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Archives for June 2015

Cubs Agree To $1.3MM Bonus With Fourth-Rounder D.J. Wilson

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The Cubs have agreed to a $1.3MM bonus with fourth-round selection D.J. Wilson, Jim Callis of MLB.com reports on Twitter. That’s well above the $503,100 slot value that came with the 113th overall pick.

Wilson is a high school center fielder who had been committed to Vanderbilt. What he lacks in stature (Wilson is just 5’8) he makes up for with plus speed. MLB.com rated him the 129th-best prospect available, comparing his overall offensive package to that of Ben Revere: solid hitting ability, excellent speed, little power. (Baseball America, which ranked Wilson 178th, likened him to Adam Eaton.)

On the defensive side of things, Wilson is said to possess quite a nice overall package of skills. He not only moves well, but is said to have good instincts in center in addition to a strong and accurate arm.

As I noted in discussing the Cubs’ signing of second-round pick Donnie Dewees earlier today, the club had socked away a notable pile of cash (per the MLB.com tracker) in many of its early signings. This agreement will absorb a big piece of that availability, and the club could need the rest to lock up third-rounder Bryan Hudson, a projectable lefty who has committed to the University of Missouri.

Pitching Market Notes: Wilson, Bucs, Yankees, Dodgers

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The starting pitching market is beginning to take shape around the league. Let’s have a look at the latest reports:

  • As the Angels try to remain patient with their lack of production from many lineup spots, they remain in the market for bats and “have dangled” starter C.J. Wilson, MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez reports. The Halos would also consider moving prospect arms, per the report, though the team is not interested in parting with the best of the bunch: Andrew Heaney, Sean Newcomb, and Chris Ellis. Wilson, who is playing on a $18MM salary this year and is owed $20MM for next season, has worked to a 3.92 ERA with 7.8 K/9 against 2.7 BB/9 over 96 1/3 innings.
  • The Pirates are looking at both the Red Sox and Phillies as they consider adding a starter, Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review writes. Pittsburgh is also interested in a first base upgrade, per the report. Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe reported recently on the Bucs’ interest in Clay Buchholz, though he noted that it seems unlikely that Boston will deal away the righty with two reasonably-priced option years still left on his deal. Philadelphia is sending a scout to take a look at the Pirates’ Double-A affiliate, says Biertempful, who suggests that Aaron Harang could conceivably make sense to add rotation depth.
  • At least as of yesterday afternoon, the Yankees “were not on [Cole] Hamels,” Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets. Nevertheless, as Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes, New York could ultimately feel it necessary to add a high-quality arm. Sherman ticks through some options, noting that there is “nothing active ongoing with the Reds” and suggesting that Jeff Samardzija could be a prime target if the Yankees decide to pursue a starter.
  • The Dodgers had a top scout (Galen Carr, per Sherman) on hand to watch Hamels pitch at Yankee Stadium yesterday, as Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com reported. That outing likely did not do much to commend the lefty, but obviously the club will be looking at a much broader body of work in assessing whether to move on Hamels.

Rays Acquire Marc Krauss From Angels

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The Rays have acquired first baseman/outfielder Marc Krauss from the Angels in exchange for righty Kyle Winkler, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports (Twitter links). Krauss will head straight to the active roster, with utilityman Nick Franklin being optioned to clear roster space.

The left-handed-hitting Krauss was designated and outrighted by the Angels earlier in the year. He was off to a rough .143/.211/.286 start over 38 plate appearances at that time. Krauss came to the Halos over the offseason in a waiver claim from the Astros.

Krauss has always hit well in the upper minors, and that has been no different this year. Over 195 trips to the plate, he owns a .289/.415/.453 slash with four long balls.

The former second-round pick has split his big league time between first and the corner outfield, but has mostly played on the grass in the minors. He has seen action in parts of three seasons in the majors, taking 392 plate appearances and posting a cumulative .603 OPS.

