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East Notes: Haren, Jeter, Abreu

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The Yankees and Nationals discussed a possible Dan Haren deal last weekend, FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal reports. The two sides never came close to making a trade, and Rosenthal suggests that money might have been part of the reason why — Haren would have only started three times for the Yankees (and wouldn't have been eligible for the playoffs, if the Yankees were to win a spot), but he was still due about $1.5MM in salary. The Yankees' interest stemmed from the recent troubles of Phil Hughes and David Huff.

  • Yankees icon Derek Jeter should consider retiring, CBS Sports' Jon Heyman writes. Heyman argues that, after a season ruined by injury, Jeter faces a future in which he might just be a utility player, and that would be an undignified end to a great career. Playing well at shortstop at age 40 is very difficult, and Jeter will face an uphill battle if he tries to return next season.
  • The Red Sox have joined the Giants as teams who are scouting Cuban first baseman Jose Abreu in the Dominican Republic, Dionisio Soldevila of ESPNDeportes.com tweets. We've already heard reports of the Red Sox's interest in Abreu, and Boston seems like a good fit for Abreu — the Red Sox have the financial resources to sign him, and Mike Napoli becomes a free agent after the season.

NL East Notes: Nats, McCann, Zambrano, Fernandez

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Entering his final season as Nationals manager, Davey Johnson said that, in his mind, it was "World Series or Bust" for 2013.  Today, the Nationals find themselves with a slim 1.6% chance of getting the second Wild Card spot in the National League, according to Baseball Prospectus.  What went wrong in Washington?  “We lost a few key players over the offseason and changed the dynamics of the bullpen. We had pretty much a set lineup and a had a different configuration on the bench. We still have a few little things to fix," Johnson said, according to Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post.  "Starting pitching needs to be squared away. The bullpen is not nearly as efficient and effective as it was last year. And the bench has not been as productive. I still like the talent, but we lack some experience, as I talked about. I usually like to have my stacked hand before I make those predictions."  Here's more out of the NL East..

  • Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets that it is a fait accompli that Brian McCann will be playing for a new team in 2014 due to the presence of Evan Gattis and Christian Bethancourt in Atlanta as well as the Braves' tight budget.
  • Pitcher Carlos Zambrano, who most recently played with the Marlins and Phillies organizations, is healthy and wants to play again in 2014, according to his agent Scott Shapiro (via a Heyman tweet). Big Z will play winter ball in Venezuela to prepare for next season, he adds.
  • Paul Hagen of MLB.com wonders if Jose Fernandez's campaign might be the best ever put together by a rookie pitcher.  The Marlins phenom had a 2.23 ERA with 9.9 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 in the 27 starts leading up to tonight's game.

Steve Adams contributed to this post.

Minor Moves: Wells, Ambriz, Watts, Liddi

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Here are today's minor moves from around the league…

  • Longtime starting pitcher Kip Wells has retired, although he's hoping to remain in baseball now that his playing career is over, ESPN New York's Adam Rubin tweets. Wells was released by the Angels in May, and was considering retirement as of early July. The righty pitched parts of 12 seasons, suiting up with the White Sox, Pirates, Rangers, Cardinals, Rockies, Royals, Nationals, Reds and Padres, and posting a 4.71 ERA with 6.5 K/9 and 4.3 BB/9 in 1,338 1/3 career innings.
  • The Astros outrighted Hector Ambriz to Triple-A Oklahoma City, according to the International League transactions page. The 29-year-old right-hander was designated for assignment over the weekend after pitching to a 5.70 ERA with 6.7 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9 in 36 1/3 innings for Houston this season.
  • The Nationals released catcher Kris Watts, according to Bill Ladson of MLB.com (via Twitter).  Watts, 29, hit just .211/.342/.328 in 43 Triple-A games this year.  The former 16th-round pick is a career .250/.351/.372 hitter in 2,006 career minor league plate appearances between the Nationals and Pirates organizations.
  • The Orioles announced that infielder Alex Liddi cleared waivers and has been outrighted to Triple-A.  Liddi was acquired from the Mariners along with a No. 3 international bonus slot for the M's No. 2 int'l slot.  Baltimore designated the 25-year-old for assignment last week to make a 40-man roster spot for Chris Dickerson.
  • With Liddi in Triple-A Norfolk, there are two players in DFA limbo, according to the MLBTR DFA Tracker – James McDonald of the Pirates and Cody Ransom of the Cubs.

Steve Adams and Charlie Wilmoth contributed to this post.

