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Archives for August 2013

Placed On Waivers: Chase Headley

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We'll keep tabs on any notable players hitting the revocable waiver wire right here …

  • The Padres have placed third baseman Chase Headley on waivers, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports (on Twitter). One of last year's biggest breakout players, Headley has been the subject of repeated trade and extension rumors. He is playing on a $8.575MM contract this year, just under $2MM of which still remains to be paid, and will enter his final year of arbitration eligibility next season. Thus far in 2013, Headley has failed to live up to his big 2012 campaign. After missing time early in the year due to injury, Headley has managed only a .237/.328/.368 line in his 472 plate appearances to date. Nevertheless, the 29-year-old figures to appeal to a variety of clubs, though the Padres would surely require a substantial return to let him go.

For a reminder on how revocable trade waivers and August trades work, check out MLBTR's August trades primer.

Mets Sign Mitch Talbot, Daryl Thompson

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

  • The Mets announced that they have signed right-handers Mitch Talbot and Daryl Thompson to minor league contracts and assigned them to Triple-A Las Vegas. Talbot, 29, began the season with the Marlins but missed nearly four months with an elbow injury after making his first appearance of the season. He made two rehab appearances with Miami's Gulf Coast affiliate prior to his release. He has a 5.30 ERA in 224 2/3 Major League innings.
  • Thompson, 27, was pitching for the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs of the Atlantic League prior to his deal with the Mets. With the Crabs, he posted a 3.18 ERA with 5.3 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 in 124 2/3 innings. His last experience in affiliated ball came with the Twins in 2012 when he posted a 4.71 ERA in 42 innings for Triple-A Rochester.
  • As can be seen in MLBTR's brand new DFA Tracker, Sean O'Sullivan and Wade LeBlanc are currently in DFA limbo. For more on how to use the DFA Tracker, check out Tim Dierkes' primer from earlier today.

Astros Designate Wade LeBlanc For Assignment

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The Astros announced that they have designated pitcher Wade LeBlanc for assignment.  The move, coupled with catcher Carlos Corporan's placement on the seven-day concussion disabled list, will allow Triple-A right-hander David Martinez and Double-A catcher Max Stassi to join the big league squad. 

LeBlanc, 29, had a rough time in four relief appearances for the Astros this season.  For his career, LeBlanc owns a career 4.51 ERA with 6.1 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 in parts of six seasons with the Padres, Marlins, and Astros.

You can keep track of all DFA'd players using our brand new DFA Tracker.  Tim Dierkes wrote up a guide on MLBTR's newest feature earlier today.

Laynce Nix Joins CAA Sports

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As Laynce Nix searches for his next club, he'll be represented by a new agency.  The outfielder/first baseman has joined CAA Sports, according to Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet (via Twitter).  Nix was previously a client of Lagardere Unlimited.

Nix, 32, was designated for assignment by the Phillies on August 6th and granted his release six days later.  The veteran, who was on the backend of a two-year, $2.5MM deal, was expected to be a quality reserve bat against right-handed pitching, but things weren't clicking for him in Philly this year.  

The folks at CAA will now try to sell teams on Nix's pre-2013 performance.  The older brother of Yankees infielder Jayson had a career .245/.290/.429 slash line prior to this season.

You can keep track of everyone's representation using MLBTR's Agency Database.

Introducing MLBTR’s DFA Tracker

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MLB players are designated for assignment regularly.  The transaction, often abbreviated DFA, removes the player from the team's 40-man roster, giving the club ten days to trade, release, or outright him to the minors.  Players who are designated for assignment can be placed on waivers within the first seven days, and the best ones are traded or claimed and added to another team's 40-man roster.

Today we're happy to introduce a new way to monitor these players: MLBTR's DFA Tracker.  The tracker, which will be updated moving forward, lists the player's name, team, date designated, and the date by which a resolution is expected.  A player is assigned one of five statuses: DFA Limbo, Claimed, Outrighted, Released, or Optioned.  Designated players all begin in what we like to call DFA Limbo, where they're off the 40-man roster and awaiting a resolution.  All players will have their status updated from DFA Limbo to one of the other four when appropriate.  Within the tracker, the player name is linked to his original MLBTR DFA post.  You can search for players, filter by teams and/or status, and search within date ranges.

You can find the DFA Tracker here, and the link has also been added to the righthand sidebar under MLBTR Features.  Speaking of which, check out our list of players who have cleared waivers, reverse standings, 2014 free agent list, transaction tracker, and agency database as well.

