AL Notes: Ramirez, Baker, Twins, Hoffman
MLB is nearing agreement on a plan to send an All-Star squad off to Japan this November for a series against the Japanese national team, tweets Jon Morosi of FOX Sports. Of course, the league has a rich history of sending its best on tour to one of the world’s great ballplaying nations.
Here are some notes from around the American League:
- Manny Ramirez is still looking for another opportunity, reports Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. While recent contact with the Orioles failed to materialize into an offer, a scout who has seen Ramirez work out recently said that the 42-year-old slugger looks fit and was impressive with the bat. Agent Alex Esteban tells Heyman that most of the interest has come from American League teams, though several NL clubs have checked in as well. MLBTR’s Zach Links reported back in February that Ramirez had elected to join Miami Sports Management.
- The Rangers regretted the need to designate Scott Baker for assignment after a brief call-up, reports MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan. With Baker needing several days of rest after throwing 5 1/3 innings of relief in his only appearance, and the bullpen looking overworked, GM Jon Daniels said the move was an unfortunate necessity. “He did everything we asked,” said Daniels. “Unfortunately we are at a spot where the bullpen is taxed because our starters are not getting deep into games.” (Of course, the most recent Rangers starter — ace Yu Darvish — did manage to go deep in tonight’s game.) As for Baker’s fate, Daniels says that the club will “see if there is trade interest” but otherwise will place him on outright waivers.
- With the fifth overall slot in the upcoming amateur draft, the Twins could be eyeing either high school shortstop Nick Gordon or college righty Aaron Nola, ESPN.com’s Keith Law wrote in a chat yesterday. Law also notes that the Blue Jays could be a player for injured righty Jeff Hoffman, who could also intrigue several other AL clubs (Law lists the Astros, Royals, and Red Sox, while also citing the Nationals as a possibility).
NL Notes: Polanco, Nady, Montero, Cubs
We learned recently that the Pirates had offered a seven-year contract extension to outfield prospect Gregory Polanco, who has of course yet to take the major league field. The extension tender was particularly interesting because of the contrast between Polanco’s situation and that of players like the Astros‘ George Springer, whose similar extension offer came from a non-contender (and who has since been promoted), and Oscar Taveras of the Cardinals, who does not have an obvious spot at the MLB level. Those looking for more thoughts on this situation have a few pieces to check out. In a piece for Grantland, Ben Lindbergh breaks down the overall promotion picture, explaining that several organizations employ quite a different philosophy than strict service time controllers like the Bucs and Rays — and noting that there are very real risks to holding down talent. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports says that the Pirates are now in a tough spot, given their desire to save money but equally obvious team need for Polanco. Meanwhile, over at Fangraphs, Dave Cameron writes that the discount demanded by the team on Polanco’s reasonably anticipated earnings was just too great, and opines that Pittsburgh should be willing to up its guarantee by $10MM to $15MM.
Here’s more from the National League:
- It is virtually certain that outrighted veteran Xavier Nady will decline his assignment and become a free agent, reports MLB.com’s Corey Brock (via Twitter). The 35-year-old veteran stands at a .135/.238/.405 triple-slash in 42 plate appearances on the season. He did put up a quality .296/.360/.456 line in 495 trips to the plate at the Triple-A level last year.
- The Mets have a detailed plan in the works regarding highly-rated pitching prospect Rafael Montero, reports Andy Martino of the New York Daily News. With an innings limit in play, New York hopes to work Montero as a reliever (first at Triple-A, then in the bigs) before sending him back to the minors to stretch back out and join the MLB rotation later on in the season.
- The first three picks of the amateur draft appear fairly set (at least at this point), which could make the Cubs (who hold the fourth overall choice) the first true wild card. With Tommy John victim Jeff Hoffman now likely out of play, Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune says that possibilities include prep arm Kyle Freeland, TCU lefty Brandon Finnegan, or high school catcher/outfielder Alex Jackson.
