Marlins DFA John Koronka
Joe Frisaro of MLB.com reports that the Marlins have designated John Koronka for assignment, following his second bad start for the Fish.
Koronka, 28, allowed nine earned runs through 7.1IP for the Marlins, totaling an ERA of 11.05. He allowed a .333 average to opposing hitters and issued seven walks as well.
Frisaro hasn't heard anything about who will replace Koronka on the roster or in the starting rotation, but names Brian Sanches as a possibility to be called up. He also suggests Hayden Penn and Burke Badenhop as potential replacements in the rotation.
Odds & Ends: Sheets, Blanco, Coghlan
Links for Friday…
- RotoAuthority talks about the popular fantasy pickups this week.
- Rangers GM Jon Daniels says Ben Sheets is "watching from a distance" while recovering from elbow surgery, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.
- MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan says the Rangers "apparently are in position to sign Guillermo Pimentel, a top outfield prospect from the Dominican Republic" for $1.5-2MM.
- Amalie Benjamin of the Boston Globe says Red Sox reliever Javier Lopez cleared waivers and will head to Triple A.
- Sam Miller of the OC Register assembled a lineup/slideshow of prospects who deserve a big league shot.
- Henry Blanco isn't sure why he wasn't able to re-sign with the Cubs, according to the Chicago Tribune's Paul Sullivan.
- Nick Yohanek, the fan who caught Chris Coghlan's first big league home run, explains his side of the story in asking for the following for the ball: a signed Coghlan game bat, a signed Coghlan ball, and a Hanley Ramirez game bat. What's your take on this?
Odds & Ends: Bonds, Armas, Strasburg
Links for Wednesday…
- MLB.com's Joe Frisaro says the Royals received righty Eric Basurto as the player to be named later in the Ross Gload trade.
- Tom Glavine hopes to pitch in the Majors this month, according to MLB.com's Mark Bowman.
- Back on May 3rd, Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times wrote about the possibility of Barry Bonds signing with the independent league Long Beach Armada (the team already employs Hideki Irabu and Jose Lima). But Bonds' agent Jeff Borris said, "He's not going to do that."
- It appears that Tony Armas Jr. signed a minor league deal with the Braves after the Mets released him.
- Hal McCoy of the Dayton Daily News says Padres beat writer Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune will be out of a job come August. Sorry to hear it; Krasovic does excellent work.
- MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo talked to Tony Gwynn about Stephen Strasburg.
- Johnny Damon talked about his future again, this time with MLB.com's Bryan Hoch.
- Jim Thome would like to return to the White Sox next year, based on his comments to MLB.com's Scott Merkin.
2010 Options: Florida Marlins
The Marlins' only 2010 option is Ross Gload, who will presumably not be retained at $2.6MM. The more interesting story with the Marlins is their arbitration-eligible players. Hopefully future trades will make more baseball than financial sense.
There's second baseman Dan Uggla, who is earning $5.35MM in '09 (his first arb year). He's off to a terrible start: .189/.304/.358 in 125 plate appearances. He'll need to get back on track for another team to consider him worth $6-7MM. Otherwise, will the Marlins consider non-tendering him?
First baseman Jorge Cantu has taken it to another level, hitting .294/.360/.608 with 8 HR and 32 RBI in 114 plate appearances. Anyone want a 30 HR, 110 RBI corner bat for $5-6MM?
Outfielder Jeremy Hermida is drawing walks again (in almost 19% of his plate appearances) but he's slugging .375. He's just 25, and should pass $3MM next year. Hermida's not a sure thing but remains intriguing.
Ricky Nolasco and Josh Johnson will also get raises through arbitration, but are probably off-limits. In addition, the Fish have multiple quality relievers entering arbitration for the first time.
Odds & Ends: Proctor, Dunn, Contreras
Links for Tuesday…
- According to Juan C. Rodriguez of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Marlins reliever Scott Proctor is out for the season with Tommy John surgery. So that's $750K down the tubes, though Rodriguez wonders if they might re-sign him to an incentive-laden deal after the season.
- New blog post at Live to Play, Play to Live chronicling Miguel Angel Sano's 16th birthday party. His day began with a tryout for the Giants.
- Sports Illustrated names the game's best and worst owners.
- WEEI's Alex Speier says that if Daniel Bard never returns to the minors, he'll eventually be the second player to achieve Super Two status under Theo Epstein.
- Sam Miller of the OC Register asks who hangs up on a Jonathan Sanchez for Brandon Wood swap.
- I noticed that Preston Wilson surfaced with the Long Island Ducks. Brad Halsey, Dan Miceli, Ken Ray, and Lew Ford are also on the team, which is managed by Gary Carter.
- Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle has a bunch of new info on the Moneyball movie, which comes out in 2011.
- Adam Dunn told John Shea of the Chronicle that he was open to signing with the Giants but did not hear from them.
