Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Pirates Rumors

Quick Hits: Pirates, Cabrera, Realignment, Oeltjen

By | at

Links for Saturday, as a pair of offseason headliners (Cliff Lee and Matt Garza) prepare to face off in Philadelphia this afternoon…

  • The Pirates have been asking around for a catcher but have found that the asking prices are high as clubs want to take advantage of their situation, tweets Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com.  Pittsburgh is in a bind with Ryan Doumit and Chris Snyder on the disabled list.
  • As the Giants look for infield help, ESPN's Buster Olney (via Twitter) says that Orlando Cabrera is a name to keep an eye on.  The veteran just lost his everyday job in Cleveland and the Giants were close to inking him over the winter.
  • After the Orioles tabbed Dylan Bundy with the fourth overall pick in the draft, Dan Connolly of The Baltimore Sun takes a look at Adam Loewen, the No. 4 pick that got away.
  • Major League Baseball and the players' association have discussed doing away with divisions altogether and balancing out the leagues to 15 teams each, writes ESPN.com's Buster Olney.  The new structure would have teams vying for five playoff spots in each league.  The odds of this happening, however, are still less than 50-50, according to one source.
  • Dylan Hernandez of The Los Angeles Times says that Trent Oeltjen could have become a free agent if the Dodgers didn't add him to the Major League roster by June 15th (Twitter link). Oeltjen was called up two days ago.
  • In a piece for ESPN, Jim Bowden wrote about how GM's prepare to make trades, a process that usually begins with low-ball offers being exchanged.
  • The writers at FanGraphs conducted a franchise player draft, selecting a player they would build a team around. Evan Longoria and Troy Tulowitzki were the first two off the board.
  • The Royals have signed 16 draft picks according to MLB.com's Dick Kaegel. The highest signed pick was ninth rounder Aaron Brooks.

NL Central Notes: Astros, Fielder, Pirates, Cubs

By | at

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.

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

By | at

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.

Pirates Looking For Catching Help, Fox Claim Unlikely

By | at

As if Ryan Doumit's fractured ankle wasn't enough, today the Pirates learned that catcher Chris Snyder will need surgery to repair a herniated disc in his back. Dusty Brown and Wyatt Toregas are holding down the fort down right now, and Rob Biertempfel of The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports that the team is searching around for some help behind the plate (on Twitter).

The recently waived Jake Fox is not a fit according to Biertempfel simply because he is too much of a defensive liability. Dan Connolly of The Baltimore Sun reiterates that such a claim is unlikely. The Angels are carrying three catchers (Hank Conger, Jeff Mathis, Bobby Wilson) and could match up as a trade partner, ditto the Padres (Nick Hundley, Rob Johnson, Kyle Phillips). Ivan Rodriguez's name has been popping up in rumors as well, though it's unclear if Pittsburgh is looking for a long-term solution or just a short term fix until Doumit returns. 

Olney On Padres, Wood, Pirates

By | at

Teams like the Yankees, Rangers and Cardinals may not have to wait much longer for bullpen help. There will probably be relievers available immediately, according to ESPN.com’s Buster Olney. Here’s the latest on the relief market and other notes from Olney:

  • The industry-wide expectation is that the Padres will trade Heath Bell soon.
  • Executives wonder if the Padres will decide to take advantage of Mike Adams' substantial trade value and trade him now. The setup man is under team control through 2012.
  • Rival teams will presumably call the Cubs to see if Kerry Wood would accept a trade. The right-hander signed a discounted $1.5MM contract last offseason because he wanted to return to Chicago.
  • Grant Balfour, Luke Gregerson and Michael Wuertz are other possible trade candidates, according to Olney.
  • Though the Pirates have developed more top talent under Neal Huntington, it’s an important year for the GM, who doesn’t have a contract after 2011. The Pirates drafted aggressively once again this year, so Huntington and his scouting staff will have a number of tough signs this summer, such as high schooler Josh Bell.

East Notes: Phillies, Lawrie, Fox, Uggla

By | at

Some items from the eastern divisions….

  • "You will not see a major move this year," Phillies GM Ruben Amaro tells Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com about his team's trade deadline plans.  Amaro feels the Phils are already good enough to compete and it's just a matter of the club finding its peak form.  He also notes that the team has very little payroll flexibility, but "for $170 MM-plus, we should be good enough to be a World Series contender.”
  • Blue Jays prospect Brett Lawrie will be out for two-to-four weeks with a non-displaced fracture in his left hand, tweets Rogers Sportsnet's Arash Madani.  Lawrie was tentatively scheduled to make his Major League debut last week before being hit by a pitch in a Triple-A game.
  • Jake Fox was put on waivers by the Orioles earlier today and he might get some attention from the Pirates.  Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review notes that the Pirates had some interest in Fox during Spring Training, and the Bucs might have need for a catcher since Chris Snyder left today's game with a back injury.  (Twitter link)
  • The Dan Uggla trade hasn't panned out well for either the Braves or the Marlins thus far, writes Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald.

