MLB News Thread

cwright

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Didn't see a thread for non-Red Sox related news/trades, so here we go.
 
The Royals acquired Jason Frasor from the Rangers in exchange for RHP Spencer Patton, who is a 26-year-old reliever in AAA with a 4.06 ERA and 60K/22BB in 46.1 innings.. (link)
Seems like a lousy return, since Frasor only earns $1.75 million this season, but what do I know.
 
To make room on the roster, the Royals demoted Louis Coleman and DFA Jimmy Paredes. (link)
 

TheYaz67

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Well, we'll always have happy memories of his 2008 All Star appearance for the NL team, which was quite possibly the worst performance of anyone ever in the history of that game....
 

TheYaz67

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Lars The Wanderer said:
Atlee Hammaker might disagree.
 
Oh true, forgot about him - I guess a 94.50 ERA in your only All Star game appearance of your career is nothing to brag about.  But at the same time, he was not the starter and the NL was already behind 2-1 when he entered the game.
 
Uggla on the other hand entered the game with his team ahead 2-0 in the 6th and proceeded to make 3 errors (which is a AS record I believe), batted 4 times and made 5 outs (3 K's and the only GIDP of the game for the NL, in extras with a runner on 3rd and 1 out), and left 6 runners on base in the process.  This earned him a -0.673 WPA, while Atlee somehow only accumulated a -0.314 WPA, so I think it is still Uggla....
 

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TheYaz67 said:
 
Oh true, forgot about him - I guess a 94.50 ERA in your only All Star game appearance of your career is nothing to brag about.  But at the same time, he was not the starter and the NL was already behind 2-1 when he entered the game.
 
Uggla on the other hand entered the game with his team ahead 2-0 in the 6th and proceeded to make 3 errors (which is a AS record I believe), batted 4 times and made 5 outs (3 K's and the only GIDP of the game for the NL, in extras with a runner on 3rd and 1 out), and left 6 runners on base in the process.  This earned him a -0.673 WPA, while Atlee somehow only accumulated a -0.314 WPA, so I think it is still Uggla....
The funny thing with Uggla is that the -.6 WPA doesn't even take into account the 3 errors! 
 

cwright

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I'll throw this news into the MLB thread as well, even though it's already mentioned in the draft signings thread.
 
Jim Callis ‏@jimcallisMLB 33m
Baseball source: Mac Marshall did NOT sign w/@Astros. Don't know if that means Aiken didn't sign, or signed for too much.
Jim Callis ‏@jimcallisMLB 30m
Baseball source: @Astros did not sign Aiken or Nix either. Houston gets No. 2 overall pick next year.
 
So the Astros failed to sign the #1 overall pick.  For anyone who missed the story, it sounds like Aiken had agreed to a $6.5 million deal ($1 million under slot), and the Astros were going to use the extra million to sign Nix. However, Aiken's physical indicated some abnormalities in his UCL (NOT a tear), and the Astros reduced their offer to about $3 million.  (They then engaged Mac Marshall in conversations, offering him the extra money they would be saving if Aiken signed.)
Reportedly, the Astros bumped their offer to $5 million today, but Aiken's "advisor" Casey Close refused to discuss it.  As a result, the Astros couldn't sign Nix (or Marshall) without forfeiting future picks.  What a mess.
 

E5 Yaz

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cwright said:
I'll throw this news into the MLB thread as well, even though it's already mentioned in the draft signings thread.
 
Jim Callis ‏@jimcallisMLB 33m
Baseball source: Mac Marshall did NOT sign w/@Astros. Don't know if that means Aiken didn't sign, or signed for too much.
Jim Callis ‏@jimcallisMLB 30m
Baseball source: @Astros did not sign Aiken or Nix either. Houston gets No. 2 overall pick next year.
 
So the Astros failed to sign the #1 overall pick.  For anyone who missed the story, it sounds like Aiken had agreed to a $6.5 million deal ($1 million under slot), and the Astros were going to use the extra million to sign Nix. However, Aiken's physical indicated some abnormalities in his UCL (NOT a tear), and the Astros reduced their offer to about $3 million.  (They then engaged Mac Marshall in conversations, offering him the extra money they would be saving if Aiken signed.)
Reportedly, the Astros bumped their offer to $5 million today, but Aiken's "advisor" Casey Close refused to discuss it.  As a result, the Astros couldn't sign Nix (or Marshall) without forfeiting future picks.  What a mess.
 
How dare you drop actualy news into the "Remember When Dan Uggla Had  A Lousy All-Star Game?" thread
 

cwright

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E5 Yaz said:
 
How dare you drop actualy news into the "Remember When Dan Uggla Had  A Lousy All-Star Game?" thread
 
My lasting impression of Dan Uggla is from the BP writeup of him after the Marlins drafted him in the Rule 5... "If he's their starter at second base, it's gonna be uggla."  As it turned out, he was pretty valuable for the Marlins, but his career sure did turn uggla toward the end.
 

