NL East Notes: Soler, Egbert, Braves
R.A. Dickey was masterful again today, throwing 7 1/3 innings of shutout ball in the Mets' 3-1 victory over the Nationals. Dickey has now thrown 24 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings and is approaching Jerry Koosman's club record scoreless inning streak of 31 2/3 innings.
Here's the latest from around the NL East…
- The Marlins are not pursuing Jorge Soler, reports Juan C. Rodriguez of the South Florida Sun Sentinel (via Twitter). The Marlins didn't submit an offer by Thursday, the deadline set by Soler's representatives for teams to propose a contract for the Cuban outfielder.
- Mets right-hander Jack Egbert has cleared waivers and will go to Triple-A Buffalo, reports ESPN New York's Adam Rubin. Egbert was designated for assignment on Tuesday.
- The Braves signed third-round draft pick Bryan De La Rosa, tweets Jim Callis of Baseball America. De La Rosa, a high school catcher, signed for his exact slot value of $408.3K.
- In NL East news from earlier today, the Nationals signed several draft picks and outlined their draft day strategy, while the Braves and Mets each reached agreements with their first-round picks.
Quick Hits: Street, Soler, Mets, Prior, Draft
Links from around baseball as Wednesday becomes Thursday..
- Padres closer Huston Street is excited to return to action but is also aware that he might not stay long with the trade deadline less than two months away, writes Dan Hayes of the North County Times. Street is earning $7.5MM this season with a $9MM team option for 2013 that can be bought out for just $500K.
- A number of teams seem to be in on Jorge Soler, but it doesn't appear that the Mets will be one of them. Despite the recent Bernie Madoff settlement, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com (via Twitter) hears that the club still doesn't plan to pursue him.
- Brian MacPherson of The Providence Journal spoke with Mark Prior about his latest effort to get back to the big leagues with the Red Sox. Boston signed the right-hander to a minor league deal last month.
- Agent Scott Boras told Bob Nightengale of USA Today that he believes the draft has become a "mockery" after the changes to the rules under the new collective bargaining agreement.
- Major League Baseball vice president/baseball development Jimmie Lee Solomon has been fired by commissioner Bud Selig, industry sources confirm to Eric Fisher of the Sporting News. Solomon spent 21 years working with MLB. Josh Leventhal of Baseball America first reported the news on Tuesday.
- Matthew Leach of MLB.com previews the upcoming trade deadline and the teams that are straddling the fence between buying and selling.
Cubs Notes: Garza, Soler
A couple of items on the 19-37 Cubs..
- The Cubs are saying that they'll try to sign Matt Garza, but rival GMs believe that there is a decent chance of a trade, tweets Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. It could come down to an AL East battle for his services, Heyman adds, with the Yankees, Red Sox, and Blue Jays all in the mix.
- The Cubs were one of several teams that had representatives at Jorge Soler's workout today, writes Patrick Mooney of CSNChicago.com. Cubs GM Jed Hoyer admitted that the club has done their fair share of homework on the highly-touted prospect. “We’ve been following this carefully and we certainly plan to be involved," Hoyer said.
Pirates Notes: Jorge Soler, Stetson Allie
The Pirates own the eighth overall pick in tonight's amateur draft, the first time they've selected outside of the top five since picking Andrew McCutchen with the 11th overall pick in 2005. Here's the latest from Pittsburgh…
- The Pirates will be bidders for 20-year-old Cuban outfielder Jorge Soler, reports Rob Biertempfel of The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (on Twitter). They will not budge from their pre-determined value and won't offer Yoenis Cespedes money, however. Soler was declared a free agent by MLB over the weekend.
- The Bucs are converting pitching prospect Stetson Allie into a position player, reports Biertempfel and Dejan Kovacevic of The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Allie signed for $2.2MM as the 52nd overall pick in the 2010 draft but has walked 37 batters in 26 2/3 pro innings. Baseball America ranked him as the club's ninth best prospect coming into this season.
Quick Hits: Dodgers, Byrd, Soler, Red Sox, Cubs
The Dodgers have been sliding as of late and though they could use some reinforcements, they might not get them any time soon. General Manager Ned Colletti said that he has been contacting other teams for the last month to inquire about potential trades but hasn't found much yet, writes Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times. More from around baseball..
- Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe (via Twitter) wonders if both of the players in the Michael Bowden–Marlon Byrd trade could be designated for assignment. Bowden was DFA'd by the Cubs yesterday to make room for right-hander Jairo Asencio while Byrd could be DFA'd by the Red Sox when Darnell McDonald returns.
- Jorge Soler's agent, Barry Praver, has requested that offers for his client be submitted by Thursday, June 7th, a source tells Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus (via Twitter).
- The Red Sox aren't aggressively shopping Kevin Youkilis right now because he has been hitting well and the club doesn't know when Carl Crawford and Jacoby Ellsbury will be back, writes Buster Olney of ESPN.com (Insider sub. req'd).
- Jim Bowden of ESPN.com (Insider req'd) suggests three trades to help fix the Cubs.
Jorge Soler Declared A Free Agent
11:52am: Ben Badler of Baseball America reports that Soler's agent, Bart Hernandez of the Praver Shapiro Sports Management group, still must produce a) an unblocking license from the Office of Foreign Asset Control, or b) two permanent residency documents from a new country before any contract can be finalized.
10:39am: Jorge Soler has been declared a free agent and is now eligible to sign with any team, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). The 20-year-old Cuban outfielder will be subject to the spending restrictions imposed by the new collective bargaining agreement as of July 2nd, but he can sign for any amount prior to then.
