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NL East Notes: Nationals, Phillies, Bernazard

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Some notes from the National League East before the Nationals, Marlins and Braves suit up for three of the day's four MLB games…

Minor Moves: Kris Watts, Tim Sexton

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Keeping track of the day's minor moves…

  • The Nationals have acquired minor league catcher Kris Watts from the Pirates in exchange for cash, as announced on the Pirates' official Twitter feed.  Watts was Pittsburgh's 16th-round pick in the 2006 draft and has a .259/.357/.385 line in 1702 career minor league plate appearances.
  • The Royals signed right-hander Tim Sexton, according to MLB.com's transactions page. The 24-year-old pitched in the Dodgers' organization last year, posting a 5.48 ERA with 6.3 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 in 162 2/3 innings at Triple-A and Class A. In five minor league seasons he has a 5.15 ERA with 6.5 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9.
  • Matt Eddy of Baseball America details the remainder of the week's minor transactions.

Nationals Notes: Draft Signings, Mooneyham

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Nationals scouting director Kris Kline discussed his club's draft today with the media, including Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post….

  • The Nationals have agreed to terms with second baseman Tony Renda (second round), outfielder Brandon Miller (fourth round) and catcher Spencer Kieboom (fifth round).  The team has also agreed to terms with "several college seniors taken in later rounds."
  • Kline believes third-round pick Brett Mooneyham will sign "relatively quickly."  Mooneyham, a left-handed pitcher out of Stanford, is advised by Scott Boras.  Kline spoke highly of Mooneyham's athleticism and potential, describing the pitcher as, at worst, "a Matt Thornton-type bullpen guy." 
  • The team's draft day war room included a draft board charting prospects by how likely they were to sign.  The Nationals called prospects each round with a set bonus figure in mind and asked if they would accept.  “If it was a ‘no,’ we passed,” Kline said. “If they were hesitant at all, we passed. You just have to….We had to do our due diligence with signability with everybody with the new system in place, because you have limitations.  There’s certain guys that were requiring too much money.”

NL East Notes: Galvis, Halladay, Harper

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The Phillies announced that they placed infielder Freddy Galvis on the 15-day disabled list and recalled utility player Michael Martinez from Triple-A. Here are some links from the NL East…

  • Roy Halladay intends to win a World Series in Philadelphia, but Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports doesn't consider the Phillies a championship caliber team given their age and declining performances. Halladay said he aims to retire as a Phillie — a more attainable goal in Morosi's view. Because of Halladay's DL stint, he's on track for free agency following the 2013 season unless he completes 225 innings next year and 415 innings total over 2012-13.
  • Bryce Harper's historically hot start has caught his teammates' attention, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports writes. The 19-year-old outfielder is on track to finish the season with a historically high OPS for someone so young. Harper, who knows fellow top prospect Mike Trout personally, says he'd enjoy playing with Trout — as long as it's with the Nationals. “I don’t want to leave here, I can tell you that,” Harper said.
  • The Nationals announced that they recalled Tyler Moore from Triple-A and placed Carlos Maldonado on the 15-day disabled list.

NL East Notes: Stanton, Marlins, Halladay, Nationals

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The Nationals topped the Mets tonight 5-3 behind a solid performance from starter Edwin Jackson.  Here's a look at tonight's items out of the National League East..

  • Marlins star Giancarlo Stanton admitted to Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com that the thought of a multiyear deal crossed his mind recently when Adam Jones signed a five-year, $85.5MM extension with the Orioles.  However, the rightfielder made it clear that he's not dwelling on it either.  "It's not like I'm thinking, 'Tomorrow I'm going to get a call or we're going to have a meeting','" Stanton said. "I really don't care until the time comes. The better I play, maybe the faster they'll want to do something."
  • Phillies hurler Roy Halladay likely won't hit the required number of innings to help make his 2014 option vest, but he still hopes to end his career in Philadelphia, writes MLB.com's Todd Zolecki.  Halladay is set to earn $20MM in each of the next two seasons with a $20MM vesting option for '14.
  • The Nationals have held workouts for 16-year-old outfielder Gustavo Cabrera and 17-year-old shortstop Wendell Rijo, two of the top Dominican prospects eligible to sign before July 2nd, a person with knowledge of the situation tells Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post.

Draft Notes: Diamondbacks, Zimmer, Red Sox, Astros

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The latest on the MLB draft, which has reached its conclusion after three busy days… 

  • The Diamondbacks are "close" to agreeing to terms with first-round pick Stryker Trahan, tweets Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic.  The high school catcher was tabbed with the No. 26 pick.
  • The Royals appear to be close to a deal with fifth-overall pick Kyle Zimmer, tweets Bob Dutton of The Kansas City Star.  The right-hander will likely start with the club's Arizona League affiliate but may go to Idaho Falls instead.
  • The Red Sox are nearing deals with supplemental first round selection Pat Light and second rounder Jamie Callahan, Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe reports (on Twitter).
  • ESPN.com's Keith Law reviews the draft class of each National League team, noting that he loves what the Astros did. The Padres impressed Law early on, and he liked the Nationals' selection of Lucas Giolito.
  • A legal dispute in Ohio could impact the future use of advisors, as Darren Heitner explains in a piece at Forbes.com. The MLBPA has warned agents that a case involving the former representatives of Andy Oliver “could represent a significant threat” to agents by placing restrictions on who can represent athletes who live or attend school in Ohio.
  • There have been lots of pre-draft agreements between teams and players, ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick hears (Twitter link). "It's a bigger joke this year than it's ever been,'' one agent told Crasnick.