Indians Release Daisuke Matsuzaka

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The Indians have granted Daisuke Matsuzaka his unconditional release upon his request, the team announced on Twitter. Cleveland released Matsuzaka near the end of Spring Training, but he worked out a new minor league deal with the team shortly after.

The 32-year-old Matsuzaka posted a 3.92 ERA with 8.3 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 in 103 1/3 innings for the Triple-A Columbus Clippers this season. He's been particularly effective over his past seven starts, pitching to a 2.17 ERA with a 39-to-8 K/BB ratio in 49 2/3 innings.

This year marks Matsuzaka's first state-side season with an organization other than the Red Sox. Tommy John surgery and a back injury limited him to just 83 innings from 2011-12, and he missed more than a month at Triple-A with a forearm strain. His recent success and the fact that he asked for his release seem to suggest that he could find a Major League opportunity elsewhere.

Poll: Best Midseason Relief Signing

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Bullpen help is typically the most volatile commodity in baseball. While many teams think they're set when Opening Day rolls around, that's often not the case. As such, free agents are often turned to for depth. While they often don't work out (there's a reason they're unsigned midseason, after all), sometimes teams reap the benefits of their low-risk investments. Here's a look at some of the more notable midseason bullpen signings…

  • Kevin Gregg — The Cubs inked Gregg back on April 14, and he's served as their closer for most of the season. Gregg has a 2.85 ERA with 7.8 K/9 and 4.4 BB/9, but he's stumbled tremendously since a lights-out start to the year. Even though he's pitched poorly since July 1, he's still managed to pick up 25 saves overall for Chicago.
  • Francisco Rodriguez — The Brewers brought K-Rod back on April 17 and celebrated his 300th career save later in the season. He pitched to a 1.09 ERA with 9.5 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 in 24 2/3 innings for the Crew before being flipped to the Orioles for Nick Delmonico — an infielder who entered the season as one of the Birds' Top 5 prospects.
  • David Aardsma — Aardsma's numbers would've looked a lot better if this poll had been conducted 72 hours ago — just before he had a four-run meltdown against the Padres. Still, he's delivered a 4.50 ERA with 7.7 K/9 and 4.2 BB/9 in 18 innings since signing with the Mets on May 20.
  • Brian Wilson – Wilson signed a Major League contract with the Dodgers but has yet to appear in a game. He should debut shortly after firing 4 1/3 scoreless innings of minor league relief with the team as he finalized his rehab.
  • Jose Valverde — Valverde was lights out for the Tigers for a few weeks, posting a 0.75 ERA over his first 12 innings of work.  Unfortunately for Detroit, he crashed and burned with 11 earned runs (and six homers) over his final 7 1/3 innings of relief.

With that said, let's open it up to a poll…

Quick Hits: Moreno, Pujols, Tejada, Benoit

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Angels owner Arte Moreno is already in the process of evaluating the 2013 season and how to get the team back on track in 2014, as he explained in an interview with Barry M. Bloom of MLB.com.  Moreno said that the jobs of manager Mike Scioscia and general manager Jerry Dipoto would be evaluated as part of an organization-wide review that includes himself — "I have to look in the mirror and say, 'Am I making the right call?'" Moreno said.  The owner also discussed roster moves that backfired, stadium talks with the city of Anaheim, how the Dodgers' success impacts the Angels and several other topics.

Here are more items as we wrap up a busy Monday in baseball…

  • Albert Pujols will be shut down for the rest of the season, the Angels confirmed today.  The slugger suffered a partial tear of the plantar facia of his left foot and hasn't played since July 26.  Pujols was bothered by foot injuries for much of the year and hit .258/.330/.437 with 17 homers in 443 PA, the worst season of his 13-year career.
  • Miguel Tejada was also facing a suspension for his involvement in the Biogenesis scandal before accepting his 105-game suspension for amphetamine use, ESPN's Pedro Gomez reports.  Major League Baseball gave Tejada the choice of accepting his 105-game ban or facing further punishment for his Biogenesis ties.  Gomez notes that Tejada "insists he does not plan to retire" though given Tejada's suspension, age (39) and decline in production, it's tough to see a team signing him this winter.  After not playing in the majors in 2012, Tejada hit .288/.317/.378 over 167 PA in a reserve role with the Royals this year.
  • Joaquin Benoit in a much better contractual position as he approaches free agency this winter than he was in the 2009-10 offseason.  MLB.com's Zack Meisel talks to Benoit about how he considered retirement due to shoulder injuries that caused him to miss the entire 2009 season, but rebounded to become one of the game's better relievers and now the Tigers closer.
  • Scott Boras and Jay Z have a fundamental disagreement about the role of an agent, Brian Costa of the Wall Street Journal explains.  "It is at once a clash of egos and ideas. At issue: To what extent are established agents like Boras missing out on marketing and endorsement opportunities for their clients? And to what extent should a baseball player even care?" Costa writes.  Robinson Cano, the top free agent of the coming offseason, made waves when he left Boras in April and hired CAA and Jay Z's Roc Nation Sports to handle his representation.

