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Minor Moves: Horst, Tomko, McClendon

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Here are the day’s notable minor moves …

  • Phillies lefty Jeremy Horst has cleared outright waivers and accepted his assignment at Triple-A, the club announced today. Horst, 28, was designated two days ago to clear 40-man roster space. He has pitched to a 4.35 ERA (8.3 K/9 vs. 7.0 BB/9) across 20 2/3 innings at Triple-A this year.
  • 41-year-old righty Brett Tomko has been released by the Royals, according to the PCL transactions page. Tomko, a 14-year MLB veteran, had worked to a 3.80 ERA in 47 1/3 Triple-A innings (including eight starts) since hooking on with Kansas City.
  • The Rockies signed righty Mike McClendon, according to the MLB transactions page. McClendon, 29, tossed 48 2/3 MLB innings over 2010-12 with the Brewers, working to a 3.88 ERA with 6.5 K/9 against 2.8 BB/9 overall. He had been playing with the independent league York Revolution this year after spending 2013 with Colorado’s Triple-A affiliate.
  • With Horst no longer on the list, MLBTR’s DFA Tracker now features Vin Mazzaro of the Pirates, Justin Marks of the Royals, and Jose Veras of the Cubs as players in DFA limbo.

Phillies Sign Jason Marquis

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The Phillies announced that they’ve signed right-hander Jason Marquis to a minor league deal. The 35-year-old veteran is a client of ACES.

Marquis underwent Tommy John surgery last July but said a few months later that he didn’t intend for that operation to be the end of his career. He’s been working out for teams of late, recently throwing his fastball between 88 and 90 mph in an audition for the Reds.

Marquis’ command took a step back in 2013 with the Padres, as he walked a career-worst 5.2 hitters per nine innings (some of those struggles may have been due to his elbow injury, of course). However, his ground-ball rate remained a strong 52.3 percent — his fifth consecutive season with a ground-ball percentage north of 52.

The sinkerballing Marquis is a veteran of 14 Major League seasons with the Braves, Cardinals, Cubs, Nationals, Rockies, Twins, Diamondbacks and Padres. In 1921 career innings at the big league level, Marquis owns a 4.56 ERA with 5.3 K/9, 3.5 BB/9 and a 50.7 percent ground-ball rate. He can serve as veteran rotation depth for the Phils when healthy, as the team has already seen injuries to both Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels this season in the Major League rotation (the latter is healthy now). Additionally, Cuban signee Miguel Gonzalez is also working his way back from injury and isn’t close to appearing in the Majors.

Draft Links: Padres, Ryan, Phillies, Jays

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The 2014 amateur draft is only three days away, so here’s the first batch of what will surely be a ton of draft-related items this week…

  • The Padres won’t draft Jeff Hoffman or Erick Fedde with the 13th overall pick, sources tell Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune.  Both college right-handers recently underwent Tommy John surgery and though the team “briefly kicked the idea around” of taking one of the highly-touted pitchers in hopes of a full recovery, the risk seemed too high at that point in the first round.  “We want to take someone who is healthy. There are too many good options on the board,” assistant GM Chad MacDonald said.
  • The Twins are likely to again focus on pitching in this draft, general manager Terry Ryan tells Jim Crikket of the Knuckleballs blog.  “We’ll draft a lot of pitching just because of the attrition. We need to make sure we have numbers and competition,” Ryan said.  “Actually the depth and some of the talent in our organization is starting to lean toward pitching….But we won’t have enough, so we’ll take a bunch more.”  This doesn’t necessarily mean that Minnesota will draft a pitcher with the fifth overall pick, as Ryan says the team is just focused on drafting the best possible player.  I’d recommend reading the entire interview, as Ryan also touches on such topics as his health and the Twins’ performance this season.
  • The Phillies could be altering their draft strategy of taking good athletes with high ceilings by instead opting for more proven players who are closer to making the majors, CSNPhilly.com’s Jim Salisbury writes as part of an interview with Phillies scouting director Marti Wolever.
  • Recent comments from Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos hint that his team could also be taking a somewhat more cautious approach to their draft process, Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi reports.  “I’d say a big part of refining our process is maybe we’re starting to examine the level of risk we’re willing to take….It doesn’t mean we’ll be risk-averse, but maybe not take the same level of risk,” Anthopoulos told Sportsnet Magazine.  “We’re just trying to balance it out a little bit more as we’re going through it. That’s not to say we’re not looking for talent, upside, all that kind of stuff. We’re trying to balance it.”

