Angels Rumors

Amateur Draft Signings: Tuesday

By Mark Polishuk | June 22, 2010 at 7:19pm CDT

Here's the round-up of today's mass signings and individual agreements between teams and players from the 2010 Amateur Draft. The list of first-rounders and supplemental round picks to sign can be found here.

Pittsburgh has signed 14th-rounder Bryce Weidman and 22nd-rounder Adalberto Santos, reports Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com.
John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports that the Reds have signed two more of their picks.
Dylan Hernandez of The Los Angeles Times tweets that the Dodgers signed their second and seventh round selections — namely, right-hander Ralston Cash and right-hander Ryan Christenson.
The Cubs agreed to terms with five draft picks today, according to a team press release. Third-rounder Micah Gibbs was the highest-drafted player amongst the new Cubs.
Corey Brock of MLB.com tweets that the Padres signed fifth-round pick Rico Noel and eleventh-rounder Brian Guinn.
A Padres team press release confirmed the signings of Noel and Guinn, and also announced that the club had agreed to terms with six other draft picks.
Anthony Andro of the Dallas Morning News reports that Texas agreed to terms with sixth-rounder Brett Nicholas.
According to an Angels press release, the team has signed second-rounder (81st overall) Daniel Tillman, a right-handed pitcher from Florida Southern College.
Chris Sale passed his team physical and thus his contract with the White Sox was officially announced by the club today, via press release.

Angels Agree To Terms With Lindsey, Bolden, Soto

By Mark Polishuk | June 20, 2010 at 6:31pm CDT

SUNDAY, 6:31pm: Lindsey's bonus is worth $873K, according to Jim Callis of Baseball America. The shortstop's bonus matches MLB's estimated recommendation for the No. 37 slot in 2009.

MONDAY, 9:02pm: The Angels have agreed to terms with three of their top seven picks from the June Amateur Draft. Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times reports that supplemental pick Taylor Lindsey (the 37th overall selection) and third-rounder Wendell Soto (111th overall) agreed to deals with the club. Mark Saxon of ESPNLosAngeles.com also broke the news that another supplemental round pick, 40th overall selection Ryan Bolden, had signed.

No terms were announced, though DiGiovanna believes that Lindsey and Bolden received bonuses worth roughly $800K, or the standard amount for sandwich-round picks. Bolden gets an $830K bonus, according to Jim Callis of Baseball America.

All three players are high-schoolers. Scottsdale native Lindsey was drafted as a shortstop but "will probably" move to second or third base (as Angels scouting director Eddie Bane told Lyle Spencer of MLB.com). Bolden is a Mississippi outfielder who Saxon notes (via Twitter) has been "compared to Rickey Henderson." Baseball America wasn't nearly as high on Bolden's potential, rating him as the 141st prospect overall in their pre-draft top 200 ranking. Neither Lindsey or Soto, a switch-hitting shortstop from Florida, made Baseball America's ranking at all.

Saxon heard from LAA general manager Tony Reagins that the Halos have signed "more than 20" other draft picks, though negotiations with third baseman Kaleb Cowart (18th overall) have been "complicated." As Saxon notes, Cowart has signed a letter of intent to attend Florida State and was rumored to be looking for a $3MM contract offer to begin his professional career. Reagins is "still optimistic something gets done" with Cowart.

Odds & Ends: Mejia, O’s, McGuire, Rangers, Valverde

By Luke Adams 2 | June 20, 2010 at 3:48pm CDT

Links for Sunday….

ESPN's Adam Rubin tweets that the Mets have optioned Jenrry Mejia to Double-A Binghamton, where he will start their game on Wednesday.
Jeff Zrebiec tells us that Buck Showalter will interview for the Baltimore managerial job this week, and Eric Wedge will likely receive a second interview. The club has yet to ask the Mets for permission to interview Bob Melvin.
MLB.com's Jordan Bastian quotes Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos saying that despite first-round pick Deck McGuire's lack of participation in a media conference call, he's excited to have been drafted by Toronto. Anthopoulos says that negotiations, however, could go down to the wire as they did in 2009 with Chad Jenkins.
Rangers manager Ron Washington feels that his team could use another front-line starting pitcher, according to MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan. Texas has recently seen both Derek Holland and Rich Harden land on the disabled list.
Nick Piecoro tweets that the D'Backs offered Jose Valverde a two-year deal worth about $10MM before he signed for two years and $14MM with Detroit. The story spawns from some heated comments that were exchanged between Valverde and former teammate Miguel Montero.
Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times thinks Dan Haren would be a "perfect fit" for the Angels.
The Cubs will soon face a decision on whether to become buyers or sellers, writes Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune.
Within a mailbag for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Paul Hoynes says that a little salary relief is the best the Indians could hope for in a Kerry Wood trade.
Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch details how the Cardinals will handle their starting rotation for the time being. Even after signing Jeff Suppan, the club will be short-handed while they wait for Brad Penny to get healthy.
The Tigers should exercise patience when it comes to acquiring a shortstop, according to Lynn Hennig of the Detroit News.
Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports tweets that the Tigers will have to think about trading for a starting pitcher, with Rick Porcello heading to Triple-A.

