Welcome to San Diego, Yasmani Grandal. The top prospect acquired in the Mat Latos trade this past offseason has been told he's been promoted to the major leagues following today's Triple-A Tucson game, reports Daniel Berk of the Arizona Daily Star.

Yasmani Grandal was told after the game tonight that he's being called up to San Diego. Not sure what the corresponding move is. - Daniel Berk

Grandal, 23, has absolutely torn apart the Pacific Coast League this year hitting .317/.421/.500 with 4 home runs and 10 doubles. The backstop also has walked 21 times to 27 strikeouts in 34 games (145 plate appearances). I'm assuming Grandal will takeover the starting catching role, but the Padres might take it slow with him for a few weeks since he isn't a particularly good defensive catcher. Nonetheless, he should be up here to stay.

Continue reading this post »

We're a week away from the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, so what better time to get a feel of the current state of the draft talent than from the people who scout and talk to executives around the league than now? Let's check out the latest draft links from around the web:

• Baseball America posted their MLB Draft Top 500 today. It's a free link, but to read the scouting reports for each and everyone, you'll need to be a subscriber. Nonetheless, Baseball America has high school senior Byron Buxton as #1 with college players Michael Zunino, Kyle Zimmer, Mark Appel and Kevin Gausman following the Georgia product.
• Now is also a good time to see how much money your favorite team (and all others) are allowed to spend this year in the draft (via Baseball America). With the new CBA, things will get interesting as far as how teams decide to draft. The pool is for the first 10 rounds of the draft.
• Jason Churchill of ESPN writes about the improving stock of Stanford's Mark Appel, who projects to be a top draft pick in this draft. Churchill also examines the recent stock/performances of other notable names such as Michael Zunino of Florida and Carlos Correa from the Puerto Rico Baseball Academy.

Believe it or not, Roy Oswalt is still a free agent and looking to return to the majors. According to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, Oswalt has worked out for several teams within the past week including the Phillies, Red Sox and Rangers. It also appears the right-handed starting pitcher worked out for the first-place Dodgers, according to MLB.com's Peter Gammons.

The problem doesn't seem to be health or however he looks in these private workouts, but his asking price. According to Rosenthal, Oswalt is looking for a pro-rated $7.5 million in base salary. If that is the case, Rosenthal believes the possibility of him making a return in the summer is getting slimmer by the minute.

One team that may be interested now is the Phillies, though. Roy Halladay just exited his start moments ago with right shoulder soreness and the Phillies are a team looking to win now. Will they be willing to pay the high price? We'll see.

Don't expect this one to garner many headlines, but a trade is a trade nonetheless. The Houston Astros have acquired switch-hitting catcher Jobduan Morales exchange for Triple-A outfielder Justin Ruggiano from the Miami Marlins, according to the Astros Sr. Director of Social Media, Alyson Footer. In a later tweet, Footer says Morales will report to Astros Extended Spring Training for the time being.

Ruggiano, a former product of the Rays minor league system, will provide the Marlins with outfield depth and a possible replacement for center fielder Emilio Bonifacio, who was placed on the disabled list and isn't expect back for four to six more weeks.

The other player in the trade, Jobduan Morales, is a 20-year-old catcher in the low levels of the minors. He hit .275/.386/.444 between Jamestown and Greensboro with 4 home runs and 33 walks to 41 strikeouts. Morales was a 9th round selection by the Marlins in the 2009 draft.

Not too long after being released by the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks of Japan's Pacific League, Brad Penny has signed a minor league deal with the San Francisco Giants, reports John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle. According to a report, Penny was "unable to adapt well to baseball in Japan, [and he] strongly desired to leave."

Shea adds Penny will report to extended spring training Monday and is - wait for it - a candidate to be a reliever on the Giants big league club. Anything positive Penny can give you at this stage of his career is more than you can ask for. The 33-year-old right-handed pitcher posted a 5.30 ERA across 181 2/3 innings of work last season for the Tigers with a poor 3.7 K/9 (career low).

Continue reading this post »

Chicago Cubs reliever Kerry Wood made a decision this morning as reported by MLB.com's Carrie Muskat, and that was to call it quits sometime this weekend. He just wanted one more appearance to cap off a 14 year career, fittingly enough he struck out the one batter he faced. Wood spoke about his decision following the game, which you can watch video of here.

Wood, 34, only threw 8 1/3 innings this year for the Cubs in which he struggled with command in that time (11 walks). If there is one thing he'll be remembered for, it will be the game on May 6, 1998 against the Astros when he struck out 20 batters (didn't walk one) in a 122 pitch effort. Unfortunately, injuries were also a pretty big part of his career which only makes you wonder what he could have been as a starter if healthy.

