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Marlins Release Jarrod Saltalamacchia

By Jeff Todd | May 5, 2015 at 11:20am CDT

Miami has announced the release of struggling catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia. The Marlins were not able to find a trade partner for the recently-designated backstop, as Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported on Twitter. He will hit the open market after clearing release waivers.

The news rates as at least a mild surprise. Miami had hoped to find a team to pick up at least some of the approximately $6MM left on his 2015 salary, to say nothing of the $8MM owed next year. Several clubs were reported to be in talks with the Fish, but apparently none were willing to offer enough value to warrant a deal.

Salty is a virtual certainty to clear release waivers and reach free agency, given that any claiming team would need to take on his contract. That will afford the clubs with prior interest an opportunity to add him at a pro-rated portion of the league minimum salary.

It has been a swift fall from grace for Saltalamacchia, who like several recent free agents before him simply never panned out in Miami. He has slashed a meager .209/.310/.351 over his 468 plate appearances since joining the club, a far cry from his .243/.307/.455 output over four seasons with the Red Sox.

Despite his troubles on offense and generally poorly-regarded work behind the plate, Saltalamacchia has a rare track record of useful production from the left side of the plate. The switch-hitter managed a .707 OPS last year against right-handers, making him a potentially appealing platoon mate for multiple teams around the league.

While several young backstops (J.T. Realmuto, Austin Hedges, Blake Swihart) have been promoted in recent weeks, there is still a dearth of offensively-useful catchers in the game. Among those who have seen at least twenty turns at bat this year, just 19 have registered above-average batting production. Meanwhile, injuries to players such as Matt Wieters, Travis d’Arnaud, Ryan Hanigan, and Christian Vazquez have sapped the overall depth around the game.

Adam Ottavino Has Partially Torn UCL

By Jeff Todd | May 4, 2015 at 4:24pm CDT

4:40pm: Ottavino says he is resigned to undergoing a UCL replacement, but will see Dr. James Andrews for a second opinion, Groke further reports.

4:24pm: Rockies reliever Adam Ottavino has a partially torn UCL, Nick Groke of the Denver Post reports. Ottavino is likely going to undergo season-ending Tommy John surgery, per the report.

Entering the year, Ottavino was coming off of two straight seasons of quality production — over 143 1/3 innings in 2013-14, he owns a 3.08 ERA with 9.3 K/9 against 3.0 BB/9 — making him an obvious candidate to take over 9th inning duties. He earned the chance with an excellent start to the year, and had just been installed as the Colorado closer when he went down with triceps soreness.

In his 10 1/3 frames thus far in 2015, the 29-year-old righty allowed just three hits and two walks (and, unsurprisingly, no runs). On the other side of the ledger, he had already racked up 13 strikeouts.

It is unlikely that the Rockies will move to replace Ottavino with an outside addition, though perhaps a bullpen move could be made over the summer if the team is in the hunt. If Ottavino does in fact undergo the TJ procedure, Colorado will be without him until at least next summer.

The timing couldn’t be much worse for all involved. That includes, especially, Ottavino, who took home a relatively modest $1.3MM in arbitration this year. He would have stood to capture a big raise had he continued to dominate and rack up saves. For the Rockies, the loss takes away a big piece of their pen as well as a potentially significant trade chip. It also potentially sets the club up for a tough arbitration question next winter, though it seems likely that Ottavino’s price tag will be cheap enough — and his upside (including another year of control) great enough — to warrant a tender.

Brewers Name Craig Counsell Manager

By charliewilmoth and Steve Adams | May 4, 2015 at 10:20am CDT

10:20am: The Brewers have officially announced the hiring of Counsell to a three-year contract that runs through the 2017 season. In a statement within the press release announcing the move, Melvin offered the following statement on his new manager:

“Craig has many years of Major League playing experience, and his three-plus years of learning all aspects of baseball operations helps prepare him for this managerial position. There will be challenges, but Craig has never shied away from leadership responsibilities on the field as a player or in his most recent role. I believe his on-field success as a player and his awareness for preparation should resonate in the clubhouse. Growing up in Milwaukee, it is very important for him to bring a winning culture and team success to Brewers fans.”

