AL West Notes: Astros, Franklin, Walker, Reddick
The Astros have made the promotion of George Springer and DFA of Lucas Harrell official by announcing each move via press release. As Houston fans (and fantasy baseball players) eagerly await Springer's big league debut, here's a look around the rest of the division…
- Springer won't be the only highly touted prospect to arrive in the Majors today; the Mariners will recall Nick Franklin from Triple-A Tacoma, reports Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times, who expects Logan Morrison to hit the DL in order to clear a 25-man roster spot. According to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports (on Twitter), Franklin could see some time in the outfield. Franklin, 23, got off to a blistering .395/.469/.744 start in 11 Triple-A games after an offseason loaded with trade speculation.
- Mariners right-hander Taijuan Walker was scratched from last night's rehab start after complaining of stiffness in his arm, reports Don Ruiz of the Tacoma News Tribune. GM Jack Zduriencik said that Walker — who is a consensus Top 10 prospect — will be re-evaluated today. Seattle's rotation has been solid so far, but they've experienced a good deal of poor luck with injuries to Walker, Hisashi Iwakuma and James Paxton.
- Jerry Brewer of Athletics Nation looks at Josh Reddick's struggles this season and tracks the history of pitches he's seen in two-strike counts dating back to 2012. Brewer notes that Reddick has long struggled against good fastballs and curveballs, while feasting on sliders and changeups. Pitchers are hammering Reddick with fastballs and curves thus far, and the result has been a 33 percent strikeout rate to go along with his .098/.196/.098 batting line. The A's are in a clear jam as they decide what to do with Reddick, Brewer writes. Reddick has a minor league option remaining, but he could see as much or even more velocity in Triple-A, which will contain no shortage of up-and-coming power arms.
Morales Rejected $30MM Extension Last Summer
Kendrys Morales is still without an employer as he and agent Scott Boras appear willing to wait beyond the June draft in order to free a signing team from the burden of having to surrender a draft pick. However, Morales had the opportunity to sign a deal that would've kept him in Seattle through 2017 last summer, according to Todd Dybas of the Tacoma News Tribune. As Dybas writes, general manager Jack Zduriencik recently told fans at a meet-and-greet that the Mariners offered Morales a three-year, $30MM extension after last year's All-Star break.
Reports last summer indicated that talks between the two sides never got serious due to the Mariners' surprise over the asking price from Boras and Morales. Interest in Morales on the open market was clearly never as high as the two had hoped, with the Mariners and Orioles being the teams that were the most frequently connected to the DH/first baseman.
Perhaps shedding the "draft pick compensation" label will aid Morales and get him a deal that is more to his liking, but it's tough to see him landing something north of Seattle's 2013 offer. In a now-controversial piece from ESPN, several executives offered their thoughts on Morales' value, but $8-10MM was as high as any were willing to go in terms of average annual value. (The MLBPA has asked the commissioner's office to investigate that situation, as the anonymous executives' comments are in violation of the collective bargaining agreement.)
The 30-year-old Morales batted .277/.336/.449 with 23 homers last season and earned $5.25MM in his final year of arbitration eligibility.
AL West Notes: Pujols, Elias, Mariners’ Payroll, Astros
ESPNLosAngeles.com's Christina Kahrl looks at the difference between Albert Pujols' in 2013 and his hot start in 2014 with a pair of heat maps to demonstrate that Pujols is doing far more damage on pitches in the zone in the early-going than he was able to do last season. While it's a small sample and his .259/.322/.556 triple-slash isn't exactly vintage Pujols, his hot streak since hitting that first homer is a promising sign after a bleak 2013. Kahrl writes that the Angels' biggest need is for Pujols to fend off Father Time for a few more seasons. As "The Machine" closes in on 500 career home runs — he's currently at 496 — here are some more AL West links…
- Mariners left-hander Roenis Elias' dream has come true this season, writes MLB.com's Greg Johns. The Cuban defector talked with Johns (via his interpreter) about the excitement of nailing down his first big league win and the inspiration he drew from his son. Elias impressed his manager, teammates and opponents in a win over the Rangers, as Lloyd McClendon and Elvis Andrus both offered high praise. Said McClendon: "I don't think facing Prince Fielder is really going to scare him that much. He was fighting for his life trying to make it to this country. He's shown a lot of poise."
