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Nationals Release Cla Meredith

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The Nationals announced that they have released Cla Meredith. The Nationals signed the 27-year-old right-hander to a minor league deal in February and he underwent Tommy John surgery last week.

Meredith posted a 5.40 ERA with 4.2 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 in 21 relief apppearances for Baltimore last year. He was a key member of the Padres' bullpen from 2006-09, when he posted a 3.26 ERA with 6.3 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9 in 237 1/3 total innings. 

Meredith, a sixth round selection of Boston's in the 2004 draft, reached the majors the following season when he made a three-appearance cameo with the Red Sox. He has appeared in the big leagues every season since his 2005 debut, averaging 57 outings per year and a 3.43 ERA in that time.

Quick Hits: Maine, Lerner, Foltynewicz

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A few stray items of note coming out of the National League as Thursday winds down …

  • Rockies right-hander John Maine can opt out of his contract with Colorado if he's not on the 25-man roster on June 1, tweets Jim Armstrong of the Denver Post. Maine, who signed a minor league deal with the Rox this offseason, has missed the better part of each of the past two seasons with the Mets due to right arm trouble.
  • The Nationals grabbed headlines this offseason by signing Jayson Werth to a hefty $126MM contract, and though it was widely regarded as a questionable baseball decision, owner Ted Lerner has no shortage of cash, writes Kevin Kaduk of Yahoo! Sports. Lerner, as Kaduk explains, ranks No. 376 on Forbes' list of wealthiest people in the world, and is presently the wealthiest majority owner in baseball.
  • Astros pitching prospect Mike Foltynewicz is looking to build upon the strong professional debut he made in 2010, writes Stephen Goff of the Houston Examiner. Astros assistant GM/director of scouting Bobby Heck said that the right-hander probably has the highest ceiling of any Astros minor leaguer. Interestingly, Foltynewicz told Goff that he probably would have gone to the Red Sox at No. 20 overall in last year's First-Year Player Draft had the Astros not nabbed him at No. 19.

Astros Tempering Pursuit Of Nationals’ Flores

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The Astros are cooling their pursuit of a potential trade for Nationals catcher Jesus Flores, writes Bill Ladson of MLB.com.

Reports of Houston's interest in obtaining Flores surfaced on Monday, but the interest is waning because of concerns over Flores' surgically repaired right shoulder. The Astros were looking at Flores as a project and were not interested in surrendering a lot to get him, according to Ladson.

The Astros are a bit thin at backstop between J.R. Towles, Humberto Quintero and Brian Esposito, while the Nationals are considered pretty deep at the position with Ivan Rodriguez, Wilson Ramos and prospect Derek Norris.

Flores, whom the Nats acquired from the Mets in 2006 as a Rule 5 Draft selection, has missed the majority of the past two seasons due to right shoulder ailments, but he was becoming a solid everyday catcher with Washington prior to the injury.

Minor Deals: Lamb, Hall, Johnson, Baisley

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Today's minor deals include a number of former Major Leaguers…

  • The Nationals re-signed Ron Villone, according to Matt Eddy of Baseball America (on Twitter). As Eddy points out, the 18-year veteran has been traded for Greg Vaughn and Andy Benes.
  • The Camden Riversharks of the Atlantic League signed Mike Lamb, Toby Hall and Jason Johnson, according to Mike Ashmore of the Hunterdon County Democrat (on Twitter). Lamb, 35, was a pinch hitter for the Marlins last year after missing the 2009 season; Hall, a nine-year veteran, hasn't spent time in the majors since 2008 and Johnson, a 37-year-old right-hander with 11 years of MLB experience, has been out of the majors for two years as well.
  • The Dodgers signed right-hander Steven Jackson to a minor league deal, according to Eddy (on Twitter). He appeared in 11 games for the Pirates last year, but got much more exposure in 2009 when he posted a 3.14 ERA in 40 relief appearances despite walking more batters than he struck out.
  • The Reds signed right-hander Tyree Hayes, the son of former MLB third baseman Charlie Hayes, according to Eddy (on Twitter). Hayes, 22, has yet to advance past Class A in five pro seasons.
  • The Twins signed former Royals prospect Joe Dickerson, according to Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus (on Twitter). The 2005 fourth rounder didn't play last year.
  • The Angels signed former A's prospect Jeff Baisley, according to Goldstein (on Twitter). The 28-year-old played in 14 games for the 2008 A's and posted an .845 OPS in the upper minors of their system last year.

Jays, Brewers Head List Of Dominican Signings

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The Dominican Prospect League has announced several more signings:

  • The Blue Jays signed 17-year-old outfielder Francisco Tejada for $150K.  With the move, all 30 teams have signed a player out of the DPL.  The press release refers to Tejada's "high athletic ceiling," citing his speed and arm.
  • The Brewers inked 17-year-old third baseman Estervin Matos for $100K after a strong offensive performance in the DPL.
  • Additionally, the Mets signed righty Miguel Angel Bautista for $10K, the Nationals signed righty Deury Vazquez for $30K, and the Diamondbacks signed American-born middle infielder Jesse Liriano for $10K.