Remembering the 1992 Trade Deadline

By Howard Megdal | June 19, 2010 at 6:26pm CDT

Ah, who can forget 1992? The Boutros Boutros-Ghali Era begins at the United Nations. Lisa Simpson captivates a nation with her uncanny knack for picking football games. Johnny Carson retires, giving Jay Leno the chance to host The Tonight Show for some unspecified period of time. And Brett Favre makes his first start for the Green Bay Packers, leading to a career that will end around the same time that Jay Leno stops hosting The Tonight Show.

Meanwhile, baseball teams still found the time to trade with one another! Here are some of the highlights from those deals…

The fun started on July 21, when the Braves traded Juan Berenguer to the Royals for a real-live Cy Young Award winner, Mark Davis. Just three years removed from the award-winning performance (1.85 ERA, 44 saves, 92 strikeouts in 92.2 innings), Davis was floundering with Kansas City, posting a 7.18 ERA with 28 walks and 19 strikeouts in 36.2 innings. He didn't do much better in Atlanta, with a 7.02 ERA after the deal. The Braves won the NL West anyway.
On July 30, the Toronto Blue Jays solidified their bullpen by acquiring Mark Eichhorn, who'd begun his career in Toronto, from the California Angels for Rob Ducey and Greg Myers. Both Ducey and Myers went on to long careers with many teams, while Eichhorn was merely adequate for the Jays- a 4.35 ERA after the deal, compared to a 2.38 mark prior to it. His two scoreless postseason innings, however, helped Toronto capture its first World Series.
On August 27, a day after Fernando Tatis and Chris Truby signed their first professional contracts, the New York Mets traded David Cone to the Blue Jays for Jeff Kent and Ryan Thompson. Why the Mets thought it a good idea to deal a 29-year-old Cone is hard to fathom- Cone would go on to rack up 114 of his 194 wins after this trade. Thompson, alas, never figured out the strike zone. And while Kent became one of the best to ever play his position, he did most of his damage after the Mets traded him to land Carlos Baerga (who did most of his damage prior to arriving in New York).
On the penultimate day one can acquire a player to be added to the postseason roster (a fancy way of saying "August 30"), the Braves traded Sean Ross and Nate Minchey to the Red Sox for Jeff Reardon. Though he was 36 years old, Reardon still had something left in the tank. He pitched to a 1.15 ERA in Atlanta, then added three scoreless innings and a save during the NLCS. He faltered in the World Series, however, blowing the save in Game 2 on a home run by Ed Sprague.
The biggest trade of the 1992 season came on August 31, when Oakland shipped Jose Canseco to the Texas Rangers for a huge package: Jeff Russell, Ruben Sierra, Bobby Witt and cash. Canseco was finished being one of the best players in the game- he'd posted a career OPS+ of 139 before the trade, but 124 after it, even though he was just 28 at the time of the deal. Meanwhile, the bounty proved to provide little in the way of production. Russell was quickly shipped to Boston, Sierra's post-trade career OPS+ dropoff was even steeper, from 118 to 92, and Witt's control got better, but his strikeout rate collapsed, leaving him with a career 4.57 ERA before the trade, 5.07 ERA after the trade. Even the inflation rate rendered the cash from 1992 progressively worth less over the remainder of the decade.

Odds & Ends: Oswalt, Reds, Lowell, Lopez

By Luke Adams 2 | June 18, 2010 at 8:14pm CDT

Links for Friday night, as Barack Obama takes in a Nationals/White Sox game….

Nolan Ryan confirms rumblings we've been hearing for a few weeks now, telling Brian McTaggart of MLB.com that the Rangers are interested in Roy Oswalt.
Reds GM Walt Jocketty tells MLB.com's Mark Sheldon that his club is considering available pitching options, but that he doesn't know "how many bullets we're going to have, so we'll have to be careful how we use them."
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports clarifies (via Twitter) that the Red Sox are willing to pay all of Mike Lowell's salary in a potential trade, but would like a better prospect in return in that case. The Twins and Rangers aren't budging so far.
FOX Sports' Jon Paul Morosi tweets that, unsurprisingly, there isn't much trade interest in Jose Lopez.
Jamie Moyer's son Dillon Moyer doesn't know whether or not he'll sign with Minnesota after the Twins drafted him in the 22nd round last week, according to Zach Schonbrun of MLB.com.
ESPN.com's Rob Neyer thinks that whatever offense the Angels gain by playing Mike Napoli at first base is negated by playing Jeff Mathis behind the plate every day. The Angels are playing Napoli at first for now, rather than acquiring another impact bat.

