Odds & Ends: Harper, Escobar, Vazquez, Gordon
Links for Monday, as Joe Blanton makes his 2010 debut…
- Washington GM Mike Rizzo scouted Bryce Harper in person for the first time, and he and scouting director Kris Kline came away confident in Harper's makeup, according to Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post.
- Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com takes an in-depth look at the Pirates' arms throughout the organization.
- The Chicago Tribune's Mark Gonzales writes that GM Ken Williams is exercising patience when it comes to trading, despite the White Sox' slow start.
- Kelvim Escobar will undergo season-ending surgery to repair a torn capsule in the front of his right shoulder, tweets MLB.com's Anthony DiComo. Escobar signed a one-year deal with the Mets this winter for $1.25MM.
- Joe Pawlikowski of River Ave. Blues looks at the pitchers the Yankees were considering over Javier Vazquez, noting that they've all had concerns as well. The Yankees will delay Vazquez's sixth start until a week from today against the Tigers. John Harper of the New York Daily News wonders if the Yanks should ship Vazquez to the Mets.
- Joe Posnanski questions the Royals' decision to demote Alex Gordon. Gordon will play left field and first base in the minors, tweets Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star.
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports points out the Tigers' collection of young talent.
- Steve Dilbeck of the L.A. Times wonders what's happened to George Sherrill. The 33-year-old lefty has allowed 12 hits and 11 walks in nine innings so far. Given his $4.5MM salary this year, Sherrill is a prime candidate to be non-tendered after the season.
- RotoAuthority notes that while Vazquez and Ben Sheets have been brutal so far, they could still have fantasy value this year.
Heyman On Harper, Werth, Rollins
SI's Jon Heyman has word on Bryce Harper's expected demand after the 17-year-old catcher is drafted next month. Heyman says the Scott Boras advisee "will seek to break last year's record $15.67 million bonus set by Stephen Strasburg." It should be noted that in most places Strasburg's big league deal is reported as $15.1MM. That deal included a $7.5MM bonus. Back on April 20th, Baseball America's Jim Callis predicted Harper would sign for eight figures but less than Strasburg. For more on the largest contracts in draft history, check out Mike Axisa's recent post. On to Heyman's other rumors…
- Heyman writes of pessimism that the Phillies can re-sign Jayson Werth.
- Heyman adds that "People around baseball do expect the Phillies to make a huge effort to extend Jimmy Rollins beyond 2011, though there's no evidence there's any progress on that front." Perhaps as a sign of goodwill, the Phillies exercised Rollins' $8.5MM club option for 2011 in December of '09. Will the Phils give Rollins the Ryan Howard treatment, and extend him well before they need to?
Odds & Ends: Rangers, Chapman, Capps, Choo
Links for Thursday, as Kelly Johnson and Paul Konerko jockey for the MLB home run lead…
- Richard Durrett of ESPN Dallas takes a look at what the Rangers could do with their roster once Ian Kinsler returns from the disabled list tomorrow.
- Reds' GM Walt Jocketty said that the team doesn't have a timetable for Aroldis Chapman's arrival in the Majors, says John Fay of The Cincinnati Enquirer.
- Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wonders why the Pirates didn't retain Matt Capps in hopes that he'd rebuild value. Capps is generating attention as MLB's saves (and save opportunity) leader. The righty told Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times it was a pretty close competition between the Cubs and Nationals for his services, once he was non-tendered.
- Yahoo's Tim Brown profiles Shin-Soo Choo, who his agent Scott Boras feels "has a chance to be the best Pacific Rim player ever over the course of his career."
- SI's Ann Killion writes about Barry Zito's apparent redemption. Zito is rocking a 1.32 ERA, an improved groundball rate, and an unsustainable .203 batting average on balls in play through four starts. If Zito can continue to keep the walks down, he could have his best year as a Giant. Of course, he flashed a similar walk rate in July and August of last year.
- Matt Kemp's agent Dave Stewart discussed Ned Colletti's recent comments on ESPN's Mason & Ireland show, saying the public criticism "should never have happened."
- Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times notes that the Mariners made the right call in not signing Jarrod Washburn.
- Baseball Prospectus' Kevin Goldstein does a mock draft of the first ten picks this year.
