Dodgers Rumors

Astros Targeting Cueto Over Hamels

By Zachary Links | June 28, 2015 at 4:31pm CDT

In recent weeks, the Astros have been connected to Phillies ace Cole Hamels, but it doesn’t sound as though he’s their top pitching target. Instead, it’s Reds pitcher Johnny Cueto that is atop Houston’s wish list, according to sources who spoke with Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle.

One of the main reasons for their preference of Cueto over Hamels is that the Astros are seeking out a 2015 rental or possibly someone whose contract runs for one more year. With a hefty contract that runs through 2018, Hamels simply doesn’t fit the bill. Cueto, meanwhile, is only owed the prorated portion of his 2015 salary of $10MM, which is a little over $5MM the rest of the way. Hamels, meanwhile, is set to earn the balance of his $22.5MM salary for the remainder of this season, $22.5MM in the next three seasons, and a $20MM option/$6MM buyout that can vest with good health and a certain number of innings pitched.

For his part, Hamels recently indicated that he would be “open-minded” to being traded to any team, including the Astros. Instead, it sounds like Houston has their attention focused on the Reds’ pitching, where other suitors include the Dodgers, Yankees, and Blue Jays, a source tells Drellich. All in all, Drellich hears that the Phillies have been pumping up the perception of the Astros’ interest as negotiating leverage in talks about Hamels.

The Astros are casting a wide net in their effort to add a solid starter to their rotation to go with Dallas Keuchel, Collin McHugh, Vincent Velasquez, and Lance McCullers. In addition to Cueto and Mike Leake, the Astros are doing their homework on A’s lefty Scott Kazmir, Brewers right-handers Matt Garza and Kyle Lohse, and White Sox right-hander Jeff Samardzija.

Cafardo On Buchholz, Samardzija, Cueto, Hamels

By Zachary Links | June 28, 2015 at 11:30am CDT

In today’s column, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe pit Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts against Tigers shorstop Jose Iglesias. Of course, Boston once had both, but Iglesias was shipped out in 2013 in a three-team deal that brought Jake Peavy to Fenway. Bogaerts offers more potential as a hitter, but Iglesias clearly has the superior glove. That difference in the field never made Bogaerts doubt himself, however.

“No, that’s just a guy who’s really gifted beyond anyone else,” Bogaerts said. “I just paid attention to trying to get better. I never compared myself to him because you can’t compare anyone to him. He’s a great defensive player and flashy.”

Paco Rodriguez To Have Elbow Surgery

By charliewilmoth | June 27, 2015 at 10:29pm CDT

Dodgers lefty reliever Paco Rodriguez needs surgery to remove loose bodies from his elbow and will miss eight to ten weeks, as Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register notes. The Dodgers do not appear likely to pursue bullpen help at the trade deadline, however.

The Dodgers placed Rodriguez on the disabled list with an elbow strain in late May, and he had made a series of successful rehab appearances, leading the Dodgers to believe his return to the big leagues was imminent. “It seemed like it was going pretty good,” says manager Don Mattingly. “There was even talk of activating him here in Miami. So it was really the last second.”

Even with Rodriguez likely out for much of the rest of the season, however, the Dodgers do not appear to be seeking outside relief help. J.P. Howell and Adam Liberatore have had success as lefties out of the Dodgers’ bullpen, and the team also has Daniel Coulombe as a backup option. President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman also recently said that adding extra relievers would not be a top priority.

“Bullpens, by nature, are a little inconsistent but we feel like we’ve not only got a talented ‘pen but a very deep ‘pen,” said Friedman. “Once we get guys back, I think it’s going to end up being a strength for us.” The team activated Pedro Baez this weekend after he spent six weeks on the disabled list with a pectoral strain.

Rodriguez was a key part of the Dodgers’ bullpen as a 22-year-old in 2013, but he spent most of last season pitching for Triple-A Albuquerque due to a roster crunch. He’s had modest success in brief stints in the big leagues in each of the last two seasons.

NL Notes: Marlins, Gordon, Dodgers, Cardinals

By charliewilmoth | June 27, 2015 at 8:01pm CDT

Giancarlo Stanton’s injury is a loss for baseball as a whole, and the first domino likely to fall as a result is that the Marlins will become sellers, Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes. The team should trade free-agents-to-be Dan Haren and Mat Latos. Infielder Martin Prado is also worth watching if he can prove his shoulder is healthy by the deadline, and he might make sense for the Mets, since he can play multiple positions and provide an insurance policy at third base. Prado’s versatility could make him an attractive target for many other teams as well, Sherman suggests. Here’s more from the National League.