MAY 4, 7:26am: The Brewers view Counsell as a long-term replacement and will give him a multi-year contract, reports Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter).

MAY 3: The Brewers will hire Craig Counsell as their next manager, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets. The team announced the firing of Ron Roenicke Sunday night and will formally announce their new hire Monday morning.

Counsell is currently a special assistant to Brewers GM Doug Melvin. He was a finalist for the Rays managerial job this past offseason, but he withdrew his name from consideration in order to stay on with the Milwaukee front office, where he has worked with the Brewers front office since retiring as a player.

Counsell has no managerial experience, although he’s regarded well enough in the industry to have been considered not only for the Rays job, but for the Red Sox’ hitting coach position, for which he interviewed in 2012. He is far from the first manager to be hired without prior experience, as there’s been a growing trend of hiring rookie managers in recent years. Paul Molitor (Twins), Kevin Cash (Rays), Walt Weiss (Rockies), Mike Matheny (Cardinals), Bryan Price (Reds) and Brad Ausmus (Tigers) are all examples of recent hires that had no prior experience as a manager in the Majors or Minor Leagues.

The 44-year-old Counsell spent parts of 16 seasons in the Majors as a player, including with the Brewers in 2004 and from 2007 through the end of his career in 2011. He hit .255/.342/.344 while playing mostly second, third and shortstop. Counsell also played key roles in World Series wins for the 1997 Marlins and 2001 Diamondbacks, winning the NLCS MVP award in 2001.

Counsell will inherit a Brewers team that got off to a poor 7-18 start. Melvin has suggested the Brewers could begin trading veteran players in an effort to rebuild, a process Counsell evidently would then oversee.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Padres To Promote Austin Hedges

By charliewilmoth | May 3, 2015 at 10:02pm CDT

The Padres will promote top catching prospect Austin Hedges, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune tweets. It’s uncertain how much he’ll play with the Padres, however, since their current starting backstop, Derek Norris, is in the midst of a strong season, and first baseman Yonder Alonso and the Padres’ outfielders have all played well too, so there’s nowhere else to move Norris (who has little big-league experience at any position besides catcher anyway). The team does have a brief series in Seattle next week that could allow Hedges to catch while Norris plays DH. Wil Nieves is the Padres’ current backup catcher, and Lin suggests Nieves could be designated for assignment, with Hedges taking over in a backup role.

Hedges is ranked as the No. 23 prospect in baseball by Baseball Prospectus, No. 50 by MLB.com, and No. 74 by ESPN’s Keith Law (Insider-only). Hedges’ defensive ability wins widespread acclaim from nearly all prospect analysts. MLB.com praises his receiving, arm, and potential game-calling ability, while Law notes that framing pitches should prove to be a strength as well. Hedges wins less praise for his hitting — he batted a weak .225/.268/.321 at Double-A San Antonio last year. He’s off to a much better start in 2015 for Triple-A El Paso this year, however (.343/.413/.552 in 75 plate appearances), and his strong standing among prospect analysts suggests he might be so valuable defensively that he won’t need to hit much.

If Hedges manages to stick in the big leagues, he’ll likely be in line to become eligible for arbitration as a Super Two player following the 2017 season. He could then become a free agent after 2021.

Brewers Fire Ron Roenicke

By charliewilmoth | May 3, 2015 at 9:24pm CDT

The Brewers have announced that they’ve fired manager Ron Roenicke. The team says it will announce his replacement at a press conference at 10:30am Monday. The Brewers will not make any further changes to their coaching staff at present, Adam McCalvy of MLB.com tweets.

The Brewers posted a solid 342-331 record in four-plus seasons with Roenicke at the helm, and he led the Brewers to an NL Central division championship in 2011. The team also had winning records in 2012 and 2014, although it collapsed badly down the stretch last season. It exercised its 2016 option on Roenicke in Spring Training, and GM Doug Melvin said less than two weeks ago that he and owner Mark Attanasio weren’t even considering firing Roenicke.