Continue reading this post »

Following another 9th inning loss, this time to the Cleveland Indians, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have released outfielder/designated hitter Bobby Abreu, reports Bill Shaikin of the Los Angles Times. This will mean the club has eaten essentially all of the $9 million owed to the veteran for a roster spot. The Angels did try to trade him a few times over the offseason, with the Yankees and Indians.

So, who's replacing Bobby Abreu on the MLB roster? No other than top prospect Mike Trout, according to Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times. Don't worry Angels fans, manager Mike Scioscia said Trout "will play," now that he's on the major league team. This goes with what GM Jerry Dipoto said earlier - Mike Trout will be called up only if they can play him everyday.

Continue reading this post »

The New York Yankees announced right-handed starting pitcher Michael Pineda has been diagnosed with an anterior labral tear. Surgery will be required and is set for May 1, 2012 which means Pineda will not pitch in 2012. The team doesn't expect Pineda back with the team until early May of next year. The only silver lining in this devastating news for the team is there is no damage with the rotator cuff.

Pineda's injury can be traced back to spring training when the righty lost several ticks off his fastball. The team ran a MRI on his shoulder, but GM Brian Cashman explained the results as "clean." But per Mark Feinsand of the NY Daily News, Cashman told reporters "Without a doubt, the injury occurred during the rehab outing," and that he believed this tear would have shown up on a normal MRI.

Continue reading this post »

The Milwaukee Brewers chase for another division title just got a little tougher today. Left-handed starting pitcher Chris Narveson confirmed to reporters (via Tom Haudricourt of the Journal-Sentinel) he will be undergoing shoulder surgery to repair the torn rotator cuff in his pitching shoulder, thus ending his 2012 season abruptly after just two starts. Haudricourt writes Narveson will be out for 6-9 months after going under the knife.

While Narveson isn't exactly a front line starter by any means, it's always tough to replace 160-170 innings which is what the southpaw gave them the past two years. For now, the Brewers will turn to right-hander Marco Estrada, who spot-started for Narveson the last go around the rotation.

Continue reading this post »

Mike Trout hit .326/.414/.544 with 33 stolen bases last year in Double-A and the best prospect in baseball is doing it again, hitting .400/.463/.600 (83 plate appearances) in Triple-A this year. He's only 20 years old, but could justify a roster spot at this very moment in time. So why didn't he make the team out of camp? More importantly, when can we expect Trout to be manning the outfield in Anaheim? Angels GM Jerry Dipoto spoke with Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times, and it doesn't sound like it will be anytime soon.

"I want it to be when Mike is ready to take an everyday position on our club," Dipoto said. "Whether that's sooner rather than later, I can't tell you. ... He's off to a great start. I think that's what we all expected. We know what Mike can deliver," Dipoto said. "When we get to the point where we feel like there's an everyday position for him to impact the club, that's when he'll be here."

The Angels currently have Vernon Wells, Peter Bourjos, Torii Hunter as their starters in the outfield. Kendrys Morales is holding down the designated hitter spot, Bobby Abreu is backing up all of the above and the team is putting Mark Trumbo wherever they can - even at third base!

A man named after a fish hasn't been this popular since the Tim Salmon days in Southern California, and for a good reason: he's really good. But at least the Angels won't bring him up just to see him get inconsistent playing time like some other prospect on a California team.

Update: Bumgarner's agent, SFX Baseball Group, announced it's five-years, $35 million which is the largest guaranteed deal for a pitcher with more than 1 year of experience.

The San Francisco Giants have extended left-handed starting pitcher Madison Bumgarner, as first reported by John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle. The club later confirmed the report and made the official announcement (via Twitter), announcing it's a five-year extension through 2017 with options covering 2018 and 2019 seasons. The agreement covers all of his arbitration years and his 1st year of free agency (2017), the Giants later tweeted.

Even without seeing the salary numbers, the Giants made a great move by locking up their young starter. Bumgarner could be the #1 starting pitcher for quite a few teams out there, at least a really good #2 for most teams and he's one of the youngest players in the game at just 22 years old.

At 21-years-old, he threw over 200 innings with a 3.21 ERA paired with a fantastic 8.4 K/9 and 2.0 BB/9. If you look at a few sabermetrics, he actually pitched better than his 3.21 ERA (2.67 FIP) and is predicted to pitch better than that as well (3.10 xFIP).

Following an extra inning win over the Reds today, the Washington Nationals announced they have designated outfielder Brett Carroll for assignment (via Amanda Comak of the Washington Times). The room is being made to open up a roster spot for outfielder Rick Ankiel, who is being activated off the disabled list.