MakMan44

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canderson said:
Aiken's elbow must look real bad.
I think the UCL is just abnormally small. Everything I've read suggests that his elbow is fine right now. 
 
http://blog.chron.com/ultimateastros/2014/07/15/astros-accused-of-manipulating-draft-and-medical-evaluation-rules/#22102103=0&24048101=0
 
Yeah, this does a good job of explaining the issue. The whole thing is just very strange. I saw soxhop post that Aiken wouldn't even take the Astro's calls today, I imagine he's pretty pissed about the entire thing and I can't blame him. 
 

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cwright said:
I'll throw this news into the MLB thread as well, even though it's already mentioned in the draft signings thread.
 
Jim Callis ‏@jimcallisMLB 33m
Baseball source: Mac Marshall did NOT sign w/@Astros. Don't know if that means Aiken didn't sign, or signed for too much.
Jim Callis ‏@jimcallisMLB 30m
Baseball source: @Astros did not sign Aiken or Nix either. Houston gets No. 2 overall pick next year.
 
So the Astros failed to sign the #1 overall pick.  For anyone who missed the story, it sounds like Aiken had agreed to a $6.5 million deal ($1 million under slot), and the Astros were going to use the extra million to sign Nix. However, Aiken's physical indicated some abnormalities in his UCL (NOT a tear), and the Astros reduced their offer to about $3 million.  (They then engaged Mac Marshall in conversations, offering him the extra money they would be saving if Aiken signed.)
Reportedly, the Astros bumped their offer to $5 million today, but Aiken's "advisor" Casey Close refused to discuss it.  As a result, the Astros couldn't sign Nix (or Marshall) without forfeiting future picks.  What a mess.
Our good friend Dave Roberts Shoes is mentioned in an article!
http://blog.chron.com/ultimateastros/2014/07/15/astros-accused-of-manipulating-draft-and-medical-evaluation-rules/#22102103=0&24048101=0
 Dr. Chris Geary, an orthopedic surgeon and the chief of sports medicine at Tufts Medical center who has not evaluated Aiken, said the presence of a congenitally small UCL on its own wouldn’t necessarily indicate danger, or a lessened risk of success with Tommy John surgery.
“Maybe the ulnar collateral ligament is small but he has a freakishly big flexor-pronator mass, something like that, where it’s like, for whatever reason, his anatomy is different, but it’s not impacting him,” Geary said. “It sounds to me like it’s not completely straightforward. It’s one of those things you could maybe, depending on what it actually is, you could kind of spin it depending on what your own agenda is.”
 

MakMan44

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Tony Clark: 
 


“Today, two young men should be one step closer to realizing their dreams of becoming Major League ballplayers. Because of the actions of the Houston Astros, they are not. The MLBPA, the players and their advisers are exploring all legal options.”
 

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canderson said:
Aiken's elbow must look real bad.
Or the Astros were trying to pull some shit in order to game the system and it blew up in their face when their bluff was basically called.
 

mabrowndog

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canderson said:
Aiken won't be eligible until 2017 if he goes back to school, right?
 
He can play at a Juco for a season and be eligible in 2015. I suspect that's exactly what he'll do.
 

mabrowndog

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While Houston deserves every bit of criticism for the way they allowed things to disintegrate, the machinations of the draft cap can have a profound domino effect for teams holding high-slot-value draft picks. Thinking they'd be signing Aiken for $6.5M -- well under the $7.9M slot figure for the #1 overall pick this year -- the Astros had planned to apply some of their surplus cap money to signing Nix, their 5th rounder. And they had reportedly agreed on a $1.5M bonus. But when you fail to sign a pick in the first 10 rounds, you also lose the slot money assigned to that pick. So when the Aiken stuff fell apart, the surplus instantly vanished. And once they tallied up the bonuses already given to their other picks in the first 10 rounds, the Astros suddenly found themselves unable to give Nix more than $1.1 million without being subjected to penalties that would have cost them at least one future draft pick. Then when shit hit the fan with Nix, they tried to sign their 21st rounder (Marshall) by offering him Nix's money, but couldn't get a deal done (he's already enrolled at LSU).
 
Aiken and Nix were 2 of just 6 players in the first 10 rounds who went unsigned, along with RHP Andrew Suarez (WAS 2nd, #57), RHP Trevor Magill (STL 3rd, #104), OF Zach Zeiner (TOR 7th, #204), and 1B Austin Byler (WAS 9th, #274). The CBA doesn't allow teams to ask certain questions before the draft. But there's a reason that 309 of the 315 picks (98.1%) were signed, and it's because all of the stuff that's prohibited happens anyway. It's no secret. Figures are exchanged, if-then-else agreements are reached, and medical records often get reviewed. Even if teams don't know precisely who they're going to end up drafting, they have a pretty solid idea how they're going to split up the bonus pie to ensure they don't lose future draft picks -- or end up with wasted picks on unsigned talent, or the loss of slot money to spread around on other picks. For the questions over Aiken's UCL to linger unresolved until the final day of the signing period is absurd. Houston should have known about it well in advance, and should have adopted an alternate draft strategy if they were this unsure about his health.
 