Phillies Designate Jeremy Horst For Assignment

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The Phillies announced that they have designated Jeremy Horst for assignment.  The move will create room on the 40-man roster for the arrival of Cesar Jimenez, who has been called up from Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

The left-hander reliever made 28 appearances for the Phillies last season and didn’t have a ton of success.  Horst posted a 6.23 ERA with 7.3 K/9 and 4.2 BB/9 in those outings.  In the two seasons prior, the 28-year-old pitched to a combined 1.74 ERA 9.5 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9 in 44 outings.  So far in 2014, Horst owns a 4.35 ERA with 8.3 K/9 and 7.0 BB/9 in 19 Triple-A games.

Cafardo On Samardzija, Arroyo, Mayberry Jr.

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In today’s column, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe ran down the 20 best stories in baseball, starting with the worst-to-first (so far) Blue Jays.  Toronto has gotten great hitting out of Jose Bautista, Melky Cabrera, Edwin Encarnacion, and Adam Lind and great pitching from Mark Buehrle, R.A. Dickey, and Drew Hutchison.  Now, it remains to be seen whether the Blue Jays will be willing to part with Hutchison in a deal for Cubs’ ace Jeff Samardzija.  More from today’s column..

  • The Red Sox and Rangers have the most to offer the Cubs for Samardzija, followed by the Giants.  Of course, Cubs president Theo Epstein is quite familiar with the Red Sox’s farm system. The Cubs need pitching, but Boston will definitely not part with lefthander Henry Owens. If that’s not a deal breaker, the Sox have other pitchers like Brandon Workman, Matt Barnes, Anthony Ranaudo, Allen Webster, and Rubby De La Rosa that they can offer.  Cafardo guesses that it would take two of them, plus perhaps a catcher, to pry Samardzija loose.
  • With the Diamondbacks likely out of the race by the deadline, Cafardo says that we should look for veteran Bronson Arroyo to change uniforms again. Arroyo isn’t a shutdown guy, but he’s an experienced starter who could solidify the back of a rotation, particularly for an NL team.
  • The Phillies have made John Mayberry Jr. available and Cafardo writes that the Red Sox could be interested.  The Phillies have been scouting the Sox for a third straight series and are looking at Boston as a possible trade partner.

Quick Hits: Tommy John, Commissioner, Mock Drafts

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For those interested in seeking to understand the root of the elbow injuries that have plagued the game this year, you’ll want to take a look at this position statement from the American Sports Medicine Institute (hat tip to Peter Gammons). The statement closely ties professional ligament injuries to risky throwing patterns in amateur baseball, including over-use, throwing while fatigued, and pitching year-round. Latin American pitchers have experienced a similar incidence of TJ as have their North American counterparts, the statement also says.

Here are some more notes from around the game:

  • As the search for a new commissioner picks up steam, sitting commish Bud Selig said today that it was possible that a successor could come from outside the game, ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark reports. “That’s a judgment call,” said Selig. “I know there’s been a lot of speculation in some stories. But that’s a judgment call this group will have to make. Understanding the culture of the sport is very important.” He emphasized that it “has to be an inclusive process,” though “people will have to make their own judgments on whether or not you want to stay inside baseball.”
  • A familiar trio of the pitchers sits at the top of the most recent mock draft of ESPN.com’s Keith Law (Insider link). In that scenario, Law sees the Cubs looking to strike a below-slot deal with a player like college outfielder Michael Conforto with the fourth overall choice. Some well-regarded prep arms could fall into the sandwich and second round, Law notes, where teams that saved on their first picks will pick them with intentions of spending over slot.
  • Attempting to approach the top ten picks of the draft as if he were the general manager making the final call, ESPN.com’s Jim Bowden (Insider link). While clubs often say they just want the best player available, Bowden says that few follow through with that. Clubs do draft with their needs (even at the major league level) in mind, says Bowden, in addition to financial, medical, and makeup considerations. Carrying through on his general observations, Bowden sends Evansville lefty Kyle Freeland to the Twins with the fifth overall pick and LSU righty Aaron Nola to the Phillies in the seven slot.