Dee Gordon has blossomed with the Marlins, but the seeds of his growth this season had already been planted before his 2014 season with the Dodgers, Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register writes. “I was terrible for two years. No one has to provide any fire for me. The chip on my shoulder is self-inflicted,” he says. After struggling in 2012 and 2013, Gordon seemed to hit his stride last season, but this year, he’s been outright brilliant, currently leading the NL in batting average (.356) and hits (110). Dodgers manager Don Mattingly says he thinks Gordon might have been somewhat motivated by the Dodgers trading him to Miami last winter, but that doesn’t bother Mattingly. “He doesn’t seem vengeful or anything,” says Mattingly. “I hope when he plays San Francisco or Colorado or Arizona or San Diego that he’s really motivated to show us.”
More than four months after the FBI seized computers from the Cardinals while investigating their hacking scandal, the team is still waiting for the fallout, Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes. At this point, there’s no indication that owner Bill DeWitt, GM John Mozeliak, or any other top brass were involved. “I’m not beating myself up, because I feel I haven’t done anything wrong,” says Mozeliak. “I beat myself up because I feel the organization has taken a black eye and I feel bad for that. And I feel bad because the (front-office) team we’ve assembled might be broken up.” Commissioner Rob Manfred could punish the Cardinals with fines, suspensions or lost draft picks, Strauss writes, although there’s little to no chance the team would be denied postseason eligibility.

West Notes: Martin, Harrison, Bradley, Giants

By Jeff Todd | June 26, 2015 at 7:46pm CDT

Here’s the latest from the game’s western divisions:

Rangers outfielder Leonys Martin may be fighting for his roster spot over the next week, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News writes. The speedy outfielder is sporting a .270 OBP on the year, and with Delino DeShields and Josh Hamilton set to return before long, the club may soon have viable replacements in center. Martin can still be optioned, so Texas can give him some time in the minors to work things out if it wishes.
The Rangers also have new options in the rotation with Matt Harrison seemingly nearing readiness for a big league start, Grant further writes. A six-man rotation is possible, says manager Jeff Banister, as is the potential of resting one of the current rotation members with a DL stint. Regardless of the team’s course of action, it’s remarkable that we’re at this point, as it once seemed that Harrison might never pitch again.
Diamondbacks hurler Archie Bradley is headed for a visit with Dr. James Andrews for a second opinion on his balky right shoulder, Nick Piecoro reports (Twitter links). The club’s physician found only tendinitis, but Bradley continued to feel discomfort in his latest rehab outing. It’s far too soon to speculate, of course, but at a minimum it seems it’ll be a while longer until Arizona gets Bradley back into its rotation.
The Giants are working hard on the July 2 market, Kiley McDaniel of Fangraphs tweets. San Francisco is “trying hard” to land Bahamian shortstop Lucius Fox and may be the single team most closely pursuing Eddy Julio Martinez, says McDaniel. But the sense in the industry is still that the Dodgers will get both players, he adds.

International Notes: Rankings, Spending, Alvarez, Guerrero

By Steve Adams | June 26, 2015 at 12:25pm CDT

The 2015-16 international signing period kicks off in six days (July 2), which will lead to significant spending from clubs all around the league in an effort to bolster their farm system. The Red Sox, Yankees, Rays, Angels and Diamondbacks will each be ineligible to sign a player for more than $300K due to vastly overshooting their league-assigned international bonus pools in the 2014-15 signing period. Meanwhile, the Cubs and Rangers will be back in the game after being similarly restricted in the 2014-15 period due to excessive spending in 2013-14. Both teams are expected to again be aggressive, though it’s the Dodgers who are rumored to be the most aggressive team on this year’s international market. Here are some notes on this year’s class of July 2 players…

Kiley McDaniel of Fangraphs has released an excellent sortable prospect board with scouting reports, video, projected bonus information and the likeliest landing spot, with information on 69 different international prospects (not all info available for all prospects). McDaniel currently projects the Dodgers to spend $27.05MM on the international market, though that number could grow, as it’s not clear where every prospect is going to land yet. That $27.05MM figure, by the way, comes out to more than $50MM after factoring in the 100% luxury tax they’ll pay for exceeding their $2,020,300 pool by more than 15 percent (pool info via Baseball America).
In addition to the Dodgers and Cubs, the Royals are expected to blow past their international spending limit as well, writes McDaniel in a separate piece. No one figures to match the Dodgers, though, who are “so recklessly signing whichever player they want for whatever number it takes that teams are openly wondering what top Cuban player they won’t sign during this period,” McDaniel notes. It’s currently tough to peg the market for top Cuban outfield prospect Eddy Julio Martinez, but the Dodgers should be considered the favorite for all Cuban players due to their hyper-aggressive approach, McDaniel adds. He also looks ahead to the 2016-17 market, touching on top names such as Kevin Maitan and Abraham Gutierrez.
Baseball America’s Ben Badler spoke to six scouts about top international prospects Yadier Alvarez (link) and Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. (link). Alvarez’s name has been on the pages of MLBTR for months, as the Cuban righty is said to be the top international pitching prospect on the market thanks to a fastball that reaches 98 mph and the makings of a wipeout slider and an above-average changeup. Badler looks at his sudden emergence from obscurity and gets the takes of scouts who praise him, but also those who view him as a future reliever. As for Guerrero, scouts feel that he has the best combination of hitting ability and power in this year’s class, but he’s already a thick player with a so-so arm, leading to questions about his defensive placement down the line. Alvarez is believed to have a bonus of $16MM+ waiting from the Dodgers, whereas the Blue Jays have long been believed to have a deal with Guerrero (McDaniel pegs the value at $3.45MM).

