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Dodgers right-hander Todd Coffey will miss the rest of the season and undergo his second Tommy John surgery according to multiple reports. Los Angeles figures to be in the hunt for a bat at the deadline, but relief help could also be a priority with Coffey, Javy Guerra, and Matt Guerrier all hurt. Here are some links from baseball's two West divisions…

• Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports says it's time for the Giants to explore the trade market for a starting pitcher given Tim Lincecum's continued struggles. He allowed eight runs in 3 1/3 innings to Nationals last night and now owns a 6.08 ERA.
• Jeremy Guthrie will return to the Rockies' rotation tonight and Troy Renck of The Denver Post says he has a chance to reignite trade interest. Guthrie has pitched to a 6.56 ERA in 11 starts and four relief appearances for Colorado this season.
• MLB.com's Tyler Emerick writes that both the Angels and Padres are benefitting from last month's Ernesto Frieri trade. Frieri has yet to allow an earned run in 24 appearances with his new team while Alexi Amarista is hitting .290/.320/.527 for San Diego.

Xavier Paul has opted out of his contract with the Nationals and elected free agency, MLBTR has learned. The 27-year-old outfielder had been playing at Syracuse for Washington's Triple-A affiliate.

Paul, who appeared in 128 games for the Pirates and Dodgers last year, has spent the entire 2012 campaign at Syracuse. He has a .318/.379/.517 batting line with eight home runs in 235 plate appearances and has played both corner outfield positions. He played all three outfield positions last year, when he posted a .255/.292/.346 batting line for Pittsburgh and Los Angeles.

Items out of the AL and NL Central divisions..

• Jed Hoyer of the Cubs, Doug Melvin of the Brewers and Jeff Luhnow of the Astros figure to be among the busiest general managers in baseball as the trade deadline approaches, Jim Bowden of ESPN.com (Insider sub. req'd) writes.
• Twins general manager Terry Ryan has changed his team's draft philosophies because of Target Field, writes Spencer Fordin of MLB.com.  Minnesota used to look at left-handed pitchers and hitters, but he said that the team's new outdoor facility favors right-handed hitters and outfielders who can cover a lot of ground.
• Phil Mackey of 1500 ESPN Radio (via Twitter) supports the Twins' new contract for Ryan Doumit, saying that the club has problems but doesn't mind a $7MM deal for a catcher with pop.

An MLBTR reader now has a shot at $200,000 in cash prizes!  On Wednesday, we had a freeroll with DraftStreet.com where the winner received a free spot in Friday's $109 qualifier league.  Congrats to "thatteamfromcle," who took home first place and now has a shot to win a seat in the Draftstreet Baseball Championship Main event.  He lived up to his username by taking Indians players such as Justin Masterson and Lonnie Chisenhall.

If you missed out, you can still enter Friday's qualifier.  After Friday's qualifier there are only 15 spots left for the main event, which will award $200,000 in cash prizes.  Get on to DraftStreet, start playing, and claim one of those final 15 spots!  DraftStreet is offering MLBTR readers an additional $350 freeroll for Friday night to get your practice in.  Click here to join!

If you prefer your MLBTR fix limited to only your favorite team, we've got you covered.  Below are links to our team Facebook, Twitter, and RSS pages and feeds.

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NL West

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Transactions only: Twitter / RSS

An explanation of the many ways to enjoy MLB Trade Rumors:

• If the main site doesn't load perfectly on your cell phone, try the more mobile-friendly mlbtraderumors.mobi.  It's a simple page that shows you just the headlines and lets you click through to what you want to read.
• If you're an iPhone user, be sure to pick up our app for the latest news and rumors. MLBTR just introduced an Android app as well.
• If you want only the hard news in the form of transactions, our transactions page is the ticket.  You can also get only the transactions via Twitter or RSS. 
• To return to the main page at any time, just click on the title or the Home button on the navigation bar below the title. 
• The navigation bar will cover many of your needs.  Use the About dropdown to learn about this site or any of its writers. 
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• Feeds By Team is a very useful dropdown.  Hover over it to see all 30 teams.  Click on the team name to bring up a page of every post containing information about that team, with the latest on top.  These are the same pages you'll find if you go to the Rumors By Team section on the sidebar and select A's Rumors, Angels Rumors, etc.  
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In all likelihood, the wait is over. Teams can now call prospects up to the MLB level with the expectation that the players will not obtain super two status three winters from now. While there’s no way of predicting where the super two cutoff will fall in 2014, recent history suggests it’s now safe for teams to promote their best young prospects.

