Catcher Max Sapp, the Astros’ 2006 first-round pick, has been in the hospital for more than two weeks with a case of meningitis, according to a report in the Houston Chronicle. Sapp, 20, underwent surgery for a severe sinus infection and contracted the illness. His breathing has been assisted by a respirator.

Sapp hit .200/.282/.294 with four home runs and 29 RBIs in 74 games with low Class A Lexington in 2008. He signed for $1.4 million out of Bishop Moore High in Orlando, Fla., but has struggled at the plate in three years as a pro. He’s battled hip and back injuries during his career and has yet to hit better than .241 in any of his three seasons.

This week’s installment considers all transactions reported by MLB between Dec. 16 and Dec. 23. The previous installment is available here.

Atlanta Braves
Released: RHP Eligio Lagua, RHP Eliezer Murillo, RHP Matt Timms, LHP Tim Ladd, LHP T.J. Wohlever, OF Mike Elkerson, OF Chad Maddox

Baltimore Orioles
Signed: C Chad Moeller, 2B Melvin Dorta, OF Dave Krynzel

The Brewers’ first-round pick (11th overall) in 2000, Krynzel lasted exactly one homestand with the Diamondbacks last season, appearing in four games for Triple-A Tucson, three times as a pinch-hitter, before drawing his release in early April. He played in just 23 games in 2007, his first season with Arizona after an offseason trade, so the 26-year-old needs to make up for lost time.

Chicago Cubs
Signed: SS Andres Blanco [...] Continue Reading »

With the Arizona Fall League and Hawaii Winter Baseball seasons finished—and in the HWB’s case, permanently—the Caribbean leagues take the over the winter ball spotlight.

Those leagues can be extremely competitive with major leaguers, former big leaguers and advanced minor league prospects playing every day. But for some of the less advanced players, there is the Liga Paralela, which is essentially a minor league for the Venezuelan League, giving some of the younger Venezuelan players an opportunity to play in their home country during the winter.

The most interesting players in the league are the players who signed during the 2008 international signing period. Those players don’t play in the Dominican Summer League or the Venezuelan Summer League, so the Liga Paralela can provide a first glimpse at some of the year’s top Venezuelan signings, as it did last year with Mets shortstop Wilmer Flores.

International scouts say the quality of the league has improved over the last few years to become an indicator of whether players are ready to make the leap to a rookie league in the United States the following year.

"You get a lot of A-ball and a couple of Double-A players who are not able to play with their winter counterparts, so they go down and pitch in these leagues," said one international scouting director. "So when guys perform well in the Paralel league, we use that as a barometer to see if they are able to handle the next step."

[...] Continue Reading »

Major League Baseball has suspended two more players for positive steroids tests.

The league announced today that it had suspended Yankees catcher Damien Taveras and Orioles righthander Ambiorix Suero 50 games each after testing positive for performance-enhancing substances.

Taveras, 19, tested positive for Stanozolol, an anabolic androgenic steroid frequently referred to as Winstrol. Taveras hit .229/.333/.325 in 166 Dominican Summer League at-bats.

Suero, 17, tested positive for Boldenone, another anabolic androgenic steroid. He appeared in six games in the DSL this year, allowing six runs and 11 walks with seven strikeouts.

Pirates righthander Bryan Morris had surgery to repair a ligament in his right big toe and will miss at least the first month of the 2009 season, Pirates correspondent John Perrotto reports. The 21-year-old Morris joined the organization at the 2008 trade deadline in the three-team deal that sent Jason Bay to the Red Sox and Manny Ramirez to the Dodgers.

The Dodgers selected Morris out of Motlow (Tenn.) CC with the 26th overall pick in the 2006 draft, but he struggled with his control in his debut, walking 40 batters in 60 Pioneer League innings. Following the season, he had Tommy John surgery that knocked him out for the entire 2007 campaign.

Morris returned to the mound in April 2008 to pitch effectively for low Class A Great Lakes. He went 2-4, 3.20 with 72 strikeouts and 31 walks in 82 innings before his trade to the Pirates. He made three largely ineffective starts for low Class A Hickory after the trade.

