Innholdsfortegnelse for Friday, January 30, 2015 i Baseball America

SEPTEMBER 10 1989 IN THIS ISSUE: Our list of top catching prospects includes Todd Zeile, Sandy Alomar Jr., Todd Hundley, Tyler Houston, Francisco Cabrera, Ivan Rodriguez. ALSO: Scranton/WB tops International League in attendance thanks to “striking” new stadium. Craig Biggio delivered on his promise as a catcher while also playing center field and second base over a 20-year career before earning a spot in the Hall of Fame. Here’s a look back at Casey Tefertiller’s profile of the “baby-faced” Biggio. Larry Andersen takes umbrage at the suggestion his teammate, Craig Biggio, looks unusually young to play in the major leagues. “I don’t think he looks that young,” the Astros’ pitcher said. “Everybody looks like that in American Legion.” Baby-faced Biggio may look like a bat boy, but he carries a…

NEW YORK Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez and John Smoltz—baseball’s three newlyminted Hall of Fame pitchers—had a flair for demoralizing hitters during their illustrious major league careers. Now that they’ve officially reached the pinnacle of the profession, they’re happy to dispense with that whole “game-face” nonsense and display their less intimidating sides for public consumption. There was a fraternal bond on display during a news conference at the stately Waldorf Astoria hotel in Manhattan the day after January’s Hall of Fame election announcement. It was evident when Smoltz stood on a chair to plant the Hall cap on Johnson, right before the Big Unit needed multiple attempts to get the buttons on his ceremonial jersey aligned properly. When Johnson wasn’t poking fun at Martinez for being “5-8 or 5-9,” Pedro was…

ROYALS BACK IN AZL After getting out of the Arizona League for a year, the Royals have decided they missed the chain-link fences of the complex league. The Royals will return to the Arizona League in 2015, bringing the number of teams in the Rookie-level league back to 14. Kansas City had debated the merits of having seven or eight minor league teams for several years before deciding to try cutting back one club last season. After seeing what life was like with one less rookie club, the Royals felt the disadvantages outweighed the advantages. “We felt we were positioned to try it for a year,” Royals assistant general manager of baseball operations Scott Sharp said. “The advantage of leaving the AZL is it’s easy to pop back in there.”…

ORLANDO The American Baseball Coaches Association’s 71st annual convention unfolded like most others have in the 21st century. Coaches at all levels— high school and college—took in the trade show, held conference meetings, attended clinics from peers and professional instructors, and took time to catch up with old friends. In many respects, it was business as usual. Then came the ABCA’s honors luncheon, which featured honorees from Major League Baseball in Kansas City Royals manager Ned Yost and MLB commissioner-elect Rob Manfred, who was three weeks out from officially replacing Bud Selig. It was Manfred, who also spoke briefly during the clinics program earlier in the day, who stole the ABCA show and signaled that change is on the way. Manfred summarized his main message with the last sentences of…

The Rockies entered the 2014 season hoping to build on their improvement the year before and finish with a winning record for the first time since 2010. What resulted instead was a regime change following a 96-loss season, two shy of the club record set in 2012. The Rockies typically struggle away from Coors Field but reached new depths in 2014, losing 39 of their final 45 road games to finish 21-60 away from home. Shortly after the season ended, general manager Dan O’Dowd turned down a five-year extension and resigned. So did his chief assistant Bill Geivett, when he learned he wouldn’t be O’Dowd’s replacement. In O’Dowd’s 15 seasons as GM, the Rockies made the playoffs twice (as a wild card) and had four winning records. In August 2012,…

There are times where talented people all through baseball shake their heads at the Giants. The Giants won their third World Series title in five years last October, giving them one more title this decade than the Phillies or Cubs have won in more than 100 years of trying. Those three titles have come in dramatically different ways. The 2010 champions won with a lineup of veterans on the wrong side of 30, helped by homegrown regulars Buster Posey and Pablo Sandoval and an outstanding rotation fronted by Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain (along with rookie Madison Bumgarner). The next year, homegrown draft picks Brandon Belt and Brandon Crawford entered the lineup and reclamation project Ryan Voglesong filled a need in the rotation. So in 2012, San Francisco was ready…

