, as Texas has a 41-16 record against division opponents and a 33-37 record against the rest of baseball.  Other AL teams may complain that the Rangers and A's gained an extra advantage when the rebuilding Astros were moved into the division, but Randy Galloway of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram points out that it's really the Angels' surprising decline that has made the AL West so lopsided.  The Halos expected to contend this season but instead have the seventh-worst record in baseball and only a 19-35 record against inside their division.

Here are a few items from around the AL West…

  • Also from Galloway's piece, he notes that the Rangers rate four Astros starting pitchers as "double-plus prospects" but a Rangers source wonders if the young starters' development is being harmed by Houston's league-worst bullpen.  “The owner down there [Jim Crane] needs to get off his wallet and spend some money for some veteran bullpen guys next season,” the Rangers source said. “Those kid starters have a future, but they are being beaten up mentally by pitching well and never getting a win out of it.”  Houston manager Bo Porter recently said that the Astros will look to add relief pitching help this winter.
  • The Angels will try to reload after their disappointing 2012 but they'll have little payroll space to maneuver, MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez notes.  The Halos already have $126.5MM committed to the 2014 payroll and $111.725MM committed for 2015, and that's not counting raises for notable players who will become eligible for arbitration.
  • How much would (or should) a team pay for Mike Trout's 2014 season?  Fangraphs' Dave Cameron tries to calculate what Trout's single-season value would be worth if the Angels outfielder was suddenly a free agent and could only pursue a one-year deal for next season.
    Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/08/22/5101957/blame-the-angels-for-the-state.html#storylink=cpy
  • The Rangers and Cubs both far exceeded their international bonus pool limits this summer and will face only limited penalties for it, a move that Baseball America's Jim Callis suspects could be copied by others.  "More teams may try to exploit that loophole until an international draft closes it," Callis writes.
  • If MLB.com's Jane Lee could undo any move from the Athletics' offseason, it would be the decision to let Jonny Gomes leave in free agency, Lee writes as part of a reader mailbag.  Keeping Gomes would've allowed the A's to keep Cliff Pennington (rather than deal him in the trade that brought Chris Young to Oakland) and thus improve the club's infield depth and save some payroll space at the same time.

Quick Hits: Moreno, Pujols, Tejada, Benoit

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Angels owner Arte Moreno is already in the process of evaluating the 2013 season and how to get the team back on track in 2014, as he explained in an interview with Barry M. Bloom of MLB.com.  Moreno said that the jobs of manager Mike Scioscia and general manager Jerry Dipoto would be evaluated as part of an organization-wide review that includes himself — "I have to look in the mirror and say, 'Am I making the right call?'" Moreno said.  The owner also discussed roster moves that backfired, stadium talks with the city of Anaheim, how the Dodgers' success impacts the Angels and several other topics.

Here are more items as we wrap up a busy Monday in baseball…

  • Albert Pujols will be shut down for the rest of the season, the Angels confirmed today.  The slugger suffered a partial tear of the plantar facia of his left foot and hasn't played since July 26.  Pujols was bothered by foot injuries for much of the year and hit .258/.330/.437 with 17 homers in 443 PA, the worst season of his 13-year career.
  • Miguel Tejada was also facing a suspension for his involvement in the Biogenesis scandal before accepting his 105-game suspension for amphetamine use, ESPN's Pedro Gomez reports.  Major League Baseball gave Tejada the choice of accepting his 105-game ban or facing further punishment for his Biogenesis ties.  Gomez notes that Tejada "insists he does not plan to retire" though given Tejada's suspension, age (39) and decline in production, it's tough to see a team signing him this winter.  After not playing in the majors in 2012, Tejada hit .288/.317/.378 over 167 PA in a reserve role with the Royals this year.
  • Joaquin Benoit in a much better contractual position as he approaches free agency this winter than he was in the 2009-10 offseason.  MLB.com's Zack Meisel talks to Benoit about how he considered retirement due to shoulder injuries that caused him to miss the entire 2009 season, but rebounded to become one of the game's better relievers and now the Tigers closer.
  • Scott Boras and Jay Z have a fundamental disagreement about the role of an agent, Brian Costa of the Wall Street Journal explains.  "It is at once a clash of egos and ideas. At issue: To what extent are established agents like Boras missing out on marketing and endorsement opportunities for their clients? And to what extent should a baseball player even care?" Costa writes.  Robinson Cano, the top free agent of the coming offseason, made waves when he left Boras in April and hired CAA and Jay Z's Roc Nation Sports to handle his representation.

Placed On Waivers: DeJesus, Vargas, Aybar

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Here is Monday's list of notable players who have been placed on revocable trade waivers…

  • The Nationals acquired David DeJesus from the Cubs earlier today and "almost immediately" put the outfielder on waivers, FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal reports.  DeJesus' claiming period is up on Wednesday.  Rival executives speculate that the Nats are trying to rid themselves of the approximately $2.5MM remaining on DeJesus' contract ($975K in salary, $1.5MM in a buyout of his 2014 option).  This could be an attempt by the Nats to flip DeJesus, simply a procedural move or perhaps they never expected the Cubs to accept their original waiver claim on DeJesus in the first place.  Amanda Comak of the Washington Times (Twitter link) opines that perhaps the Nats claimed DeJesus to keep him away from another contender.
  • The Angels placed left-hander Jason Vargas and shortstop Erick Aybar on waivers, FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal reports (Twitter link).  The claiming period for both players expires on Wednesday.  Vargas was dealt to Anaheim from Seattle in exchange for Kendrys Morales last December and has posted a 3.92 ERA, 6.1 K/9 and 2.00 K/BB ratio in 101 IP in 2013, though he spent almost two months on the DL recovering from a blood clot in his left armpit.  Vargas has roughly $1.5MM still owed to him from his $8.5MM salary for the season and the southpaw is a free agent this winter.  He could make a cheap pickup for a team looking for starting pitching depth during the pennant race, though Vargas' career road splits indicate that he struggles when he isn't at a pitcher-friendly ballpark like Angel Stadium or Safeco Field.
  • Aybar signed a four-year, $35MM extension in April 2012 that covered the 2013-16 seasons and Aybar is hitting .282/.316/.380 in 417 PA in the first year of that new contract.  Though the 29-year-old is known more for his solid glove (he won a Gold Glove in 2011), Aybar has a below-average -8.2 UZR.150 this season.  The Cardinals had some interest in Aybar before the trade deadline but had no interest in giving up a top prospect in exchange for the veteran shortstop.

For a reminder on how revocable trade waivers and August trades work, check out MLBTR's August trades primer.

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