Oswalt to Rangers?

Oswalt would join already deep Texas stable

With or without righty, Rangers loaded with rotation candidates

By T.R. Sullivan / MLB.com

ARLINGTON — The Rangers have had their meeting with free-agent pitcher Roy Oswalt. There is no word yet if Texas will actually sign him, as a source said the situation remains ongoing and unresolved.

If the Rangers sign Oswalt, they would be adding a proven, experienced Major League pitcher to their 40-man roster. They would be a signing a two-time 20-game winner who was clearly a No. 1 starter in his prime.

They would also have unprecedented starting-pitching depth. There were years in the Rangers’ history when they would have gladly settled for a rotation consisting of the sixth-through the 10th-best starters on their current roster. There are teams in the Major Leagues right now that would be thrilled to have that for their current rotation.

That is, assuming the Rangers actually sign Oswalt, which is not yet the case and may not come to pass. If it does, a case could be made that the Rangers would have at least 10 pitchers who could be considered legitimate candidates for a Major League rotation.

Here is at look at those 10:

Colby Lewis

Credentials:He is a durable right-hander who is 26-23 in 64 starts and 401 1/3 innings over the past two years. He is 4-1 with a 2.34 ERA in eight playoff starts.

Concerns:He doesn’t throw as hard as the other starters and relies on pinpoint control and location. He has allowed 56 home runs over the past two years, tied for the fourth most in the Majors.

Outlook:Lewis is scheduled to be the Rangers’ Opening Day starter. He can be a free agent after the season.

Derek Holland

Credentials:He had a breakthrough season in 2011, going 16-5 with a 3.95 ERA in 32 starts. He was 2-0 with a 3.38 ERA in the postseason. The Rangers see him as a pitcher who can dominate with his stuff.

Concerns:He has a tendency to be erratic, but that disappeared in the second half of last season, when he went 9-1 with a 3.06 ERA in 14 starts.

Outlook:The Rangers thought highly enough of Holland this winter to discuss a long-term contract with him even though he is not yet eligible for arbitration. The deal did not get done, but the Rangers still think highly of him. They will not be taking him out of the rotation.

Yu Darvish

Credentials:He was a superstar in Japan and appears to be the best pitcher from that country to make the jump to the United States. He is 25 years old, stands 6-foot-5 and the reports say he has dominating stuff.

Concerns:He has never pitched in the Major Leagues and will have a number of adjustments to make. Most notable will be handling the Texas heat.

Outlook:The Rangers did not invest $111 million in him so that he could pitch out of the bullpen.

Matt Harrison

Credentials:He was 14-9 with a 3.39 ERA that ranked as the 15th lowest in the American League last season. He had a WHIP (walks plus hits per inning pitched) of 1.28. It was the fourth-best WHIP on the staff but also the seventh-best by a qualifying Rangers pitcher since the beginning of the 1994 season.

Concerns:He did not pitch particularly well during the World Series last year. He has probably had more physical issues during his career, especially with his shoulder, than any returning starter on the staff.

Outlook:He would likely be the pitcher who would face the biggest threat from Oswalt.

Alexi Ogando

Credentials:He was an AL All-Star in 2011 in only his second season in the Majors. He ended up 13-8 with a 3.51 ERA.

Concerns:He was 4-5 with a 4.48 ERA in the second half, which suggested opponents caught up with his lack of Major League-caliber secondary pitches.

Outlook:He is likely headed back to the bullpen to make room for Darvish even if the Rangers don’t sign Oswalt.

Neftali Feliz

Credentials:He pitched well as a starting pitcher in the Minors until moving to the bullpen at the Major League level. He was one of the best closers in the game the past two years.

Concerns:He needs to sharpen his secondary pitches and adjust to the increased work load as a starter. He also needs to be more economical with his pitches as a starter.

Outlook:The Rangers are committed to shifting him to the rotation.

Roy Oswalt

Credentials:He is 159-93 with a 3.21 ERA in 329 Major League games, including 326 starts. He won 20 games in both 2004 and ’05. He is 5-2 with a 3.73 ERA in 13 postseason appearances.

