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Quick Hits: Dodgers, Cardinals, Inglett, Broderick

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Saturday evening linkage…

  • Frank McCourt told Dylan Hernandez of The Los Angeles Times that the Dodgers' roster would look the same even if the team didn't have financial problems. He was also vague about future payroll plans if the multi-billion dollar deal with FOX were to be approved (Twitter link).
  • B.J. Rains of FOXSportsMidwest.com points out that the Cardinals will have to make room for Brian Tallet when the lefty comes off the disabled list next week (Twitter links). He doesn't think they'll cut ties with the struggling Ryan Franklin, but he says it's "debatable." 
  • MLB.com's Brian McTaggart reports that Joe Inglett has accepted his outright assignment and will join the Astros' Triple-A affiliate (on Twitter). Inglett could have elected free agency after clearing waivers earlier in the week.
  • Nationals GM Mike Rizzo believes that pitcher Brian Broderick has a bright future in the big leagues, despite being DFA'd by the club earlier today, writes Bill Ladson of MLB.com.
  • Manager Dusty Baker is curious to see if the newly activated Jose Arredondo can provide the Reds with the kind of pitching they expected upon signing him.
  • Dave Gershman of Beyond The Box Score examined the market for Padres pitcher Dustin Moseley.

Nationals Designate Brian Broderick For Assignment

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The Nationals have designated Brian Broderick for assignment according to the team's Twitter feed. The move clears a roster spot for Cole Kimball, who was called up from Triple-A.

Broderick, 24, was a Rule 5 Draft pick from the Cardinals this past offseason. He appeared in 11 games for the Nats, pitching to a 6.57 ERA in 12 1/3 relief innings. He allowed 16 hits, walked three and struck out just four, though his 60% ground ball rate is impressive. As a Rule 5 pick, Broderick must first clear waivers and be offered back to St. Louis before Washington could send him to the minors.

Kimball, 25, was rated as the Nats' seventh best prospect by Baseball America thanks to his "heavy fastball," splitter, curveball, and "fierce mound presence." They project him to be a set-up man in the future. Kimball did not allow a run in 13 2/3 innings in Triple-A this year, striking out 14 but walking eight. 

Nationals Overloaded In The Outfield

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Nats centerfielder Rick Ankiel may not be able to return to action when he's able to come off the disabled list next week.  From the standpoint of delaying decisions, that might be a good thing, writes Ben Goessling of MASNSports.com.

Roger Bernadina has filled in at leadoff hitter and center fielder, and manager Jim Riggleman says that he'd like to keep it that way.  If he remains in that role, it would leave Ankiel, Laynce Nix and Michael Morse to fight over playing time in left. 

Other than optioning Bernadina back to Triple-A Syracuse, the club won't have many ways to fit everyone in.  Riggleman says that the club will figure things out when Ankiel is healthy, a point that could be approaching soon.

NL East Notes: Beltran, Nationals, Hanley

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On this date in 2000, the Mets released Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson. You might think a 41-year-old with a .219 average would have trouble finding work, but Rickey Henderson was no ordinary 41-year-old. The speedster signed with Seattle, where he stole 31 bases in 40 attempts. Remarkably, Henderson stole another 42 bases in 2001, his age 42 season. Here are some links from the NL East (though none of them can keep up with the Man of Steal)…

  • It will be interesting to see how Carlos Beltran’s $18.5MM salary affects other teams’ interest in him midseason, as ESPN.com's Buster Olney explains. Few teams have $6MM kicking around for a two-month rental, and that’s how much will remain on Beltran’s contract at the end of July. Olney suggests the Mets could get a decent prospect for Beltran if he continues his hot hitting (the free agent to be had a three-homer game yesterday).
  • Brian Broderick and Henry Rodriguez are on the Nationals' roster because demoting them to the minors would mean exposing them to waivers, according to Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post. As a result, Broderick, a Rule 5 pick, and Rodriguez, who is out of options, stay in the organization, though they aren't called upon in crucial situations.
  • Before yesterday's game, struggling Marlins shortstop Hanley Ramirez promised he'll have seven homers and a .290 batting average by May 30th, according to Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post. Ramirez, 27, has two homers and a .217/.308/.302 line after homering last night.

Quick Hits: Draft, Cubs, Theriot

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Links for Thursday, as Yogi Berra celebrates his birthday (number 86!) along with current players Evan Meek (28), Felipe Lopez (31) and Wes Helms (35)…

  • Gerrit Cole, Anthony Rendon and Bubba Starling remain atop Keith Law's latest ranking of the top 100 draft prospects.  Law says Starling could be "the single most talented player in this draft."
  • MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo also has some info about draft prospects, including promising Kentucky right-hander Alex Meyer.
  • Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports says this isn't the year the Cubs win the World Series.
  • At ESPN.com, Casey Stengel tops David Schoenfield's list of the ten greatest managers in baseball history.
  • A few St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writers weigh in on the Ryan Theriot acquisition. Bernie Miklasz says the Cardinals acquired the infielder to be an upgrade on offense and increase the team's toughness.

MLBTR's Mark Polishuk also contributed to this post

Nationals Acquire Gregor Blanco

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The Nationals acquired Gregor Blanco from the Royals for a player to be named later, according to the team's Twitter account.

Blanco, 27, is a career .258/.358/.324 hitter who came to the Royals with Tim Collins and Jesse Chavez in the trade that sent Kyle Farnsworth and Rick Ankiel to Atlanta last season. Ironically, Blanco may be an option to challenge Ankiel for playing time in Washington. The Nationals have been looking for center field options after trading Nyjer Morgan to Milwaukee and making Ankiel their everyday center fielder. Ankiel has struggled with just a .221/.302/.288 slash line in 118 PAs.

