Brewers Designate Danny Ray Herrera For Assignment
The Brewers have designated Danny Ray Herrera for a assignment, reports Tom Haudricourt of The Journal Sentinel (on Twitter). He was called up just yesterday.
Herrera, 26, pitched both yesterday and today. He gave up a homerun to Kosuke Fukudome and recorded two outs yesterday, and tonight he gave up four runs in an inning of work against the Red Sox. Herrera was claimed off waivers from the Reds just a few weeks ago, and the lefty's big league career consisted of a 3.69 ERA with 6.4 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 in 92 2/3 innings coming into today.
Rosenthal On Reds, Nunez, Edwin Rodriguez
Here's the latest from FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal in this new Hot Corner video…
- Of the NL Central contenders, Rosenthal thinks the Reds will be the most active before the trade deadline. They can deal one of their top prospects (Zack Cozart, Yonder Alonso, Devin Mesoraco) for help, or perhaps promote one or more of those youngsters. The Reds also have Aroldis Chapman and Homer Bailey's returns on the horizon.
- The Cardinals will rely on reinforcements in the form of injured players returning from the DL, and while the Brewers are looking for "a hard-throwing reliever," Rosenthal doesn't think Milwaukee will be able to make any major trades since the farm system is thin after the Zack Greinke deal last winter.
- The bright side of Derek Jeter's injury is that it gives the Yankees a look at Eduardo Nunez, their possible shortstop of the future. Rosenthal also notes that Nunez could be a potential trade chip.
- In regards to the rumored realignment plan, Rosenthal says concerns about interleague games being played throughout the year would be addressed by having the majority of AL vs. NL matchups take place towards the middle of the season, as per tradition. Rosenthal, for his part, is a big supporter of realignment since it will create a more fair playing field in regards to scheduling and the divisional setup.
- In another video clip, Rosenthal argues that the Marlins shouldn't be quick to fire manager Edwin Rodriguez even though the team is struggling. The injuries to Hanley Ramirez and Josh Johnson have hampered the team, though as Rosenthal notes, even with this excuse for Florida's slump, it's hard to predict Jeffrey Loria's actions.
Outrighted: Toregas, Hughes, Pucetas, Nieves
Players who cleared waivers and were outrighted to Triple-A:
- The Cubs announced that Brad Snyder has been outrighted to Triple-A Iowa. The outfielder was designated for assignment on the weekend.
- Catcher Wyatt Toregas was outrighted to Indianapolis by the Pirates, tweets Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. He'd been designated for assignment on Sunday to open a spot for Mike McKenry.
- Lefty reliever Dusty Hughes was outrighted to Rochester to open a 40-man spot with the Twins for infielder Tsuyoshi Nishioka, according to the team's transactions page. They'd claimed Hughes off waivers from the Royals in January. The Twins will need another spot for Joe Mauer soon.
- Righty Kevin Pucetas, designated for assignment by the Royals on Friday to open a 40-man spot for Mike Moustakas, was assigned outright to Omaha today according to the Royals' Twitter page.
- The Brewers outrighted catcher Wil Nieves to Nashville, writes MLB.com's Adam McCalvy. George Kottaras' contract was selected. The Brewers' 40-man roster count remains at 37. The White Sox are the only other team under 38.
Prince Fielder Won’t Rule Out Any Team
First baseman Prince Fielder, who is headed toward a massive free agent payday after the season, told Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times yesterday he "doesn't have any problems with any team." Fielder was answering a question about whether he'd listen to an offer from the Cubs. The Scott Boras client was quick to emphasize that his focus is on the Brewers, his current employer.
There's not much of a story here, as we rarely see an elite free agent publicly rule out teams, especially midseason. Sure, Fielder probably hates the Cubs from a competitive standpoint, but eliminating them publicly would just be bad business.
Wittenmyer doesn't think the Cubs can afford to make a huge bid for Fielder – his source says the team's debt structure all but precludes a free agent megadeal for the next two or three years. Still, the Cubs appear to have a crazy amount of payroll flexibility after the season. Even if they slash payroll from $134MM to $120MM, they'd still have almost $50MM to play with in 2012 salaries. Of course, I'm not an accountant and it's more complicated than that.
