Rangers Borrowed Millions From MLB
4:54pm: Yahoo's Gordon Edes reports that the Rangers borrowed millions from MLB and will continue to receive financial assistance from the league until owner Tom Hicks finalizes the club's sale. Edes' source says the Rangers borrowed less than $15MM.
Hicks isn't expected to sell the club before the end of the season, so the Rangers will have trouble adding salary at the deadline and could struggle to sign their top draft picks.
3:06pm: Rangers owner Tom Hicks and president Nolan Ryan were among those who dodged questions about the possibility that the Rangers had to borrow $15MM from MLB, according to Evan Grant of D Magazine. One of Grant's sources said the Rangers have had no trouble paying employees and should be able to sign draft picks and international free agents, as expected.
Odds and Ends: Duran, Ichiro, Wright, Manny, Wilson
The Pirates are dominating the rumors lately, but there have been a few other noteworthy items:
- The Astros claimed infielder German Duran off unconditional waivers from the Rangers. Ken Rosenthal writes that Duran will be put on the DL and will end up in the minors.
- Though money is tight for many American franchises, SI reports that the earnings for the world's twenty richest non-American athletes are at an all-time high. Ichiro, with $22.5MM, is the only ballplayer on the list.
- David Wright shook off criticism from former Met John Franco, telling reporters that Franco "doesn't know what's going on" in the Mets clubhouse.
- Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reports that the Dodgers prepared for the return of Manny Ramirez with a series of roster moves.
- And Colin Dunlap of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that Pirates shortstop Jack Wilson apologized for remarks made yesterday that criticized the team's trading strategy.
Indians Release Luis Vizcaino
According to Anthony Castrovince at MLB.com, the Indians released reliever Luis Vizcaino today. The 34-year-old Vizcaino had been designated for assignment on June 23.
Vizcaino put up a 4.11 ERA and 12/12 K/BB ratio in 15.1 innings between the Cubs and Indians this year. The Rangers were said to be in the mix for Vizcaino before the Indians, and with their decimated bullpen it looks to still be a possibility.
Odds And Ends: Halladay, Yankees, Rangers
Links for Tuesday morning…
- Today's chat will take place at 2pm CST.
- Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports looks ahead to the end of next season when Roy Halladay becomes a free agent if the Jays don't lock him up before then.
- As Diamond Leung notes, the Dodgers traded minor league pitcher Brian Mazone to the Phillies for future considerations. Mazone already spent three years in the Phillies organization.
- Joel Sherman of the New York Post speculates on an imagined deal: Luis Castillo for Milton Bradley.
- Peter Abraham of the Journal News reports that the Yankees signed two independent leaguers: third baseman Yurendell DeCaster and lefty Edwin Walker.
- Tony Massarotti of the Boston Globe offers five possible solutions for the Red Sox in case Mike Lowell has to miss much time.
- Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun asks Orioles fans which player they would pluck from the Red Sox roster if possible. Kevin Youkilis and Jon Lester would sure be nice additions.
- Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post answers his readers' trade questions.
- Anthony Andro of the Dallas Morning News reports that the Rangers signed second rounder Tommy Mendonca.
International Free Agent Update
ESPN.com's Jorge Arangure relays the latest on a pair of international players with his Twitter account.
- Cheslor Cuthbert, who agreed to terms over the weekend, will receive a bonus of about $1.2MM from the Royals.
- The Rangers appear to be closing in on Jurickson Profar.
- It looks like he'll receive a bonus of about $700k to play short.
- He could probably have received more if he'd signed as a pitcher, but he doesn't want to pitch.
Our own Mike Axisa questioned Baseball America's Ben Badler about some other international players over at River Ave. Blues:
- It looks like top Latin catching prospect Gary Sanchez will sign with the Yankees for about $3MM.
- The Mariners seem to be the favorites to sign Guillermo Pimentel.
- Ugueth Urbina's son, Juan, will likely sign with the Mets.
- Badler says Miguel Angel Sano would have gone somewhere between fourth overall and the end of the first round if he'd been eligible in this month's draft.
Rangers Shifting Focus To Starters?
With starter Matt Harrison hitting the DL, T.R. Sullivan at MLB.com says that Rangers GM Jon Daniels could comb the starting pitching market for help. We've known that the Rangers have been looking for arms, but the priorities could be shifting from RPs to SPs:
"We probably have more internal options in the bullpen than in the rotation. [Starting pitching] is something we're looking at but there are not that many starting pitchers available and I don't expect that to change," Daniels said.
