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Archives for August 2013

Royals Designate Francisley Bueno

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The Royals have designated Francisley Bueno for assignment, according to Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star (on Twitter).  The right-hander made his sole 2013 big league appearance yesterday, allowing just one hit in 2 and 1/3 innings.

This marks the second time this summer that the 32-year-old has been DFA'd by the Royals – he was also bumped off of the 40-man roster in late June to make way for the reactivation of Danny Duffy.  In 30 relief appearances and one start at Triple-A Omaha this season, Bueno posted a 2.93 ERA with 7.3 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9.

AL West Notes: Ryan, Jaso, Rosales

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Here's a look at the latest from the AL West:

  • Nolan Ryan met with reporters ahead of the Rangers' matchup with the Astros tonight and said he doesn't anticipate changes in regard to his position as the club's CEO. â€śThings have settled down and I feel good about the ballclub and the way things are going," Ryan is quoted as saying in an article by TR Sullivan of MLB.com. "You just get through each season and see how you feel and how your health is."
  • The hall-of-famer said he's happy with the club's position following GM Jon Daniels' acquisition of Alex Rios from the White Sox to replace the suspended Nelson Cruz. Ryan also told reporters that he's "thrilled" with Ron Washington's stewardship of the club.
  • John Jaso's absence and the lack of other catchers on the Athletics' 40-man roster mean that Oakland might have to start monitoring the waiver wire for backstops, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets. Jaso has been out since July 25 with a concussion.
  • The A's recently designated Adam Rosales for assignment, but Jane Lee of MLB.com notes that the club is a fan of his defense and would probably like to retain him. In the last 11 days, the 30-year-old has been DFA'd twice by the A's and once by the Rangers.

Travis Blackley Outrighted To Triple-A

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We'll keep track of tonight's minor moves here…

  • The Astros have outrighted pitcher Travis Blackley to Triple-A Oklahoma City, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com tweets. Blackley, 30, threw 35 innings for Houston this season, posting a 4.89 ERA with a 7.5 K/9 but an unsightly 5.1 BB/9. The lefty now has three days to accept the assignment or become a free agent.

Rosenthal On Norris, Lincecum, Rios, Utley

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Let's take a look at the latest from FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal in this week's edition of Full Count:

  • The Diamondbacks were the runner-up among teams vying to acquire Bud Norris from the Astros. The Snakes planned to keep Norris in the rotation for the remainder of the season, then shift him to the bullpen through the end of his contract, Rosenthal says, noting the team's wealth of young starting pitching and contracts for relievers Heath Bell and J.J. Putz that will expire after 2014. However, the Orioles were able to offer Houston the superior compensation pick.
  • Tim Lincecum is pushing his free agent stock up with his recent run of strong starts, but the Giants haven't initiated contract talks yet with the hurler. An executive cited by Rosenthal pegged a potential deal for Lincecum in the three-year range with a $13MM-14MM annual salary. Though that initially appears high considering the right hander's poor performance last year and at the beginning of this one, the qualifying offer the Giants are likely to extend will probably be in the same $13MM-14MM range.
  • Though the White Sox weren't able to find a taker for Alex Rios' contract before the deadline, Nelson Cruz's suspension changed the thinking in the Rangers' front office, according to Rosenthal. Texas was previously asking for significant cash back in any trade, while the Pirates weren't even interested enough to discuss specific names, Rosenthal reports. However, the Sox will likely eventually get infielder Leury Garcia from their deal with the Rangers, which could give them the flexibility to trade either second baseman Gordon Beckham or shortstop Alexei Ramirez. 
  • The dearth of hitters reaching the open market could have made Chase Utley quite popular in free agency. Rosenthal cites the Dodgers, Athletics and Orioles as potential suitors. The two years and $27MM of guaranteed salary that Utley received from the Phillies is comparable to guarantees that David Ortiz, Torii Hunter and Carlos Beltran got in free agency, Rosenthal notes.