The Brewers were off to a dreadful 7-18 start this season, however, that led to plenty of reports and speculation about a major shakeup within the organization. The team began its year with four straight losses and hasn’t gotten back on track, dealing with an injury to star catcher Jonathan Lucroy and subpar performances from a number of key players. The Brewers did, however, win their last two games, perhaps suggesting (as the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Tom Haudricourt tweets) that they had already decided to fire Roenicke before this weekend.

USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (via Twitter) and others have already speculated about the possibility that Craig Counsell, who has worked with the Brewers front office since retiring as a player, could be Roenicke’s replacement. There’s also been speculation about former Twins manager Ron Gardenhire, although SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo tweets that Gardenhire will not be replacing Roenicke.

“This has been a difficult start to the season, something that we certainly didn’t anticipate,” says Melvin. “We appreciate all that Ron has done for our organization, and he has handled his duties with great professionalism and dedication.”

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Cashman Confirms Yankees Will Not Pay A-Rod Home Run Bonus

By Jeff Todd | May 2, 2015 at 7:58pm CDT

Yankees GM Brian Cashman confirmed long-standing reports that the club does not intend to pay Alex Rodriguez a $6MM “milestone” marketing bonus for his 660th home run, as Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports.

“We have the right, but not the obligation to do something, and that’s it,” Cashman said. “We’re going to honor our responsibilities of the contract. So there is no dispute, from our perspective.”

Of course, the move was widely expected long before Rodriguez matched Willie Mays with a pinch-hit blast at Fenway. Though only $6MM is directly at issue, avoiding the payment would actually keep $9MM in the Yankees’ coffers because of the luxury tax that would come with it.

If and when a grievance is filed, the issue will be one of contract interpretation for a unique clause. Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reported key details of the clause back in February, writing that the provision permits New York to elect whether or not to “designate” various record-tying home runs as “milestones” — so long as the “decision is made in good faith and in accordance with the intent of the parties.” As I explained at the time, and as Cashman’s comments reflect, that language gives facial validity to the Yankees’ position.

Of course, an arbitrator will ultimately likely be left to decide the matter, and the MLBPA is “prepared to intervene on Alex’s behalf,” spokesman Greg Bouris said, via Steven Marcus of Newsday. I’d expect that the union and/or Rodriguez will look to explore all aspects of the matter, potentially including the Yankees’ knowledge of Rodriguez’s PED usage and the negotiations that took place at the time that the contract was agreed upon.

Athletics Claim Alex Hassan, Designate Cody Ross

By charliewilmoth | May 2, 2015 at 2:47pm CDT

The Athletics have claimed outfielder Alex Hassan from the Rangers, the Rangers have announced. Also, the Athletics have designated Cody Ross for assignment, according to the San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser (on Twitter). The A’s also promoted righty R.J. Alvarez and outfielder Billy Burns, placed Eric O’Flaherty on the DL (shoulder), and optioned Hassan to Triple-A Nashville.

If the news about Hassan sounds somewhat familiar, it’s because Hassan has spent the past several months in a waiver loop that’s rather comical (unless you’re him, presumably). Originally a Red Sox farmhand, he’s been claimed by the Athletics, Orioles, Athletics (again), Rangers, and Athletics (for a third time), all in the past seven months. The Rangers and A’s engaged in a similar waiver battle with infielder Adam Rosales last year. Hassan was hitting .267/.343/.350 in a small sample at Triple-A Round Rock, although he has a career .394 on-base percentage in the minors.

The 34-year-old Ross went 2-for-25 in nine games with the Athletics, who signed him after the Diamondbacks released him last month. The Diamondbacks are still on the hook for the bulk of Ross’ $9.5MM 2015 salary, plus a $1MM buyout on his 2016 option. Ross has played parts of 12 MLB seasons, suiting up for the Tigers, Dodgers, Reds, Marlins, Giants and Red Sox in addition to the Diamondbacks and Athletics, and hitting .262/.322/.445.

Brewers Open To Trade Proposals

By charliewilmoth | May 2, 2015 at 1:22pm CDT

The Brewers have let other teams know they’re willing to listen to trade proposals, ESPN’s Buster Olney tweets. Olney’s note is consistent with recent reporting from CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman of the New York Post, who have both written that other teams expect the Brewers will become sellers after their awful start.