NL East Notes: Bethancourt, Tejada, Zimmerman

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The Braves will promote top prospect Christian Bethancourt today, according to Tom Hart of FOX Sports in Atlanta (Twitter link). The 22-year-old catcher hit .277/.305/.436 at Double-A Mississippi this season. While those numbers don't look tremendously impressive, Bethancourt turned it on after a slow start, batting .300/.339/.521 with 11 homers from June 13 on. He currently ranks as the Braves' No. 3 prospect and the fifth-best catching prospect in baseball in the eyes of MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo. Here's more on Bethancourt and the rest of the NL East…

  • MLB.com's Mark Bowman tweets that Bethancourt's promotion will allow him to get acquainted with the Majors, which is a good thing, as it's likely that he or Evan Gattis will be the Braves' starting catcher in 2014. In doing so, Bowman implies that Brian McCann is likely to sign elsewhere as a free agent. That thought has been echoed by others in recent weeks, including David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
  • The Mets will stall Ruben Tejada's promotion back to the Majors, writes Adam Rubin of ESPN New York, and in doing so, they will delay his free agency until after the 2017 season instead of the 2016 season. Tejada hasn't exactly torn the cover off the ball of late, as he's batted just .275/.324/.364 from July through Sept. 2 at Triple-A Las Vegas — one of the most hitter-friendly environments in all of professional baseball.
  • Ryan Zimmerman has regained confidence in his throwing and believes he can continue to play third base for the Nationals, writes Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post. Zimmerman concedes that he doubted his future at the hot corner earlier in the season. He tells Kilgore that his shoulder injuries in 2012 wore his right arm down to the point where he couldn't lift it above his head, causing him to develop bad throwing habits. He had surgery to repair the shoulder last October, but breaking those poor habits and rebuilding the strength in his arm has been a slow process, Zimmerman says. Ultimately, the decision on when to move to first won't be Zimmerman's, Kilgore writes. The team could even move Adam LaRoche this winter and make the switch in 2014.

Rosenthal On Angels, Gibson, LaRoche, Dodgers

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Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports brings us his latest edition of Full Count this weekend.  Let's take a look inside..

  • There's still a month to go in the regular season, but the Angels are already scouting pitchers they could go after in free agency or in trades.  The needs in the rotation will be less glaring if they re-sign Jason Vargas – that would give them a front four of Jered Weaver, C.J. Wilson, Garrett Richards, and Vargas.  The Halos nearly traded Howie Kendrick for a package headlined by the Dodgers' Zach Lee in July and they could pursue something similar with teams deep in young starters this offseason, like the Nationals and Mets.
  • A number of Diamondbacks players are frustrated with manager Kirk Gibson's changing lineups and they relate more with third base coach Matt Williams, but he could leave to manage the Nationals or another club once the season is through.  However, the D'Backs have no plans to replace Gibson with Williams or anyone else.
  • The first base free agent market will be thin this offseason with Justin Morneau, James Loney, and Mike Napoli headlining the class.  The trade market doesn't look much better, but it does have a few options.  Adam LaRoche of the Nationals figures to be among them as they look to move Ryan Zimmerman to first and Anthony Rendon to third.  The Mets' Ike Davis will probably be another and he could benefit from a move to a more hitter-friendly park.
  • The Dodgers will not lack rotation options next offseason – they'll try to re-sign Ricky Nolasco and they'll eventually get Chad Billingsley and Josh Beckett back.  The team also has three minor league prospects in Lee, Ross Stripling, and Matt Magill, who figure to pitch at some point in 2014.  The good news is that the Dodgers should be deep enough to give them time to develop.

Quick Hits: Rodriguez, Middlebrooks, Mariners, Haren

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To round out the evening, here are a few links …

  • The Red Sox had an opportunity to acquire reliever Francisco Rodriguez from the Brewers, reports CBSSports.com's Danny Knobler, but were unwilling to give up young third baseman Will Middlebrooks to do so. Leaving Rodriguez go to the division-rival Orioles, GM Ben Cherington determined that Middlebrooks could still contribute to the team this season. Of course, he has done just that, posting an excellent .972 OPS since being recalled on August 10th.
  • Mariners manager Eric Wedge says that his team has "a lot of guys that have a good chance to be good ballplayers," reports Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times, but says he is not sure "we have any superstars." Wedge went on to praise the organization's "volume" of talent. Though intended as a compliment, says Baker, these comments make clear that the team needs to jettison its "risk-averse financial approach" and act boldly on the free agent market to produce a real contender.
  • Nationals' starter Dan Haren had a second straight disastrous outing today, once more failing to hang in past the third inning. While Haren had a chance to end his rocky season on a consistent high note after a solid run through much of July and August, his free agent value seems unlikely to make a real recovery at this point. It will be interesting to see how the market values once-excellent starters like Haren, Josh Johnson, and Roy Halladay, each of whom have suffered through miserable seasons in their walk years.

Nationals Claim Mauro Gomez

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The Nationals announced, via Twitter, that they have claimed Mauro Gomez off waivers from the Blue Jays. The first baseman/third baseman was designated for assignment by the Jays on Tuesday.