If a player gets called up tomorrow and never returns to the minor leagues, he’ll have two years and 110 days of service following the 2014 season (110 days remain in the 2012 championship season). Chances are that won’t be enough to qualify for super two status; the cutoff has been at least two years and 122 days in each of the past six seasons. Next winter, when baseball’s new collective bargaining agreement takes effect, the cutoff is expected to sit in familiar territory: two years and 134 days.

Heavily-hyped prospects such as Matt Wieters, Giancarlo Stanton and Stephen Strasburg were all called up around this time in recent years, and service time appeared to be a factor in each case. Now Shelby Miller, Trevor Bauer, Tyler Skaggs, Danny Hultzen, Mike Montgomery, Manny Banuelos, Brett Jackson, James Paxton and Matt Harvey are among the prospects who could safely be called up to MLB. Even if one of these players were to debut tomorrow, he wouldn't be on track for super two status. Prospects who already have MLB service time, such as Anthony Rizzo and Jacob Turner, are on different timelines, as I detailed this spring.

Players who qualify for super two status go to arbitration four times, instead of the usual three. In many cases, this means the player earns millions more than he otherwise would have.

Service time is just one element of a team's decision-making process. Plus, 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 there's no denying they're a factor.

3:16pm: Winker obtained a $1MM bonus, Jim Callis of Baseball America reports (on Twitter).

1:57pm: The Reds signed supplementary first round draft pick Jesse Winker, John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports (on Twitter). The Reds confirmed the deal, announcing the signings of 11th rounder Nolan Becker and 25th rounder Sean Lucas (Twitter link).

The Reds selected Winker, a high school outfielder, with the 49th overall selection as compensation for losing free agent catcher Ramon Hernandez. MLB recommends a bonus of $1.025MM for the 49th overall selection, according to Baseball America.

As a fan, free agent compensation draft picks can feel like an extra slap in the face from Major League Baseball.

"You're losing one of your key players. But here, take a guy who can't help you for three or four years, and probably won't help you at all." The just-concluded draft included Mike Wacha to the Cardinals for losing Albert Pujols, Clint Coulter to the Brewers for losing Prince Fielder, and Brian Johnson to the Red Sox for losing Jonathan Papelbon. Cold comfort, at least for now.

But the free agent compensation draft pick can be more than just a consolation prize taken home from a game show you didn't win. At its best, those picks can turn into important contributors. The Mets drafted David Wright, for instance, as a compensation pick for losing Mike Hampton via free agency, a loss they'd gladly experience again.

Usually, it works the other way around. In December 1983, Darrell Evans signed with the Detroit Tigers, after eight productive seasons with the San Francisco Giants. His contribution to San Francisco had been immense — consistent power and defense at third base. He was worth 19.8 wins above replacement (WAR) during his time with the Giants.

When he signed with Detroit, San Francisco got the 24th pick in the 1984 draft, (under a much different compensation system) and selected Terry Mulholland. While Mulholland only pitched in fits and starts from the time he debuted in 1986, he got packaged with third baseman Charlie Hayes and pitcher Dennis Cook in a deal that netted the Giants Steve Bedrosian, their closer in the pennant-winning season of 1989. Mulholland, alas, was worth -0.6 WAR to the Giants over three seasons, so the Evans-Mullholland duo checks in at just 19.2 WAR, total.

For my money, the baseball universe is best when a player contributes for a team, then leaves a compensation pick that also turns into a key contributor. It feels like the departing free agent has planted a tree. Let's take a look at the finest twofers baseball teams have received from this rule.

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