Royals Sign First-Rounder Ashe Russell
The Royals announced that they have signed first-round pick Ashe Russell (Twitter link). Russell, a high school right-hander out of Indiana, agreed to terms on a bonus of $2,190,200, which is $6K over the slot value for the No. 21 overall selection, reports MLB.com’s Jim Callis (on Twitter).
Callis and MLB.com colleague Jonathan Mayo ranked Russell as the top high school arm in the draft and the 14th-best prospect overall. Baseball America ranked him 17th, while ESPN’s Keith Law had him at No. 30, and Fangraphs’ Kiley McDaniel rated Russell 37th.
Russell works at 92-95 mph with a slider that can be a swing-and-miss offering in the 78-82 mph range, per MLB.com’s free scouting report. Late life on his fastball helps Russell to generate a large number of ground balls, BA writes, though he’s struggled to repeat the release point on his three-quarter arm slot at times. McDaniel rates him a bit lower due to only showing two plus pitches and command that’s “just alright,” and ESPN feels that his tendency to throw across his body and lack of a plus changeup will leave him vulnerable to lefties.
Twins Release Tim Stauffer
JUNE 17: The Twins have released Stauffer, reports MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger (Twitter link).
JUNE 10: The Twins have designated right-hander Tim Stauffer for assignment, tweets MLB.com’s Betsy Helfand. Right-handed reliever Michael Tonkin will be recalled from Triple-A Rochester to take Stauffer’s spot in the bullpen for Thursday’s contest.
After a long stint of relatively successful but injury-marred seasons with the Padres, Stauffer became a free agent for the first time this past winter. He signed a one-year, $2.2MM contract with the Twins and was said to have a shot at a rotation slot in Spring Training, but the expectation was that he’d slot into the team’s bullpen, which he indeed wound up doing.
However, the 33-year-old Stauffer has not been able to replicate the success he found with the Padres. In 15 innings with the Twins, Stauffer has surrendered an alarming 13 runs (11 earned), issuing seven walks against just six strikeouts. Stauffer missed time this season with an intercostal strain, which may or may not have something to do with the fact that his average fastball velocity declined from 90.6 mph in 2014 to 88.7 mph in 2015.
Tonkin, 25, has been up and down with the Twins over the past three seasons. The 6’7″ hurler has ranked among the Twins’ Top 30 prospects in three offseasons, per Baseball America, but he’s yet to receive an extended look as a member of the bullpen. It would seem that this may be that opportunity for him, however. Tonkin has averaged 93.9 mph on his fastball and pitched to a 3.76 ERA with 7.7 K/9, 2.8 BB/9 and a 45 percent ground-ball rate in 38 1/3 big league innings dating back to 2013. His Triple-A numbers are markedly better, as he’s posted a 3.22 ERA with 9.9 K/9 against 2.2 BB/9 in 89 1/3 innings there.
Cardinals, Mozeliak Comment On Astros Computer Breach
5:53pm: In a followup interview with Bob Nightengale of USA Today Sports, Mozeliak states, “Unequivocally, I knew nothing about this.” Nightengale notes that in order to conduct the interview, Mozeliak was required to have legal counsel conference into the call. (That lawyer, Mike Whittle, advised against responding to whether or not Mozeliak felt any sense of responsibility for the alleged actions.) “I don’t know the outcome of this, or where it’s going to go,” Mozeliak continued, “but our hope is that when everything comes to light, people will realize that it wasn’t something that was organizational-wide.”
According to Nightengale, the Cardinals were aware of the investigation months ago but had hoped that it would stay out of the media. “I was surprised it came out,” said Mozeliak. “Not that I would not want it to come out, but the way it did, and the manner it did, did catch us off guard. We are responding accordingly.”
2:12pm: The Cardinals have issued a press release regarding the FBI investigation into the involvement of club employees in a reported breach of the Astros’ internal computer system.