As an aside, Aiken is just the third #1 overall pick not to sign in the half-century of the MLB amateur draft. He joins Danny Goodwin (1971, White Sox) and Tim Belcher (1983, Twins).
 

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“@EvanDrellich: According to a source, the original, rescinded $1.5 million offer to Jacob Nix was verbal, which in a grievance would be significant.”

So if Hou is forced to give up a draft pick is it top 10 protected?
 

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soxhop411 said:
“@EvanDrellich: According to a source, the original, rescinded $1.5 million offer to Jacob Nix was verbal, which in a grievance would be significant.”

So if Hou is forced to give up a draft pick is it top 10 protected?
 
Good question. I would tend to doubt it.
 
Man, if the Astros lose that pick... wow. Everything that's already happened is a fireable offense for the front office, but that would be grounds for facing a firing squad.
 

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soxhop411 said:
“@EvanDrellich: According to a source, the original, rescinded $1.5 million offer to Jacob Nix was verbal, which in a grievance would be significant.”

So if Hou is forced to give up a draft pick is it top 10 protected?
 
From everything I've read, no.
 
And if I'm doing the math correctly, honoring Nix's contract would put them 17 percent over their allotted signing pool bonuses, which would mean they lose a 1st in the next two drafts.  Whoops.  At least they'll have the 2nd pick of the draft next year.
 
The other interesting thing about this is the fact that the NCAA (at the Phillies' behest) came down hard on a couple of players last year who had agents negotiate a contract but couldn't reach a deal.  The negotiations for Aiken's services have been pretty public on this, so one wonders if the NCAA would do the same here.  If that happens, it would practically force Aiken to go to indy ball or a juco team.
 

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cannonball 1729 said:
 
From everything I've read, no.
 
And if I'm doing the math correctly, honoring Nix's contract would put them 17 percent over their allotted signing pool bonuses, which would mean they lose a 1st in the next two drafts.  Whoops.  At least they'll have the 2nd pick of the draft next year.
 
The other interesting thing about this is the fact that the NCAA (at the Phillies' behest) came down hard on a couple of players last year who had agents negotiate a contract but couldn't reach a deal.  The negotiations for Aiken's services have been pretty public on this, so one wonders if the NCAA would do the same here.  If that happens, it would practically force Aiken to go to indy ball or a juco team.
That would be better for him anyway, though, right? If he plays for an NCAA team he can't be drafted until 2017 and he's not going to be picked higher than 1-1.
 
I guess there will be a new CBA by then, but not sure I'd bank on the signing bonus being way bigger or the player having more leverage.
 

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cwright said:
And just to continue my conversation with myself...
 
JIM BOWDEN ‏@JimBowdenESPNxm 5m
According to sources the Padres and Angels are close to finalizing a deal that will send Huston Street to the Halos.
 
The deal ends up being Street & Trevor Gott for Taylor Lindsey, R.J. Alvarez, Jose Rondon and Elliot Morris Link 
 
Gott is a 21 yo RHRP with  2-4 record with 16 saves and a 3.56 ERA in 39 tries combined in A & AA this season.
 
Taylor Lindsey is a 22-year-old second baseman, was the No. 37 pick by the Angels in the 2010 draft. He is the Angels top rated prospect. So far in 333 PA this season Lindsey is batting 247/340/785 with 13 2b 3 3B & 8 Hr and 33K/31BB. Lindsey was ranked #93 on BA's top 100 to begin the year.
 
Jose Rondon  is a 20 year old who was signed as an international free agent in January 2011, this season he is hitting 327/362/779 in 324 PA with 17 2b, 5 3B 17BB/50K while playing SS. Rondon recently participated in the futures game going 0-2
 
 
Elliot Morris  is a 22 year old RHSP this season in A+ he is 3-3 with a 4.17 ERA in 9 starts giving up 5HR in 45.1 innings 40K/28BB 1.434 whip and 8.7K/9 5.6B/9 1.43K/BB Morris operates with a fastball in the 93-96 range and is coming off of TJ surgery in 2012.
 
Street has a record of 1-0 with a 1.09ERA this year for San Diego 7BB/34K in 33 innings and a 0.76 whip. 
 
Street has a 7 million club option for 2015.
 

cwright

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Buzzard, thanks for the synopsis - it was really informative.
 