Blanco's best assets are his ability to draw a walk (career BB% of 12.8%) and his speed. He owns 209 minor league stolen bases to go along with 26 at the Major League level. While he struggled early in his career, his success rate has improved over the past few seasons.

Red Sox Still Considering Catching Options

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The Red Sox have made contact with Bengie Molina, but aren't ready to move on him yet, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. With Jason Varitek and Jarrod Saltalamacchia hitting a combined .179/.246/.241 in 123 plate appearances this season, Molina could grow more appealing to the Sox in the near future.

We heard last month that Boston was eyeing catching help and that Molina was on the team's list of possibilities. Although Ivan Rodriguez and Chris Snyder were also on that list, Rosenthal says the Sox are "cool" on Pudge, and the Pirates are more inclined to move Ryan Doumit than Snyder.

Jeff Mathis, who received high praise from Varitek, could be available as well. However, as Rosenthal points out, while Mathis is a strong defensive backstop, his .199/.262/.311 career slash line wouldn't help the Sox.

Quick Hits: Barnes, Chavez, Kasten, Simon, Berkman

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Congrats to Justin Verlander. The Tigers' ace threw a no-hitter against the Blue Jays this afternoon, the second of his career. He's now one of only 28 men to throw multiple no-hitters in the big leagues. Here are Saturday's links…

  • Red Sox GM Theo Epstein was personally scouting UConn RHP Matt Barnes tonight, reports Dom Amore of The Hartford Courant (on Twitter). Barnes is expected to go in the first round this year, in which the Red Sox have two picks.
  • Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News reports that the Rangers called up Craig Gentry to replace Nelson Cruz, who was placed on the disabled list (Twitter links). He notes that one possible reason why they didn't call up Endy Chavez is because they'd have to place him on waivers once Cruz was healthy.
  • In a guest post for Through The Fence Baseball, MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith took stock of the winter's biggest offseason deals.
  • Bill Madden of The New York Daily News wrote about the numerous big-money players that are struggling this year, including Derek Jeter and Hanley Ramirez.
  • Stan Kasten confirmed to Adam Kilgore of The Washington Post that he sold his ownership stake in the Nationals this March. Kasten stepped down as team president late last year, but it's unclear what he'll do next. He was mentioned as possibly trustee when MLB took over the Dodgers' financial operations.
  • Alfredo Simon was in the Orioles' clubhouse today, and will continue working his way back with a minor league appearance next week according to Dan Connolly of The Baltimore Sun. Connolly says the team will have to recall, waive, or release Simon by "roughy May 22" after he spent two months in a Dominican Republic prison and being placed on the restricted list.
  • Bernie Miklasz of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch spoke to Cardinals GM John Mozeliak about the resurgent Lance Berkman. "We did a lot of due diligence," said the GM. "We truly believed he could have a bounce-back year. When we looked at it, we knew he was working extremely hard on his conditioning, was getting the knee healthy, was getting himself in tremendous shape, and that he'd be a lot stronger. That was a big thing. We knew that he still had an eye for hitting, and he would work the count and take walks. The question was, how would he be physically. And once we knew how much he was putting into his training, it gave us confidence."

Heyman On Reyes, Lowe, Peavy, Howard

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The Cardinals, Giants, Brewers, Red Sox, Twins and Mariners are possible suitors for Jose Reyes this summer, writes Jon Heyman of SI.com. However, the Mets don’t have an obvious replacement for their shortstop and attendance could suffer if they deal Reyes, as Heyman points out. (Though the Mariners have won seven of their last nine games and haven't obtained much production at short, it's still extremely difficult to imagine them trading for Reyes.) Here are the rest of Heyman’s rumors:

  • Derek Lowe could be available at the trade deadline given the Braves’ starting pitching depth.
  • The White Sox have insurance on Jake Peavy, according to Heyman. This means that the team may already have started receiving payments to help cover the injured right-hander’s $16MM salary.
  • Heyman, a defender of Ryan Howard’s five-year, $125MM contract from the start, says the first baseman has been “worth every penny so far.” 
  • On the one-year anniversary of Howard's deal, I concluded that Howard and agent Casey Close had done well to sign the contract.
  • The Nationals may want to consider locking manager Jim Riggleman up, Heyman writes. The Nationals have a team option for Riggleman's 2012 services.

Quick Hits: Minaya, Weaver, Danks, Zimmerman

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Emilio "Millito" Navarro, believed to be the oldest living professional baseball player at 105, passed away in Puerto Rico today. The former Negro Leaguer also played in the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, and Puerto Rico during his career. Our condolences go out to his family.

  • Paul Hoynes of The Cleveland Plain-Dealer reports that former Mets GM Omar Minaya has spent the past two days on a "friendly visit" with Indians GM Chris Antonetti, president Mark Shapiro, and manager Manny Acta. Cleveland interviewed former Diamondbacks GM Josh Byrnes during the offseason, and Hoynes says Antonetti has "made [it] no secret that he'd like to add the right person to the front office."
  • While researching the impending free agency of young stars, SI's Jon Heyman (via Twitter) learned that we can count on Jered Weaver and John Danks filing after 2012.
  • It's been a bad day for star third basemen, writes Justin Sablich of the New York Times.  The Giants lost Pablo Sandoval for 4-6 weeks with a broken bone in his right wrist and the Nationals announced that Ryan Zimmerman, who has been on the disabled list since April 12, will miss at least an another six weeks.  If both players return within those timeframes, it's unlikely that either squad will look for an out-of-house fill-in.
  • Matt Klaassen of Fangraphs questions the Blue Jays' wisdom in demoting Travis Snider to work on his hitting after just 99 plate appearances in 2011.
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