NEW YORK After losing Brandon McCarthy to free agency, trading Shane Greene to the Diamondbacks and dealing with lingering health issues for Masahiro Tanaka and C.C. Sabathia, the Yankees believed upgrading the rotation was an offseason must. Yet the Yankees believe they received more than righthander Nathan Eovaldi from the Marlins. They’re high on 21-year-old righthander Domingo German, and believe two other young arms they acquired this winter will help. In addition to German, the Yankees received 22-year-old righthander Johnny Barbato from the Padres for Shawn Kelley. From the Braves the Yankees got 24-year-old lefty Chasen Shreve and David Carpenter for Manny Banuelos, who at one time was easily the Yankees’ top pitching prospect. “We like all of them,” general manager Brian Cashman said of the acquisitions. “We are trying…

ATLANTA In many ways 2014 presented mirror images for righthander James Hoyt and shortstop Elmer Reyes. Both players spent the first half of the regular season at Double-A Mississippi and earned spots on the Southern League all-star team. Both made their Triple-A debuts when they were promoted to Gwinnett in late June and continued to succeed. That momentum then carried into the Dominican League, where both Hoyt and Reyes played well for Cibao and Licey, respectively. “We got good reports on Elmer and James, and we’re happy with the progress of both players,” farm director Dave Trembley said. “For both those players, their winter ball experience should prove very valuable.” Hoyt and Reyes are survivors who have overcome hurdles that have them knocking on the door of the majors. A…

PHILADELPHIA Thin in pitching prospects at the start of the offseason, the Phillies are now set up to have an intriguing rotation at Double-A Reading in April. The team added three young arms in a pair of December trades. Zach Eflin and Tom Windle came from the Dodgers for Jimmy Rollins and Ben Lively from the Reds for Marlon Byrd. The trio was expected to join Aaron Nola at Reading next season. “It was important for us to add pitching and create some depth at the upper levels of our system,” general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said. “We are short, so they fill needs that we have. We have to be able to pitch to win, and we have to be able to develop pitching, long term. That’s why it…

KANSAS CITY Arkansas Baptist College is certainly not a place where scouts converge. “There are no scouts there,” righthander Torey Deshazier said. Deshazier went 6-3, 4.91 with 59 strikeouts in 59 innings in 2012 for the Little Rock junior college. When not pitching, he was a light-hitting shortstop with a .222 batting average, one extra-base hit (a double) and three RBIs. He also, not surprisingly, went undrafted. Zac Bottoms, his college coach, recommended Royals area scout Matt Price take a peek at Deshazier. Price saw Deshazier pitch a few times for the Buffaloes and liked his potential, signing him as a non-drafted free agent following the 2012 draft. He went to the Rookie-level Arizona League and posted a 1-3, 7.86 mark, but also had 43 strikeouts in 34 innings. He…

MILWAUKEE Shane Peterson’s career with the Cubs was, shall we say, rather brief. The lefthanded-hitting outfielder was claimed off waivers from the A’s by the Cubs on Dec. 19. Four days later, the Cubs placed Peterson on waivers and he was claimed by the Brewers. As it turns out, the Brewers had put in a waiver claim on Peterson when he was awarded to the Cubs. And they didn’t have to wait long for another chance as Chicago did more roster maneuvering. “Our scouts like him, so we claimed him before he was awarded to the Cubs,” Brewers general manager Doug Melvin said. “Then, we got another shot at him. “We like his versatility. He has played some first base and some center field. Not many first basemen can play…

HOUSTON Shortstop Carlos Correa, the Astros’ top position prospect, was deemed completely healed in late December after visiting with foot and ankle disorder specialist Dr. Kevin Varner of the Houston Methodist Hospital. Hard-throwing righthander Vince Velasquez, who was shut down late in the Arizona Fall League with a strained lat muscle, also was expected to be ready for spring training. Correa, 20, suffered a season-ending fractured right fibula in June and had surgery on June 25. “The last time he came to Houston, which was about two weeks ago, the report was very optimistic— completely healed,” Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow said. “He should be good to go. ” The top overall pick in the 2012 draft, Correa was close to a promotion to Double-A Corpus Christi when he suffered…

SEATTLE The Mariners announced their minor league roving instructors and coaching staffs for the upcoming 2015 season. Much to the delight of farm director Chris Gwynn, there is little change from 2014. The Mariners retained the majority of their minor league managers and coaches from the year before, maintaining continuity within the organization. “The message doesn’t get muddled,” Gwynn said. “Having the same guys—they’ve heard it all before and understand what is expected. ” Of the managers at their affiliates, only Pat Listach—the new manager of Triple-A Tacoma—wasn’t in the organization last season. Listach, who was first base coach for the Astros, replaces Roy Howell. “I think Pat is going to be big for us because of his experience at Triple-A and at the bigleague level,” Gwynn said. “He knows…

