Innholdsfortegnelse for Friday, April 24, 2015 i Baseball America

MA 1990 » IN THIS ISSUE: Special Report: Expansion. We look at who’s in, and who’s out, and the impact of big league expansion on the minors. » ALSO: Tracy Ringolsby looks at teams blowing past the $3 million a year contract threshold. When and where? Answers finally are on the way for a dozen cities, serious contenders for which the term “baseball lockout” has a different meaning. In a matter of weeks, the National League starts shedding light on its expansion plan for the 1990s. After taking a year to work out details, NL owners have promised a timetable announcement by June 19. By this time next year, two new franchises could be gearing up for their first minor league seasons. Where and when? One in the East and…

Baseball Writer, ESPN.com JUPITER, FL Jason Heyward is congenial by nature and anxious to blend with his new Cardinals teammates, so he was quick to accept third baseman Matt Carpenter’s invitation to show up each day in spring training for early hitting at 7 a.m. In the batting cage near the St. Louis clubhouse at Roger Dean Stadium, passers-by could hear the constant thwacks as Heyward and Carpenter hit balls placed on a tee by hitting coach John Mabry or his assistant, Bill Mueller. It was baseball as communal enterprise and breakfast club. “They’ve really hit it off because they both just love this game,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. “We like using the term ‘baseball rats,’ where they just talk about it nonstop. They’re out there challenging the way…

Columnist, MLB Network BOSTO Opening Day reminds us of what we don’t know each spring as the ice melts and breaks up off the Upper Peninsula. For example, Ryan Theriot started more World Series clinchers than Ted Williams or Ernie Banks. So it is again as we begin 2015. We began spring training in 2002, a season that resulted in a monumental Basic Agreement, believing that about 10 teams had a chance to play in the postseason. As 2015 starts, there might well be 21 teams that believe if everything breaks right, they’ll be sitting on top of the world. Get there, and anything can happen. Ask the Tigers, who threw three straight Cy Young Award winners at the Orioles last year and got swept. Ask Mickey Hatcher and the…

Every year, we break down the top international signings for each team from the previous year, with scouting reports on every player who signed for more than $100,000 in 2014 available on BaseballAmerica.com. Below, we have reports on the biggest 2014 international signing for each National League club. Atlanta Braves The Braves paid $1 million to Venezuelan third baseman Juan Yepez. While some teams considered Yepez a solid prospect in the low to mid six-figure range, the Braves went well beyond the industry consensus on his talent with his bonus. Yepez trained with Ricardo Petit, who is the brother of Braves assistant Latin American director Rolando Petit. The Braves have signed several players from his program over the years, including Peraza, outfielder Victor Reyes and shortstop Alejandro Salazar. Early on,…

Baseball America publishes 900 scouting reports each year in its Prospect Handbook, so not often does a young player fly completely under the BA radar. Yet teams continue to surprise us each spring with some of the players they carry on Opening Day rosters. A number of organizational Top 10 Prospects broke camp with the big club in prominent roles. For example, the Diamondbacks awarded starting jobs to No. 1 prospect righthander Archie Bradley and slick-fielding shortstop Nick Ahmed. North of the border, 20-year-old power righthanders Miguel Castro and Roberto Osuna are members of the Blue Jays’ bullpen, despite each finishing 2014 at high Class A Dunedin. Those four rookies are well known to prospect watchers, however, so for this exercise we narrow our focus to minor league journeymen and…

For statistics, organization reports, prospect lists and recent drafts, check out: baseballamerica.com/t/organization-reports/ SARASOTA, FLA. Rather than begin the season in the high Class A Frederick rotation, righthander Hunter Harvey will take up residence on the minor league disabled list. Harvey sustained a slight fracture to his right fibula on March 21 after being hit by a comebacker during a Class A game against the Twins in Fort Myers, Fla. An X-ray came back clean, but a CAT scan revealed the hairline fracture. Harvey will be on crutches for a month. The recovery time is expected to be four to six weeks, “and then it’s back to work,” executive vice president Dan Duquette said. The 20-year-old Harvey—a first-round pick in 2013 out of Bandys High in Catawba, N.C.—went 7-5, 3.18 in 17…

PORT CHARLOTTE, FLA. One good thing that came out of the steady stream of bad news regarding Rays pitcher injuries this spring was righthander Nathan Karns’ performance. Coming to spring training as the lesser of the two leading candidates for the open No. 5 starter spot, Karns left camp positioned to start the second game of the season. That’s what injuries and illnesses sidelining No. 1 starter Alex Cobb, No. 3 Drew Smyly and likely No. 5 Alex Colome will do, though Karns turned in a solid spring of his own. Acquired from the Nationals just before spring training in 2014 (in exchange for catcher Jose Lobaton, righthander Felipe Rivero and outfielder Drew Vettleson), Karns spent almost the entire 2014 season at Triple-A Durham working through suggested changes to his…

LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLA. Regardless of where Brady Feigl pitches during the 2015 season, the past 18 months have read like the script of “The Rookie” for the 24-year-old lefthanded reliever. Feigl graduated from Mount St. Mary’s in 2012 with a degree in sports management. He showed promise as a Mountaineers freshman in 2009 before struggling with an injury as a sophomore that proved to be a torn labrum. Shoulder surgery cost Feigl his junior year before he returned to the mound as a senior. Feigl worked as a baseball coach at St. Mary’s High in Annapolis, Md., in the spring of 2013 in between giving private pitching lessons. He remained active by pitching in a local summer league and even participated in a tryout camp hosted by a handful…

