Two organizations have too much talent to fit on 40-man rosters–or at least they did before last week’s draft of unprotected minor-leaguers. Which two do you think they are?
The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox? The Atlanta Braves and San Francisco Giants?
Nope. The two organizations that were hardest hit in last week’s Rule 5 draft were the Pittsburgh Pirates and Cleveland Indians, who combined to finish 38 games below .500.
Both the Pirates and Indians lost five players that other organizations deemed to be prospects. Five of the first six players taken in the Rule 5 draft were from Pittsburgh, which hasn’t had a winning season since 1992. The run of players selected off the Nashville roster was so unusual it drew laughter from observers with other organizations.
You wonder if the Pirates are so strapped for cash that they essentially sold the players for the $50,000 selection price. But farm director Brian Graham saw it as a sign of better days.
“I heard the laughs, but it didn’t bother me,” Graham said. “I actually took it as a compliment that we had so many players drafted. This shows the depth we have in our organization. On the 2-8 scouting scale, we have some 7s and 8s like [pitchers] John VanBenschoten, Sean Burnett and Mike Johnston, but we also have a lot of 5s and 6s like the guys we had drafted. We have the depth to replace those players.”
Cleveland lost nine minor-leaguers overall, including those in the major-league portion. There wasn’t much the Indians could have done to protect that talent as it had 40 men on its roster, but second-guessers questioned whether a spot was wasted on 34-year-old catcher Tim Laker.
“When you look at the shortage of catchers in the major leagues–nine teams are carrying one catcher on their rosters right now–plus what Laker brought to our roster last year, we felt it merited using a roster spot on Tim,” Indians assistant general manager Chris Antonetti said.
While hanging on to Laker, who never has driven in more than 21 runs in any of his eight major-league seasons, the Indians lost speedy outfielder Willy Tavares and 24-year-old right-hander Luis Urdaneta, who is throwing 98 m.p.h. this winter in Venezuela.
Left-hander Fred Brooks, who wound up in Oakland, and outfielder Rich Thompson, who went to Kansas City, are the Pittsburgh losses most likely to stick in the big leagues. Catcher-infielder Chris Shelton, one of Detroit’s three selections, was the first Pirates player picked.
Players selected in the Rule 5 draft must stay in the big leagues for a full season or be offered back to their original organizations for $25,000.
“It is awfully tough to ask a player with no major-league experience to stick on a major-league roster all year,” Graham said. “While you have your cases of the Roberto Clementes, Kelly Grubers and George Bells being taken in the Rule 5 draft, history shows there is also a lot of mediocrity there.”
Paper tiger: The Los Angeles Dodgers may not be getting a new owner after all, at least not soon. More and more questions are being raised about the viability of Boston developer Frank McCourt, who agreed to purchase the team from News Corp. for $430 million.
McCourt had hoped to gain approval in November, but he will be hard-pressed to get the deal completed by the Jan. 31 deadline. In a Los Angeles Times report, an unnamed baseball official said McCourt’s bid is leveraged so heavily with loans that it is has raised “red flags” about the purchase.
McCourt appears to be funding his bid with loans through News Corp., Dodger Stadium concessionaire Aramark and as many as four banks. His biggest asset is property along the Boston waterfront that so far has been used primarily for parking lots.
Another year, another team: The St. Louis Cardinals will be the seventh team in seven years for Reggie Sanders, who has averaged 87 RBIs in the last three years.
“My kids are like, `Dad, what team are you going to next year?'” Sanders said. “They’re used to it.”
Sanders takes over for J.D. Drew in right field, where the Cardinals had seven starters last year. He’s looking forward to hitting in a mix that includes Albert Pujols, Jim Edmonds, Scott Rolen and Edgar Renteria. “That lineup won’t give pitchers a chance to breathe,” he said.
But the Cardinals’ biggest acquisition might be Alan Benes, who signed a minor-league contract.
Every Cardinals team that has reached the playoffs under manager Tony La Russa has had a Benes on it–Andy and Alan were both on the 1996, 2000 and 2001 teams; Andy was on the 2002 club.
They were Benes-free in 2003, when they slid to third in the division.
Lots of upside: If Tampa Bay had non-tendered lefty Joe Kennedy, he would have been pursued by as many as 10 teams. Instead the Devil Rays traded him to Colorado in a three-team deal that sent Mark Hendrickson to Tampa Bay and Justin Speier to Toronto.
Kennedy, who was Tampa Bay’s Opening Day starter last year, won’t turn 25 until May and already has 72 big-league starts under his belt. He had a 6.13 ERA last year but did throw a one-hitter against Detroit on May 2.
“This is a left-handed kid with a live arm, who can pitch at 93 to 96 m.p.h.,” said newly named Anaheim scouting director Eddie Bane, who had been a special assistant in Tampa Bay. “He has some mechanical things that need to be cleaned up, but he has a live arm and competes.”
With Kennedy joining Jason Jennings, Denny Stark and Aaron Cook in the rotation, the Rockies will try to make a closer out of Shawn Chacon, who earned an All-Star spot as a starter last year.
Performance of the week: Pitching for Licey, the Cubs’ Juan Cruz struck out 10 and allowed one hit in seven shutout innings Tuesday in the Dominican Republic. He is 2-0 with an 0.90 ERA in 20 innings, allowing 10 hits with 25 strikeouts.
The last word: “They’ll like him every fifth day, I guarantee that.”–Dodgers manager Jim Tracy on how noted grump Kevin Brown will fit in with the Yankees.
