Baseball Rumor News

Jonathan Mayo now has his predictions for the upcoming draft for picks 1-30. Some have changed, but for those of you that haven’t been keeping up with the predictions here is a list:

1. Tampa Bay Rays: Tim Beckham, SS, Griffin HS, Griffin, Ga.
2. Pittsburgh Pirates: Pedro Alvarez, 3B, Vanderbilt
3. Kansas City Royals: Eric Hosmer, 1B, American Heritage HS, Plantation, Fla.
4. Baltimore Orioles: Aaron Crow, RHP, University of Missouri
5. San Francisco Giants: Buster Posey, C, Florida State
6. Florida Marlins: Brian Matusz, LHP, University of San Diego
7. Cincinnati Reds: Yonder Alonso, 1B, University of Miami
8. Chicago White Sox: Gordon Beckham, SS, University of Georgia
9. Washington Nationals: Kyle Skipworth, C, Patriot HS, Riverside, Calif.
10. Houston Astros: Justin Smoak, 1B, University of South Carolina
11. Texas Rangers: Andrew Cashner, RHP, Texas Christian
12. Oakland A’s: Aaron Hicks, OF/RHP, Woodrow Wilson HS, Long Beach, Calif.
13. St. Louis Cardinals: Ryan Perry, RHP, University of Arizona
14. Minnesota Twins: Christian Friedrich, LHP, Eastern Kentucky
15. Los Angeles Dodgers: Zach Collier, OF, Chino Hills HS, Calif.
16. Milwaukee Brewers: Brett Lawrie, C/3B, Brookswood SS, Langley, B.C.
17. Toronto Blue Jays: Brett Wallace, 1B/3B, Arizona State
18. New York Mets: Ike Davis, OF, Arizona State
19. Chicago Cubs: Casey Kelly, SS, Sarasota HS, Fla.
20. Seattle Mariners: Shooter Hunt, RHP, Tulane
21. Detroit Tigers: Ethan Martin, RHP, Stephens County HS, Toccoa, Ga.
22. New York Mets: Jason Castro, C, Stanford
23. San Diego Padres: Daniel Schlereth, LHP, University of Arizona
24. Philadelphia Phillies: Anthony Hewitt, SS, Salisbury School, Conn
25. Colorado Rockies: Jake Odorizzi, RHP, Highland HS, Ill.
26. Arizona Diamondbacks: Josh Fields, RHP, University of Georgia
27. Minnesota Twins: Brett DeVall, LHP, Niceville HS, Fla.
28. New York Yankees: Brett Hunter, RHP, Pepperdine University
29. Cleveland Indians: Jemile Weeks, 2B, University of Miami
30. Boston Red Sox: Lance Lynn, RHP, University of Mississippi

Those are the predictions, but we’ll find out for sure in two days.

- The Royals have claimed Brayan Peña off waivers from the Atlanta Braves. The 26 year old switch hitting catcher defected from Cuba in 2000.

- Daisuke Matsuzaka is headed to the DL, according to MLB.com. He has been diagnosed with a strained right rotator cuff, but it doesn’t look to be that big of a deal as there is no structural damage.

- The A’s have DFA’d Jeff Fiorentino, Lenny DiNardo and Kevin Melillo today. These were just a few of the moves that the Oakland club made in a crazy day of call ups, send downs, and placing guys on the DL. DiNardo was really underperforming, so the move isn’t surprising. Melillo and Fiorentino were not really making any impact at all.

-Mark Mulder has told St. Louis Today that further surgery will not be an option. If surgery is needed once again to repair his throwing arm, he will opt for retirement. Mulder has only made three starts since 2006 and has been in a perpetual state of rehabilitation for a twice repaired left shoulder. While many critics pointed out that the Cardinals couldn’t work without Mulder or Chris Carpenter, their rotation so far this season has been nothing short of spectacular. If it turns out to be the case that Mulder does not return, I think that the other guys that have stepped up in the St. Louis rotation can tow the rope.

Tim Brown reports that the Kevin Towers, GM of the Padres, has had enough. The Padres find themselves in last place, with the worst record in all of baseball, which would signal that extensive changes are necessary. To top it all off, Jake Peavy will now be headed to the DL, so things aren’t getting any better.

“I’m certainly not going to watch this for another four months,” Towers said.

Now that they find themselves so far out of first and only 40 games into the season, you would have to assume that San Diego is headed in the direction of a fire sale. The offense is so bad that adding one piece later in the season won’t make a difference. With that in mind, who might be on their way out of San Diego? Here are a few veterans that would be able to net the Pad’s some prospects that could help them turn things around in the future…

Greg Maddux: While Maddux has a full no-trade clause, it would seem likely that he would want to go somewhere that has a chance of actually competing. The future Hall of Famer doesn’t look like he has much left, but he could be used to eat up some innings somewhere. Atlanta has been rumored to desire a reunion with Maddux, and he could be a big draw for them if he closes out his career with the Braves.

