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Cafardo On Orioles, Bruce, Red Sox, Maeda

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In today’s column, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe wonders where James Loney might fit in with the Rays this year.  The veteran is currently behind the platoon of Steve Pearce and Logan Morrison at first and he’s also blocked at DH and left field by Corey Dickerson and Desmond Jennings, respectively.  With a salary of $8MM, the Rays have been unable to find a taker for Loney via trade, though they are willing to eat some of that money to facilitate a deal.

Here’s more from today’s column:

  • The Orioles are still considering a deal for Reds outfielder Jay Bruce as they try to bolster their lineup in March.  The O’s are also considering Austin Jackson, but Bruce could be considered the better fit thanks to his power.  Bruce will make $12.5MM in 2016, plus a $1MM buyout or a $13MM option in 2017, which isn’t exactly chump change.  Also, even though Bruce has some excellent campaigns on his resume, his play over the past two seasons hasn’t been all that strong.
  • One NL exec says a few teams have ID’d Red Sox catcher Ryan Hanigan as a possible trade target this summer.  Red Sox officials have said that it’s unlikely they would part with Hanigan due to the inexperience of Blake Swihart and fellow youngster Christian Vazquez.  However, rival officials aren’t sold on that and believe that Hanigan could be more available than Boston is letting on.  Hanigan has a $3.7MM salary for 2016 with an option for 2017.
  • Can new Dodgers pitcher Kenta Maeda be effective in his first MLB season?  One scout who watched him throw in Japan isn’t so sure.  “His stuff isn’t as good as [Masahiro] Tanaka and he’s more a middle to end of the rotation type of guy,” said the scout. “I don’t know how his fastball plays in the big leagues. I think he’s got the secondary pitches, but the quality of hitters he’ll face may be a challenge at first.”  The Dodgers will be without Brett Anderson for the next three to five months, so they are certainly hoping that Maeda can hit the ground running.
  • Agent Randy Rowley tells Cafardo that Justin Masterson will throw a bullpen session for several teams towards the end of March.
  • The trade sending John Ryan Murphy to the Twins in exchange for outfielder Aaron Hicks was “the best pure baseball deal of the offseason,” in the opinion of one official who spoke with Cafardo.  That official, Cafardo notes, was not involved in the swap in any way.  Hicks, a defensive specialist, posted a .256/.323/.398 batting line in 2015 and added 13 steals, numbers that made him a little more attractive to the Bombers.  The Twins, meanwhile, got themselves an upgrade behind the plate in the wake of Kurt Suzuki’s struggles.
  • Free agent outfielder Grady Sizemore hasn’t received much interest to date.  The veteran spent the second half of last season with the Rays.

Dodgers Notes: Seager, Maeda, Turner, Guerrero

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Corey Seager has the eighth highest trade value in baseball, opines Sports Illustrated’s Jonah Keri in his annual review of the top assets in the sport. In recent years, Seager was a popular trade target for teams attempting to sell veterans to the Dodgers. For example, their decision to keep Seager rather than trade him (and others) for former Phillies ace Cole Hamels already looks brilliant. Hamels was ranked 39th last year and fell out of the top 50 this year. While nobody would argue that Seager is better than Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw (ranked 21), his superior contract situation and youth make him a superior long term bet. Top pitching prospect Julio Urias (43rd) also made the list.

Here’s more from the Dodgers:

  • Japanese import Kenta Maeda made his Cactus League debut today, writes Ken Gurnick of MLB.com. His performance today (he did well) is hardly relevant, but Maeda has already taken on an important role in the team’s success. With Hyun-jin Ryu, Brett Anderson, and Brandon McCarthy set to miss chunks of the 2016 season, the Dodgers’ pitching depth will be tested. Maeda’s performance will help to determine how the favored Dodgers perform in a wide open NL West.
  • Third baseman Justin Turner may return to game action as early as next week, writes Gurnick. Manager Dave Roberts would ease him back, using him as the designated hitter for a time. Turner had microfracture surgery over the offseason. A return to action next week would put him well ahead of the usual recovery timeline. Players like Carlos Beltran and Grady Sizemore had to ease back in to regular reps over a long period of time, although Turner’s specific situation may differ from theirs.
  • One of Turner’s third base backups, Alex Guerrero, has been sidelined with a sore left knee, per Gurnick. The team does not believe the injury is serious, and they have not even ordered tests. The Dodgers have struggled to find Guerrero a regular role due to poor defensive chops at second base and an inconsistent bat. Should Turner and Guerrero both miss time, options to fill in at third include Howie Kendrick and Chase Utley.

