MLBTR Originals News & Rumors

A look back at the original reporting and analysis found on MLBTR this past week:

• Tim Dierkes updated MLBTR’s 2015 Free Agent Power Rankings and there has been a change at the top with Max Scherzer replacing Hanley Ramirez.
• Steve Adams relaunched the MLBTR series Draft Prospect Q&A by interviewing University of San Francisco center fielder Bradley Zimmer. Among the topics the consensus top-15 pick discussed with Steve: how his brother Kyle being selected fifth overall by the Royals in 2012 “was definitely a leap in the right direction for me, as far as getting to experience the process of being looked at and being a high prospect” and why he decided to attend college rather than sign with the Cubs, who made him their 23rd-round pick in the 2011 draft.
• Rangers GM Jon Daniels told Zach Links he is not currently looking outside the organization to replace Prince Fielder. “I think that our focus right now is on the group of guys [including the injured Jurickson Profar and Dan Robertson] that are going to come back,” Daniels said. “There’s a group of guys that are up here in the big leagues that have put together a few good games this week, and we want to see if we can build on that and then evaluate where we are and adjust if that time comes.”
• Red Sox GM Ben Cherington provided Zach his rationale for re-signing shortstop Stephen Drew. “He did a great job for us last year and he’s a very good Major League shortstop and a good teammate and does a lot of good things that we value,” said Cherington. “We have a high degree of respect for Stephen, what he can do on the field, and what he can do for our team.“
• Steve charts how hard the 2015 free agent starting pitchers throw and notes their fortunes on the open market could be dictated by whether their velocity is increasing or decreasing.
• Zach broke the news right-handed reliever Frank Francisco elected free agency rather than accept an outright assignment to the White Sox’s Triple-A affiliate.
• Jeff Todd asked MLBTR readers which free agent third baseman they would prefer to sign: Chase Headley or Pablo Sandoval. More than 53% of you favor Headley.
• Steve hosted this week’s live chat.
• Zach assembled the best of the baseball blogosphere for you in Baseball Blogs Weigh In.

A look back at the original reporting and analysis found on MLBTR this past week:

• Steve Adams issued a Free Agent Stock Watch on Nick Markakis and believes the Orioles outfielder could be well-positioned for a multi-year contract, if he, as expected, hits the open market this winter.
• Charlie Wilmoth asked MLBTR readers to rate the top 2015 free agent starting pitchers. More than 75% of you ranked Max Scherzer number one with Jon Lester a distant second.
• Tim Dierkes was the first to report left-hander Mike Zagurski has a June 1 opt-out date in his minor league deal with the Indians.
• Zach Links broke the news the minor league contract Greg Dobbs signed with the Nationals contained an early June opt-out date. The opt-out became moot when the Nats added Dobbs to the 25-man roster Friday.
• MLBTR was the first to learn left-hander Brian Burres, currently pitching for the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs of the independent Atlantic League, has received interest from a few MLB teams.
• Zach reminisced about the brief four-game tenure as a Met for Yogi Berra, who was released by the club 49 years ago this week.
• Steve hosted this week’s live chat.
• Zach assembled the best of the baseball blogosphere for you in Baseball Blogs Weigh In.

A look back at the original reporting and analysis found on MLBTR the last seven days:

• Steve Adams was the first to report right-hander David Aardsma has a May 15 opt-out date in his minor league deal with the Cardinals.
• Zach Links confirmed the retirement of catcher Matt Treanor, who decided to call it a career with the impending birth of his first child and after suffering a setback in his rehab from a hamstring injury.
• Zach revisited the trade made 24 years ago today in which the Yankees dealt Dave Winfield to the Angels for right-hander Mike Witt.
• Steve hosted the weekly live chat.
• Zach gathered the best the baseball corner of the web had to offer in Baseball Blogs Weigh In. 

A look back at the original reporting and analysis found on MLBTR this past week:

• Tim Dierkes was the first to report the Braves and third baseman Chris Johnson were nearing a contract extension.
• Steve Adams researched waiver claims over the past calendar year using MLBTR’s Transaction Tracker and discovered the Rangers’ Jon Daniels was the most active general manager being involved in nearly 18% of those claims. Steve also noted fewer players had been claimed multiple times than the year before.
• Joel Hanrahan, who signed a one-year, incentive-laden MLB contract on Friday, told Zach Links he isn’t surprised by his quick recovery from Tommy John surgery. “I put in the hard work while everyone else was playing this summer. I was going to rehab every day five times a week at 8:00 in the morning. That was my season.”
• MLBTR’s 2013-2014 Offseason In Review series concluded with Steve’s recap of the Mariners.
• Zach was the first to learn catcher J.R. Towles, off to a torrid start for the Brigdeport Bluefish of the independent Atlantic League, is receiving interest from MLB teams.
• Steve hosted the MLBTR live chat this week.
• Zach put together the best of the baseball blogosphere in Baseball Blogs Weigh In.
• ICYMI, Charlie Wilmoth asked MLBTR readers whether the Astros promoted George Springer at the right time. Only 37.67% of you thought the team should have waited to start the 24-year-old’s service clock.

