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Archives for May 2015

Orioles Claim Jorge Rondon

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3:55 pm: The Orioles have confirmed the claim and announced they cleared a 40-man roster for Rondon by placing Matt Wieters on the 60-day disabled list.

2:37 pm: The Orioles have claimed right-hander Jorge Rondon off waivers from the Rockies, tweets CBSSports.com’s Jon Heyman. The Orioles will option Rondon, who was designated by the Rockies last Sunday, to Triple-A.

Rondon has had an up-and-down 2015. He was sparkling in five relief outings (6 2/3 innings) for Triple-A Albuquerque pitching to a 1.35 ERA, 5.4 K/9, and 2.7 BB/9. However, the 27-year-old’s two-game stint with the parent Rockies was nothing short of horrific including an appearance against the Padres where he failed to record an out while allowing seven earned runs on five hits and a pair of walks. Rondon’s skewed 2015 ERA reads 90.00 after being charged with a total of ten earned runs in just one official inning pitched for Colorado.

The Orioles may be tempted by Rondon’s velocity (an average of 95 mph touching 100 mph) and his career Triple-A line of 3.03, 6.9 K/9, and 4.0 BB/9 over four seasons in the Colorado and St. Louis organizations.

Pirates Acquire Jayson Aquino

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The Pirates have announced they have acquired left-hander Jayson Aquino from the Blue Jays for cash considerations. Aquino, who was designated for assignment Tuesday, will report to Class A-Advanced Bradenton.

This is the 22-year-old’s third organization in as many months. Aquino was obtained by the Blue Jays in a February trade after he was designated by the Rockies. Per Baseball America, Aquino has been ranked among Colorado’s top 30 prospects three times topping out at 9th following the 2012 season, but falling to 28th last offseason. Baseball America notes in its scouting report Aquino possesses a plus changeup and an average slider, but poor fastball command and becomes emotional on the mound when the strike zone isn’t to his liking.

In five starts for Toronto’s Class A-Advanced affiliate, Aquino has thrown 25 2/3 innings posting a 2.81 ERA, 5.6 K/9, and 2.1 BB/9.

 

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Glanville, D’Backs, Angels

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On this date in 2008, Greg Maddux won the 350th game of his career as a member of the Padres, as Leo Panetta of NationalPastime.com writes.  The 42 year-old became the ninth pitcher in major league history to reach the milestone as he gave up just three hits across six innings.  Here’s this week’s look around the baseball blogosphere..

Please send submissions to Zach at ZachBBWI@gmail.com.

Cafardo On Soriano, Harang, Kazmir

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In last week’s win over the Orioles, Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez officially passed Willie Mays for fourth place on the all-time home run list.  Of course, his home run record is clouded by his history and the Yankees refusing to pay him his milestone bonuses has arguably become the bigger story.

Many former players have spoken out against current players that have used steroids, like Rodriguez.  Former major league first baseman David Segui alleges that a few of those scolding players are PED users themselves.

“What bothers me is the hypocrites,” Segui told Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. “I see them on TV sometimes criticizing people who took steroids. I say, ‘What a minute . . . maybe the public doesn’t know what you did, but I know what you did.’ Those are the ones that bother me. Just keep your mouth shut.”

Years ago, Segui fessed up to his own PED use, but he refused to turn on fellow players who also used steroids.  Here’s more from Cafardo’s Sunday morning column..

  • Scott Boras tells Cafardo that he’s getting closer with “a few teams” regarding Rafael Soriano.  Late last month it was reported that Twins and Mariners are among the teams interested in Soriano.  At the time, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com, who reported that there were conversations between the M’s and Boras regarding Soriano, also suggested that the Pirates, Indians, and Dodgers could be “logical suitors.”  If there is interest for Cleveland and Pittsburgh, one has to wonder if payroll constraints could play a factor.
  • A major league source tells Cafardo that teams are already calling on Phillies veteran Aaron Harang and scouting him.  One NL scout has been impressed with Harang before and feels that he would be worth a second-level prospect for a contending club.  Back in March, MLBTradeRumors spoke with Harang about his experience in free agency and what led him to sign with the Phillies this winter.  Harang also told MLBTR that he wasn’t overly concerned about the prospect of being traded midseason by GM Ruben Amaro as the team rebuilds.
  • One AL GM feels that it’s just a matter of time before the A’s move left-hander Scott Kazmir.  “Tick, tick, tick,” the GM said when asked if he thinks Kazmir might be moved before the deadline. “Sure. If Oakland can’t hang in, Billy [Beane] will flip him for prospects. He’s actually an interesting name. All you hear about is [David] Price, [Jordan] Zimmermann, [Johnny] Cueto, but that’s a pretty good name right there.”  Yesterday, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported that the A’s aren’t yet thinking about trading Kazmir as they still haven’t given up on their hopes of contending.  In last place at 12-20 heading into today’s game against the Mariners, I’d imagine that the A’s will have to give some serious thought to moving the 31-year-old if things don’t turn around quickly.