Nats Talked With Dodgers And Rockies About Lannan

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The Nationals have had recent discussions with the Dodgers and Rockies about pitcher John Lannan, but no trade is close, major league sources tell Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.  Sources say that the Nats want a club to pay the rest of his remaining salary and give up at least one legitimate player.

Talks between the Dodgers and Nationals have been only preliminary, according to sources, while the Rockies kicked the tires on the pitcher before being turned off by the price.  For the Dodgers, Lannan would be an alternative to left-hander Ted Lilly while he is sidelined with a shoulder issue.

Lannan, 27, is now owed less than $3.5MM of his $5MM total salary.  The left-hander will be arbitration eligible this offseason and is in line for free agency the year after.  Lannan has been less-than-stellar through ten starts with Triple-A Syracuse, posting an ERA of 5.62 with 4.5 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9.

Lucas Giolito Talks Elbow, Nationals

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The Nationals selected high schooler Lucas Giolito with their top pick in this year’s draft despite uncertainty surrounding his pitching elbow, and the right-hander sounds confident that he’ll justify the team’s decision. Considered one of the most talented players available in this year’s draft, Giolito suffered an elbow injury this March and waited last night as half of baseball’s 30 teams passed on him.

“I had no idea where I was going to go off of the board,” he told reporters on a conference call this afternoon.

Giolito has started throwing long toss — he’s up to 300 feet — and is also throwing “pretty hard” on flat ground. He said he expects rehabilitation, not surgery, to be the answer to his recent ligament injury.

“I’m confident that this issue is behind me,” he said, sounding more poised than most 17-year-old prospects. “I’m looking forward to getting on the mound soon.”

Giolito said he considers the Nationals a “great organization” and that he admires Stephen Strasburg's pitching style. He said he’ll join the Nationals by next month’s signing deadline if the situation is right, but noted that UCLA has an appealing baseball program that remains “a really big option” for him. 

This marks the fourth consecutive season that the Nationals have drafted a player tabbed as a potential first overall talent with their top pick. They selected Anthony Rendon sixth overall last year after selecting Strasburg and Bryce Harper with the first overall selections in 2009 and 2010, respectively. Scouting director Kris Kline and general manager Mike Rizzo made Giolito the 16th overall selection last night. MLB recommends a bonus of $2.1MM for that slot; the sides have until July 13th to work out an agreement.

Quick Hits: Alfonso Soriano, Cubs Draft, Mets

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The Nationals rewrote Major League history on Sunday in yet another sign that the beleaguered franchise has turned the proverbial corner. Bryce Harper and Steve Lombardozzi became the first rookies to hit back-to-back home runs to lead off a game in the modern era. Here's the latest odds and ends from around the league as we look forward to Monday's amateur draft…

  • Alfonso Soriano is open to being traded to a contender as he concedes his career is winding down at 36, reports Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times. Soriano has made himself an attractive trade candidate with a 2012 slash line of .267/.311/.460, but remains unlikely to be moved thanks to his hefty contract. The Cubs owe Soriano the remainder of his $18MM salary for this year and $36MM over the next two seasons.
  • Cubs manager Dale Sveum hasn't seen team president Theo Epstein or scouting chief Jason McLeod in days and that's because they are in lockdown mode for Monday's amateur draft, says Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune. "Theo and Jason and Jed (Hoyer), they've had a whole different system in the draft, and obviously it's worked pretty well," Sveum said. "The high picks they had in Boston panned out pretty good." Equipped with the sixth pick in the draft, the Cubs are expected to take high school center fielder Albert Almora or Puerto Rican shortstop Carlos Correa based upon projections from Baseball America. 
  • Look for the Mets to consider making minor moves at the trade deadline rather than taking on salary to acquire an expensive veteran, writes Matthew Cerrone of MetsBlog.com. Cerrone points to Buster Olney's comments on Sunday night in which he stated that the team is focused on the big picture when Matt Harvey and Zack Wheeler arrive in Queens in as soon as 14 months. 

Draft Notes: Phillies, White Sox, Brewers, Nationals

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The first round of the MLB draft takes place tomorrow night.  Here are the latest notes on the draft:

  • The Phillies intend to spend their entire draft pool of $4.9MM on their first ten picks and will draft a position player early, Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes.
  • White Sox scouting director Doug Laumann told the Chicago Tribune's Dave Van Dyck he doesn't expect to find an immediate impact player in the draft.  “It’s probably as thin as I've seen in a decade,” Laumann said. “We see that it's pretty thin right now in the college ranks."
  • Brewers amateur scouting director Bruce Seid doesn't think there much of a talent dropoff after the first ten picks, according to Adam McCalvy of MLB.com.  The Brewers have the 27th, 28th, and 38th selections.
  • Nationals GM Mike Rizzo isn't letting the new CBA impact his draft strategy, says MLB.com's Bill Ladson.
  • The Padres will keep an eye out for shortstops in the draft, says Corey Brock of MLB.com.
  • The Astros have the first overall pick in the draft for the first time in 20 years. MLB.com's Brian McTaggart recalls how that missed pick (Phil Nevin) affected the franchise.
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