Roster moves in the next two days

[Enjoy Terror]

7 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

Is that the same Nestor Cortes we picked in 2017? Is it really possible for a guy to get picked in the Rule 5 twice? We should do it just for the novelty.

No, he was DFA’d and is on waivers.

[bobmc]

35 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

Is that the same Nestor Cortes we picked in 2017? Is it really possible for a guy to get picked in the Rule 5 twice? We should do it just for the novelty.

Would that mean that Nestor is a "fungible asset" IYHO?  Axing for a friend   @Can_of_corn

[Diehard_O's_Fan]

I am not real thrilled about the Orioles exposing Sedlock or the other pitcher. You hate to lose young pitching especially when the Orioles pitching is so bad. The Orioles have several guys on the 40 man roster who could be bumped off. Why not bump them off instead of risk losing two pitchers?

[7Mo]

9 minutes ago, Diehard_O's_Fan said:

I am not real thrilled about the Orioles exposing Sedlock or the other pitcher. You hate to lose young pitching especially when the Orioles pitching is so bad. The Orioles have several guys on the 40 man roster who could be bumped off. Why not bump them off instead of risk losing two pitchers?

I'm not sure what the answer is but to me, it's 2 separate questions. 

I think the analysis is that Sedlock and Fenter are very unlikely to be picked in the Rule 5 draft, or not be returned during the year. That's one question.

Secondly, I think there's a very good chance 1-2-3 guys from the current 40 man ARE bumped off to make room for one of these guys from Luke's post on page 8 of this thread:

Here's a series of brief notes on the DFAed players with significant team control remaining. In order of preference for the Orioles...(top 5 would be a clear back of the 40 man upgrade IMO, although Cotton and Greene are projects rather than immediate improvements)

Luis Escobar

23yo, mid 90s, overpronated fastball with big horizontal, makings of two quality but low spin offspeed pitches

Montana DuRapau

27yo super premium spin guy, 4 pitch 5'11" righty, needs to use curveball more, better.

Jharel Cotton

27yo 5 pitch former top prospect, led by a elite changeup, been injured, reclaimation project, maybe in the pen

Justin Shafer

27yo, solid pitch mix including above avg spin mid 90s FB, slider, hard cutter (90mph), rare change. Strikethrower, but lacks command

Conner Greene

24yo righty, big stuff, mid-rotation or late inning, has never been able to throw enough strikes

Nick Dini

26yo Bat first catcher, but not an everyday bat. fringe average catch and throw, questionable framing, better than Wynns maybe

Drew Gagnon

29yo super low spin 4S FB, uses it up when he shouldn't, good changeup. Could be useful, limited upside

Williams Jerez

27yo Mid-90s lefty, low spin FB, that he elevates and gets crushed, quality split, and a usable slider, poor command

Taylor Guerrieri

26yo with premium curveball spin and solid command who lost the zone in 2019.

Nestor Cortes Jr

24yo command and deception lefty, good k/bb, flyball pitcher hurt by juiced ball

CD Pelham

24yo hard throwing lefty reliever, has t100, couldn't throw strikes in 2019

Arnaldo Hernandez

23yo righty, good changeup, hasn't been used in relief, doesn't work as a starter

Dario Agrazal

24yo blah command based sinkerballer without a strikeout pitch

Jorge Bonifacio

26yo plus run, fringe average glove COF, hit a little, but not enough

Nick Martini

29yo LF with some bat control but without LF power

[interloper]

56 minutes ago, Diehard_O's_Fan said:

I am not real thrilled about the Orioles exposing Sedlock or the other pitcher. You hate to lose young pitching especially when the Orioles pitching is so bad. The Orioles have several guys on the 40 man roster who could be bumped off. Why not bump them off instead of risk losing two pitchers?

I think the thoracic outlet syndrome will scare people away from Sedlock, and if not, he's highly unlikely to last the full season on a ML squad. The thing about adding players to the 40-man is you might have to remove them later and then expose them to waivers. So it's a calculated bet - I say it's more likely a team would prefer to claim a guy like Sedlock on waivers rather than through the Rule 5 draft.

[Enjoy Terror]

You have to consider that two unprotected players that have no place on the Orioles 40-man have even less of a place on someone else’s 26-man.

[bpilktree]

I always liked Zack Brown band and the Brewers left of one of their top guys in Zack Brown who was great up until this year where he struggled in the PCL.  He is a guy that i think would be worth a gamble for the rule 5 draft.  Maybe not as much upside as some other guys that are in lower levels but i think has a much better chance to stick then those guys.  I think he could easily be a long man and i would take him over someone like Hess.  