This week’s installment considers all transactions reported by MLB between Dec. 5 and Dec. 15. The previous installment is available here.

Rule 5 picks are listed below with the player’s original club, so that you can see which teams were the most picked-over in the draft. Because so many of these transactions are already covered in our Rule 5 draft and Trade Central packages, the commentary here is light for now.

Atlanta Braves
Signed: RHP Lance Niekro
Rule 5 selection: OF Carl Loadenthal (Mets, AAA)

Baltimore Orioles
Signed: RHP Fredy Deza, C Billy Killian
Traded: C Ramon Hernandez and cash to Reds for 2B Justin Turner, 3B Brandon Waring and OF Ryan Freel
Removed from 40-man roster: RHP Fredy Deza, C Guillermo Quiroz
Rule 5 selection: RHP Rocky Cherry (Mets, ML)

Boston Red Sox
Released: RHP Terumasa Matsuo
Traded: RHP Beau Vaughan to Rangers as player to be named in trade for RHP Wes Littleton [...] Continue Reading »

A junior circuit that will shadow the Arizona Fall League became closer to reality late Tuesday when Hawaii Winter Baseball announced that its contract with Major League Baseball would not be extended.

The junior circuit, not yet given an official name, would in essence shift the format of Hawaii Winter Baseball to the Phoenix area and coincide with the AFL, which next season will be in its 18th year.

HWB owner Duane Kurisu said general managers of major league teams voted for the move at the winter meetings in Las Vegas. The AFL has become thought of as a finishing school and is comprised of Triple-A and Double-A players, with each of its six teams allotted only one player from the Class A level. The HWB allowed less experienced players to get winter league experience as well, and it became a popular first stop for several first-round picks with Joba Chamberlain, Ian Kennedy and Matt Wieters making their professional debuts in Hawaii.

Now with the demise of the Hawaii league, that role will be moved to Arizona, allowing teams to cut down on travel costs to scout and evaluate the league. One baseball official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the new league had yet to be formally announced, indicated last week that the junior circuit would be played in the spring training homes within the Cactus League framework. [...] Continue Reading »

“I just didn’t think (the trade to the White Sox) would happen this soon. I was just talking to my parents. They’re a little upset about it, but I know it’s probably good for me, considering there’s a designated hitter [in the American League]. That’s another position I can possibly play. That’s definitely a plus.” -White Sox catcher Tyler Flowers, after being traded by Atlanta.

We’ve written before that the minor leagues currently have a wealth of talented catching prospects, headlined by 2008 Baseball America Player of the Year Matt Wieters. A catcher is ranked among a team’s top prospects in five of the 14 American League organizations, including top prospects Wieters (Orioles) and Carlos Santana (Indians). 

Not all of these prospects will pan out, and odds are that not all of them will still be catchers five years from now. Accounting for the probability of a minor league shortstop moving to second base in his projection isn’t close to the seismic magnitude of a catcher having to move to first base or DH. While catchers’ arms are usually strong enough for third base, their first-step quickness, range and agility—often part of the reasons they might have had to move off catcher in the first place—are usually better suited for first base. Occasionally an athletic catcher like Brandon Inge can make the move to third, but more often it’s a sharp slide down the defensive spectrum (and, at times, it’s a move to the mound, a la Carlos Marmol and Troy Percival).

[...] Continue Reading »

The Twins take Jason Jones, a righthander from the Yankees, while the Mets try to fortify their bullpen—again—by taking sidearming Darren O’Day from the Angels.

The Brewers then pop the elephant in the room, Eduardo Morlan, down at 25 overall. Morlan fell as hard as Brady Quinn!

The Phillies took righty Bobby Mosebach out of the Angels system, and the Angels lost yet another player with righthander Miguel Gonzalez going to the Red Sox.

The Rays took sidearming righty Derek Rodriguez from the White Sox. And the Cubs and Angels pass to end the first round, with 19 players selected. On to round two.

The Diamondbacks take James Skelton in an active first round, and the Marlins took lefthander Zack Kroenke, who made our pre-draft blog buzz. No huge surprises yet, other than Reegie Corona, who’s just a small surprise.

