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September Call-ups: Pirates, Orioles, Padres, Mets

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Major League rosters can expand to 40 players beginning September 1st. Not everybody thinks it's such a great idea. Tigers manager Jim Leyland recently vented to reporters, including Jason Beck of MLB.com. "I've been really adamant about that, really a stickler on it," Leyland said. "When I have that meeting with the Commissioner [as part of the special committee for on-field matters], I talk about that all the time. Myself, if everybody went to 28, that wouldn't bother me at all. I think that's fine. That's just my feeling, but any manager who does a pretty good job of managing all year, and then at the biggest month of the year, he loses some of his ability to maneuver." Let's take a look at what the plans are for other clubs looking to maneuver over the season's final month. 
  • The Pirates are mulling their September call-ups with the post-season in mind, as they entered play today holding the second NL Wild Card spot and with Triple-A Indianapolis likely playoff-bound. General Manager Neal Huntington told reporters, including Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, "Where we go from there … it’s a delicate balance. I’ve been with another organization where we raided the Triple-A team as it was headed to the post-season. The guys came up and didn’t play very much, and that didn’t go over very well on many fronts."  At least one left-handed reliever and another catcher will be added when rosters expand, writes Biertempfel.
  • Pirates manager Clint Hurdle adds another consideration when deciding upon September call-ups: cost. In Biertempfel's piece, Hurdle pointed out, "In my rookie year, if you got a call-up, you made $5,000 or $6,000 (in September). Now you’re talking about making $75,000. So if you call up 10 guys, you’re picking up $750,000 in salary and everything that goes with it.”
  • Orioles manager Buck Showalter has acknowledged the team's September call-ups will be affected by the team's playoff chase. Rich Dubroff of CSNBaltimore.com lists possible players, both on the disabled list and at Triple-A, who could join the O's when the rosters expand. 
  • The Padres may not have the roster space to bring Jedd Gyorko up in September, according to John Maffei of the North County Times. The Padres already have 49 players on their 40-man roster (nine are on the 60-day disabled list) and may not want to start Gyorko's service clock just for a September sneak peak, writes Maffei. Since Gyorko has less than three full seasons in pro ball, the Padres don't have to add him to the 40-man roster next season.  
  • Lucas Duda will probably have to wait until September 1st to rejoin the Mets because the team wants to take a longer look at Mike Baxter, tweets the New York Post's Mike Puma. 
  • The Nationals have several candidates for September call-ups including pitcher John Lannan and 2011 first-round draft pick Anthony Rendon, writes MLB.com's Bill Ladson.

Cubs Claim Alex Hinshaw

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The Cubs have claimed left-handed pitcher Alex Hinshaw off outright waivers, tweets Corey Brock of MLB.com. Hinshaw was designated for assignment by the Padres last Tuesday.

Hinshaw posted a 4.50 ERA and 1.54 WHIP in 28 innings of relief work for San Diego this season. He logged a strong strikeout rate of 11.6 K/9, but struggled with his control (6.4 BB/9). Prior to pitching for the Padres this season, he last appeared in the big leagues with the Giants in 2009.

Hinshaw is expected to join the Cubs in Milwaukee tomorrow in time for their series against the Brewers, tweets Doug Padilla of ESPNChicago.com. The Cubs, however, have yet to announce a corresponding roster move.  

Rosenthal On Andrus, Headley, Ichiro, Victorino

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Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (video link) has posted his latest edition of Full Count, so let's dive in..

  • The Rangers likely promotion of top prospect Jurickson Profar doesn't necessarily mean that they'll trade Elvis Andrus this offseason, but its possible. Profar is 19-years-old with many years of club control ahead of him while Andrus has only two years left on his contract after this season. Andrus is a Scott Boras client, making an extension unlikely.
  • The Padres want one more piece for their rotation to support Clayton Richard and Edinson Volquez and Chase Headley could be the piece to help them make that happen. San Diego didn't get the prospect package that they wanted for Headley before the deadline but they could get a solid big league pitcher for him this winter.
  • The Giants made a serious run at Ichiro Suzuki at the deadline before he wound up with the Yankees. GM Brian Sabean instead went for Hunter Pence as he felt the lineup needed more power. Rosenthal wouldn't be surprised if the Giants pursue Ichiro in free agency, depending on how they feel about re-signing Melky Cabrera.
  • A source told Rosenthal that the Pirates could have gotten Shane Victorino from the Phillies before the deadline for Brad Lincoln. Of course, Pittsburgh instead sent Lincoln to the Blue Jays for Travis Snider.

