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Athletics Interested In Shortstop Help

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Billy Beane would “love” to acquire a shortstop who could provide the streaking Athletics with an offensive boost, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports. The A’s, who aren’t presently in serious trade talks with any teams, could pursue Yunel Escobar or Stephen Drew. 

The Blue Jays are willing to trade Escobar, Rosenthal reports. Shortstop prospect Adeiny Hechavarria has convinced Toronto’s decision makers that he can play in the Major Leagues, so the Blue Jays could listen to offers on Escobar, Rosenthal writes. The 29-year-old Escobar has a .251/.295/.339 batting line and earns $5MM per season through 2013.

The A’s have also tried to upgrade over the slumping Brandon Inge, Rosenthal reports. Here's a look at potentially available shortstops and third basemen.

Quick Hits: Sheets, Athletics, Twins

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After missing two years due to elbow injuries, righty Ben Sheets made a triumphant comeback start today as a member of the Braves, tossing six scoreless innings against the Mets for the win.  Should Sheets manage a dozen decent starts for the Braves, the minor league signing will stand as a shrewd under-the-radar move by GM Frank Wren.  Today's shrewd, under-the-radar links:

  • "I feel like myself. That's one thing I can say I never felt like in Oakland," Sheets told reporters today including Carroll Rogers of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.  Sheets signed a one-year, $10MM contract with the A's prior to the 2010 season despite missing all of '09.
  • "It's just as necessary for the Yankees to have young players with a few years of control as it is for the Twins or the A's," GM Billy Beane explained to Tyler Kepner of the New York Times yesterday.  The A's GM has been trading away players further from free agency lately, but this year Beane's club is surprisingly in the mix for a wild card spot.
  • Scouts from the Yankees, Blue Jays, Braves, Mets, Reds, Padres and Nationals have attended recent Francisco Liriano starts, report Phil Mackey and Darren Wolfson of 1500ESPN.com, though some of those clubs may have had other interests.  Slugger Josh Willingham would require a lopsided offer and seems likely to stay put, as we've heard before.  Willingham is signed through 2014 and is interested in staying with the Twins beyond his current contract.
  • Yankees scouting director Damon Oppenheimer had Mike Trout second on his board for the 2009 draft, after only Stephen Strasburg, writes John Harper of the New York Daily News.  The Angels had two consecutive picks at 24 and 25, with the Yankees at 29, and Oppenheimer thought he might get Trout once the Halos took another high school outfielder in Randal Grichuk at 24.  Of course, Angels scouting director Eddie Bane took Trout at 25.  Trout told Harper he's motivated by all the teams that passed on him.
  • The Diamondbacks signed Dominican shortstop Sergio Alcantara, according to Baseball America's Ben Badler.  BA says Alcantara draws praise for his defense, and the D'Backs had been favored to sign him.  BA ranked Alcantara 18th overall in the July 2nd class.

West Notes: Upton, Colon, Bloomquist, Billingsley

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Colorado is the epicenter of scouting activity this afternoon as Cole Hamels starts against the Rockies. The Angels, Dodgers, and Rangers are scouting the Phillie left-hander, according to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports (Twitter links). The Tigers are on hand taking a look at Marco Scutaro, tweets Tracy Ringolsby of Root Sports.  Here's the rest of the news from the AL and NL West with the most recent up top:

Justin Upton Rumors: Sunday

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Yesterday, Diamondbacks GM Kevin Towers told reporters that he spoke with Justin Upton about the trade rumors surrounding him and said that he would let him know if a deal is near.  Could a trade for the outfielder be around the corner?  Here's today's news on Upton with the latest up top..