Winkler, 25, has not yet advanced out of the minors. He has mostly pitched in a relief capacity as a professional. This year, splitting his time between Double-A and Triple-A, Winkler owns a 1.46 ERA over 12 1/3 frames with 10.9 K/9 against just 0.7 BB/9, though the bulk of the positive numbers came at the lower of those levels.

Podcast: Talking D’Backs And Trades With Jonah Keri

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Grantland’s Jonah Keri joins the show to talk about the Diamondbacks’ recent decision making, as well as trade deadline possibilities for several other teams.

Click here to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, and please leave a review! The podcast is also available via Stitcher at this link.

The MLB Trade Rumors Podcast runs weekly on Thursday afternoons.

Mets To Promote Steven Matz

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The Mets will promote top prospect Steven Matz, who will be utilized as part of a six-man rotation, Adam Rubin of ESPN.com reports on Twitter. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter links) first reported that the move was likely in the works.

"MarThe 24-year-old Matz entered the season ranked 33rd on the Top 100 lists of Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus. He placed 65th on Fangraphs’ Top 200 and 66th on MLB.com’s Top 100.

Thus far in 2015, he has worked to a stellar 2.19 ERA with 94 strikeouts against 31 walks in 90 1/3 innings. Those numbers are all the more impressive when considering that Matz’s home park in Las Vegas is among the most hitter-friendly environments in all of minor league baseball.

Matz is said to throw 91 to 95 mph with his fastball and feature a sometimes-plus changeup and an above-average curveball. He’s the latest to emerge from an exceptionally talented crop of young Mets pitchers. The organization undoubtedly hopes that Matz will team with Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, Zack Wheeler and Noah Syndergaard to form an excellent rotation for the next few years.

Rumors of a Matz promotion began circulating earlier this month, with most indicators  signaling that he’d be with the club by July. The team recently whittled its rotation from six members to five by designating Dillon Gee for assignment and eventually outrighting him to Las Vegas. For now, at least, it appears that Matz will work alongside Harvey, deGrom, Syndergaard, Jon Niese, and Bartolo Colon to form a six-man unit.

The preliminary reports led to some confusion, as Rubin tweeted that the Mets were being so tight-lipped that a trade seemed possible. The New York Post’s Joel Sherman, though, tweeted that no trade was brewing. And Mike Puma of the New York Post added ton Twitter that he was told the Mets have “absolutely nothing going on in trade talks at the moment.” Indeed, that seems to be the case.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Cubs Sign Second-Rounder Donnie Dewees

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The Cubs have announced the signing of second-round choice Donnie Dewees. Bonus information has not yet been reported.

Dewees was taken 47th overall out of the University of North Florida. That draft slot comes with a $1,292,100 allocation (info via Baseball America).

The Cubs have added a player that MLB.com and Kiley McDaniel of Fangraphs rated the 35th-best available prospect. While Dewees does not come with any particularly loud tools, he’s a consistent performer who could potentially play center field.

Providing somewhat less optimistic rankings were Baseball America (66th) and ESPN.com’s Keith Law (73rd). Law acknowledges that Dewees is an excellent pure hitter and good runner, but questions his his ultimate power capabilities and overall upside. BA adds that Dewees is already nearly 22 years old, noting that it remains to be seen whether he can stick in center.

Chicago’s already-reported signings from the first ten rounds of the draft have delivered some fairly significant savings to the club. It may need that bonus pool availability to make a run at high school picks such as third-rounder Bryan Hudson and fourth-round selection Darryl Wilson.

Marlins Designate Vin Mazzaro For Assignment

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The Marlins announced today that they have designated right-hander Vin Mazzaro for assignment. The move creates space on the roster for fellow righty Jarred Cosart to be activated from the disabled list.

Mazzaro, 28, was a key member of the Pirates’ bullpen in 2013, working to a 2.81 ERA with 5.6 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9 in 73 2/3 innings that season, but he still found himself as the odd man out the following Spring Training as an out-of-options reliever with a marginal strikeout rate. Many expected him to be traded or claimed off waivers after being designated for assignment, but Mazzaro cleared and accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A.