NL West Notes: Sierra, Anderson, Thornton, Green

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The Dodgers’ investment in righty Yaisel Sierra will begin at $30MM, per a tweet from Jon Heyman of MLB Network, but could go up from there. Sierra will have the right to opt into salary arbitration if he becomes eligible. His contract will pay him a $6MM signing bonus and then salaries of $1MM, $2.5MM, $3.5MM, $4MM, $5.5MM, and $7.5MM, per the report.

Here’s more from Los Angeles and the rest of the NL West:

  • Dodgers lefty Brett Anderson had surgery on the very same disk that was previously repaired, GM Farhan Zaidi told reporters including Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register (Twitter link). The medical experts involved say that occurs in about ten percent of cases, suggesting that Anderson and the team got a bit unlucky. Plunkett also takes a look at the competition to fill in for Anderson.
  • Newly-inked Padres lefty Matt Thornton is expected to have a solid shot at earning a job out of camp, GM A.J. Preller tells Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune. “He’s done it for a long time and still has quality stuff,” Preller explained. “I think the ‘pen is pretty open, so he’s got a legit chance to make the team.” Skipper Andy Green echoed that sentiment, calling Thornton “a very established left-handed reliever” who is “very dominant against lefties [and] very successful through his career.”
  • Speaking of Green, it’s well worth checking out his recent interview with David Laurila of Fangraphs. The first-year manager addressed the concept and impact of defensive shifting from every angle, including the mental components and possible counter-strategies on offense. Ultimately, he concluded: “The game is evolving, and it’s important to evolve along with it.”

Brett Anderson To Undergo Back Surgery, Out 3 To 5 Months

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Dodgers lefty Brett Anderson is set to undergo surgery today on a bulging disk in his back, MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick reports (Twitter links). Anderson is expected to miss three to five months.

The news comes as a major blow to a Dodgers organization that has rolled the dice on several starters with injury questions. Anderson accepted the team’s $15.8MM qualifying offer at the outset of the offseason, returning on a one-year deal after his first healthy season in recent memory.

This won’t be Anderson’s first procedure for a bulging disk, as he underwent a similar surgery late in 2014. He’s missed time with other maladies before and since, of course, but his back health will now be an even greater question than it had been previously.

While there’s still hope that Anderson will contribute to the staff this year, that doesn’t mean the loss won’t tell. Fellow lefty Hyun-jin Ryu is still working back from shoulder surgery and has experienced some soreness. Brandon McCarthy remains a ways off from returning from a Tommy John procedure. Even the team’s newest MLB additions — Kenta Maeda and Scott Kazmir — are pitchers who have long-term health questions. Likewise, righty Frankie Montas, who profiled as a young rotation possibility as the season progresses, will miss time with rib surgery. (All that after the team blew up a prospective deal with Hisashi Iwakuma over the results of his physical.)

All that being said, it isn’t as if the club is hurting for options. Alex Wood now looks like a good bet to open in the rotation, where he’s had plenty of past success (despite coming with his own questions given his unusual delivery). Mike Bolsinger and Carlos Frias had their moments last year. The oft-injured Brandon Beachy is back on a minor league deal. Just-signed Cuban free agent Yaisel Sierra could potentially factor in, as could a variety of rising prospects including Jharel Cotton, Chris Anderson, Zach Lee, and top prospects Jose De Leon and Julio Urias.

Anderson, who only just turned 28, turned in 180 1/3 innings of 3.69 ERA ball last year, more than justifying the risk taken by Los Angeles. Indeed, he was even better than his results by measure of xFIP (3.51) and SIERA (3.46). But he hadn’t even logged 100 frames in a single season for the four preceding years, leading to questions about how his market would develop and aiding his decision to accept the QO.

The talented southpaw will, hopefully, have an opportunity to re-establish his health at some point later in the 2016 season. He could well provide a significant boost at that point, as might McCarthy, and it’s entirely possible that the Dodgers will have plenty of options down the stretch. As things stand, though, he’ll have to battle through another tough medical setback. Needless to say, both his future earning outlook and the possibility of the team benefiting from making a second consecutive QO have taken a hit.