Quick Hits: Samardzija, Stauffer, Izturis, Reynolds

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Tigers manager Jim Leyland all but confirmed that Victor Martinez will not return this season, reports James Schmehl of mLive.com. Martinez torn his ACL during an offseason workout, but there was a small possibility that he would return to the team in September. Here's the latest from around the league…

  • “I’m not really too worried about that. I like to leave that front-office stuff to my agent,” said Cubs right-hander Jeff Samardzija to ESPN Chicago when asked if any contract extension talks were taking place. The 27-year-old is in the middle of a breakout season while earning $2.64MM.
  • Right-hander Tim Stauffer is dealing with shoulder and elbow issues, and Bill Center of The San Diego Union-Tribute says that the Padres will likely non-tender him after the season. Stauffer has only made one start this year and will earn $3.2MM.
  • The Nationals designated Cesar Izturis for assignment earlier today, and manager Davey Johnson told reporters (including Dan Kolko of MASNSports.com) that the club will likely bring him back in September if he isn't claimed off waivers (Twitter link).
  • Rich Dubroff of CSNBaltimore.com says the Orioles have a difficult decision to make about Mark Reynolds' club option after the season. Baltimore holds an $11MM option ($500K buyout) for the slugger, who has turned it on of late following a slow start.
  • The Padres are considering internal options (crosscheckers Bob Filoti and Bill Gasparino) as well as external options (Mets coordinator Ian Levin and crosschecker Steve Barningham) for their scouting director position, reports Jim Callis of Baseball America (on Twitter).

NL West Notes: Francoeur, Giants, Pence, Padres

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We took a look at both Western divisions earlier today, now we'll zero in on just the National League side..

  • Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter) wonders if Jeff Francoeur could be a fit for the Giants.  Rosenthal notes that the outfielder, owed $6.75MM next season, would likely would clear waivers.  However, the Royals couldn't be expected to just give him away.
  • It has been widely speculated that the Giants acquired Hunter Pence as a response to rumors surrounding Melky Cabrera's possible suspension, but GM Brian Sabean denied that being a factor, writes Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle.  "We tried to acquire [Pence] at the deadline last year and he was going to be a Giant if we could find a way to do it this year," Sabean said.  The GM also said that there was nothing "too compelling or interesting" available on the waiver wire.
  • The new Padres ownership could take the club in a number of directions, writes Chris Jenkins of U-T San Diego.  The sale of the team is now complete as it was approved at the owners meetings this week.

Owners Approve Sale Of Padres

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AUGUST 16th: The sale of the team is complete, reports Bob Nightengale of USA Today (on Twitter). The deal was approved at the owners meetings this week. The Padres are now under the control of the Ron Fowler group, which includes the O'Malley family.

AUGUST 6th: The sale of the Padres to the O'Malley group has completed, writes Bill Center of the San Diego Union-Tribune.

The sale price, according to Center, is roughly $800MM. That includes $200MM of up-front cash for the Padres as an advance for their upcoming 20-year television deal with FOX Sports San Diego. The deal is pending approval of other Major League owners, which could come as soon as Aug. 16 when the owners meet in Denver, according to Center.

The O'Malley group was selected to purchase the Padres one month ago today. Peter O'Malley, former owner of the Dodgers, leads the purchase group that also includes his sons, Kevin and Brian; nephews Peter and Tom Seidler; San Diego businessman Ron Fowler; and professional golfer Phil Mickelson. O'Malley's sons and nephews are expected to become "hands on" owners. There are no immediate changes to the baseball operations team known at this time. 