Randy Wolf: Wolf is another vet that could be used to shore up a rotation for the playoff push. He might actually be more valuable than Maddux, as far as performance goes. He has pitched well, and if the Padres are moving into a rebuilding phase they won’t need him around. I would expect his ERA to jump quite a bit if he moves to a team with a more hitter friendly ballpark.

Brian Giles: Giles could become one of the best bats available around the trade deadline. Even with the rest of the offense struggling (and playing in that San Diego pitchers park) he is still batting .311, with 3 HR and 19 RBI’s. You would expect those numbers to look better if he was at just about any other park, so he could turn out to be a valuable trade piece.

Khalil Greene: The SS has struggled offensively the last few years, but a change of scenery could do him well. He is fantastic defensively, so teams may be willing to take a chance on his offense. He has also been the focus of many trade rumors over the last year, so there is clearly interest in him. Most notably, the Cubs and Blue Jays have inquired about his availability. At the moment, both of those teams seem set at SS, but you never know what will happen by the deadline.

- As far as the rest of the team goes, expect that just about everyone is available except: Adrian Gonzalez, Jake Peavy, Chris Young, and Kevin Kouzmanoff. None of these guys are old enough that they wouldn’t figure into a rebuilt team a few years from now.

Just a little disclaimer, these standout picks are a little bit behind schedule so they are really ‘April+the beginning of may’ standouts.

The Seattle Times reports that the Mariners have traded 1B/OF Greg Norton to the Atlanta Braves. Norton was DFA’d by the Mariners less than a week ago so they could make room for Jeff Clement and Wladimir Balentien.

In return, the Mariners will get a player to be named later or cash considerations.

The ageless wonder has called it a career. Julio Franco has finally decided that he is done with playing baseball. The 49-year-old announced his retirement from baseball after a 23-year career in the major leagues and stints in his native Dominican Republic, South Korea, Japan and Mexico. The last major league team he played with was the NY Mets, where he became the oldest player to hit a HR in history.

“It was the hardest decision in my life,” Franco said in an interview published Saturday by Mexican sports daily Record. “I always said I would be the first one to know the exact moment. I think the numbers speak for themselves, the production speaks and this is the right moment.I understand that my time has passed and the great men and athletes know when to say enough.

It was fun to see just how long he’d last, but its going to be a while before anyone breaks the oldest person to hit a HR record.

John Smoltz will return from the DL (he’s there for inflammation in his rotator cuff) but not to the starting rotation. Instead, he will move back into the bullpen…a role he is very familiar with. This is Smoltz’s decision, but he isn’t ruling out an eventual return to the rotation.

“I’m coming back as a reliever first, and then we’ll see what happens,” said Smoltz, who talked to the team’s web site over the phone Wednesday. “I’m content with this. I hear people say that we can’t win without me as a starter. But we’re not going to win with me as a five-inning starter, either.”

Smoltz has been around long enough to know where he can succeed. I think need will facilitate his move back into the rotation, but for now he sounds like he justs needs to lessen the work load a little.

For a fantasy note, if you have Smoltz, you just acquired a lights out closer. Enjoy the saves until he transitions back to a starter.

- The Rockies have designated Jayson Nix for assignment. He was batting .111, so this is no surprise. His roster spot will go to righthander Jose Capellan from Triple-A.

- Righty reliever Zach Schreiber was designated for assignment by the Atlanta Braves. This was to make room for Brent Lillibridge, who needed to be called up to play SS. The necessity for a SS appeared after Yunel Escobar shattered a fingernail.

- Shane Victorino of the Philadelphia Phillies is claiming that his recent strained right calf isn’t as bad as his previous injuries, but it is bad enough to land him on the 15 day DL. It caused some shuffling in the Phillies OF today and caused Geoff Jenkins to lead off for the first time in his career.

- Dontrelle Willis has been placed on the DL for the first time in his career. This is a result of a hyper-extended knee suffered in the first inning the other day against the White Sox.

- Tom Glavine left todays game against the Nats after throwing only 16 pitches because of a strained right hamstring. Like Willis, Glavine has never before been on the DL, but unlike Willis, Glavine is hoping to keep it that way. It goes without saying how impressive it is that someone who has pitched as long as Glavine has gone an entire career without injury.

S.I. reports that Atlanta Braves top prospect Jordan Schafer has received a 50-game suspension from the MLB for violating the performance enhancing drug policy. The commissioners office has said that he used HGH.

Schafer was, and probably still is, the future CF for the Braves. The difference now is that he won’t be making the majors this year like he was expected to. Other questions also must be raised about whether the quality of play that impressed everyone so much (Baseball America had him ranked as the 25th overall prospect in the game) can simply be attributed to the HGH. It is my thinking that Schafer will be knocked back much further in his roud to the bigs than 50 games because once he returns, he will have to reprove to everyone that he has what it takes.

Schafer became the fourth player suspended this year under the minor league program, following St. Louis pitcher Scott Vander Weg (positive test), Kansas City Royals pitcher Jacob Rodriguez (failure to test) and Chicago Cubs pitcher Robert Hernandez (positive test).