Former Twins and Reds reliever Jared Burton is attempting a comeback, LaVelle E. Neal III of the Star Tribune tweets. Burton last pitched in the Majors in 2014 and pitched 16 innings in the minors in 2015 before being suspended for 50 games to start the 2016 season after testing positive for the second time for a drug of abuse. He’s now 35. The righty has pitched parts of eight seasons in the big leagues, with a 3.44 ERA, 7.6 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9. Here’s more from the Central divisions.
- Both the White Sox and Red Sox organizations believe new top prospect Yoan Moncada can be an impact player, Colleen Kane of the Chicago Tribune writes. He’ll still have work to do, however, as his first taste of big-league action late last year (during which he struck out 12 times in 20 plate appearances) showed. “They were coming down, finishing him off underneath the hands down and in,” says White Sox manager Rick Renteria. “He’s a 21-year-old man who has not seen that type of bite coming from pitchers, and it’s probably changing the lane in which he’s looking for that particular type of slider, where he has to get it out and away.” Kane also reports that after learning the White Sox had acquired Moncada, Jose Abreu sent Moncada a congratulatory text message. The two played together in Cuba with Cienfuegos in 2012, when Moncada was 17.
- The Brewers lost Miguel Diaz as the top overall pick in the Rule 5 Draft on Thursday, as Minnesota selected Diaz and then traded him to San Diego. Diaz appeared to be a good prospect, but GM David Stearns says the organization left him unprotected because of his lack of experience, as Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel writes. The 22-year-old Diaz had elbow surgery in 2015 and only pitched his first full minor-league season in 2016, when he posted a 3.71 ERA, 8.7 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 in 94 2/3 innings for Class A Wisconsin. “He’s never pitched above the Midwest League. It’s very unusual for guys to be able to make that jump,” says Stearns. “We have to be prepared for that but it would be the exception to the norm if someone is able to make that jump successfully and contribute at the Major League level.” Of course, a Rule 5 pick doesn’t have to succeed for his original team to lose him. Before Stearns joined the Brewers organization, the team selected Wei-Chung Wang, a pitcher who had even less minor-league experience than Diaz now does, in the 2013 Rule 5 Draft. Wang pitched poorly in the Majors in 2014 and hasn’t yet returned to the big leagues, but the Brewers did manage to keep him.
Just my opinion but I think Kopech is the prize and the better of the prospects the Red Sox gave up in the trade to get Sale. No doubt Sale makes the Red Sox better short term and maybe that was their goal. But long term unless the evaluators were completely off base with the Red Sox prospects this is a bigger win for the White Sox and a trade in the long run the Red Sox may ultimately regret.
Only the future will tell who the prize is, but as a Boston fan I was less happy to see Kopech go than Moncada. No doubt Moncada will be a stud, but Kopech was showing some special stuff. The Redsox obviously aren’t concerned with “the long run” as much as they want to win rite now. At least Dombrowski isn’t.
To quote you yourself gronk, “only the future will tell” if Moncada will be a stud. He has some maturing and growth to do. Defensively he struggles and offensively his initial foray into the big leagues was less than impressive. Granted he’s still very young and certainly has the tolls but will he be able to put it all together at the big league level that’s the unanswered question.
Moncada also had a 29% strikeout rate in the minors and it’s not like he showed a ton of power to offset that. He may end up being a good MLB player, but there are enough red flags at bat and in the field that I don’t see him becoming a perpetual All Star.
He’s a 21-yr old kid with a total of 8 major league games under his belt. You can only judge him by his potential at this point. Moncada has the size, speed, strength and athleticism to be a star player.
In DD we trust
Moncada is interesting. I was under the impression they called him up too soon last season…some players are able to do that, others aren’t.
I also fully expect the White Sox to have him up on the roster soon too. I think that ends up being a better situation for him, as he’ll get a year or two to learn the league without as much pressure. In Boston, he was going to get stuck learning the league on a team that was hoping to win immediately, and his mistakes would have been magnified. All in all, I think the White Sox put him in a good situation to break on through.
Too soon, likely.
A reasonable opinion. Kopech definitely has the tools to be an all star.
Nothing guarantees that Moncada will be a stud Ether, I don’t think the Red Sox gave up a enough for Sale, but only time will tell who got the better of the deal,
If and it’s certainly is an if but if the prospects live up to expectations the Red Sox gave up a boatload for just 3 years of Sale’s control.
Just 3 years?? Porcello make 80m for 4 years,Sale 38.5 for 3 and is much better than him!!!
I don’t think the Red Sox give up a boatload for Sale,when you can acquire a stud pitcher Like Sale for 2 prospects I do it every day.Great pitchers r harder to get,
Abreu may not be with the White Sox when Moncada gets up to the majors. The upside is I have faith that Renteria can really coach these kids up and get a lot out of them. If Sale can ditch his juvenile antics in Boston he should be fine.
I would love to see Abreu on the rSox.
No place for him! Wt Hanley – Molland and Travis