Concerns:He is 34 and has a history of back issues. He was 9-10 with a 3.69 ERA in 23 starts for the Phillies last year.

Outlook:He wants to be a starter, and his agent is making that clear. If the Rangers sign him, it wouldn’t be because they want him in the bullpen.

Scott Feldman

Credentials:He was the Rangers’ Pitcher of the Year in 2009, when he went 17-8 with a 4.08 ERA and was their Opening Day starter in 2010.

Concerns:He has spent the past two years recovering from surgery on his right knee.

Outlook:There are clubs that would love to have him in their rotation but most likely he will be a middle/long reliever again for the Rangers. He pitched well in that role in the playoffs.

Michael Kirkman

Credentials:Don’t forget this guy was the Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Year in 2010 and was a legitimate candidate for the rotation last spring. If he had pitched better in March, he might have beaten out Ogando for a spot in the rotation after Tommy Hunter went down with an injury.

Concerns:He got out of whack last season and did not pitch well, either at the Major League level or Triple-A Round Rock, where his ERA went from 3.09 in 2010 to 5.05.

Outlook:His best chance to make the club will be as a left-handed reliever.

Martin Perez

Credentials:He is ranked 29th on MLB.com’s list of Top 100 prospects and doesn’t turn 21 until April.

Concerns:He was 4-4 with a 6.43 ERA in 10 starts at Triple-A last season. He seems to take time in adjusting to a higher level and better competition.

Outlook: There were so many years when the Rangers would have killed for a pitching prospect of this magnitude and he would have been the biggest story of Spring Training. Now his best shot is making the team as a reliever but he might be better off starting the season back in Triple-A.

T.R. Sullivan is a reporter for MLB.com. Read his blog, Postcards from Elysian Fields, and follow him on Twitter @Sullivan_Ranger. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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• Sources Say Oswalt Wants Rangers Or Cardinals (dfw.cbslocal.com)
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Kings Of Baseball

Reblogged from Daily Sports Links:

Interesting article from SI’s Will Carroll on the best players of all time.

Fat Bastard

Stop Sqaushing and Start Driving

Reblogged from jaseturner:

Click on the link above to check on the concept of getting the back side through the zone. Notice that many of the hitters are actually using their lower half to torque the rest of the body (hands) through…this keeps our motion on a linear path towards the baseball.

Yes, many of these hitters are power hitters, hence, the homework derby – however – guys like Cano and Ortiz are actually good hitters as well.

Pat Burrell Calls It Quits After 12 Seasons and 292 Homers

Burrell, No. 1 overall pick in ’98, calls it a career

Slugger won World Series with Phillies in ’08, Giants in ’10

By Joey Nowak / MLB.com

Pat Burrell is retiring after a 12-year Major League career, according to multiple reports that surfaced on Monday afternoon.

Tim Dierkes of MLB Trade Rumors first reported that the 35-year-old outfielder was hanging up his cleats, and Ken Rosenthal of MLB Network and FOXSports.com confirmed the report on his Twitter account.

Burrell spent the bulk of his career with the Phillies, winning a World Series in 2008, then most recently with the Giants, where he got his second World Series ring in 2010.

He experienced a renaissance of sorts that season after the Rays released him after 24 games. Burrell signed on with the Giants and batted .266 with 18 homers and 51 RBIs in 341 plate appearances.

Burrell played in 92 games in 2011, batting .230 with 21 RBIs and seven home runs. The No. 1 overall pick in the 1998 First-Year Player Draft, he hit 20 or more homers nine times, finishing his career with 292 home runs.

Joey Nowak is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter at @joeynowak.‬ This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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Phils Add Right Handed Bullpen Help With Chad Qualls

Phils bolster bullpen with veteran righty Qualls

By Todd Zolecki / MLB.com

PHILADELPHIA – The Phillies wanted more bullpen depth, so Tuesday they signed right-hander Chad Qualls to a one-year, $1.15 million contract.

Qualls, 33, is expected to join a ‘pen that could include Jonathan Papelbon, Jose Contreras, Antonio Bastardo, Mike Stutes, Kyle Kendrick and Dontrelle Willis, with several others in the mix in Spring Training.

