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Draft Signings: Austin, Mardirosian, Ramos, Stokes

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We’ll keep track of the day’s notable draft signings right here, with slot information courtesy of Baseball America:

  • White Sox fourth-rounder Brett Austin agreed to a $450K bonus that is about $35K below slot, reports MLB Daily Dish’s Chris Cotillo (Twitter link). Austin, a catcher out of NC State, caught Carlos Rodon in college, whom the Sox selected with the No. 3 overall pick. The $35K savings on Austin’s bonus covers the slight discrepancy between third-rounder Jace Fry’s $760K bonus and the $726K slot value.
  • Jim Callis of MLB.com reports that the Reds have agreed to a well-above-slot deal with seventh-round selection Shane Mardirosian (Twitter link). The high school infielder out of California received a $350K bonus despite the fact that the No. 215 slot’s assigned value was $173K. Callis describes him as a “sparkplug” with speed and a line-drive swing.
  • Though bonus amounts are not known for all players, the White Sox have reached agreement with all of the players selected in the draft’s first ten rounds except for third-overall pick Carlos Rodon, tweets Colleen Kane of the Chicago Tribune. Chicago, which has an overall available pool of just over $9.5MM, had already reached agreement with both of the high-school players it took from among those picks: second-rounder Spencer Adams (who reportedly signed at slot) and tenth-rounder Jake Jarvis (who was said to be a hard-sign choice).
  • The Mets have agreed to sign their second pick (the 84th overall choice), high school shortstop Milton Ramos, tweets Cotillo. His third-round slot carries a $651.7K allotment, though it’s not yet clear whether the bonus falls at, above, or below that mark. Known for his advanced glove, Ramos landed at 46th on MLB.com’s pre-draft ranking and had been ticketed for Florida Atlantic University.
  • The Brewers have agreed to sign fourth-round choice Troy Stokes for $400K, reports Chris Cotillo of MLBDailyDish.com (via Twitter). Milwaukee will get to apply $49.3K towards other picks, as the 116th draft slot carried a $449.3K pool figure. Stokes landed at 316th on Baseball America’s list of the 500 best draft prospects.
  • Rockies fourth-rounder Wesley Rogers (113th overall) has agreed to a $360K bonus, tweets Cotillo. That represents a savings of $100.5K against the slot assignment. Rogers, a JuCo outfielder, did not crack any of the major top draft prospect lists.
  • The Blue Jays have agreed to terms with third-rounder Nick Wells, reports Tariq Lee of the Washington Post (h/t to Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun). Wells, a Virginia high school lefty who had been committed to the College of Charleston, will receive the full slot value of the 83rd overall pick ($661.8K). He landed at 119th on Baseball America’s list of the top available prospects.
  • Click here to review MLBTR’s coverage of the flurry of recent draft signings. Remember that you can always find that category tag (“2014 Amateur Draft Signings”), and many more, right below the post.

Minor Moves: Rowland-Smith, Hill, Marmol, Pina

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Here are the day’s minor moves:

  • ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick reports that the Blue Jays have released left-hander Ryan Rowland-Smith from Triple-A Buffalo (Twitter link). The Australian lefty worked his way back to the Majors earlier this season with the D’Backs — his first big league action since 2010. After being released by Arizona, Rowland-Smith caught on with the Jays and allowed eight runs in 14 innings with a solid 11-to-3 K/BB ratio.
  • The White Sox have acquired righty Shawn Hill from the Blue Jays, according to the International League transactions page. Hill, 33, has seen time in seven MLB seasons, working to a 4.69 ERA in 242 innings, almost entirely as a starter. He last reached the majors in 2012 with the Jays, when he made his first and only relief appearance. Hill made three starts for the Expos back in 2004, and had his best season with the Nationals in 2007, when he worked to a 3.42 ERA in 97 1/3 frames.
  • Reliever Carlos Marmol has been placed on the restricted list by the Reds after leaving the club without permission, according to Jamie Ramsey, the club’s Assistant Director of Media Relations (Twitter link). Marmol came to Cincinnati recently on a minor league deal after he was released by the Marlins, and had allowed three earned runs (with six walks and six strikeouts) through just 3 2/3 frames at Triple-A.
  • The Tigers have acquired catcher Manny Pina from the Mariners in exchange for a player to be named later, according to the MLB transactions page. Detroit has released fellow backstop Luis Exposito in a corresponding move, via the International League transactions page. Pina, 27, has had two brief MLB stints with the Royals. He is hitting .267/.337/.413 through 83 plate appearances at Triple-A Tacoma. Exposito is also a 27-year-old with minimal MLB experience under his belt; he owns a .177/.252/.313 line in 107 plate appearances for Toledo.
  • Brian Barden will continue his career with the indy league Somerset Patriots, reports ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick (via Twitter). The 33-year-old infielder has seen action in four MLB campaigns with the Cardinals, Diamondbacks, and Marlins, most recently in 2010. He spent last year at Triple-A for the Dodgers before moving to the Mexican League at the start of 2014.
  • MLBTR’s DFA Tracker shows six players in limbo: Jordan Pacheco (Rockies), David Huff (Giants), Jason Kubel (Twins), Trevor Cahill (Diamondbacks), and Wilton Lopez (Rockies).

Blue Jays To Sign Sean Reid-Foley

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The Blue Jays have agreed to terms with second-round selection and No. 49 overall pick Sean Reid-Foley, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports (on Twitter). Reid-Foley himself hinted on Twitter recently that he would be signing with Toronto. Many thought that Foley, who was projected as a potential first-round talent, would be signed to an over-slot deal due to his slide to No. 49, but Heyman reports that he will sign for the slot value of $1.128MM, which seems like a nice deal for Toronto.

Reid-Foley, a high school right-hander out of Florida, was MLB.com’s 18th-ranked prospect heading into the drat. Baseball America ranked him 19th, and ESPN’s Keith Law, while a bit more pessimistic on Reid-Foley, still ranked him 35th on his pre-draft Top 100. Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com praised Reid-Foley’s fastball, which sits 91 to 93 mph and touches 95 mph, as well as his four-pitch mix and his ability to repeat his delivery. Law praised Reid-Foley’s fastball and breaking ball but felt that his changeup needs work if he is to reach his ceiling as a No. 3 starter in the Majors.

A Florida State commit, Reid-Foley will be the second top pick to join the Blue Jays organization today rather than head to college. Toronto agreed to a well-above-slot, $750K bonus for fifth-round outfielder Lane Thomas earlier today, who had been committed to Tennessee. The ability to sign Reid-Foley at slot value is a big boost to Toronto’s draft, as it will allow them to reallocate the savings from selecting Tommy John victim Jeff Hoffman with the ninth overall selection. Hoffman and Max Pentecost — Toronto’s other first-round selection — remain unsigned to this point.

Blue Jays Sign Fifth-Rounder Thomas Above Slot

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The Blue Jays announced today that they’ve agreed to terms with fifth-round pick Lane Thomas, and MLB.com’s Jim Callis tweets that Thomas will earn a hefty $750K bonus. That’s more than double the $343K value of Thomas’ No. 144 overall selection.

Thomas, a Tennessee commit, wasn’t ranked among MLB.com’s Top 200 draft prospects or the Top 100 of ESPN’s Keith Law, but Baseball America considered him the No. 172 prospect in this year’s draft class. BA praised the high school shortstop/center fielder’s athleticism, noting that many scouts believe he’s a true center fielder with plus speed once he’s underway. Others feel that his strong arm and athleticism will lend well to playing in the infield, per BA’s report. In his tweet, Callis noted that the Tennessee high schooler has solid “all-around tools.”

At $9,458,500, the Blue Jays possess Major League Baseball’s fourth-largest bonus pool this year (as reported by BA’s J.J. Cooper in April), and they figure to save some money after drafting Tommy John victim Jeff Hoffman with the ninth overall pick. Hoffman, once considered a slam-dunk Top 5 talent in the draft, slipped due to his injury and isn’t likely to require the full $3.08MM value of the No. 9 overall slot in order to sign.

