Outrighted To Triple-A: Rich Thompson
We'll keep track of today's outright assignments here…
- Rich Thompson has cleared waivers and will go to Sacramento, the Athletics' Triple-A affiliate, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets. The A's claimed the right-hander off of waivers one week ago, but have since designated him for assignment. Thompson, 27, posted a 3.00 ERA with 9.3 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 in 54 innings for the Angels a year ago.
Athletics Notes: Balfour, Colon, Hughes, Inge
A few items on the A's..
- Jane Lee of MLB.com doesn't expect the A's record to dictate their level of activity in the trade market. Grant Balfour is already a popular name for clubs looking for relief help and Bartolo Colon should draw heavy interest from contenders looking for help at the Trade Deadline. Earlier this week, Ben Nicholson-Smith looked at Balfour as a trade candidate.
- Lee also writes that she was surprised by the club's decision to pick up Luke Hughes rather than use Adam Rosales at third base. The A's claimed Hughes off of waivers from the Twins on Sunday.
- Speaking of the club's third base situation, Joe Stiglich of the Bay Area News Group (via Twitter) expects the A's to consider pursuing Brandon Inge.
Athletics Designate Rich Thompson For Assignment
The Athletics have designated Rich Thompson for assignment, the team announced. The move creates room on the 40-man roster for Jim Miller, who was recalled from Triple-A.
Thompson, 27, was claimed off waivers from the Angels last week. He faced three batters during his brief time with Oakland, allowing a single in between two outs. The Angels designated the Australian-born right-hander for assignment after he allowed four runs in his first 2 1/3 innings of the season. Thompson pitched to a 3.00 ERA with 9.3 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 in 54 innings last season and is out of options, meaning he can't be sent to the minors without first clearing waivers.
Trade Candidate: Grant Balfour
The Athletics are playing respectably right now, but if the season unfolds as expected and the Rangers and Angels distance themselves from the A's and Mariners by midsummer, Billy Beane will be fielding many calls from rival GMs interested in acquiring his players. Kurt Suzuki, Coco Crisp and Bartolo Colon should prepare themselves for a summer in the rumor mill, but right-hander Grant Balfour may draw the most interest of all.
Some teams are already short on relief pitching and their need will only intensify by the time the July 31st trade deadline approaches. Balfour will be an appealing commodity since he’s affordable, effective and durable. Affordable, because he'll earn just $4MM in 2012 (his contract includes a $4.5MM club option for 2013 with a $350K buyout). Effective, as demonstrated by his 2.77 ERA, 9.7 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 since 2008. And durable, since he's made at least 50 appearances per season during that same span.
Teams inquired on Balfour this past offseason, and the 34-year-old native of Australia has done nothing to discourage their interest in the early going of the 2012 season (he has a 0.90 ERA in a league-leading nine appearances). Bullpen issues have already surfaced in places such as Boston, Tampa Bay and Anaheim. Even if those pitching staffs recover, other clubs will have interest in Balfour-like pitchers.
It’s unusual for teams to complete significant trades before the amateur draft takes place in June, but the A’s might part with Balfour relatively early if another team offers enough in return. ESPN.com’s Buster Olney called Balfour “the best reliever you could trade for today,” implying he’s available (Twitter link).
If the A’s listen to offers for Balfour now, expect them to demand a significant return — perhaps a controllable player capable of making an impact at the Major League level plus supplementary pieces. If teams balk at the asking price, Beane can simply wait until July when he'll have the chance to obtain value from a team in serious need of relief help.
Athletics Claim Luke Hughes
The Athletics have claimed infielder Luke Hughes off waivers from the Twins, according to the A's official Twitter account. Dallas Braden was transferred to the 60-day disabled list in a corresponding move.
Hughes, a native of Australia, signed with the Twins as a free agent back in 2002. Because he was out of options, Minnesota designated the 27-year-old for assignment last week after just 11 plate appearances this season in an attempt to send him to Triple-A Rochester.
Hughes has appearead in parts of three seasons for the Twins, seeing time at third base, second base, and first base. Over his brief Major League career (335 plate appearances), the righty is a .224/.285/.342 hitter. He's fared better in the minor leagues, hitting .257/.319/.440 over parts of four Triple-A seasons. Perhaps Hughes' best asset in the minors was his ability to hit left-handed pitching, but that has yet to show in his Major League career.
The Athletics recently claimed fellow Australian Rich Thompson off waivers from the Angels, and have another Australian, Grant Balfour, currently installed as their closer.
Quick Hits: Rays, Inge, Red Sox, Indians
On this day in 1997, the Yankees traded Ruben Rivera, Rafael Medina, and $3MM to the Padres for players to be named later, Homer Bush, and minor leaguer Gordon Amerson. A little more than a month later, the Padres later sent Hideki Irabu to the Yankees as one of the PTBNLs to complete the deal. Here's a look at today's links..