Qualls provides the Phils another veteran right-handed arm, which might prove necessary because of the uncertainty surrounding Contreras’ health. Contreras had right elbow surgery last year, and while the Phillies believe he could be ready close to Opening Day, nobody is certain.

“Chad was one of those guys that was available to us at a reasonable price for what he can do,” Philadelphia general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said Tuesday. “He has the ability to pitch in the seventh and the eighth. We’ll see where he fits. [Manager] Charlie [Manuel] and [pitching coach Rich] Dubee and Chad will decide that, but he’s certainly a guy with a power-sinker and power-slider combination.

“He was throwing very well at the end of the year. He’s had some battles with consistency, but he clearly has ability and some durability. And those are pretty important elements.”

Qualls, 33, went 6-8 with a 3.51 ERA in 77 appearances last season with the Padres. He had a 1.96 ERA in his final 19 appearances, but he went 4-5 with a 5.05 ERA in 38 appearances on the road, compared to 2-3 with a 2.09 ERA in 39 appearances in pitcher-friendly Petco Park.

“We looked at it. We saw it,” Amaro said. “We took a look at some of that data and information, but at the end of the day, when we discussed it with our scouts, we just felt like this type of a risk on a guy was not all that big of a risk. We kind of know what we’re going to get out of him.”

Right-handers hit just .218 with a .537 OPS against Qualls last season, while left-handers had much better success, hitting .320 with an .881 OPS.

Qualls has more appearances (512) over the previous seven seasons than any other pitcher. He is 38-34 with a 3.78 ERA and 51 saves in 537 career appearances with Houston, Arizona, Tampa Bay and San Diego.

His deal includes performance and award bonuses. He will wear No. 50.

“If he’s throwing strikes regularly, he’ll do some damage for us,” Amaro said.

Amaro said he does not expect any similar moves before the beginning of Spring Training on Feb. 19.

Todd Zolecki is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Related articles

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• Mets inquire on free agent reliever Chad Qualls (hardballtalk.nbcsports.com)
• Padres Decline Options On Harang, Hawpe, Qualls (mlbtraderumors.com)

Wilson! A Strange Phillies Trade...

Reblogged from Phillies Phollowers:

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In an odd move this week, the Phillies traded my favorite utility man, Wilson Valdez, to the Reds for a minor-league pitcher.  26-year old Jeremy Horst spent most of last season with triple-A Louisville, where he posted a 1-4 record and had a 2.81 ERA in 36 games.  He did make 12 relief appearances for the Reds and posted a 2.93 ERA. 

Read more… 253 more words

New Playoff Format in '12?

Reblogged from Mezzanine Report:

Realignment in Bud Selig's time

Bud Selig and the Players’ Union are trying to work out a way for the new playoff format to come to fruition a year ahead of schedule. The original time table of the new playoff format in Major League Baseball is the ’13 Season when the Houston Astros are moved from the NL Central to the AL West to form 6 5 team divisions in baseball.

Read more… 242 more words

First Inductees into the Baseball Hall of Fame

Reblogged from Sowing Culture:

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On January 29, 1936, the first five men elected for induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame were publicly announced: Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson, and Walter Johnson.  However, the official induction ceremony did not take place until 1939 when the Hall opened in Cooperstown, New York.  To date, 297 individuals have been inducted into the Hall of Fame, and approximately 350,000 baseball fans make the pilgrimage to Cooperstown each year.

Read more… 113 more words

The Future of Alfredo Simon

Reblogged from MLB reports:

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Follow @mlbreports

Sunday January 29th, 2012

Sam Evans: Alfredo Simon has not had the Major League career that most people grew up dreaming about. He’s never maintained success in his four years in the big leagues, plus he was accused of murdering a man during the last offseason. Luckily for Simon, he has a chance to be a starter in Baltimore’s talent-deprived rotation.

Read more… 1,075 more words

Prospecting Prospects, A Prospectus

Breaking down MLB.com’s Top 100 Prospects

By Jonathan Mayo / MLB.com

MLB.com’s first Top 100 Prospects listis now, as they said in “Mission: Impossible,” out in the open. Now the fun is just beginning.

