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MLB Officially Announces Biogenesis Suspensions

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After months of speculation, we have some finality for a dozen of the players implicated in the Biogenesis scandal.  Major League Baseball has officially announced 50-game suspensions for Nelson Cruz, Jhonny Peralta, Everth Cabrera, Antonio Bastardo, Jesus Montero, Francisco Cervelli, Jordany Valdespin, Fautino De Los Santos, Jordan Norberto, Cesar Puello, Fernando Martinez and Sergio Escalona.

All of those players will accept their suspensions, while Alex Rodriguez, who was suspended for 211 games (effective Aug. 8), will appeal his suspension and be eligible to play until that process is complete.

The suspensions carry particular weight for the Rangers and Tigers. The Rangers, who are 2.5 games back of the A's in the AL West and just a half-game behind the Indians for a Wild Card berth, will lose their starting right-fielder and club home run leader in Cruz for the remainder of the regular season.

The Tigers will lose Peralta, their starting shortstop, for the remainder of the season as they look to fend off surging Cleveland and Kansas City clubs and win the American League Central division. Detroit safeguarded itself somewhat against the loss of Perata by acquiring Jose Iglesias in a three-team deal with the White Sox and Red Sox prior to the trade deadline.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today was the first to tweet that Cruz would accept his suspension. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports first tweeted that Peralta, Cabrera, Bastardo and Valdespin would also accept 50-game bans. Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports added Escalona to the list (Twitter link), and Rosenthal reported that Cervelli, Montero, Puello, De Los Santos, Martinez and Norberto would do the same (on Twitter).

A-Rod, 12 Others To Be Suspended Monday

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Alex Rodriguez and 12 other players will be suspended for their involvement with Biogenesis, according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. Earlier today, we learned Rodriguez is to be suspended through the 2014 season and Heyman names Tigers shortstop Jhonny Peralta, Rangers outfielder Nelson Cruz, Mariners catcher Jesus Montero, Padres shortstop Everth Cabrera, and Yankees catcher Francisco Cervelli among the Major League players also expected to be suspended, as well as minor leaguers Fernando Martinez, Jordan Norberto, Fautino de los Santos, and Cesar Puello. Heyman adds there are also three players on the suspension list whose names have yet to become public.

Heyman writes Blue Jays outfielder Melky Cabrera, A's right-hander Bartolo Colon, and Padres catcher Yasmani Grandal will not be suspended in connection with Biogenesis, as they have served 50-game penalties already. 

All or almost all of the other 12 players are expected to accept 50-game suspensions, though there could be an additional holdout or two for appeal beyond Rodriguez, reports Heyman. All the players have the option to appeal, but it is believed close to all of them have made agreements for 50-game bans with MLB, Heyman adds. Players who appeal are eligible to keep playing until their case is heard.

Cruz told reporters, including MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan, "I haven't decided what I'm going to do about anything. It's not just about myself, it's also about the team." Today is the 112th game played by the Rangers, so Cruz would be eligible to return for the playoffs (assuming Texas reaches the post-season), if he serves a 50-game suspension beginning Monday. Sullivan surmises the Rangers will recall an outfielder from the minors adding Manny Ramirez is not an option and manager Ron Washington is reluctant to use Jurickson Profar in the outfield. Regardless of what the Rangers end up doing, assistant GM Thad Levine acknowledges, "At this stage of the season, that's a difficult bat to replace."

