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Marlins Designate Gil Velazquez For Assignment

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The Marlins have designated Gil Velazquez for assignment, reports Clark Spencer of The Miami Herald (on Twitter). In related moves, Miami optioned Scott Cousins to Triple-A and activated Emilio Bonifacio and Donnie Murphy off the DL.

Velazquez, 32, had one single in eight plate appearances with the Marlins since being called up earlier this week. The middle infielder hit .314/.392/.383 with three homers in 421 Triple-A appearances before coming up to the show. Velazquez has also seen big league time with the Red Sox and Angels in his career.

Non-Tender Candidate: Mark Reynolds

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Four years ago, Mark Reynolds appeared to be on his way towards establishing himself as one of the very best power hitters in the game by slugging 44 homers for the 2009 Diamondbacks. That effort earned him a three-year, $14.5MM contract the following Spring Training despite his record-setting 223 strikeouts. A 25-year-old third baseman with that kind of power is worth locking up.

Uspw_6489748Reynolds, now 29, has since been traded to the Orioles because new D'Backs GM Kevin Towers made an effort to cut down on his offense's swings and misses. He can still hit for power (37 homers just last season), but his performance has otherwise declined and coming into Saturday he was a .218/.332/.409 hitter (101 OPS+) for manager Buck Showalter this year. Reynolds' glovework has forced him across the diamond to first base on a nearly full-time basis.

This season is the final guaranteed year of that three-year pact, which covered Reynolds' final pre-arbitration season and his first two years of arbitration-eligibility. That deal includes an $11MM club option ($500K buyout) for 2013, but because he won't have six full seasons of service time, Reynolds will not be eligible for free agency should Baltimore decide to decline the option. He'll remain under team control as an arbitration-eligible player. The O's could try to sign Reynolds to a cheaper deal – he's earning $7.5MM this season, a reasonably low base salary – or cut ties all together and non-tender him.

Power, especially right-handed power, is becoming increasingly hard to find these days. Reynolds is a one-dimensional player though, someone who will hit in the low-.200s and thus keep his on-base percentage relatively low. He's led the league in strikeouts in each of the last four seasons and has shown no signs of improving his contact skills with decreased playing time this summer. The Orioles are on the cusp of contention this season and $11MM is not chump change. They could decide to bolster their chances next year by saving cash, finding a more well-rounded player, and cutting the man with the eighth-most homers since 2008 loose.

Photo courtesy of US Presswire.

Quick Hits: Isringhausen, Mets, Francis, Brewers

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"One of a GM's biggest tasks is to have the understanding and power to manage up (his ownership) as well as manage down (his manager)," said a GM to MLB.com's Peter Gammons (Twitter link). Here is the latest from around the league…

  • Jason Isringhausen told reporters (including MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez) that he won't accept an assignment to Triple-A if he loses his roster spot when Jordan Walden returns from the DL (Twitter link). The 39-year-old has pitched to a 4.02 ERA in 40 1/3 innings for the Angels this year.
  • A former Mets executive told Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com (via Twitter) he believes the club will nontender Andres Torres in December.  The 34-year-old, who is earning $2.7MM this year, is hitting .234/.343/.337 with two homers in 309 plate appearances.
  • There are "strong indications" that the Rockies will make a push to re-sign Jeff Francis after the season, reports Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post. The 31-year-old southpaw has pitched to a 6.07 ERA in 15 starts since returning to Colorado earlier this year.
  • "Nothing happens quick in the off-season," said Brewers GM Doug Melvin to Todd Rosiak of The Journal Sentinel. "You wait until the GM meetings, the winter meetings. The only free agents that sign early are the ones who get overpaid … We'll determine what level of involvement we'll have with free agents. I don't know that we'll be that heavily involved. I know the list that's out there."
  • Hal McCoy of The Dayton Daily News argues that the Reds should pick up the team's $5MM club option for outfielder Ryan Ludwick next season. The 34-year-old has hit .271/.339/.568 with 23 homers for Cincinnati this season.

Non-Tender Candidate: Dallas Braden

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Two years and three months ago, Dallas Braden was on top of the baseball world. He had just thrown 19th perfect game in baseball history on Mother's Day with his grandmother in the stands. The left-hander finished the season with a 3.50 ERA in 30 starts and 192 2/3 innings, further cementing his place in the Athletics' rotation.

Uspw_4690664Braden, now 29, has made just three starts since the end of that season. He allowed seven runs in 18 innings across three starts last April, and has been on the shelf with shoulder problems ever since. Braden had surgery to repair a torn capsule one year and one week after his perfect game, and was expected to be ready in time to return to the team early this season.

Instead, the shoulder continues to give Braden problems and as Susan Slusser of The San Francisco Chronicle recently reported, he will have another procedure soon. This one will be exploratory but will cost him the rest of the season nonetheless. Fellow starting pitchers like Chien-Ming Wang, Johan Santana, and Brandon Webb have had shoulder capsule surgery in recent years with mixed comeback results.

Unlike those three, Braden is not a power pitcher. Even before the surgery his fastball averaged a little less than 88 mph, the 15th lowest average fastball velocity among the 156 pitchers who threw at least 400 innings from 2007-2011. Braden was a classic finesse left-hander who relied on his fastball and changeup to keep hitters off balance, so perhaps a potential loss of velocity due to the surgeries will have minimal impact on his effectiveness going forward.