The whole purpose of this kind of list is to get people talking, arguing, pushing and shoving. OK, not that last part. But every year this list has come out — just 50 in seasons past — the debates and comments have been passionate, to say the least.

Mike Trout

Arguments are bound to start right at the top. There was general consensus about who the top three prospects are among the scouts polled for the rankings. Matt Moore, Bryce Harper and Mike Trout were the top three on nearly everyone’s list. But there was no consensus on the order; that deck could be easily shuffled in any way and an argument could be made for whatever came out.

After that, debate could center around any of the other 97 on the list, who received Ryan Gosling-sized snubs by not making the list, or which teams’ systems didn’t get the love they deserved. The list, by the very nature of projecting prospects, is a subjective undertaking, done specifically to move the opinion needle.

To be eligible for the Top 100 list, a player must have rookie eligibility. To qualify for rookie status, a player must not have exceeded 130 at-bats or 50 innings pitched in the Major Leagues or accumulated more than 45 days on the active roster of a Major League club or clubs during the 25-player-limit period, excluding time on the disabled list or in military service.

Jeremy Hellickson

International signees like Yu Darvish, in case you were wondering, are not being considered. Prospect Watch follows the guidelines laid out by the new Collective Bargaining Agreement: Players who are at least 23 years old and played in leagues deemed to be professional (Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Cuba) are not eligible.

With those requirements in mind, each scout was asked to anonymously provide his own top 50 prospects list. An AP poll-type format was used. If, say, a scout put Moore in the top spot (eight of them did), Moore would get 50 points, 49 points for the second prospect, and on down to one point for the 50th prospect on each list. The more scouts involved, the more thorough the list, but there’s no avoiding having some opinion form the overall rankings.

The Graduates

Six of the first 10 from the 2011 Top 50 rankings are now considered big leaguers. Three of them — Jeremy Hellickson (No. 2), Dustin Ackley (5) and Eric Hosmer (8) — received American League Rookie of the Year votes. No. 13 Michael Pineda and Desmond Jennings (11) also got ROY votes, an award won by Hellickson. National League Rookie of the Year winner Craig Kimbrel wasn’t a Top 50 guy, but runner-up Freddie Freeman (17) was. Nineteen players from last year’s list are no longer deemed eligible due to their loss of rookie status.

Michael Pineda

Others dropped for other reasons, like injury and poor performance. With the new, extended list, some just moved into the 51-100 range, like Aaron Hicks (from 39 to 72), Wilin Rosario (41 to 63) and Chris Archer (47 to 74). Some fell off the rankings completely because of injury (Kyle Gibson and John Lamb) or a bad 2011 performance (Tyler Matzek) or maybe a combination of the two (Tanner Scheppers or Jose Iglesias). In total there are 30 new names in the first 50 this year that didn’t appear in the 2011 preseason rankings.

Team competition

Every team has at least one player in the Top 100. The White Sox brought up the rear, with just one player on the list (righty Addison Reed) coming in at 100. The Indians also only have one representative, though shortstop Francisco Lindor is at No. 32 overall.

Prospect Points

Giving 100 points to the team with the No. 1 prospect, 99 to the team with No. 2 and on down, below are the top 10 teams in terms of “prospect points.”                               

Team	Top 100	Points
Mariners	5	329
Royals	4	290
Pirates	4	276
Braves	5	267
D-backs	3	253
Padres	6	237
Rangers	4	236
Rockies	4	229
Yankees	4	225
Nationals	4	206

Three teams tied for the top of the list, with six prospects each. It should probably surprise no one that the Rays are one of those teams. The other two organizations with a half-dozen prospects stockpiled with offseason trades. Three of the A’s six came from the Gio Gonzalez trade and the Padres added a pair courtesy of the Mat Latos deal (13 of the top 50 have been involved in at least one trade).

Bryce Harper

Does having the most prospects give you the best system? Not necessarily. Presence on a Top 100 list doesn’t speak to depth in a system or where talent is on the organizational ladder. But what if a weighted score was devised so as to look at which system had the most impact or elite talent? Giving 100 points to the team with the No. 1 prospect, 99 to No. 2 and on down, it turned out it wasn’t the teams with the six names on the list that ranked at the top.