SAN DIEGO When Padres general manager A.J. Preller was an executive with the Rangers in 2009, Texas released minor league lefthander Frank Garces. Now with San Diego, Garces is giving Preller reason to hold on to him. Garces, 24, is coming off a breakout season with Double-A San Antonio after moving into a relief role and heads into 2015 as one of four lefthanders on the Padres’ 40-man roster with big league experience (along with Robbie Erlin, Cory Luebke and Alex Torres). He had 74 strikeouts and 24 walks over 66 innings with San Antonio and posted 2-5, 1.93 mark over 51 outings. Preller, who joined the Padres in July, promoted Garces to San Diego’s bullpen in August and again in September. The Dominican Republic native responded with 10 strikeouts…

SYRACUSE, N.Y. The second annual Swing For The Cure Camp, organized with the help of a collection of Northeast amateur scouts led by Tim Alexander (Rays) and Matt Hyde (Yankees) and current minor leaguers, raised $45,000 for four different causes in early January. The event took place at Syracuse Sports Zone and attracted talented prospects from the 2015 and 2016 draft classes. Prior to the 2014 draft, a response on a pre-draft questionnaire caught Hyde’s attention. New Jersey-bred righthander Devin Smeltzer (now a freshman at Florida Gulf Coast) wrote that he wanted to give back to those who had helped him in his inspirational fight against cancer. The idea, at first, was simple: Pro scouts would offer instruction to prospects in the Northeast in exchange for a nominal fee, which…

TORONTO It’s an exciting year for Canadian baseball. In July, the senior national team will have a chance to defend its gold medal finish from the 2011 Pan American Games, competing on home soil in Toronto. The country boasts one of the most exciting draft classes in some time—with prospects such as Demi Orimoleye and Josh Naylor— and several of those players will participate in the IBAF 18U World Cup in September in Koshien, Japan, after qualifying with a bronze medal finish in Mexico. Then in November, Canada will take part in the inaugural IBAF Premier 12 tournament in Taiwan, billed as “baseball’s highestranked international competition”—despite the United States not participating. “It’s the ultimate in why you do it,” Baseball Canada director of national teams Greg Hamilton said. “You do…

BOSTON Sometimes the rhetoric gets pretty heated, to the point where honest opinion is demeaned. I had someone rail at me on Twitter about Alan Trammell versus Lou Whitaker. Someone who clearly never saw them play regularly, did not discuss them with teammates and opponents and knew only what the screen blinked, as if baseball players are just numbers in a universe where they are not to be enjoyed as entertainers and competitors. Still, as the 2015 Hall of Fame ballots are folded forward to 2016, it is clear that the passion of the analytics world has been great for the process and for interest in the game itself. Tom Verducci says this election may be secondary only to the presidential election, and the divided and heated debates have resulted…

The Puerto Rican League was supposed to be a chance for Cubs’ infielder Javier Baez to take a breath, regroup after a rough finish to the 2014 season and build momentum to take into the upcoming year. It hasn’t gone entirely as planned. Baez’s contact issues have been just as apparent in Puerto Rico as they were in Chicago. In an admittedly short month in the Roberto Clemente League, Baez struck out in 21 of his 49 plate appearances (43 percent). His strikeout rate was the worst in the league among players with 20 or more plate appearances. He hit .233/.306/.442 while hitting two home runs and stealing two bases. Making those numbers a little more disconcerting, Baez isn’t facing Adam Wainwright or Johnny Cueto. The Puerto Rican League’s pitchers…

After winning 94 games behind Major League Player of the Year Clayton Kershaw and capturing the National League West title for the second straight season, the Dodgers weren’t exactly in desperate need of a major overhaul. Yet after the 2014 season ended with the Dodgers eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, widespread change began quickly, starting at the top. General manager Ned Colletti, who reached the playoffs five times in his nine seasons running the team, was pushed aside (but remained with the organization as a senior adviser) when the Dodgers hired Rays general manager Andrew Friedman to run the show as the president of baseball operations, signing him to a five-year, $35 million contract. Friedman hired Athletics assistant GM Farhan Zaidi as his GM and shuffled several…

