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Archives for August 2013

Cardinals To Promote Kolten Wong

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The Cardinals will promote top prospect Kolten Wong, the athletic department of the University of Hawaii (Wong's alma mater) tweets. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch confirms (via Twitter) that the Cardinals are set to promote Wong on Friday.

MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch tweets that the Cardinals will option Adron Chambers to clear space on their 25-man roster. Current Cards second baseman Matt Carpenter has played brilliantly this season, so Wong's promotion might mean less playing time for third baseman David Freese, as Carpenter, who has played 30 games at third this season, moves to the position on a more regular basis. Neither Wong nor Carpenter has significant experience at shortstop, where Pete Kozma has struggled this year.

Wong had been hitting .303/.369/.466 for Triple-A Memphis. The 22-year-old was the No. 22 overall pick in the 2011 draft. MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo ranks Wong the No. 53 prospect in baseball, while Baseball America ranked Wong No. 84 in their preseason rankings and ESPN's Keith Law ranked him No. 96. BA's 2013 Prospect Handbook named Wong the fifth-best prospect in a strong Cardinals system, noting that he has good power for a small player and has shown improved instincts at second. The late-season promotion surely means that Wong will not receive Super Two status, which would put him on track for arbitration eligibility after the 2016 season and free agency after 2019, assuming he sticks in the Majors.

Yankees To Sign Mark Reynolds

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The Yankees have agreed to terms with Mark Reynolds, Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reports. Heyman indicates that Reynolds will "help with their righthanded power," and indicates he'll be used to spell Alex Rodriguez at third and Lyle Overbay at first. If that's the case, Reynolds would likely play in place of the left-handed Overbay against lefty starters.

The Indians released Reynolds on Monday after he hit .207/.315/.373 in 384 plate appearances this season. Cleveland signed Reynolds to a one-year, $6MM deal in the offseason, and they're still on the hook for the bulk of what's left of that contract — the Yankees will only have to pay Reynolds a pro-rated league-minimum salary.

The 30-year-old Reynolds has 196 career big-league home runs, but has struggled with strikeouts throughout his career. His 223 whiffs in 2009 are the most ever in a season, and he has had two other seasons in the top five all time. As Reynolds has aged, his strikeouts have led to difficulties posting respectable batting averages, and the low averages and weak defense have offset his prodigious power.

International Notes: Abreu, Red Sox, Cubs, Nationals

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The Red Sox don't yet have a scouting report on Cuban slugger Jose Abreu, GM Ben Cherington tells WEEI's Dennis and Callahan Show (via Alex Speier of WEEI.com). "We just don’t know him well enough yet," Cherington says. "And of course until he’s gone through the process of getting cleared and all that, there’s really not much to say. As with any player that comes out of Cuba and has a chance to help us, we’ll certainly do the work that we need to do." With Mike Napoli set for free agency, the Red Sox could easily clear space for Abreu at first base, and they also have the money to make a competitive bid for a player who's likely to receive the biggest contract ever given to an international free agent, so the Red Sox appear likely to give Abreu a close look. (Since Abreu is 26 and has many years of experience in a Cuban professional league, he is not subject to rules regarding international bonus pools.)

Here are more notes on international signings.