NL East Links: La Stella, Uggla, Lee, Franco, Mets

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Just five games stand between the first-place Braves and the last-place Phillies in the current NL East standings. Here’s the latest out of baseball’s tightest division…

  • The Braves announced that they have called up second base prospect Tommy La Stella, though no corresponding move has been announced. However, a source has indicated to MLB.com’s Mark Bowman that Dan Uggla is remaining with the team rather than being released or designated for assignment to create room for La Stella. The 25-year-old La Stella hit .293/.384/.359 in 198 Triple-A plate appearances this season and ranked as Atlanta’s No. 7 prospect per MLB.com and No. 9 prospect per Baseball America.
  • There’s no telling how long Phillies ace Cliff Lee will be sidelined until he’s reevaluated today, GM Ruben Amaro Jr. tells Ryan Lawrence of the Philadelphia Daily News. “It could be up to a month, it could be a month and a half, it could be three weeks,” said Amaro. “I have no idea when the guy is going to be ready to pitch … I have no timetable until he’s up and throwing again.”
  • Amaro also tells Lawrence that top third base prospect Maikel Franco was considered as an option when Cody Asche was injured, but ultimately, Franco simply isn’t ready for the Majors yet. “Offensively, he’s made some adjustments, he’s made some improvements better than in the earlier part of the season, but he’s not really going on all cylinders now. We’re still contemplating it. We’ll see how it goes.”
  • Andy Martino of the New York Daily News writes that Mets GM Sandy Alderson thought he’d be working with a bigger payroll when he took the job, though Alderson would never admit to that himself. Martino adds that the mood around the Mets is tense these days, due to speculation about Terry Collins’ job security (which he says is not justified) and the post-firing comments from hitting coach Dave Hudgens.

NL East Notes: Mets, Howard, Gonzalez, Capps

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Dismissed Mets hitting coach Dave Hudgens set off some controversy today when he told Michael Kay of ESPNNewYork.com (audio link) that, if Mets GM Sandy Alderson “could do everything he wants to do, they would have a winner here,” and suggested that the club’s ownership needs to “let the purse strings loose.” Of course, it is worth noting that Hudgens added that he has no personal information as to how the front office is run. For his part, Alderson said that payroll was not the problem in New York, as Marc Carig of Newsday tweets.

Here’s more from the Mets and the rest of the NL East:

  • The Mets received good news on top prospect arm Noah Syndergaard, whose MRI results were negative. As Andy Martino of the New York Daily News tweets, Alderson said that Syndergaard is “essentially fine.” Certainly, a prolonged absence for Syndergaard would have dealt another tough blow to the club’s timeline for putting a competitive MLB club on the field.
  • Darin Ruf started in place of Ryan Howard against a lefty today for the Phillies, which could potentially be the beginning of a platoon, reports Bob Brookover of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Howard has struggled mightily against same-handed pitchers over the course of the season, with a 41.7% strikeout rate and 73 wRC+. When asked if Ruf might keep seeing time against lefties, manager Ryne Sandberg responded: “Yeah, if it happens to work. It’s an opportunity to have a lineup like that, and if it produces that becomes an opportunity … to possible get some consistency with the offense against right-handed and left-handed pitching.” Howard, of course, is earning $25MM this year and is still promised an additional $60MM over 2015-17.
  • Meanwhile, Phillies’ international signee Miguel Gonzalez has experienced a case of dead arm and will be checked out by the team’s top physician, reports Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Gonzalez, 27, had been working on a rehab assignment at High-A, where he had allowed seven earned runs (on three strikeouts and nine walks) over 9 1/3 innings. “Hopefully, it’s nothing serious,” commented GM Ruben Amaro Jr. As Gelb implies, it looks increasingly unlikely that the club will get any major league production out of Gonzalez this year.
  • The Marlins are hoping to avoid losing another pitcher to season-ending elbow surgery, as reliever Carter Capps will shut down and rehab an undisclosed elbow injury, reports Craig Davis of the Miami Sun-Sentinel. “He’ll be down for an extended period of time and start building back up, and see where we’re at,” said manager Mike Redmond. Capps, a hard-throwing 23-year-old righty, came to Miami in the Logan Morrison trade, and had tossed 12 innings of 3.00 ERA ball with an impressive 11.25 K/9 against just 2.25 BB/9. The injury situation is all the more difficult in light of the fact that the Fish surprisingly remain right in the thick of things in the NL East.

Rosenthal’s Latest: Royals, Collins, Padres, Rangers, Hardy, Amaro

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In his latest notes column for FOX Sports, Ken Rosenthal wonders just how long the Royals can stand behind GM Dayton Moore and manager Ned Yost given the team’s struggles to this point in the season. Moore called Yost a “consistent leader” when he spoke with Rosenthal and added that the team is only a hot streak or two away from a turnaround. Rosenthal writes that the entire team seems “too comfortable, waiting for a surge that might never come.” More from his column below…

