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Quick Hits: Nimmo, Indians, Rays, Starling, Pomeranz

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Links for Saturday evening..

  • Without directly saying so, Mets GM Sandy Alderson intimated that it's no big deal that first-round pick Brandon Nimmo remains unsigned, writes Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com.
  • After dealing right-hander Alex White and left-hander Drew Pomeranz, Paul Hoynes of the Plain Dealer looks at the arms that remain in the Indians' farm system.
  • Suddenly, the Rays find themselves with a surplus of catchers, writes MLB.com's Bill Chastain.
  • Royals first-round pick Bubba Starling is not on Nebraska football's official 105-man roster and won't practice at NU until he decides on his baseball future, tweets Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star.
  • Indians prospect Drew Pomeranz officially transferred from Double-A Akron to the Arizona League Indians today, tweets MLB.com's Jordan Bastian.  Pomeranz will work out in Arizona until he can officially be dealt to the Rockies on August 15th.
  • The newest member of the Marlins Alfredo Amezaga has always been known as utility man but reports are that he's gained a bit of weight and is better suited for either second or third base rather than shortstop, writes Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald.

Zambrano, Farnsworth Placed On Waivers

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The Cubs' Carlos Zambrano and the Rays' Kyle Farnsworth were among the players placed on waivers yesterday, according to MLB.com's Peter Gammons (via Twitter).  Teams have 48 business hours to make a claim on either player, giving them until Tuesday.  This news doesn't necessarily mean that the Cubs and Rays are looking to deal Zambrano and Farnsworth, respectively.  Hundreds of players are expected to hit the waiver wire in the month of August.

Earlier this week, both players were identified as August trade candidates by MLBTR's Tim Dierkes.

Checking In On Former Rays Relievers

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When you consider what happened last offseason, it's not overly surprising that few bullpens in baseball have a worse strikeout rate, walk rate or ERA than the Rays. Six prominent Rays relievers hit free agency and signed elsewhere for a total of $67.65MM (a figure that the Rays’ payroll has surpassed exactly once since 2000). 

When I checked in on former Rays relievers in May, I wrote that the early results were disappointing, but that Benoit and Wheeler would likely bounce back from poor starts. Nearly three months have passed, so we have a much better sense of whether former Rays pitchers are living up to their new contracts…

  • Rafael Soriano - three years/$35MM, Yankees - Soriano, who missed two and a half months with inflammation in his right elbow, has ugly numbers 16 innings into his new deal: a 5.06 ERA with 6.8 K/9 and 6.2 BB/9.
  • Joaquin Benoit - three years/$16.5MM, Tigers - Benoit recovered from a slow start to post more respectable numbers. His season stats (4.62 ERA, 8.1 K/9, 2.3 BB/9) aren't nearly as impressive as they were last year, however.
  • Grant Balfour - two years/$8.1MM, Athletics - Balfour has been an excellent addition to Oakland's pen, putting up similar numbers to the ones he had with the Rays last year. The 33-year-old has a 1.88 ERA with 9.0 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 43 innings into the season.
  • Dan Wheeler - one year/$3MM, Red Sox - Wheeler has a 4.54 ERA with 7.1 K/9 and 1.8 BB/9 for the Red Sox. He spent time on the disabled list in May and has recovered from his slow start.
  • Chad Qualls - one year/$2.55MM, Padres - Qualls, who was unlucky in 2010, has cut his ERA in half to 3.23 this year thanks to some improved fortune. He has posted 5.1 K/9, 2.2 BB/9 and a 53.0% ground ball rate in 53 innings.
  • Randy Choate - two years/$2.5MM, Marlins - Choate, the Marlins' lefty specialist, has a 1.66 ERA with 11.2 K/9 and 5.0 BB/9 this season. He drew interest at the trade deadline, but the Marlins held on.

The Yankees surely regret Soriano's contract and the Benoit deal still seems like a coup for his representatives at ACES. The four smaller deals for Balfour, Wheeler, Qualls and Choate have worked out relatively well so far. Would Tampa Bay's bullpen be better with some of these relievers? No question. Worth $67.65MM for the low-budget Rays? No way.

Draft Signings: Red Sox, Rays, Royals

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Now that the trade deadline is behind us, the next big event is the draft signing deadline on August 15th. We'll keep track of any draft signings here…

  • The Cubs have signed ninth rounder Garrett Schecht for an above-slot $235K, reports Callis on Twitter. The high school outfielder from Illinois received the largest bonus in the ninth round so far.
  • The Red Sox have signed third rounder Jordan Weems according to Baseball America's Jim Callis (on Twitter). Weems, a catcher from a Georgia high school, received a $500K bonus. MLB.com's slot recommendation was $275K.
  • Callis tweets that the Rays have signed fourth rounder Riccio Torrez for $180K, just above MLB's slot recommendation of $169K. Torrez is a third baseman from Arizona State.
  • The Royals have signed their second-round pick, catcher Cameron Gallagher, according to a team press release. Callis says (on Twitter) he received a $750K signing bonus, well above MLB's slot recommendation of $563K.  The club has now signed 26 of their 50 selections in this year's draft.