Draft Notes: Brewers, Astros, Bell, Beede, Braves

By | at

Let's take a look at some draft-related items as Day 2 wraps up:

  • The Brewers took just one Scott Boras client across the first two days: his son, Trent Boras.  The younger Boras is a USC commit, but the club will try to convince him otherwise, tweets Adam McCalvy of MLB.com.
  • The Mets could have gone the safe route and taken players that would help them in the immediate future, but instead they went for high-risk, high-reward types, writes Brian Costa of the Wall Street Journal.
  • Astros first-round pick George Springer sounds as though he's very signable, tweets Stephen Goff of Examiner.com.
  • The Pirates are hoping that they will be able to sign high school outfielder Josh Bell, just as they were able to come to terms with pitcher Stetson Allie last year, writes MLB.com's Laura Myers.  Allie was a UNC commit, but the Pirates got him to sign with a $2.25MM bonus.
  • Blue Jays top pick Tyler Beede says that the decision on whether to sign will be based on money, tweets Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.  Toronto selected Beede with the 21st overall pick in the draft.
  • The Braves didn't take a high schooler until the 11th round (Seth Morando, an infielder from Buchanan High School in California), but that doesn't mark a shift in philosophy for the club, writes Carroll Rogers of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
  • With pick No. 685, the Reds selected left-hander Amir Garrett, a left-handed pitcher out of Findlay College Prep in Nevada, who has committed to play basketball for St. John's.  The chances of him signing, however, are "infinitesimal", according to Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus (via Twitter).  A source close to the family told Luke Winn of Sports Illustrated that Garrett would sign if he were selected in the first seven rounds and offered a bonus of around $1.5MM.

Pirates, Cole Talk First Overall Selection

By | at

Gerrit Cole wasn’t the best pitcher in the country this year. He wasn’t even the best pitcher on his team (that distinction belongs to third overall selection Trevor Bauer). But the Pirates selected Cole with the first overall pick in spite of his good-but-not-great numbers because they see him as a future impact starter in the Major Leagues. 

"If we were focused on taking the player who performed the best this year, there might have been other options," GM Neal Huntington said on a conference call after selecting Cole. "Our focus is selecting the player that we believe is going to be the best for the organization two, four, six, eight, ten years from now.”

Cole posted a 3.31 ERA with 9.4 K/9 and 1.9 BB/9 for UCLA last year. Those numbers are good and Cole insists he’s capable of more.

“Obviously it wasn’t up to my standards, but you try not to think about it,” he said. “I didn’t really let it get to me or affect me very much. I just control what I can control and let the teams do the evaluation.”

The Pirates' top amateur talent evaluator, scouting director Greg Smith, was impressed with the way the right-hander battled through tough spots this season, so Pittsburgh selected a pitcher with its top pick for the second consecutive season (the Pirates selected high schooler Jameson Taillon last year). Smith and Huntington considered taking high school and college position players first overall before deciding that they wanted more pitching.

“You can never have too much of it. It’s the most valuable commodity in our game,” Huntington said. “We haven’t consciously gone out to stockpile arms. We play by the integrity of the [draft] board.”

Of course, Cole isn’t Pirates property just yet. The 20-year-old Scott Boras client already turned down first round money once, when he went to UCLA instead of signing with the Yankees in 2008. No first overall pick is ever cheap, but Huntington says he expects to work out a deal by the August 15th signing deadline.

“Signability is an issue with every player that comes off the board in the first round,” he said. “We’re going to work hard. We’re going to fight to find a common ground that makes sense for both sides.”

Pirates Designate Jose Ascanio For Assignment

By | at

The Pirates designated right-hander Jose Ascanio for assignment to create 25-man roster space for left-hander Tony Watson, according to Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (on Twitter). Manager Clint Hurdle will have the second lefty reliever he coveted once Watson joins Daniel Moskos in the bullpen.

Ascanio appeared in eight games for the Pirates this year, allowing ten hits, five earned runs and two walks in 6 1/3 innings of work. The 26-year-old has a 5.28 ERA with 8.0 K/9 and 4.1 BB/9 in 46 career innings with the Pirates, Cubs and Braves.

Watson, a ninth round pick of the Pirates in 2007, has spent this season at Triple-A, where he was a 2.45 ERA with 8.9 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 in 29 1/3 innings. The 26-year-old has a 3.26 ERA with 7.4 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9 in five seasons of minor league baseball for the Pirates' affiliates.

Pirates Select Gerrit Cole

By | at

The Pirates may be headed for a 19th consecutive losing season in 2011, but if their assessment of Gerrit Cole is accurate, they're a little closer to becoming a winner again. They have officially selected the UCLA right-hander with the first pick of the amateur draft.

Cole stands 6'4" and doesn't turn 21 until the fall. He throws a slider and change-up, plus a fastball that regularly reaches the mid 90s. His stuff didn’t translate into the statistical success you’d expect for a first overall pick (teammate Trevor Bauer posted more impressive numbers). Cole finished the season with a 3.31 ERA, 119 strikeouts and 24 walks in 114 1/3 innings – impressive numbers, but certainly not Strasburg-esque. 

Gerrit Cole - UCLA

Cole has experience as a first rounder. The Yankees selected him out of high school in 2008. He declined to sign, even though he’s a Yankees fan who counts Roger Clemens and Mariano Rivera among his role models.

The Pirates have had the first overall pick three other times in their history. They selected Jeff King in 1986, Kris Benson in 1996 and Bryan Bullington in 2002. Scouting director Greg Smith and GM Neal Huntington also considered Rice third baseman Anthony Rendon, Virginia left-hander Danny Hultzen and others with the top pick.

I talked to Cole about his season and the draft in March and MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes introduced us to Cole and a number of other college right-handers last week.

The Pirates have until August 15th of this year to sign Cole, who is represented by Scott Boras. The commissioner’s office recommended a $4MM signing bonus for last year’s top pick, which turned out to be Bryce Harper.

Photo courtesy UCLA athletics.

Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top