The Seattle Mariners, now with five Top 100 prospects thanks to the Jesus Montero trade, had a total of 329 “prospect points,” with three of those five landing in the top 50. The Kansas City Royals were second, even though they only had four names in the Top 100. But all four were in the top 50. The Pirates (276 points), Braves (267) and D-backs (253) rounded out the top five. The Padres and their six prospects finished sixth with 237 points, the Rays were 11th (198) and the A’s placed 13th (179).

Breakdown by position

Pos.	Top 100	Top 50
RHP	36	20
OF	21	8
LHP	12	7
SS	11	5
C	8	3
3B	8	4
1B	3	3
2B	1	0

Positional breakdown

You can never have enough pitching. That’s what they always say, right? This list, and the ones that have preceded it, prove most teams believe it, and that it’s important to grow your own arms.

In 2011, half of the 50 ranked prospects were pitchers. This year went over the 50 percent mark, with 27 hurlers in the top 50. The overall list is just a tiny bit less pitching-heavy, with 48 pitchers in the Top 100. The complete breakdown looks like this: 36 right-handed pitchers (20 in the top 50), 21 outfielders (eight in top 50), 12 left-handed pitchers (seven), 11 shortstops (five), eight catchers (three), eight third basemen (four), three first basemen (three) and a single second baseman who was not in the top 50.

Lefty-righty split

The lefty-righty breakdown on the mound is pretty severe, with right-handers holding a large edge. But what about the 52 hitters on the list?

That group is righty-dominant as well. A total of 33 of those 52 hitters are right-handed, with 13 of the 23 top 50 guys hitting from the right side. A dozen hitters are lefties (seven in the top 50) and there are seven switch-hitters (three top 50). The top 10 is a little more equitable, with two right-handers (Trout and Manny Machado), a lefty (Harper) and a switch-hitter in Jurickson Profar.

DRAFT CLASSES

A look at the Draft classes represented in the Top 100 Prospects list:

Draft	Top 100		Draft	Top 100
2006	4		2009	14
2007	7		2010	25
2008	12		2011	17

Feeling the Draft

Whether it’s a bias of the list’s creator or just the way the Minors looks right now can be debated, but there’s no question the Top 100 is very, very Draft-heavy.

A total of 79 players on the list came to the pro game via the Draft. The 2010 Draft is the most heavily represented with 25 players. Last year’s Draft comes in second with 17 and the 2009 Draft is third with 14 players.

It should come as no surprise that the vast majority of draftees on the list were first-rounders. Half of the 100, in fact, were taken in the first round. The second round was second with nine Top 100 players, but the fourth round pulled a little upset with four players, one more than the third round.

when did they go?

A look at the rounds of the Draft represented in the Top 100 Prospects list:

Round	Top 100		Round	Top 100
1st	50		7th	1
2nd	9		11th	1
4th	4		14th	1
3rd	3		18th	1
8th	3		38th	1
5th	2		41st	1

Equally expected is the fact that No. 1 overall picks have a bigger representation than most other first-round slots with three: Harper, Gerrit Cole and Tim Beckham. But the No. 1 picks are not alone. The No. 7 pick (Archie Bradley, Matt Harvey, Yonder Alonso) and the No. 9 pick (Jacob Turner, Jarrod Parker, Javier Baez) also had three representatives.

At the other end of the spectrum are Brad Peacock (pick No. 1,231) and Jarred Cosart (pick No. 1,156).

International flavor

Although there may have been only 21 international non-drafted free agents on the list, the group did manage to find representation from nine countries. The Dominican Republic led the way with 11 players, and no other country had more than two, with Venezuela and Panama tying for that amount. Curacao would have had two if Andrelton Simmons, who went to junior college and was drafted, was counted for his country of origin, joining Profar. With the same thinking, Canada deserves a nod thanks to the Mariners’ James Paxton.

Jonathan Mayo is a reporter for MLB.com and writes a blog, B3. Follow @JonathanMayoB3 on Twitter. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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