Odds And Ends: Arnett, El Duque, Crow
Links for Friday morning…
- Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that the Brewers are close to signing first rounder Eric Arnett.
- Ready for next year's draft? MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo is, with ten players to watch in 2010, including Cameron Bedrosian, the son of Steve Bedrosian, who won the 1987 NL Cy Young Award.
- Jamey Newberg walks his readers through the five step plan the Rangers used to set the team up to contend for years.
- Tyler Kepner of the New York Times looks at the big picture and determines that a lot has changed since 2004. More specifically, the Red Sox have a "stranglehold" on the Yankees.
- Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times says Milton Bradley is a "$30MM elephant in the room" because of his hitting struggles.
- Dave Sheinin of the Washington Post believes Felix Hernandez can and will become even better.
- Joel Sherman of the New York Post hopes Orlando Hernandez succeeds in Texas. What a great story that would be.
- Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star reports that Aaron Crow's in line for a $3-4MM bonus before the August 17th signing deadline. The deadline doesn't apply to college seniors, but Crow didn't go back to college for his senior year, so he has to sign by the 17th, like most players.
Rangers Sign Orlando Hernandez
7:10pm: According to Stephen Hawkins of the Associated Press, Rangers GM Jon Daniels says Hernandez is in "great shape." "We like what we've seen," Daniels said. "He's healthy. He's throwing the ball well. He's motivated to come back."
Daniels added that there is no timetable for when Hernandez might pitch for the Rangers.
3:44pm: According to MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan, the Rangers signed Orlando Hernandez to a minor league deal. El Duque is now 39 and he hasn't pitched in the major leagues since 2007, when he was with the Mets. Hernandez, best known for his playoff success, collected most of his 90 career wins with the Yankees.
He'll be assigned to Triple A Oklahoma.
Draft Roundup: Late Picks, Strasburg, Purke
Time to pass along some more links, including some noteworthy selections late in the draft…
- The Philadelphia Daily News notes that the Phillies drafted Robert Amaro, the nephew of GM Ruben Amaro Jr.
- Tom Groeschen of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports that the Cubs drafted high schooler Joey Jocketty, the son of Reds GM Walt Jocketty.
- There's another Porcello in the Tigers organization. MLB.com's Jason Beck reports that the Tigers drafted Jake Porcello, Rick's brother.
- MLB.com's Rhett Bollinger writes that the Angels drafted Asaad Ali, the son of Muhammad Ali, in the 40th round.
- ESPN.com's Rob Neyer responds to MLBTR's discussion, and says the Nationals have to determine how much it would cost to sign Stephen Strasburg before they know how to proceed. He adds that it's impossible to know how much goodwill the Nats would lose with their fans if they don't sign him
- Randy Galloway of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram argues the Rangers "absolutely have to sign" first round pick Matt Purke. The only question, is: who pays?
Blue Jays Agree To Sign David Dellucci
ESPN.com's Buster Olney reports that the Blue Jays have agreed to sign David Dellucci. The Indians released Dellucci last Monday after he started the season hitting .275/.333/.350. He will report to Triple A and will likely be promoted to the majors soon. The Blue Jays, who obtain Dellucci for the major league minimum, will probably use him as a left fielder and DH against right-handed pitching.
The Rangers also offered Dellucci a minor league deal.
Draft Updates: Strasburg, Braves, Sierra Jr.
Some more updates and thoughts on the draft as day two continues…
- MLB.com's Mark Bowman notes that the Braves have taken a different approach this year, selecting seven college players with their first eight picks.
- Via Byron Kerr of MASN.com we hear that Jim Callis of Baseball America expects Stephen Strasburg to sign for about $17.5MM.
- ESPN.com's Buster Olney says GMs want the draft to give the worst teams the chance to sign the best players, or the chance to trade the rights to them away. Teams don't always spend early picks on the best players, so Olney says the issue will surface when it's time for the next collective bargaining agreement.
- Baseball America reports that the Rangers took a familiar name in Ruben Sierra Jr., a high school outfielder. His father showed flashes of brilliance for the Rangers, before falling off in the mid-1990s.
- The Pirates have impressed MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo today. They chose Tony Sanchez earlier than expected with the fourth pick, but have since been aggressive.