BOSTON | Red Sox For statistics, organization reports, prospect lists and recent drafts, check out: www.baseballamerica.com/today/teams BOSTON Matt Barnes’ 2014 season didn’t exactly stick to the script. Afforded a chance to impress with a nonroster invitation to spring training, Barnes instead was shut down due to shoulder tenderness incurred in his first game. His stuff seemed less dynamic once he returned to the mound in Triple-A Pawtucket, and he went 4-7, 5.06 with 6.9 strikeouts and 3.7 walks per nine innings in the first half while struggling with pitch efficiency. Some evaluators considered it a matter of when, not if, he’d move to the bullpen. After the all-star break, however, the right-hander adjusted the tilt on his back to move his arm to a higher slot. The change took, and…

ST. PETERSBURG, FLA. In making a series of trades that changed the look of their major league team, the Rays provided a needed boost to their minor league system by adding several promising prospects. The player likely to have the most impact in 2015 is outfielder Steven Souza, the 2014 Triple-A International League MVP who came from the Nationals in the threeway deal that sent Wil Myers to the Padres. But the Rays expect big contributions from a number of the others. Next closest to the majors is a pair of righthanders, hard-throwing righthander Jose Dominguez—“a reliever with electric stuff,” Rays VP Chaim Bloom said—who was acquired from the Dodgers, and starter Burch Smith, who came from San Diego in the Myers deal. From the Diamondbacks in a deal for…

MIAMI Michael Mader upon joining the Marlins organization made a distinction that was at the crux of his successful debut season. A supplemental third-round pick in 2014 out of Chipola (Fla.) JC, Mader grasped the difference between listening and hearing. “In college, I don’t want to say like I acted like I knew it all, but I didn’t listen as much as I should have,” Mader said. “I heard my coach. When I got to pro ball and met (the Marlins’ staff ) I told myself to be a sponge and absorb everything I heard.” Mader kept that promise to himself throughout his first season, and it showed statistically. In 12 starts and 45 innings for short-season Batavia, the lefty logged a 2.00 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and struck out 28.…

CLEVELAND Perhaps no pitcher in the Indians system had a better developmental year in 2014 than lefthander Ryan Merritt. A 16th-round pick by the Indians out of McLennan (Texas) CC in 2011, Merritt was 9-13, 3.61 over his first three years in the organization. But in 2014 at high Class A Carolina, Merritt had a breakout season that was so impressive he pitched his way onto the Indians’ 40-man roster. In 25 starts, Merritt was 13-3, 2.58 with 127 strikeouts and 25 walks in 160 innings. He led the Carolina League in WHIP (0.95), wins and innings pitched. He finished third in the league in ERA and fourth in strikeouts. He topped all Indians minor league pitchers in ERA. “Ryan has made the most of his development opportunities with us…

MINNEAPOLIS The Twins set out last season to find Mitch Garver’s best position. Turns out, it was the one he already had. Garver, one of four catchers Minnesota drafted in 2013, came to camp last spring expecting to get some playing time at first base and perhaps learn to play the outfield, ideas the Twins floated to keep his bat in the lineup. Instead, the Albuquerque native blossomed into a low Class A Midwest League all-star behind the plate, and convinced the Twins that he’s got the potential to do it at higher levels, too. “We thought it was questionable that he could stay there,” Twins vice president for player personnel Mike Radcliff said of the 6-foot-1, 220-pound Garver. “He’s strong, but he’s got a stiff body, like a football…

PITTSBURGH The Pirates had 20 straight losing seasons from 1993-2012, the longest stretch in North American professional team sports history. Rarely did they trade prospects for veterans as they were perpetually rebuilding. However, the philosophy has begun shifting after not only snapping their streak but making the postseason the past two seasons. The Pirates have traded two pitching prospects of note this offseason for complementary pieces on the major league team, dealing lefthander Joely Rodriguez to the Phillies for lefthanded reliever Antonio Bastardo and righthander Buddy Borden to the Rays for utility player Sean Rodriguez. Rodriguez and Borden are not premium prospects. Rodriguez was placed on the 40-man roster prior to last season then shined in the Arizona Fall League. “It shows how we’ve evolved as an organization,” general manager…