Jarrod Parker Suffers Arm Injury

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A’s pitcher Jarrod Parker has suffered a fracture of the right medial epicondyle, as John Hickey of the Bay Area News Group writes. Parker is recovering from his second Tommy John surgery and given how critical the right medial epicondyle is to holding together a surgically-repair arm, it is feared that Parker could be in store for a third Tommy John procedure.

“We don’t know how much this is going to set back his recovery at this point in time,’’ A’s trainer Nick Paparesta said Saturday night. “He’s going to go home, where we’re going to set him up to see some specialists and see what our options are. It seems like surgery is kind of imminent, what kind of surgery we kind of have to wait and see.’’

Until Parker gets further evaluated, he won’t know the exact nature of his injury or the level of surgery that will be required.  Therefore, at this time, there is no timetable for his recovery, but it sounds like there is fear that he could be lost for the season.  Parker received a x-rays and a CT-scan on Saturday night, so a diagnosis might not be too far away.

Parker, 26, broke out in his first full major league season, pitching to a 3.47 ERA with 6.9 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9. He followed that up in 2013 by posting a 3.97 ERA with 6.1 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 across 32 starts. Unfortunately, however, he has not seen a big league mound since then.  This season, Parker in the minors working to get back on track before this latest setback.

Blue Jays Designate Preston Guilmet For Assignment

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The Blue Jays announced that they have designated Preston Guilmet for assignment. The right-hander has been removed from the 40-man roster in order to help make room for infielder/outfielder Steve Tolleson.

Guilmet, 28 in July, pitched 10 1/3 innings out of the Orioles’ bullpen in 2014, allowing six runs on eight hits with 12 strikeouts against two walks. The former ninth-round pick has a nice track record at Triple-A and notched a 3.91 ERA there in 2014 with an impressive 10.1 K/9 against just 1.9 BB/9. This season, Guilmet pitched to a 1.26 ERA with 7.5 K/9 and 1.9 BB/9 in ten appearances for Triple-A Buffalo.

Athletics Acquire Edward Mujica

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The Athletics have acquired right-hander Edward Mujica and cash considerations from the Red Sox in exchange for a player to be named later or cash considerations, the teams announced. Right-hander Jarrod Parker has been transferred to the 60-day disabled list to clear a 40-man roster spot for Mujica in Oakland, per MLB.com’s Jane Lee (Twitter link).

This complicated-looking trade likely essentially means that the Red Sox are giving up Mujica, plus a bit of extra money to pay some of the remainder of his $4.75MM 2015 salary, in exchange for a bit of salary relief. The Red Sox designated Mujica for assignment this week after he posted a 4.61 ERA with eight strikeouts and three walks in 13 2/3 innings this year. The former Cardinals closer didn’t make much of an impression after signing with the Red Sox before last season, posting a 3.90 ERA, 6.5 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 in 2014.

Mujica doesn’t throw particularly hard and has modest strikeout totals, not topping that 2014 6.5 K/9 in any of the last four seasons. As a result, his upside appears limited. He’s always had good control and has gotten his fair share of ground balls, however, so perhaps he can provide the Athletics with a decent middle reliever at a reasonable price until he becomes a free agent after the season. The Athletics’ bullpen has produced a 5.29 ERA this season while struggling through injuries, so Mujica looks likely to help.

Central Notes: Melvin, Larkin, Rodon

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The Brewers’ recent firing of Ron Roenicke raises questions about how long they will retain GM Doug Melvin, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes. Melvin is in the final year of his contract, and while there have been no specific indications that owner Mark Attanasio won’t retain him, not much has worked out right for Melvin in the past eight months or so. The team collapsed down the stretch last season, and then a roster that featured most of last year’s key players got off to a terrible start in 2015. One significant move (the addition of Adam Lind) has gone well, and as I wrote this spring, the Brewers’ offseason strategy was mostly defensible, although that was partially because the team’s lack of ready or near-ready young talent would make an aggressive rebuild long and painful. Haudricourt notes that fans are speculating about the possibility that Attanasio and Melvin have already agreed on a new deal for Melvin, but they don’t want to announce it because of how unpopular such a move would be among many fans right now. Here’s more from the Central divisions.

