Quick Hits: Iwakuma, Draft, Mariners
On this date in 2009, the Nationals fired manager Manny Acta and replaced him with Jim Riggleman. A lot has changed in two years – Riggleman resigned as the Nationals' skipper over a contract dispute last month and Acta, now the Indians' manager, is a leading candidate for AL Manager of the Year. Here's the latest from around MLB…
- The Rays, Indians, Astros and Angels scouted Hisashi Iwakuma's recent rehab start, according to a Sponichi report passed along by Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker. The 30-year-old right-hander posted a 2.72 ERA with 7.0 K/9 and 1.9 BB/9 from 2007-10 in Japan.
- Jim Callis of Baseball America explains the give and take between the commissioner's office and the players' union when it comes to the double standard between draft-eligible amateurs and international free agents.
- One NL executive told ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick that we should expect an intense week leading up to the trade deadline, since teams will wait until the last possible moment before becoming ‘sellers.’
- GM Jack Zduriencik told Greg Johns of MLB.com that he has discussed possible moves, but doesn’t want to get caught up in whether the Mariners will be buyers or a sellers this summer.
International Links: Felix, Tejada, Céspedes
With over 20 international players across AL and NL rosters last night, the quotes were flowing in both of America's native tongues. Links are in Spanish…
- Felix Hernandez wants to stay in Seattle well beyond the end of his contract in 2014, the reigning Cy Young winner told Manuel Lira at the Venezuelan paper Líder en Deportes. "Hopefully Seattle locks me up further," Hernandez said. "I want to sign for more. At least five years more." As for any chance of being traded to New York or elsewhere, Hernandez dismissed the notion as "just rumors."
- At a charity event in the Dominican Republic yesterday, six-time former All-Star Miguel Tejada sounded undecided about the direction of his career. "I won't disgrace myself in order to continue playing," he told Juan Mercado of the Dominican daily Hoy. "With the pride that I have, I don't think anyone is going to see me embarrassing myself in baseball, when I feel that I'm not useful enough to be in the Major Leagues." On the other hand, Tejada told Freddy Tapia from Listin Diario, "I'm used to having good years with losing teams. Now the opposite is happening, and the truth is that I'm enjoying it."
- Cuban National Team star center fielder Yoennis Céspedes has been missing for almost two weeks. In a piece today, Jorge Ebro at the Miami-based El Nuevo Herald explains, "His presence hasn't been reported, nobody responds at his telephone, and people are talking about three possible hypotheses: that he is in the power of the island authorities, that he is hidden somewhere in the country, or that he took to the sea," in an attempt to escape Cuba. Cuban baseball writer Fernando Vilá tells Ebro, "In years of following Cuban baseball, I don't remember a case like this."
West Notes: Rockies, Padres, Mariners
Baseball's western divisions have the Rangers, Angels, Giants, and Diamondbacks as contenders, with the Mariners, Athletics, Rockies, Dodgers, and Padres looking like potential sellers. Today's links:
- There's little the Rockies could obtain that would justify trading Ubaldo Jimenez, explains Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post. It was revealed Saturday that the Rockies will listen on their ace, but Renck says Dan O'Dowd is the rare GM who will engage in trade talk that's headed nowhere just to understand other teams' needs.
- O'Dowd told MLB.com's Thomas Harding that he's looking for a strike-throwing pitcher who's under team control beyond 2011. The Rockies, who have been eyeing pitching for a while, will look for deals that make sense for the team's present and long-term well-being, O'Dowd says.
- The Padres want "impact players in return for their movable pieces," tweets MLB.com's Corey Brock. The Padres' best trade chips are relievers Heath Bell and Mike Adams, though Ryan Ludwick, Aaron Harang, and Chad Qualls should draw interest.
- Dave Cameron of U.S.S. Mariner runs through the Mariners' trade chips, led by Brandon League and Erik Bedard.
