Reliever Royce Ring has exercised his out clause with the Mariners and is now a free agent, MLBTR has learned. Ring, 30, signed a minor league deal with the M's in December of 2010.
After posting a 1.93 ERA, 8.4 K/9, and 2.4 BB/9 in 42 Triple-A innings for the Yankees' affiliate in 2010, Ring hasn't been able to find similar success in 2011. In 27 apperances for Triple-A Tacoma, Ring has a 6.08 ERA with 12.5 K/9 and 4.2 BB/9.
SUNDAY: The Mariners do not have any agreement with Dominican outfielder Helsin Martinez, M's vice president of international operations Bob Engle told Ben Badler of Baseball America.
"We did not sign Martinez in the Dominican Republic," Engle said. "That is not correct at all. Whoever put out that information is totally inaccurate."
SATURDAY: Three players from the International Prospects League have signed deals with major league clubs, according to the IPL website. Elier Hernandez signed for $3.05MM with the Royals, Helsin Martinez signed with the Mariners for $2MM, and Adelin Santa inked a deal with the Tigers for $750K.
Hernandez, 16, is considered by several scouts to be either the top prospect or one of the top prospects to come out of Latin America this year, writes Ben Badler of Baseball America. The Dominican boasts explosive bat speed from the right side and at 6-foot-4, 200 pounds already possesses a major league body. Hernandez's bonus is highest of all-time for an international amateur outfielder.
Many scouts say that the Martinez, who hails from the Dominican Republic, has the best right-handed power in Latin America among this year's July 2-eligible players, Badler writes. The newest member of the Mariners organization is a corner outfielder who stands at 6-foot-5 and 190-pounds.
Santa, a 16-year-old Dominican third baseman, is the least-heralded of the three prospects but stands out for his raw power and arm strength, according to Badler.
Some Quick Hits for Saturday night..
The Red Sox cut ties with veteran outfielder Mike Cameron yesterday, designating him for assignment after he hit just .149/.212/.266 in 105 plate appearances this year. "Rest assured I'll play again," said Cameron to Peter Abraham of The Boston Globe (Twitter link). "I'm not going out that way."
Despite his poor season and last year's injury riddled campaign (just 48 games), Cameron figures to draw interest based on his track record. He hit .250/.342/.452 with 24 homers as a full-time player just two seasons ago, and he went deep at least 20 times every year from 2006 through 2009. That power might be gone at 38 years old, but his three homers this year suggest that he might still be able to provide double digit long balls given enough playing time.
With approximately $3.625MM left on his contract this year, it's very likely that Cameron will clear waivers and hit the open market. Any team would then be able to sign him for the pro-rated league minimum, which is attractive to clubs on a budget. Let's look at some teams that could be potential suitors for Cameron…
Jack Curry of the YES Network heard that the Yankees "probably" won't have interest in Cameron (Twitter link), but several other teams figure to come calling once he clears waivers and is available on the cheap. It's easy to see Cameron fitting on the 25-man roster of nearly even team, though the amount of playing time he'll receive is sure to factor into his decision.
Photo courtesy of Icon SMI.
ESPN's Buster Olney outlined plans for National League teams heading into the trade deadline yesterday, and today he follows up with the American League in an Insider-only column that comes highly recommended. Here's a brief recap…
Bartolo Colon didn’t pitch an inning in the Major Leagues last year. Neither did Erik Bedard, or Brandon McCarthy, or Ryan Vogelsong. Halfway through the 2011 season, each one of them has already made a difference at the highest level. The quartet of reclamation projects has combined for 309 2/3 innings of 2.88 ERA baseball this year with three times as many strikeouts (257) as walks (77).
A year after splitting his time between two Triple-A teams, Vogelsong (pictured) is a key contributor on one of baseball’s most effective pitching staffs. His 2.09 ERA leads a San Francisco rotation that includes the likes of Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain.
Yet there’s no denying that the same issue that kept the others off of MLB mounds in 2010 – health – persists. Colon could return from the disabled list this weekend; the Mariners placed Bedard on the DL today; McCarthy has been on Oakland’s disabled list for more than a month.
But before their respective teams placed them on the disabled list, their contributions surpassed all expectations. It’s been six weeks since McCarthy toed the rubber, yet A’s fans probably haven’t forgotten the 3.39 ERA and 37K/10BB ratio he posted through 63 2/3 innings.
The Yankees will be hoping for more of the same from Colon when he returns from the DL. The former Cy Young Award winner has tremendous numbers in 2011: a 3.10 ERA with a 72K/18BB ratio in 78 1/3 innings.
Two years after Colon won his Cy Young, Bedard posted a 3.16 ERA with 10.9 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 en route to a top-five finish for the award. If the lefty’s 2011 numbers look familiar, it’s probably because Bedard was pitching as well as ever before hitting the DL. He has a 3.00 ERA with an 85K/26BB ratio 90 innings into the season.
Don’t forget that the Mariners signed Bedard for just $1MM. McCarthy signed with Oakland for the same amount and the Yankees’ deal with Colon is worth just $900K in base salary. Like Colon, Vogelsong signed a minor league contract in January.
The pursuit of high-risk, high-reward arms does not guarantee success by any means. Brandon Webb ($3MM) and Rich Harden ($1.5MM) signed for more than any of the pitchers above and neither has thrown a pitch in the majors this year.
Naturally, that won’t stop teams looking to gamble on seemingly injury-prone pitchers this offseason. Someone – Ben Sheets, Jeremy Bonderman or 48-year-old Jamie Moyer perhaps? – will return from the discard pile after a year-long absence and make an impact, whether it's for a handful of starts or an entire season season. It’s just a question of who will resurface and which team will sign him.
Photo courtesy Icon SMI.
The Mariners announced that they designated right-hander Chaz Roe for assignment to create 40-man roster space for catcher Jose Yepez. The backstop takes the 25-man roster spot of Erik Bedard, who is going on the 15-day disabled list with a sprained knee.
Roe, 24, has a 6.41 ERA with 7.0 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 for the Mariners' Triple-A affiliate. The former first rounder had a respectable 115K/53BB ratio in 2010, but ended up with a similarly high ERA (5.98). The Mariners acquired Roe from the Rockies for Jose Lopez last offseason at the deadline for teams to tender contracts to arbitration eligible players.
The Mariners designated lefty reliever Edward Paredes for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster roster for catcher Josh Bard, announced the team.
Paredes, 24, posted a 7.71 ERA, 8.0 K/9, 6.4 BB/9, and 1.3 HR/9 with 41 hits allowed across 28 Double and Triple-A innings this year. Baseball America ranked him 25th among Mariners prospects prior to the 2009 season, at which point there was hope that he'd become "a Felix Heredia-type reliever."
It was an ugly day for the Dodgers off of the field (they filed for bankruptcy), but they defeated the Twins 15-0 in a one-sided rematch of the 1965 World Series today. Here's the latest from around the Major Leagues…
On this day in 2004, the Royals completed a three-team deal that sent Carlos Beltran to the Astros. The Athletics were the third party in the transaction and bagged Octavio Dotel from Houston. The Royals, meanwhile, received Mark Teahen, John Buck, Mike Wood, and cash considerations..
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