The Rangers field some of the best pitching prospects in baseball, but most aren't close to major-league ready. The team ERA sits at 4.41, which is 19th in the majors and might slip with the depleted depth. Kevin Millwood has been the only reliable piece of the rotation this year.
Texas is now 40-33, one game behind the surging Angels. We checked in on a similar debacle a few weeks ago when Brandon McCarthy hit the DL, and at that time the Rangers were comfortably ahead of the Angels by 4.5 games. The Rangers have plenty of pieces to offer potential suitors, but Daniels believes the market to be "thin." They've been reported as being reluctant to add any salary as well.
If you're Daniels, is it your only choice to stand pat and hope it all pans out? Or is this team for real, and does the market have more valuable pieces to offer than they're letting on? Do we re-visit the ever-fascinating Ben Sheets and Pedro Martinez talks? Discuss your thoughts.
Discussion: Ben Sheets
We haven't checked in on Ben Sheets for quite some time. In fact, MLBTR's last update on the free agent right-hander was in early May, when he was spotted at the Rangers' ballpark visiting with pitching coach Mike Maddux.
Odds & Ends: Moore, Schmidt, Atkins
On this date back in 2003, Johnny Damon hit a single, a double, and a triple in a 14-run first inning against the Marlins. The Red Sox set a league record by scoring ten runs before making an out.
On to the linkage…
- Matthew Pouliot of Circling The Bases says that Dayton Moore's moves over the last season and a half are enough to warrant his dismissal. He notes they have a more than qualified replacement already in-house in senior advisor Mike Arbuckle.
- Ben Bolch of The LA Times notes that Jason Schmidt threw 104 pitches over 7.2 shutout in a rehab start yesterday. We know the Dodgers are looking for pitching, but a healthy and reasonably effective Schmidt could lessen that urgency.
- Tracy Ringolsby writes that Garrett Atkins' recent hot streak creates "more of a possibility of another team having interest in acquiring him." Atkins is hitting .340-.415-.553 in June.
- The Rangers have been getting good production from unexpected sources like Jason Jennings, says Ken Sherrington of The Dallas Morning News.
- Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez says he's happy to be in Colorado, according to Susan Slusser of The SF Chronicle.
- Joe Cowley tweets this Ozzie Guillen quote: "The people that run baseball teams now are soft." I wonder what Kenny Williams thinks about that.
- Marc Carig writes that the Rockies had begun combing through the Yankees' farm system in advance of a potential Huston Street trade back in May.
Odds And Ends: Isringhausen, El Duque, Felix
Who says there are no good sports nicknames anymore? Within this post alone, we find Izzy, El Duque and King Felix…
- The O.C. Register assembles a slideshow of 16 relievers who could be moved in the next five weeks.
- Joe Smith of the St. Petersburg Times reports that Jason Isringhausen will consider pitching next year if he recovers well from his recent Tommy John surgery.
- Rangers GM Jon Daniels said Orlando Hernandez will be used as a reliever, according to Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
- ESPN.com's Jim Caple discusses Felix Hernandez's recent dominance. As Caple says, "the king's crown fits much better this season."
- A thought from Padres exec Paul DePodesta: "Regardless of the preparation they receive in the minors, young players will almost always struggle early on in the majors."
- We're hearing from PGCrossChecker.com that the Cubs signed first rounder Brett Jackson for $972k.
Odds And Ends: Snell, Tigers, Dotel
Some more links for a quiet Thursday…
- MLB.com's Jen Langosch says it's "almost certain" that Ian Snell will be demoted to Triple A and Dejan Kovacevic confirms the news. Snell has been mentioned in some rumors, but his value's pretty low at this point.
- Chris Iott of MLive.com reports that the Tigers signed two of their picks and a non-drafted free agent.
- Octavio Dotel realizes he could be traded and says nothing will surprise him, according to MLB.com's Scott Merkin.
- In a piece for MLB.com, Jamey Newberg says Justin Smoak and Martin Perez lead the list of top Rangers prospects.
- Don't forget to tune in at 6:20 CST when I'll be talking rumors on the TEAM 1380 in St. Louis.