This Date In Transactions History: Alex Rios

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Ever get the sense of deja vu?  It's a feeling that Alex Rios probably experienced this week.  On this date in 2009, the White Sox selected Alex Rios off of waivers from the Blue Jays.  At the time, Rios was 28 and was owed $60MM more on his contract.  For the rebuilding Toronto club, it was an opportunity to shed payroll with an eye on the future while the White Sox took a gamble to help bolster their club for the short and long-term. 

At the time, Rios was hitting .264/.317/.427 with 14 homers in 479 plate appearances for the Blue Jays.  While the Blue Jays weren't having a dismal season, their 54-57 mark at the time was good for fourth in the American League East and had them 14.5 games behind the first place Yankees.  And while Rios' offensive production wasn't anything to sneeze at, it wasn't on a par with the .299/.352/.505 combined slash line that he turned in during his All-Star seasons in 2006 and 2007.

Meanwhile, the acquisition of Rios continued a rather expensive summer for White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf as it was just days after landing Jake Peavy at the deadline for Clayton Richard, Aaron Poreda, Adam Russell, and Dexter Carter.  Between the two, Chicago agreed to take on more than $100MM in future commitments.  Strangely enough, the summer of 2013 saw both players jettisoned from Chicago.  

This time around, it was the White Sox who found themselves as sellers and it only made sense for them to purge some of their more desirable veterans from their payroll.  The August 2013 Rios deal seemed like a longshot to happen, but ultimately the outfielder was sent to Texas along with $1MM for a player to be named later.  The Rangers hope that Rios can be the big bat that they need for their playoff push and the White Sox hope that they can use their new found flexibility to help build for the future.

How To Use MLBTR

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Quick Hits: Cubs, Bell, Garcia

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Before looking ahead, let's take a quick look back at former Braves shortstop Johnny Logan, who passed away yesterday. The four-time all-star racked up over thirty wins above replacement in his thirteen year career, most of which were accumulated during his 1953-61 run with the Braves in Milwaukee. Remaining in Milwaukee and becoming an avid supporter of the Brewers, Logan was also one of many golden era ballplayers to respond generously to letters from fans. Read Tom Haudricourt's obituary and this excellent biography from Bob Buege for more on Logan. Here are some notes from around the league:

  • Cubs GM Jed Hoyer does not sound optimistic about the chances of pulling off any August deals, writes Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times. While the team might be interested in bringing back youth in exchange for players like Kevin Gregg, Dioner Navarro, David DeJesus, and Nate Schierholtz, Hoyer says that such players "are not likely to clear [waivers]."
  • Meanwhile, Hoyer says he is pleased with the development of the club's pitching corps. "I certainly feel much better about our pitching than I did a year ago," he said. "You read the game reports and we have better arms down there than we did a year ago. We just have to keep doing that year after year after year after year." The club seems primed to get an extended look at one of the young hurlers it added in its flurry of July trades. Wittenmyer reports that Jake Arrieta –who was acquired in the Scott Feldman deal — is expected to take a spot in the team's rotation for the rest of the season. Arrieta, who has made one successful spot start for the Cubs, owns a 3.56 ERA with 39 strikeouts (against 16 walks) over 30 1/3 innings with Triple-A Iowa.
  • With the Nationals' future managerial needs becoming an increasing priority, the Washington Post's Adam Kilgore writes that Pirates coach Jay Bell could be another name to watch. Much like previously mentioned possibility Matt Williams, Bell was a hard-nosed ballplayer who has a history with GM Mike Rizzo. Given his less developed track record on the bench, however, Kilgore says he may profile more as a coaching option at this stage.
  • The White Sox are not hesitating to challenge recently-acquired youngster Avisail Garcia. After the club cleared a lineup spot by dealing outfielder Alex Rios, Garcia will make his first start for Chicago today. According to MLB.com's Joey Nowak, via Twitter, the Sox seems committed to playing Garcia in center field. His former club, the Tigers, had viewed Garcia as a corner outfielder, fellow MLB.com writer Jason Beck tweets. While opinions vary, Baseball America's Matt Eddy opines that Garcia can handle center, at least while he's young. 

