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International Prospect Links: Top 30, Padres, Nats, Bonuses

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We’re less than two weeks away from the July 2 international signing deadline, and MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez has published his ranking of the Top 30 International prospects for the 2014-15 class. Most of these amateur players are still just teenagers, including a number of 15- and 16-year-olds. Players that are 15 years of age currently — such as No. 3 ranked prospect Adrian Rondon — will be eligible to officially sign when they turn 16 (July 7, in Rondon’s case). Sanchez’s list is topped by Dominican shortstop Dermis Garcia and includes free video, scouting reports and rankings of each players’ tools on the 20-80 scouting scale. It’s a must-read for all that are interested in the international market and an indispensable tool that will be referenced heavily on MLBTR in the coming months.

Here’s more in the international prospect front…

  • Sanchez tweets that the Padres have signed 21-year-old Dominican right-hander Dinelson Lamet for a $100K bonus. While teams are currently not allowed to sign any more players from the 2013-14 crop of July 2 prospects, Sanchez adds in a followup tweet that the Friars squeezed this one in just under the wire, finalizing the deal last week.
  • Nationals scouting director Johnny DiPuglia tells Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post that the Nats will be targeting quantity as opposed to spending their budget on two or three high-priced assets. Washington is hoping to add 12 to 15 players to its ranks, says DiPuglia, adding that the areas of focus for the Nats were left-handers with potential for high velocity, speedy up-the-middle players and bats with raw power.
  • Baseball America’s Ben Badler posted an update of his projected Top 10 signing bonuses this week, with the Yankees projected to issue four of the 10 (including a near-$3MM bonus for the previously mentioned Garcia). However, the Bronx Bombers don’t occupy the top spot on the list; that goes to the Brewers, who are expected to give Dominican shortstop Gilbert Lara (Sanchez’s No. 4 prospect) a bonus north of $3MM. Badler’s piece requires a BA subscription which is highly recommended to international prospect aficionados, as BA will be producing loads of scouting reports and projections on the July 2 class in the coming weeks.

Deadline Notes: Utley, Rollins, Mayberry, Royals, Yankees, Mets

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There’s been quite a bit of chatter regarding Jeff Samardzija and the rest of the Cubs’ pitchers over the past few days, due largely to the fact that everyone is aware the Cubs will be sellers at this summer’s non-waiver trade deadline. For other clubs, the trade picture isn’t so clear. Here are some notes on players that are potential trade targets and on which clubs should buy and which should sell…

  • Phillies president David Montgomery tells Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer that the club can’t be stubborn and close itself off from trading certain players if it’s the best thing for the team — and that includes longtime cornerstones Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins. Referring to Utley, Montgomery noted that he’d like his second baseman to remain with the club beyond his playing days. Of course, both players have 10-and-5 rights and can veto any trade.
  • For his part, Rollins softened his stance on waiving his no-trade rights after surpassing Mike Schmidt for the franchise hits lead this weekend, Gelb notes. Said Rollins: “It really depends if everything is blown up. Then, you take that into consideration. Fortunately, I don’t have to worry about that right now. But if that time does come, and it’s time to go … people move on.”
  • Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com reports that the Red Sox and Yankees have some interest in John Mayberry Jr. as outfield depth. Boston has scouted several recent Phillies games, and one “plugged-in Major League source” tells Salisbury that the Yankees are a team to watch in regards to Mayberry as well.
  • In an ESPN Insider piece, Dan Szymborski opines that the Royals need to make a bold acquisition in an attempt to take the AL Central. Szymborski’s ZiPS projection system has the Royals as a 50-50 chance to make the playoffs and a 29 percent chance to win the division right now. With five regular position players ranking at or below replacement level (per Baseball-Reference), the team needs to make a splash, as the Tigers are far more vulnerable than most expected. He suggests that third base and right field are the two most viable spots, listing Aaron Hill, Ben Zobrist and Chase Headley as possible targets.
  • Yankees GM Brian Cashman expects to make a trade or multiple trades this July, writes Barry M. Bloom of MLB.com. “I feel that we need to get better from within, and I think I can speed up the process if I run into something outside at the same time,” said Cashman. “We usually make moves every year, so I expect to make moves again.” Bloom runs down a list of trade targets and notes that the stock of Dellin Betances has skyrocketed this season, though he wonders if Cashman would be willing to include a potential future closer for a short-term fix. Cashman said he didn’t want to wait to make a move but added that prices are often highest early on in trade season.
  • Though Joel Sherman of the New York Post said not long ago that the Mets should act boldly as buyers, the team’s recent woes have him convinced that the opposite may now be true. After a 4-11 skid, he writes that the Mets should deal two of Jon Niese, Bartolo Colon and Dillon Gee this summer and also make Daniel Murphy available in trades. Doing so will bring back valuable offensive prospects and position the Mets well for a high draft pick in 2015. He notes that Sandy Alderson’s regime has done well in trades, bringing in Zack Wheeler, Noah Syndergaard, Travis d’Arnaud, Vic Black and Dilson Herrera by trading veteran pieces.