- Mark Zuckerman talked to a high-ranking Nationals official who finds Goldstein's criticism of Bryce Harper's makeup "way overblown." Meanwhile, Byron Kerr of MASNSports.com spoke to Harper's college coach about those same makeup concerns.
Odds & Ends: Smoak, Grandal, Harper, Zambrano
Links for Thursday, as the Pirates try to recover from their worst loss in franchise history…
- Highly regarded Rangers first base prospect Justin Smoak has gotten the call to replace Chris Davis at first base, reports MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan. The timing of his promotion ensures the Rangers will control Smoak through 2016. Super two status is likely if Smoak is up for good, meaning he'll go to arbitration four times beginning after the 2012 season. As for Davis, you have to wonder if a trade is in his future.
- In a mailbag, MLB.com's Jordan Bastian speculates on when Blue Jays fans can expect to see Adeiny Hechavarria and Brett Wallace arrive in Toronto.
- In an excellent piece for Yahoo! Sports, Jeff Passan looks at the state of baseball in the Dominican Republic, a topic MLBTR's Nick Collias addressed earlier in the week.
- Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com reports that Royals minor-league lefty Adam Bostick has been suspended 50 games for a second positive drug test.
- ESPN's draft coverage team tweets that the Royals are looking at University of Miami catcher Yasmani Grandal for the fourth overall pick in June. Five days ago ESPN's Keith Law had this to say about Grandal: "He's the top college catcher in the country, can absolutely stay behind the plate, and hits well enough to be an above-average player in the majors." Click here for a reminder of the full 2010 draft order.
- Baseball Prospectus' Kevin Goldstein looks at four question marks about potential #1 pick Bryce Harper. Harper is not getting good reviews for his makeup.
- Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune points out that Carlos Zambrano and Lou Piniella don't seem in complete agreement on whether the righty's bullpen move is temporary.
Odds & Ends: Harper, Mets, Orioles
Links for Tuesday…
- Our condolences to the family and friends of Rockies president Keli McGregor, who the Denver Post says was found dead of natural causes at age 48.
- I joined Jeff & Jeff on KFNS St. Louis today; you can listen to audio here.
- Baseball America's Jim Callis predicts Bryce Harper will receive $10-12MM, setting a record for a drafted hitter.
- Joel Sherman of the New York Post feels that Ike Davis should've been with the Mets since the beginning of the season, with Jenrry Mejia starting in the minors.
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports asks why Cal Ripken, Brooks Robinson, and Frank Robinson aren't working for the Orioles.
- We've made some minor changes to the site, with dropdowns for navigation bar items About, Archives, and Feeds By Team.
Odds & Ends: Antonetti, Harper, Embree
Links for Wednesday…
- ESPN's Jerry Crasnick looks at nine revolving door positions for various teams, such as Red Sox shortstop and Braves' left fielder.
- RotoAuthority looks at a few potential buy-low candidates on the young fantasy season.
- Murray Chass takes USA Today to task for publishing inaccurate salary data.
- Jim Callis ranks Baseball America's #1 prospects from the last ten years, putting Jason Heyward behind only Matt Wieters and Josh Beckett.
- MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince looks at the background of the Indians' GM-in-waiting, Chris Antonetti.
- ESPN's Keith Law agrees with Ben Goessling of MASN, saying the Nationals have "more or less settled on Bryce Harper." Law says the Nats would be nuts to take someone else.
- MLB.com's Ian Browne tweets that Red Sox GM Theo Epstein has been in touch with Alan Embree's agent, perhaps regarding the lefty's April 15th out-out date.
- Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star notes that the Blue Jays have to place Adeiny Hechavarria on the 2013 25-man Opening Day 2013 roster, or else place him on waivers.
- SI's Melissa Segura tweets that the Twins were impressed by outfielder Vicmal de la Cruz, "perhaps the jewel of the 2010 July 2 class." Click here to view Kiley McDaniel's video of the kid.
Nationals Plan To Draft Bryce Harper?
3:11pm: Asked about drafting Harper, Nationals Director of Amateur Scouting Kris Kline told Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post, "I don't think that's etched in stone." The Nationals are down to a list of five candidates, with GM Mike Rizzo scheduled to see Harper in person for the first time in May.