  • There's "nothing serious" with Upton, tweets Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. Heyman also hears the Pirates are "probably not a fit" because they will not include Cole or Taillon.
  • The Yankees are scouting the Diamondbacks and Cubs this weekend, tweets Jon Morosi of FOX Sports.
  • The Pirates‬ have a scout watching Upton in Chicago this weekend, tweets Morosi.
  • The Pirates are serious about Upton and are sending signals they could include Starling Marte in an Upton deal, but not Gerrit Cole or Jameson Taillon, tweets Jayson Stark of ESPN.com.
  • The Athletics were on Upton's no-trade list at one point but are no longer one of those four teams, writes Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.  The Yankees are now on his list but the other three clubs are not yet known.  Oakland may not be a perfect fit for Upton but Rosenthal expects GM Billy Beane to inquire on him.

Minor Moves: Quintero, Gathright, Threets

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Here are the day's minor moves…

  • The Marlins have signed Humberto Quintero to a minor league deal according to the CBSSports.com transactions page. The Royals released the 32-year-old backstop earlier this month after he hit .232/.257/.341 in 144 plate appearances.
  • The Reds have released Joey Gathright according to the International League transactions page. The 31-year-old speedster hit .299/.346/.347 in 161 plate appearances for their Triple-A affiliate after signing out of an independent league back in May.
  • The Athletics have released Erick Threets at his request, reports Casey Pratt of CSNBayArea.com (Twitter links). The hard-throwing 30-year-old southpaw pitched to a 1.84 ERA with 6.3 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9 in 44 innings for Oakland's Triple-A affiliate this season.

Draft Links: Compensation Picks, Seniors, Yaz

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Yesterday afternoon (4pm CT, specifically) was the deadline for teams to sign this year's draft picks. Every first round and supplemental first round pick signed except for Stanford right-hander Mark Appel, who turned down the Pirates as the eighth overall pick. Here's a round-up of some post-draft links…

  • Jim Callis of Baseball America lists the four compensation picks for next year's draft. The Pirates will get the ninth overall pick for Appel while the Mets (76th overall), Phillies (96th), and Athletics (supplemental third round) will also receive picks for failing to sign players before yesterday's deadline.
  • The deadline does not apply to college seniors with college eligibility remaining, so Preston Tucker (seventh round, Astros), Jarret Leverett (15th, Twins), and Tyler Olson (17th, Athletics) are still eligible to sign at any time according to Callis (on Twitter).
  • The Mariners offered 30th round pick Mike Yastrzemski a $300k bonus according to MLB.com's Peter Gammons (on Twitter), but he decided to return to Vanderbilt to finish his degree. Mike is the grandson of Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski.
  • Fifteen picks in the top ten rounds remained unsigned as of 15 minutes prior to the deadline, and Callis explains what happened with each of them.

Draft Notes: Pirates, Athletics, Orioles, Cubs, Indians

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Teams have until 4pm CDT to sign their picks from this year's Rule 4 draft, so teams and advisors are in for a busy afternoon. We'll track the draft-related news here:

  • Third round selection Avery Romero signed with the ‪Marlins‬ for $700K, Conor Glassey of Baseball America tweets.
  • The Pirates signed 17th rounder Hayden Hurst for $400K, Callis tweets. Hurst appears to have obtained the second-biggest deal for players selected after the tenth round.
  • The Athletics signed second round selection Nolan Sanburn for $710K, Jim Callis of Baseball America tweets.
  • Top Orioles pick Kevin Gausman is in Baltimore and a press conference will be held at 5pm CDT if the sides agree by today's 4pm CDT deadline, Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun tweets.
  • The Cubs announced that they signed second round selection Duane Underwood. The high school right-hander doesn't turn 18 until next week. The Cubs reportedly agreed to a $1.05MM deal with Underwood.
  • The Indians signed eighth round selection Caleb Hamrick, Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports (on Twitter). The high school right-hander obtained a $180K bonus.
  • You can track every unsigned selection at Baseball America. The list includes the four remaining unsigned first rounders: fourth overall selection Gausman (likely to sign with Orioles), eighth overall selection Mark Appel (Pirates), 16th overall selection Lucas Giolito (Nationals) and 25th overall selection Richie Shaffer (nearing deal with Rays). 
  • The Orioles' expected agreement with Gausman will be worth "around" $4.2MM, Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports reports.
  • It's unlikely the Pirates will sign Appel, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports. Heyman suggests there's a possibility of intervention from MLB officials.
  • The Marlins agreed to sign first round selection Andrew Heaney, in case you missed it.