  • Abreu may do tryouts as he moves toward a deal with an MLB team, but he doesn't really need to, Baseball America's Ben Badler tweets. Teams already have access to plenty of information about Abreu, Badler argues.
  • The Cubs decided to splurge on international spending this season because they had the second-largest international bonus pool, MLB.com's Carrie Muskat reports. Another factor in the Cubs' thinking was their belief that there wouldn't be an international draft in 2014. That means they'll be taxed at 100 percent of their pool overage if they go 10 to 15% over their pool value, and they won't be able to sign any international free agent for more than $500K. "Next year, we'll spread our money around with some pitching instead of going after the large investments. We like the large investments this year," team president Theo Epstein says. The Cubs have spent a total of $7.895MM on Dominican outfielder Eloy Jimenez, Venezuelan shortstop Gleyber Torres, Taiwanese pitcher Jen-Ho Tseng, Dominican pitcher Jefferson Mejia, Colombian pitcher Erling Moreno and Dominican catcher Johan Matos.
  • The Nationals' signing of Dominican third baseman Anderson Franco for $900K is part of an effort to become more aggressive in Latin America, the Washington Post's Adam Kilgore reports. A scandal resulting from the Nationals' 2006 signing of a 16-year-old shortstop named Esmailyn Gonzalez — later revealed to actually be a 20-year-old shortstop named Carlos Alvarez — led to the departures of then-GM Jim Bowden and special assistant Jose Rijo. Since signing Gonzalez/Alvarez for $1.4MM, the Nationals had not spent more than $385K on a Latin American free agent, Kilgore notes.

Rangers Notes: Kinsler, Profar, Cruz, Garza, Salty

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The Rangers have been the most active buyer in baseball this season, trading prospects Mike Olt, C.J. Edwards, Justin Grimm and Leury Garcia to bring in Matt Garza and Alex Rios. In his latest Rangers Inbox, MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan tackles a host of issues regarding the future of the team's roster…

  • Jurickson Profar could stay in his utility role for another season and ultimately transition to third base as Adrian Beltre moves into a DH role in two years, writes Sullivan. It's also possible that GM Jon Daniels discusses trades of Kinsler this offseason, as the four years and $57MM remaining on his contract will look like a bargain with the rising price of second basemen (Sullivan points to Dustin Pedroia and Robinson Cano as comparisons).
  • Sullivan guesses the Rangers will make Nelson Cruz a qualifying offer at season's end. If Cruz accepts the offer or expresses interest in working out a new contract, they're prepared to move forward with him as their designated hitter in 2014.
  • The club's interest in re-signing Matt Garza will be linked to the health of Matt Harrison. The team could also re-sign Colby Lewis. Nick Tepesch and Josh Lindblom are currently the leading candidates to be the fifth starter, as Neftali Feliz looks to be headed back to a bullpen role.
  • The Rangers aren't likely to pursue Jarrod Saltalamacchia as a free agent despite their needs at catcher. As Sullivan writes, "That bridge appears quite charred in both directions."

Mike Zagurski Exercises Opt-Out Clause

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Left-hander Mike Zagurski has exercised the opt-out clause in his minor league deal with the Yankees and is now a free agent, according to his agent, Marc Kligman (on Twitter).

The 30-year-old Zagurski allowed 10 runs in six innings with the Pirates this season but has been dominant in Triple-A this season. The former 12th-round pick has a 2.66 ERA with 14.3 K/9 and 4.0 BB/9 in 47 1/3 innings between the Pirates' and Yankees' Triple-A affiliates this season. He's limited opposing left-handers to .244/.310/.321 batting line in the minors.

Rays Designate Ryan Roberts For Assignment

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The Rays have designated infielder Ryan Roberts for assignment, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (on Twitter). The move will clear a 40-man roster spot for Alex Cobb to be reinstated from the 60-day disabled list.

Roberts, who turns 33 next month, hit .247/.295/.377 with five homers in 173 plate appearances for the Rays this season. He was used primarily at second base for the Rays this season, but he does carry more than 1700 innings of Major League experience at the hot corner as well. Roberts hit .305/.345/.500 against left-handed pitching but floundered against right-handers, hitting just .188/.244/.50. He's typically handled lefties much better throughout his big league career, which spans parts of eight big league seasons with the Blue Jays, Rangers, D-Backs and Rays.

Elvis Andrus Clears Waivers

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Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus has cleared waivers, according to Danny Knobler of CBS Sports. Knobler adds that despite the fact that Andrus is technically eligible to be traded, the Rangers have no intention of dealing the 24-year-old.