LOS ANGELES The Angels are confident that Roberto Baldoquin, a 20-year-old Cuban middle infielder who agreed to an $8-million bonus in November, will develop into an everyday shortstop or second baseman. General manager Jerry Dipoto said the 5-foot-11, 195-pound Baldoquin physically “looks like a cross between Yunel Escobar and Adrian Beltre” and is very polished for his age. “He’s not a raw, let’s-wait-and-see-how-thisturns-out projection,” Dipoto said. “He looks like a major league player now. He needs a little time in the minor leagues to adjust to a new country, but he’s a pretty mature kid. ” The Angels have been relatively quiet in the international market but have beefed up their scouting and player development efforts, especially in Latin America, in recent years. The righthanded-hitting Baldoquin will attend big league…

PHOENIX Righthander Jimmie Sherfy has a fastball that jumps out of his hand. By using it more in the Arizona Fall League, his numbers jumped off the page. Sherfy hit 100 mph for the first time in his career in his first AFL appearance in October, but as important to the Diamondbacks was the way he embraced the pitch and led with it for the first time in his pro career. “Honestly, my whole life my slider has been my pitch,” said Sherfy, a 10th-round pick out of Oregon in 2013. “I’ve never really trusted my fastball in a way. This league, my fastball has been so much better because I have been trusting it. ” Sherfy, 23, was 1-0, 0.93 with 10 strikeouts and three walks in nine innings…

SAN FRANCISCO If outfielder Jarrett Parker accomplishes nothing more in his baseball career, he can say he was on the roster of a World Series championship team. He’ll even have a ring to prove it—even though he still hasn’t made his major league debut. Confused? So was Parker last year when the Giants called him up from Double-A Richmond on Aug. 1, only to send him out the next day. Parker’s big league experience consisted of watching from the dugout at Citi Field as the Giants beat the Mets 5-1 and fellow callup Matt Duffy collected his first hit. The Giants sent out Parker the next day when they activated Brandon Belt from the seven-day concussion list, and because they already had a glut of outfielders, they didn’t recall him…

TRIVIALITY It’s only trivial if you don’t know the answer. Clayton Kershaw struck out 10 and walked zero batters against the Cardinals in the National League Division Series, but also yielded eight earned runs. Only twice in the last 100 years has a pitcher had double-digit strikeouts, zero walks and at least eight earned runs. Who did it? » SO LONG: Carlos Delgado joins an exclusive, yet unfortunate, group of Hall of Fame candidates who lasted just one year on the ballot. So pencil in Delgado at first base on the one-and-done all-star team of players who failed to net at least 5 percent of the vote. The lineup: 1B: Delgado. 2B: Lou Whitaker. SS: Tony Fernandez. 3B: Matt Williams. LF: Brian Giles. CF: Kenny Lofton. RF: Moises Alou. C:…

After the slew of trades that the Braves have made in the offseason, what would a new Top 10 Prospects list look like? ANDREW THURMOND, HOBOKEN, N.J, The Top 10 Prospects list for the Braves published in December looks quaint now following Atlanta’s busy offseason of adding young, talented players. Four of the Braves’ revised Top 10 Prospects have been brought in through offseason trades. The Braves have traded away lower-ceiling minor leaguers such as Kyle Kubitza and Chasen Shreve but have brought in prospects who have a better chance of being impact players. Mike Foltynewicz reaches 100 mph and has an above-average breaking ball, though he may lack the control to start. Max Fried won’t pitch significant innings until 2016 as he recovers from Tommy John surgery. Ricardo Sanchez…

The East Coast Professional Showcase, one of the top events on the summer showcase schedule, is moving to Tampa this summer. The Yankees will host this year’s version of the event at Steinbrenner Field from July 27-30. Scouts choose the 150 players who attend East Coast Pro every year, and the event has grown in stature since its first year in 1996, when it was held in Chapel Hill, N.C. The event moved to Wilmington, N.C., for several years before a stint in Lakeland, Fla., and then Syracuse, N.Y. John Castleberry, a crosschecker with the Giants, has been involved with East Coast Pro since its inception and helps run it with Diamondbacks crosschecker Howard McCullough. Castleberry said the event would likely be in Tampa for two or three years, but…

DENVER Agent Ron Shapiro vividly remembers that early-morning phone call from then-Orioles general manager Hank Peters in the midst of the 1983 season. The names of a number of Orioles players had surfaced in an FBI investigation of a Baltimore drug ring, and Shapiro, who lived in Baltimore, was the agent for the bulk of the roster. “Rather than getting sucked into the agent-owner disengagement, Hank had the ability to neutralize emotions,” Shapiro said. “He wanted to solve problems and he understood the importance of being able to work with all parties to discover the truth. “What underscored Hank is that instead of reacting to the speculation, he was very calm in sorting through the facts. Edward Bennett Williams was the owner of the team and he was an emotional…