- Righty Doug Mathis is headed for Korea to play with the Samsung Lions, tweets Dan Kurtz of MyKBO.net. To make it official, he'll need his release from the Athletics' Triple-A club. Kurtz notes that Ryan Garko would be released from the Lions to make room.
Quick Hits: Orioles, Mariners, Dodgers
Congratulations to Robinson Cano, who joins Frank Thomas, Ken Griffey Jr., Barry Bonds and other sluggers of note on the list of Home Run Derby winners. Here are the latest links from around the Major Leagues…
- Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun suggests that the Orioles could look to add veteran starting pitching this month. Though Baltimore is not likely to surrender top prospects for back-of-the-rotation help, there’s something to be said for innings eaters who can keep teams in games.
- The Mariners announced that they have signed seventh round pick Steven Proscia, a third baseman from the University of Virginia, and 22nd round pick John Taylor, a right-hander from the University of South Carolina.
- Jim Callis of Baseball America believes seven 2011 draftees are among the top 50 prospects in baseball. For example, Anthony Rendon, Dylan Bundy and Trevor Bauer appear on Callis’ list.
- Prince Fielder, C.J. Wilson and Michael Cuddyer were among the prospective free agents who told Bill Shaikin of the LA Times that they'd consider off-field issues like ownership, front office leadership and attendance before signing with the Dodgers.
Outrighted To Triple-A: Jose Yepez
Here's where we'll keep track of every player who gets outrighted to Triple-A…
- The Mariners outrighted catcher Jose Yepez to Triple-A after he cleared waivers, according to Greg Johns of MLB.com (on Twitter). The 30-year-old has a .276/.324/.347 line in 105 plate appearances at Triple-A Tacoma this year and a .268/.351/.381 line in 2,352 professional plate appearances, which have all come in the minor leagues.
Quick Hits: Bedard, Padres, Harper
As Sunday winds down, here are a few loose items of note, including one on Nationals prized prospect Bryce Harper, who was on display in today's Futures Game.
- Mariners lefty Erik Bedard won't return to the mound any sooner than Seattle's July 22-24 series in Boston, meaning his trade value could be hampered by the fact that he'll only make, at most, two starts prior to July 31, writes Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times. With a lengthy injury history, teams may perceive Bedard as damaged goods, according to Baker, although a post-deadline trade is always possible if one doesn't come to pass before it.
- The Padres have several players whom they are highly unlikely to trade, although no one has been deemed entirely untouchable, a team source told Dan Hayes of the North County Times. Hayes speculates those guys are probably Anthony Rizzo, Mat Latos and Cameron Maybin (Twitter links).
- Nationals GM Mike Rizzo reiterated to Jon Paul Morosi of FOXSports.com that Harper will not be called up to the Majors this season (Twitter link). This looks like a developmental decision more so than a financial one — Harper is just 18 and was recently promoted to Double-A.
- Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus polls scouts and execs for a compare/contrast piece on Harper and recent Angels callup Mike Trout at ESPN.com (Insider subscription needed). The two are generally considered the best prospects in baseball.
Knobler On Marlins, Trade Market, Royals, M’s
Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com has some interesting tidbits of note in his latest blog post. Here's the latest …
- The Marlins could be an intriguing seller this month, with closer Leo Nunez, starter Ricky Nolasco, reliever Randy Choate and infielders Omar Infante and Greg Dobbs potentially being made available. However, Florida does not yet consider itself a seller and won't commence an all-out firesale, what with a new ballpark opening in 2012.
- The slow-developing trade market can be attributed to the league's great parity this season, but the generally healthy financial situations of most teams is playing a role, too. Few teams need to dump big contracts.
- The Royals, for example, will be willing to listen on veteran outfielders Melky Cabrera and Jeff Francoeur, but Kansas City is under no pressure to trade either one.
- The Mariners, like the Fish, are still deciding whether they are ready to sell. Third-place Seattle is 7 1/2 games behind the division-leading Rangers.