Odds & Ends: Aybar, Haren, Hughes, Jackson

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | June 18, 2010 at 12:10pm CDT

Links for Friday, before the Subway Series, Stephen Strasburg's third MLB start and Manny Ramirez's return to Fenway…

Mike Scioscia tells Mike DiGiovanna of the LA Times he's "very optimistic" that Erick Aybar's left knee injury won't lead to a DL stint. That reduces the chances that the Angels will go after a shortstop.
It's been a great year for young players like Strasburg and Mike Leake, as ESPN.com's Tim Kurkjian shows.
Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports that the D'Backs often hear trade rumors from Dan Haren, who reads MLBTR. As Piecoro explains, players are generally aware of the latest rumblings in "the era of the trade rumor."
Another top pitcher, Cliff Lee, chooses to ignore the rumors, according to Larry Stone of the Seattle Times.
Joel Sherman of the New York Post asked 12 baseball insiders whether they would prefer to have Phil Hughes or Mike Pelfrey for the next five years and was surprised to see all 12 select Hughes.
Edwin Jackson and Dontrelle Willis say they have good memories of Detroit and no hard feelings over the trades that sent them to Arizona, according to the Detroit Free Press.

Angels May Need A Shortstop

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | June 17, 2010 at 10:16am CDT

Injuries to Maicer Izturis and Erick Aybar could force the Angels to trade for or sign a shortstop. For now, GM Tony Reagins tells Bill Shaikin of the LA Times that he’s hoping Aybar’s left knee and Izturis’ left forearm heal on schedule.

"Hopefully, our injury situation isn't long-term," Reagins said. "If it is, you'd probably have to look outside the organization."

The Angels are aware of available shortstops. Adam Everett is a free agent; Maicer’s half-brother Cesar Izturis could become a trade target; the Rays have shortstop depth; Stephen Drew, Ryan Theriot, Omar Vizquel and others could also be available. But the Angels aren’t pursuing any of them.

"We're not at that point," Reagins said.

It’s not a good year to be an Angels infielder. Kendry Morales is out for the season after breaking his leg, so the Angels have been linked to available first basemen for weeks. Despite these injuries, the Angels are just 2.0 games out of first place in the AL West.

Angels Designate Michael Ryan For Assignment

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | June 17, 2010 at 9:49am CDT

The Angels designated Michael Ryan for assignment after last night's game, according to Bill Shaikin of the LA Times. Ryan said he had "a blast" with the Angels, but the club had to make room for Jeff Mathis, who is coming off of the disabled list.

If Ryan clears waivers, the Angels would assign him to Triple A, but the utilityman hasn't decided whether he would accept the assignment. In 41 plate appearances, the 32-year-old hit .205/.220/.308. It was Ryan's first stint in the majors since 2005, when he played for the Twins.

Odds & Ends: Lee, Orioles, Cubs, Oswalt, Chipper

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | June 16, 2010 at 2:56pm CDT

Links for Wednesday, before Pedro Alvarez makes his MLB debut…

Jack Curry of the YES Network (via Twitter) hears from a baseball official that the Phillies are interested in adding a starting pitcher. Curry specifically names Cliff Lee, though I can't imagine the team re-acquiring him just a few months after shipping him to Seattle.
The Orioles have contacted Buck Showalter about managing the team, according to Tim Kurkjian of ESPN.com.
The Cubs hired a statistical analyst for the team's baseball operations department, according to ESPN.com's Bruce Levine.
Jon Heyman of SI.com hears that it's an "extreme long shot" that the Rangers acquire Roy Oswalt.
One GM told ESPN.com's Buster Olney that teams are now demanding big returns for players who will eventually be traded for less.
DJ Bean of WEEI.com introduces us to Red Sox fourth rounder Garin Cecchini, who told every major league team he wouldn't sign for less than mid-first-round money. Specifically, Cecchini wants $1.75MM, according to Bean.
White Sox GM Kenny Williams told Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune that he hasn't given up on his team and wants to see how it fares over the course of the coming week.
Chipper Jones' agent, B.B. Abbott, told Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports that Chipper will "absolutely not" retire during the season.
The Yankees released David Winfree from their Triple A team, according to Donnie Collins of the Times-Tribune.
Joel Sherman of the New York Post points out that the Yankees won't have to pursue free agents Carl Crawford and Jayson Werth if Brett Gardner, Nick Swisher and Curtis Granderson keep playing this well.

Berkman’s Preferred Destinations

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | June 16, 2010 at 11:20am CDT

Despite all the rumors surrounding him and Roy Oswalt, Lance Berkman told Yahoo's Jeff Passan that he doesn't expect to be traded. Berkman has at least $10.6MM remaining on his contract when you include his 2011 buyout, and he realizes that figure scares teams off, especially in this market.

"Teams value their prospects more than they ever have," Berkman said. "I’m 34. I’m not having a great year."

Berkman, who is hitting .238/.340/.392 with six homers, has a no-trade clause, so like Oswalt, he controls his future to an extent. The Angels have a clear need for a first baseman, but Berkman says the Angels "wouldn't be an automatic yes." Berkman would rather go east than west, though that's not his number one consideration.

"There is absolutely no way I would consent to going somewhere that didn’t have a good chance not just to get to the playoffs, but to win the whole thing," he said.

Berkman realizes the Astros are probably not going to pick up his $15MM option for 2011 at this point. Earlier in the month, Jon Heyman of SI.com reported that Berkman would approve a trade if the acquiring team picked up his option.

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