Gomez, 28, hit .275/.324/.422 with a pair of homers in 111 plate appearances for the Red Sox last season before being claimed off waivers by the Blue Jays this April. In 453 plate appearances for Toronto's Triple-A affiliate this season, Gomes batted .249/.322/.521 with 29 homers. While his average and OBP were down from his career marks at Triple-A, Gomez's .272 ISO was an improvement. In 1436 career plate appearances at the Triple-A level, he owns a .289/.350/.542 slash line.

Primarily a first baseman, Gomez does have 89 games of third base experience at the minor league level, including 10 games at the hot corner in 2013.

Quick Hits: Hughes, Tanaka, Angels, Infante

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A change of scenery could allow Phil Hughes to be more like the pitcher everyone thought he would be in 2007, but it's unlikely the Yankees will ever see that pitcher, writes Andy McCullough of the Star-Ledger.  Hughes could be given a qualifying offer this winter, but it seems more likely that this stage that the Bombers will simply let him walk rather than risk being on the hook for nearly $14MM.  Here's more from around baseball..

  • The Rangers aren't expected to make the same kind of push for Masahiro Tanaka that they did for Yu Darvish prior to the 2012 season, T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com reports. Though they've scouted the right-hander, the Rangers don't see Tanaka as being a Darvish-caliber pitcher at the present. As Sullivan notes, Darvish had a 1.99 ERA in seven seasons in Japan, averaging 2.4 BB/9 and 8.9 K/9. Tanaka's Japanese stats - 2.32 ERA in seven seasons, 1.9 BB/9 and 8.5 K/9 – are similar, but reports suggest he doesn't have Darvish's overpowering fastball.
  • In an article for ESPN Insider, Dan Szymborski examines MLB teams that have seen large drop-offs in a recent update to ESPN's Future Power Rankings scoring system, which projects overall franchise strength for the next five seasons. The Angels top the list following disappointing seasons by Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton, but it's too early to declare that Pujols won't return to being an offensive contributor, Szymborski says. He also advises that the club make a play for free-agent pitchers such as Matt Garza or Hiroki Kuroda this offseason to bolster a struggling rotation. The Blue Jays, Brewers, Nationals and Reds round out the list.
  • Omar Infante's new agent, Gene Mato, negotiated Anibal Sanchez's big five-year, $80MM deal with the Tigers this winter, MLB.com's Jason Beck notes. With a .319/.346/.453 line this year, Mato's new client could emerge as one of this offseason's top middle infielders, potentially complicating matters for the Tigers. Hernan Perez, 22, could be in line to inherit Detroit's second base job, but he may not be ready to do so by next season, Beck says.

Aaron Steen contributed to this post.

Nationals Notes: Espinosa, Harper, Johnson

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Dan Kolko of MASNsports.com writes that last night's loss was "a kick in the gut" for the Nationals because it came after their most reliable reliever, Tyler Clippard, blew a rare lead. As Kolko notes, manager Davey Johnson has long said that he feels 90 wins will get the team to the postseason, but the Nats will need to finish 21-4 to reach that mark. Here's more out of the nation's capitol…

  • Danny Espinosa should be among the team's September callups, argues Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post. The Nats opted not to bring Espinosa to the big leagues again this season, but Kilgore opines that he'd be a valuable defensive replacement and the expanded rosters would allow them to carry Espinosa's glove without exposing the weak bat he's shown this season. Kilgore adds that keeping Espinosa off the Major League roster likely prevents him from becoming arbitration-eligible as a Super Two player, but the $1MM or so in financial savings isn't a good reason to keep him off the roster. Recent reports have indicated that the Nationals are looking to trade the switch-hitting middle infielder.
  • Unbeknownst to Johnson, Bryce Harper has been receiving treatment for a hip injury recently, the manager told reporters (including Amanda Comak of the Washington Times). Johnson said that he is "disturbed" by the fact that he was not informed of the issue by Harper or the medical staff, but he plans to continue playing Harper as long as the injury doesn't worsen.
  • For those who missed it, MLBTR reported last night that right-hander Mark Lowe has opted out of his minor league contract with Washington and is now a free agent.

Mark Lowe Opts Out Of Contract With Nationals

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Mark Lowe has opted out of his contract with the Nationals and is now a free agent, MLBTR has learned.  The right-hander signed a minor league deal with Washington in June and already passed one opt-out date back on July 31.  Lowe is represented by Frye McCann Sports.

Lowe has signed minor league deals (and parted ways) with three different organizations this season after signing with the Dodgers in February, the Angels in late March and then the Nats in June.  The 30-year-old righty posted a 9.26 ERA over 11 2/3 relief innings with the Halos but was much more effective with the Nationals' Triple-A affiliate, posting a 3.14 ERA, 11.6 K/9 and 3.70 K/BB over 28 2/3 IP with Syracuse.

Prior to this season, Lowe had amassed a 3.94 ERA over 262 2/3 innings with the Mariners and Rangers from 2006-12.  Over his career, he has held right-handed batters to a .223/.309/.332 slash line.

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