AL East Notes: Jeter, Davis, Blue Jays, Orioles

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Mariano Rivera's legendary career began on a humble note, as MLB.com's Adam Berry relates as part of the site's "42 Days Of Mo" series.  Rivera's first contract with the Yankees netted him just a $3K bonus, and it didn't take long for the club to realize they may have had something special when Rivera allowed just one run over 52 rookie ball innings in 1990.

Here are some items from around the AL East…

  • Even though Derek Jeter has spent almost the entire 2013 season on the DL, ESPN's Buster Olney (Insider subscription required) notes that the shortstop could have enough leverage to negotiate another multiyear deal from the Yankees this winter.  Jeter has an $8MM player option that would net him $3MM from New York if he opts out.
  • It seems unlikely that Rajai Davis will re-sign with the Blue Jays this winter, MLB.com's Gregor Chisholm writes as part of a reader mailbag piece.  While Davis may not find a full-time job on the free agent market this winter, he should be able to find more playing time than he would in Toronto given the Jays' crowded outfield situation.
  • Also from Chisholm, he notes Brett Cecil isn't likely to be converted back into a starter given his All-Star performance out of the bullpen this season.  Munenori Kawasaki's presence on the Jays' Major League roster in 2014 is still up in the air and Brandon Morrow's health may be the key to Toronto's starting rotation next year.
  • The Orioles have a number of options for their September call-ups, and MASNsports.com's Roch Kubatko gives his take on who the O's might add once the rosters expand on September 1.
  • From earlier today in the AL East, the Red Sox called up Xander Bogaerts and released Jose Contreras and made a few other minor roster moves….we learned the Sox aren't pursuing Cuban shortstop Alexander Guerrero….Phil Hughes wants to remain a starting pitcher….the Yankees released Luis Cruz.

Placed On Waivers: DeJesus, Vargas, Aybar

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Here is Monday's list of notable players who have been placed on revocable trade waivers…

  • The Nationals acquired David DeJesus from the Cubs earlier today and "almost immediately" put the outfielder on waivers, FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal reports.  DeJesus' claiming period is up on Wednesday.  Rival executives speculate that the Nats are trying to rid themselves of the approximately $2.5MM remaining on DeJesus' contract ($975K in salary, $1.5MM in a buyout of his 2014 option).  This could be an attempt by the Nats to flip DeJesus, simply a procedural move or perhaps they never expected the Cubs to accept their original waiver claim on DeJesus in the first place.  Amanda Comak of the Washington Times (Twitter link) opines that perhaps the Nats claimed DeJesus to keep him away from another contender.
  • The Angels placed left-hander Jason Vargas and shortstop Erick Aybar on waivers, FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal reports (Twitter link).  The claiming period for both players expires on Wednesday.  Vargas was dealt to Anaheim from Seattle in exchange for Kendrys Morales last December and has posted a 3.92 ERA, 6.1 K/9 and 2.00 K/BB ratio in 101 IP in 2013, though he spent almost two months on the DL recovering from a blood clot in his left armpit.  Vargas has roughly $1.5MM still owed to him from his $8.5MM salary for the season and the southpaw is a free agent this winter.  He could make a cheap pickup for a team looking for starting pitching depth during the pennant race, though Vargas' career road splits indicate that he struggles when he isn't at a pitcher-friendly ballpark like Angel Stadium or Safeco Field.
  • Aybar signed a four-year, $35MM extension in April 2012 that covered the 2013-16 seasons and Aybar is hitting .282/.316/.380 in 417 PA in the first year of that new contract.  Though the 29-year-old is known more for his solid glove (he won a Gold Glove in 2011), Aybar has a below-average -8.2 UZR.150 this season.  The Cardinals had some interest in Aybar before the trade deadline but had no interest in giving up a top prospect in exchange for the veteran shortstop.

For a reminder on how revocable trade waivers and August trades work, check out MLBTR's August trades primer.

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