Carroll, 29, was a bench option for the Nationals this far into the year and only got one plate appearance in four games played. If I had to guess, I would say the 29-year-old accepts the assignment to Class Triple-A Syracuse, but that's just a guess.

Continue reading this post »

The Boston Red Sox got a much needed win today in their home opener against the Rays, but that wasn't the story of the day for the club. If you didn't watch the game, or haven't heard yet, Jacoby Ellsbury injured his shoulder early in the game and had to leave. The Red Sox public relations department called it a shoulder injury, but didn't offer much more on the extent of the injury.

However, according to Gordon Edes of ESPN Boston, Ellsbury has a dislocation or partial dislocation of his shoulder that will cause him to miss at least six weeks - maybe more. This is a huge blow to the team, especially given other injuries that are already hurting the club. The Red Sox are now looking at a Darnell McDonald-Cody Ross-Ryan Sweeney outfield.

Continue reading this post »

The Minnesota Twins and Scott Baker announced (via Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com) the MRI results of Baker's right elbow showed a tear in his flexor pronator tendon, meaning surgery is required to fix the tear and keep Baker from pitching for the remainder of the year.

Baker told reporters he would like to remain with the club beyond this year, but his future right now is certainly up in the air. The Twins hold a $9 million club option for the 30-year-old, but I can't see the club exercising the option. The Twins drafted Baker in the 2nd round of the 2003 draft and has been with the club his whole career.

Continue reading this post »

It's no secret the Baltimore Orioles desperately need pitching, and could certainly use a lot of it at the big league level. To help fill the void while their young arms continue to develop in the minors, the club has signed Joel Pineiro to a minor-league deal and will be sending him to AAA Norfolk, reports Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun.

Pineiro, 33, signed with the Phillies in January but was released just two months after. The veteran is coming off a two-year, $16 million deal with the Angels. He posted a 4.47 ERA across 298 innings with the Angels, with a 4.7 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9. One thing Pineiro can do is keep the ball on the ground, but don't expect him to miss bats or overpower batters.

Continue reading this post »

It's been a busy day for the New York Yankees, with Opening Day less than 48 hours away, and the club has just signed pitcher Ramon Ortiz to a deal, according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. It's a minor league deal, according to Marc Carig of the Star-Ledger. Ortiz was released by the San Francisco Giants last week before Ortiz's retention bonus was due, thus saving the Giants $100K in the process.

Ortiz, 39, posted a 4.86 ERA across 33 1/3 innings of work out of relief for the Cubs last season, but also spent time down in Triple-A. It was one of Ortiz's better years, though, as his 6.8 K/9 was a career high and 4.86 ERA was his lowest since 2004. The reliever joins his 12th organization of his career.

Continue reading this post »

As we are only a few days away from a full slate of games, teams are finalizing their rosters with depth signings and cuts. Let's take a look at today's minor transactions...

• The New York Mets signed infielder Bobby Scales to a minor league deal, according to Adam Rubin of ESPN New York. The 34-year-old will report to Class Triple-A Buffalo. Primarily a second baseman, Scales has played every position with the exception of pitcher in his career. He played in Japan last year, but also spent time with the Cubs' organization.
• The New York Yankees signed right-handed pitcher Jason Bulger to a minor league deal, the club announced (via Erik Boland of Newsday). A former first round draft pick in the 2001 draft class, Bulger has bounced around and is now joining his fourth different organization.
• Lastly, the Seattle Mariners have released pitcher Aaron Heilman, according to Larry Stone of the Seattle Times. Heilman was with the club on a minor league deal with an invite to major league camp.

We are only a few days away from the season where the Boston Red Sox will undoubtedly be looking to take the field and forgot about their performance last season. One of the last steps before doing that is setting the MLB 25-man roster; let's take a look at news and notes around Red Sox camp...

• The Red Sox named southpaw Felix Doubront and right-handed pitcher Daniel Bard the club's fourth and fifth starters, reports Evan Drellich of MLB.com. Alfredo Aceves, who wasn't happy with the news, will move to the bullpen.
• The team's closer Andrew Bailey has a thumb injury, Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine told reporters (via ESPN Boston). Valentine also hinted Bailey could be headed for the disabled list. For now, though, Bailey left the club and flew north to have his thumb examined by team doctors.
• The club is close to finalizing their 25-man roster, but -- to start the season -- catcher/designated hitter Ryan Lavarnway won't be on it, reports Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe. Lavarnway has been optioned to Class Triple-A Pawtucket.

The Cleveland Indians and shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera have agreed to a two-year, $16.5 million extension today, according to FOX Sports' Jon Paul Morosi. The deal is pending a physical.