NL Notes: Trade Deadline, Cedeno, Detwiler

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This year's quiet trade deadline is indicative of a brand of baseball in which youth is prized and the strategy of absorbing salary in deadline trades isn't as viable as it once was, Derrick Goold says in an article for the St. Louis Post Dispatch. With sellers such as the White Sox asking for "top 50" or "top 15" prospects in trades for their veterans, according to Goold, NL Central contenders the Cardinals, the Reds and the Pirates opted to stick with the teams they already had in place. Moving too many prospects in a trade is "the quickest way to head in the wrong direction," Pirates GM Neal Huntington opined. On to more Saturday night NL links:

  • The Padres signed shortstop Ronny Cedeno to a minor league deal with the knowledge that starting shortstop Everth Cabrera may be suspended on Monday in connection with the Biogenesis investigation, GM Josh Byrnes told Bill Center of The San Diego Union-Tribune. “From Josh’s standpoint, we have to make sure we are covered at shortstop in case we need one,” manager Bud Black said.
  • Cubs GM Jed Hoyer expects the waiver trade period to be more active than the non-waiver one, Manny Randhawa of MLB.com reports. However, Hoyer notes that there's some luck involved in putting together a trade after July 31. "If the wrong team claims a guy and won't give up any talent, you're kind of stuck, so waiver deals can work out, but you can also get stuck and not be able to make a deal," Hoyer said.
  • Nationals starter Ross Detwiler's lingering back issues may cause him to miss the rest of the season, manager Davey Johnson indicated in an article by Amanda Comak of The Washington Times. As Adam Kilgore of The Washington Post reported in July, many rival executives expected the Nats to acquire a starter after Detwiler hit the DL early last month. However, GM Mike Rizzo's lone July deal was a trade to acquire bench bat Scott Hairston from the Cubs.

Padres Sign Ronny Cedeno

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The Padres have signed Ronny Cedeno to a minor league deal, according to Corey Brock of MLB.com (via Twitter).  Cedeno was released by the Astros on Sunday along with Carlos Pena.

The shortstop was cut loose by Houston after batting just .220/.260/.298 in 51 games.  His departure from Houston cleared the way for the promotion of new starting shorstop Jonathan Villar.  Cedeno signed with the Astros in March after being released by the Cardinals.

July Trade Recap: NL West

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As we continue to recap the July 2013 trade period, the focus shifts to the National League. We'll start things off with the NL West:

Diamondbacks

Dodgers

Giants

Padres

  • Acquired right-handed starter Ian Kennedy from the Diamondbacks in exchange for left-handed reliever Joe Thatcher, righty Matt Stites, and a 2014 Competitive Balance pick (Round B).

Rockies

Synopsis

With crickets chirping all around baseball, the NL West certainly played its part in keeping down the trade volume. Most of the above-listed deals involved minor leaguers.

Of course, the Diamondbacks and Padres did pull off one of this year's most interesting swaps. On its face, the Ian Kennedy trade seems backwards, with second-place Arizona sending fading San Diego an established (albeit struggling) starter to acquire a LOOGY, an underwhelming relief prospect, and a competitive balance pick. The deal starts to make more sense when you consider the D-backs' starting depth and Kennedy's underperformance and rising arbitration salary. Nevertheless, as MLBTR's Tim Dierkes explained earlier today, Kennedy is a 28-year-old, cost-controlled, former Cy Young-contending starter who still possesses substantial upside. While Thatcher promises to deliver some value out of the Arizona pen, the most fascinating aspect of this deal will be watching to see whether Kennedy makes the Diamondbacks look foolish for giving up on him over the coming seasons.

On the seller side of the ledger, the division was notable for the absence of deals. The Giants, along with the above-noted Padres, both had various pieces that seemed ticketed for more promising clubs. With the Pads opting to hold onto reliever Luke Gregerson, and the Giants failing to deal any of their potential chips (such as pending free agents Javier Lopez, Tim Lincecum, and Hunter Pence), there was no influx of young talent to the bottom of the standings. Likewise, the Rockies opted to pick up a few minor pieces earlier in the month, but refrained from any major moves in either direction. 

In large part, the inaction of these clubs makes sense. The Giants are fresh off of a World Series victory and have the pieces to put together an above-average team next year. The club apparently intends to bring back Javier Lopez and make qualifying offers to Lincecum and Pence. It is understandable that San Francisco would choose to keep a competitive roster together in the meantime while making those plans for the future. 