To make room for Huston Street, the Angels designated Ian Stewart for assignment. (link)
 
Also, in news that nobody cares about, Donnie Murphy (who was released by the Rangers earlier this month) signed a minor league deal with the Reds. (link)
 

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https://twitter.com/timdierkes/status/491276145300484097
 
https://twitter.com/timdierkes/status/491276370899509248
 
Didn't know if they deserved it's own topic, but it's certainly interesting enough to note.  
 

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A's pitcher Tommy Milone, who was demoted to AAA after the acquisition of Hammel and Samardzija, has reportedly asked for a trade (according to Rosenthal).  He was understandably upset that the demotion came after a stretch in which he went 6-0 with a 2.62 ERA in 11 starts, and could delay his arbitration eligibility for a year.
 
SInce his demotion to AAA, however, Tommy has made 2 starts, throwing 9.0 innings, allowing 12 hits, 6 walks, and 8 runs (7 earned) and striking out 3.  Ouch.
 
 
A couple of other tidbits from Twitter:
Troy Renck
#Rockies' Justin Morneau placed on 15-day DL with neck injury. Ben Paulsen called up. Jair Jurrjens designated for assignment
 

Jeff Fletcher ‏@JeffFletcherOCR

#Angels have signed veteran C John Buck to a minor lg deal and assigned him to AAA. DFA'd by Mariners earlier this season.
 

cwright

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As mentioned elsewhere, the Yankees traded Yangervis Solarte and RHP Rafael dePaula for 3B Chase Headley (and $1 million).  Headley is batting only .229/.296/.355 this season in his contract year.
 
Apparently unimpressed with his performance yesterday, the Blue Jays designated LHP Brad Mills for assignment in order to bring up top prospect RHP Aaron Sanchez. (link)
 
And poor Darwin Barney, who undoubtedly developed a complex from having too many first names, was DFA by the Cubs to clear a roster spot for Emilio Bonifacio.  (link)  Barney was "hitting" just .230/.265/.328 this year.
 

mabrowndog

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Just reported on MLBN:
 
Padres OF Cameron Maybin suspended 25 games after testing positive for amphetamines.
 

Rough Carrigan

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soxhop411 said:
 
Jon Morosi ‏@jonmorosi  5s
Tigers and Rangers have trade agreement in place: Joakim Soria for Jake Thompson and Corey Knebel, source confirms @KyleBogie report.
 
https://twitter.com/jonmorosi/status/492132076775145472
 
Small sample size, but in 33.1 innings, Soria has given up 0 homers, walked four and struck out 42.  He somehow has a 2.70 era.  Even in his great years with KC he was striking out just over 9 per 9 and walking 2.5 per 9.  And to give up zero homers in Texas is pretty good or pretty lucky or both. 
 

mabrowndog

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They haven't released Johnson, because they can't. Not yet, anyway. He's been DFA'd.
 
After he clears waivers (as he almost certainly will), they can release him then.
 

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MakMan44 said:
https://twitter.com/timdierkes/status/491276145300484097
 
https://twitter.com/timdierkes/status/491276370899509248
 
Didn't know if they deserved it's own topic, but it's certainly interesting enough to note.  
Is this in response to the Mets Pirates case of two years ago? I think the Mets were interested in signing Michael Bourne but were afraid of losing their first round pick since it was technically the 11th pick. The Mets had one of the 10 worst records in 2011 but their pick was moved to the 11th spot because the Pirates were guarenteed a top 10 pick after not signing their own first round pick the year before. New York thought about protesting the ruling, but Bourne signed with the Cleveland team making the issue moot. Anyway, hopefully someone can educate me to the details of this case and clear up any facts I might have missed.
 

MakMan44

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richgedman'sghost said:
Is this in response to the Mets Pirates case of two years ago? I think the Mets were interested in signing Michael Bourne but were afraid of losing their first round pick since it was technically the 11th pick. The Mets had one of the 10 worst records in 2011 but their pick was moved to the 11th spot because the Pirates were guarenteed a top 10 pick after not signing their own first round pick the year before. New York thought about protesting the ruling, but Bourne signed with the Cleveland team making the issue moot. Anyway, hopefully someone can educate me to the details of this case and clear up any facts I might have missed.
Possibly. I think the more immediate reason is that the Astro's are guaranteed the second overall pick because of the Aiken's situation. 
 

cwright

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Just to update some minor news over the last few days...​
 ​
Darwin Barney is heading to the Dodgers in exchange for a PTBNL.  The Cubs will pay all but $500K of Barney's salary. link
 ​
Colorado traded LHP Chris Capuano to the Yankees for cash considerations. link
 
The Cardinals signed C A.J. Pierzynski, shipping out George Kottaras.  In his first three games with the Cardinals, A.J. is 4/12 with a double, 3 K's, and (shockingly) no walks.