NL West Notes: Dodgers, Greinke, Rosales, Gray, Samardzija

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Dodgers lefty Hyun-jin Ryu is being given some extra rest after feeling discomfort in his surgically repaired left shoulder, writes MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick. Neither Ryu nor manager Dave Roberts would characterize the discomfort as a setback, with Ryu saying he didn’t feel significant pain, and Roberts adding that the discomfort is a normal part of the recovery process from this type of surgery. Nevertheless, the status of Ryu’s shoulder will be something the Dodgers monitor closely this spring in his first season back from surgery to repair a torn labrum. Ryu was recently said to be about two weeks behind the rest of the Dodgers’ starters (Twitter link via Andy McCullough of the L.A. Times), and that was prior to today’s news.

More on the Dodgers and their division…

  • Gurnick tweets that lefty Brett Anderson is also dealing with an ailment, as his Friday start is uncertain after he tweaked his back throwing live batting practice yesterday. Anderson underwent some tests today to determine the nature of the potential injury, and as Gurnick notes, he does have a history of back troubles, having undergone surgery in 2014.
  • Sticking with the mildly macabre Dodgers injury theme, righty Josh Ravin will be out for eight to 12 weeks after undergoing surgery to repair a fractured left forearm that he injured earlier this week in a car crash, McCullough tweets. As was noted at the time of the injury, Ravin was perhaps an unlikely candidate to make the club out of Spring Training, but the injury of course removes any doubt.
  • Diamondbacks scouting director Deric Ladnier told Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic that ace Zack Greinke joined him and other D-backs scouts in south Florida earlier this winter to watch some amateur games as the club scouted in preparation for the June draft. “I’m not saying he’s going to help us make decisions because he’s not, but I do like listening to him because he brings a different perspective,” said Ladnier. “Shame on me if I don’t.” Greinke’s interest in scouting is nothing new, Piecoro writes. In fact, Ladnier, who was the Royals’ scouting director when Greinke was drafted, invited Greinke into the Royals’ draft meetings on a number of occasions. Piecoro notes that Greinke also attended some scouting meetings with the Brewers and Dodgers. “He follows it diligently,” said Ladnier. “It’s something he loves to do. I have no problem with him coming in and peeking his head in.” Greinke clearly has plenty of innings left in his arm, but I doubt he’d have difficulty finding a team interested in adding him as a special assignment scout following his playing days.
  • Infielder Adam Rosales, who is with the Padres on a minor league deal/non-roster invite to Spring Training this season, spoke to MLB.com’s Corey Brock about the transaction whirlwind in which he was involved back in 2014. In a span of 13 days, Rosales was designated for assignment three times and claimed off waivers three times — each by either the Rangers or Athletics. Rosales called the sequence “challenging,” but eventually found some levity in his plight. “You just have to see some humor in it … and take it in stride and appreciate the opportunities you have,” he explained. GM A.J. Preller, who was an assistant GM with the Rangers at the time of that ordeal, spoke highly of Rosales’ versatility and clubhouse presence, explaining some of the reasoning behind his signing of Rosales this winter.
  • Rockies prospect Jon Gray debuted his new curveball in his first spring outing today, writes Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post, and was pleased with the outcome. Gray says he was surprised by the number he threw (seven), thinking he’d throw three or four over his two-inning affair. Gray spoke to Saunders about his aim to develop two different curves — one to throw for strikes and one to bounce in front of the plate as an out pitch — as he seeks to deliver on the promise that made him the No. 3 pick in the 2013 draft.
  • Giants GM Bobby Evans talked with MLB.com’s Tracy Ringolsby about his pursuit of Jeff Samardzia this offseason. “The benefit of Posey, the benefit of Dave Righetti and [bullpen coach] Mark Gardner, the benefit of AT&T Park and the benefit of a support cast where he’s not expected to be the No. 1 or No. 2 guy, all those elements combined to allow us to make the investment,” said Evans of the five-year, $90MM deal he used to reel in Shark (terrible pun intended — my apologies). Samardzija admitted to Ringolsby that the barrage of rumors swirling around his name wore on him last summer, to some extent, though he didn’t blame any of his 2015 struggles on the stress associated with that talk. The Giants, Ringolsby writes, feel there’s still untapped potential in Samardzija’s powerful arm.