In a different way, the Padres and Rockies had valid reasons to stand pat. Neither is so far out of the picture that a late run is out of the question. More importantly, both clubs have their share of young, big league talent that could continue to emerge in the near future. The pieces most recently discussed as trade possibilities from these teams — players like the Padres' Gregerson and Carlos Quentin, and the Rockies' Michael Cuddyer and Josh Outman — are all valuable big leaguers that are under team control beyond this season. If these clubs hope to contend over the next two seasons, it made sense to retain these assets. Moreover, none seemed likely to bring back anything close to a sure prospect.

Wait, did we forget a team? After a seemingly endless run of major moves, even the Dodgers were relatively quiet this year. Of course, Los Angeles did manage to make the most significant addition among the division contenders when it picked up Nolasco from the Marlins earlier this month. With the addition of Nolasco and the upswing in the team's overall health and performance, there were no glaring needs to address on deadline day. As it turned out, the biggest move the Dodgers made in the final run-up to the deadline was signing former closer Brian Wilson.

Padres Acquire Ian Kennedy

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The Padres have bolstered their rotation for the present and future, acquiring righty Ian Kennedy from the division rival Diamondbacks for lefty reliever Joe Thatcher, Double-A reliever Matt Stites, and a compensation round B draft pick, according to a tweet from MLB.com's Corey Brock.  It's a surprisingly light haul for Kennedy, a 28-year-old who is under team control through 2015 as an arbitration eligible player.

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Drafted 21st overall by the Yankees in '06, Kennedy joined Arizona in the December 2009 three-team trade with the Yanks and Tigers, at a time when Josh Byrnes was the Diamondbacks' GM.  Byrnes was fired the following year and later landed the GM job in San Diego, while Kevin Towers took over for Arizona.  Clearly, Byrnes has an affinity for Kennedy, who tossed 624 1/3 regular season innings from 2010-12 with a 3.55 ERA and finished fourth in the NL Cy Young voting back in 2011.  Kennedy's walk rate worsened this year, en route to a 5.23 ERA in 124 frames.  His skills suggest something closer to 4.00 moving forward.  As a fly-ball pitcher, Kennedy will likely benefit tremendously from leaving the hitter-friendly Chase Field to a more pitcher-friendly stadium in Petco Park.

Thatcher is a useful left-handed specialist who joined the Padres in a July 2007 trade brokered by Towers.  The 31-year-old has a 2.10 ERA, 8.7 K/9, 1.2 BB/9, 0.90 HR/9, and 42.4% groundball rate in 30 innings this year.  He's faced 70 lefty batters and held them to a .212/.257/.231 line.  Earning $1.35MM this year, Thatcher is under team control through 2014 as an arbitration eligible player.

Stites, a 23-year-old reliever, has a 2.08 ERA, 8.8 K/9, 1.4 BB/9, and 1.04 HR/9 in 52 Double-A innings this year.  Prior to the season Baseball America ranked the 5'11" Stites 27th among Padres prospects.

To clear space on the 40-man roster following the trade, the D'Backs have outrighted Nate Adcock to Triple-A Reno, according to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic (on Twitter).

The draft pick headed to the D'Backs is San Diego's competitive balance lottery pick, which is the first pick of Comp Round B (between the second and third rounds). As such, it will likely fall in the 70 to 75 range; Comp Round B consisted of picks 69 to 73 in this year's draft. Those picks carried assigned values of between $808K and $759K, according to Baseball America.

Towers and the Diamondbacks clearly thought Kennedy to be expendable with Trevor Cahill and Brandon McCarthy on the mend and Archie Bradley in the minor leagues. Kennedy scored a near-record $4.265MM salary for 2013, his first arbitration year.  MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects a mild raise to the $5.9MM range for 2014, so there's a financial element to the trade as well. Still, it seems to be an underwhelming return for a pitcher with Kennedy's upside, even in a down season.