Mazzaro never received a lengthy look with the Bucs in 2014, and he was outrighted again later on that season, accepting the assignment for a second time. He elected free agency at the end of the year, however, and inked a minors pact with Miami this winter. Mazzaro has again performed well between Triple-A and the Majors, so it’s conceivable that a team will have some interest in making a minor trade or picking him up on waivers.

Twins Promote Alex Meyer

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The Twins will promote right-hander Alex Meyer from Triple-A Rochester for tomorrow’s game, according to a team press release. The Twins’ long-term hope for the towering righty is that he can work out of the rotation, but he’ll presumably join the bullpen for the time being. Fellow righty Michael Tonkin was optioned to Triple-A yesterday.

Alex Meyer

Acquired from the Nationals in a straight-up swap for Denard Span, Meyer is a 6’9″ power arm that was selected with the 23rd pick of the 2011 draft. Entering the season, the Kentucky alum ranked as the No. 14 prospect in baseball on Baseball Prospectus’ Top 101. Jonathan Mayo and Jim Callis of MLB.com ranked Meyer 29th, and ESPN’s Keith Law ranked him 30th. Baseball America and Fangraphs were a bit less optimistic, ranking him 62nd and 71st, respectively.

Scouts have been split on Meyer for years, with some feeling that he’s a future closer and others feeling that he can end up at or near the front of a Major League rotation. Meyer can hit triple digits with his fastball and features what many describe as a “wipeout slider” as well, but he’s battled control problems at times in his career and has had some shoulder injuries that have slowed his development.

For all of Meyer’s acclaim, he got off to a dreadful start at Triple-A Rochester this season. In 39 1/3 innings over his first eight starts, Meyer posted a 7.09 ERA with 41 strikeouts against 24 walks. The Twins shifted him to the bullpen in hopes of getting him back on track, and the results have been nothing short of excellent. Since a shift to the ’pen, Meyer has pitched 17 innings and yielded just one earned run with a 20-to-6 K/BB ratio. That promise, coupled with a lack of reliable arms in the Minnesota ’pen, likely means that Meyer will work as a reliever with Minnesota in 2015, if he’s able to stay with the club long-term. A move back to the rotation later down the road, of course, probably shouldn’t be ruled out.

Because it’s late June, Meyer would only be able accumulate 102 days of big league service even if he stays in the Majors through season’s end. That will leave him well shy of Super Two designation and place him on track to reach free agency following the 2021 season (again, that is in the event that he remains at the big league level).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Red Sox Outright Jeff Bianchi

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Here are today’s outright assignments and minor moves from around the league…

  • Infielder Jeff Bianchi has cleared waivers after being designated for assignment by the Red Sox and been sent outright to Triple-A Pawtucket, reports Tim Britton of the Providence Journal (on Twitter). As a player who has previously been outrighted, he’ll have the option to reject the assignment in favor of free agency. Bianchi received just two plate appearances and saw action in three total games while with the Red Sox. The rest of his big league experience — 401 plate appearances over 162 games — has come with the Brewers. Bianchi is a lifetime .215/.250/.281 hitter in the Majors but is a versatile defensive asset, offering a plus glove at shortstop, third base and second base.

Tigers, Second-Rounder Tyler Alexander Agree To Terms

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The Tigers and second-round pick Tyler Alexander have agreed to an over-slot $1MM bonus, reports MLB.com’s Jim Callis (via Twitter). The slot value for the left-hander’s No. 65 overall selection had been $949,900.

A draft-eligible sophomore out of TCU, Alexander didn’t appear on many prospect rankings prior to the draft, though Baseball America rated him as the No. 327 prospect in this year’s class. Per BA, Alexander’s velocity is a bit below average, with his fastball sitting in the 88-90 mph range, but he succeeds due to excellent command. Callis notes that pitchability and Alexander’s breaking pitches are his strong suit. BA notes that his arm speed picked up during the season, causing his velocity to improve a bit.

The Tigers have also agreed to terms with top picks Beau Burrows and Christin Stewart, both of whom received the full value of their respective No. 22 and No. 35 overall slots.

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