Pitching Market Notes: Wilson, Bucs, Yankees, Dodgers

By Jeff Todd | June 25, 2015 at 7:43pm CDT

The starting pitching market is beginning to take shape around the league. Let’s have a look at the latest reports:

As the Angels try to remain patient with their lack of production from many lineup spots, they remain in the market for bats and “have dangled” starter C.J. Wilson, MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez reports. The Halos would also consider moving prospect arms, per the report, though the team is not interested in parting with the best of the bunch: Andrew Heaney, Sean Newcomb, and Chris Ellis. Wilson, who is playing on a $18MM salary this year and is owed $20MM for next season, has worked to a 3.92 ERA with 7.8 K/9 against 2.7 BB/9 over 96 1/3 innings.
The Pirates are looking at both the Red Sox and Phillies as they consider adding a starter, Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review writes. Pittsburgh is also interested in a first base upgrade, per the report. Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe reported recently on the Bucs’ interest in Clay Buchholz, though he noted that it seems unlikely that Boston will deal away the righty with two reasonably-priced option years still left on his deal. Philadelphia is sending a scout to take a look at the Pirates’ Double-A affiliate, says Biertempful, who suggests that Aaron Harang could conceivably make sense to add rotation depth.
At least as of yesterday afternoon, the Yankees “were not on [Cole] Hamels,” Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets. Nevertheless, as Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes, New York could ultimately feel it necessary to add a high-quality arm. Sherman ticks through some options, noting that there is “nothing active ongoing with the Reds” and suggesting that Jeff Samardzija could be a prime target if the Yankees decide to pursue a starter.
The Dodgers had a top scout (Galen Carr, per Sherman) on hand to watch Hamels pitch at Yankee Stadium yesterday, as Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com reported. That outing likely did not do much to commend the lefty, but obviously the club will be looking at a much broader body of work in assessing whether to move on Hamels.

NL Notes: Turner, Dodgers, Axford, Phillies

By Jeff Todd | June 24, 2015 at 10:54pm CDT

Cubs righty Jacob Turner has been shut down after his elbow “flared up,” president of baseball operations Theo Epstein told reporters, including ESPNChicago.com’s Jesse Rogers (Twitter link). Turner had made two promising rehab starts at Double-A, and was looking like a possible rotation or pen option in the near term for Chicago. The club claimed the former top prospect off waivers last year from the Marlins and exercised his $1MM option for 2015.

Here’s more from the National League:

Despite their recent offensive woes, the Dodgers see the acquisition of bats as a “lower priority” to adding arms to the rotation, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman told reporters, including Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times. Friedman says he sees reason to believe that the club’s run production will get back on track, and also likes that the organization has several relievers advancing back from injuries. The rotation, though, looks somewhat thin at the back end. While the team may still get some innings out of Brandon Beachy, who is working back through a rehab stint, it is currently relying on Mike Bolsinger and Carlos Frias, both of whom have struggled to continue their surprisingly excellent work from earlier in the year.
Rockies righty John Axford has put up strong results for the club, and Nick Groke of the Denver Post writes that he could either become a useful trade piece or be looked at as an asset to be retained. Axford comes with one more year of control via arbitration, effectively providing the club an option year, though he’ll figure to be in line for a nice raise on his $2.6MM salary this year as he continues to rack up saves. Groke notes the possibility of an extension, and club GM Jeff Bridich says that “moving ahead with Axford for future seasons is something we would at least consider.” From my perspective, the smarter play would be to see what Axford will fetch on the trade market and tender him a contract if a strong offer can’t be found. He has been quite good, even if peripherals don’t quite support his 1.31 ERA, with a career-best 60.7% groundball rate that is surely particularly attractive to the club. But extending a reliever is always risky business, particularly when the name in question is 32 years old and has a track record of inconsistent results.
When he formally joins the Phillies, reported new executive Andy MacPhail could spend some time evaluating the baseball operations department before deciding whether to make any changes or additions to the front office, MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki reports. One possibility, per a source, would be for MacPhail to try to bring on Angels assistant GM Matt Klentak in some capacity. The young executive got his start with the Orioles when MacPhail was in charge there. Klentak was a guest on the MLBTR Podcast’s third episode, back in October.

