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NL Central Notes: Astros, Fielder, Pirates, Cubs

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When the Brewers take on the Cardinals tonight, St. Louis skipper Tony La Russa will be managing his 5,000th MLB game. Here are notes on the Cardinals, the Brewers and their NL Central rivals…

  • The Astros announced that they have signed second round pick Adrian Houser via press release. His signing bonus is unknown, but MLB's slot recommendation for the 69th overall pick is approximately $530K.
  • Prince Fielder says he isn't competing with Albert Pujols or thinking about his next contract. But Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports says the Brewers' first baseman may be a safer free agent target than Pujols this coming offseason.
  • Pirates owner Bob Nutting told Bob Cohn of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that he is "extremely pleased" with the progress the 30-31 Pirates have made this year. “Tremendous improvement from last year,” Nutting said. “I'm very pleased where we are. And, I really believe that we're beginning to see the impact of the changes we've made in the organization over the last three and a half years.”
  • Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports wonders how long A’s GM Billy Beane will want to remain in Oakland and points out that the Cubs and Astros could be looking for new leadership before long. Beane would be a “leading candidate” for any GM job if he were not in Oakland.
  • Jeff Gordon of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says new Astros owner Jim Crane should aim to draft and develop players as successfully as the Cardinals have.

Olney On Yankees, A’s, Moustakas

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The Yankees have lost reliever after reliever to the disabled list this year, but that doesn’t mean they’re about to rush top pitching prospects like Manny Banuelos to the Bronx. GM Brian Cashman told ESPN.com’s Buster Olney that he’ll try to strengthen the team’s bullpen in other ways. Here are the rest of Olney's rumors:

  • Triple-A reliever Kevin Whelan could be an option for the Yankees, who have a depleted bullpen instead of the dominant one they expected after the offseason.
  • Olney says turnover was inevitable for the A’s “because the franchise continues to rot day by day.” Oakland’s ballpark situation remains unclear and Olney says the franchise will continue to “rot” until there’s resolution on that front.
  • Royals GM Dayton Moore told Olney that the time is right for top prospect Mike Moustakas to play in the big leagues. “Ned [Yost, the manager] wanted to get another bat in here, and our people feel like he's ready," Moore said. Moustakas has a .287/.347/.498 line with ten homers at Triple-A and he still has enough time to pick up a few hundred MLB plate appearances this year.

Heyman On Yankees, Red Sox, Twins, D’Backs

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In the aftermath of Bob Geren’s dismissal, Jon Heyman of SI.com lists a handful of managers with suspect job security. Though 2011 probably won’t be a big year for managerial firings, Jim Riggleman of the Nationals and Edwin Rodriguez of the Marlins are on Heyman’s list. Here are the rest of his rumors:

  • Geren had "lost" the Athletics' clubhouse, according to people with Oakland ties.
  • Yankees GM Brian Cashman doesn’t expect elite starting pitching to be available this summer. "I just don't see a No. 1 pitcher you can pinpoint,'' Cashman said. 
  • The Yankees will look for starting pitching and left-handed relief. 
  • The Red Sox will also be looking to add a southpaw to their ‘pen.
  • Boston people expect top prospect Jose Iglesias to prove himself as the shortstop of the future and people don’t expect the Red Sox to “make a play” for Jose Reyes.
  • Competing executives say the Twins will “do what’s right” for the organization this summer, even if that means trading Major Leaguers for prospects. Watch out for the last-place Twins, who have won seven of eight.
  • Executives say the D’Backs, Padres, Pirates, Rays and Red Sox had strong drafts.

Beane Explains A’s Managerial Change

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It wasn’t an eleventh hour decision made in the heat of the moment. As the losses kept piling up, A’s GM Billy Beane realized his team wasn’t responding the way he wanted and decided to make a change. It was time to fire his friend, manager Bob Geren.

“Let’s face it – in this business, the best response you get from the field staff is obviously ultimately in the wins and losses column,” Beane said on a conference call with reporters this afternoon.

Beane repeated throughout the call that the shift in focus from the players to the manager drove the personnel change for the 27-36 A’s. The GM said media speculation about Geren’s job security contributed to the distractions surrounding the A’s, who have lost nine straight games. 

Earlier in the season, left-hander Brian Fuentes and former A’s reliever Huston Street publicly criticized Geren. Beane did not seek players out before deciding to change managers and did not comment on whether players sought him out to discuss possible problems.

