Demoted Cardinals second baseman Kolten Wong has begun to play some center field with Triple-A Memphis as a means of expanding his versatility to the team, as MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch writes. Wong, who signed a five-year/$25.5MM extension back in March only to be optioned in June after struggling all season, has experience playing center field from his college days but hadn’t suited up there as a pro until Monday night. “”That’s kind of what our club is all about right now, being able to play multiple positions and give yourself a chance to help us in ways you may not see as obvious,” said Cardinals manager Mike Matheny. “He’s got speed, instincts. All those put together really make him able to play almost anywhere.” The struggles of Randal Grichuk and regression from April star Jeremy Hazelbaker could lead to an opportunity for Wong in center field if his bat returns to form.
More from the game’s Central divisions…
- Former All-Star Joe Nathan, who signed a minor league deal with the Cubs earlier this season, spoke to Jesse Rogers of ESPN Chicago about his recovery from a second Tommy John surgery and his eventual aspirations of pitching for the big league club. Nathan said he’s received encouraging feedback from the medical staff thus far and is on pace to pitch in a game on Friday of this week with three bullpens under his belt. Nathan tells Rogers that when he initially spoke to president of baseball operations Theo Epstein, he made it clear that he was willing to pitch in any situation if he is ultimately able to work his way back to the Majors. “I basically told him I know how good your ballclub is with or without me,” said the 41-year-old Nathan. “I’m not here to try and disrupt anything. If you need me to throw in the sixth inning, seventh inning, I’m here for you. Whatever you want.” Nathan could begin a rehab assignment with Double-A later this month, Rogers adds.
- There’s been plenty of talk as of late regarding Royals right-hander Yordano Ventura, with some reports indicating that he’s been offered to other teams in trades and another from MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan in which a team source called the notion “utter nonsense.” Rob Bradford of WEEI.com adds his hat to the mix, writing that as of Monday this week, a source close to the situation told him that Kansas City is not currently shopping Ventura. The Royals, according to Bradford, are reluctant to part with Ventura because of a lack of an immediate replacement for the 25-year-old and due to the friendly nature of his contract.
- Indians president of baseball ops Chris Antonetti said in an appearance on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM today (Twitter link) that top outfield prospects Bradley Zimmer and Clint Frazier have become options for him, though he hedged the statement somewhat, adding: “…whether that becomes the latter part of this year, we’ll see.” A recent report suggested that Frazier and Zimmer — the organization’s top two prospects — wouldn’t be options at the big league level this season even after Marlon Byrd was suspended for 162 games. Cleveland, however, is still without Michael Brantley (whose injury situation is the source of plenty of uncertainty) and has lost both Byrd and Abraham Almonte to PED suspensions. Zimmer, 23, was the 21st pick of the 2014 draft and is hitting .233/.359/.479 with 10 homers and 21 steals at Double-A Akron. Frazier, his Akron teammate, has been even more impressive; the No. 5 pick from the 2013 draft is hitting .308/.402/.500 on the season. Both were consensus Top 50 prospects entering the season.
- Ryan Braun tells MLB.com’s Michael Wagaman that he’s aware of the trade rumors swirling around his name and has had conversations with Brewers GM David Stearns about the possibility of such a move. Braun says he has a “great relationship” with the team’s management. “As far as I know I don’t think that there’s anything that’s that close,” he adds. “But if it was up to me, if I was running an organization there would never be anybody that was off-limits. I would be open to anything, I would listen to any proposals anybody else has. Certainly they should be doing that with every player on our roster, as should every other team.”
Braun playing it as cool as the other side of the pillow with all these rumors floating.
I see him saying that in a manner of “hey of it is good for me, I will wave the no trade list.”
I’m say this again my trade with Braves would make since . Indians real do have chance to be this years royals I say it again . And you all pan m but here it is again
Change your screen name?
Please use the correct punctuation when writing things.
hahaha, same clown, different screen name. give up, cleveland doesn’t give up that package for 2 julio tehrans. get real.