Here’s a new name: the Astros took Gilbert de la Vera out of the Royals organization. He’s a lefthander and the first guy I don’t know.

Two more guys from our preview: David Patton, Rockies righthander, to the Reds, and Tigers take lefty Kyle Bloom from the Pirates.

The Royals took hard-throwing lefty Jose Lugo from the TWins, and the Athletics selected outfielder Ben Copeland from the Giants organization.

Pirates take Donald Veal, and the Orioles draft catcher Lou Palmisano. Word is the O’s will deal him to the Astros.

Picking sixth, the Giants select Luis Perdomo, so things are going according to plan.

Seattle drafted middle infielder Reegie Corona from the Yankees system. Corona’s a light-hititng second baseman/shortstop. Then the Padres follow with the Rockies’ Everth Cabrera with the third pick.

Roll call tells us which teams have room on their rosters; we’ll go the quick way to tell you who is at 40:

Rangers, Rockies, Dodgers, Blue Jays and Yankees.

And Terrell Young is off the board.

LAS VEGAS—We found the ballroom, and I’ll be here to live blog the Rule 5 draft. This is either the third, fourth or fifth straight year that we have live blogged the Rule 5, and I’m always surprised by the traffic and interest we get in the Rule 5. Then again, this decade has been one of Rule 5 draftee stars.

Well, I’m not sure Terrell Young will be a star . . . I’m also not sure he’ll be a National. Late word just before the draft starts here has the Nats trading Young or selling his contract to another club. [...] Continue Reading »

We’re hearing that the Nationals will take Reds righthander Terrell Young with the first pick in the Rule 5 draft. Young, 24, went 2-5, 2.88 in 59 innings between low Class A Dayton and high Class A Sarasota last year. A 10th-round pick out of Grenada (Miss.) High in 2004, Young signed for $40,000. He dropped in the draft that year because of concerns about his makeup. He has always had an outstanding loose arm, but he also has struggled to show consistency and an ability to take coaching.

Partly because of that, Young didn’t make it to full season ball for good until 2007 in his fourth pro season. Command has always been an issue, as he walked 59 batters in his first 83 innings, but he did show some improvement this year, as he walked 28 batters while striking out 47 this year.

Young’s fastball is a potentially plus pitch. When he’s on, Young’s 93-95 mph fastball will touch 98 mph on good days. His breaking ball however is fringy and he struggles to locate it. Without solid secondary stuff, Young will have to show he can locate his fastball consistently to stick with the Nationals.

We’re also getting rumblings that Brewers catcher Lou Palmisano will likely be popped in the top five picks.

LAS VEGAS—The raw order for Thursday’s Rule 5 draft, which begins at noon Eastern time (9 a.m. local) at the Bellagio hotel. This order applies to the major league and minor league phases.

RULE 5 DRAFT ORDER

1. Nationals
2. Mariners
3. Padres
4. Pirates
5. Orioles
6. Giants
7. Braves
8. Reds
9. Tigers
10. Rockies
11. Royals
12. Athletics
13. Rangers
14. Indians
15. Diamondbacks [...] Continue Reading »

LAS VEGAS—Catching up on a few news & notes before Thursday’s Rule 5 draft, which begins at 12 p.m. ET:

• Rule 5 buzz remains faint, but that doesn’t mean teams will sit out the draft. Most writers and scouts we talked to Wednesday in the Bellagio think 10-12 players will be picked. The Rockies could be the hardest-hit club, as rumors persist of players such as righthander David Patton, infielders Corey Wimberly and Everth Cabrera, and outfielder Matt Miller could be picked.

Cabrera, like Wimberly listed at 5-foot-8, is less experienced than Wimberly but has more juice offensively and more upside; he also played in low Class A in 2008, while Wimberly was in Double-A and has played in the Arizona Fall League. Cabrera, a Nicaraguan, increased his value by showing enough range and arm in a second-half trial at shortstop to make it an option as well. Rockies special assistant Walt Weiss has likened Cabrera to a young Rafael Furcal, and Furcal jumped from A-ball to the big leagues back in 2000. [...] Continue Reading »