We will start the weekend off with a few notes from around baseball: Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets that the Pirates and Twins may have interest in infielder Reid Brignac. The Rockies recently designated Brignac for assignment to clear room for DJ LeMahieu. The 27-year-old Brignac had slashed .250/.294/.375 over 53 plate appearances in his first season in Colorado. He owns a career line of .228/.270/.321 in 719 plate appearances for the Rays and Rockies. ESPN’s Jim Bowden (subscription required) suggests some key adjustments for the Mariners, who he believes can compete this season. Bowden argues that the Mariners could…
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Twins Release Rafael Perez
The Twins announced that they have released left-hander Rafael Perez. Perez signed a minor league deal with the team in February, but had yet to pitch for the big league club. The 29-year-old logged just four innings for Triple-A Rochester, pitching to a 2.25 ERA with 4.5 K/9 and 6.8 BB/9. Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star Tribune tweets that the Twins had agreed to release Perez if he was not able to make their roster, and felt that he was not ready for big league hitters. Perez has a 3.64 ERA with 7.3 K/ and 3.2 BB/9 over 329…
Draft Notes: Gray, Manaea, Twins, White Sox
Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets that one GM thinks Jonathan Gray, Mark Appel, and Kris Bryant should be the first three players drafted next month. While the trio has generally been regarded as the best available talent, the GM thinks "those 3 have separated themselves" from the rest of the pack. Here’s a look at other news on this June’s amateur draft… MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo breaks down highly-rated Indiana State left-hander Sean Manaea. Manaea went undrafted out of high school, but figures to be selected early, ranking as the No. 9 prospect according to Mayo. The Twins will not select…
AL Central Links: Reynolds, Asdrubal, ChiSox, Twins
Justin Verlander and Yu Darvish face off in a marquee pitching matchup tonight in Arlington when the Tigers play the Rangers in a battle of AL division leaders. Detroit could lose the AL Central lead with a loss, as the idle Indians are only a half-game out of first place. Here’s the latest from around the AL Central… There hasn’t yet been any talk of the Indians pursuing an extension with Mark Reynolds, MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian writes in a reader mailbag. Reynolds signed a one-year, $6MM contract with the Tribe in December and is enjoying a big season, hitting .271/.362/.581…
Top Prospect Links: Lindor, Wheeler, Arcia
We’re still roughly one month away from the deadline to delay Super Two status for minor leaguers, at which point a flood of young talent is likely to hit the Major Leagues. Here’s a look at some news on some of the game’s top prospects, as ranked by Baseball America, Keith Law and Jonathan Mayo prior to the season… Two separate scouts told Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports that the Indians’ Francisco Lindor could be the best prospect in baseball by the end of the season. Lindor, a 19-year-old shortstop, reminds both scouts of Jurickson Profar thanks to excellent plate…
Twins Notes: Buxton, Draft, Gibson
In a recent two-part series for 1500 ESPN, Phil Mackey profiled Twins top prospect Byron Buxton and noted that Buxton’s path to the Majors could be on a more accelerated timetable than most people think. The No. 2 overall pick in the 2012 draft, Buxton has obliterated Class-A Cedar Rapids similarly to Mike Trout, who played there two years ago when Cedar Rapids was an Angels affiliate. Buxton is hitting .368/.485/.632 with five homers and 13 steals in 29 games for the Kernels. Mackey adds that the Twins, who typically move prospects slowly, have been aggressive in the past with…
Trade Market Notes
As the season is now over one-fifth of the way through, the likely trade deadline buyers and sellers are becoming more clear. Likewise, analysis is beginning to increase of the development of the market. Let’s take a quick look around some recent commentary: The starting pitching trade market promises to be deep, but will likely lack impact, writes Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. Heyman analalyzes the potentially available starters by likelihood of a trade. His top three are Ricky Nolasco of the Marlins, Bud Norris of the Astros, and Scott Feldman of the Cubs. Other notable arms include Josh Johnson of…
Draft Notes: Mock Draft, Team Preferences
The MLB draft is less than a month away, with the Astros, Cubs, Rockies, Twins, and Indians taking the first five picks. The latest: Stanford righty Mark Appel, Oklahoma righty Jonathan Gray, San Diego third baseman Kris Bryant, prep righty Kohl Stewart, and Nevada righty Braden Shipley are the first five picks in Jim Callis’ first mock draft for Baseball America, in which he takes a stab at the entire first round. The article is chock full of great info. Callis hears rumors that the Twins could cut a deal with high school catcher Reese McGuire at #4, spending heavily…
Draft Notes: Astros, Draft Class, Boldt, Shore
With less than one month until the 2013 Amateur Draft, Conor Glassey of Baseball America spoke with Astros scouting director Mike Elias about the team’s No. 1 overall selection and approach to the draft. Glassey’s piece is a terrific, in-depth look at the amount of Astros personnel that is involved in the decision as well as GM Jeff Luhnow’s role in scouting potential No. 1 picks. Elias says the Astros are still choosing from a pool of about seven players but won’t prematurely count anyone out or make any rushed rankings. Here’s more from Glassey and others on the upcoming…
Quick Hits: McCann, Zimmermann, Ryu, Twins
For those who are visual-minded baseball fans, the Los Angeles Times has an interactive graphic that allows users to see a side-by-side comparison of two teams’ salaries on a position-by-position basis. After you’re finished checking out what that looks like when you compare the Astros to the Dodgers and Yankees, here’s more from around the league… "The handwriting is on the wall" that Brian McCann will be playing for a new team in 2014, writes Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. Heyman opines that the strong play of Evan Gattis have given the Braves, who typically operate with a payroll around…