- It looks like the Rays will need to go out and find help behind the plate, writes Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Even though Tampa Bay appears to be in browsing mode at the moment, big name catchers such as A.J. Pierzynski, Geovany Soto, and Kurt Suzuki could all be available. Lower tier possibilities include Miguel Olivo, Chris Snyder, George Kottaras, and Bobby Wilson.
- As Brandon Inge continues to take more and more criticism, Terry Foster of The Detroit News thinks that it's time for the Tigers to let him go. Inge is making $5.5MM this season and can be bought out of his $6MM option in 2013 for $500K.
- The only former Rangers teammate that pitcher Vicente Padilla has had a real problem with is new teammate Marlon Byrd, according to Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com (Twitter links). The pitcher, now with the Red Sox, was released by Texas in 2009 for behavior that was seen as a distraction to the clubhouse.
- The Indians need to do a better job of building through the draft, writes Paul Hoynes of The Plain Dealer.
Olney On Phillies, Hamels, Athletics, Colon
The latest from Buster Olney of ESPN.com..
- There's still no conversation between the Phillies and left-hander Cole Hamels on a new contract, Olney tweets. A high profile agent who doesn't know Hamels told Olney (Twitter link) that between the Cubs, Dodgers, and other major players, the lefty will get a six-year offer as free agent. Other agents presume that at some point this season Hamels will be so close to free agency that he'll test the market rather than sign with the Phillies, tweets Olney.
- In today's column (Insider sub. req'd), Olney suggests that A's pitcher Bartolo Colon could be traded sooner rather than later. With the A's building the team for 2015-16, they could be motivated to move Colon when they perceive his value is at its highest, rather than waiting until later in the year. Colon's base salary for this season is just $2MM, making him more affordable than the alternatives that will pop up on the market.
Quick Hits: Callaspo, Cubs, Canseco
As the Red Sox celebrate 100 years at Fenway Park today, here are some links and rumors from around the league…
- The Athletics had interest in Angels third baseman Alberto Callaspo this spring, so Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle wonders if Oakland might revisit the possibility of a trade in light of Josh Donaldson’s slow start (Twitter link).
- The Cubs are struggling, but ESPN.com’s Buster Olney suggests the team’s slow start could enable Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer to make midseason moves that will pay off in the long term.
- Former Cy Young winner Orel Hershiser says he’s “not interested” in buying an MLB team at this time, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports (on Twitter). Hershiser, now an analyst for ESPN, had expressed interest in buying the Dodgers when they were for sale.
- The independent league Worcester Tornadoes announced that they signed 47-year-old Jose Canseco to a one-year contract, ESPNBoston.com reports.
Athletics Claim Rich Thompson
The Athletics announced that they claimed right-hander Rich Thompson off of waivers from the Angels. The A's will announce a corresponding move once Thompson reports to Oakland.
The Angels designated the native of Australia for assignment six days ago, apparently because his velocity had dropped and they no longer trusted him in high-leverage situations. Thompson's average fastball has been checking in at 89 mph so far in 2012, according to FanGraphs. Last year, he averaged 90.7 mph and he was hovering above 92 mph in 2009-10.
The 27-year-old struggled through two appearances this year, but posted a 3.00 ERA with 9.3 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 in 54 innings a year ago. It's not surprising that the Athletics put in a claim — they had an open 40-man roster spot and Thompson pitched quite well as recently as 2011.
West Notes: Hamilton, Athletics, Giants, Rockies
The Athletics wrap up a four-game series with the Angels tonight and are looking to take a third straight game from the Halos. Here’s more on Oakland and other items out of the Western divisions..
- The Rangers are likely to insist on a clause in any contract with Josh Hamilton that would offer them at some protection against major injury, writes Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com.
- Commissioner Bud Selig wouldn’t set a timetable for settling the territorial dispute between the A’s and the Giants but insisted that the A’s will need a new ballpark to compete, according to the Associated Press. Selig added that the last time he attended a game in Oakland, the park reminded him of County Stadium and Shea Stadium, which is “not a compliment.”
- A’s owner Lew Wolff reiterated that San Jose remains the club’s sole focus for ballpark relocation, tweets Joe Stiglich of the Bay Area News Group.
- Though A’s skipper Bob Melvin hoped to hang on to Brandon Allen, he’s happy to see the the first baseman find another opportunity with the Rays, writes MLB.com’s Jane Lee. The 26-year-old has a .205/.291/.375 line in 274 career plate appearances with the Diamondbacks and Athletics.
- The Rockies’ release of Albert Campos this week surprised Ben Badler of Baseball America as the right-hander was ranked as the club’s No. 13 prospect entering the 2011 season before dropping out of the top 30 this year. Campos originally signed with the Rockies as a 16-year-old in July of 2007. According to a source familiar with the pitcher, he was involved in a physical incident off the field.