As shown in MLBTR's Transaction Tracker, Towers and Byrnes have connected on a pair of past deals for Tony Clark and Scott Hairston back in 2008 and 2007, respectively.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Padres To Keep Gregerson

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The latest on the Padres, who host the Reds today 20 minutes prior to the trade deadline…

Earlier Updates

Padres Closing In On Trade For Ian Kennedy

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28-year-old Diamondbacks righty Ian Kennedy is having an off year, but he is under team control through 2015 as an arbitration eligible player.  The latest:

Earlier Updates

  • There are legs to the Kennedy to San Diego rumors, tweets Yahoo's Jeff Passan, who says Thatcher would be one of the players going to Arizona.  The Padres are in active discussions to acquire Kennedy, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.  Speaking on 620 KTAR today, D'Backs GM Kevin Towers said, "I'm fairly confident that there will be some trade news involving the Diamondbacks probably by the end of the day."
  • Kennedy to the Padres "could happen," hears Danny Knobler of CBS Sports.
  • The D'Backs could move Kennedy as a way to improve the back end of their bullpen, writes Scott Miller of CBS Sports.  They've inquired with the Padres on Luke Gregerson and Joe Thatcher.
  • The D'Backs are still considering offers for Kennedy even with potential replacement Jake Peavy landing in Boston, tweets Jon Heyman of CBS Sports.  The Angels would love Kennedy and the Padres are also in.

MLB Preparing 50-Game Suspensions In Biogenesis Case

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12:33am: Cruz has not decided whether he will serve his suspension or appeal it, according to Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (on Twitter).

7:17pm: Major League Baseball is preparing 50-game suspensions for Biogenesis-linked players who have not been disciplined in the past, writes Jon Heyman of CBS Sports.

Players such as Nelson Cruz, Jhonny Peralta, Everth Cabrera, Jesus Montero and Francisco Cervelli are among those facing these 50-game suspensions, as are minor leaguers Fernando Martinez, Cesar Puello and Fautino de los Santos. Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports writes that the vast majority of players connected to these 50-game suspensions — including playoff contenders Cruz and Peralta — are believed to be willing to accept the punishment rather than file appeals. Doing so will allow suspended players to play toward the end of September and into the playoffs, though their teams would be at a significant disadvantage down the stretch

Passan also tweets that MLB has threatened to double the penalty for players who do not cooperate with the suspensions, making cooperation a much more appealing option. Additionally, he adds that players who lied during the investigation could receive an additional 15 games on their suspensions, similar to Ryan Braun's case (Twitter link).

Bartolo Colon, Melky Cabrera and Yasmani Grandal are not likely to receive additional suspensions, having already served 50-game bans, according to Heyman. Both Heyman and Passan agree that Alex Rodriguez remains firm in his refusal to cooperate with a deal, as was reported earlier today. MLB would like Rodriguez to serve a suspension through the 2014 season but could pursue a lifetime ban if he does not cooperate.

Relief Rumors: Lopez, Gregerson, Thatcher, Red Sox

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Less than one day remains until the trade deadline, and relievers have been the most moved commodity in recent days, with Scott Downs, Jose Veras, Jesse Crain and Marc Rzepczynski all changing teams. Here's more on the relief market…

  • The Tigers remain open to adding relief help and have expressed interest in Javier Lopez, according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports (on Twitter). It seems that Detroit isn't necessarily set in the bullpen department after adding Veras yesterday.
  • Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer tweets that the Indians called the Giants about Lopez but the talks ended quickly when San Francisco asked for top prospect Danny Salazar in return.
  • The Padres are listening on both Luke Gregerson and Joe Thatcher, but they'd need to be "inspired" to move either pitcher, according to ESPN's Buster Olney (Twitter link).
  • Andy Martino of the New York Daily News reported earlier today the Red Sox still consider bullpen help as a high priority (Twitter link). However, the team acquired Jake Peavy and Brayan Villarreal earlier tonight, so that may no longer be a need. Villarreal could slot into Boston's bullpen, and the Sox could also push Brandon Workman to the bullpen, as Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe noted (on Twitter).
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