St. Louis says that the organization retained the St. Louis law firm Dowd Bennett to conduct an investigation of the matter when it was made aware of the allegations several months back. Attorney Jim Martin, a former U.S. Attorney and white collar litigator with the firm, said that inquiry has yet to be completed. He explained that his firm and the organization will “avoid saying anything which would interfere with the government’s investigation” in the interim.
“These are serious allegations that don’t reflect who we are as an organization,” said club chairman and CEO Bill DeWitt Jr. “We are committed to getting to the bottom of this matter as soon as possible, and if anyone within our organization is determined to be involved in anything inappropriate, they will be held accountable.”
GM John Mozeliak also made a statement in the release, saying that “the alleged conduct has no place in our game.” Mozeliak continued: “We hold ourselves to the highest standards in every facet of our organization. It has been that way forever and is certainly true today. We are committed to finding out what happened. To the extent we can substantiate that these allegations have merit, we will take appropriate action against anyone involved.”
From the Astros’ perspective, Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle reported today that Houston is holding out the possibility of a civil suit against those ultimately determined to have perpetrated the impermissible computer access. “The Astros think it’s very serious,” a source told him.
That report also indicates that the FBI has looked into several addresses from which the unlawful access may have occurred, including both a house located in Jupiter, Florida (the Cardinals’ spring home) and one in a state that doesn’t host a major league club. Click here to find other recent developments as of late last evening. You can find the first post on the Cardinals’ involvement here and the original story on the leaked Astros trade notes at this link.
Twins To Sign Tyler Jay
The Twins and No. 6 overall pick Tyler Jay are in agreement on a full-slot bonus of $3,889,500, reports Jim Callis of MLB.com (Twitter link). Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN first tweeted that Jay was at Target Field in Minneapolis and was scheduled to meet with the media shortly. Jay, a left-handed pitcher out of the University of Illinois, is represented by Scott Leventhal of All Bases Covered Sports Management.
Jay spent his college career as a relief pitcher, but he ranked near the top of the draft class because most scouts believe that he has the mix of pitches necessary to become a starting pitcher in the Majors. Kiley McDaniel of Fangraphs rated Jay as the sixth-best prospect in the draft, while Jay rated ninth on the lists of MLB.com (Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo) and ESPN (Keith Law). Baseball America ranked Jay as the No. 13 prospect in the draft.
McDaniel ranked Jay second among all pitchers in this year’s class, writing that he flashes three plus pitches and held his velocity well in multi-inning relief stints. McDaniel feels that Jay could feature three 60-grade (or better) pitches in the future. Law notes that Jay could end up in the middle of a big league rotation and has four pitches, though he figures to be a three-pitch guy in pro ball. MLB.com has Jay’s velocity in the 93-95 mph range and topping out at 98. Callis and Mayo prefer Jay’s slider to his curve. BA clocks Jay’s slider in the low 80s and notes that some scouts have given it “wipeout” designation.
Jay will pitch as a reliever in 2015, according to GM Terry Ryan (via MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger on Twitter), though the expectation is, of course, that he will eventually move to the rotation. In response to that, Callis tweets that Jay could very well follow in the footsteps of Chris Sale and Brandon Finnegan, emerging as a late-season relief option for his club in the same season that he’s drafted. Jay will begin his career at Fort Myers in the Class-A Advanced Florida State League, per Ryan.
Rockies To Sign Brendan Rodgers
The Rockies and No. 3 overall pick Brendan Rodgers have agreed to terms, reports Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com (via Twitter). Rodgers will receive a $5.5MM signing bonus, which comes in about $723K shy of the No. 3 slot’s value. Rodgers will soon debut with the club’s Rookie-ball affiliate, Mayo adds.
Despite being selected third overall, Rodgers actually ranked as the No. 1 prospect in the draft in the eyes of Baseball America, Mayo and Jim Callis of MLB.com, and ESPN’s Keith Law. Kiley McDaniel of Fangraphs rated Rodgers as the No. 2 prospect in the draft, behind top overall pick Dansby Swanson and ahead of No. 2 overall pick Alex Bregman.