For a team on its way to the majors’ worst record at 64-98, following two straight .500 seasons, it came as no surprise that the Diamondbacks contemplated significant changes as the 2014 season wore on. The biggest splash came in May, with the announcement that Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa was joining the organization in a new role of chief baseball officer. He had been working in the commissioner’s office since retiring as the manager of the Cardinals after the 2011 season. After taking most of the summer to evaluate the organization, La Russa’s first major move was the removal of Kevin Towers as general manager, a post he’d held since 2010. La Russa hired his former ace with the Athletics, Dave Stewart, as the new GM on…

The Padres have averaged 87 losses per season since 2011, and they haven’t qualified for the playoffs since 2006, but in recent years they lead the industry in one category: general manager hires. A.J. Preller is the third man to hold that title in the five years since San Diego fired 14-year GM Kevin Towers after an 87-loss campaign in 2009. Preller follows Josh Byrnes and, before him, Jed Hoyer, the current Cubs GM whose Padres clubs followed a fluky 90-win season in 2010 with a 91-loss dud in 2011. San Diego fired Byrnes in mid-June and hired Preller in early August. In between, interim GM A.J. Hinch executed a number of salary-shedding, prospect-acquiring deadline deals. Most notably, Hinch traded away veterans Chase Headley and Huston Street in mid-July, bringing…

BALTIMORE As Jonah Heim stepped into the batting cage during last January’s minicamp in Sarasota, Orioles manager Buck Showalter summoned bench coach John Russell to check on the player’s identity. Told it was Heim, he immediately began to rattle off information from the catcher’s biography. The Orioles selected three high school catchers among their first seven picks in the 2013 amateur draft. Heim, a switchhitter, was chosen in the fourth round out of Amherst (N.Y.) High. Heim, 19, had a commitment to Michigan State, but he agreed to a slot bonus of $389,700. The offensive side of Heim’s game has been slower to develop, but he’s shown great promise behind the plate. “Everything mechanically is solid,” Matt Merullo, Heim’s manager at short-season Aberdeen and a former major league catcher, told…

TORONTO A.J. Jimenez is doing his best to make sure that he does not become the forgotten man among Blue Jays catching prospects. “A.J. is having a strong winter ball,” assistant general manager Tony LaCava said. Strong became spectacular to start the round-robin playoff stage of the Puerto Rican League, when Jimenez went 7-for-12 with a grand slam, three doubles and seven RBIs to help Santurce open with three consecutive victories. The 24-year-old, who is two seasons removed from Tommy John surgery that sidetracked his rise through the system, batted .311/.373/.437 with one homer and 14 RBIs in 32 games for Santurce. One of the goals in 2014 for Jimenez, a 2008 ninth-round pick from Bayamon, P.R., was just trying to stay healthy after playing a combined 67 games in…

NEW YORK Paul Sewald had an extra benefit while participating with Scottsdale in the Arizona Fall League. Sewald, a 24-year-old righthanded reliever, had the chance to share an off-campus apartment with his brother Johnny and two other Arizona State baseball players. “I was like, ‘Hey, I’m coming down, do you mind if I stay?” the Mets prospect said as the AFL season concluded. “Everyone was excited. It’s been really cool. I got to spend a lot of time with him, a lot of time with his roommates . . . It’s been nice. My brother had never been able to see me play professionally, obviously, because he’s always playing when I’m playing.” Sewald was a 10thround pick in 2012 out of San Diego. His brother, four years younger, was selected…

DETROIT Angel Nesbitt throws hard. But the Tigers say the righthander already has made the transition from hard thrower to pitcher. General manager Dave Dombrowski said Nesbitt could be heard from soon. “He throws in the upper 90s, so who’s to say that all of a sudden he’s not ready to pitch for us?” Dombrowski said. “This guy, he throws hard. He’s a good pitcher, too. Other hard throwers that we’ve brought up in the past, he’s in the same neighborhood as them. He was successful at Double-A for us.” Nesbitt, 24, went 3-0, 1.48 in 2014 while splitting time between high Class A Lakeland and Double-A Erie. After the season, the Tigers added Nesbitt to the 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 draft. That move will…