7:56am: The Nationals plan to draft Bryce Harper first overall in June "barring an injury or drastic change," writes MASN's Ben Goessling. However, MLB.com's Bill Ladson tweets his disagreement. The 17-year-old phenom, currently raking junior college pitching and playing catcher, is considered by the Nats to be "as surefire a talent as Jason Heyward" according to Goessling. Scott Boras is "advising" Harper, ensuring Harper's massive bonus will be fiercely negotiated.
Harper isn't viewed on the same level as Justin Upton or Alex Rodriguez, but there still aren't many players approaching his talent or ceiling in the upcoming draft. ESPN's Keith Law, MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo, and Baseball America's Aaron Fitt have scouting reports.
Stark On Free Agent Starters, Harper, Calero
ESPN's Jayson Stark leads his latest column by explaining why realignment doesn't make sense, and how it'd be shortsighted to make changes based on the Yankees and Red Sox. On to his hot stove rumblings…
- One GM's rankings of the five 2011 free agent starters likely to sign multiyear deals: Cliff Lee, Javier Vazquez, Jorge de la Rosa, Aaron Harang, and Ted Lilly. Health risks and one-year deal types were considered separately. De La Rosa, who recently turned 29, will be an interesting contract year pitcher to follow. He makes his season debut Friday afternoon against the Padres.
- One exec explained that Bryce Harper is not in the same class as guys like Alex Rodriguez and Ken Griffey Jr. were when they were drafted.
- Why did Kiko Calero find little interest on the free agent market after a strong 2009? Said one exec: "The medicals are so bad that everybody's wary."
- An official of a big market club feels that Albert Pujols will ask for Alex Rodriguez money, rather than Joe Mauer/Mark Teixeira dollars. That exec feels it's obvious the Cardinals will find a way to sign Pujols, even at that price.
Odds & Ends: Giants, Harper, Heyward, Padres
Some links as the weekend draws closer…
- In his organizational rankings, Dave Cameron of FanGraphs says it's a good time to be a Brewers fan and explains why 2010 is a critical year for the Angels.
- Don't expect the Giants to sign an outfielder. GM Brian Sabean told Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News that the club's right fielder will come from within the organization (Twitter link).
- The Giants have yet to announce the extensions for Jeremy Affeldt and Brian Wilson, so Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle wonders (via Twitter) if Matt Cain will get an extension of his own soon.
- MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo offers an extensive scouting report for Bryce Harper, the 17-year-old slugger whose power is "off the charts" according to one scout.
- Jason Heyward made the Braves, according to Carroll Rogers of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. They're going for it in Bobby Cox's last season in Atlanta.
- Chipper Jones would not be surprised to see the Braves lock Heyward up after the season, according to MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez (via Twitter).
- The Cardinals released ten minor leaguers, including knuckleballer Charlie Zink, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
- Bill James tells Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic that he thinks players peak defensively around the age of 25.
- Jeff Moorad assured Bill Center of the San Diego Union-Tribune that his partnership will be able to complete its purchase of the Padres without trouble.
- MLB.com's Bill Ladson reminds us that Cristian Guzman has ten and five rights.
Odds & Ends: Orioles, Harper, Hanley
Links for Wednesday…
- Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports presents a slideshow of ten trades he thinks would make sense.
- In another article, Morosi says Bryce Harper is "one terrible role model." Morosi contrasts Harper with Joe Mauer, who he says had an "uncontrived upbringing" but still became a well-paid star.
- The Mariners acquired minor league infielder Edgar Trejo from the Brewers for a player to be named later or cash considerations, tweets Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
- Over at RotoAuthority, I took a look at 2009's top position players and pitchers in terms of fantasy baseball earnings, and what rounds those players were drafted in.
- The Orioles are replacing farm director David Stockstill, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Tony Pente of Orioles Hangout first hinted Monday of impending front office changes.
- Joel Sherman of the New York Post notes that March 31st at 2pm is "the deadline to release players with non-guaranteed contracts and owe just 45-day’s pay." The Yankees' Chad Gaudin is one example, though a year ago with the Cubs Gaudin had a guaranteed contract.
- In light of the news that the Giants are shopping infielder Kevin Frandsen, Dave Cameron of U.S.S. Mariner explains why the Mariners acquiring him "seems like the most obvious move ever."
- Marlins president David Samson told Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post he'd like Hanley Ramirez to retire a Marlin. Fortunately, Ramirez is already signed through 2014.