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Cubs Claim Guillermo Moscoso

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The Cubs announced that they have claimed Guillermo Moscoso off of waivers from the Blue Jays.  Right-handed pitcher Arodys Vizcaino, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery, was placed on the 60-day disabled list to make room for Moscoso on the 40-man roster. 

The Blue Jays claimed Moscoso off of waivers just a week-and-a-half ago.  Last season with the Rockies, the 29-year-old posted a 6.12 ERA with 8.5 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 in 50 innings.  He also started 21 games for the 2011 Athletics, posting a 3.38 ERA with 5.2 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 in 128 innings.

Blue Jays Option Ricky Romero To High-A

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The Blue Jays have optioned starting pitcher Ricky Romero to High-A Dunedin, tweets Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca. Romero is guaranteed $7.5MM by Toronto for the 2013 season.

Toronto had reportedly been deciding whether to allow the former Opening Day starter and All-Star to work out his issues on the big league club, or whether instead to turn to J.A. Happ to fill out the rotation, as CBS Sports' Danny Knobler explained earlier today. In conjunction with the Romero move, Happ has been told that he will be the fifth starter by GM Alex Anthopoulos, Davidi further tweets. 

 

Anthopoulos On Dickey, Marlins, Reyes, Johnson

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Recently, Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star sat down with Blue Jays General Manager Alex Anthopoulos and touched on a number of topics.  Here are some of the highlights from their chat..

  • The Blue Jays wouldn't have made a deal for R.A. Dickey had they not completed the Marlins blockbuster first.  In Anthopoulos' view, the club would not have been "one R.A." away from contending without the likes of Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle, and Josh Johnson in the fold.
  • Anthopoulos feels as though he paid a steep price to land Dickey, but that it was worth it given that he was the final piece in helping to push the club to an elite level.  The Blue Jays weren't interested in fortifying the rotation with a No. 3 or 4 starter but instead wanted Dickey at the top of the rotation to push everyone else down a peg.
  • From a trade standpoint, Anthopoulos says that he has learned over the years to have less balls in the air and to focus on the one or two deals that have a realistic chance of happening.  That narrowed scope, he says, helped make the blockbuster deal with the Marlins a reality.
  • Within the organization, opinions were split on the deal with the Marlins, but AA ultimately had the final say and pulled the trigger.  Feelings were similar on the five-year, $64MM extension that Jose Bautista signed with the club, but the GM ultimately pushed that through as well.
  • Griffin asked Anthopoulous if he believes that changes to the draft and international free agent signing rules were directed at creative GMs such as himself, but he doesn't see it that way.  However, AA notes that the new cap for international spending hurts teams like the Blue Jays that have opted to shed big league payroll in order to free up money.  
  • Anthopoulos is glad that the team has purposely stayed away from giving expensive, overly-lengthy deals to free agents.  While Reyes and Buehrle both have "free agent contracts", he's comfortable with them because of their talent level.  In the case of Reyes, he's the only player on the team with five years to go on his deal and he's just 29 years old, not 32 or 33.
  • Even if the Marlins deal didn't take place, the Blue Jays still would have chosen John Gibbons as manager.
  • There has been less change in the Blue Jays' front office lately than in years past and Anthopoulos attributes that to increased stability in the organization rather than his own increased comfort level.

Multiple Teams Showing Interest In Chris Young

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MONDAY: The Blue Jays, Orioles, Twins, Indians, Cubs, Cardinals, Red Sox, Brewers and Mets all have scouts on hand for Young's start against the Astros today, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter links). However, as he's quick to note, that doesn't necessarily mean that each team is there to scout Young specifically.

For what it's worth, Young was terrific in his outing, scattering two hits, a walk and an unearned run over four innings to go along with a pair of strikeouts.

SUNDAY, 2:10pm: The Pirates are intrigued by Young, tweets the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review's Rob Biertempfel. However, Biertempfel wonders whether the Pirates can assure Young he'd be on roster the whole year and, if not, whether or not Young would be interested.

11:25am: The minor league deal that Chris Young signed with the Nationals last month contains an opt-out clause that he can exercise today. However, Young is scheduled to pitch in a Grapefruit League game tomorrow. Dan Kolko of MASNsports tweets that Young is planning on making that start tomorrow and then making a decision. Young says he has received interest from other teams, and it was reported on Friday that Young likely won't make the roster.