The solution: replace Geren with interim manager Bob Melvin, the former Mariners and D’Backs skipper (the D’Backs did not require compensation for letting Melvin leave their front office for the A’s job). Though Melvin doesn’t yet have a permanent hold on the managerial job, Beane expressed optimism about his new hire.

“We’ll see how it goes the rest of the year,” he said. “I have a lot of confidence in Bob to have a positive impact.”

The A’s have endured injuries to multiple key players this season and recently lost four starters to injuries in a three week span. Melvin will face the same depleted rotation his predecessor did, but the last-place A’s haven’t given up on the season.

“The natural competitor in Bob [Melvin] and the natural competitor in me doesn’t want to give anything away certainly with 99 games left,” Beane said. “But I also think we have to be realistic given the available players right now especially in the pitching rotation.”

A’s Fire Geren, Hire Melvin

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Mired in a nine-game losing streak, the Athletics are making changes. They announced this morning that they have relieved manager Bob Geren of his duties and hired former MLB manager Bob Melvin to take his place as the interim manager for the rest of the season.

Geren, a longtime friend of A's GM Billy Beane, rose through Oakland's system as a minor league manager before taking over the big league club. The A's had a 334-376 record in four-plus seasons under Geren, never finishing above .500. The 2011 Athletics are 27-36 after last night's loss to Baltimore.

The A's have dealt with a number of injuries this year – Mark Ellis, Brett Anderson, Dallas Braden, Rich Harden, Brandon McCarthy and Tyson Ross are currently on the disabled list. Earlier in the season, Brian Fuentes and former A's reliever Huston Street publicly criticized Geren.

Melvin has experience managing the Mariners (2003-04) and D'Backs (2005-09) and had been working as a special advisor in Arizona's front office this year. The 2007 NL Manager of the Year has a 493-508 record in seven seasons as a skipper.

A’s Notes: Geren, Willingham, Boras

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The Athletics lost their ninth consecutive game last night, falling 3-2 to the Orioles. Here's the latest on the slumping A's, who are now nine games below .500…

  • Questions about the job security of manager Bob Geren will only intensify if the A's keep losing, as Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle points out. It's considered unlikely that A's GM Billy Beane would fire Geren, a longtime friend, during the season, according to Slusser. The skipper is signed through 2011.
  • The A's haven't had talks with Josh Willingham about signing a long-term deal, according to Slusser. The outfielder would draw interest if the A's made him available, as he has ten homers and a .239/.317/.438 line. Alternatively, the A's could avoid the trade rumors and lock Willingham up long-term, like the Brewers did with Corey Hart last summer.
  • As we noted last night, the A's selected Shane Boras, the son of agent Scott Boras, in this year's draft. Slusser reports that the A's draftee will have a different advisor than you might expect: his mother, Boras' wife Jeanette.

Athletics Notes: Weeks, Matsui, Anderson, Draft

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Jemile Weeks collects walks just like his older brother Rickie, but while the elder Weeks hits for power, Jemile is more of a contact hitter, writes Fangraphs' Jack Moore in his analysis of the two Weeks brothers.  Jemile went 0-for-4 in his Major League debut last night for the A's, leading off and playing second base.

Here are some more items from Oakland, courtesy of Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle…

  • "Hideki Matsui's future is cloudy" with the A's, but the veteran may get one more stint of regular playing time to see if he can turn around his disappointing season.  As Slusser notes, Matsui has been a better hitter in the second half of the season (a career .855 OPS after the All-Star break), but the team might not want to wait that long.  I'd suggest Oakland could probably trade Matsui to a contender for a low-profile prospect rather than release him for nothing.
  • Right-hander Graham Godfrey will make his Major League debut in a start against the White Sox on Friday.  The A's will have to make a 40-man roster move to make room for Godfrey and Slusser guesses the team will have to designate someone for assignment.  That is, unless, the A's have already gotten word that Brett Anderson will need Tommy John surgery and he can be moved to the 60-day DL.  Anderson will get a second opinion from Dr. James Andrews next week.
  • While the A's are struggling right now, "I don't see Billy Beane pulling the plug in early June no matter how many injuries they've absorbed, or even if Anderson does need Tommy John surgery."  Slusser notes that "Josh Willingham's name is definitely out there" in terms of trade rumors.
  • Oakland's late-round draft picks included Brett Geren (manager Bob Geren's son) in the 42nd round and Shane Boras (son of agent Scott Boras) in the 39th round.  Shane is the second Boras child to be drafted in this year's amateur draft; his brother Trent was taken in the 30th round by the Brewers.
  • Andy LaRoche has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A, Slusser tweets.  LaRoche was designated for assignment by the Athletics on Monday.