- In an excellent piece from Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times, Baker examines the Mariners' payroll in contrast with the team's overall value, noting a large discrepancy. Last year's purchase of a 71 percent stake in ROOT Sports Northwest more than doubled Seattle's TV revenue, and their growing revenue over the past few years was enough that BizofBaseball.com founder Maury Brown estimated to Baker that the Mariners could fetch $1 billion on the open market were ownership to sell. Recent estimates from Bloomberg pegged the club's value at $720MM, but that was prior to the ROOT acquisition. Brown told Baker that there "should be no limits" on the Mariners in free agency despite mammoth commitments to Robinson Cano and Felix Hernandez. Baker concludes by calling baseball a "cash-drunk sport with only a vague notion of its financial ceiling" and noting that the Mariners "can't spot their ceiling with a telescope."
- Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow tells Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle that two weeks is the "bare minimum" amount of time needed to make evaluations of minor league players, but many other factors are involved. Among them are whether the player has moved up a level, if they played in the Arizona Fall League or winter ball, and what their Spring Training was like. Luhnow said he expects the club's "most famous prospects" — presumably George Springer, Jonathan Singleton, Carlos Correa, Mark Appel and Michael Foltynewicz — to move quickly. As far as the players themselves are concerned, Springer tells Drellich he's not really sure what Super Two status meant, while Singleton "had an idea."
AL East Notes: Rays, Kelley, Drew, Gomes, Sox
Facing the possibility of losing Matt Moore to Tommy John surgery, Rays manager Joe Maddon offered his take on the recent rash of Tommy John surgeries in the game. Via the Associated Press:
"Sometimes you have to look underneath the surface and I tend to agree it has a lot to do with youth sports and travel teams and multiple travel teams and kids pitching to win when they're really young and throwing too many pitches. I think the more recent epidemic curiously might be tied to what they're doing before they even get here professionally."
Of course, Moore's injury is not the only injury facing the Rays' rotation, either. Jeremy Hellickson opened the season on the disabled list, and Alex Cobb is now out as long as six weeks after being placed on the DL with an oblique strain yesterday, writes Roger Mooney of the Tampa Tribune. Here's more from the AL East…
- The Mariners' decision to designate Shawn Kelley for assignment last Spring Training rather than pay him $935K has proven to be the Yankees' gain, writes John Harper of the New York Daily News. Kelley was a vital part of the bullpen in 2013 and has stepped up for the injured David Robertson in 2014 thus far. Kelley's strong 2013 season is part of the reason that the Yanks didn't add a right-handed setup arm this offseason, writes Harper, as they believed the two-time Tommy John victim to be capable of handling the role of Robertson's primary setup man.
- Harper also looks at the predictably injury-riddled Yankees infield and opines that it's time for the team to call Scott Boras to get a deal done with Stephen Drew. As Harper points out, the Yankees ran out an infield of Kelly Johnson, Dean Anna, Yangervis Solarte and Carlos Beltran last night, and patchwork mixes like that simply won't cut it. He suggests a two-year deal for Drew, to play second base and provide insurance for Jeter this season before taking the reins at shortstop in 2015.
- While much is made of Jon Lester's coming free agency by the Boston media, the Boston Herald's John Tomase writes that Jonny Gomes is also in the final year of his deal, and he spoke with the part-time Red Sox outfielder about that scenario. Gomes admits that it's difficult to play in a walk year due to the results-oriented nature of the game, adding that he knows being a good clubhouse presence won't necessarily get him a job next year. Tomase writes that ideally, Gomes' preference is to stay in Boston.
- WEEI.com's Alex Speier writes that Red Sox manager John Farrell isn't exactly thrilled with the early returns on baseball's instant replay system. "It's hard to have any faith in the system," said Farrell after being on the losing end of a pair of challenges this weekend. Saturday's call, in particular, looked to provide conclusive evidence in Boston's favor, but the umpires didn't agree. Said Farrell: "As much as they’re trying to help the human element inside this system, it seems like it’s added the human element at a different level."