We heard in late February the Indians were trying to sign Cabrera to a multi-year deal after the two sides worked out a one-year deal worth $4.55 million, thus successfully avoiding salary arbitration. By agreeing to a multi-year deal, the Indians buy out one of Cabrera's free agency years and his final arbitration year.

The 26-year-old shortstop had a breakout year in 2011, hitting .273/.332/.460 with 25 home runs in 667 plate appearances and was awarded with an All-Star selection and Silver Slugger award. It was his best season offensively, largely due to a huge power boost.

Continue reading this post »

Left-handed starting pitcher Jon Niese is expected to sign long-term deal to remain with the New York Mets for years to come, according to Adam Rubin of ESPN New York. Niese is still under team control for four more seasons. While the deal isn't done, it's expected to be completed soon.

Rubin reports the deal is comparable to the one Derek Holland signed with the Rangers. I'm speculating that the Mets will buy out the25-year-old's arbitration years (through 2015) and with team option(s) for a pair of free agency years. It'll be interesting to see the salary figures, as well.

Niese, 25, posted a 4.40 ERA across 157 1/3 innings of work last season with a strong 3.14 strikeout-to-walk ratio. When looking at the sabermetric numbers, Niese pitched much better than that last season but suffered from some bad luck. According to fWAR, he was worth 2.7 wins above replacement and posted a strong 3.28 xFIP.

The Diamondbacks announced yesterday starting pitcher Ian Kennedy will be their opening day starter for 2012, and the righty wouldn't mind that role for future years either. Ian Kennedy tells Steve Gilbert of MLB.com he's open to talking multi-year contracts with the club: "Obviously I would entertain hearing it," he said. "I think anybody would."

The Scott Boras client is arbitration eligible for the first time next offseason and isn't slated to hit arbitration until after 2015. Kennedy had a breakout year last season in his second year with the D'Backs after being traded by the Yankees to Arizona. Kennedy, 27, posted a 2.88 ERA across 222 innings of work along with a 8.0 K/9, 2.2 BB/9 (all four are career bests). According to WAR, Kennedy was worth five wins above replacement level last year.

• Kennedy open to multiyear contract talks | dbacks.com: News: "Ian Kennedy will be eligible for salary arbitration following this season and the right-hander said he would certainly listen if the D-backs wanted to talk to him about a multiyear contract."

New York Yankees managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner told reporters today he plans to lower the team's payroll under $189 million in the next couple of years. The new Major League Baseball collective bargaining agreement states the luxury tax threshold will be at $189 million after the 2013 season. By lowering their payroll below the threshold, the Yankees won't be needing to pay luxury tax and will asked to throw in less money into revenue sharing.

"Is it a requirement with baseball that we hit 189? No, it's not a requirement, but that is going to be the luxury tax threshold and that's where I want to be," Steinbrenner said on Thursday. "I don't think it's an unrealistic goal. My goals are normally considered a requirement."

The Yankees have a pretty good farm system with players that should be able to contribute to the club in the long term, specifically with the pitching staff. But they also have some players at the tail end of their contracts in Robinson Cano and Curtis Granderson. If the team is looking to save some money, they'll be restricted in what they can do in free agency in the coming years and of course, extending their own players.

Continue reading this post »

The Los Angeles Dodgers are working on signing one player (possibly two) from their tryout camp to a contract, Dodgers executive DeJon Watson tells Anthony Jackson of ESPN Los Angeles. Watson didn't say who, but did say they may also sign another player tomorrow from the same camp; Jackson believes one of the two will be Doug Davis.

In other Dodgers news, Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times is reporting Japanese reliever Hiroki Sanada is at Dodgers tryout camp. Sanada was posted by the Yokohama BayStars, but no teams bid on the reliever. Could he be one of the two signings that will be made?

Continue reading this post »

It's no secret the Milwaukee Brewers and John Axford are working on a multi-year contact extension, but it may not get done at this very moment. Axford tells Tom Haudricourt of the Journal Sentinel he'll have to settle on a one-year deal for now, "but would very much like to do a multi-year extension."

Axford, who turns 29 in April, is still under team control through the 2016 season. The Brewers probably could get the righty locked up now for years and save money long-term, of course that's assuming Axford remains healthy as a reliever for years to come.

In addition to John Axford, general manager Doug Melvin, manager Ron Roenicke and starting pitcher Zack Greinke are among other extension candidates in Milwaukee.

Continue reading this post »

Thursday, 11:47 p.m. EST: The deal is for five years and $75 million with no money deferred, as Rosenthal confirms. It should be made official with an announcement today.