International Notes: Rays, Lazarito, Padres, La O, Rodriguez, Heredia

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Major League Baseball announced today that the Rays will play an exhibition game against the Cuban National Team in Havana, Cuba on March 22, thus marking the first time an MLB club has visited the island since the Orioles played an exhibition game there in March of 1999. (Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times first broke the news that plans had been finalized.) “During a time of historic change, we appreciate the constructive role afforded by our shared passion for the game, and we look forward to experiencing Cuba’s storied baseball tradition and the passion of its many loyal fans,” said commissioner Rob Manfred in a statement announcing the game. Added MLBPA executive director Tony Clark: “We thank the Cuban National Team and all involved in hosting this game, as we are very excited to return to Havana to continue our efforts to strengthen the ties between our countries through our love and passion for the game of baseball.”

As the Rays gear up for a historic trip to Havana, here are a few notes pertaining to some of the top Cuban talent in the world…

  • The Padres are now the favorites to sign Cuban prospect Lazaro Armenteros, according to Baseball America’s Ben Badler (subscription required but highly recommended), though he notes that the Braves and Dodgers both have some interest. However, Badler notes that the player known as “Lazarito” has been “the subject of some of the most extreme sensationalism in public reports,” and ranks the 16-year-old 11th on his list of the top 15 Cuban players available to Major League clubs. Lazarito would add to what appears to be a potentially significant class of 2016-17 international prospects for San Diego, as Badler and ESPN’s Eric Longenhagen have both previously reported the Friars as the favorites to sign 19-year-old outfielder Jorge Ona (fourth on today’s rankings from Badler) and 17-year-old lefty Adrian Morejon (10th). It’s worth noting, too, that Badler isn’t downplaying Lazarito’s talent entirely; he does write that Lazarito’s talent is “right up there” with the other top international prospects that have signed in the 2015-16 international class, so the implication is merely that the “phenom” labels that have been placed on Lazarito are an overstatement.
  • Third baseman Luis Yander La O, currently a bonus-pool-exempt free agent, did not perform particularly well at a February showcase that was also impacted by poor weather, Badler notes in his rankings. La O still landed eighth on Badler’s list, but he notes that La O may schedule another showcase in an effort to put on a better show for interested clubs.
  • The Reds have seemingly changed course in their pursuit of shortstop Alfredo Rodriguez and will convince him to wait until July to sign, Badler reports while ranking Rodriguez 12th on his list. Had Cincinnati signed Rodriguez for his the $6MM bonus that was reported back in January, they’d have been barred from signing international amateurs for any more than $300K in each of the next two signing periods. Badler notes that as compensation for making Rodriguez wait, however, the Reds might end up giving him an even more sizable bonus than that $6MM sum (which, of course, will come with a 100 percent luxury tax).
  • Guillermo Heredia’s previously reported deal with the Mariners became official today, per a club announcement. Heredia signed a one-year, Major League contract with the Mariners that will pay him the league minimum salary, as Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune reports. At the time of the signing, details on the contract were vague and did not specify whether Heredia had secured a Major League deal or a minor league deal. He’s been added to the 40-man roster, according to the Mariners, with Jesus Sucre being shifted to the 60-day DL in order to clear a spot. For what it’s worth, Badler noted in the aforementioned piece that the Mariners got “a terrific bargain” on Heredia, even with questions about his bat. Badler has previously noted that Heredia is a plus defender in center field with good speed.

NL West Notes: Sierra, Coors Field, Pence, Ravin

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Right-hander Yaisel Sierra has been cleared to begin workouts with the Dodgers now that his deal has become official, tweets Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register. Interestingly, Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times writes that manager Dave Roberts said Sierra is being viewed as a reliever and not as a starting pitcher. That affords Sierra a more easily accessible path to the Majors — the Dodgers’ rotation is rife with options, including Clayton Kershaw, Brett Anderson, Scott Kazmir, Kenta Maeda, Alex Wood, Mike Bolsinger and rehabbing starters Hyun-jin Ryu and Brandon McCarthy — but also serves to limit the immediate return on investment the Dodgers will receive. Sierra, of course, could be shifted into the rotation in future seasons.