Andrus signed an eight-year, $120MM extension prior to the season, though it's possible the deal will be much shorter than that, as he received a pair opt-out clauses that allow him to elect free agency following the 2018 and 2019 seasons. Opting out after the 2018 season would effectively make his contract a four-year, $62MM extension. Opting out after 2019 would make it a five-year, $77MM extension. Were he pass on both opt-outs, Andrus would be guaranteed an additional $124.475MM beyond this season.

Andrus has seen his numbers decline dramatically in 2013, as he's hitting just .255/.317/.306 with one homer. He remains a premium defender at shortstop and a terror on the basepaths though, as evidenced by his 30 steals in 34 attempts. Andrus joins a growing list of players to have cleared waivers, though he is arguably the unlikeliest of the bunch to be traded.

Nationals Sign Anderson Franco

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The Nationals have signed Dominican third baseman Anderson Franco for $900K, according to Ben Badler of Baseball America. Badler had ranked Franco as the No. 29 prospect in this year's crop of July 2 international free agents, and MLB.com's Jesse Sanchez ranked him 16th.

The 6'1", 185-pound Franco became eligible to sign today — his 16th birthday. Badler writes that Franco's best tools are his raw power and strong arm, adding that he's shown the ability to be a strong defender at third base. Sanchez writes that Franco has drawn praise for his bat speed, footwork at third base and power displays in batting practice. Some scouts, according to Sanchez, believe Franco to be a sleeper who could ultimately end up as the best player from this year's class. Detractors worry about his pitch recognition and a swing that can get long at times.

Franco is the final player from Badler's Top 30 list to sign a deal, though a few players from Sanchez's Top 30 remain unsigned.

Poll: Most Surprising Player To Clear Waivers

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We're about halfway through August, and there have been a fair share of waiver trades already made. Alex Rios, Jamey Carroll, Wesley Wright, Travis Blackley and Emilio Bonifacio have all changed teams after being claimed.

To this point, ten players have reportedly cleared waivers: Erik Bedard, Adam Dunn, Dan Haren, Josh Johnson, Matt Lindstrom, Justin Morneau, Jimmy Rollins, Brendan Ryan, Michael Young and Barry Zito. Obviously, any of them could still end up being moved, as they're now eligible to be dealt to any team after clearing.

It's not surprising that some of these players would clear waivers (Zito, in particular, comes to mind), but at least a few of them seem to have enough value that they'd be an asset to a contender looking to bolster its roster for a playoff push and therefore worth claiming. And, as we saw with the Rios trade, the price to acquire players right now isn't exactly sky-high.

Quick Hits; Qualifying Offers, Replay, A-Rod, Hawkins

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With ESPN's Buster Olney on vacation, Scott Boras stepped in as a guest blogger for ESPN today and wrote about his take on the new collective bargaining agreement, specifically the qualifying offer system and draft pools. Boras writes that the qualifying offer system is flawed because it punishes veteran players for having strong years. Veterans who receive qualifying offers but are on the wrong side of 30 are punished due to the "artificial scarcity" of draft dollars. Boras also tackles the hard slotting system and how he feels young American talent is punished under the new CBA in his blog, which is an excellent read. Here's more from around the league…

  • MLB owners are meeting today to discuss a massive expansion of instant replay in Major League Baseball, writes Bob Nightengale of USA Today. The proposed expansion would make replay available on virtually every aspect of the game with the exception of balls and strikes, but it would also be costly to implement. One executive said the start-up fee would likely be $25-40MM.
  • Alex Rodriguez has to be extremely careful if he brings a federal lawsuit against MLB, writes Tom Harvey of the New York Daily News.  If the Yankees veteran goes through with it, he'll be forced to address his allegations of drug use and his link to the Biogenesis clinic.
  • Mets reliever LaTroy Hawkins was convinced two months ago that this season would be his last, but the 40-year-old now sees himself pitching in 2014, writes Anthony DiComo of MLB.com.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

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