Central Links: Twins, Cubs, Segura
The Twins have plenty to be excited about following the hot starts of top prospects Miguel Sano and Byron Buxton, writes Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports in his first Prospect Heat Check column. Passan spoke to 20 GMs and executives, with one AL evaluator telling him that "Sano is exploding," and adding that the 20-year-old looks to have improved at third base. Here's more on the Twins and more from baseball's Central divisions…
- Former Tigers reliever and current Twins setup man Casey Fien sympathizes with the trials that his former roommate Casper Wells has gone through early this season, writes John Lowe of the Detroit Free Press. Fien recalls Spring Training of 2010, when he went from the Tigers, to the Red Sox, to the Blue Jays and back to the Tigers in the span of a month. Wells was with four organiations in April.
- Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts presented his plans for a $300MM renovation for Wrigley Field today, and Fran Spielman and Stefano Esposito of the Chicago Sun-Times have the highlights. Ricketts caused controvery by stating that if the Cubs are unable to receive the outfield sign space they need (among other requests), they would have to consider moving from Wrigley Field. Ricketts went on record as saying the Cubs need "to run a business like a business and not a museum."
- David Kaplan of CSN Chicago tweets the following Ricketts quote from his presentation: "We anticipate increasing spending on the baseball side as soon as we know what we can do with this plan."
- USA Today's Bob Nightengale praises Brewers GM Doug Melvin for insisting that the Angels include shortstop Jean Segura in any return for Zack Greinke last July (Twitter link). Segura entered play Wednesday hitting .367/.418/.567 three doubles, three triples, three homers and seven steals.
Angels Acquire Zack Greinke
One of the trade deadline's major chips has switched teams, as the Angels have acquired Zack Greinke in a trade with the Brewers. Milwaukee will receive top infield prospect Jean Segura and Double-A right-handers Ariel Pena and John Hellweg in exchange for their ace.
Greinke returns to the American League after spending the last season and a half with the Brewers. The right-hander lived up to expectations in Milwaukee, posting a 3.67 ERA and a 9.9 K/9 rate in 49 starts with the team and playing a major role in the Brewers' charge to the NLCS last season. Still, the Brewers are undoubtedly disappointed to be moving their ace less than 20 months after acquiring him from the Royals for a major prospect haul that included Lorenzo Cain, Alcides Escobar, Jake Odorizzi and Jeremy Jeffress, though they were able to recoup some of that minor league depth back in this deal.
Segura was rated as the 55th best prospect in baseball by Baseball America headed into this season and the shortstop put up solid numbers at Double-A Arkansas, hitting .294/.346/.404. Segura also made his Major League debut on July 24 as the Angels called him up as depth for the injured Erick Aybar. With Mike Trout and Garrett Richards now in the majors, Segura was considered to be the top prospect remaining in the Halos' system. The 22-year-old has been considered by some teams to be best suited for second base, according to ESPN's Buster Olney, though for now Segura fills the shortstop void left behind by Escobar in the Brewers' system.
Pena, 23, has a 3.37 ERA, an 8.9 K/9 rate and a 2.2 K/BB rate in 111 games (103 of them starts) over six seasons in the Angels' system. Hellweg, also 23, was a 16th-round pick for the Angels in the 2008 amateur draft. He has a 3.66 ERA and a 9.6 K/9 rate in 127 minor league games (38 starts) though control has been an issue, as Hellweg has a career 6.4 BB/9 rate.
Pitching wasn't expected to be a need position for the Halos going into the season, but with Dan Haren and Ervin Santana struggling, the team was in need of another big arm. Greinke is a free agent this winter and the Angels are in a good payroll position to keep him; Los Angeles could decline its $15.5MM and $13MM options on Haren and Santana, respectively, plus Torii Hunter and Bobby Abreu's contracts will be off the books after this season.
The Angels not only upgrade themselves by acquiring Greinke, they also deal a blow to their AL West rivals — the Rangers were one of several teams in the mix for Greinke. With one major arm removed from the trade market, teams like the Rangers, Braves, White Sox or Dodgers could now their attention to other possibly available aces like James Shields or Josh Johnson.
Ken Rosenthal and Jon Morosi of FOX Sports (via Twitter) broke the news that Greinke was going to Anaheim, as well as the news about which prospects would be going back to Milwaukee.
Photo courtesy of Frank Victores/US Presswire.