[7Mo]

57 minutes ago, bpilktree said:

I always liked Zack Brown band and the Brewers left of one of their top guys in Zack Brown who was great up until this year where he struggled in the PCL.  He is a guy that i think would be worth a gamble for the rule 5 draft.  Maybe not as much upside as some other guys that are in lower levels but i think has a much better chance to stick then those guys.  I think he could easily be a long man and i would take him over someone like Hess.  

From MLBTR:

The Brewers added three players to their 40-man roster yesterday in advance of the deadline for teams to set their rosters in advance of the Rule 5 Draft.  As you might expect, “these are not 100 percent easy, clear decisions to make on some players,” Brewers president of baseball operations David Stearns told MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy and other reporters.  While Milwaukee has only 36 players on its 40-man, teams often leave spaces open for future additions or other roster maneuvering prior to December 12, when the Rule 5 Draft takes place.  This means that other teams could select some notable Brewers youngsters who weren’t protected, such as right-hander Zack Brown, currently ranked by MLB.com as the third-best prospect in Milwaukee’s farm system.  Brown was quickly ascending up the minor league ladder and was the Brewers’ minor league pitcher of the year in 2018, though his 2019 numbers (5.79 ERA over his first 116 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level) were a step backwards.  Stearns admitted that these struggles “certainly influenced our decision,” though “we still have high hopes for Zack Brown.”  If Brown is chosen, his new team would have to keep him on its Major League roster for the entire 2020 season to gain his permanent rights, or else the team would have to offer Brown back to Milwaukee.

[weams]

8 hours ago, Diehard_O's_Fan said:

I am not real thrilled about the Orioles exposing Sedlock or the other pitcher. You hate to lose young pitching especially when the Orioles pitching is so bad. The Orioles have several guys on the 40 man roster who could be bumped off. Why not bump them off instead of risk losing two pitchers?

Fenter pitched in low A ball. 

Sedlock is stIll an injury concern. 

I'd love to keep them both. Neither need to be on the 40 at this point in their careers.

[Legend_Of_Joey]

I'm wondering, how is Jharel Cotton Rule 5 eligible? Is there a certain amount of time in the Majors a play has to be before they are no longer eligible, or is it that he was outrighted to the Minors?

[Luke-OH]

9 minutes ago, Legend_Of_Joey said:

I'm wondering, how is Jharel Cotton Rule 5 eligible? Is there a certain amount of time in the Majors a play has to be before they are no longer eligible, or is it that he was outrighted to the Minors?

He's on waivers, so he can be had just by adding him to the 40, rather than the 26 like the Rule 5.

[Luke-OH]

9 hours ago, Enjoy Terror said:

You have to consider that two unprotected players that have no place on the Orioles 40-man have even less of a place on someone else’s 26-man.

So I'm glad you said this because there is some misunderstanding out there about why players are left unprotected.

The misconception is that if a player is left unprotected, that means they are viewed as less valuable than the last guy on the 40 man.  This is a common misconception, but this is completely untrue.

It's not

Unprotected Player vs Last Man on the 40

It's actually

Chance of unprotected player getting selected and carried vs Chance that player would have to be DFA at some point if added + the Last Man on the 40

[sportsfan8703]

List of some of the available Rule 5 players.  The list offers explanations of why guys were unprotected,

https://www.mlb.com/news/top-prospects-in-the-2019-rule-5-draft?t=mlb-pipeline-coverage

 - Zach Brown was his stuff and command decline all while nearly doubling his BB/9

- Juvier had a 6-89 stretch over 25 games in A ball. 

After reading some more I think I’d want Jordan Sheffield then have us take two fliers on position players. I like a couple of the defense first SS that played in AA but have questions about their bat. Just going with the theory that they didn’t get to play with the juiced ball and they can at least handle the position defensively. 

My wish list would be,

- Dodgers: Jordan Sheffield, RHP (No. 26)

- Reds: Alfredo Rodriguez, SS (No. 18) - The Reds gave Rodriguez $7 million to sign out of Cuba in 2016 with the hopes he’d be their future big league shortstop

- One of the 3B, COF bats available. Santana from LAD or Moises Gomez from TB. 

[7Mo]

Jharel Cotton from MLBTR:

Jharel Cotton: Like Duffy, Cotton’s story is largely defined by injury. Since coming to Oakland from the Dodgers as part of the package received in return for Rich Hill and Josh Reddick, Cotton has loomed as a potential impact arm on the edges of the Athletics rotation. However, his unimpressive 2017 (5.58 ERA in 129 innings) was followed up by Tommy John surgery in 2018, and Cotton ultimately missed most of 2019 due to a hamstring issue that required surgery. The now-27-year-old righty hasn’t thrown a pitch in the majors in two years, but his relative youth and starter’s repertoire could see him latch on with a new team in short order. Cotton was removed from the A’s roster on Wednesday to make room for Daulton Jefferies.