Minor Moves: Flores, Stokes, Ward, Carson

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Let's keep track of the day's minor moves here…

  • The Yankees will release Triple-A left-hander Randy Flores tomorrow according to Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com (on Twitter). Both sides agreed to the move. Flores pitched to a 2.54 ERA in 28 1/3 innings for New York's top minor league affiliate, but he gave up 14 hits in 14 innings against lefties.
  • The Diamondbacks have signed Brian Stokes and assigned him to Triple-A Reno according to the team's Twitter feed. The righty reliever spent last season with the Angels organization, throwing 16 2/3 innings in the majors and 17 2/3 innings in the minors.
  • The D'Backs also signed infielder Daryle Ward according to the club's Twitter feed. The 36-year-old had been playing with the independent Newark Bears, and he hasn't appeared in the big leagues since 2008. He's headed to Double-A Mobile.
  • The Rays have acquired Matt Carson from the Athletics according to the Triple-A Pacific Coast League transactions page. The 30-year-old outfielder hit .285/.338/.538 with 19 homers and 11 stolen bases in exactly 400 plate appearances for Oakland's Triple-A affiliate this season. He's seen time with the A's in each of the last two seasons, posting a .200/.210/.370 batting line with five homers in 105 plate appearances from 2009-2010.
  • The Astros have released right-hander Brad Hennessey according to Zachary Levine of The Houston Chronicle (on Twitter). The 31-year-old pitched to a 7.76 ERA in 26 2/3 innings for Houston's Triple-A affiliate,

AL East Notes: Rays, Bedard, Hairston, Jimenez

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The deadline has passed and the Yankees are the only team in the AL East that didn't make a deal. The Rays were pretty quiet, too, but there may have been a reason for that…

  • Rays executive VP of baseball operations Andrew Friedman underwent an appendectomy last night, according to Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times. However, that didn't stop Friedman from conducting business from his hospital room this afternoon.
  • The Red Sox and Mariners will each cover some of the incentives on Erik Bedard's contract, GM Jack Zduriencik told Larry Stone of the Seattle Times (Twitter link). 
  • The Red Sox had interest in Scott Hairston, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post (on Twitter). However, the Mets weren't interested in minor salary relief or a marginal prospect.
  • Boston wasn’t the only interested team, by the way. The Braves talked to the Mets about acquiring Hairston as a bench bat, according to ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick (on Twitter).
  • Jack Curry of the YES Network hears that the Yankees wanted a shoulder MRI for Ubaldo Jimenez, but the Rockies declined (Twitter link).

AL East Trades

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This month's AL East trades..

Blue Jays

Orioles

Rays

Red Sox

Yankees

  • The Yankees didn't make any July trades for the first year since 1999.

 

Nationals, Twins Not Close On Span Trade

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2:46pm: The teams are not close on a Span trade, tweets Jon Paul Morosi.

12:29pm: The Twins don't currently believe this deal can get done, tweets Yahoo's Tim Brown.  The Nationals so far will not include Storen, tweets Scott Miller.

9:43am: ESPN's Tim Kurkjian tweets that the chances of a Storen/Span deal are less than 50/50.  The Nationals are still in the mix for B.J. Upton.

7:59am: Nationals closer Drew Storen is in the Denard Span trade with the Twins, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, but the hangup is over the other players in the deal.  Yesterday we heard names such as Roger Bernadina and Stephen Lombardozzi of the Nationals.

B.J. Upton Likely To Stay Put

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The latest on Rays center fielder B.J. Upton, who is hitting .226/.308/.398 on the season and is owed $1.59MM prior to his last arbitration year in 2012…

  • Though Upton is expected to stay, the Reds, Pirates, and Indians are kicking the tires, tweets Heyman.
  • Upton appears likely to stay put, tweets SI's Jon Heyman.

Tigers Interested In Joel Peralta

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The Tigers are still looking for bullpen help after acquiring David Pauley, and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports tweets they're interested in Rays reliever Joel Peralta.

Peralta, 35, has a 3.75 ERA, 7.7 K/9, 2.6 BB/9, 1.1 HR/9, and 26.7% groundball rate in 48 innings this year.  He leads the American League with 52 appearances.  Peralta will be under team control for 2012 as an arbitration eligible player.

Morosi says the Tigers also have Baltimore's Jim Johnson on the radar, but a deal is unlikely.

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