Quick Hits: Saltalamacchia, Harrison, Cardinals
Jarrod Saltalamacchia experienced a dramatic culture change when he went from a veteran Red Sox team to the Marlins this offseason, writes David Laurila of FanGraphs. “There aren’t 25-30 [reporters] waiting for you after a game like in Boston,” Saltalamacchia says. “Otherwise, the biggest difference is that there are a lot of younger guys. I’m finding myself saying things like ‘This is how we did it’ or ‘This is what I’ve seen.’ In some ways, it’s almost more of a coaching [role].” Saltalamacchia is one of several Marlins veteran hitters, including Garrett Jones, Casey McGehee, Rafael Furcal, Jeff Baker and Reed Johnson. But the team’s pitching staff remains very young, with an average age of just 25.7. Here are more notes from around baseball.
- Matt Harrison pitched six innings in his first big-league game since last April for the Rangers on Sunday. Texas lost, but having Harrison back should provide a boost for a Rangers rotation that had struggled with injuries — the team had acquired the now-departed Tommy Hanson late in the offseason, and Joe Saunders in spring training. The Rangers’ rotation now features Yu Darvish, Martin Perez, Robbie Ross and Colby Lewis along with Harrison.
- The Cardinals have missed Carlos Beltran so far this season, Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes. Re-signing Beltran wouldn’t have made sense given the Cardinals’ outfield talent, but with Allen Craig struggling badly so far this year in right field, the Cards could use Beltran’s power. The Cardinals have a number of Triple-A outfielders hitting well (Oscar Taveras, Stephen Piscotty, Joey Butler and Randal Grichuk), but so far, they haven’t turned to them. Of course, it’s no surprise that they would continue with Craig in right field, given his track record and contract. (Soon after this post was published, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch tweeted that the Cardinals would promote Grichuk and infielder Greg Garcia, optioning outfielder Shane Robinson and second baseman Kolten Wong in the process.)
Central Notes: Carroll, Cubs, Masterson
Pitcher Scott Carroll had a strong big-league debut for the White Sox on Sunday, pitching 7 1/3 innings and allowing just two runs, one earned, against David Price and the Rays. It’s been a long journey to the Majors for Carroll, who is 29 and was a third-round pick of the Reds all the way back in 2007. He made it all the way to Triple-A before the Reds released him in 2012. The White Sox then scooped him up, but he got hurt while pitching in Venezuela after the season and needed Tommy John surgery. He got back to the mound just eight months later, pitching for Double-A Birmingham near the end of the 2013 minor-league season. He had pitched well in four starts for Triple-A Charlotte in 2014 before finally getting the call. Here are more notes from the Central divisions.
- The Cubs have become baseball’s version of a prison, Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times writes. That’s hyperbole, obviously, but Wittenmyer does quote former Cubs pitcher Matt Garza on what advice he would give current Cub Jeff Samardzija: “All I can tell him is keep pitching; pitch your way out of it,” says Garza. “Keep your eyes focused, your eyes straight ahead and just pitch. There’s nothing else you can do.” Samardzija is a likely summer trade candidate.
- For pitchers, drops in velocity are worrisome indeed, as Yahoo! Sports’ Jeff Passan points out. Justin Masterson‘s velocity is significantly off this season for the Indians — his four-seamer is off about 3.6 MPH from last year. (Jorge De La Rosa of the Rockies is at the other end of the spectrum, with a velocity increase of 1.81 MPH.) Masterson’s missing velocity may show why the Indians only offered him an extension in the three-year, $45MM range this spring.
MLBTR Originals
A look back at the original reporting and analysis found on MLBTR the last seven days:
- Tim Dierkes examined the pool of top young position players who have yet to ink contract extensions. Tim also provided thumbnail profiles of many of the 35 players who fall into this category.
- Tim listed the hardest throwing 2015 free agents.
- Zach Links was the first to break a pair of Travis Ishikawa stories this week: electing free agency after being outrighted by the Pirates and signing a minor league deal (including an opt-out) with the Giants.
- Charlie Wilmoth asked MLBTR readers which franchise had the best 2002 amateur draft. The consensus was the Dodgers (17%), Braves (15%), and the Red Sox (11%) fared the best.