Astros Interested In Jesus Flores

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The Astros are looking at the Nationals' Jesus Flores as a possible replacement for Jason Castro, reports Ben Goessling of MASNsports.com.  The two teams face off today, so hopefully the Nationals will get Flores into the game for the Astros scouts on hand.  The Astros are concerned about the condition of Flores' shoulder, according to MLB.com's Bill Ladson.

Flores, 26, was signed by the Mets out of Venezuela nine years ago.  Coming off a solid age 21 season in Low-A ball, Nationals GM Jim Bowden took Flores in the 2006 Rule 5 draft.  Flores served his time in the Majors in '07 as Brian Schneider's backup, and by June of '08 he'd won the team's starting catcher job.  In May of '09, a foul tip off the bat of Chris Young set in motion a major shoulder problem.  The injury went from being labeled a bruise to a stress fracture to a torn labrum, resulting in September '09 surgery.

During Flores' long recovery, the Nationals signed Ivan Rodriguez, traded for Wilson Ramos, and saw major development from prospect Derek Norris.  Now expendable for Washington, Flores is a great fit for an Astros club that can give him consistent at-bats with Castro out for the season with a torn ACL.

NL East Notes: Zimmermann, Marlins, Heyward

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Players with zero to three years of service time are under team control and don't have the power to negotiate their salaries. Most of these players agree to terms with their clubs on deals worth $400-500K, but some don't agree to terms and their clubs renew their contracts instead (it doesn't affect the player's timeline for arbitration or free agency). Here's the latest on the NL East, including news on some contract renewals:

Cla Meredith To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

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Nationals right-hander Cla Meredith will undergo Tommy John ligament replacement surgery on his right elbow in D.C. today, according to Mark Zuckerman of CSNWashington.com (on Twitter). Washington signed the 27-year-old to a minor league deal a month ago.

Meredith posted a 5.40 ERA with 4.2 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 in 21 relief apppearances for Baltimore last year. He was a key member of the Padres' bullpen from 2006-09, when he posted a 3.26 ERA with 6.3 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9 in 237 1/3 total innings. The Orioles acquired Meredith for Oscar Salazar during the 2009 season.

Nationals Could Deal A Catcher

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The Nationals are loaded with quality catchers and most likely will trade one of them for pitching, writes Bill Ladson of MLB.com.  With Ivan Rodriguez, Jesus Flores, Wilson Ramos, and Derek Norris in the fold, Ladson writes that one of the backstops could be moved prior to Opening Day.

Now fully recovered from right shoulder surgery, the leading candidate to be traded could be Flores, who has been seen throwing the ball hard to second and third base.  The injury cost the 26-year-old most of the 2010 season as he appeared in just 26 games.

The veteran Rodriguez will be the club's starting catcher to start the year while Ramos is being groomed as his heir apparent. Norris, 22, will probably start the season in the minors and is said to already possess a big league bat.

AL East Notes: Yankees, Werth, Pavano, Jays, Rays

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Seven years ago today, the Yankees signed Eduardo Nunez as a free agent out of the Dominican Republic. Now 23, Nunez is in the mix to be New York's utility infielder in 2011 after hitting .280/.321/.360 with more walks (three) than strikeouts (two) in his brief big league debut last season (53 PA).

Here are some more notes that have to do with the Yanks and their fellow AL East clubs…

  • Joel Sherman of The New York Post reports that the Yankees "have told their scouts to bear down on several teams they think could have starters available" in a trade this summer. The teams they are targeting include the Braves, Angels, A's, White Sox, and Cardinals according to Sherman.
  • Jayson Werth told SI.com's Jon Heyman that he had a "great" meeting with the Red Sox earlier this offseason, after which he figured they would offer six years (Twitter link). They only offered five, so he ended up with the Nationals.
  • Carl Pavano spoke to Kelsie Smith of The Pioneer Press about being pursued by the Yankees this offseason. "I don't think [the past] would be a hindrance, but there would have definitely been obstacles," said Pavano. "I'm not naïve enough to think that there wouldn't have been things I would have had to overcome, especially the trust of the fans and maybe some of the guys that were there. That's reality."
  • Richard Griffin of The Toronto Star notes (on Twitter) that four of the Blue Jays' ten highest paid players are former closers: Jason Frasor, Frank Francisco, Jon Rauch, and Octavio Dotel.
  • When asked about the payroll disparity between his Rays and other teams in the division, Joe Maddon told Ken Davidoff of Newsday that he's "never seen a dollar bill throw a strike, or hit a homer, or whatever." (Twitter link)
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