Last April, I used MLBTR’s Transaction Tracker to take a look at the players who had the somewhat unfortunate distinction of having been claimed on waivers multiple times. Examples of this type of player are formerly well-regarded prospects with some upside left, relievers with a flaw, or utility players that are good enough to be on a 25-man roster but not so good that they are deemed irreplaceable. My look at the players who had been claimed three and even four times in a span of 365 days prompted another question in my mind: Which general managers have been the most active on the waiver wire?

The exercise was interesting enough that I made a point to do so again in 2014. Upon looking back I was a bit surprised to see that not one player was claimed off waivers four times, as last year three players — Russ Canzler, Sandy Rosario and Chris Schwinden — found themselves packing their bags and moving on four different occasions. Not only were there no four-claim players, but this season presented a smaller amount of three-claim players, when the 2012-13 sample I studied had produced five three-claim players. My first glimpse came from studying April 17, 2012 to April 17, 2013; with that in mind, before I continue further, here are the players who were claimed multiple times from the date of that post to April 17, 2014:

• Liam Hendriks: Hendriks was originally designated for assignment by the Twins to make room for Phil Hughes, and he was quickly claimed by the Cubs. Chicago wasted little time in trying to sneak him through waivers, only to lose him to the Orioles, who eventually lost him to the Blue Jays when Hendriks was the DFA casualty to make room for Ubaldo Jimenez. Still just 25, Hendriks has looked great in five Triple-A appearances (three starts) for Toronto thus far.
• Adam Rosales: Rosales may be the most interesting case, as all of his team changes occurred between the division-rival A’s and Rangers. Originally DFA’ed by Oakland, Texas claimed him and designated him after just one weekend. When Oakland claimed him back and was again forced to DFA him, Texas was awarded the winning claim. The versatile utility infielder is hitting very well at Triple-A Round Rock, slashing .240/.380/.467 with four homers.
• Jimmy Paredes: Paredes jumped from the Astros to the Marlins to the Orioles to the Royals. Jeff Baker‘s signing in Miami and the addition of Suk-Min Yoon in Baltimore led to his final two departures from a 40-man roster. He hit .319/.319/.447 in 11 Triple-A games before being called up to Kansas City’s big league roster, though he’s yet to start a game or even have a plate appearance as a Royal (he has appeared in three games as a pinch-runner).

In addition to that trio, each of Pedro Beato, Alex Castellanos, Maikel Cleto, Pedro Figueroa, Chris Gimenez, Brett Marshall, Brent Morel, Rafael Ortega, Andy Parrino and Matt Tuiasosopo were claimed off waivers twice.

The reason behind the lack of three- and four-claim players could be a very simple one: From April 17, 2012 to April 17, 2013, there were 133 waiver claims processed in Major League Baseball which resulted in a player changing teams (excluding the Rule 5 Draft, which is technically a waiver claim). From April 17, 2013 to April 17, 2014, there were 96 waiver claims processed that led to a player switching teams.

Particularly absent from the waiver market were the previously highly active Blue Jays and Yankees. In the 2012-13 period I examined, Alex Anthopoulos made an incredible 22 waiver claims, while his New York counterpart, Brian Cashman, claimed 14 players. Those same two GMs combined for just eight waiver claims in the 2013-14 period, with Toronto claiming six players and New York claiming just two. Here’s a look at the breakdown of each team/GM’s activity on the waiver wire, sorted by the change in their activity:

On the flip side, it makes some sense to see fairly active teams such as the Pirates and Indians experience a decrease in the number of claims they were awarded. Pittsburgh finished the 2013 season by ending 21-year playoff drought, meaning they had one of baseball’s best records for the first time in years. Cleveland improved its record by 24 games from 2012 to 2013, meaning their improved record likely prevented them from acquiring some players. (Their improved roster also had fewer holes that needed to be filled.)As you can see, the Rangers experienced the largest jump in waiver activity despite maintaining a strong record throughout the season, perhaps indicating that Daniels and his staff were more aggressive in placing claims. Of the 96 waiver claims that were processed, 12.5 percent of the claims were awarded to the Rangers. Factoring in the five players –Rosales, Castellanos, Ortega, Joey Butler and Julio Borbon — that Texas also lost on waivers to another organization, the Rangers were involved in 17.7 percent of all waiver claims over the one-year span from my last examination to this year’s.

Perhaps the most curious trend continues to be the Rockies’ lack of activity on the waiver wire. As the Transaction Tracker shows, the last successful claim the Rockies made was more than two years ago when they claimed right-hander Adam Ottavino off waivers from the Cardinals on April 3, 2012.

Note: This post does include the Rangers’ claim of Charlie Leesman off release waivers from the White Sox last April, as Leesman rejected the assignment and elected free agency. Additionally, though some have reported the Rays’ acquisition of Wesley Wright last August as a waiver claim, the Astros announced that they received cash considerations in exchange for Wright in their press release. That transaction was considered a trade and is not included in these results.