A high school shortstop known for his power, Rodgers was one of a handful of players in the mix to go first overall. BA describes Rodgers’ bat speed as “elite” and gives him a chance to hit 25 or more homers in the Majors one day, adding that his arm strength and hands are good enough to remain at short as long as his range does not deteriorate as he matures physically. Callis and Mayo praise his all-fields approach at the plate and liken his skill set to that of Addison Russell. Law calls Rodgers a “true shortstop” that can hit for at least average power down the line, if not more. McDaniel feels that Rodgers has been the best pure bat in the class for a full year, though he notes that Swanson just snuck ahead of him in his rankings due to a better spring.
Marco Scutaro Signs Contract To Retire As Member Of Giants
The Giants have re-signed infielder Marco Scutaro to a Major League contract and immediately placed him on the 60-day DL, according to Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle (Twitter links). The move is a symbolic gesture that will allow Scutaro to retire as a member of the Giants organization. The 39-year-old will continue to rehab, Schulman says, but only to improve the quality of life he can have in his post-playing days.
It’s a classy move from the organization that released Scutaro this past January in order to free up a spot on the team’s 40-man roster. Scutaro’s final seasons with the Giants were slowed by a number of back injuries that limited him to 127 games in 2013 and just five games in 2014. As the Chronicle’s John Shea tweets, the Giants made this move as a gesture because they didn’t want a playoff hero’s career to end with a release.
“Playoff hero” is certainly an apt description for Scutaro, but it may actually undersell his importance to the 2012 Giants. Acquired from the division-rival Rockies in exchange for Charlie Culberson, Scutaro took San Francisco by storm in the second half of the 2012 season. He batted a Herculean .362/.385/.473 in 61 contests for the Giants down the stretch before hitting .500 (14-for-28) and taking home NLCS MVP honors. The Giants, of course, would go on to win the World Series in decisive fashion, sweeping the Tigers to take home their second championship in three years.
Scutaro’s brilliant performance led the team to re-sign him to a three-year, $20MM contract that offseason. Though the aforementioned injuries did limit his playing time in 2013, Scutaro still batted a very solid .297/.357/.369 in the 127 games he was healthy, combining that above-average production with sound defense and plus baserunning to produce more than two wins above replacement.
Originally signed by the Indians in 1994, Scutaro is a personification of the “late bloomer” in sports. He debuted with the Mets in 2002 at the age of 26 but didn’t total more than 91 plate appearances in either of his two years with New York. The A’s gave Scutaro his first semi-regular action in 2004, but he never even reached 500 plate appearances in a single season until 2008 with the Blue Jays — his age-32 season. Until that point, Scutaro had looked the part of a solid utility player rather than a starter.
Sound work with the Blue Jays in 2008-09 led the Red Sox to sign him to a two-year, $12.5MM contract with a club option for a third season. Scutaro was again very good in two seasons with Boston (.284/.343/.401), who traded him to the Rockies prior to 2012 in exchange for right-hander Clayton Mortensen.
All told, Scutaro will finish his career with a .277/.341/.388 batting line, 77 homers, 55 steals, 22.2 rWAR and 18.6 fWAR. He earned nearly $49MM, according to Baseball-Reference.com — an incredible sum for someone who had essentially been a light-hitting utility infielder through his age-31 season in the mid-2000s. We at MLBTR wish Marco the best of luck as well as health and happiness in his post-playing career.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
AL East Notes: A-Rod, Red Sox, Chen
The filing deadline for Alex Rodriguez‘s potential grievance against the Yankees has been put on hold by agreement between MLB and the player’s union, the Associated Press reports (via the New York Times). Presumably, the deal was struck to avoid a major sideshow and to allow the sides more time to work out an agreement regarding the disputed milestone marketing bonuses contemplated in A-Rod’s contract. One of those bonuses was triggered recently when Rodriguez tied Willie Mays on the all-time home run list with his 660th long ball. The team has offered to settle the issue by making a charitable payment (of less than the $6MM provided in the deal) in Rodriguez’s name, per the report.