  • On the other hand, Rosenthal doesn’t feel it’d be justified for the Mets to fire manager Terry Collins. Collins hasn’t been afforded the same talent that Yost has, he opines, and his front office has made some questionable decisions behind him regarding the bullpen and the underperforming crop of free agents the team brought in. He notes the team’s sparse spending despite their market, adding that it seems unlikely that Bud Selig would ever confront owner Fred Wilpon, with whom he is close friends.
  • Similarly, the Padres should hang onto skipper Bud Black, Rosenthal proclaims. Recent reports have indicated that he may be on the hot seat. Padres ownership too often has worried about alienating fans with personnel decisions, as they did when they neglected to trade Chase Headley after his 2012 season. Black is a highly regarded manager who has seen six of his pitchers hit the disabled list this season, though even Rosenthal admits that the offense’s follies have been virtually inexplicable.
  • The Rangers’ glut of middle infield depth could lead them to field trade offers for Elvis Andrus this summer. With Jurickson Profar, Rougned Odor and Luis Sardinas all representing possible starting-caliber infielders, Texas does appear to have a surplus. I, personally, would imagine that each of those players could hear his name circulating on the rumor mill in two months’ time.
  • One agent who isn’t affiliated with J.J. Hardy or Derek Jeter suggested to Rosenthal recently that he thought the former would be the latter’s successor with the Yankees. Hardy has a low-maintenance personality, steady glove and experience in the AL East.
  • As has been reported previously, the Astros tried to acquire Collin McHugh last summer when the Mets dealt him to the Rockies, but Rosenthal adds more light on the situation. The team’s scouting department felt McHugh was little more than a long reliever, but the team’s statistical analysts pushed hard for McHugh based on trends they’d seen dating all the way back to his minor league days in 2011. The Astros, of course, claimed McHugh off waivers from Colorado, and he’s cemented himself in their rotation. GM Jeff Luhnow said over the weekend he has no plans to trade McHugh or breakout lefty Dallas Keuchel.
  • Though Kendrys Morales could be a perfect fit for the Mariners’ offensive woes, rival executives say that the team is still showing the same payroll concerns that caused them to largely shut down spending after the signing of Robinson Cano this winter.
  • Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. called the possibility of trading Chase Utley a “moot point,” noting Utley’s no-trade protection and desire to remain in Philadelphia. Perhaps of greater interest (and perhaps to the dismay) of Phillies fans, is the following quote from Amaro: “I don’t know if we’ll completely ’sell’ ever. We can revamp, but we can’t completely sell out. We have to have a contending team in 2015 or ’16 — or at least a competitive team.”

Minor Moves: Loe, Dolis, Rodriguez, Williams

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Here are today’s minor transactions, with the newest moves at the top of the post…

  • The Braves have signed pitcher Kameron Loe to a minor-league deal, MLB Daily Dish’s Chris Cotillo tweets. The Royals released Loe late last week. He had pitched 11 innings for Triple-A Omaha, whiffing four batters and walking seven. The former Rangers, Brewers, Mariners, Cubs and Braves pitcher threw 76 2/3 innings for the Braves’ Triple-A team in Gwinnett in 2013, posting a 3.07 ERA with 4.4 K/9 and 2.0 BB/9.
  • The Giants released right-hander Rafael Dolis, Baseball America’s Matt Eddy reports.  Dolis was a non-roster invitee to San Francisco’s Spring Training camp and he badly struggled (8 ER in 4 1/3 IP) in a brief stint with Triple-A Fresno.  The 26-year-old righty posted a 5.48 ERA and recorded more walks (26) than strikeouts (25) over 44 1/3 relief innings with the Cubs from 2011-13.
  • Veteran catcher Eddy Rodriguez signed a coaching contract in the Red Sox organization, Rodriguez announced himself earlier this week via Twitter.  The University of Miami product spent nine years in pro baseball with the Reds, Padres and Rays, slashing .235/.286/.386 in 2271 minor league PA.  He appeared in two Major League games with San Diego in 2012 and his only big league hit (in seven PA) was a solo home run.  Rodriguez was released by the Rays earlier this month.
  • The Phillies acquired outfielder Everett Williams from the Diamondbacks in exchange for cash considerations earlier this week, Eddy reports.  Williams was picked by San Diego in the second round of the 2009 draft and has a .249/.314/.356 line over 1322 minor league PA, none higher than the Double-A level.
  • The Rays signed righty Casey Weathers to a minor league contract, Eddy reports.  The eighth overall pick of the 2007 draft, Weathers was once considered to be a strong prospect in the Rockies’ system before he missed the entire 2009 season recovering from Tommy John surgery.  He has struggled to regain his form since, and didn’t pitch at any level in 2013.  Weathers signed a minors deal with the Giants last December but was released in March.

Charlie Wilmoth contributed to this post.

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