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Daniel Bard

Quick Hits: Bard, Royals, Bauer

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There's been lots of draft chatter these past few days, but that's not all that's going on around the Major Leagues. Here are some more notes from around MLB…

  • The Red Sox optioned Daniel Bard to Triple-A, Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe reports (on Twitter). Bard has struggled with his command in the rotation and, as Dave Cameron of FanGraphs notes, his velocity is down as well. Bard still figures to go to arbitration for the second time this coming offseason.
  • The Royals don’t intend to rush Wil Myers to the Major Leagues despite the top prospect’s minor league successes, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports (on Twitter). The Royals could reduce the chances that Myers qualifies for super two status following the 2014 season by waiting another few weeks to call him up.
  • Diamondbacks pitching prospect Trevor Bauer has pitched well enough in the minors to deserve a promotion, but "nothing has been decided" regarding the right-hander's timeline, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports (Twitter links). Bauer and Myers are in similar situations; they probably won't qualify as super twos if their teams keep them in the minors for a few weeks.

Quick Hits: Bard, Halladay, De La Rosa

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Carlos Zambrano hit and pitched the Marlins into a first place tie with the Nationals in the NL East.  Zambrano hit a 431-foot home run, the longest by a pitcher in four years according to the ESPN Home Run Tracker, and struck out seven in 7 2/3 innings.  Here are today's other pitcher-related links.

Updates On Converted Relievers Now Starting

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One way for teams to avoid building their rotations through free agency is to move relief pitchers to the starting rotation. Few relievers have the repertoire and durability to succeed in the rotation, but teams are understandably tempted by certain promising bullpen arms. After all, starters have the potential to limit the opposition for 180-200 innings, while relievers might pitch 60-70 innings.

The Rangers have successfully converted C.J. Wilson and Alexi Ogando to starting roles under Ron Washington and Mike Maddux in recent years, but some conversions don't work out quite as well. For example, Phil Coke and Kyle McClellan started the 2011 season in the rotation, before returning to relief roles.

Here’s an early season update on four pitchers who jumped from the ‘pen to the rotation this year. None of the pitchers below had started more than three MLB games in a season before 2012 and all of them were big league relievers last year:

  • Daniel Bard – Bard's walk rate has spiked, his strikeout rate is down and he's generating fewer ground balls. His average fastball sits in the 93-94 mph range, down from 97.3 mph out of the bullpen, but he continues to generate swings and misses. A dropoff is expected from relievers who move to the rotation, and Bard showed promise against the White Sox last week. 
  • Neftali Feliz – Feliz's 3.81 ERA is a little deceptive. He has 18 strikeouts against 14 walks, partly because he's generating fewer swings and misses. He has also been lucky on balls in play, as his .194 opponents' BABIP indicates.
  • Jeff Samardzija – The strikeouts are up, the walks are down and the peripheral numbers suggest this may well be sustainable. Samardzija's fastball continues to average 94.7 mph and batters are swinging and missing more than ever. So far, Samardzija's conversion has been a major success, especially relative to pre-season expectations. To his credit he has faced the Cardinals — the NL's top offense — twice.
  • Chris Sale – Sale's transition to the rotation is going smoothly. Though his fastball velocity has dipped to 92.4 mph and his strikeout rate is down, he's limiting walks and averaging more than six innings per start.

Note: Though Lance Lynn, Anthony Bass and Felix Doubront pitched in relief last year, they also started in the minors for an extended period of time, so I don’t consider them converted relievers. Advanced stats via FanGraphs.

Red Sox Notes: Bard, Lester, Padilla

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The last time the Red Sox played a regular season game, they lost to the Orioles and the 2011 season ended in heart-breaking fashion. They'll look to start the 2012 season off with a win when they take on the defending AL Central champions in Detroit this afternoon. Here are some links in the meantime…

  • Red Sox GM Ben Cherington said on WEEI that he didn't consider putting Daniel Bard back in the bullpen this spring, Rob Bradford of WEEI.com reports (Twitter links). The Red Sox haven't made Bard promises going forward, but they view him as a starter for now.
  • Former Red Sox scouting director David Chadd won't be watching when his current team and his former team open the season at Comerica Park today, according to John Lowe of the Detroit Free Press. "I'll be out trying to find another Jon Lester," said Chadd, who’s now a VP with the Tigers. Before Lester became a star in Boston, Chadd scouted and drafted him. "I saw a 6’4” left-hander with a great delivery with a good arm," Chadd said.
  • Tony Massarotti of the Boston Globe proposes that the Red Sox could have made Vicente Padilla their closer to keep relievers such as Alfredo Aceves and Mark Melancon in their previously-assigned roles. Manager Bobby Valentine says the save opportunities will go to Aceves for now, however. Be sure to follow @closernews on Twitter for the latest updates.