Odds And Ends: Bedard, Teixeira, Benson
Some more links for the afternoon…
- Tony Massarotti of the Boston Globe says the Red Sox should have signed Mark Teixeira last offseason when they had the chance, since he's such a skilled hitter.
- Massarotti counts down the five most hopeless franchises in baseball. His top three all select within the first four picks next hour, so there could be hope on the way.
- Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times says there's an excellent chance Erik Bedard will be a Type A free agent after this season. This works for the Mariners, as they'll be in a position to demand more for Bedard in a trade or, if they keep him, they can expect better compensation picks.
- Baseball America has the latest minor league transactions. Tim Raines Jr. was picked up by the Royals.
- MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan reports that Kris Benson cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple A to clear roster space for the recently-acquired Jason Grilli.
Rangers Acquire Jason Grilli
According to MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan the Rangers acquired pitcher Jason Grilli from the Rockies. He was designated for assignment on Friday after allowing more than two baserunners per frame over the course of 19.1 innings with the Rockies. Grilli, who did strike out 22 batters, was obtained for cash considerations.
The Rangers have been looking for relievers, and while they're likely not finished, this move gives them depth. Yet another reason to follow MLBTR on Twitter: we reported speculation about this move on Twitter yesterday.
Draft Updates: Deadline, D’Backs, Rangers
Some more links in anticipation of this evening's draft…
- Jon Heyman of SI.com says the signing deadline has been pushed back to August 17th because the 15th is a Saturday. The Nats' negotiations with Scott Boras will probably go down to the wire regardless, so it barely matters. If anything it's bad news for the Nats, as they'll have less time to prepare their probable selection, Stephen Strasburg, for a late-season cameo.
- Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic says the D'Backs could choose two hitters with their 16th and 17th picks. They like Bobby Borchering, but he may not be available to them.
- Nolan Ryan expects the Rangers to select a pitcher when they pick 14th, according to MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan.
- MLB.com's Doug Miller rounds up major leaguers' responses to this question: Has any prospect ever received more hype than Strasburg?
- And here's the final projection MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo will make. He has Dustin Ackley going to Seattle, Donavan Tate going to San Diego, Tony Sanchez going to Pittsburgh and Zack Wheeler going to Baltimore.
- ESPN.com's Keith Law has the same five players going in the same order. Interestingly, Law has Aaron Crow and Tanner Scheppers out of the first round, in large part because they're expected to demand lots of money.
Odds And Ends: Padres, Fukumori, Ortiz
Some links for Tuesday morning…
- Today's chat will be at 2pm CST.
- Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times reports that the Padres know they have to win if they want to stop management from trading players away.
- Adrian Gonzalez says it's too early to tell how long he'll remain a Padre.
- Patrick Newman at NPB Tracker passes on a report saying Kazuo Fukumori will be released by the Rangers. He made four appearances for them last year, but hasn't pitched in the majors this season.
- It's not his eyes, after all. David Ortiz can see just fine according to John Tomase of the Boston Herald.
- ESPN.com's Rob Neyer responds to Eddie's post about the mystery shortstop the Red Sox have interest in, saying it's "probably not" Yunel Escobar.
- Indians GM Mark Shapiro told Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that he believes Neal Huntington made an "understandable" and "wise" decision when he dealt Nate McLouth to the Braves.
- Joe Posnanski does not want to see the Royals trade for Jeff Francouer.
Rangers To Pursue Pitching?
After it appeared Brandon McCarthy would hit the DL with a stress fracture in his right shoulder blade, T.R. Sullivan at MLB.com chatted with Rangers GM Jon Daniels, who is going to turn to Doug Mathis for the open rotation spot for now. But he didn't rule out the possibility of a deal to shore up the position:
"'I'm open to it,' Daniels said. 'It's something we'll look into, but it's easier said than done. My expectation is we'll go with the guys we have. If there is a quality guy available, we'll look into it, but it's easier said than done.'"
Closer Frank Francisco is also hurting, and Daniels has made discussing relief pitching his "short-term focus," he told Sullivan.
The Rangers have been hit hard by the injury bug, but they remain atop the AL West with a 33-23 record, 4.5 games ahead of the Angels. Who makes sense to fill the holes? Are they still a legitimate contender?