Minor Moves: Tateyama, Phipps, Komatsu, Johnson
Here are today’s minor moves from around the league…
- Japanese sidearmer Yoshinori Tateyama has been released by the Yankees, according to the International League transactions page. The 38-year-old, a 12-year Nippon league veteran, came stateside in 2011 with the Rangers. In two seasons, he threw 61 innings of 5.75 ERA ball while striking out 9.0 batters per nine against 2.5 BB/9. Working out of the Yanks’ Triple-A pen this year, Tateyama carried a 6.08 ERA in 13 1/3 innings, though he did have an impressive 11.5 K/9 against just 2.0 BB/9.
- The White Sox have released 28-year-old outfielder Denis Phipps, according to the International League transactions page. Phipps was struggling at Triple-A for Chicago in 2014 with a .159/.250/.270 line in 72 plate appearances. This year was the first that Phipps spent away from the Reds, with whom he had a cup of coffee in 2012. Of course, if the Dominican never finds his way back to the bigs, he can still talk up his lifetime 1.064 OPS, even if it covers just 11 plate appearances.
- MLB.com’s Bill Ladson reports (via Twitter) that the Nationals have released outfielder Erik Komatsu. The 26-year-old was selected by the Cardinals in the 2012 Rule 5 Draft and then claimed off waivers by the Twins when St. Louis cut him loose. Komatsu made 58 total plate appearances that season, hitting .216/.293/.216 before being returned to the Nats. The former eighth-round pick, who was once traded from Milwaukee to Washington in exchange for Jerry Hairston, batted .188/.365/.271 at Triple-A this season and owns a career .232/.344/.328 batting line at that level.
- The Indians have outrighted utility man Elliot Johnson to Triple-A Columbus, according to the club’s transactions page. Johnson signed a minor league deal with Cleveland this offseason but collected just two hits with seven strikeouts and no walks in 20 plate appearances in his time with the club before being designated for assignment last week. The 30-year-old Johnson had the option to reject his assignment and pursue free agency, but the team announced that he has accepted and will report to Triple-A Columbus (Twitter link).
Reds Sign Shelley Duncan, Lou Marson
The Reds have signed first baseman/outfielder Shelley Duncan and catcher Lou Marson to minor league deals, tweets Baseball America’s Matt Eddy. As Eddy points out, each was released by other organizations in Spring Training (Marson by the Phillies, Duncan by the D’Backs).
Duncan, 34, appeared in 20 games for the Rays in 2014, totaling 64 plate appearances and a .182/.297/.309 batting line with a pair of homers. The brother of former Cardinals slugger Chris Duncan and son of renowned pitching coach Dave Duncan, Shelley has seen action in parts of seven big league seasons with the Yankees, Indians and Rays. He was a very useful bench bat for the Tribe in 2010-11 and hit exactly 11 Major League homers in three consecutive seasons from 2010-12.
Marson, 27, was Cleveland’s backup catcher for much of the time that Duncan was filling a reserve role there. He’s a career .219/.309/.299 hitter that has been excellent at throwing out base-stealers in his career (31 percent) but struggled in terms of pitch framing. The former fourth-round pick was once one of the Phillies’ top prospects and one of the Top 100 in the game, per Baseball America — a standing which Philadelphia leveraged when it included Marson as one of four players sent to Cleveland in the 2009 Cliff Lee trade.
Marlins To Sign Alex Sanabia
The Marlins have agreed to terms on a minor league deal with right-hander Alex Sanabia, who will head to the team’s Triple-A affiliate in New Orleans, reports Chris Cotillo of MLB Daily Dish (Twitter link). The Paragon Sports International client was released by the Diamondbacks on Monday.
For Sanabia, the agreement marks a return to the club that originally selected him in the 32nd round of the 2006 draft. From 2010-13, he totaled 138 1/3 innings of 4.15 ERA ball with the Fish, averaging 5.6 strikeouts and 2.9 walks per nine innings pitched. A fly-ball pitcher, Sanabia has struggled with home runs throughout his career, and they were again his undoing in the D’Backs organization; Sanabia posted a bloated 8.10 ERA in 23 1/3 innings for Triple-A Reno due to the fact that he yielded an alarming eight long balls in that time.