Mike Axisa contributed to this post.

Padres Designate Alex Hinshaw For Assignment

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The Padres have designated left-handed pitcher Alex Hinshaw for assignment, the club announced via press release.

Hinshaw, 30 in October, posted a 4.50 ERA and 1.54 WHIP in 28 innings of relief work for the Friars this season. The lefty logged a strong strikeout rate of 11.6 K/9 but struggled with his control (6.4 BB/9). Prior to pitching for San Diego this season, he last appeared in the big leagues with the Giants in 2009.

In a corresponding 40-man roster move, the Padres selected left-hander Tom Layne from Double-A San Antonio.

Padres, Mark Kotsay Agree To Extension

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2:40pm: Kotsay's extension is worth $1.3MM, tweets Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com.

10:33am: The Padres announced via press release that they have agreed to terms on a contract extension with Kotsay.  “Mark provides versatility and a very good late-game at-bat,” General Manager Josh Byrnes said. “He brings invaluable leadership to our club and has become one of the key members of our team.”

9:20am: The Padres are set to extend veteran Mark Kotsay through the 2013 season today, according to Corey Brock of MLB.com (via Twitter).  San Diego has been impressed by the veteran's clubhouse presence and his bat off of the bench, according to Brock.  

Kotsay, 36, has a .275/.333/.363 slash line with one home run in 111 plate appearances. The outfielder/first baseman made just $1.25MM this season and earned trade interest from multiple clubs in July, including the Reds.  Kotsay owns a .278/.334/.409 batting line across his 16-year career.

2013 Vesting Options Update

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With a little less than one-third of the season left to go, let's check in on the various vesting option situations from around the league…

  • Jason Bartlett, Padres — $5.5MM option vests with 432 plate appearances. Bartlett came to the plate just 98 times before being placed on the disabled list with a knee injury. He won't return to the lineup anytime soon, so this option will not vest.
  • Kevin Gregg, Orioles — $6MM option vests with 50 games finished. Gregg has finished just 12 of the team's 113 games, so this one is very unlikely even though it's still mathematically possible.
  • Brett Myers, White Sox — $10MM option vests with 45 games finished or based on a points system. Myers has finished 33 games this season, and he has finished four of the ten games he's appeared in with Chicago despite not being the closer. This is one worth monitoring.

Chipper Jones has an option worth $9MM+ that will vest with 123 games played, but he's already rendered the option moot by announcing his plans to retire after the season. He recently said that he won't change his mind about retirement despite his strong play as well. Chipper has played in 71 of the Braves' first 112 games.

Alex Gonzalez has an option worth $4MM that will vest with 525 plate appearances, but he is expected to miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL. Gonzalez came to the plate just 89 times before the injury, so the Brewers do not have to worry about this one kicking in.

Quick Hits: Padres, Cubs, Bourn, Sheets, Braves

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Earlier today, the Indians released right-hander Derek Lowe after designating him for assignment earlier this month.  The veteran is willing to start or relieve and there's reportedly a sense that he'll return to the National League.  While we keep an eye on where the veteran might land, here's tonight's look around baseball..

  • As first reported by Jim Callis of Baseball America, Padres scouting director Jaron Madison is leaving the organization to join the Cubs.  The 36-year-old will take over as Chicago's scouting director while Tim Wilken has been reassigned to the role of Special Assistant to president Theo Epstein, the team announced.
  • One Braves official believes that if Michael Bourn had an agent other than Scott Boras he might already have a new contract with the club, writes Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com.  People who know Nationals GM Mike Rizzo believe that Bourn has always been at the top of his wish list and the Phillies, Reds, and Marlins are also potential suitors this winter.
  • Ben Sheets wasn't entirely confident about his return to the big leagues, but the veteran has looked tremendous so far, Knobler writes.  The 34-year-old isn't sure how long he'll continue pitching but he says that he wants to leave on his own terms as opposed to being forced out by injury.
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