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Draft Update: Giants, Mariners, Braves, Nats

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ESPN.com's Keith Law has an update on various teams and players as the June draft approaches. Here are some highlights; the original article has more detail.

  • The Giants are strongly considering taking a high school pitcher with their sixth overall pick.
  • Expect the Mariners to take Dustin Ackley, North Carolina's first baseman, with their first rounder.
  • Ackley's teammate, righty Alex White, pitched in front of four GMs Thursday: Brian Sabean (Giants), Neal Huntington (Pirates), Jack Zdurencik (Mariners) and Mike Rizzo (Nationals).
  • ESPN.com's Jason A. Churchill reports that White did not impress. Check out Churchill's article for more analysis of some top amateur players.
  • The Braves are expected to take Zack Wheeler, a local prep star. 
  • The Nationals don't get a compensation pick if they fail to sign the player they draft with their tenth overall pick because that pick is itself compensation for failure to sign Aaron Crow last year. Nats GM Mike Rizzo says he's going to draft the best available player there, regardless of signability.
  • Some teams are losing interest in Kentucky lefty James Paxton, who chose Scott Boras as his advisor and pitched poorly afterwards.

Rosenthal On Royals, Atkins, Baez, Huff

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Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports has trade speculation in the sidebar of his latest column.

  • Rosenthal sees shortstop Mike Aviles as the Royals' weakest link, given his .523 OPS in 97 plate appearances.  Most projection systems had Aviles in the .720-.750 range.  Rosenthal runs through potential trade targets such as Orlando Cabrera, Jack Wilson, Miguel Tejada, and Marco Scutaro.  The first three have their flaws, and Scutaro doesn't figure to be available.
  • Rosenthal suggests the Rockies could accomplish their goal of more playing time for Ian Stewart by trading Garrett Atkins.  However, Atkins is fairly pricey and is off to a .224/.287/.367 start through 108 plate appearances.
  • Orioles reliever Danys Baez is generating trade buzz with his 2.30 ERA through 15.6 innings.  Baez is still owed $4.55MM of his $5.5MM '09 salary, and he also gets a $500K bonus if traded.  So just moving the contract might be a feat for Andy MacPhail, in my opinion.
  • Aubrey Huff, with $6.62MM left on his contract, could eventually draw interest from teams like the Royals and Mariners, in Rosenthal's opinion.  Huff seems back to his pre-2008 level; he's hitting .270/.331/.423 in 124 plate appearances.

2010 Options: Seattle Mariners

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The Mariners do not have any 2010 options.  Instead, they're looking at the completion of the Adrian Beltre, Jarrod Washburn, Miguel Batista, and Erik Bedard contracts after '09 (among others).  Those four represent $40MM coming off the books.  However, it's also 40% of the starting rotation and the starting third baseman.

Assuming Jack Zduriencik does not want to tangle with Scott Boras over Beltre, he could consider 23 year-old prospect Matt Tuiasosopo for the hot corner.  Tuiasosopo just began his second Triple A stint, and it's not going well so far.  The Ms could explore the free agent market, which will include Joe Crede, Chone Figgins, Troy Glaus, and perhaps Melvin Mora.

The rotation should be interesting, especially with Brandon Morrow deciding his future is in the bullpen.  If the Ms go outside the organization for a veteran starter or two, I'm guessing they'll sign a bargain free agent or make a trade.

Rosenthal On Mariners, A’s, Putz

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The latest from Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports…

  • The Mariners and A's are not thinking about selling off veterans at the trade deadline.  Both clubs plan to go for it.
  • Tough decision for the Mets after the season: do they exercise J.J. Putz's $9.1MM option for 2010?  Cot's Baseball Contracts says it's an $8.6MM club option with a $1MM buyout.
  • Rosenthal says one GM views the recent DL trips for Dontrelle Willis, Chien-Ming Wang, and Daisuke Matsuzaka as possible abuse of the system.
  • Will Barry Zito continue to be decent this year?  His control and groundball rate have been much improved and his average fastball velocity is up by 1.6 mph.  The .250 BABIP doesn't figure to last though.  Zito is owed $87.5MM for 2009-13, plus he has an $18MM option for 2014 that may vest.

Mariners Sign Jerry Owens

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According to Ryan Divish of the Tacoma News Tribune, the Mariners signed outfielder Jerry Owens to a minor league deal.  Owens was designated for assignment to make room for Scott Podsednik a few days ago.

Owens, 28, spent most of last year at Triple A (his third stint at the level).  He hit .276/.346/.316 with 30 steals in 43 tries.  In their 2007 Handbook, Baseball America had this to say about his defense: "He covers plenty of ground in center field, though his arm is below average."

Shell, M’s Agree To Minor League Deal

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Larry LaRue of the Tacoma News Tribune reports that the Mariners have signed right-hander Steven Shell to a minor league contract.

Shell, 26, was designated for assignment last week by the Nationals after posting a 5.40 ERA in four games.  He was assigned to the Mariners' Triple-A affiliate in Tacoma and is likely to get the call if there's an injury on the major league level.

Odds & Ends: Bowden, Owens, Flores

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Links for Thursday…

Mariners Not Thinking About Trades

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Popular questions in MLBTR chats often involve the Mariners trading impending free agents Erik Bedard, Jarrod Washburn, and Adrian Beltre.  Not so fast.  The Mariners are 12-7, in first place in the AL West.  Why worry about trading off veterans?  Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times asked GM Jack Zduriencik about it:

"Honestly, I have really not thought once about July — about what happens in July.  I want to be in this position as we move forward. Being in first place and winning. We're doing this the right way. I think players need to be happy with it, with how we're going about things. If you're this group of players, you've got to be excited. They deserve to be where they're at and things take care of themselves.''

How are the Mariners doing it?  They should probably be 10-9, based on their +5 run differential, but those extra wins are in the bank.  The Ms are 11th in the AL with 4.21 runs scored per game; Beltre, Jose Lopez, Yuniesky Betancourt, and Franklin Gutierrez have been easy outs.  The Mariners have instead succeeded with strong pitching and defense.  They rank second in the AL with a 3.50 ERA, and that includes 6.14 from Carlos Silva and 7.11 from Chris Jakubauskas.

Padres Acquire Chris Burke

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8:31pm: Dan Hayes of the North County Times says the Padres have arranged to reacquire Chris Burke.  The Padres signed Burke to a minor league deal this offseason but traded him to Seattle on March 25th.  MLB.com's Corey Brock has the story as well.

1:37pm: According to Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune, Padres rookie shortstop Everth Cabrera may be out for two months due to a hand injury suffered Sunday.  The Padres snagged Cabrera from the Rockies in the Rule 5 draft back in December.

Krasovic talked to Padres GM Kevin Towers, who "said he probably will look outside of the organization for a shortstop."  The current starter for San Diego is Luis Rodriguez. 

So who's available?  Reader Chris F. suggested Oakland's Bobby Crosby.  I imagine that would require the A's eating most of his $5.25MM salary.  I'd expect something lower profile, like Angel Berroa or Luis Rivas.    

Mariners Sign Jeff Zimmerman

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Comeback alert!  According to Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times, the Mariners signed reliever Jeff Zimmerman to a minor league deal.  Zimmerman hasn't pitched in the Majors since 2001.  Zimmerman did have a couple of very nice years with the Rangers back, but two Tommy John surgeries put him out of commission.  For more about Jack Zduriencik's stockpiling of arms, check out Larry LaRue's blog post.

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