AL East Notes: Rays, Bard, Snider, Chamberlain

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The Tigers released Carlos Pena on this date in 2006. The first baseman spent most of the year in the minors with the Yankees and Red Sox then broke out with a 46-homer season for the Rays the following season. Here are today's AL East-related links…

  • Gustavo Cabrera worked out for the Rays recently, Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com reports. The 16-year-old Dominican outfielder is one of this summer's top eligible amateurs and could command a bonus in the $1.5-2.5MM range, Mayo writes.
  • Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports wonders if Daniel Bard can successfully transition to Boston's rotation this year and explains that in a perfect world he wouldn't have to become a starter. A number of baseball people are skeptical that the Red Sox right-hander will succeed in the rotation, Rosenthal writes.
  • Executives monitoring the outfield market say the Blue Jays are inclined to keep Travis Snider, Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports tweets. The Blue Jays optioned the left-handed hitting 24-year-old to Triple-A over the weekend.
  • Yankees manager Joe Girardi said he's optimistic Joba Chamberlain will pitch in the Major Leagues this year, Jeff Bradley of the Star-Ledger reports. The right-hander dislocated his right ankle last week and will likely wear a cast for six weeks.
  • It doesn't appear that the Yankees have any intention of releasing Chamberlain in an attempt to save money, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com writes.

Red Sox Avoid Arbitration With Daniel Bard

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The Red Sox and Daniel Bard have avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year contract, the team announced. Earlier this week the SFX client filed for $1.825MM while the team countered with $1.4MM, and MLB.com's Ian Browne says (on Twitter) that they settled at the midpoint: $1.6125MM. Our system projected a $1.6MM salary for the right-hander.

Bard, 26, was arbitration-eligible for the first time this offseason. As a Super Two, he'll go through the process four times rather than the usual three. He's pitched to a 2.88 ERA with 9.7 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9 in 197 career innings, all of which were spent setting up the now departed Jonathan Papelbon. Bard will come to Spring Training with a chance to win a job as a starting pitcher this year.

As our Arbitration Tracker shows, the Red Sox have three unsigned arbitration-eligible players remaining: Alfredo Aceves, Andrew Bailey, and David Ortiz.

Red Sox Notes: Bard, Scutaro, Ortiz

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Earlier this morning, we heard about Boston's reluctance to go over the luxury tax threshold this season. Now let's round up a few more Sunday's Red Sox updates….

  • The Red Sox plan to stretch out Daniel Bard's innings this spring, writes Michael Vegas of the Boston Globe. "I'm going to go into spring training saying 'whatever's best for the team,'" said manager Bobby Valentine. "But he's going to get innings as a starter would in spring training. He's going to be penciled in to be one of those guys who works going from his bullpen to pitching two innings to pitching four innings to pitching six innings."
  • Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports advises the Red Sox to blow past the luxury tax threshold, if that's what it takes to field a World Series contender.
  • Within Rosenthal's piece, he adds that Marco Scutaro is drawing interest from the Rockies, among other teams.
  • The Red Sox continue to discuss the possibility of a two-year deal with David Ortiz, GM Ben Cherington told Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald.

Red Sox “Confident” About Re-Signing Ortiz

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The Red Sox seem "pretty confident" they'll be able to re-sign David Ortiz to a two-year deal, assuming he doesn't accept arbitration, tweets Jon Heyman of MLB Network. Here are a few more Red Sox updates from Ben Cherington's first Winter Meetings as Boston's GM:

  • While Boston was thought to have interest in free agents like C.J. Wilson and Roy Oswalt, Cherington said today that he doesn't anticipate the Red Sox pursuing high-end starting pitching options, as WEEI's Alex Speier writes.
  • Cherington also said today that Daniel Bard had indicated a preference for his 2012 role, though it seems he and Bard may not have been on the same page. In a text message to the Providence Journal's Brian MacPherson, Bard said he stated a willingness to move to the rotation rather than a preference to do so: "I guess making it clear that I would be willing to start may have made it seem like a preference, but I just want to make it clear that I feel like I could thrive in either role."
  • It doesn't appear that the Orioles will be signing longtime Red Sox backstop Jason Varitek. According to John Tomase of the Boston Herald, O's skipper Buck Showalter addressed the topic in Dallas: "Right now, it’s not a fit for us."

AL East Notes: Red Sox, Oswalt, Sabathia

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Red Sox GM Ben Cherington confirmed to reporters that the Red Sox and Cubs have obtained a one-week extension to work out compensation for former Boston GM Theo Epstein. Here are some more notes from the division, starting with the Red Sox…

David Price Among Those Reaching Super Two Status

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Players with two years and 146 days of Major League service time will qualify for Super Two status, MLBTR's Tim Dierkes has learned.  This was the same cutoff point that was predicted by CAA in April, and as MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith wrote six months ago, it is "a decidedly late cutoff."  In 2010, the cutoff date was two years and 122 days of service, while the 2009 cutoff was two years and 139 days.

Click here to refresh yourself on the details of the Super Two process, but to summarize, Super Two players will earn a fourth year of salary arbitration (as opposed to the usual three) before reaching free agency.  So, all players with less than three years of service time but at least 2.146 (two years, 146 days) of service time quality as Super Twos.

This year's crop of Super Twos includes some of the top young arms in the game — David Price, Rick Porcello, Daniel Bard, Gio Gonzalez, Jordan Zimmermann and Tyler Clippard.  Ryan Roberts is also a Super Two, so he could be in line for an extra payday in the wake of his breakout 2011 season.

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