- Jeff Todd asked MLBTR readers to rank the signings of a dozen free agents who agreed to one-year contracts worth between $4-8MM. You rated Nelson Cruz (Orioles) the best and Josh Johnson the worst (Padres).
- Steve Adams hosted this week’s chat.
- Zach compiled the latest edition of Baseball Blogs Weigh In.
Minor Moves: Dennis Raben, Lars Davis
We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here:
- The Angels have signed 1B/OF Dennis Raben, who had been with the Somerset Patriots in the Atlantic League, reports MyCentralJersey.com’s Mike Ashmore (via MLB Daily Dish’s Chris Cotillo). Raben, 26, played for Class A+ Wilmington in the Royals system last year, hitting .272/.367/.469 in 297 plate appearances. He was a second-round pick by the Mariners in 2008.
- The Phillies have signed catcher Lars Davis, according to MiLB.com. Davis, 28, collected 333 plate appearances for Triple-A Colorado Springs last season, hitting .255/.313/.356. He has never played in the big leagues. The Diamondbacks released him from their Double-A Mobile affiliate last week.
Angels Designate Michael Roth For Assignment
The Angels have designated lefty Michael Roth for assignment, MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez tweets. The move clears space on the Angels’ 40-man roster for Mike Morin.
The Angels drafted the 24-year-old Roth in the ninth round in 2012 and promoted him to the Majors remarkably quickly, sending him to the bigs in 2013 even though he was arguably underprepared for the assignment and had a below-average fastball. Perhaps predictably, Roth struggled, posting a 7.20 ERA with 17 strikeouts and six walks in 20 innings. He continued to struggle in 2014, with a 5.48 ERA, 4.2 K/9 and 5.1 BB/9 in 21 1/3 innings in the starting rotation at Double-A Arkansas.
Clay Hensley Retires
Pitcher Clay Hensley has retired, James Larken Smith of KFFE tweets. Hensley, 34, pitched in 2013 for Triple-A Nashville (Brewers) and Louisville (Reds), and for the Sugar Land Skeeters in the independent Atlantic League.
Hensley pitched parts of seven seasons in the big leagues, appearing with the Padres, Marlins and Giants with a 4.00 ERA, 6.5 K/9 and 4.2 BB/9 over 571 innings. 187 of those came with the Padres in 2006, when he had a solid first full season in a big-league rotation. He mostly appeared as a reliever after that, with his best season out of the bullpen coming with the 2010 Marlins, when he posted a 2.16 ERA with 9.2 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9 in 75 innings.
Rockies Notes: Fowler Trade, Nicasio, Pitching Staff
Today, the Rockies are trying to avoid the fate of being on the losing end of the Dodgers’ 10,000th victory in their storied franchise history (per Elias Sports Bureau via MLB.com). The Rockies already have the distinction of being the Cubs’ 10,000th victim six years ago.
Here’s the latest on the Mile High City’s team from Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post:
- The Rockies have reaped unexpected benefits from the Dexter Fowler trade thanks to the strong play of Jordan Lyles and Brandon Barnes (both acquired from the Astros), Justin Morneau (signed as a free agent using the salary allocated for Fowler), and Charlie Blackmon (who assumed Fowler’s leadoff spot in the lineup).
- The Rockies are at a crossroads with Juan Nicasio, whose ERA has risen to 5.27 (with a 10.9 H/9 and 1.6 HR/9 rate) as he has failed to pitch beyond the sixth inning in his past four starts. Saunders opines Nicasio could be bumped from the rotation when Jhoulys Chacin completes his rehab assignment, but there has not been much talk of moving him to the bullpen lately.
- The Rockies’ philosophy of utilizing the sinkerball has led to an improvement in the overall performance of the club’s pitching staff.
AL Notes: Cano, Tigers, A’s, Baker
Robinson Cano will be making his first trip to the Bronx since signing his ten-year, $240MM contract when the Mariners open a series against the Yankees on Tuesday. Cano explained the differences between Seattle and New York to Newsday’s Anthony Rieber. “Here it’s more relaxed. It’s not as intense as New York,” Cano said. “In New York, when the game is over, everyone is looking at what’s wrong. Here we don’t have that.” Cano is hopeful there won’t be many Bronx cheers from the Yankee faithful upon his return. “They understand that this is a business and I don’t have anything against the fans, the team, anybody. I can tell you I’m excited to go back and be able to see guys that I played with for a long time. Be able to see [Derek] Jeter play in his last year. Just looking forward to going back.”