Super Two Watch: Rizzo, Gordon, Weeks, Phelps

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Since the Marlins called Mike Stanton up to the Major Leagues a year ago today, he has hit 35 home runs and posted a .257/.332/.520 line. Stanton was clearly MLB-ready and Florida's timing worked out in another respect, too. The Marlins slugger will have just two years and 118 days of service time after the 2012 season, which hasn’t typically been enough for super two eligibility and an extra year of arbitration.

A year later, another group of prospects is appearing on MLB rosters and, as always, there are service time implications for all involved. Before we get too worried about whether these prospects will qualify for super two status, let’s be clear about a few variables.

It’s too early to know how much service time will be required for super two status three offseasons from now, because the cutoff date changes most years. Plus, baseball’s collective bargaining agreement expires after 2011, so there’s no guarantee that the super two will even exist a few years from now (though coming up with an alternative that satisfies baseball’s owners and the players’ association will not be easy). Finally, most players who reach arbitration do get optioned to the minor leagues at some point, so there’s a good chance some of the players below will return to the minors before becoming arbitration eligible.

With that in mind, here are the service time implications for a few recent callups:

  • Anthony Rizzo, Padres – If Rizzo debuts tomorrow, as Dan Hayes of the North County Times reports he will (Twitter link), he'll pick up a maximum of 112 days of service time this year and the Padres probably won't have to worry about super two status.
  • Dee Gordon, Dodgers – Tom’s son was called up Monday and he has already had his first three-hit game. Gordon can pick up a maximum of 115 days of service time this year. Last year’s cutoff was unusually low at two years and 122 days, so the Dodgers appear safe.
  • Jemile Weeks, Athletics and Charlie Blackmon, Rockies – Both players got the call yesterday, which means they can pick up a maximum of 114 days of service time this year. It’s likely not enough for super two status, even if they never see the minors again.
  • Cord Phelps, Indians – Phelps, the first member of the Indians’ 2008 draft class to reach the majors, will debut today. He won’t pick up more than 113 days of service time this year, so the Indians probably won’t have to worry about super two status for Phelps, Lonnie Chisenhall or Jason Kipnis.

 

Stark On Montero, Athletics, Phillies

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Teams may be able to trade draft picks as soon as next year, according to ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark. It also appears that owners and players are leaning toward adding a second Wild Card team in each league and having a one-game playoff between each league's two Wild Card teams to open the playoffs, according to Stark. Here are the rest of his rumors:

  • Though the Yankees never officially offered Jesus Montero to the Royals for Joakim Soria last year, executives around baseball are convinced GM Brian Cashman would have parted with the top catching prospect to acquire the Royals’ reliever.
  • Athletics manager Bob Geren is at “the top of the ‘First Manager to Get Fired’ charts,” according to Stark. The 27-34 A’s have lost their last seven games.
  • One rival scout tells Stark that Josh Willingham is the only Oakland player he’d recommend to his team. Scouts are bearing down on the A’s as possible sellers.
  • It’s highly unlikely that the Phillies consider trading Roy Oswalt or prospect Jonathan Singleton for a bat.

Olney On Nationals, Mariners, Brewers, A’s

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Rival executives have wondered whether the Nationals will eventually shift top pick Anthony Rendon to second base, so ESPN.com’s Buster Olney constructs an impressive-looking 2013 Nationals lineup with Rendon at second and prospective free agent Prince Fielder at first base. Here are the rest of Olney’s rumors:

  • The Mariners wondered whether Safeco Field would limit Rendon’s offense, but they’re confident that their second overall selection, left-hander Danny Hultzen, will be a good fit in their home ballpark.
  • Brewers GM Doug Melvin confirmed to Olney that it’s possible (though not likely) that top pick Taylor Jungmann could help them this year.
  • Some executives tell Olney that top Orioles pick Dylan Bundy is the greatest pure talent in the draft. He's certainly looking to get paid like an elite talent.
  • Olney wonders if Grant Balfour could be dealt to the Rangers, who could use relief help.
  • Teams like the Braves and Phillies are looking for offense, so Josh Willingham could become a target if the 27-34 Athletics do become sellers.
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