Rangers Acquire Hector Noesi
The Rangers have announced that they have acquired pitcher Hector Noesi from the Mariners. The Mariners will receive cash in the deal, CBS Sports' Jon Heyman tweets. The Mariners designated Noesi for assignment last week. To clear space on their 40-man roster for Noesi, the Rangers moved Jurickson Profar to the 60-day disabled list. The Rangers will have to make another move to add Noesi to their 25-man roster.
Noesi, 27, has a 5.64 ERA, 6.4 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 in 191 1/3 career innings with the Mariners and Yankees. The Mariners acquired him from New York before the 2012 season in the Michael Pineda / Jesus Montero trade. There's no immediate word on Noesi's role in Texas, but the Rangers' pitching staff has struggled with injuries, and Noesi has experience with both starting and relieving.
Angels Rule 5 Pick Brian Moran To Undergo Tommy John
The Angels have announced that lefty Brian Moran will undergo season-ending Tommy John surgery. After being left unprotected by the Mariners, Moran was taken by the Blue Jays in the ninth position in the Rule 5 draft and immediately shipped to Los Angeles in exchange for an international bonus slot.
Moran is expected to remain with the Angels for the coming season while he rehabs from surgery, says MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez. The club will be able to keep him while clearing a 40-man spot by placing him on the 60-day DL, and will then have the same rights over Moran as they do at present. Once Moran is activated, the Angels will need to clear a 40-man spot and then maintain him on the active roster for all of next season or offer him back to Seattle.
A similar situation occurred recently with Brad Meyers, who was selected by the Yankees from the Nationals. Meyers spent the entire year on the DL — including time on the 60-day list — and was ultimately returned to Washington in the fall following his surgery.
Moran, a 25-year-old lefty, spent the last three seasons in the upper minors with the Seattle organization. In 62 2/3 innings at Triple-A last year, he threw to a 3.45 ERA while striking out 12.2 and walking 2.9 per nine. While those K:BB numbers are quite impressive, Moran did allow 10.1 hits for every nine frames over his first full season at the highest level of the minors.
The Angels had hoped to use Moran as a lefty specialist out of the pen, Gonzalez notes. With fellow southpaw Sean Burnett also still on the shelf, the club has gone with Nick Maronde as its only lefty in relief. The Angels do have some options with MLB experience stashed at Triple-A, including Buddy Boshers, Wade LeBlanc, and Clay Rapada.
Mariners Designate Hector Noesi For Assignment
The Mariners announce that they have designated pitcher Hector Noesi for assignment. The move clears space to add reliever Dominic Leone to the 25-man roster. The Mariners used six pitchers, including Noesi, to get through six innings of relief in a 12-inning game yesterday. (Noesi took the loss, giving up a walk-off home run to Coco Crisp.) Leone provides the Mariners with an extra arm in their bullpen.
Noesi, 27, has a 5.64 career ERA with 6.4 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 in 191 1/3 innings, some of them as a starter. He pitched just 27 1/3 innings with the Mariners in 2013, spending much of the season in the minors. The Mariners acquired him from the Yankees in the Jesus Montero / Michael Pineda trade in early 2012.
Minor Moves: Rapada, Gimenez, Cabrera, Taylor
We'll keep track of the day's minor moves here:
- The Mariners have signed lefty Clay Rapada and added him to the roster at Triple-A Tacoma, according to Rainiers announce Mike Curto (on Twitter). Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune first reported (via Twitter) that Rapada was working out for the team. The left-hander has a 4.06 ERA in 94 big league innings but has never been able to hold down a consistent big league job despite dominant numbers against left-handed hitters; Rapada has held lefties to a minuscule .164/.255/.231 batting line in his career. However, righties have roughed him up at a .345/.464/.611 clip.
- Catcher Chris Gimenez has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Round Rock, according to the Dallas Morning News' Evan Grant (Twitter link). Gimenez, who has been outrighted previously, has 72 hours to accept or reject the assignment. He was claimed off waivers by the Rangers last week but quickly designated for assignment when the club promoted Daniel McCutchen to the Majors.