Monday, 7:45 p.m. EST: The St. Louis Cardinals have come to terms on a five-year extension with catcher Yadier Molina, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Rosenthal adds it's valued north of $60 million, but SoloDeportes is reporting it's $75 million (unconfirmed).

Molina could have commanded a four or five year deal in free agency for north of $10 million per year. Even then, the $75 million seems like too much. The five-year deal will take Molina well through his prime.

The two sides have been working on the contract extension recently, and Joe Strauss of the Post-Dispatch reported the terms "all but finalized."

Continue reading this post »

The Washington Nationals signed right-handed pitcher Dan Cortes earlier in the offseason to a minor league deal after he was non-tendered by the Mariners. However, Cortes failed his physical with the club and the deal has been voided, according to Amanda Comak of the Washington Times. The Nationals are still interested in Cortes, so re-signing him to a deal wouldn't be a surprise.

"The Nationals still like the right-hander who was non-tendered by Seattle this offseason after undergoing shoulder surgery to repair rotator cuff damage and a partial tear of his biceps tendon suffered during an off-field fall, and it's believed they'd still have some interest in him if and when he returns to full health."

Cortes is only 24-years-old but has been through a ton in his career, mostly off the field incidents that has cost him to bounce team-to-team. He's only pitched 16 innings at the majors, and struggled, but anyone that can throw in the mid-90s and miss bats will be able to find a job.

Mike Napoli and the Rangers talked contract extension earlier in the offseason, but settled for a one-year deal to avoid salary arbitration for the time being. The two sides had mutual interest at the time, but Napoli tells Drew Davison of the Star-Telegram talks of a deal have been squashed and he will test free agency.

"I'd love to be here, but I'll test the market," Napoli said. "Every player plays to get to free agency. But it's not something I'm going to worry about. That's why I have my agent."

Napoli, 30, broke out last year and hit a monstrous .320/.414/.631 with 30 home runs in 432 plate appearances with the Rangers last season.

We've already seen Yadier Molina's five-year, $75 million contract extension from the Cardinals have a direct impact on the Diamondbacks and Miguel Montero's contract negotiations. And now we're saying it's impact on the Texas Rangers and catcher Mike Napoli.

Seattle Mariners center fielder Franklin Gutierrez is supposed to be one of the key cogs in the Mariners lineup, but the center fielder has once again suffered an injury. According to Greg Johns of MLB.com, Gutierrez has suffered a partial tear of his pectoral muscle and will be out for at least four weeks.

Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik told Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times the club will look internally for a replacement and aren't planning to look outside the team for help, at least "at this time." Taking a look at our Seattle Mariners complete organizational depth chart, the club doesn't exactly have good options at this time at the major league level.

Gutierrez, who turned 29 last week, found success with the Mariners in his first season with the club hitting .283/.339/.425. The club signed Gutierrez to a four-year, $20.25 million deal with a team option for 2014 before the start to the 2010 season, but as Mike Axisa of River Ave Blues notes, it's been a disaster of a contract thus far. Since then, he's hit a dreadful .237/.288/.330 and virtually all his value has come from the defensive end.

The Arizona Diamondbacks and catcher Miguel Montero came out and told reporters this afternoon the two sides have agreed to abandon extension talks. Montero will earn nearly $6 million this year and hit free agency at season's end. Let's take a look at some other notes out of Arizona...

• D'Backs manager Kirk Gibson announced righty starter Ian Kennedy will be the Opening Day starter for the club this year, reports Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic.
• Apparently, the D'Backs were in on starting pitcher Hiroki Kuroda and offered him a one-year deal, reports Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. Kuroda, though, preferred to play for the Yankees or Red Sox and he ended up with the former of the two teams.
• A reason the extension talks between Montero and the Diamondbacks could have certainly been because of Yadier Molina's five-year, $75 million extension. No one saw that coming, and Molina's contract will help catchers like Montero and Mike Napoli.

In this edition of minor matters, we take a look at several minor league players that have been released and now find themselves looking for work. Let's start the run down with old friend,

• Burt Reynolds, cousin of second baseman Robinson Cano, has been released by the New York Yankees from their minor league system, according to Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus. A short stint for Reynolds, who the Yankees just signed five days ago.
• Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus also reports the Detroit Tigers have released outfielder Deik Scream. Scream's career highlight may have been winning MVP of the 2007 Midwest League All-Star game, as noted by Goldstein.
• The Colorado Rockies released former third-round selection Aaron Weatherford, who hasn't pitched since 2009 because of injuries, according to Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus.
• Last but not least, Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus reports the Arizona Diamondbacks released former Met prospect Kevin Mulvey, who pitched in Triple-A for the organization.