Cafardo’s Latest: Bell, Kazmir, Kendall, Aramis
Heath Bell's name has been near the top of this season's list of trade candidates for months, and in this week's Sunday Baseball Notes, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe adds a new potential suitor to the mix. According to Cafardo's source, the Rays are interested in the Padres' closer, but will have to determine over the next couple weeks whether they have "enough firepower" to go all out to catch the Red Sox and Yankees. Here are a few other highlights from Cafardo:
- The Yankees, Rangers, Diamondbacks, and Phillies are a few other teams monitoring Bell.
- While there hasn't been a whole lot of interest in Scott Kazmir, the Padres and Rangers have "taken a look."
- Jason Kendall, who hasn't played this year as he recovers from shoulder surgery, has re-torn two rotator cuff tendons. Kendall will undergo additional surgery, possibly ending his career. Royals manager Ned Yost on the procedure: "That takes him out of the picture for this year and out of the picture for next year…. I think it’s more a quality-of-life surgery so he can have function in his shoulder."
- The Angels appear to be the team most interested in Aramis Ramirez, though Cafardo names the Mariners, Giants, Braves, and D'Backs as other clubs who could look into the Cubs' third baseman. Of course, Ramirez's agent said earlier this week that his client likely won't waive his no-trade clause, so inquires may be futile.
Mets Notes: Wright, Reyes, Beltran, Wilpons
One of three Mets' starting infielders currently on the disabled list, David Wright is making good progress in his rehab, according to MLB.com's Adam Berry and Anthony DiComo. The third baseman, who has been on the DL since May 18th, could start a minor league rehab assignment on Wednesday and return to the Mets for the club's ten-game road trip later this month. Let's check out some other Mets-related notes….
- According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, executives around the league have very different opinions about what sort of contract Jose Reyes will earn in free agency. Before Reyes was placed on the DL, estimates ranged from "no more than $90MM" to as much as $160MM.
- Within the same piece, Sherman looks at some teams besides the Mets that could be in on Reyes this winter, including the Phillies, Brewers, Mariners, Nationals, and Tigers. One GM says the Giants are the "obvious choice," predicting a bid of $120MM or so from San Francisco.
- The Mets' solid play heading into the second half makes the decision on whether to trade Carlos Beltran tougher, says Andy Martino of the New York Daily News. While the team probably won't seriously contend for the postseason, dealing Beltran this month would be a "white flag" move that would hurt attendance.
- The Wilpons' chances of maintaining ownership of the Mets are looking better, write Teri Thompson and Bill Madden of the New York Daily News.
Quick Hits: Mariners, Giants, Yankees, Orioles
Our condolensces go out to the friends and family of Dick Williams. The long-time player and manager passed away at age 82 today.
- Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik told MLB.com's Greg Johns that "we're wide open." He added that they've "had dialogue" about potential trades, but haven't found a match and won't make a deal until they find one that makes sense.
- MLB.com's Adam Berry notes that Mike Fontenot is coming off the disabled list soon, which could mean the end of Bill Hall's time with the Giants.
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets that the Yankees have a scout at Nationals Park tonight, presumably to see Sean Burnett. Earlier today we heard that they've discussed the lefty internally.
- Meanwhile, ESPN's Buster Olney hears that the Yankees are doing normal pre-deadline due diligence and are discussing many players (on Twitter), but they are not close to any deals.
- Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail told Steve Melewski of MASNSports.com that he'd like scouting director Joe Jordan to return next year. The contracts of both men are up after the season.
- The Mets have signed seventh rounder Cole Frenzel, tweets Adam Rubin of ESPN New York. The first baseman from Arizona was the 222nd overall pick.
- Derrick Goold of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch hears that the Cardinals are expected to finalize a deal with third rounder C.J. McElroy (Twitter link). "Just details" are left to be finalized. MLB's slot recommendation for the 109th overall pick is approximately $284K.