Fielder, just 27, is having a season reminscent of the '07 and '09 campaigns that landed him among the top four in the MVP vote each year. He's at .300/.416/.617 with 19 home runs in 291 plate appearances. Fielder could aim for the biggest contract in baseball history for a player not named Alex Rodriguez.
NL Central Notes: Pirates, Astros, Draft Signings
Of the top eight vote-getters in National League All-Star voting, six are Brewers, Cardinals and Reds. Ryan Braun leads the way with over 2.23MM votes thus far. Here are a few items from this star-studded division….
- The Pirates just acquired Mike McKenry yesterday but they still want to add more catching depth, manager Clint Hurdle tells MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch.
- Astros owner Drayton McLane wants his team to remain in the National League, reports Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle. The 'Stros were rumored to be candidates to move to the AL under a realignment proposal that would even out the AL and NL with 15 teams each. Of course, McLane is in the process of selling the team to Jim Crane, so McLane's preference wouldn't necessarily be an issue if these realignment plans ever came to fruition.
- Speaking of Crane, Justice reports (via Twitter) that the new owner will likely officially take over the Astros on July 7 or 8.
- The Reds announced the signings of 14 draft picks, plus undrafted free agent Phil Bauer from Xavier University. The highest-selected of these picks is left-hander Tony Cingrani, taken in the third round.
- The Brewers announced the signings of 14 draft picks and three undrafted free agents (via MLB.com's Adam McCalvy). Ninth-round outfielder Malcom Dowell is the highest selection to sign.
Quick Hits: Guthrie, Giants, Brewers, Realignment
Here are a few stray items of note as Mike Moustakas bashes the first homer of his career for the Royals:
- The Orioles might be wise to trade right-hander Jeremy Guthrie, writes Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun. Guthrie is eligible for arbitration this offseason before hitting free agency after the 2012 campaign. Last week, Tim Dierkes identified Guthrie as a potentially available starter prior to this year's trade deadline.
- The Giants need to acquire a catcher no matter how much they push Eli Whiteside, writes Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News, but they're finding ways to win and shouldn't panic to fill their other holes.
- Brewers GM Doug Melvin doesn't expect either of Milwaukee's first-round picks — college pitchers Taylor Jungmann and Jed Bradley — to sign soon, writes Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. Melvin said he encourages draftees to sign as quickly as possible in order to begin their development.
- Tigers manager Jim Leyland, one of three managers included in MLB's Special Committee for On-Field Matters, confirmed Saturday's report that realignment is under consideration, according to Jason Beck and Chris Vannini of MLB.com. Leyland expects some sort of change to come to pass, but he cautioned that these matters can be complicated with so many interested parties.
NL Central Notes: Astros, Fielder, Pirates, Cubs
When the Brewers take on the Cardinals tonight, St. Louis skipper Tony La Russa will be managing his 5,000th MLB game. Here are notes on the Cardinals, the Brewers and their NL Central rivals…
- The Astros announced that they have signed second round pick Adrian Houser via press release. His signing bonus is unknown, but MLB's slot recommendation for the 69th overall pick is approximately $530K.
- Prince Fielder says he isn't competing with Albert Pujols or thinking about his next contract. But Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports says the Brewers' first baseman may be a safer free agent target than Pujols this coming offseason.
- Pirates owner Bob Nutting told Bob Cohn of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that he is "extremely pleased" with the progress the 30-31 Pirates have made this year. “Tremendous improvement from last year,” Nutting said. “I'm very pleased where we are. And, I really believe that we're beginning to see the impact of the changes we've made in the organization over the last three and a half years.”
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports wonders how long A’s GM Billy Beane will want to remain in Oakland and points out that the Cubs and Astros could be looking for new leadership before long. Beane would be a “leading candidate” for any GM job if he were not in Oakland.
- Jeff Gordon of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says new Astros owner Jim Crane should aim to draft and develop players as successfully as the Cardinals have.
Stark On Rollins, Fielder, Pujols, Olivo, Tigers
A number of iconic players are in contract years, so ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark looks ahead to their free agent stock and provides other rumors from around the league. Here are the details:
- No one Stark spoke with predicts David Ortiz will leave the Red Sox for another team.