Draft Signings: Skoglund, Rays, Helmink, Bukauskas

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Here are today’s notable draft news and signings:

  • The Royals have agreed to terms with third-round pick Erik Skoglund, who will get the bonus pool amount of $576K, MLB Daily Dish’s Chris Cotillo tweets. Skoglund is a projectable lefty and a junior out of Central Florida.
  • The Rays have signed their sixth- through ninth-round draft choices, the Tampa Bay Times’ Marc Topkin tweets. Sixth-rounder Mac James, a catcher from Oklaholma, is a junior, but the other three players (RHP Mike Franco of Florida International, 3B Daniel Miles of Tennessee Tech, and RHP Chris Pike of Oklahoma City University) are all seniors, so the Rays will likely save money against their bonus pool with those picks.
  • The Diamondbacks have agreed to terms with 12th-round pick Holden Helmink, a righty from a Texas junior college, on a deal worth $100K, Cotillo tweets. $100K is the maximum a team can pay a player drafted after the tenth round without it counting against the team’s bonus pool.
  • The Dodgers have agreed to terms with fifth-rounder Jared Walker, a lefty-hitting third baseman from a Georgia high school, on a deal for the bonus pool value of $297K, Cotillo tweets. Walker was committed to Kennesaw State.
  • The Rangers have signed sixth-round pick Jose Trevino, Trevino himself tweets. Texas selected the Oral Roberts junior third baseman at No. 186 overall. The bonus pool value of that pick is about $229K.
  • The Rockies have agreed to terms with sixth-rounder Max George, Neil Devlin of the Denver Post tweets. The 5-foot-9 shortstop is a local product, hailing from Regis Jesuit High School in Aurora. There was no immediate word on George’s bonus, but the pool value of the pick is about $259K.
  • The Blue Jays have announced the first signings of their 2014 draft class: prep catcher Matt Morgan (4th round) and Florida right-hander Justin Shafer (8th round). No terms were released, but the slot value (per Baseball America) for the two picks are $458K and $159.9K, respectively.
  • Right-hander J.B. Bukauskas tweeted he will honor his commitment to the University of North Carolina and not sign with the Diamondbacks. Bukauskas, rated #33 by Baseball America and #38 by MLB.com, lasted until the 20th round (#600 overall) after asking teams last month not to draft him because he wanted to attend UNC.

Charlie Wilmoth contributed to this post.

Blue Jays To Sign Luis Ayala

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8:39am: Zach adds that Ayala’s contract with the Jays does not contain an opt-out clause, as his previous Orioles contract did (Twitter link).

8:26am: The Blue Jays have agreed to a minor league deal with right-hander Luis Ayala, MLBTR’s Zach Links reports (on Twitter).

Ayala, who is represented by Paragon Sports International, signed with the Nationals in Spring Training but was granted his release after it became clear that there wouldn’t be a spot for him in the Washington ’pen. He then inked a minor league deal with Baltimore and pitched 5 1/3 innings for their Double-A affiliate in Bowie before opting out of that deal as well.

The 36-year-old Ayala has been a solid bullpen piece for the past three seasons after it looked like his career was beginning to fade. He’s pitched for the Yankees, Orioles and Braves from 2011-13, posting a strong 2.58 ERA with 6.1 K/9, 2.6 BB/9 and a ground-ball rate north of 50 percent. He’s a logical fit with the Blue Jays, who, despite their first-place standing in the AL East, have posted the second-worst bullpen ERA in the Majors at 4.62. Given the carousel of arms they’ve cycled through — Toronto has already used 16 different relievers this season — it wouldn’t be surprising to see Ayala pitch for the big league club at some point this summer.