In other news and notes from the American League:
- The Tigers may start to see additional dividends from the Doug Fister trade, reports Chris Iott of mlive.com. Left-hander Robbie Ray, acquired from the Nationals in that December deal, is a leading candidate to replace the injured Anibal Sanchez in the rotation. Ray has posted a 1.93 ERA, 6.2 K/9, and 1.9 BB/9 in his four starts for Triple-A Toledo. The Tigers have yet to decide who will fill in for Sanchez; but, if Ray is their choice, they will need to create roster space since the 22-year-old isn’t on the 40-man roster.
- The A’s bullpen has had mixed result this season and the coaching staff is trying to navigate the fine line between a closer-by-committee and the comfort provided by having well-defined roles, according to the San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser.
- The Twins were called this weekend about the prospects of signing right-hander Scott Baker, but have no interest, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500ESPN.com. Baker is currently pitching for the Rangers‘ Triple-A affiliate (2.77 ERA, 7.3 K/9, and 2.1 BB/9 in 26 innings covering four starts), but has a May 1st opt-out date.
Quick Hits: Drew, Orioles, Samardzija, Rockies
No one is crying for Stephen Drew and Kendrys Morales, who turned down $14.1MM and remain unemployed, but Joel Sherman of the New York Post thinks its unfortunate that they have been subjected to the qualifying offer system. In Sherman’s view, players already have too little control over their careers. On top of that, accepting a one-year, $14.1MM deal isn’t as much of a slam dunk as it seems. If a player doesn’t like where he is playing, or get along with his manager, or finds that the home ballpark is problematic to his game, he should have the opportunity to scope out the open market and look elsewhere without being hindered by the tag. Here’s more from around baseball..
- Will the Orioles go out-of-house for a first baseman? Manager Buck Showalter doesn’t seem to think such a move is imminent. “There are other people, but nobody yet that we like better than the options we have in-house, yet,” said the skipper, according to Rich Dubroff of CSNBaltimore.com (on Twitter).
- Brewers pitcher Matt Garza offered up some advice for former teammate Jeff Samardzija, who is expected to be shopped by the Cubs this summer. “All I can tell him is keep pitching; pitch your way out of it,” said Garza, according to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times. “Keep your eyes focused, your eyes straight ahead and just pitch. There’s nothing else you can do.”
- The Dexter Fowler trade is reaping early rewards for the Rockies, writes Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post. Many wondered how the Rockies would replace Fowler’s leadoff bat and outfield glove, but Jordan Lyles‘ early pitching and Brandon Barnes‘ high-energy have made Colorado look wise so far. On top of that, the salary savings from moving Fowler to the Astros allowed the Rockies to sign Justin Morneau, who has also looked strong through the season’s opening month.
- Months after he agreed to a four-year, $60MM deal, Curtis Granderson and the Mets finally started to find some magic together this week, writes Barry Federovitch of the Star-Ledger.
Jeong Choi Aims To Play In MLB Next Year
Jeong Choi, the top third baseman in Korea and a former Korean Series MVP, is looking to make the leap to Major League Baseball next season, agent Melvin Roman tells Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. The athletic 27-year-old is considered a five-tool player and enjoyed the best season of his career in 2013.
Choi has hit .300 and posted an OPS over .900 each of the past four seasons playing for SK Wyverns while averaging more than 23 home runs. Last season, he slashed .316/.429/.551 and belted 28 home runs, putting him amongst the offensive elite in the KBO. Choi also demonstrated his speed, swiping 24 bases.
Last winter’s third base free agent market was rather thin, but 2015’s figures to have several big names as Chase Headley, Aramis Ramirez, and Pablo Sandoval could hit the open market. The addition of Choi could add even more depth and Heyman cites the Diamondbacks, White Sox, Red Sox, and possibly the Giants and Padres depending on what happens with Sandoval and Headley, that could be shopping at that position.