CHICAGO For all the attention on players making progress in 2014, has anybody seen Albert Almora ? It would have been easy to overlook Theo Epstein’s first draft pick with the Cubs amid the pomp surrounding debuts of Javier Baez, Jorge Soler and Arismendy Alcantara, along with the celebrated season of Kris Bryant . After struggling much of last season as a 20-year-old in high Class A Daytona and Double-A Tennessee, Almora goes into 2015 with more to prove. “We still believe in Albert. He believes in himself,” farm director Jaron Madison said. “He did get off to a rough start, and for the first time in his life he struggled.” Almora hit just .242 with 15 extra-base hits more than two months into the season— before a month-long surge…

ST. LOUIS When the Cardinals canvassed the market for a potential upgrade at backup catcher, one thing they’ve always assumed became clear. Their best bet for a backup is to develop a backup. It’s how they found Tony Cruz, after all. “I think that’s worthy of a conversation in terms of is there a way to upgrade,” general manager John Mozeliak said. The team “will have to balance how much we use Yadi moving forward. Two major injuries this year and just to protect him as best we can. When you look at that backup catching market is there something that couple make us a little stronger?” The Cardinals tendered a contract to Cruz, Yadier Molina’s close teammate and backup for the past three seasons, and they intend to have…

OAKLAND The message from first baseman Mark Canha could be echoed by a thousand voices. “What people don’t realize is there’s a lot of really good players in the minor leagues,” he said, “but there’s not room of all of them in the majors.” Canha has finally bashed his way to an opportunity. He will join the re-tooled Athletics as a Rule 5 draftee for spring training, where he will have every opportunity to make a team that is under construction in a different way. The A’s have traded away proven stars for minor leaguers, but the youth movement is built around players the scouting staff has identified as hidden gems rather than blue-chippers. And, Canha is one of those gems. “Mark Canha has a strong history of performance at…

LOS ANGELES One of the first things Andrew Friedman did after becoming the Dodgers’ new president of baseball operations was to spend some time at the training complex in Arizona, watching a handful of the team’s top prospects compete in the Arizona Fall League. Among that group was blue-chip prospect Corey Seager. Friedman and the Dodgers’ new hierarchy of decision-makers clearly see the 20-year-old Seager as the team’s shortstop of the future. But how close is that future? “I don’t think it’s fair to necessarily put a timeline on him,” Friedman said. “He’s an incredibly impressive prospect. His hands work really well on both sides of the ball. He’s got a maturity about him both in terms of how he prepares and how he plays the game. “It’s obviously too…

Cuban righthander Yoan Lopez has agreed to sign with the Diamondbacks for $8.25 million. Lopez is 21, so he is subject to the international bonus pools. The Lopez signing puts the Diamondbacks well beyond their allotted pool space for the current 2014-15 signing period, which means that, along with a 100 percent tax on their pool overage, they will not be able to sign anyone for more than $300,000 for the next two signing periods, starting with the 2015-16 signing period that begins on July 2. That’s a significant sacrifice for the Diamondbacks, who finished with the worst record in the majors last season and will have the biggest international bonus pool in 2015-16. Lopez’s bonus is the biggest one ever for a player subject to the bonus pools since…

Arizona Diamondbacks: Signed SS Nick Punto. Re-signed LHP Jose Jose, 1B Jordan Pacheco, 2B Gerson Montilla and OF Aaron Cunningham. Atlanta Braves: Signed LHPs Jeremy Benson and Leyson Septimo, SS Isranel Wilson andOF Joe Benson. Released RHP Rafael Rodriguez, C Nathan Hass, 2B Trevor Sprowl, 3B Joe Leonard and OFs Alejandro Piloto and Juan Puello. Traded RHP Nate Hyatt and 3B Kyle Kubitza to Angels for LHP Ricardo Sanchez Baltimore Orioles: Signed RHP Jose Mateo, LHP Cesar Cabral and C J.P.Arencibia. Boston Red Sox: Signed SS Jeff Bianchi and OF Blake Tekotte. Released RHP Oscar Perez, LHPs Nate Reed and Rob Smorol, C Jayson Hernandez, 1B Matt Gedman and OF Kevin Mager. Boston Red Sox: Signed SS Jeff Bianchi and OF Blake Tekotte. Released RHP Oscar Perez, LHPs Nate Reed…