Uncategorized News & Rumors

Using MLBTR's Agency Database, let's break down which agencies represent the most All-Stars this year.  Though there are 84 All-Stars in total, we're not sure yet who represents Ryan Vogelsong.

• Boras Corporation: 9.  Robinson Cano, Adrian Beltre, Jered Weaver, Matt Wieters, Jacoby Ellsbury, Prince Fielder, Matt Holliday, Carlos Beltran, Jair Jurrjens.
• ACES: 8.  Jhonny Peralta, Gio Gonzalez, Brandon League, Scott Rolen, Brandon Phillips, Placido Polanco, Shane Victorino, Heath Bell.
• SFX: 6.  David Ortiz, Miguel Cabrera, Jon Lester, Michael Pineda, Mariano Rivera, Justin Verlander.
• CAA Sports: 5.  Carlos Quentin, Chris Perez, Roy Halladay, Ryan Braun, Andre Ethier.
• Reynolds Sports Management: 4.  Justin Upton, Joel Hanrahan, Howie Kendrick, Alexi Ogando.
• Eight agencies represent three All-Stars apiece, three represent two, and 23 represent one.

A dozen teams look like potential July 31st sellers, if we exclude the Rockies.  With assumptions on who the Blue Jays, Orioles, Royals, Mariners, Athletics, Mets, Nationals, Marlins, Cubs, Astros, Dodgers, and Padres might be willing to move, let's examine the strengths and weaknesses of the 2011 trade market.

• Catcher: Weak.  If you're looking to add a starting catcher, the out-of-contention teams have very little to offer.  You might be able to get a Ronny Paulino or a Rod Barajas, but this group is more about backups.  Two players who could shake up this market if made available: Geovany Soto and Ramon Hernandez.
• First base: Weak.  Relative to how few contenders actually need a first baseman, the outlook isn't awful.  Carlos Pena is the headliner.  Derrek Lee and James Loney are disappointing players who could still make a difference.  Guys like Luke Scott and Mark Reynolds are not generally considered first basemen but they could play the position regularly for a few months if need be.
• Second base: Weak.  There are some players capable of starting at second, such as Jeff Baker, Jeff Keppinger, Omar Infante, and Jamey Carroll.  Still, there's not really a difference-maker.
• Shortstop: Weak.  A team could try a salary dump player like Rafael Furcal, or check in on Jason Bartlett and Juan Uribe.  This position does have long shot potential to become strong if J.J. Hardy, Jose Reyes, or Hanley Ramirez become available.
• Third base: Weak.  Reynolds is probably the only quality regular.  Wilson Betemit, Edwin Encarnacion, and Ian Stewart are worth a look.  Wild card: Aramis Ramirez if he changes his stance on being traded.
• Corner outfield: Weak.  Carlos Beltran is definitely the top name, with Kosuke Fukudome, Ryan Ludwick, Jeff Francoeur, David DeJesus, Josh Willingham, and Scott rounding out a less-than-stellar group of bats.  Hunter Pence is the potential wild card, though the Astros are not expected to move him.
• Center field: Strong.  Coco Crisp and Marlon Byrd are viable options, while DeJesus could be passable.  There's also the chance that Colby Rasmus, B.J. Upton, and Michael Bourn are made available.
• Designated hitter: Weak.  Take your pick from Vladimir Guerrero, Scott, Encarnacion, Jack Cust, and Hideki Matsui, but none of the AL teams will find clear upgrades.
• Bench: Strong.  Reed Johnson, Greg Dobbs, Laynce Nix - there should be a veteran to fill most bench needs.
• Starting pitching: Weak.  I agree with the idea that the market mostly features fourth starters: Jeff Francis, Jason Marquis, Javier Vazquez, Aaron Harang, and the like.  Chris Capuano, Erik Bedard, and Rich Harden are more interesting when healthy.  The Dodgers and Astros could shake things up by offering Hiroki Kuroda, Ted Lilly, Wandy Rodriguez, and Brett Myers, and the Braves and Rays could also make waves with their depth.  Five wild cards that would change everything: Ubaldo Jimenez, Anibal Sanchez, Ricky Nolasco, Jeremy Guthrie, and Francisco Liriano.
• Right-handed relief: Strong.  I came up with 24 viable right-handed reliever trade candidates, and some of them aren't even members of the Blue Jays or Padres.  This group features closers like Heath Bell, Francisco Rodriguez, and Leo Nunez, plus top setup men such as Koji Uehara, Mike Adams, and Grant Balfour.
• Left-handed relief: Weak.  For the most part, the market offers overpaid lefties like Brian Fuentes, Mike Gonzalez, and John Grabow.  But there are a few interesting choices such as Randy Choate and Tim Byrdak.
• In general, this trade market looks especially ugly.  That can change in an instant if certain players become available, but right now middle-of-the-order bats and front-end starters appear scarce.