Draft Signings: Davis, Degano, Williams, Matheny

By Jeff Todd | June 22, 2015 at 8:14pm CDT

Here today’s notable draft signings, with slot value information via Baseball America:

The Dodgers went well over slot to sign fifth-round pick Brendan Davis, Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com reports on Twitter. Davis gets $918,600, which is $605K north of the 162nd pick’s assigned slot value. Baseball America placed him just inside its top 500 list, noting that Davis was expected to attend Cal State Fullerton after missing much of his senior high school season with a broken wrist. A “smooth athlete” with good instincts and solid power and hit tools, the shortstop had been a fairly highly-valued prospect before the injury intervened. Los Angeles has yet to sign its top two picks, Walker Buehler and Kyle Funkhouser, and presumably expects to find some savings from those prospective deals to make up for the Davis overage.
Meanwhile, the Yankees will realize some savings on second-rounder Jeff Degano, according to Jim Callis of MLB.com (via Twitter). The southpaw will earn a $650K bonus after being taken 57th overall ($1,074,400 slot value), freeing $424,400 for New York to apply toward other picks. ESPN.com’s Keith Law was high on Degano, ranking him the 54th-best player available. Law credits Degano with a low-90s fastball, sweeping slider that could grow into an above-average offering, and reasonably promising change. Degano does have some injury questions and already has undergone Tommy John surgery.
Phillies third-round pick Lucas Williams has agreed to an at-slot, $719,800 bonus, Mayo tweets. The high school shortstop was not considered an early-round option by many prospect hounds coming into the draft, but still commanded a full-slot bonus to forego his commitment to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
The Red Sox have agreed with outfielder Tate Matheny, son of Cards skipper Mike Matheny, to a $512,700 bonus, per Callis (via Twitter). That is the full slot value for the 111th overall pick. Matheny, an outfielder from Missouri State, rated 107th on Baseball America’s list. BA noted that he lacks any notable tools, but has average abilities in several areas and makes the most out of them with plus makeup.

International Notes: Mayeux, Diaz, Heredia

By Steve Adams | June 22, 2015 at 11:16am CDT

Melissa Mayeux, a 16-year-old French shortstop, has become the first known female to be added to Major League Baseball’s international prospect registration list, writes MLB.com’s Lindsay Berra. That would make Mayeux, who plays for the U-18 French junior national team, eligible to sign with a Major League club on July 2. As Berra goes on to explain, only players that at least have a chance to be signed by a Major League team are typically registered. It still seems unlikely that Mayeux will be signed, Berra continues. European prospects typically sign at the age of 18, as opposed to 16, as is often the case with Latin American prospects. Mayeux tells Berra that she’s not focusing on being the first female added to the registration list and simply hopes to be able to play baseball for as long as possible. MLB director of international game development Mike McClellan calls Mayeux a “legitimate shortstop,” praising her fielding ability and adding that she “swings the bat really well and is fearless.”

A few more notes from the international prospect scene…

MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez reports that Cuban outfielder Yusnier Diaz has also registered with MLB and will be eligible to sign in the upcoming signing period (Twitter link). The 18-year-old Diaz will first need to be declared a free agent by the league before he can sign, however. Ben Badler of Baseball America reported in April that Diaz had left Cuba, though at the time there seemed to be a chance that Diaz would be ineligible for the upcoming signing period. That no longer appears to be the case. Badler praised Diaz’s plus speed and plus arm, though he also noted that his right-handed swing is a bit long at times.
Speaking of Badler, his latest piece examines top international prospect Starling Heredia’s unusual baseball career (subscription required and recommended). The Dominican outfielder never even played in an organized baseball game until he was 13 years old, Badler writes. Heredia tells Badler that his coaches originally wanted him to be a third baseman, but he was unimpressive there and garnered little attention until he homered on the first swing he took. Heredia was converted to an outfielder and he’s grown at a surprising rate, as he’s already said to be 6’1″ and 215 pounds. Badler spoke to multiple scouts who praised Heredia’s bat speed, running speed and strong arm, but there’s some question about he’ll handle more advanced pitching. Badler notes that the Dodgers are the favorites to sign Heredia, who could receive a bonus in excess of $2MM.

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