AL East Notes: Murphy, Blue Jays, Price, Rays

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Recently demoted Yankees catcher J.R. Murphy is garnering a lot of trade interest, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports (on Twitter). The 23-year-old Murphy batted .286/.308/.365 in 65 plate appearances for the Yanks this season and enjoyed a solid minor league season in 2013, hitting .269/.347/.426 between Double-A Trenton and Triple-A Scranton/Wikes-Barre. However, the Yankees’ offseason signing of Brian McCann to a five-year deal makes it unlikely that he’ll have an everyday spot with the club in the long-term.

Here’s more from the AL East…

  • Though there’s been a great deal of focus on the the Blue Jays’ search for pitching upgrades, GM Alex Anthopoulos tells Jeff Blair and Kevin Barker of 590 The Fan in Toronto that he has had active discussions to bring in an everyday infielder as well (via Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith). Anthopoulos spoke candidly about the fact that eliminating the current infield platoon would free up some bench flexibility. He added that carrying three catchers, as the club is currently doing, is far from an ideal scenario.
  • In his latest Fangraphs On FOX article, Dave Cameron examines the trade market for David Price and wonders if the Rays’ ace might end up being traded twice in the next year. Cameron notes that a number of big-spending clubs aren’t ideal fits due to sharing a division with Tampa, a poor farm system or a poor rank within the standings. As such, he speculates that a lower budget team (listing the A’s as an example) could acquire Price to fuel their 2014 World Series chances, then look to flip him in the offseason to recoup some of the prospect value lost in acquiring Price and his likely $18-20MM salary in 2015.
  • ESPN’s Jim Bowden speculates on the five most likely teams to trade for Price, listing the Angels, Blue Jays, White Sox, Yankees and Braves. Bowden runs down trade scenarios for each team within his Insider-only piece. From my point of view, the Halos don’t have the prospects to land Price, while the White Sox are a long-shot because the required prospect package goes against GM Rick Hahn’s long-term plan for the team.
  • In attempting to paint an accurate picture of what next year’s Rays roster could look like, Cork Gaines of RaysIndex lists Price, Desmond Jennings, Ben Zobrist, Matt Joyce and Jeremy Hellickson as potential trade chips either at this summer’s deadline or in the offseason. Jennings will see his price tag go up in arbitration, Gaines explains, and the potential emergence of Kevin Kiermaier could make him expendable. Of course, that would likely only be the case were Kiermaier to prove himself over a larger sample than 74 big league PAs.

Draft Signings: Hentges, Padlo, Loehr, Kelliher, Montgomery

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Here are Tuesday’s notable mid- to late-round draft signings, with all slot information coming courtesy of Baseball America…

  • The Indians have signed fourth-round pick Sam Hentges to a $700K deal, reports MLB.com’s Jim Callis (via Twitter). That is nearly $300K higher than the 128th selection’s $400.2K slot allocation; he’ll also get a $160K scholarship. As noted below, Cleveland had already spent much of its existing padding on third-rounder Bobby Bradley. The high school lefty out of Minnesota was rated the 213th available player by Baseball America.
  • Rockies fifth-rounder Kevin Padlo has signed for $650K, tweets Callis. Padlo was taken with the 143rd overall choice, which came with a $346.3K allocation. The high school third baseman, who was rated the 129th-best player available by Callis and fellow MLB.com writer Jonathan Mayo, was said to be a late mover up draft boards.
  • The Athletics have gone above-slot for two choices, sixth-rounder Trace Loehr and eighth-rounder Branden Kelliher, reports Callis (Twitter link). Loehr will get a $600K bonus (against a $215.9K slot allocation), while Kelliher will get $450K ($215.9K slot). Those overages will take a decent chunk out of the savings that Oakland secured by agreeing with five other top-ten-round choices last Thursday.
  • Yankees fourth-round choice Jordan Montgomery has signed for the slot value of $424K, tweets Callis. Montgomery, a junior lefty for the University of South Carolina, was the 120th-best player in the draft, according to Baseball America.