The Indians, Red Sox, Phillies, Yankees, Marlins, Blue Jays, and Astros are said to have interest in Soler, and I'm sure many other clubs will get involved as well. Back in March we heard bogus reports that the Cubs had agreed to a contract with the outfielder. Two GMs speculated that the bidding would exceed five years and $15-20MM back in February.
Quick Hits: Red Sox, Gregg, Soler
The Braves announced that they’re retiring John Smoltz’s number 29 to honor the right-hander’s contributions over the course of 20 seasons with Atlanta. Here are today’s links…
- Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine publicly questioned Kevin Youkilis' commitment, but GM Ben Cherington says the entire organization knows Youkilis works and plays hard. "Bobby's acknowledged that he shouldn't have said what he said and spoke to Kevin about it,'' Cherington told Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com.
- The Red Sox aren’t likely to deal for an outfielder to fill in while Jacoby Ellsbury’s on the disabled list, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe hears from a team source.
- MLB.com’s Brittany Ghiroli wonders if it’s time for the Orioles and Kevin Gregg to part ways (Twitter link). Gregg, who had a rough outing in Toronto yesterday, will earn $5.8MM this year. I expect the Orioles to decline their $6MM club option for Gregg this coming offseason.
- As far as MLB teams know, Jorge Soler isn’t officially a free agent yet, Ben Badler of Baseball America tweets. This means teams can’t yet negotiate with the promising young outfielder.
Cubs Notes: Soler, Pitching, LaHair, Jackson
As long-time Cubs shortstop Shawon Dunston celebrates his 49th birthday today, here's the latest out of Wrigley Field…
- Rumors that the Cubs have a $27MM agreement in place with Cuban outfielder Jorge Soler "are completely bogus," GM Jed Hoyer told reporters (including Dave van Dyck of the Chicago Tribune). Soler is still waiting to be officially declared a free agent by Major League Baseball.
- Hoyer also says (via Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times) that he "wouldn’t be surprised" if the Cubs made a trade before the season begins, though the team is happy with its current roster. The Cubs theoretically have an excess of pitching but Hoyer likes having that extra depth in the staff.
- Anthony Rizzo has hit well this spring while Bryan LaHair has struggled, but Hoyer tells reporters (including ESPN Chicago's Doug Padilla) that the Cubs still intend to start LaHair at first base on Opening Day and have Rizzo begin the year in the minors.
- Bruce Levine of ESPN Chicago says the Cubs aren't keen on starting the Major League service time clocks of their top prospects, so Brett Jackson and Josh Vitters look to remain in the minors for at least a few months, if not all, of the 2012 campaign. Also from Levine's chat, he discusses the lack of news about possible trades of Matt Garza or Marlon Byrd and now Alfonso Soriano is virtually untradeable even if he enjoys a good first half of the season.
Central Notes: Floyd, Garza, Baker, Hernandez, Pirates
Here's the latest from both of MLB's Central divisions…
- MLB.com's Gregor Chisholm doesn't put much stock in the latest Gavin Floyd trade rumors between the White Sox and the Blue Jays because of the Jays organization's "cone of silence" under Alex Anthopoulos. "There’s a general rule of thumb Toronto’s GM likes to use in these type of situations," Chisholm writes. "If a report gets out that a deal is done then it very likely is done. If a report comes out that two teams are discussing something, or that a team and agent have begun serious negotiations, more often than not it’s false."
- Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer declined to comment on whether the team was any closer to a multiyear extension with Matt Garza, reports Patrick Mooney of CSNChicago.com. We heard last month that the two sides planned to talk contract during Spring Training.
- Dusty Baker was non-committal about his future with the Reds as he enters the last year of his contract, Baker told the media (including MLB.com's Barry M. Bloom). "This year, it's my decision, as well as a [Reds] ownership decision. It depends whether I'm asked back. It depends on my feelings," Baker said. "You get to that certain point in your life. We'll see at the end of the year or before it, depending on how things go."
- Indians right-hander Roberto Hernandez (a.k.a. Fausto Carmona) has agreed to complete a work program in the Dominican Republic in exchange for having the false identity charges against him dropped, reports The Associated Press. Hernandez is currently on Cleveland's restricted list while the matter is being investigated. It is still unknown when Hernandez will be allowed to obtain a new visa and resume his baseball career.
- The Indians are interested in Jorge Soler, but Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer thinks the Tribe will be outbid for the Cuban outfield prospect. At least nine teams are known to have some level of interest in Soler, with the Cubs considered by "most in the industry" to be the favorites.
- The Pirates' process of rebuilding their minor league system in order to restock their team's talent base is slowly beginning to pay dividends, writes MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince.
- Pirates right-hander Gerrit Cole's first pro Spring Training experience and his road to being the first overall pick in last summer's amateur draft are profiled by J. Brady McCollough of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Red Sox Notes: John Lannan, Jorge Soler
Here's the latest on the Red Sox, who are trying to get back to the playoffs after two straight years on the outside looking in…
- The Red Sox did not make an offer for Nationals starter John Lannan, reports WEEI.com's Alex Speier. Yesterday we heard that they had made an offer for the southpaw, but weren't close. Speier says the Sox intend to monitor Lannan's situation this spring, but there is no indication they will seriously pursue him.
- Boston will pursue 19-year-old Cuban outfielder Jorge Soler, reports Speier. Soler is still waiting to be declared a free agent by MLB, but Speier says most in the industry (including the Red Sox) expect him to sign with the Cubs.
- Check out our Transaction Tracker for a recap of all the Red Sox's moves this offseason.