Of course, 5-18 teams typically don’t have many high-performing players, and many of the players the Brewers will have to offer will be of the buy-low variety. Olney doesn’t say who the Brewers might shop, but Kyle Lohse and Gerardo Parra are both free agents after the season. They are, however, both off to poor starts (although Lohse’s peripherals are still reasonably good, which means other teams might view him somewhat favorably, particularly as a rental). Aramis Ramirez, a free-agent-to-be who plans to retire in the offseason, hasn’t played well, either. Reliever Jonathan Broxton’s contract and performance make him more of a liability than an asset. At least, however, that contract is short-term — Ryan Braun’s lengthy and expensive deal should make him difficult to trade. Matt Garza, who is signed through 2017 with a vesting option for 2018, might be a reasonably attractive trade candidate, although his performance in five starts this season hasn’t been stellar.

On the other side of the ledger, Neal Cotts is a decent lefty relief option who’s a free agent after the season. Closer Francisco Rodriguez, who is signed through 2016 with a 2017 option, has pitched well so far. Adam Lind, who is off to a terrific start and is signed to a deal with a reasonably priced 2016 option, might be a nice trade piece as well. Carlos Gomez recently returned from the disabled list and would surely fetch a very nice return, although it’s unclear whether the Brewers would want to trade a superstar. Jonathan Lucroy would fit into the same category if he were healthy.

Red Sox Promote Blake Swihart

By Jeff Todd | May 2, 2015 at 11:00am CDT

SATURDAY: The Red Sox have formally announced that they’ve promoted Swihart and placed Hanigan on the disabled list.

FRIDAY: The Red Sox will promote top prospect Blake Swihart, Sean McAdam of CSNNE.com reports on Twitter. Swihart will fill in for Ryan Hanigan, who went down tonight with a broken finger.

Boston will continue to look for external candidates behind the plate with both of its top two options (Hanigan and Christian Vazquez) now out for the foreseeable future. The team is still not interested in bringing back Jarrod Saltalamacchia, however, McAdam says.

It remains unclear, then, whether Swihart will end up sticking in the bigs for the rest of the year. But he’ll certainly have a chance to do so; certainly, the club could add another catcher and chose to move Sandy Leon rather than Swihart. If he can avoid an optional assignment, Swihart will line up to qualify for Super Two status down the road.

Things probably hinge on the 23-year-old’s defense, the main limiting factor coming into the year. It isn’t that Swihart lacks athleticism or promise; it’s that he is still working out the finer points after converting to the position late in his high school career. His offensive upside for an up-the-middle bat is undisputed, and is the cause for his consensus top-20 prospect rating.

Though Swihart struggled somewhat in his first Triple-A action last year and has not hit for power there this season, the bat seems about ready. All said, he owns a .287/.341/.428 slash over five minor league seasons since being taken late in the first round back in 2011.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Ryan Hanigan Requires Surgery On Broken Finger

By Jeff Todd | May 1, 2015 at 9:40pm CDT

Red Sox catcher Ryan Hanigan has suffered a displaced fracture to his finger and is destined for surgery, Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe reports on Twitter. He is expected to miss a significant period of time after taking a deflected ball to his hand in tonight’s game.

That’s highly unwelcome news for a Boston team that is already without the other half of its expected backstop tandem in Christian Vazquez for the rest of the season. Sandy Leon was added to the mix just before the start of the season, and the team does have both top prospect Blake Swihart and veteran Humberto Quintero available at Triple-A.

But none of those options are really ideal, for various reasons. Leon has never been viewed with much promise offensively, while Quintero is a 35-year-old career backup. Swihart is, of course, the game’s best-regarded catching prospect. But he is still completing his development and would line up as a Super Two if promoted now.

Speculation will immediately turn to the possibility of an acquisition, and indeed there seems to be good reason to think that could occur. No player is more available than former Boston backstop Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who remains in DFA limbo with a Marlins club that is highly motivated to save some money on his contract. Players like Dioner Navarro of the Blue Jays and Welington Castillo of the Cubs also remain under-utilized with their current clubs.

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