Earlier Updates

  • The Indians have inked third-round selection Bobby Bradley, a high school first baseman, the club announced today. Bradley lands an above-slot $912.5K bonus, reports Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer (via Twitter). Bradley was taken with the 97th overall selection, which comes with a $539.6K slot allocation. Running the math on MLB.com’s draft bonus tracker, Cleveland had a cumulative under-slot tally of $501.3K prior to inking Bradley. The team has yet to sign two other high school draftees from its first ten rounds: Simeon Lucas (seventh round) and Micah Miniard (eighth). MLB.com’s Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo, who rated Bradley the 68th-best available player, said that Bradley offers an unusually advanced left-handed bat with good power. He had been committed to LSU.
  • Jim Callis of MLB.com reports (via Twitter) that the Rays have agreed to terms with fourth-rounder Blake Bivens on an over-slot, $465K bonus. Bivens, a high school right-hander out of Virginia, was slotted to receive $404K. Callis notes that he has a chance for a plus fastball and curveball. BA ranked Bivens 124th among draft prospects.
  • Marlins fourth-round pick Brian Schales agreed to the full slot value of $490K for the 107th overall selection, reports Chris Cotillo of MLB Daily Dish (on Twitter). A shortstop out of Edison High School in California, Schales didn’t rank on Keith Law’s Top 100, MLB.com’s Top 200 or BA’s Top 500 prior to the draft.
  • Cotillo tweets that the Marlins also agreed with their fifth-round selection, Casey Soltis, on an over-slot $450K bonus (slot was $366,900). Soltis was a consensus top draft prospect among major media outlets, placing 97th on Law’s list, 100th on BA’s and 113th on MLB.com’s. Law feels he can stick in center due to his athleticism, while the other two think he may be ticketed for right field. There are questions about his power as well, but his speed draws praise.
  • The Twins and fifth-rounder Jake Reed agreed to a $350K bonus that saves Minnesota about $6,400, Cotillo tweets. After starting for his first two seasons with Oregon, Reed was moved to the bullpen and settled in as the Ducks’ closer. With a sinking fastball touching 97 mph and a hard slider, he ranked 123rd on MLB.com’s list and 155th on BA’s. He is one of many power relievers selected by Minnesota.
  • The Indians went nearly $200K over slot on eighth-round pick Micah Miniard, Cotillo reports. BA, who ranked Miniard 393rd among prospects, noted that the Kentucky high school right-hander’s velocity touched 94 mph last fall but dipped into the mid-80s this season.

Minor Moves: Brian Gordon, Alex Burnett

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Here are Sunday’s minor moves from around MLB:

  • The Yankees have released right-hander Brian Gordon from Triple-A, tweets Chad Jennings of LoHud.com. The 35-year-old made 14 appearances (13 starts) for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre this season compiling a 4.75 ERA, 5.8 K/9, and 3.2 BB/9 in 77 2/3 innings. Gordon last appeared in a MLB game with the Yankees in 2011.
  • Right-hander Alex Burnett has signed with the Sioux City Explorers, an independent league team, tweets Phil Miller of the StarTribune. The hope for the 26-year-old, according to Miller, is to draw a contract offer from the Royals. In over 177 Major League appearances, mostly with the Twins, Burnett owns a 4.70 ERA with 5.6 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

Wade LeBlanc Elects Free Agency

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Left-hander Wade LeBlanc has rejected his outright assignment to Triple-A by the Yankees and has elected to become a free agent, tweets Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News.

The Bombers designated LeBlanc for assignment last week in order to make room for left-hander David Huff.  LeBlanc pitched just an inning for the Yankees, allowing two runs in his lone appearance. He’s allowed six runs in 7 1/3 innings this season between the Angels and Yankees, and he has a career 4.56 ERA with 6.0 K/9, 3.3 BB/9 and a 35.4 percent ground-ball rate in 424 1/3 innings between the Padres, Marlins, Angels, Yankees and Astros.