The Marlins have developed some enviable pitching depth, with Jose Fernandez, Nathan Eovaldi and Henderson Alvarez fronting their rotation. Jacob Turner could factor into the mix as well now that he’s been activated from the disabled list, and Tom Koehler has been a very serviceable fourth/fifth starter for the team. Additionally, Miami has names like Andrew Heaney, Justin Nicolino, Anthony DeSclafani and Brian Flynn in its minor league ranks — each of whom is nearing the bigs (or has previously reached them, in Flynn’s case).
Twins Designate Kenny Wilson For Assignment
The Twins announced that they have designated outfielder Kenny Wilson for assignment as part of a series of roster moves. Minnesota has purchased the contract of Chris Parmelee and also activated outfielder Aaron Hicks from the seven-day concussion list. Their 25-man roster spots were opened yesterday when the team optioned Pedro Florimon and Chris Herrmann to Triple-A Rochester.
Wilson’s tenure with the Twins has been short-lived, as the 24-year-old defensive whiz was recently claimed off waivers from the Blue Jays. Minnesota claimed the center fielder to replace outfielder Darin Mastroianni, whom the team was forced to DFA in order to make room for waiver claim Sam Fuld. Wilson didn’t hit much for the Twins and has struggled all season between Minnesota and Toronto, slashing just .204/.276/.291 in 118 PAs at the Double-A level.
Parmelee was outrighted off the team’s roster during Spring Training, and the former first-round pick again displayed the ability to pummel minor league pitching after being sent to Triple-A. Parmelee batted .305/.378/.542 with seven homers in 135 PAs in Rochester — numbers that aren’t too different from his career line of .295/.395/.530 at that level. However, the 26-year-old hasn’t been able to carry that success to the Majors, as he’s compiled a career triple-slash line of just .246/.322/.395 in 631 PA. Most of the damage he’s done in the Majors came in a brilliant 21-game September call-up back in 2011. He’s posted a .666 OPS in 543 PAs since.
Shawn Camp Elects Free Agency
FRIDAY: Camp has elected free agency, the team has announced.
THURSDAY: The Phillies have outrighted veteran reliever Shawn Camp, the team announced. In a corresponding move, Philadelphia called up fellow righty Luis Garcia.
Camp, 38, can refuse the assignment and elect free agency. In three appearances this year, Camp gave up two earned runs on seven hits. Though he avoided any free passes, he mustered only one strikeout. In parts of 11 big league seasons, Camp has compiled a lifetime 4.41 ERA in 592 1/3 innings, all in relief. His last effective season as a big leaguer came in 2012, when he led the league with 80 appearances and registered a 3.59 ERA for the Cubs.
Garcia is a 27-year-old who has seen his only MLB time with the Phillies. In 31 1/3 innings of relief last year, he put up a 3.73 ERA while both striking out and walking 6.6 batters per nine. Garcia was throwing well at Triple-A this year, going 13 2/3 frames without giving up an earned run while posting a much more attractive 8.6 K/9 against 2.6 BB/9. He becomes the latest hurler to receive a chance to settle a Phillies bullpen that has struggled to a 4.97 ERA out of the gate.
AL East Notes: Morales, O’s, Francisco, Yankees
Orioles executive VP Dan Duquette appeared on Buster Olney’s podcast today and discussed a variety of topics, including Kendrys Morales (Duquette appears around the 27:00 mark). Asked by Olney about the speculation that Morales could help his team, Duquette replied, “We don’t have any plans to add anybody to our ball club right now … Matt Wieters, with the issue he has in with his elbow, is going to take some at-bats in our DH position, so we’re all set. When we signed Nelson Cruz, that pretty much closed the door on that speculation.” Duquette also talked about his team’s strong start to the year in spite of several injuries as well as Manny Machado‘s elite defense. More from that interview and the rest of the AL East below…
- Duquette also fielded questions on the contract status of Wieters and Chris Davis (around the 36:20 mark), noting that the club has twice tried to extend Wieters and once tried to extend Davis as well. “I like Chris and Matt on the ball club, but having said that, we’ve already made that effort, and I’m not really going to be discussing that this year during the season with those players.” Both Wieters and Davis are Scott Boras clients, which makes the task of hammering out a long-term deal a more difficult one, as Boras typically encourages his players to go year-to-year and test the open market.