Anthopoulos On Starters, Rasmus, Cabrera

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In an excellent interview with Sportsnet.ca’s Prime Time Sports (video link), Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos addressed a number of topics. A full listen is highly recommended, but here are some of the highlights:

  • Young righty Marcus Stroman will get a chance to hold down a rotation spot, Anthopoulos said. The GM hopes that Stroman will benefit from the fact that he has already worked through the nerves of receiving his first call-up.
  • It was a tough decision, but the club will demote Liam Hendriks to clear away an excess starter from the active roster. Though he could have taken a bullpen role, the team decided it wanted to keep him stretched out in the minors, MLB.com’s Jamie Ross reports.
  • After a few extra days off, Drew Hutchison tossed a nice game tonight upon returning to the rotation. Anthopoulos explained that the team is just looking to “be preemptive” with finding rest early in the season for the 23-year-old. While there are no hard inning limits, the GM said that the club wants to take advantage now of opportunities to keep the staff fresh.
  • The Jays will face touch choices with two outfielders set to hit the free agent market in Colby Rasmus and Melky Cabrera. Anthopoulos said that he would not rule out the possibility of in-season extension talks with either of those two players, though he said that his preference is always to avoid the distraction that comes with talking during the year.
  • More generally, Anthopoulos emphasized that the Blue Jays’ flexible and substantial payroll capacity gave the team an advantage in extension scenarios. Because it can afford to wait to decide whether to attempt a new deal without being quite as concerned with rising prices, he said, the team is better able to limit risk and avoid sunk costs on the roster.

AL East Notes: Cano, Yankees, Cruz, Francisco

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Robinson Cano told reporters, including the New York Daily News’ Andy Martino, that he wasn’t bothered by the boos he received in returning to Yankee Stadium. Martino goes on to opine that the booing of Cano seems to be the only emotion the Yankee fanbase can muster due to the team’s lackluster performance. He asked Brett Gardner how the club could be more consistent at the plate and received a frustrated reply: “Well, if we knew that, we would have done it two days ago.” More on the Yankees’ decision to let Cano walk and the AL East…

  • Martino’s colleague, John Harper, wonders if the Yankees would let Cano walk again if they had a mulligan on the offseason. As he notes, there’s virtually no certainty next season in the infield with Derek Jeter retiring, Brian Roberts on a one-year deal, Mark Teixeira’s injuries, an unproven track record for Yangervis Solarte and Alex Rodriguez’s suspension. While the back-end of any Cano deal would surely look poor, he asks if that would be an acceptable price to pay for chasing greatness in the short term.
  • Rangers GM Jon Daniels appeared on The Afternoon Show with Cowlishaw and Moseley in Texas yesterday and discussed Nelson Cruz’s hot start with the Orioles. Daniels said he’s not surprised to see Cruz thriving — though they wouldn’t have expected 20 homers through this point in the season. He adds that Texas made multiple attempts to sign Cruz, making a qualifying offer and offering a multi-year deal at the Winter Meetings. Daniels adds: “…by the time it came down to Spring Training, when he was signing, there was some other factors at play. We made the decision that we did to give our own guys an opportunity and keep the draft pick.”
  • Shi Davidi of Sportsnet breaks down Juan Francisco’s strong play for the Blue Jays and wonders if the Jays could possibly have struck gold on a third low-cost slugger acquisition. Davidi points out that Toronto stumbled into franchise cornerstones Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion, and Francisco is cut largely from the same cloth. Davidi looks at improvements to Francisco’s pitch selection — though his strikeout rate remains high — and changes to his approach made by the team’s coaching staff. Francisco, a close friend of Encarnacion, says he feels at home with the Jays. Davidi also reports that Toronto tried to acquire Francisco last season as well before Atlanta traded him to Milwaukee, suggesting he’s been on their radar for quite some time.