Athletics Sign Chris Ray

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The Athletics signed right-hander Chris Ray and assigned him to Triple-A, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets. The Indians released Ray from their Triple-A team less than a week ago.

Ray posted a 2.75 ERA with 7.5 K/9 and 4.2 BB/9 in 36 innings of relief for Triple-A Columbus before being released. The 30-year-old posted a 4.68 ERA with 6.1 K/9, 3.3 BB/9 and a 46% ground ball rate in 32 2/3 innings for last year's Mariners team.

Quick Hits: Cherington, Profar, Royals, A’s, Ryan

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Check out MLBTR's "Justin Upton Rumors" for the daily collection of trade buzz about the Diamondbacks outfielder.  For any "Justin/Upton Rumors" in regards to the alleged Justin Verlander/Kate Upton relationship, you may need to check out our sister site, MLB Dating Rumors. 

Here's the latest from around the majors as we prepare for the second half of the season…

  • Red Sox GM Ben Cherington told reporters (including WEEI.com's Rob Bradford) that his team isn't going to be a trade deadline seller. "There's no such thing as taking a year off in Boston," Cherington said. "We feel like we're right in it and have as good a chance as most teams to be there at the end….We've got some ways to improve the team internally, potentially. And we've started to look at ways to improve the team externally. If we play to our capability with the guys we have here our hope is we don't have to make a lot of moves."
  • Rangers prospect Jurickson Profar holds the top spot on the midseason top 50 prospects list from ESPN's Keith Law (ESPN Insider subscription required).  "Profar has the ultimate mark of an elite prospect. He keeps improving even as he is challenged with better competition," Law writes.
  • The Royals are looking for Major League talent in trades rather than prospects, GM Dayton Moore tells Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star.  “We’re at a stage in our development where we want back ready Major League players to help us," Moore said. "Three or four years ago, yeah, we’re looking for prospects….Now, we have prospects in our system. You can always use more. But we need guys who can help our Major League team.” 
  • From that same item, Moore said he has been given no directives by ownership to move payroll at the deadline, nor has he made any calls looking to move any of the Royals' veteran players.
  • The Athletics are 2.5 games out of a wild card spot and are wondering if they should make a playoff push, reports Joe Stiglich of the Bay Area News Group.  "I don't think if something is within your grasp, you ignore it," said GM Billy Beane, though he added that, "We are going to have to be somewhat leery of a short-term fix if we give up players for the long term, because I do like this group."  A's co-owner Lew Wolff, meanwhile, said that Beane would have payroll space to make a deadline addition if he wished.
  • Twins GM Terry Ryan spoke about his drafting, scouting and player development philosophies with Fangraphs' David Laurila.
  • Tom Krasovic of the Inside The Padres blog wonders why Carlos Quentin would re-sign with the Padres when he is better suited for a DH role in a less-spacious ballpark.
  • The week's minor league transactions are recapped by Matt Eddy of Baseball America.

Athletics Release Brian Fuentes

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The Athletics announced that they released reliever Brian Fuentes. They had designated the left-hander for assignment on July 3rd after a disappointing first half.

In 25 innings for the Athletics this year Fuentes posted a 6.84 ERA with 6.5 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9. The 36-year-old is in the second year of a two-year, $10.5MM contract he signed following the 2010 season. He'll earn $5MM this year, but can now be signed by another team for a pro-rated portion of the MLB minimum salary. The Cardinals showed interest in Fuentes after the A's removed him from their roster.

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