Uncategorized News & Rumors

NBA fan?  Our partner site Hoops Rumors has you covered.  Half of the NBA's 30 teams are already looking ahead to the offseason, and the other half will join them as they're eliminated from the playoffs over the next few weeks. This summer's draft and free agent period will be crucial for a number of organizations as they rebuild and retool. Lottery teams will be hoping to land the first overall pick and the chance to draft University of Kentucky star Anthony Davis, while clubs with cap space will pursue top free agents like Deron Williams, Steve Nash, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and Chris Kaman. Follow all the latest NBA news, rumors, and transactions at Hoops Rumors!

In an effort to improve diversity and draw more of the country's best amateur athletes to baseball, MLB is in serious discussions with the NCAA to provide additional scholarship funds according to Bryan Fischer of CBSSports.com. Colleges are currently limited to 11.7 scholarships for baseball and many schools are unable to fund even that many.

Baseball America's Aaron Fitt reports that a contingent of NCAA officials met with MLB executive vice president Rob Manfred and MLBPA head Michael Weiner in New York three weeks ago, and "talks are really picking up steam." Colleges had 13 scholarships at their disposal until a 10% reduction in 1991, and American Baseball Coaches Association executive Dave Keilitz told Fitt that it would be a "huge victory" to get back to 13 scholarships soon. "Personally, I'm hopeful it's more ambitious than that," he added.

Colleges are currently allotted 85 scholarships for football and 13 for basketball, drawing some players away from baseball. It's been speculated that the draft spending restrictions implemented by the collective bargaining agreement could push prospects to other sports as well. In addition to scholarship funding, the two sides have discussed moving the College World Series to better accommodate the draft as well as the widespread implementation of wood bats according to Fischer.

MLBTR is increasing efforts to enforce our commenting policy.  The goal is to raise the level of discourse in the comments, part of which involves eliminating inappropriate language and insults.

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If you see comments that fit the above criteria, please flag them and/or contact us.  Bans may be handed out liberally by our moderators, without second chances.  Remaining civil is not that difficult, though, and most commenters have no problems doing so as well as helping rein each other in.  We at MLBTR are grateful for long-time commenters and readers, though this policy applies equally regardless of tenure.  This policy is always available at the bottom of the site, and will be re-posted monthly.

MLBTR is now looking for additional moderators to read through comments and make sure that they're not in violation of our commenting policy.  We're looking for people to contribute throughout the week, including on weekends.  

It's not a paid position, but it will keep you connected to the latest trade and free agent rumors.  If you're a frequent MLBTR commenter who can help us keep the comment section clean, send a short e-mail to mlbtrmods@gmail.com with the following: your username, the email (or other) account you use to comment on MLBTR, your availability, and a short explanation as to why you'd be a good fit.  If you're responsible, respectful and interested in contributing at MLBTR, we want to hear from you.

The Giants designated outfielder Tyler Graham for assignment, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets. The club placed left-hander Jeremy Affeldt on the disabled list and purchased the contract of left-hander Travis Blackley in corresponding moves.

Graham, 28, has yet to appear in the Major Leagues, but the Giants needed his 40-man roster spot to make room for Blackley. In seven minor league seasons, Graham has a .281/.341/.361 batting line with 222 stolen bases. He has spent most of the past four seasons at Triple-A Fresno. 

Version 2.1 of the Baseball Trade Rumors iPhone app is now available!  We have fixed a bug relating to reading and leaving comments through the app.  This popular app allows you to set up custom push notifications to get the latest on the players and teams you want, and is a great way to keep up with MLBTR on your iPhone.  The app has a one-time cost of $2.99, and we're continually adding features, of course at no additional cost to our users.  Buy the Baseball Trade Rumors iPhone app today!

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Starting this week MLB teams can call all prospects up without putting them on the fast track to free agency. If a prospect’s big league service clock starts after today, he’ll be under team control through at least 2018.

Today represents the 20th day of the minor league season by my count. This means prospects on 40-man rosters such as Trevor Bauer, Bryce Harper and Danny Hultzen will have spent the requisite 20 days on optional assignments following today. Even if their teams call them up tomorrow for the remainder of the MLB season, they will accrue a maximum of 162 days of service — short of the 172 days required for a full year.

For the past few days it's been safe for teams to call up prospects not currently on the 40-man roster. Players such as Brett Jackson and Shelby Miller didn’t have to spend 20 days on an optional assignment, they just had to spend enough time in the minor leagues to ensure that they’ll fall short of 172 days in the Majors in 2012. 

As always, it’s important to note that service time is just one element of a team's decision-making process and that a substantial proportion of top prospects get optioned to the minor leagues early in their careers. The player's readiness and the team's needs generally trump service time considerations. But service time matters a great deal for elite young players.

Teams wishing to prevent their prospects from obtaining super two status following the 2014 season can keep prospects in the minor leagues until late June. This should ensure that the players are only arbitration eligible three times.

Here's a complete look at the timeline for calling up top prospects.

The Rays claimed Brandon Allen off waivers from the Athletics two days ago, improving their bench with some left-handed power. Most waiver claims have little impact, but every so often a team will dig up a useful piece. With some help from our Transaction Tracker, here's a list of players who have been claimed off waivers since the start of the offseason and are now contributing to their new team at the big league level…

• Darren O'Day, Orioles – 1.29 ERA in seven relief innings since being claimed from the Rangers.
• Alfredo Simon, Reds – 4.26 ERA in 6 1/3 relief innings since being claimed from the Orioles.
• Cody Eppley, Yankees – Allowed a single to only batter he's faced since being claimed from the Rangers.
• Justin Maxwell, Astros – Hitting .200/.250/.400 with one homer in 16 plate appearances since being claimed from the Yankees.
• Clete Thomas, Twins — Hitting .231/.286/.538 with one homer in 14 plate appearances since being claimed from the Tigers.

Brian Bixler had one hit and one walk in seven plate appearances with the Astros after being claimed from the Nationals, but he's since been removed from the 40-man roster and assigned to Triple-A.

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AL East

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AL Central

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AL West

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NL East

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NL Central

• Cubs: Facebook / Twitter / RSS
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NL West

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Transactions only: Twitter / RSS

Looking to flex your fantasy baseball genius on a single night?  Try DraftStreet, where you can put together a new fantasy team every night and compete against other users for real money.

Right now DraftStreet has a freeroll for MLB Trade Rumors readers, meaning you can take a shot at a chunk of the $400 prize pool for free, with no strings attached.  Here's how it works.

The MLBTR freeroll is for Friday night's games (the afternoon Reds-Cubs and Yankees-Red Sox games are not included), so you have until 6:00pm central time to create your team.  You're given a $100K salary cap, and each player is assigned a price by DraftStreet.  For Friday, Cole Hamels is considered the most valuable player since he starts against the Padres, but he'll cost you over $17K.  Your roster will cover these positions: C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, 3 OF, 2 utility, 2 SP, 1 RP, 1 P and 2 Reserves (14 starters).  You get points based on how your team performs Friday.  For example, you'll get 0.75 points for each strikeout Hamels racks up and 1.5 points if he gets the win.  The teams with the most points get the prize money.  You can apply all kinds of strategy in building your roster – for example, check out the chance of rain at Comerica Park Friday before you decide to add Rangers and Tigers players.  Below I've taken a screenshot of my roster: 

If you're interested, sign up and create a roster prior to Friday's night games (6:00pm central time).  It's quick, easy, fun, and the MLBTR league gives you a free chance to win some of the $400 prize pool.  If you enjoy the competition you can try other leagues for free and earn credits, or deposit real money.