Dude stop and read what your writing before posting this is awful
Who’s Bradley Zimmerman?
Kid brother to Jordan.
So the Cards want to be more like the Cubs. I get it
Really? I figured it was the other way around considering the cubs decided to start winning.
Considering the Cubs took the Cardinals build from within model, I don’t get why any of this would say the Cards want to be like the Cubs.
Perhaps it’s neither here or there, but they both tend to draft from the same draft list. (Poncedelon and Martinez being two rather recent ones. The Cubs were in on Flaherty, I think.)
The difference the last five years has been the Cubs busting their International budget twice. The Cards are mimicking the Cubs in that starting in July.
That’s CLE going all-in. Though I’m not familiar with their farm (being an ATL fan), but giving up Bradley, Frazier and Zimmer would be massive, but it seems like a massive overpay considering you’re talking about CLE giving up their (MLBPipeline-rated) #1, 2, 3, 5, and 8 prospects. This is the type of deal ATL front office is looking for, but I would be floored if CLE does this, though it makes sense. Do you promote 1 or both OF top prospects (Frazier, Zimmer) in hopes of providing some support waiting for Brantley and others. I would be fine if we didn’t take Bauer on, though he’s the type of high upside pitcher ATL would hope to rebuild and get some additional value in the long-term for.
Definitely interesting proposal – and if anyone creative enough to do it, ATL and Coppy would be.
Prospects for prospects rarely happen. I would imagine a deal of that complexity would likely have a handful of hurdles to overcome with the most notable being that Cleveland is exhausting all of their valuable farm pieces for items they don’t necessarily need. I don’t think Cleveland will be looking for pitching in particular which makes the acquisition of Julio Tehran a poor fit.
True, but ATL has essentially done that recently including Hector Olivera (Peraza, Wood (MLB arm)). Zimmer and Frazier are just about MLB-ready and could almost slot into a starting OF position in 2017, barring injuries and lack of MLB depth (if without Olivera, Markakis, Inciarte – the latter 2 being included in the proposed trade). Why wouldn’t CLE be looking for pitching? Adding a controllable Teheran would allow them to replenish their system, if they so choose, but trading away a less-controllable highly-coveted arm like Danny Salazar. It’d be a brilliant move to control the market.
Forgot about LAA-ATL trade of Kyle Kubitza for Ricardo Sanchez.
Considering how bad former GM Frank Wren left the farm system, it was apparent that the incoming FO did not mind trading away any previous depth the farm system had (trading Kubitza, Peraza, allowing former first rd-pick Sean Gilmartin to be unprotected in Rule 5 draft, etc.)
Great look on how Hart and Coppy have rebuilt. Probably the best description of the Olivera trade overall.
With Wong in AAA, the Cardinals have a promotion on Friday that’s a Hawaiian Wong jersey. Nice timing, lol
Makes no sense dude. Video game trades don’t work
Clint Frazier is better than any current Indians OF and probably is as good as Brantley. Why they are holding him down is beyond me, Zimmer I can understand because his batting average is low and people don’t like that (even with a shiny .350 OBP) but Frazier is a beast and a clear future star who could absolutely outperform many everyday OF’s league-wide as of right now. Can’t wait til Cleveland finally comes to their senses and brings him up.
Zimmer’s K rate at AA was over 37% last time I checked. He has to refine his approach before facing the top guys. The power/speed combo is tantalizing, though.
What about adding Hanley Ramirez to the list and include some money…
Unless DD goes after a guy like Jose Fernandez or someone of that quality the Sox will be finishing behind Toronto, Baltimore the Yankees and quite possibly the Rays.
The Sox are not going to be a top notch team until JF is let go and TL takes over as manager. We need to see some guys get unblocked at the ML level and stop pampering guys like Benentendi, Moncada, Wilkinson, Devers.
You will have to start with JBJ in a package for a #2, Moncada, Wright and at least one other.
The good ol’ 16 player with the illegal PTBNL(pool money isn’t a valid PTNBL. You could say PTNBL or Future considerations but the future considerations can’t be Pool monies either…)