- Jose Contreras cleared waivers, which is not a surprise given the $8MM+ left on his contract.
Stark On Pitchers, Vlad, Sabathia, Crawford
More from Jayson Stark's Rumblings and Grumblings column today…
- Stark rattles off a bunch of starting pitchers teams are "tracking" in advance of the trade deadline: Roy Halladay, Jake Peavy, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt, Aaron Harang, Erik Bedard, Kevin Millwood, Mark Buehrle, Doug Davis, Chris Young, Andy Pettitte, Bronson Arroyo, Jonathan Sanchez, Andy Sonnanstine, Jeff Niemann, Jason Marquis, Vicente Padilla, Jeff Suppan, and Russ Ortiz. Not all of these guys are actually available, so check out the article for more analysis.
- Teams are "backpedaling away" from Vladimir Guerrero as a free agent option after the season. One scout sees Vlad as a DH right now.
- C.C. Sabathia downplayed the importance of the out clause in his contract, talking to Stark. Sabathia said it was "just something my agent came up with, and I just went with it." Stark is skeptical though; he thinks the clause was specific to New York.
- Stark talked to a baseball man familiar with the Rays' thinking who sees "zero chance" they don't exercise Carl Crawford's $10.125MM option for 2010. The Rays have a three-year outlook on the budget.
- With Jason Isringhausen ready within a few weeks, the Rays may have a surplus in the bullpen. Stark doesn't expect Dan Wheeler or J.P. Howell to be moved, but teams are tracking them.
- Stark sees Jorge Cantu as a trade candidate after the season. He figures to make $5-6MM through arbitration.
Stark On Holliday, Relievers, Relocation
The latest from ESPN's Jayson Stark…
- Stark compared 2009 April attendance to 2008, excluding the New York teams given their new stadiums. He found virtually no change, overall. One anonymous agent complained that Bud Selig "overdramatized the potential financial losses so as to limit and to artificially control spending on free agency."
- The Royals may need a bat, but Stark says they're unwilling to discuss any of their best or most advanced prospects in trades.
- Stark talked to one exec about Billy Beane's Matt Holliday situation. If Holliday's power outage continues, could he become a July salary-dump candidate? If the A's keep him all year, will they risk offering him arbitration? And is Holliday headed toward a one-year "redeem yourself" deal on the free agent market?
- Stark says the Marlins would love to add a late-inning reliever via trade. He runs through possible relief trade candidates. In addition to the players I listed on Tuesday, Stark mentions Alan Embree, Octavio Dotel, Matt Thornton, Tom Gordon, Eddie Guardado, and Ron Mahay. The Phillies are also in the market.
- Remember the Zack Greinke trade rumors of years past? Stark talked to one exec who says Royals GM Dayton Moore never wanted to trade him.
- If, down the road, the A's or Rays have to relocate, Stark says San Antonio, Las Vegas, and Mexico were the locations MLB was considering in reference to the Marlins.
Nationals Acquire Logan Kensing
According to MLB.com's Joe Frisaro, the Nationals acquired recently-designated reliever Logan Kensing from the Marlins for minor league reliever Kyle Gunderson. Gunderson was drafted out of Rice in '07.
Kensing, 26, was designated for assignment by Florida after just 7.3 innings this year. Last year, he logged 55.3 innings with a 4.23 ERA, struggling with his control. He had Tommy John surgery in August of 2006.
Odds & Ends: Perez, D’Backs, Baez
Links for Monday…
- RotoAuthority looks more closely at the Pirates' MLB-best rotation.
- Mike Berardino of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel says the Marlins won't be pursuing Luis Vizcaino.
- On Saturday, MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan wrote that the Rangers don't expect to be in on Pedro Martinez, but could have interest in Vizcaino for a Triple A job.
- Eddie Bajek of Detroit Tigers Thoughts has a quick American League Elias rankings preview.
- Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post thinks Oliver Perez may be headed to the bullpen or even Triple A if he'll consent. Perez has pitched poorly in three of his four starts. He's had streaks like this before, though.
- With Brandon Webb out for at least six weeks, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic wonders if the Diamondbacks will be sellers this summer.
- Could Danys Baez have midseason trade value? Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun thinks it's possible, despite the pitcher's $5.5MM salary.
- Joel Sherman of the New York Post looks back at last summer's Xavier Nady/Damaso Marte deal with the Pirates.
- Murray Chass thinks Ned Colletti deserves a contract extension. Do you agree?
- ESPN's Jorge Arangure Jr. wonders who will be the first American-born player to exploit a draft loophole by dropping out of high school and living in another country for a year to become a free agent.
Logan Kensing Designated For Assignment
According to MLB.com's Joe Frisaro, Marlins reliever Logan Kensing was designated for assignment after last night's game. The 26 year-old had given up runs in four of his six appearances on the young season. Kensing had Tommy John surgery back in September of 2006. He throws around 93 mph, so the Marlins should be able to find a trade partner.