Odds And Ends: Nats, Royals, Rios, Rays
More links to take a look at…
- The Nationals agreed to terms with five Dominican players, according to MLB.com's Bill Ladson.
- Bradford Doolittle of the Kansas City Star says Royals fans should hope the Nats don't sign Stephen Strasburg. If Washington can't strike a deal with Strasburg, he could become an option for the Royals in next year's draft.
- One executive believes the Jays should trade Alex Rios for a bag of balls, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com.
- Not a rumor, but I can't resist. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that it's Shaq week in St. Louis as Albert Pujols prepares to take on Shaquille O'Neal for the big man's reality show.
- At SI.com, Jonah Keri says the Rays will be contenders going forward, even if they decide to trade multi-talented outfielder Carl Crawford this offseason.
Olney On Guzman, Hardy, Rays, Rios
ESPN.com's Buster Olney says we should know today whether anyone has successfully claimed Cristian Guzman off waivers. However, some executives say Guzman isn't worth the $8MM he makes annually. Here are the rest of Olney's rumors:
- J.J. Hardy hasn't yet cleared waivers and Olney wonders if the Red Sox could target him. They had interest in Hardy earlier in the year, but the two teams couldn't agree on the shortstop's value.
- The Rays are one of the teams claiming many players. They don't expect to acquire all the cheap youngsters they claim, but they could face a roster issue if they're handed multiple players.
- Every talent evaluator Olney speaks with believes the Jays need to take advantage of the club that claimed Alex Rios and dump the right fielder's salary while they can.
Percival Leaning Towards Retirement?
When Rays closer Troy Percival hit the disabled list in May, we weren't sure if that would be the last time we'd ever see the righty. Well, according to Marc Topkin of The St. Petersburg Times, manager Joe Maddon recently spoke to Percival and is "under the impression his career is over."
Paul Cohen, Pervical's agent, indicated that his client was having severe back problems and is seeing a specialist this week about a possible fusion, but said that the decision to retire hasn't been made yet. Maddon would like to see the team have a day to honor Percival if he does indeed call it quits, saying "He was such a big part of what we did last year, and people have kind of forgotten about that way too fast."
If he does retire, Percy would finish with 358 career saves, good for 8th all time.
Knobler’s Latest: Rios, Tejada, Rays
Danny Knobler from CBS Sports writes that two baseball sources have confirmed to CBS Sports that Alex Rios was claimed on waivers, and one source stated that he was claimed by the White Sox. Knobler says that the Jays will keep Rios if they're not offered enough in return.
Additionally, an unknown team placed a waiver claim on Houston shortstop Miguel Tejada. The Astros have since pulled Tejada back. Any guesses as to who the claiming team was?
Knobler also says that the Rays have been very active in placing claims on any low-salary players, in order to block them from being traded to the Red Sox or Yankees. Knobler says that the Rays, however, are not believed to be the team that claimed Tejada.
Rays DFA Joe Dillon and R.J. Swindle
According to Marc Lancaster of The Tampa Tribune, the Rays designated both Joe Dillon and R.J. Swindle for assignment today. Lancaster explains that Tampa first designated Swindle for assignment to claim Russ Springer off waivers this morning, then had to do the same to Dillon to open an active roster spot.
Dillon hit a clean .300-.400-.400 in 35 plate appearances for Tampa, and Swindle didn't make an appearance with the team after being claimed off waivers just yesterday.
Odds & Ends: Julio, Cubs, Springer
A fresh batch of links as we move into the evening…
- According to Adam Sobsey of The Independent Weekly, the Rays have released 30-year-old reliever Jorge Julio. The right-hander had a 5.96 ERA and a 24/15 K/BB ratio in 22 2/3 innings this season with Triple-A Durham.
- Cubs GM Jim Hendry told Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times Saturday that he is open to a waiver deal if it will make his club better. "We'll see," said Hendry. "If we find something that makes us better, we'll try.''
- Need a refresher on the way waiver deals work? Will Carroll of Baseball Prospectus has you covered.
- The San Francisco Chronicle's Susan Slusser gathered a quote from Russ Springer moments after he learned he was headed to the Rays: "It will be nice to play in some playoff-race type games and hopefully I can go to Tampa Bay and carry my load."
Rays Claim Russ Springer Off Waivers
2:46pm: It's a straight waiver claim, according to Slusser, so the A's will receive nothing in return (besides a small payroll cut). Here's A's assistant GM David Forst:
"We felt like it was a good opportunity to see some guys in Triple-A the last month of the season, and it gives Russ the chance to pitch in a pennant race. That's something he deserves at this point in his career. He's done a great job for us and he's been a great mentor for our youngsters."
2:31pm: According to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle, the Rays have claimed reliever Russ Springer off waivers from the Athletics.
Springer, a 40-year-old right-hander, had a 4.10 ERA and a 47/14 K/BB ratio in 41 2/3 innings out of the Oakland bullpen this season.
Rays DFA Michel Hernandez
According to Marc Topkin at the St. Petersburg Times, the Rays have designated backup catcher Michel Hernandez for assignment. He'll make room for the newly-acquired Gregg Zaun. The 30-year-old Hernandez put up a .242/.292/.343 line in 107 plate appearances for the Rays this year.
Rays DFA Jonathan Meloan
The Rays have designated reliever Jonathan Meloan for assignment, according to Marc Topkin of The St. Petersburg Times.The move frees up a spot on the 40-man roster for Gregg Zaun, who was acquired from Baltimore earlier today.
Tampa Bay acquired Meloan from the Indians in exchange for fellow bullpener Winston Abreu back in July. He had a 5.02 ERA and a 1.61 WHIP in 57.1 IP split between the two organizations this year.
Odds And Ends: Zaun, D’Backs, Byrd
A few more links to read as we try to figure out who claimed Alex Rios…
- Gregg Zaun told Roch Kubatko of MASN.com that he was "totally shocked" to hear he was traded to the Rays.
- The D'Backs agreed to terms with Chris Owings, the 41st overall pick in this year's draft, on a $950k deal, according to Jim Callis of Baseball America. Owings, a high school shortstop, signed for $135k above slot.
- Amalie Benjamin of the Boston Globe reports that it may be three weeks before Paul Byrd is ready.