- Jose Reyes will be the number two free agent on the market this winter behind only Albert Pujols, according to one executive.
- Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. acknowledges that it wouldn't be easy to replace Jimmy Rollins, even though the shortstop is no longer an MVP-caliber player. The Phillies ‘poked around’ for possible alternatives at short last offseason, according to Stark, who predicts a two-year deal for Rollins and the Phils this winter.
- Prince Fielder will no doubt sign a lucrative free agent deal, but one executive says the first baseman’s body will be an issue: "It has been since high school, and it always will be." Fielder is 27 now, so an eight-year deal would expire after his age-35 season.
- Pujols will test the market, but Stark and his sources find it hard to believe that he’d leave St. Louis for any old team. One executive predicts that the Cubs are the Cardinals’ main threat.
- The Cubs aren’t ready to start selling and haven’t started shopping Carlos Zambrano, despite his recent outburst.
- The Red Sox offered Miguel Olivo a one-year deal before re-signing Jason Varitek last offseason. Olivo eventually signed a two-year deal with the Mariners.
- The Rangers are ‘stepping up’ their search for a right-handed setup man and maintain interest in Nationals reliever Todd Coffey.
- Rival teams say the Tigers are looking for a left-handed reliever. Southpaws Daniel Schlereth, David Purcey, Charlie Furbush and Adam Wilk are currently in Detroit’s bullpen.
Draft Notes: Brewers, Astros, Bell, Beede, Braves
Let's take a look at some draft-related items as Day 2 wraps up:
- The Brewers took just one Scott Boras client across the first two days: his son, Trent Boras. The younger Boras is a USC commit, but the club will try to convince him otherwise, tweets Adam McCalvy of MLB.com.
- The Mets could have gone the safe route and taken players that would help them in the immediate future, but instead they went for high-risk, high-reward types, writes Brian Costa of the Wall Street Journal.
- Astros first-round pick George Springer sounds as though he's very signable, tweets Stephen Goff of Examiner.com.
- The Pirates are hoping that they will be able to sign high school outfielder Josh Bell, just as they were able to come to terms with pitcher Stetson Allie last year, writes MLB.com's Laura Myers. Allie was a UNC commit, but the Pirates got him to sign with a $2.25MM bonus.
- Blue Jays top pick Tyler Beede says that the decision on whether to sign will be based on money, tweets Shi Davidi of Sportsnet. Toronto selected Beede with the 21st overall pick in the draft.
- The Braves didn't take a high schooler until the 11th round (Seth Morando, an infielder from Buchanan High School in California), but that doesn't mark a shift in philosophy for the club, writes Carroll Rogers of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
- With pick No. 685, the Reds selected left-hander Amir Garrett, a left-handed pitcher out of Findlay College Prep in Nevada, who has committed to play basketball for St. John's. The chances of him signing, however, are "infinitesimal", according to Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus (via Twitter). A source close to the family told Luke Winn of Sports Illustrated that Garrett would sign if he were selected in the first seven rounds and offered a bonus of around $1.5MM.
Olney On Nationals, Mariners, Brewers, A’s
Rival executives have wondered whether the Nationals will eventually shift top pick Anthony Rendon to second base, so ESPN.com’s Buster Olney constructs an impressive-looking 2013 Nationals lineup with Rendon at second and prospective free agent Prince Fielder at first base. Here are the rest of Olney’s rumors:
- The Mariners wondered whether Safeco Field would limit Rendon’s offense, but they’re confident that their second overall selection, left-hander Danny Hultzen, will be a good fit in their home ballpark.
- Brewers GM Doug Melvin confirmed to Olney that it’s possible (though not likely) that top pick Taylor Jungmann could help them this year.
- Some executives tell Olney that top Orioles pick Dylan Bundy is the greatest pure talent in the draft. He's certainly looking to get paid like an elite talent.
- Olney wonders if Grant Balfour could be dealt to the Rangers, who could use relief help.
- Teams like the Braves and Phillies are looking for offense, so Josh Willingham could become a target if the 27-34 Athletics do become sellers.