Athletics Acquire Deck McGuire
The A’s announced that they have acquired right-hander Deck McGuire from the Blue Jays in exchange for cash considerations. The former first-round pick was designated for assignment last week.
McGuire struggled in his first exposure to Triple-A at age 25, posting a 5.56 ERA in 55 innings with 6.2 K/9 against 3.8 BB/9. The promotion to the highest level of the minors came after McGuire posted a 2.98 ERA over 60 1/3 innings in his fourth go at Double-A.
Jeff Todd contributed to this post.
Blue Jays Designate Deck McGuire For Assignment
The Blue Jays have designated righty Deck McGuire for assignment, the club announced via press release. The move creates roster space for the claim of Brad Mills.
McGuire, a 2010 first-round draft pick, had struggled in his first exposure to Triple-A at age 25, posting a 5.56 ERA in 55 innings with 6.2 K/9 against 3.8 BB/9. The promotion to the highest level of the minors came after McGuire posted a 2.98 ERA over 60 1/3 innings in his fourth go at Double-A.
Meanwhile, the Mills claim appears to be part of a larger shakeup for the Jays’ staff. Top prospect Aaron Sanchez has been shifted to the bullpen at Triple-A in apparent preparation for filling a pen slot at the major league level, tweets Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News (h/t to John Lott of the National Post).
Players Added To The 40-Man Roster
Midnight tonight is the deadline for teams to add players to their 40-man roster in order to protect them from being selected in next month's Rule 5 Draft. There should be no shortage of players being added, and we'll run them down here in this post…
- The Brewers announced that they've added first baseman Hunter Morris, first baseman/outfielder Jason Rogers and right-handers Brooks Hall and Kevin Shackelford to their 40-man roster.
- The Braves announced that they've added left-hander Carlos Perez, right-hander Luis Vasquez and infielder Elmer Reyes to their 40-man roster. MLB.com's Mark Bowman tweets that the Braves had only recently signed Vasquez, 27, to a minor league deal. His entire career to this point has come in the Dodgers' minor league system.
- The Reds have added catcher Tucker Barnhart, right-hander Chad Rogers and outfielders Juan Duran and Ryan LaMarre to their 40-man roster, tweets John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer.
- In addition to McGuire, the Blue Jays announced that outfielder Kenny Wilson has been added to the 40-man roster as well (Twitter link).
- Catcher Tommy Joseph, left-hander Rob Rasmussen and outfielders Aaron Altherr and Kelly Dugan have been added to the Phillies' 40-man roster, the team announced.
- Right-hander Kirby Yates and southpaw C.J. Riefenhauser have been added to the Rays' 40-man roster, according to their agency, the Beverly Hills Sports Council (Twitter link). The Tampa Tribune's Roger Mooney reports that infielder Vince Belnome and righty Jesse Hahn have been added as well (also on Twitter).
Odds & Ends: Mejia, O’s, McGuire, Rangers, Valverde
Links for Sunday….
- ESPN's Adam Rubin tweets that the Mets have optioned Jenrry Mejia to Double-A Binghamton, where he will start their game on Wednesday.
- Jeff Zrebiec tells us that Buck Showalter will interview for the Baltimore managerial job this week, and Eric Wedge will likely receive a second interview. The club has yet to ask the Mets for permission to interview Bob Melvin.
- MLB.com's Jordan Bastian quotes Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos saying that despite first-round pick Deck McGuire's lack of participation in a media conference call, he's excited to have been drafted by Toronto. Anthopoulos says that negotiations, however, could go down to the wire as they did in 2009 with Chad Jenkins.
- Rangers manager Ron Washington feels that his team could use another front-line starting pitcher, according to MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan. Texas has recently seen both Derek Holland and Rich Harden land on the disabled list.
- Nick Piecoro tweets that the D'Backs offered Jose Valverde a two-year deal worth about $10MM before he signed for two years and $14MM with Detroit. The story spawns from some heated comments that were exchanged between Valverde and former teammate Miguel Montero.
- Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times thinks Dan Haren would be a "perfect fit" for the Angels.
- The Cubs will soon face a decision on whether to become buyers or sellers, writes Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune.
- Within a mailbag for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Paul Hoynes says that a little salary relief is the best the Indians could hope for in a Kerry Wood trade.
- Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch details how the Cardinals will handle their starting rotation for the time being. Even after signing Jeff Suppan, the club will be short-handed while they wait for Brad Penny to get healthy.
- The Tigers should exercise patience when it comes to acquiring a shortstop, according to Lynn Hennig of the Detroit News.
- Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports tweets that the Tigers will have to think about trading for a starting pitcher, with Rick Porcello heading to Triple-A.
Odds & Ends: Burrell, Diamondbacks, Oswalt
Some links to check out following Roy Halladay's perfect night..
- MLB.com's Cash Kruth passes along a quote from Giants' manager Bruce Bochy regarding the signing of Pat Burrell: "The thought of signing him to help us off the bench, give us a right-handed bat, some power, a good threat coming off the bench and help us late in games and maybe play against certain pitchers. Right now he needs some at-bats in the Minor Leagues, and we'll see where he's at in the next ten days or so."
- The Diamondbacks are leaning towards taking a pitcher with the 6th overall pick in next month's draft, according to MLB.com's Steve Gilbert. Scouting director Tom Allison has seen Ole Miss lefty Drew Pomeranz and Georgia Tech righty Deck McGuire in the last few days.
- The Astros and Roy Oswalt are in an uncertain state of limbo, writes Tyler Kepner of The New York times.
- The A's knew about Justin Duchscherer's hip troubles before signing him to a one-year deal this offseason, writes Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. The righty will earn the base pay of $2MM but now will not have the opportunity to earn up to $3.5MM in incentives.
- Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle speculates as to why the Giants are calling up Buster Posey today.
- Roberto Alomar is looking for a front office job and would like for it to be with Toronto, writes MLB.com's James Hall.