AL Notes: Longoria, Rangers, Reynolds

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You'll want to give a read to this excellent piece from Tyler Kepner of the New York Times on outlasting the decade-long saga of Alex Rodriguez and the Yankees. Elsewhere in the American League …

  • Fellow AL East third bagger Evan Longoria discussed the recent PED suspensions in pointed terms, reports SI.com's Cliff Corcoran. Longoria's most interesting observations, however, relate to the possibility of the players approving (or even seeking) enhancements to the penalties for PED use. "I definitely feel the risk needs to outweigh the reward," said Longoria, who went on to explain that a 50-game suspension was inadequate. "[I]t seems more players are starting to come forward and voicing their opinion negatively about cheating and PEDs," he continued. "If it comes to this offseason or the next, where we have [a] formal meeting [take] place where everybody in the union is there, and we have keynote players in the game today speaking adversely, then policy could get changed. The penalties could get more severe because guys want it out of the game." 
  • GM Jon Daniels "did his part," according to Rangers manager Ron Washington. As MLB.com's Richard Justice reports, Daniels utilized a blend of aggressiveness and patience in scooping up two players — Matt Garza and Alex Rios — who Justice says were "probably the best" starter and outfielder available.
  • If the Orioles are interested in the recently-designated Mark Reynolds, GM Dan Duquette isn't letting on. As Eduardo Encina writes for the Baltimore Sun, Duquette refused to comment on Reynolds, but did note that the O's "have a credible right-handed hitter in Danny Valencia, who is already on the [40-man] roster and would be available to us."
  • Meanwhile, the Red Sox are not interested in Reynolds, according to a tweet from Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. With power-first, strikeout-prone players like Mike Napoli and Will Middlebrooks already in the BoSox infield mix, the lack of interest from Boston is not surprising.

Athletics Designate Adam Rosales For Assignment

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For the third time in just eleven days, infielder Adam Rosales has been designated for assignment, this time by the Athletics, according to John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter.) The move will make room for hurler Sonny Gray on the club's active roster.

Of course, it was the A's who kicked off Rosales's recent movements, designating him on July 31. After being claimed by the Rangers, Rosales suddenly found himself back in Oakland after being designated by Texas. In the course of his travels, the 30-year-old has seen just one at-bat. His triple-slash line stands at .191/.267/.316 over 154 plate appearances.

The Athletics' one-day fling with Rosales is not as cruel as it may seem at first blush. As Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports (on Twitter), the club intends to try and pass Rosales through waivers and keep him in the organization. With the exception of his brief dalliance with the Rangers, Rosales has been with the A's since 2010, bouncing between the big leagues and Triple-A Sacramento.

Josh Johnson Clears Waivers

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Blue Jays starter Josh Johnson has cleared waivers, reports Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. While this means that Johnson may be traded freely to any team, as Heyman notes, a trade remains rather unlikely.

Johnson's first season outside of the Marlins organization has had some moments of promise, but has largely been a disaster. After a dominating 2010-2011 stretch was interrupted by injury, Johnson put up a 3.81 ERA over a full 2012 (albeit with a below-career-average 2.54 K/BB ratio). Entering 2013, baseball was anxious to see how Johnson adapted to the AL East. While he has shown the ability to generate strikeouts on a consistent basis, Johnson has been hit hard. He currently sports a 6.20 ERA over 81 1/3 innings, and a WHIP of 1.66.

On the bright side, Johnson's 9.2 K/9 is the best of his career, and the 3.3 BB/9 he has surrendered is not out of line with his recent track record. Johnson's FIP is 4.62 and his xFIP is a much more promising 3.60. A brief glance at two other key metrics — BABIP against (.356) and HR/FB% (18.5%) — show that Johnson has probably been a bit unlucky this year.

The big righty is owed about $4MM more for the remaining of this season, and thereafter will enter free agency. With the Jays still weighing whether to extend Johnson a qualifying offer, and no team apparently willing to take on his full salary for the rest of the year, there does not seem to be much likelihood of a deal. Of course, Johnson's last start (5 innings, no earned) was an improvement, and a string of solid outings could restore some of his luster. Either way, Johnson promises to be one of the most interesting players to watch on the free agent market for 2014. 

As always, you can keep track of players that have cleared trade waivers right here.

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