Either way, the Athletics have to decide if their 24th round pick in the 2004 draft is worth the investment post-surgery very soon. Braden will earn $3.35MM without throwing a pitch this season, and will be eligible for arbitration for the third and final time this winter. He doesn't figure to get any kind of raise – he didn't a raise from 2011-2012 – however that remains a hefty investment for low-budget A's.

Oakland has enviable rotation depth going forward with Tommy Milone, Jarrod Parker, and Dan Straily all in their pre-arbitration years, plus Brett Anderson potentially under contract through 2014. They could decide that sinking more money into Braden isn't a wise investment considering the potential for zero return, so a non-tender in December looks like a very real possibility for the southpaw.

Photo courtesy of US Presswire.

Outrighted To Triple-A: Abreu, Ekstrom, Igarashi

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Here are the latest outright assignments, courtesy of the MLB.com transactions page…

  • The Blue Jays have outrighted right-hander Juan Abreu to Triple-A. Toronto claimed the 27-year-old off waivers from the Astros earlier this week. He's pitched to a 7.04 ERA in 46 Triple-A relief innings this year.
  • The Rockies have outrighted right-hander Mike Ekstrom to Triple-A. The 28-year-old was designated for assignment earlier this week after allowing 11 runs in 15 2/3 relief innings for Colorado this season.
  • The Yankees have outrighted right-hander Ryota Igarashi to Triple-A. New York claimed the 33-year-old off waivers from the Blue Jays earlier this season, and he's allowed four runs during his three innings in pinstripes.
  • The Twins have outrighted outfielder Rene Tosoni to Triple-A. The 26-year-old hit .218/.299/.314 in 293 plate appearances at various levels of Minnesota's farm system this year.

Quick Hits: Samardzija, Stauffer, Izturis, Reynolds

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Tigers manager Jim Leyland all but confirmed that Victor Martinez will not return this season, reports James Schmehl of mLive.com. Martinez torn his ACL during an offseason workout, but there was a small possibility that he would return to the team in September. Here's the latest from around the league…

  • “I’m not really too worried about that. I like to leave that front-office stuff to my agent,” said Cubs right-hander Jeff Samardzija to ESPN Chicago when asked if any contract extension talks were taking place. The 27-year-old is in the middle of a breakout season while earning $2.64MM.
  • Right-hander Tim Stauffer is dealing with shoulder and elbow issues, and Bill Center of The San Diego Union-Tribute says that the Padres will likely non-tender him after the season. Stauffer has only made one start this year and will earn $3.2MM.
  • The Nationals designated Cesar Izturis for assignment earlier today, and manager Davey Johnson told reporters (including Dan Kolko of MASNSports.com) that the club will likely bring him back in September if he isn't claimed off waivers (Twitter link).
  • Rich Dubroff of CSNBaltimore.com says the Orioles have a difficult decision to make about Mark Reynolds' club option after the season. Baltimore holds an $11MM option ($500K buyout) for the slugger, who has turned it on of late following a slow start.
  • The Padres are considering internal options (crosscheckers Bob Filoti and Bill Gasparino) as well as external options (Mets coordinator Ian Levin and crosschecker Steve Barningham) for their scouting director position, reports Jim Callis of Baseball America (on Twitter).

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Melky, Wright, Ellsbury

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On this date in 2008, knuckleballer R.A. Dickey tied a Major League record with four wild pitches in one inning while with the Mariners. Catcher Kenji Johjima was also charged with a passed ball in the frame. Dickey is now enjoying a Cy Young-caliber campaign and has only uncorked two wild pitches in 168 1/3 innings for the Mets this season. Here's the latest from around the web…

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West Links: Melky, Soriano, Felix, Murphy

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Wednesday was a busy day for baseball's two West divisions, as the Giants lost Melky Cabrera for 50 games while Felix Hernandez threw the first perfect game in Mariners history. Here is Thursday's news and notes from the left coast…

  • Hank Schulman of The San Francisco Chronicle says the Giants have a decision to make in the wake of Cabrera's suspension. The 28-year-old is due to become a free agent after the season and team seemed likely to explore a multiyear extension before yesterday's news broke.
  • Giants GM Brian Sabean has not been much of an Alfonso Soriano fan through the years, so he seems unlikely to pursue him following Cabrera's suspension according to Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com (on Twitter). Yesterday we heard that Soriano is unlikely to approve a trade to San Francisco anyway.
  • Joel Sherman of The New York Post wonders if the Mariners' willingness to commit to Hernandez and Hernandez's willingness to remain in Seattle will fall in line when the right-hander hits free agency after 2014.
  • In a chat with David Laurila of FanGraphs, David Murphy says getting traded to the Rangers was the best possible opportunity for him and his career. Murphy was part of the trade that sent Eric Gagne to the Red Sox in 2007.

Central Notes: Indians, Astros, Tigers

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Here is the latest from baseball's two Central divisions…

  • "It's no secret, we're going to need to improve our offense," said Indians manager Manny Acta to Paul Hoynes of The Cleveland Plain-Dealer when asked what his team needs to improve in 2013. "We're going to have to find a solution in left field, we're going to have to find a solution at first base and we're going to have to find a solution at DH. That's pretty obvious. And the third base situation is not determined either."
  • The Astros acquired 15 prospects in their midseason trades following today's Kevin Comer pickup, and Zachary Levine of The Houston Chronicle points out (on Twitter) that ten are pitchers. You can see all of new GM Jeff Luhnow's moves with our Transaction Tracker.
  • Lynn Henning of The Detroit News wrote about the Tigers' network of scouts, including those responsible for covering pro leagues, amateur leagues, and players overseas.

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