If you're a regular MLBTR reader, you'll be familiar with our chats, our Week In Review posts and Mike Axisa's Baseball Blogs Weigh In feature. Here's some more detail on when you'll see our weekly features and exactly what to expect from them:

• MLBTR Chats – Come by every Wednesday at 2pm CDT to chat about the latest trades, signings and rumblings around the major leagues.
• Baseball Blogs Weigh In – Every Friday morning, Mike Axisa directs you to some of the best writing on baseball blogs around the web. Whether it's opinion, stats or something else entirely, you can connect to the best of the blogosphere once a week on MLBTR. If you want to send Mike a post of yours, reach him at: mike@riveraveblues.com.
• Week In Review – It's amazing how much happens in seven days. Every Sunday night, we summarize the week's biggest stories in our Week In Review posts.
• MLBTR Originals – We gather all our original analysis and reporting in one place every Sunday night.

2:40pm: UPDATE: The testing group is full, thanks for the emails.

2:32pm: A beta version of our new Android app is now ready for testing.  Version 2.2 of Android or better is required to use the app.  I'll take the first 30 or so entrants. 

CloserNews began as a Twitter account designed to help you quickly identify possible closer changes for fantasy baseball leagues.  To date, about 7,000 people are using @closernews to dominate the saves category in their league.

Given the Twitter success, we're excited to take the next step with CloserNews.com.  Dan Mennella has the reins on this new website, providing witty commentary on all things saves-related as well as a constantly-updated depth chart.  If your fantasy league counts saves, bookmark CloserNews.com today!

Major League Baseball announced the results of the fan voting for the 2011 All-Star Game starters last weekend, so let's take a look at how those 17 players were acquired…

Draft

• Rickie Weeks, Brewers – First round pick (2nd overall) in 2003.
• Ryan Braun, Brewers – First round pick (5th overall) in 2005.
• Derek Jeter, Yankees – First round pick (6th overall) in 1992.
• Prince Fielder, Brewers – First round pick (7th overall) in 2002.
• Brian McCann, Braves – Second round pick in 2002.
• Alex Avila, Tigers – Fifth round pick in 2008.
• Matt Kemp, Dodgers – Sixth round pick in 2003.

Trade

• Adrian Gonzalez, Red Sox – Acquired from the Padres for Casey Kelly, Anthony Rizzo, Reymond Fuentes, and Eric Patterson in December 2010.
• Curtis Granderson, Yankees – Acquired from the Tigers as part of a three-team trade that cost the Yankees Ian Kennedy, Austin Jackson, and Phil Coke in December 2009.
• Jose Bautista, Blue Jays – Acquired from the Pirates for Robinzon Diaz in August 2008.
• Josh Hamilton, Rangers – Acquired from the Reds for Edinson Volquez and Danny Ray Herrera in December 2007.

Free Agency

• Lance Berkman, Cardinals – Signed a one-year, $8MM contract in December 2010.
• Placido Polanco, Phillies – Signed a three-year, $18MM contract in December 2009.
• Alex Rodriguez, Yankees – Re-signed to a ten-year, $275MM contract in November 2007. Was originally acquired from the Rangers for Alfonso Soriano and Joaquin Arias in February 2004.
• David Ortiz, Red Sox – Signed a one-year, $1.25MM contract in January 2003.

International Free Agency

• Robinson Cano, Yankees – Signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2001.
• Jose Reyes, Mets – Signed out of the Dominican Republic in August 1999.

Jeter and A-Rod have withdrawn from the game due to nagging injuries and have been replaced in the starting lineup by Asdrubal Cabrera and Adrian Beltre, respectively. The Indians acquired Cabrera from the Mariners for Eduardo Perez in June 2006. Beltre signed with Texas as a free agent in January 2011, landing a five-year. $80MM contract.

Baseball America released its midseason list of the top 50 prospects in the game yesterday and Nationals outfield prospect Bryce Harper and Mike Trout, the recently-promoted Angels outfielder, remain the most highly-regarded prospects in baseball. Rays left-hander Matt Moore, Braves right-hander Julio Teheran and Orioles shortstop prospect Manny Machado round out the publication's top five (click here for a more detailed subscriber-only list).

The Rangers had four prospects in the top 50, more than any other club. The Rays, Yankees, Blue Jays, Royals, Braves, Diamondbacks and Dodgers all had three players on BA's list. Five teams didn't have a prospect on the list: the White Sox, Athletics, Marlins, Brewers and Astros.

There was an incredible amount of managerial turnover last year. Bobby Cox, Lou Piniella, Joe Torre and Cito Gaston walked away from the role on their own terms and other skippers were simply fired. Here’s a midseason look at all 12 MLB managers in their first full seasons with their current clubs:

American League

Buck Showalter’s Orioles are 36-46 and John Farrell’s Blue Jays are 42-44. The AL East is arguably baseball’s toughest division, but the O’s entered the season with high hopes after finishing strong in 2010 and signing a number of free agents.