- The Cubs have outrighted reliever Alberto Cabrera to Triple-A after he cleared waivers, reports Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune (via Twitter). The 25-year-old righty was designated on Saturday.
- Outfielder Michael Taylor has cleared outright waivers and been assigned to Triple-A, tweets Chris Cotillo of MLBDailyDish.com. The 28-year-old will take up residence in Sacramento for the fifth straight year since joining the Oakland organization.
- Brian Bogusevic has accepted an outright assignment from the Marlins, reports Cotillo (via Twitter). Bogusevic, a 30-year-old outfielder who was acquired over the offseason for Justin Ruggiano, could have elected free agency since he has previously been outrighted.
- The Red Sox have released outfielder Scott Cousins, Cotillo also tweets. Cousins, 29, has seen bit action in parts of four MLB seasons. The news was first reported yesterday by Mike Andrews of SoxProspects (via Twitter). According to Andrews, longtime minor leaguer Juan Carlos Linares was also among the players cut loose from the Boston system.
- Pitcher Armando Galarraga is working on securing a visa after receiving an offer from the Taiwanese club Brother Elephants, his agent tells Jon Morosi of FOX Sports (Twitter link). Cotillo tweeted earlier this morning that the former big leaguer was close to a deal to move to Taiwan. In 542 career MLB innings, Galarraga has a 4.78 ERA with 5.7 K/9 against 3.8 BB/9.
- Outfielder Dave Sappelt has been released by the Phillies, tweets Cotillo. Sappelt himself said on Twitter that he appreciates the club carrying him while undergoing offseason surgery. The 27-year-old has seen limited action in three big league seasons.
- The Astros have outrighted reliever Raul Valdes to Triple-A, according to the PCL transactions page. Though he lacks an extensive MLB track record at age 36, Valdes still has an intriguing recent stat line and looks to be a good bet to see time in Houston at some point. His ERA was a ghastly 7.46 last year, but he put up 9.5 K/9 (against just 2.1 BB/9), good for a 3.10 SIERA. Valdes posted numbers more line with those peripherals in 2012 and even during limited action this spring.
- Likewise, Hiroyuki Nakajima has been outrighted to the top affiliate of the Athletics, also via the PCL transactions page. The move is not surprising, given that Nakajima had only been added to the 40-man in the first place to fill it up to allow for the team to designate Taylor for assignment, according to a report from John Hickey of the Bay Area News Group (via Twitter).
Steve Adams contributed to this post.
Dodgers Claim Carlos Triunfel From Mariners
The Dodgers have claimed shortstop Carlos Triunfel off waivers from the Mariners, the club announced via press release. Triunfel has been optioned to Triple-A.
That brings an end to a disappointing tenure for Triunfel in Seattle, which designated him for assignment on Friday. Once a consensus top-100 prospect, Triunfel saw only limited big league action with his former club. Last year, at Triple-A, he posted a .282/.328/.394 line in 383 trips to the plate.
Minor Moves: Adam Rosales, Xavier Avery, Carlos Peguero
Here are today's minor moves and outright assignments from around the league…
- Infielder Adam Rosales has accepted an outright assignment with the Rangers, tweets Anthony Andro of FOX Sports Southwest. The well-travelled Rosales has 920 MLB plate appearances over his career, and owns a .219/.287/.335 line in that stretch.
- Outfielder Xavier Avery of the Mariners has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A, reports Greg Johns of MLB.com (via Twitter). The 24-year-old figures to be a useful depth piece for Seattle.
- Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star reports (via Twitter) that the Royals have outrighted outfielder Carlos Peguero to Triple-A Omaha after he cleared waivers. According to a previous report from McCullough, the Royals made a clever move — Peguero and his agent might use a different adjective — by claiming left-hander Patrick Schuster from the Padres and designating Peguero for assignment. Per McCullough, Schuster never really had a shot to crack the roster, and the Rule 5 pick was returned to his original organization, the Diamondbacks. However, the move gave Kansas City cause to DFA Peguero, and the 10-day DFA window helped ensure that he could be slipped through waivers more easily, as he didn't have to be waived until eight days after his DFA (most teams' 40-man rosters were set by the time Peguero was placed on waivers).