The Washington Post's Adam Kilgore adds that the Nationals hope to retain Young and view him as the clear favorite for a rotation spot if one of their starting five were to suffer an injury. Young is interested in staying in the organization in the event that he can't find a Major League job elsewhere.

The 33-year-old Young posted a 4.15 ERA, 6.3 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 in 115 innings for the Mets last season. However, teams in smaller ballparks will likely be wary of Young's alarming 58.2 percent fly-ball rate. Among pitchers with 100 innings or more, Young's fly-ball rate was far and away the highest in baseball, while his 22.3 percent ground-ball rate was far and away the lowest.

Edward Creech contributed to this post.

AL Notes: Blue Jays, Astros, Loe

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Former Expos and Orioles GM Jim Beattie, who's now a pro scout for the Blue Jays, says the Jays are looking for help at second base and in their bullpen, Bob Elliott of the Canadian Baseball Network notes. "We’re always looking for pitching depth in the bullpen and our situation at second place is a little unsettled," Beattie says. "We have two guys (Emilio Bonifacio and Maicer Izturis) there but they’re not everyday guys." Here are more notes from the American League.

  • Astros GM Jeff Luhnow explains the rationale that led the team to replace Jed Lowrie with Tyler Greene, and then to replace Greene with Ronny Cedeno, Brian T. Smith of the Houston Chronicle reports. "When the Cardinals released Ronny Cedeno, he was a player that we had targeted during the offseason. But we had Lowrie most of the offseason, so we weren't aggressive," says Luhnow. "When (Cedeno) became available, we went back to our original plan, which was to try and get him in here." The Cardinals signed Cedeno in late January, while the Astros did not trade Lowrie (to the Athletics) until early February.
  • Reliever Kameron Loe is hoping to stay with the Mariners, Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times writes. The Mariners need to decide by Tuesday whether to open a roster spot for Loe, or the non-roster pitcher could exercise an out clause in his contract. "I hope we can work something out," Loe says. "I really like it here." Loe posted a 4.61 ERA with 7.2 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9 in 68 1/3 innings for the Brewers in 2012.
    Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/03/24/3305044/loe-hoping-to-remain-with-mariners.html#storylink=cpy

East Notes: Blue Jays, Mets, Santana, Phillies, Wang

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Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos sat down for an interview with Sportsnet.ca (video link), discussing (among other things) the club's rotation battle between Ricky Romero and J.A. Happ. The GM said that while Happ will "factor into this club, and it doesn't mean that he can't factor into this club on opening day in some role, some capacity," the team will "do everything we can with Romero" in the spring before taking him out of a starting role. 

  • Further addressing the issue of rotational depth, Anthopoulos acknowledged that the club lacks "household names" in that area. While the Jays "have 4-A guys," the GM says he wants to add "someone who is a little bit better than that, … a Happ type of guy." The team is "active … trying to do some things, trying to make some trades" for a starting-caliber arm that can be used in the bullpen or stashed in the minors, although some player on the current roster "wouldn't be happy, because somebody would be out of a job."
  • The Mets appear prepared to enter the season without adding to their mix of outfielders, reports Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com. “I think we’ve got a sense of who the five or six are who might be on the team," said GM Sandy Alderson. "What we have is what we’re going to have, and we’re not entirely displeased with that.”
  • Rubin also notes that the Mets could be dealing with a long absence from starter Johan Santana, who is still a ways away from returning to the mound, let alone doing so in a big league game. Santana acknowledged that his absence is indefinite: “I’m making progress. It’s just I don’t know when I’m going to be pitching again.” According to Rubin, “there is now an open question about whether Santana’s shoulder and his career will ever be the same.” 
  • After sending Darin Ruf down to work on his defense, Phillies’ GM Ruben Amaro Jr. acknowledged that there is a chance the Phillies may look to acquire another outfielder via trade, according to Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com. “There’s a lot of time left.  If we can improve the team we’ll do it.”
  • The Yankees have made their signing of Chien-Ming Wang to a minor-league deal official, according to a team press release.  Wang will enter his age-33 season looking for another chance to pitch in pinstripes, and to regain the success he had during his first stint with the club.