Here’s more from the NL West…

  • The Rockies announced today that they will raise the fences at Coors Field, as Nick Groke of the Denver Post writes. The wall in right-center field will be raised by eight feet, nine inches in order to match the out-of-town scoreboard, Groke notes, and the wall straight down the left-field line will see an increase from five feet to 13 feet. Players offered some mixed reviews on the move, Groke writes, as Carlos Gonzalez didn’t seem worried that he’d lose many home runs. Charlie Blackmon, though, wasn’t pleased with the idea of losing a few of his homers or the fact that he and his outfield-mates will need to deal with new caroms off the walls.
  • An MRI on the Achilles tendon of Giants right fielder Hunter Pence revealed only inflammation as opposed to any sort of structural damage, tweets Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News. Pence will be sidelined for a week of Spring Training but appears to have escaped any serious injury that could’ve impacted his availability for Opening Day.
  • Dodgers right-hander Josh Ravin suffered a fractured left forearm in a car accident yesterday, writes MLB.com’s Barry Bloom. The 28-year-old Ravin required surgery on Tuesday to repair the injury. As Bloom notes, Ravin was somewhat of a long shot to make the big league roster this spring due to the number of pitchers on the Dodgers’ roster, though his blistering fastball certainly made him an intriguing option. Ravin averaged 97.1 mph on his heater in 9 1/3 innings with the Dodgers last season and also whiffed 38 hitters in 28 Triple-A innings.

NL West Notes: CarGo, Padres, Dee, Arroyo, Cain, Dodgers

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Another winter of trade speculation was no big deal to Carlos Gonzalez, as the Rockies star tells ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick.  “Of course, it’s hard for…guys who’ve been with one organization for so long.  But I understand the process.  I’ve been traded twice, so it’s nothing new for me,” Gonzalez said.  Colorado’s lack of success has put Gonzalez in the middle of several trade rumors over the last few years, and that talk intensified when Troy Tulowitzki was dealt last summer.  So far, however, the Rockies have resisted pursuing a full rebuild.  Here’s some more from around the NL West…

  • The Padres are “keeping some dry power” payroll-wise for midseason moves, team president/CEO Mike Dee told reporters (including Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune).  “(We will) see how the Major League season unfolds, and we could be a participant in an additive way in July if the team performs as we hope,” Dee said.  The Padres’ payroll projects to be roughly $8MM less than last year’s approximate $108MM Opening Day figure, and given how much ownership and the front office has already invested last winter, you would think they’d be open to making up that difference should a notable upgrade be available at the trade deadline.  Dee also stressed that “the overall investment this year when the season is over and the book is written will be significantly more than what was the investment in 2015,” in regards to how the Padres are planning to heavily spend in both the amateur draft and the international market.
  • The Padres own six of the first 85 picks in the draft (including three of the first 26) and they’re known to be ready to exceed their spending pool limit in the upcoming international signing period.  In an online chat with Union-Tribune readers, Lin writes that though it may take a couple of years for this young talent to develop, general manager A.J. Preller “can’t afford to miss much this summer.  June and July could eventually play a large part in determining his fate as GM.”  Lin’s chat also contains several updates on Padres roster and position battles.
  • With Brandon Crawford locked up in an extension, Giants shortstop prospect Christian Arroyo knows a position switch may be in his future, Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News writes.  Arroyo cited second, third and the outfield as possible options, and “as far as moving positions, I’m open to anything. I want to help the team win.”  With Joe Panik and Matt Duffy covering second and third in San Francisco, however, this could be why Giants farm director Shane Turner said that “down the road, we’ve got to look at left field.”  The 2016 Baseball America Handbook described Arroyo as a probable “fringe-average defender at shortstop” due to a lack of range, so a position change could’ve been in the offing anyway.  Whatever his position, Arroyo’s accomplished bat has earned him some notice; BA lists him as the Giants’ top prospect and the game’s 62nd-best prospect overall.
  • Giants righty Matt Cain had a cyst removed from his arm on Thursday and will be out of action for roughly the next week, though Bruce Bochy tells media (including MLB.com’s Chris Haft) that he thinks the setback shouldn’t cause Cain to miss any time in the regular season.  Though the cyst is a pretty minor issue, it marks yet another setback for Cain as he tries to rebound from two injury-plagued seasons.
  • “Lots of options, little certainty” is how Steve Dilbeck of the L.A. Times describes the Dodgers’ outfield situation.  The club technically has a surplus in the outfield with Yasiel Puig, Carl Crawford, Andre Ethier, Joc Pederson, Enrique Hernandez, Scott Van Slyke and Trayce Thompson all in the mix, though just about everyone on that list is questionable due to either injury history or inexperience.  Ethier is “the closest thing to a lock” of the seven, though he’ll be 34 on Opening Day and is rarely used against left-handed pitching.
  • In other NL West news from earlier today, the Diamondbacks signed Rickie Weeks to a minor league deal.