Edward Creech contributed to this post.

Quick Hits: Cubs, Rollins, Yankees, Suarez

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The Cubs can look forward to a bright future, writes Peter Gammons of Gammons Daily. Top prospect Kris Bryant is busy hammering Double-A pitching (.358/.462/.713 in 286 plate appearances), fourth overall pick Kyle Schwarber homered in his professional debut, and high profile Cuban Jorge Soler is back on the field. Gammons points to Anthony Rizzo and Starlin Castro as two useful building blocks, and he credits recent trades as another reason for optimism. The Cubs acquired much of their current bullpen, along with Mike Olt and Jake Arrieta, at the 2013 trade deadline. This season, Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel headline the list of Cubbies potentially on the trade block.

  • Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins hit a single today for his 2,235th base knock with the club, moving him past Mike Schmidt for the franchise lead in hits. As Ken Rosenthal speculated last weekend, Rollins may be more willing to waive his ten and five rights now that he holds that club record. Rollins himself said today that he would consider accepting a trade if the Phillies end up pursuing a full rebuild, reports Jim Salisbury of Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia. Of course, even if Rollins does waive his no-trade clause, the club may need to eat some salary in order to receive a valuable player in return. His $11MM vesting option for 2015 will vest with another 156 plate apperances.
  • Pending the results of tonight’s matchup against the Athletics, the Yankees have played to a healthy 35-31 record. Much of the club’s success can be attributed to rotation depth, says Jorge Castillo of The Star Ledger. With Ivan Nova, Michael Pineda, and C.C. Sabathia missing substantial time, it has fallen to David Phelps, Vidal Nuno, and Chase Whitley to keep the staff afloat. Whitley has been the most surprising story for the Yankees with a 2.41 ERA (backed up by a 2.58 FIP) in six starts. Of course, steady production from Hiroki Kuroda and a Cy Young quality performance from Masahiro Tanaka have also helped to stabilize the rotation.
  • Recent Tigers call-up Eugenio Suarez fell just a single short of the cycle today in Detroit’s 12-9 victory over the Twins. Despite a rough spring training, the Venezuelan shortstop hit well in the minors this season before earning his promotion. In a post earlier this week on MLB.com, Phil Rogers discussed Suarez’s work with former defensive wizard Omar Vizquel.  It appears Vizquel also believes in Suarez’s bat, citing a shorter swing and improved discipline against breaking balls for his success in the upper minors. The shortstop position has been a problem area all year for the AL Central leading Tigers. If the 22-year-old Suarez continues to perform, the club may be able to focus more attention at the trade deadline on its bullpen.

Yankees Sign Jacob Lindgren

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The Yankees have signed second-round pick Jacob Lindgren, Chad Jennings of LoHud.com tweets. This morning, George A. King III of the New York Post wrote that Lindgren’s signing was expected, and that he would receive the bonus pool amount, which is around $1.02MM for the No. 55 overall pick.

Baseball America ranked Lindgren the No. 50 prospect in the draft, and MLB.com ranked him No. 51. The Mississippi State junior throws a low-90s fastball and a very good slider, and appears likely to pitch as a reliever, although MLB.com notes the possibility that he could start.

Quick Hits: Rodon, Iglesias, Yankees, Tigers

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Five clubs now have new top prospects heading out of the amateur draft, writes ESPN.com’s Keith Law (Insider link). He lists the White Sox (Carlos Rodon), Angels (Sean Newcomb), Mariners (Alex Jackson), Tigers (Derek Hill), and Mets (Michael Conforto) as teams with a new man on top of their respective totem poles. Of course, none of these players have been reported to have signed with their new clubs.