Kyle Lohse Rumors: Friday

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Kyle Lohse continues pitching simulated games in anticipation of signing with an MLB team before the amateur draft takes place in June. The market for the right-hander finally seems to be taking shape. The Angels haven't fully ruled out Lohse and the Rockies have done their due diligence. The Rangers and Brewers are keeping tabs on Lohse, but the Royals and Reds don't appear to be talking to agent Scott Boras.

Here are today’s Lohse rumors with the most recent items up top…

  • GM Jon Daniels told Jim Bowden on MLB Network Radio that the Rangers aren't likely to sign Lohse (Twitter links). Daniels didn't completely rule out a deal, however. Rival general managers say Lohse remains unsigned because of Boras' demands, not just the new draft pick compensation rules, Bowden writes.

Earlier updates

  • The Blue Jays are at their payroll limit and will not pursue Lohse, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports (on Twitter). While Ricky Romero has looked shaky this spring, J.A. Happ provides insurance as an extra starter.
  • Lohse told Bob Nightengale of USA Today that he’s “in an awkward spot” now that the season is approaching. The 34-year-old is scheduled to pitch a simulated game at a local community college today. Boras predicted to Nightengale that teams will intensify their pursuit of Lohse once younger pitchers falter. "His value only rises because there's a greater need now. The demand for him is created by attrition when teams learn that their younger pitching can't meet their need.” The agent said “plenty” of teams are interested.

Blue Jays Claim Todd Redmond

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The Blue Jays claimed Todd Redmond off of waivers from the Orioles, Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun reports (on Twitter). The Blue Jays confirmed the move, adding that they optioned Redmond to Triple-A Buffalo. Toronto placed Drew Hutchison on the 60-day disabled list to create roster space for Redmond.

The Orioles had claimed the right-hander off of waivers from the Reds last month. The 27-year-old made his MLB debut in 2012, starting one game at the big league level. He spent most of the season at Triple-A, where he posted a 3.63 ERA with 8.2 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 in 148 2/3 innings. The Reds acquired him from the Braves for Paul Janish last July.

AL Notes: Royals, Happ, Matsuzaka, Longoria

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The Royals will approach their upcoming roster decisions with the goal of preserving "inventory," Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star writes. That means keeping as many players in the system as possible, which in turn means that players who are out of options will have a better chance of making the team, so the Royals don't risk losing them. The following players are out of options: Bruce Chen, Jarrod Dyson, Jeremy Guthrie, J.C. Gutierrez, Brett Hayes, Luke Hochevar, Elliot Johnson, George Kottaras, Luis Mendoza and Felipe Paulino. Hayes, Kottaras and Adam Moore are battling to back up Salvador Perez at catcher. Since Moore has an option, he will likely return to the minor leagues, and the Royals will choose between Hayes and Kottaras, keeping one while potentially trading or losing the other. The many teams currently on the lookout for catching help will presumably be watching the Royals' situation closely. Here are more notes from the American League.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/03/16/4125791/inventory-is-key-element-for-royals.html#storylink=cpy

NL Notes: Peralta, Cubs, Snider

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The Diamondbacks have returned Rule 5 pick Starlin Peralta to the Cubs, AZCentral.com's Bob McManaman reports. Peralta pitched three innings for the Diamondbacks in spring training, allowing seven runs while walking three batters and striking out none. Peralta, 22, pitched in Class A Peoria in 2012. Here are more notes from the National League.

  • Cubs manager Dale Sveum says he's satisfied with his team's position players heading into the season, Carrie Muskat and Owen Perkins of MLB.com report. Sveum hasn't given GM Jed Hoyer a "wish list" of acquisitions, Muskat and Perkins note. The Cubs acquired infielder Luis Valbuena and pitcher Shawn Camp near the end of spring training in 2012, and both played key roles for the team last year.
  • The manager of Pirates outfielder Travis Snider's former team says Snider could thrive with his new organization, Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports. Current Blue Jays manager John Gibbons, who served an earlier stint as the Jays' manager when Snider was among the team's top prospects, compares Snider to Jose Bautista, who became one of baseball's best power hitters after being traded from Pittsburgh to Toronto. "[Bautista] was bouncing around, and it took him a while to get it going. Sometimes what happens is they give up on you too soon," Gibbons says. "But if you're in the perfect spot and they've got time to give you a legitimate shot, that's when guys usually get it going." The Pirates acquired Snider for reliever Brad Lincoln last July.
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