Minor MLB Transactions: 2/26/16

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Here are Friday’s minor moves from around the league…

  • The Dodgers announced that they’ve released right-hander Brooks Brown. The 30-year-old Brown had spent the past two seasons with the Rockies, for whom he made his Major League debut in 2014. Los Angeles claimed him off waivers back in October and went on to outright him to Triple-A in December in order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster. Formerly the No. 34 overall pick in the draft (D-backs, 2006), Brown bounced from Arizona to Detroit to Pittsburgh before reaching the Majors as a Rockie. He went on to log 59 innings out of the Colorado bullpen across the past two seasons, recording a 3.97 ERA while averaging 6.3 K/9 against 3.2 BB/9.

Lazarito Changes Representation

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FEB. 24: Lazarito and his family refute the notion that they’re in any danger, Rosenthal writes in a new column. Lazaro Sr. tells Rosenthal that his family is in “absolute control” of its travel documentation and elected not to travel to the U.S. to meet with the Braves because only Lazarito, and not his parents, were invited. (Rosenthal notes that a second source confirmed the accuracy of that statement.)

Lazarito has already hired Octagon as his new representation, though the timing of the entire agency shuffle is rather bizarre, as Lazarito’s family claimed that Hairston’s comments were the impetus for the change in representation, but Hairston was claiming to no longer be representing Lazarito at the time he made his comments. Additionally, securing new representation in a matter of one day seems unlikely. Hairston followed up with Rosenthal and maintained that buscon is driving the thought process of the family in an effort to steer them toward signing with a particular team.

FEB. 23: Agent Charles Hairston and the Culture39 agency will no longer be representing Cuban outfielder Lazaro Armenteros after Hairston tells Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports that his life was threatened by a trainer/agent out of the Dominican Republic who also represents Armenteros.  At least for the time being, Hairston will no longer be representing the Cuban phenom known as “Lazarito,” and there is now great uncertainty about when or how Armenteros will sign.

Many young players from Latin America are represented by trainers/agents known as “buscones,” who take these players under their wing as children and train, feed and house them in makeshift training camps.  In exchange for helping develop the skills of these promising talents, a buscon will then receive roughly 20-25 percent of a player’s future salary if he should go on to sign a pro contract, Hairston explains.  The rather unregulated nature of the buscon/player business relationship has led to other issues in the past — for instance, when multiple buscones lay claim to the same player, or when Leonys Martin was sued by a Mexican baseball academy for allegedly not paying the full share of what the academy felt was owed.

This situation with Lazarito’s buscon and Hairston is of an even more chilling nature, with Hairston declining to name the buscon out of concerns for the safety of Culture39 employees.  According to Hairston, the buscon withheld travel documents from Lazarito and his parents, making them unable to travel from the Dominican Republic to the United States for a meeting Hairston had arranged with a team’s GM and ownership group.

“I feel for the kid. He is truly special. We are still looking forward to working with him when he comes to the United States once his situation is resolved….But when his safety and ours is put in jeopardy, we had to think about what is most important in life,” Hairston said.

The dispute allegedly centered around the buscon’s desire that Armenteros sign a contract as soon as possible, as opposed to waiting until the new international signing period opens on July 2.  (When Hairston last discussed his ex-client’s situation two weeks ago, he noted that their camp was still uncertain as to when Armenteros would sign.)  Signing in the current international class or the next would greatly shuffle the list of teams eligible to sign the 16-year-old, as his likely bonus would instantly put a team over its spending pool limit and subject it to a virtual two-year ban on blue chip international prospects.  Such teams as the Dodgers, Cubs, Giants and Royals have already exceeded their cap in the current spending period and could add to their bounty by signing Lazarito now, while waiting past July 2 would freeze those teams out (as their penalties would begin) and clear the path for other clubs known to be planning a big splurge in the next international period, such as the Braves, Phillies and Padres.  Rosenthal and Morosi list the Dodgers, Padres and Braves as three teams with interest in Armenteros.

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