Minor League FA list and signings

[Doc. Scott]

http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/prospects/?p=7395

Cincinnati Reds
Signed: RHP Jon Adkins (Lotte (Korea)), RHP Federico Baez (re-signed), RHP Po-Cheng Chi, LHP Alexander Smit (re-signed), C Brandon Yarbrough, SS Chris Burke, OF Kevin West (Winnipeg (Northern))
Rule 5 selection: LHP Ben Jukich (Cardinals, MLB)

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Adkins went 3-5, 3.70 last season and led the Korean Baseball Organization with 26 saves. He grew up following the Reds and rejoins the organization for which he last pitched in 2008.

A Twins’ 16th-round pick in ’99, West smacked a total of 37 home runs while playing for Winnipeg the past two seasons. In 2009, he batted .285 with 19 bombs and 66 RBIs in 94 games.
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So the Reds re-signed the Dutchman Smit, a move I agree with, as well as the righty Baez. Federico must have something the scouts like, because he's been around quite a while without much sustained pro success.

Po-Cheng Chi is a sidearming reliever to whom the Reds have apparently given a $100,000 bonus to leave Taiwan/Chinese Taipei. He's 19 years of age and was rated the #7 HS prospect by this blog.

Yarbrough, 25, was a six-year signee who spent his entire pro career in the Cardinals system after becoming St. Louis' fifth-round pick in 2003 out of a North Carolina high school. He topped out last year at AAA Memphis, batting .286/.393/.387 in 42 games. For his career, he's a .263/.339/.391 hitter in 484 games. His plate discipline from the left side seems to have improved as he's risen in levels, although strikeouts have remained consistently high.

Burke's signing has been covered- he's the former Astro phenom who (some say) saw his career derailed by the Houston organizational fetish with Craig Biggio's twilight years. He's a solid minor-league hitter (.292/.367/.416 career) and a below-average offensive player at the big-league level (.239/.315/.359 in 477 games). I like this signing as depth- Burke can play several positions and he's a Louisville native.

Here's West's stats. He was pretty clearly an organizational player throughout his entire Twins career, but I like his consistency.

Good to see Adkins back; he's a pretty solid AAA closer-type who wouldn't be a bad temporary fill-in should the need arise.

[HokieRed]

Yarbrough, a catcher, looks interesting, but he played very little last season. Anybody know anything about why?

[Doc. Scott]

http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/prospects/?p=7395

Other clubs:

Atlanta signed longtime Reds organizational stalwart Luis Bolivar.

Baltimore brought back C Chad Moeller.

Boston picked up OF Darnell McDonald.

Cleveland re-upped with LHR Mike Gosling.

Houston signed RHR Gary Majewski and LHR Andy Van Hekken.

Kansas City signed OF Buck Coats.

The Angels re-upped UT Gary Patchett and also brought in RHP Travis "Groundhog Day" Chick.

Seattle destroyed their chances in 2010 by signing OF Corey Patterson.


There was quite a bit of very respectable six-year and miscellaneous minor-league talent snapped up in this signing period- including folks like Dallas McPherson, Ruben Gotay, Mike Hessman, Brent Clevlen, Cory Aldridge, Bryan Bullington, Jason Grilli, Gustavo Chacin, Josh Towers, Jon Weber, Vinnie Chulk, and Ryan Speier.

[JaxRed]

I'm very glad to see Smit back. I still think he has a chance to be good

[HokieRed]

Intelligent pickup by Boston. McDonald's better than RZ ever gave him credit for being.

[Doc. Scott]

Intelligent pickup by Boston. McDonald's better than RZ ever gave him credit for being.

Well, 2009 was also his best professional year ever. But he does very much deserve a job, sure.

[TRF]

Man I thought Medlock and Salmon would be mainstays in someone's bullpen by now. Shows WK was smarter than i originally gave him credit for.

Nice to see the Reds still getting talent out of Taiwan. That's the second pitcher from there correct?

[Doc. Scott]

Man I thought Medlock and Salmon would be mainstays in someone's bullpen by now. Shows WK was smarter than i originally gave him credit for.

Nice to see the Reds still getting talent out of Taiwan. That's the second pitcher from there correct?

Second pitcher, third player overall. The others are LHP Tzu-Kai Chiu and INF Yen-Wen Kuo.

[Doc. Scott]

Man I thought Medlock and Salmon would be mainstays in someone's bullpen by now. Shows WK was smarter than i originally gave him credit for.

The Mets (I believe) just hired Krivsky to serve in their front office. Not sure if that was mentioned elsewhere on RZ or not.

Salmon spent 2009 with AAA Salt Lake in the Angel system after leaving KC as a free agent following '08. He pitched pretty decently as the thankless swingman in a very hitter-friendly environment- 8-4, 4.56 ERA, 108.2 IP- but didn't get a callup. Not a huge surprise as the Angels have lots of pitching talent. But the Royals, never known for their bullpen depth, didn't either the year before when his numbers were roughly the same.

Medlock, on the other hand, has had to bounce back after a mediocre 2008 spent at AAA Durham (4.57 ERA, just 40 Ks in 63 IP). He spent nearly half of 2009 closing at Double-A Montgomery (where he regained his videogame-like BB/K ratios- 4/37 in 30.2 IP) before going back to Durham. Even though he put up a 2.98 ERA overall in the IL, he got to spend the IL playoffs back on the Montgomery roster.

I think it's just a matter of time before Medlock gets at least a cup of coffee in the big leagues. Tampa, with its strong young pitching staff, wasn't really the place.

[BRM]

Intelligent pickup by Boston. McDonald's better than RZ ever gave him credit for being.

Well, 2009 was also his best professional year ever. But he does very much deserve a job, sure.

Do you guys think he'll actually make the Boston active roster? My guess is he's AAA filler for them.

[JayBruceFan]

Looking at the OF's currently on the Red Sox 40 man roster, I think he has a decent shot to make the team as the 4th OF

[BRM]

Looking at the OF's currently on the Red Sox 40 man roster, I think he has a decent shot to make the team as the 4th OF

Yeah, I just looked at their 40 man. It's pretty thin in the OF.

[Orenda]

Intelligent pickup by Boston. McDonald's better than RZ ever gave him credit for being.

For me the issue with McDonald was a combination of factors. Keeping McDonald, Taveras, and Hairston on the opening roster was dumb because they made the roster repetitive due to their similar skill sets. In his defense I would probably take him over those two as an OF, although Hairston's ability to play on the diamond makes him a little more valuable to a bench. IMO

[JayBruceFan]

Looks like McDonalds chance to make the Sox has all but ended with the Mike Cameron signing.

[Guacarock]

Padres sign Chris Denorfia to a minor league deal.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/1...ez-payroll.htm