  • The Reds hired Hall of Famer and former superstar Barry Larkin as a roving minor-league infield instructor, but Larkin isn’t looking to get into managing quite yet, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com notes (with a transcript of a recent chat with the press in Florida courtesy of the Pensacola Blue Wahoos’ Hook, Line and Sinker blog). “I interviewed for the Tampa Bay job. I talked to [general manager Dave] Dombrowski about the Tigers job last year,” says Larkin. “But I just don’t feel like I’m ready for that type of commitment. If I’m going to dive in, I need to be all in, and I’m just not quite at that point yet.” Larkin cites family commitments as a key reason for his reluctance.
  • Third overall 2014 draft pick Carlos Rodon made his first big-league start Saturday night in the night game of a doubleheader for the White Sox against the Reds. Rodon was a bit wild, walking four in six innings, but he struck out eight and allowed just two earned runs while making a surprising 108 pitches. The White Sox plan to move Rodon back to the bullpen after tonight’s start in order to keep his innings count low, but tonight’s performance could be a promising indication of what’s to come.

Minor Moves: Beck, Constanza, Pineiro, Nelson

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Here are today’s minor moves from around the game.

  • The White Sox have announced that they’ve selected the contract of righty Chris Beck to be the 26th man for the second game of their doubleheader today. Beck, 24, has made his way through the minors with few strikeouts but strong control, posting 5.4 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9 since the White Sox drafted him in the second round in 2012. This season, he had a 4.78 ERA with 6.2 K/9 and 1.4 BB/9 in 26 1/3 innings with Triple-A Charlotte.
  • The Reds have signed outfielder Jose Constanza to a minor-league deal, according to MLB.com’s transactions page. The 31-year-old Constanza collected 240 plate appearances with the Braves from 2011 through 2014, batting .273/.316/.323. He spent most of last season with Triple-A Gwinnett. The Braves released him last month.
  • The Blue Jays have signed veteran starter Joel Pineiro to a minor-league deal and assigned him to Double-A New Hampshire, Jays broadcaster Mike Wilner tweets. Pineiro, 36, last pitched in the big leagues with the Angels in 2011. He pitched briefly in the Cubs and Angels systems in a comeback bid last season, then pitched winter ball in Puerto Rico.
  • The Brewers will sign infielder Chris Nelson to a minor-league deal, according to SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo (Twitter links). The Phillies recently released Nelson from their minor-league deal with him. The five-year veteran played briefly with the Padres in 2014. The former first-round pick has a career line of .265/.311/.388, with many of his at-bats coming in hitter-friendly Coors Field.
  • The Padres have outrighted catcher Wil Nieves to Triple-A El Paso, according to the MLB.com transactions page. The Padres designated Nieves for assignment earlier this week to make room for top prospect Austin Hedges. It’s unclear whether Nieves will accept his outright assignment or opt for free agency. Nieves appeared in just six games for the Padres this year.
  • The Cubs have outrighted righty Anthony Varvaro, also according to the MLB.com transactions page. The Cubs recently claimed Varvaro from the Red Sox and then designated him for assignment on Wednesday. He did not appear in a game for them. He pitched in nine games for Boston earlier this season.
  • The Athletics have released outfielder Alex Hassan, according to the Pacific Coast League transactions page. That news might actually come as a relief to Hassan, who had been claimed five times in the past seven months. The A’s designated Hassan for assignment yesterday.
  • The Angels have released corner infielder Ryan Wheeler, via the Pacific Coast League transactions page. They had claimed the 26-year-old from the Rockies last August. Wheeler, who played briefly in the big leagues in 2012, 2013 and 2014, was hitting .291/.304/.418 for Triple-A Salt Lake, although he has a track record of hitting for better power at the Triple-A level.
  • The Rays have announced that they’ve placed Alex Cobb, who’s having Tommy John surgery, on the 60-day DL and selected the contract of 23-year-old righty Andrew Bellatti. Bellatti had struck out 20 batters in 21 1/3 innings at Triple-A Durham this season, posting a 2.11 ERA, pitching as a starter even though he had spent most of the previous three seasons working in relief. As Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times explains, it’s been a strange path to the Majors for Bellatti, a 2009 draft pick who spent a few months in jail for vehicular manslaughter following a 2010 car accident.

West Notes: Dodgers, Athletics, CarGo

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The Dodgers paid the Marlins to take on Dan Haren’s salary and traded Dee Gordon in part to get Howie Kendrick, and Gordon has been one of baseball’s best players so far this season, Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times writes. “I think this is kind of a fresh start for him,” says Haren. “I’ve been traded many times. You always kind of get a chip on your shoulder. You want to prove the other team wrong.” Gordon is hitting a ridiculous .437/.461/.521. Obviously, he won’t bat .437 or post a .491 BABIP over the course of a season, and May 9 isn’t the best time to judge offseason trades. But Gordon’s start would have helped the Dodgers (although Kendrick has played well), and Haren would have been a useful part in what’s been a banged-up rotation. Here are more notes from the West divisions.

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