- Shifting gears from the O’s to the Blue Jays, MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm tweets that the main reason behind Juan Francisco choosing to sign in Toronto was a recruiting pitch from Edwin Encarnacion. After Francisco was cut by the Brewers in Spring Training, Encarnacion called his countryman and pitched Toronto, and the result has been a .311/.403/.623 batting line with five homers in 72 PAs for Francisco.
- In a special piece for ESPN New York, Danny Knobler writes that the perception of the Yankees as an “old-school” team is misleading. Knobler spoke with Astros GM Jeff Luhnow, who called the Yankees “way more [progressive] than people think.” Knobler also points out that the Yankees trail only the Astros in terms of infield shifting this season, a fact that isn’t lost on division rival Joe Maddon. The Rays skipper told Knobler: “They’re exceeding us. It doesn’t surprise me. It disappoints me. I much preferred when they thought we were nuts, that we were bastardizing the game.”
A’s Sign Five International Prospects
Though activity on the 2013-14 international prospect front is a mere fraction of what it was last summer, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports five new international signings for the A’s (Twitter links). Oakland has inked 17-year-old Colombian right-hander Jean Carlos Ruiz, 18-year-old Panamanian right-hander Jorge Martinez, 18-year-old Dominican left-hander Alexander Calderon, and Venezuelan right-handers Santiago Rodriguez (17) and Gerardo Vilchez (16).
It’s unlikely that any of this quintet signed for a significant bonus, as the A’s had already spent $2.1MM on international signings as of Baseball America’s February update — roughly $174K over their assigned bonus pool of $1.926MM (an eight percent overage). That penalty would result in a 75 percent tax on the overage and an inability to sign a player for more than $500K in the coming 2014-15 international draft class.
NL East Notes: Marlins, Alderson, Flores, Nats, Uggla
In his latest piece for FOX Sports, Rob Neyer examines the hot starts of both the Marlins and Rockies to see if either club can sustain its success and make a playoff run. While Miami’s trio of Jose Fernandez, Nate Eovaldi and Henderson Alvarez is imposing, he also points out that the club’s hitters are playing over their heads. A year after finishing last in the Majors in scoring, Miami is second in the NL in runs after adding Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Garrett Jones and Casey McGehee but doing little else. As for Colorado, they’ve posted the NL’s lowest strikeout-to-walk ratio, and it’s tough to buy the starts of Charlie Blackmon and Brandon Barnes, Neyer believes.
More links pertaining to the Senior Circuit’s Eastern division…
- Though the perception is that Omar Minaya left a mess in New York for Mets GM Sandy Alderson, Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes that the remnants of that mess are keeping the Mets afloat. He states that one could argue the team’s best players this season were acquired during Minaya’s tenure. Sherman calls Matt Harvey Minaya’s “parting gift” to the team, adding that the trades of Carlos Beltran and R.A. Dickey were made possible because Minaya’s regime brought them in to begin with. He notes that “this is not a final report card” as Alderson hasn’t been in charge long enough for a total transformation, but also points out that none of Alderson’s draftees have made the Majors yet.
- Baseball America’s Matt Eddy profiles Wilmer Flores for Mets fans as the team prepares to install him in its infield, noting that his bat is his ticket to the Major Leagues, but fans shouldn’t expect him to come close to replicating the .318/.357/.524 batting line he’s compiled in the PCL. He also has defensive flaws, as “his slow first step and well-below-average speed make him an imperfect fit at any spot but first base,” says Eddy.
- The Nationals have weathered injuries to Bryce Harper, Doug Fister and Wilson Ramos in large par due to a dominant bullpen, writes the Washington Post’s Adam Kilgore. Kilgore notes that offseason acquisition Jerry Blevins has been dominant to this point, and indeed, Blevins has a sub-3.00 ERA with the best strikeout rate (11.15 K/9) of his career in this season’s small sample.
- Despite his well-documented struggles, Dan Uggla isn’t likely to be released by the Braves, writes MLB.com’s Mark Bowman. The Braves don’t appear comfortable biting the bullet on his remaining $24MM, but they also aren’t comfortable with him as their starting second baseman. Atlanta is likely to evaluate its other options — Ramiro Pena and Tyler Pastornicky — in the coming weeks before turning to prospect Tommy La Stella for assistance, adds Bowman.