Here’s more on Rodon as well as some other notes from around the game:

  • The White Sox appear to have saved $385.6K with their round two-through-ten amateur draft signings, tweets Jim Callis of MLB.com. That would free the club to commit up to $6,107,100 to Rodon, the third overall selection of the draft, without incurring any penalties.
  • Cuban prospect Raisel Iglesias, a right-handed pitcher, has been granted an extended signing window, reports Ben Badler of Baseball America. By operation of several rules, Iglesias would have been required to sign by June 15 to avoid being subject to the next year’s July 2 bonus pools. Instead, he and three other, lesser-regarded Cubans (Jozzen Cuesta, Eduardo Rives, and Orestes Solano) will now be permitted until July 1 of this year to sign without being subject to changes in the international signing system. Last we heard, Iglesias (whose first name has been spelled in various ways in different reports) was set to put on a showcase in Haiti, where he has established residency. He is said to be capable of potentially joining a major league bullpen as soon as this year.
  • In other international news, the Yankees have agreed to substantial bonuses with several top July 2 players, reports Andy Martino of the New York Daily News. Dermis Garcia ($3.6MM bonus), Nelson Gomez ($2.8MM), and Christopher Torres ($2.6MM) are all said to be headed to the Yankees. Kiley McDaniel of Scout.com previously reported that the trio, among others, was set to sign with New York, though the indication at the time was that Garcia would land $3MM while Torres would get just $1MM.
  • The Tigers could end up regretting their move to lock up Justin Verlander two years before his original extension was set to expire, Ben Lindbergh writes for FOX Sports. Though Verlander bounced back from struggles last year, Lindbergh explains that a variety of indicators suggest that the 31-year-old may no longer be the elite arm that he once was.
  • In an interesting discussion of pitching risk regarding another key Tigers hurler, Max Scherzer, Dave Cameron of Fangraphs writes that the ace is showing the possible value of utilizing private insurance rather than opting for the two extremes of signing an extension or bearing the risk of reaching (and landing a big contract in) free agency. Cameron concludes that policies like Scherzer’s “are almost certainly cheaper [for the player] than taking the kinds of long-term deals that MLB teams have been offering of late.” You’ll want to give the fascinating piece a full read.

AL East Notes: Gausman, Yankees, Uehara, Drew, Lackey

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Orioles righty Kevin Gausman has made a strong showing in his most recent MLB stint, and that could set him up for a more permanent big league assignment, reports Eduardo Encina of the Baltimore Sun. The 23-year-old came into the year rated as the 20th prospect in the game by Baseball America. Having entered the season with 71 days of service to his credit, Gausman would line himself up for potential Super Two status down the line if he can stay up for most or all of the rest of the season.

  • The latest injury news out of the Yankees’ rotation is not promising, reports Jorge Castillo of the Star-Ledger. Manager Joe Girardi said today that C.C. Sabathia is not expected to return until after the All-Star break, while Michael Pineda will probably be out until August at the earliest. Those updates certainly seem to increase the already-strong odds that New York will be in the market for starting pitching help at the trade deadline.
  • Red Sox closer Koji Uehara addressed his future recently, as Rob Bradford of WEEI.com reports. He said that his approaching free agency has not changed anything about how he goes to work, and indicated that he is taking things year to year at this point. “If I could change how I perform based on my free agent year, I would,” said Uehara. “But I can’t, so I’m just going to pitch how I can pitch. It doesn’t really affect me because I’m an older player. Every year I consider my last year.” As Bradford notes, it is reasonable to wonder whether Boston will consider making Uehara a qualifying offer after the season. As with last season, there are several high-performing late-inning relievers set to hit the open market, including Uehara, the Yankees’ David Robertson, Sergio Romo of the Giants, and the Jays’ Casey Janssen. Though he is throwing in his age-39 season, the righty has been nothing short of outstanding since coming to Boston on a one-year, $4.25MM deal that included an option that vested for 2014.
  • Boston CEO Larry Lucchino addressed several topics in an interview with WEEI.com’s Dennis & Callahan (story via WEEI.com’s Nick Canelas). Signing Stephen Drew made sense in part based on “the idea of paying money rather than paying prospects,” he said. While Drew is off to a rough start and is currently sidelined with an oblique injury, Lucchino says that the evaluation of the deal will still depend on how the rest of the year plays out.
  • Lucchino also touched on the situation of starter John Lackey. The club owns a league-minimum option over the starter for 2015 by operation of a vesting clause in his free agent contract. The Boston CEO said that the expectation is that Lackey will be back next year, but that it may not be at the relatively meager sum of $500K. “It depends on the circumstances,” he said. “John Lackey has been a tremendous contributor to this team this year and last. And we love having him here, and we’d like to have him here for a longer period of time. We’ll see when the time comes to negotiate whether there should be a playing out of the contract, whether there should be renegotiation with an extension. We’re open to a variety of possibilities.”
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