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White Sox To Sign Gray, Troncoso, Anderson

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The White Sox announced that they agreed to sign seven players to minor league contracts that include invitations to MLB Spring Training. Right-handers Jeff Gray and Ramon Troncoso, left-hander David Purcey, catcher Bryan Anderson, infielders Josh Bell and Steve Tolleson and outfielder Stefan Gartrell will all report to Glendale next month.

Gray pitched for the Twins in 2012, posting a 5.71 ERA with 4.5 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9 in 52 innings. Troncoso, who turns 30 next month, pitched for the Dodgers' Triple-A team in 2012. Purcey also spent the 2012 season at Triple-A, and he struck out more than one batter per inning at that level while struggling to limit walks. The 26-year-old Anderson appeared in ten games for last year's Cardinals team. Bell, formerly a top prospect, played in 21 games for the Diamondbacks in 2012. Tolleson appeared in 29 games with the 2012 Orioles, posting a .183/.227/.310 batting line as a utility player. Gartrell posted a .787 OPS with 20 home runs for the Braves' top affiliate last year.

O’s Acquire Mike Belfiore To Complete Josh Bell Trade

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The Orioles have acquired minor league lefty Mike Belfiore from the Diamondbacks to complete the Josh Bell trade, the team announced. Arizona acquired Bell for a player to be named later last month.

Belfiore, 23, was the 45th overall pick of the 2009 draft but has yet to develop as hoped. He owns a 4.05 ERA with 8.5 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 in 282 1/3 minor league innings, but has experienced some success after moving to the bullpen full-time last year. Baseball America did not rank him among Arizona's top 30 prospects in their 2012 Prospect Handbook.

Belfiore may be best known for throwing 9 2/3 scoreless innings of relief for Boston College during an NCAA postseason game in 2009, the longest game in college baseball history.

Diamondbacks Acquire Josh Bell From O’s

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The Diamondbacks have acquired infielder Josh Bell from the Orioles, a source tells Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun (Twitter link), and Arizona announced that Baltimore will receive a player to be named. The Orioles designated Bell for assignment earlier in the week.

Baltimore acquired Bell, 25, from the Dodgers shortly before the non-waiver trade deadline in 2009, in the deal that sent left-handed reliever George Sherrill to Los Angeles. Bell was a well-regarded prospect then but played poorly in two stints with the O's in 2010 and '11, hitting .200/.221/.264 in 226 Major League plate appearances.

Arizona was one of four teams interested in acquiring the 2005 fourth-round draft pick, according to Brittany Ghiroli of MLB.com, who adds that the Dodgers were in the mix, as well (Twitter links). Bell will be assigned to Triple-A Reno, Ghiroli writes.

Quick Hits: Glass, Bell, Bumgarner

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The 1909 T-206 Honus Wagner baseball card continues to be the hottest item in the memorabilia market, as one of the rare cards was sold today for $1.2MM in an online auction.  Here's some news from around the majors as we head into the weekend…

Orioles Claim Luis Exposito, Designate Josh Bell

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The Orioles announced that they claimed catcher Luis Exposito off of waivers from the Red Sox. To create 40-man roster space for Exposito, Baltimore designated infielder Josh Bell for assignment.

The Red Sox designated Exposito and Michael Bowden for assignment in a recent roster shuffle. The 25-year-old Exposito spent last season at Triple-A, where he posted a .242/.298/.367 line in 359 plate appearances. He prevented one third of stolen base attempts from behind the plate.

Bell, once considered a top prospect, has fallen out of favor in Baltimore. He spent most of last season at Triple-A, where he posted a .253/.320/.438 line in 438 plate appearances as Norfolk's third baseman. He has a .485 OPS in 226 plate appearances at the MLB level.

Pirates Break Draft Records

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The Pirates spent $30.6MM on the 2008-10 drafts, more than any other team.  This year they upped the ante, spending over $17MM on 24 players – the largest draft expenditure in baseball history.  Yesterday, the Bucs inked first overall pick Gerrit Cole for a record $8MM bonus, and then surprised the industry by succeeding in signing second round pick/first round talent Josh Bell for $5MM.  Bell, who had a strong commitment to the University of Texas, more than doubled the record for a player drafted outside of the first round.  Both players are represented by Scott Boras, as our agency database shows.  Today's Pirates draft links…

  • Talking to Karen Price of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, GM Neal Huntington explained the team's pursuit of Bell: "His family is obviously strong, they're intelligent and hard-working people, and we had nothing but respect for their perspective.  We wanted the opportunity to explain who we were, how we do things, and we were hoping Josh was ready to take the step to professional baseball if we were to find a common financial ground, and we were able to do that."
  • Cole can make more than $9MM in guaranteed money if he reaches the Majors by 2013, reports MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch.  Price has Huntington explaining that Cole's record minor league deal was the way to go: "There are times where a pure minor league contract and minor league signing bonus, paid out over nine months, is better than a major league contract paid out over five-plus years, depending on how the deals are structured."
  • Just for good measure, the Pirates also set a ninth-round record by signing high school righty Clay Holmes for $1.2MM, according to Baseball America's Jim Callis.  Holmes was one of many over slot deals for the Pirates.

NL Central Notes: Pujols, Bell, Brewers

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Albert Pujols will miss four to six weeks with a fracture in his left arm, further confirmation that no NL Central club appears ready to run away with the division. The 40-33 Brewers would deal a catcher, the defending champion Reds are eyeing arms and the Pirates are lurking around the .500 mark. Here's the rest of tonight's NL Central-related news…

  • Cardinals GM John Mozeliak told Matthew Leach of MLB.com that he isn't ready to determine how aggressive the Cardinals will be in trade talks leading up to the July 31st deadline. The GM acknowledged that Pujols' injury opens "some potential opportunities out there that maybe [the team] wouldn't have explored 48 hours ago."
  • Here's more reaction to Pujols' injury from earlier tonight.
  • Jim Callis of Baseball America hears that Pirates draft pick Josh Bell is set on going to the University of Texas, where he has committed to playing. Despite that, Callis likes the pick for Pittsburgh, which should have plenty of money to dangle in the prospect's direction.
  • Adam McCalvy and Audrey Snyder of MLB.com explain how one lucky Brewers fan signed a one-day contract with his favorite team.

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

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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.

Draft Notes: Bell, Stilson, High School Pitchers

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It was just three years ago that the Astros drafted right-hander Jordan Lyles in the supplemental first round of the 2008 draft (38th overall), but now the 20-year-old will make his big league debut in place of the injured Wandy Rodriguez on Tuesday. Some team will draft the next Lyles nine days from now, so here are some news and notes for the meantime…

  • Conor Glassey of Baseball America reports that high school outfielder Josh Bell sent a letter to the Major League Scouting Bureau informing teams that he doesn't want to sign a professional contract and will instead follow through on his commitment to Texas. Bell, who is being advised by Scott Boras, is "a surefire first-rounder on talent" according to Glassey.
  • Jim Callis of Baseball America reports that Texas A&M righty Josh Stilson will miss the rest of the season due to a SLAP tear in his shoulder. Callis notes that Stilson, a likely first rounder before the injury, has been worked hard during his college career.
  • MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo wrote about the top high school pitchers available this year, including Dylan Bundy, who "some claim he's the best pitcher, period, in this class."
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