- The Red Sox bet on bats, says WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford, and they haven’t come through to the extent necessary to overcome the team’s other deficiencies. Bradford argues that is is due not only to the talent on the current roster, but the club’s need for “a flat-out bigger dose of player-driven accountability.” In an appearance on WEEI radio today (via Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald, on Twitter), manager John Farrell said that effort is not a problem, at least currently, though he acknowledged that “there have been times where we’ve had incidents with [effort] that had to be addressed.”
- Looking forward, Dave Cameron of Fangraphs argues that the Red Sox may need to figure out a way to move forward with only one of David Ortiz and Hanley Ramirez on next year’s roster. That could be a tall order (and a potentially painful one) given Ortiz’s rather iconic standing and apparent intention to play next year, combined with HanRam’s big contract and current lack of productivity on defense.
- Orioles lefty Wei-Yin Chen was recently optioned despite his excellent results this year, with the team citing fatigue, as Eduardo Encina of the Baltimore Sun explains. Of course, moving Chen down for ten days also allows the club to skip his upcoming start against the lefty-mashing Blue Jays while freeing a roster spot that the club used to add Chris Parmelee (and prevent him from exercising his opt-out clause). Chen’s agent, Scott Boras, called it a “grossly irregular” move that disrupted the starter’s routine. Ultimately, Baltimore had the right to utilize one of Chen’s options, of course, and service time does not appear to be an issue. But it is a rather interesting and unusual move to demote an established starter, even for an organization that has taken full advantage of the chance to shuttle players between the minors and active roster in recent years.
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Minor Moves: Chris Nelson, Jack Hannahan
We’ll keep tabs on the day’s minor moves right here …
- The Brewers have released infielder Chris Nelson from its Triple-A affiliate, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports on Twitter. That move coincides with the club’s recent claim of fellow third baseman Matt Dominguez. Nelson, 29, has bounced around quite a bit since a promising run with the Rockies in 2012. This year, he owns a .202/.256/.290 slash in 133 plate appearances at Colorado Springs.
- Korea’s LG Twins recently added Luis Jimenez as a replacement for fellow former big leaguer Jack Hannahan, who was placed on KBO waivers, according to Yoo Jee-ho of Yonhap News. Hannahan was playing rather well after missing time early due to injury — he owns a .327/.410/.523 slash — so it isn’t entirely clear what precipitated the move. As Yoo notes, the team is struggling, and Jimenez will earn a $350K salary (whereas Hannahan was playing for $1MM). It remains to be seen where Hannahan, 35, will end up, but presumably a return to North America is not out of the question.
Draft Signings: Thompson, Jones, Cabbage
We’ll track some of the day’s notable draft bonus agreements here. (Slot values via Baseball America; signing links to Twitter.)
- Another player whose signing was reported yesterday, Dylan Thompson of the Mariners, agreed to an above-slot deal, per Callis. A high school righty, Thompson will receive a $585K bonus after being taken 125th overall ($448K slot value).
Earlier Updates
- 70th overall pick Jahmai Jones receives a $1.1MM bonus from the Angels, MLB.com’s Jim Callis reports. We covered his agreement to an above-slot bonus last night, and it turns out that Los Angeles had to add $220K to the pick’s allocated value to keep Jones from attending UNC.
- The Twins have likewise agreed to an above-slot bonus with fourth-round (110th overall) selection Trey Cabbage, according to Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN. It remains unreported just how far over the $517,900 pick allocation Minnesota went to lure Cabbage away from his commitment to the University of Tennessee. The third baseman rated as high as the 72nd-best player in the draft, per MLB.com, which noted his plus hit tool and promise at the hot corner.