When the White Sox had the eighth pick in the 2008 draft, a lot of Sox fans wanted them to use it on Justin Smoak.
Instead, they used it on Gordon Beckham.
And on Tuesday, both were non-tendered.
Heh.
Thirty-two players were non-tendered overall, including two by the Sox (Scott Carroll and Scott Snodgress, neither of whom were arb-eligible). While the Sox didn't provide much in the way of interesting names for others, a number of teams released some familiar players back into the wild.
Braves: Non-tendered Kris Medlen and Brandon Beachy. Medlen went 25-13 with a 2.47 ERA from 2012 to 2013, while Beachy struck out 10.7 batters per nine innings as a starter in 2011. Both pitchers missed all of 2014 due to their second Tommy John surgeries.
Rangers: Non-tendered Alexi Ogando and Adam Rosales. Ogando, 31, gave the Rangers four good seasons between the bullpen and rotation, albeit increasingly interrupted by injuries. He only threw 25 poor innings in 2014, shutting down due to elbow inflammation. Rosales, a utilityman, Chicagoland native and owner of one of baseball's best top hands according to Hawk Harrelson, is 6-for-11 with three homers off Chris Sale lifetime.
Padres: Non-tendered Everth Cabrera, who was an All-Star shortstop in 2013, and non-tendered after a dismal 2014.
Everth Cabrera is one 10 players in MLB history to steal 40+ bases and score fewer than 50 runs in a season. #Padres #PADRES #SOPADRES
— Cespedes Family BBQ (@CespedesBBQ) December 3, 2014
Blue Jays: Non-tendered Smoak and Andy Dirks. Both were claimed by Toronto after the season. Both were non-tendered months later. #BlueJays #BLUEJAYS #SOBLUEJAYS
(Dirks was once a pretty promising left-handed platoon piece for left field, but back and hamstring injuries undermined him.)
Athletics: Non-tendered Kyle Blanks, who is a lifetime .300/.400/.500 hitter at Triple-A, but has never stuck in a starting job over parts of six big-league seasons. He's a lifetime .234/.319/.407 hitter, which isn't awful for a guy who never stuck.
Yankees: Non-tendered Slade Heathcott, a center fielder picked by New York in the first round in 2009. He was Baseball America's No. 61 prospect before a so-so season at Double-A in 2013. Then he missed all of 2014 with knee surgery.
Cubs: Non-tendered Wesley Wright, who is the most credible of the numerous lefty relievers jettisoned on Tuesday.
Terrerobytes
- Torii Hunter agrees to 1 year, $10.5 Million deal with the Minnesota Twins - Twinkie Town
- Torii Hunter Signing Is Hard To Figure - Twins Daily
Torii Hunter is back with the Twins, and the fan reaction is mixed. They like the memories of the player, aren't crazy about the social views he's shared since, and his glove has diminished to the point that he's not going to really going to help their horrid outfield defense. On his current trajectory, he could very well hurt it.
Also, while it became annoying to hear What Ron Gardenhire Teams Do/Don't Do over the last several years, at least he had built a track record at one point. Based on what we've seen so far, it seems as though there's an effort to whip up a Paul Molitor mythology in a hurry.
Molitor's pitch to Torii: be that mentor that Kirby and I were for you in the 90's. Reiterating: #MNTwins have a good shot at a reunion.
— Darren Wolfson (@DarrenWolfson) November 21, 2014
On Torii Hunter and mentoring: 1. Torii was in A-ball when Kirby retired 2. Torii played 7 MLB games (19 PA) w/Molitor as a teammate
— Mike Berardino (@MikeBerardino) November 21, 2014
Umpire Dale Scott came out as gay in a very matter-of-fact manner --- asked to provide photos of his personal side for a story in Referee Magazine (circulation 45,000), he shared a photo of him with his husband, because he didn't feel it was right to talk about his 29-year career without discussing the role his partner of 28 years played in it.
It wasn't a secret to everybody. Other umpires figured it out in the 1990s, and the league knew about it, and it didn't impede his occupational climb to crew chief. Good stuff.
As more kids break news on Twitter -- and even more kids think they can stumble onto news themselves -- Joshua Kusnick, who is the agent for Adrian Nieto among others, shares what it's like to be on the other end of this craze. You'll be shocked to find out that he doesn't see what's in it for him when a random teenager asks him to serve as a source.