Draft Links: Padres, Ryan, Phillies, Jays

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The 2014 amateur draft is only three days away, so here’s the first batch of what will surely be a ton of draft-related items this week…

  • The Padres won’t draft Jeff Hoffman or Erick Fedde with the 13th overall pick, sources tell Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune.  Both college right-handers recently underwent Tommy John surgery and though the team “briefly kicked the idea around” of taking one of the highly-touted pitchers in hopes of a full recovery, the risk seemed too high at that point in the first round.  “We want to take someone who is healthy. There are too many good options on the board,” assistant GM Chad MacDonald said.
  • The Twins are likely to again focus on pitching in this draft, general manager Terry Ryan tells Jim Crikket of the Knuckleballs blog.  “We’ll draft a lot of pitching just because of the attrition. We need to make sure we have numbers and competition,” Ryan said.  “Actually the depth and some of the talent in our organization is starting to lean toward pitching….But we won’t have enough, so we’ll take a bunch more.”  This doesn’t necessarily mean that Minnesota will draft a pitcher with the fifth overall pick, as Ryan says the team is just focused on drafting the best possible player.  I’d recommend reading the entire interview, as Ryan also touches on such topics as his health and the Twins’ performance this season.
  • The Phillies could be altering their draft strategy of taking good athletes with high ceilings by instead opting for more proven players who are closer to making the majors, CSNPhilly.com’s Jim Salisbury writes as part of an interview with Phillies scouting director Marti Wolever.
  • Recent comments from Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos hint that his team could also be taking a somewhat more cautious approach to their draft process, Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi reports.  “I’d say a big part of refining our process is maybe we’re starting to examine the level of risk we’re willing to take….It doesn’t mean we’ll be risk-averse, but maybe not take the same level of risk,” Anthopoulos told Sportsnet Magazine.  “We’re just trying to balance it out a little bit more as we’re going through it. That’s not to say we’re not looking for talent, upside, all that kind of stuff. We’re trying to balance it.”

AL East Notes: Price, Blue Jays, Yankees

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Count FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal among those puzzled by David Price’s revived feud with David Ortiz, as Rosenthal notes that the two seemed to have buried the hatchet after last year’s controversy in the ALDS.  While Price has been no stranger to high-profile situations over his career and is widely considered to be a level-headed person, Rosenthal wonders how the Rays ace would deal with increased scrutiny if he is dealt to a more pressurized market than Tampa Bay.  Here’s some more from around the AL East…

  • The Blue Jays don’t have the prospect depth to pursue Price or Jeff Samardzija on the trade market this summer, ESPN’s Buster Olney writes (Insider subscription required).  Both aces are only under contract through 2015 and seem unlikely to sign extensions to stay in Toronto, so the Jays aren’t willing to pay the high price of several top prospects for such short-term acquisitions.
  • The Jays could look to add less-costly pitching help before the deadline, Olney writes, as well as an upgrade at second base, though the Brett Lawrie/Steve Tolleson/Juan Francisco rotation between 2B and 3B is working well.  Toronto could also add another bullpen arm (if Sergio Santos isn’t healthy or effective) either before the deadline or into the August waiver period.
  • “There’s no magic number for attendance” that will impact whether the Blue Jays make deadline deals or not, team president Paul Beeston tells Sportsnet’s Michael Grange.  “If there’s a deal it’s not going to be money that determines if it’s going to be done, it’s going to be wins. If we’re winning we’ll do it. I hope we have that opportunity,” Beeston said.
  • The big free agent deals signed by Carlos Beltran, Brian McCann and Jacoby Ellsbury last winter have yet to translate into an improved offense for the Yankees, Bill Madden of the New York Daily News writes.   Beltran has been injured, McCann has struggled and Ellsbury has been miscast as a No. 3 hitter, a lineup spot Ellsbury has often been forced to fill due to injuries.  Madden wonders why the Yankees didn’t pursue a first base backup for Mark Teixeira (again battling wrist problems) over the offseason and believes the team needs to sign Kendrys Morales to help the lineup.
  • Ken Davidoff of the New York Post also looked at the Yankees’ hitting woes and argues that the club could be better served by trading for starting pitching rather than offensive help.  If the Yankees’ veteran hitters are healthy, they’re at least known commodities, while New York has several unproven young arms in its injury-riddled rotation.
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