Ned Yost has led the Royals to a 34-50 record and overseen the big league debuts for top prospects like Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas. Former Indians manager Eric Wedge has the Mariners on the fringes of contention, 2.5 games out of the AL West with a 42-43 record.

National League

The Braves have the second-best record in the NL (50-36) under new manager Fredi Gonzalez and Terry Collins has the 43-42 Mets above .500 in his first season in New York. Another NL East skipper, Edwin Rodriguez, was fired after the Marlins' record slipped to 32-39.

Ron Roenicke has the Brewers in contention with a 45-41 record, but Mike Quade of the Cubs checks in at 35-51 in his first full season in Chicago. Clint Hurdle of the Pirates (pictured) is probably the favorite to win NL Manager of the Year, since Pittsburgh is finally above .500 at 44-41.

Kirk Gibson of the Diamondbacks has Arizona in contention with a 46-40 record and has emerged as an NL Manager of the Year candidate himself. Another former big league star, Don Mattingly, has led the Dodgers to a 37-49 record.

Listing these managers’ records is an admittedly simplistic way of checking in on them. Their records are a reflection of the players on their rosters, the injuries they've dealt with and the opponents they've faced, not just their work as skippers. Photo Courtesy Icon SMI.

Many Rule 5 picks ultimately return to their original organizations, because it's not easy to keep inexperienced players in the Major Leagues all season long. Only five of the 19 players selected in the Major League phase of last offseason's Rule 5 draft remain on active MLB rosters midway through the season. Here’s another update on the draftees:

On Active Rosters (5)

• Pedro Beato of the Mets may be the most impressive Rule 5 pick of 2011. The former first rounder has a 3.52 ERA with 5.4 K/9, 2.8 BB/9 and a 53.6% ground ball rate in 38 1/3 innings of relief for the Mets. 
• Aneury Rodriguez of the Astros has a 5.43 ERA with 6.4 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 in 58 innings for the Astros. The 23-year-old right-hander recently returned to the bullpen after a stint in Houston's rotation.
• Nathan Adcock of the Royals hasn't had a scoreless outing since May 21st, but that's largely because manager Ned Yost barely used the right-hander in June. Adcock appeared in just three games last month and has a 4.91 ERA with 5.9 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 36 2/3 innings into his big league career.
• Joe Paterson of the D'Backs has succeeded as a lefty specialist (53 plate appearances vs. left-handed hitters, 28 plate appearances vs. right-handed hitters). He has a 2.89 ERA with 8.7 K/9 and 4.3 BB/9 in 18 2/3 innings this year.
• Michael Martinez of the Phillies hasn't hit, but he has played left field, center field, second base and shortstop. He has a .188/.221/.234 line in 70 plate appearances off of the bench.

Traded (4)

The Mets returned Brad Emaus to the Blue Jays, who traded the infielder to Colorado; the Twins retained Scott Diamond in a trade with the Braves; the Red Sox sent Daniel Turpen to the Rockies; the Indians recently sent Josh Rodriguez to the Pirates.  Rule 5 restrictions no longer apply to these four players.

Injured (2)

Elvin Ramirez (Nationals) and Mason Tobin (Rangers) have been on the 60-day DL for over two months. They have to spend 90 non-September days on the active roster to become official property of their new teams. Otherwise, their Rule 5 status carries forward until the players spend 90 non-September days on the active roster.

Back Where They Started (8)

Brian Broderick, Jose Flores, Adrian Rosario, Pat Egan, Lance Pendleton, George Kontos, Robert Fish and Cesar Cabral are back with their original organizations.

The Rangers made a huge splash early on today when they reached agreement on a deal with Nomar Mazara for more than $5MM.   Hours later, we learned that Texas inked fellow Dominican outfielder Ronald Guzman to a deal with a healthy $3.5MM signing bonus.  General Manager Jon Daniels & Co. spent some serious coin on the international free agent market today, but they weren't the only ones..

• Rangers: Approximately $8.5MM.  Nomar Mazara (approx. $5MM), Ronald Guzman ($3.5MM).
• Royals: $3.05MM.  Elier Hernandez ($3.05MM).
• Mariners: $2MM.  Helsin Martinez ($2MM).
• Cubs: $1.1MM.  Enrique Acosta ($1.1MM).
• Padres: $1.1MM.  Jose Ruiz ($1.1MM).
• Pirates: $1.05MM.  Harold Ramirez  ($1.05MM).
• Mets: Approximately $1MM.  Jose Garcia (less than $1MM).
• Tigers: $750K.  Adelin Santa ($750K).
• Cardinals: $650K.  Dewin Perez ($450K), Jose Godoy ($200K).
• Twins: $650K.  Miguel Gonzalez ($650K).
• Braves: $230K.  Iosif Bernal ($230K).
  
• Astros: $220K.  Arturo Michelena ($220K).
• Indians: $200K.  Francisco Miguel ($200K).

By the way, tell your Spanish-speaking friends to check out our sister site Rumores de Béisbol, where you can catch all the latest rumors with a Latin American focus.