CLEARWATER, FLA. Ryne Sandberg liked the reports on Odubel Herrera, but he likes the genuine article even more. “He was our No. 1 target in the Rule 5 draft and I was pleasantly surprised when we got him,” the big league manager said during the final week of camp. “Watching him play, I’d say he has exceeded what I was expecting. He opened up the whole camp’s eyes within two days with his tools, with the bat, his running ability.” Herrera, plucked out of the Rangers system, will not only make the Opening Day roster, but he will line up as team’s starting center fielder, a move that will allow Sandberg to move weak-armed Ben Revere to left field. “He’s grown on me in center field,” Sandberg said. “He’s still…

GOODYEAR, ARIZ. Big league manager Terry Francona has said one of the worst things an organization can do is to form opinions based on spring training numbers. Francona then put his decision-making where his mouth was when he and his staff decided to keep 28-year-old righthander Austin Adams as an eighth reliever on the Opening Day roster. Adams had a bumpy spring training. In 10 appearances he collected 10 strikeouts and two walks but allowed eight runs on 15 hits in 92⁄3 innings. Nevertheless, he became the 25th and final player added to the roster. “He’s always had a big arm,” Francona said. “He’s working diligently on his breaking ball. He’s still a young pitcher, though, and when he doesn’t locate, (batters) can get the barrel on it. When he…

For statistics, organization reports, prospect lists and recent drafts, check out: baseballamerica.com/t/organization-reports MESA, ARIZ. By the time the outrage subsides over slugging third baseman Kris Bryant starting the season in the minors, the 23-yearold might actually be in the big leagues. He needs to stay at Triple-A Iowa just 12 days of the major league season for the Cubs to assure an additional year of club control (through 2021) before he becomes eligible for free agency. But forget the time line. The bigger question by then might be where he’ll play. Evaluators have debated the 6-foot-5 Bryant’s future position since his college days at San Diego. The No. 2 overall pick in 2013 could stick at third base or wind up on an outfield corner. With Mike Olt looking good at…

BRADENTON, FLA. Stetson Allie is making another position switch—but this time he’s staying on the same side of the ball. Allie will open the season as the right fielder at Double-A Altoona. He would seem a natural for the position considering his fastball peaked at 100 mph when he was selected as a pitcher out of high school in Lakewood, Ohio, in the second round of the 2010 draft. Allie’s career as a pitcher was short-lived, though. He issued 37 walks in 26 innings while hitting 10 batters and throwing 10 wild pitches. The Pirates tried Allie at third base in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League in 2012 before moving him to first base. He stayed at first for two more seasons, including last year at Altoona where he hit…

KISSIMMEE, FLA. One day after playing with the leader of the free world, Astros owner Jim Crane raved about shortstop Carlos Correa more than his golf game with President Barack Obama. Correa, the first overall pick in the 2012 draft, is a major reason Crane is excited about Houston’s farm system. “He’s all the things you want in a kid,” Crane said of the 20-year-old Correa. “Hopefully he gets off to a good start at Double-A and then gets to Triple-A. Then all bets are off. He gets the respect of the guys, that’s for sure. The veterans respect him.” The Astros reassigned Correa to minor league camp on March 29, just a few hours before Crane teed off with Obama in Palm City, Fla. Correa hit two home runs…

SURPRISE, ARIZ. Hanser Alberto found himself surrounded by roadblocks as he entered the first big league camp of his career. Elvis Andrus, Jurickson Profar and Rougned Odor had the three lockers to the right of Alberto, a slick-fielding shortstop who many believe can become a quality utility infielder, in the spring-training clubhouse. Andrus is under contract for the next eight seasons. Profar remains highly regarded even though he will miss a second straight season because of shoulder woes. Odor ranked as the organization’s top prospect entering last season before taking the reins at second base. They are the roadblocks, but many also believe that Alberto’s bat will keep him from everyday duty. Alberto, though, is confident he can be a regular in the majors, and his recent performance has given…

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. After a brief stay at high Class A Modesto last year, 21-year-old center fielder David Dahl begins this season at Double-A New Britain. The 10th overall pick in 2012, Dahl is one of the younger players in the Eastern League. He began 2014 at low Class A Asheville, where he hit .309/.347/.500 with 33 doubles, 10 homers and 41 RBIs in 392 at-bats. That performance earned Dahl a promotion to Modesto in late July and he hit .267/.296/.467 with eight doubles, four homers and 14 RBIs in 120 at-bats for the Nuts. Dahl then returned to Asheville for the final two games of the regular season, followed by the Tourists’ seven-game run to the South Atlantic League title. “The decision just comes down to David Dahl in terms…

Baseball Analyst, Senior Writer ESPN.com LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLA. Three years ago, they blew theirteam up after a spending spree thatwent wrong. Two years ago, they lost100 games and ran through 22 rookieson the journey to the bottom of theNational League East. So who out there saw these Marlinscoming? Who saw these 2015 Marlinsnot just spending money but spendingmoney like Donald Trump? Who sawthem signing Giancarlo Stanton to thelargest contract (13 years, $325 million)in the history of North American prosports? Who saw them then turning around and locking up leftfielder Christian Yelich, so he could play alongside Stanton, ifall goes right, for the next seven years? Most of all, who saw them talking about contending? Butthey are. And they should. “We understand what the number is to make the playoffs,”manager…

Ty Hensley is quickly becoming the authority when it comes to unusual injuries and lengthy rehabilitation stints, and the Yankees righthander’s Tommy John surgery in late March was no exception. The ligament-replacement procedure was both a unique discovery and surgery for the 21-year-old, 2012 first-round pick, who has also spent time on the disabled list with a shoulder ailment, surgeries to repair the labrum in each of his hips, an abdominal procedure, and facial operations to repair damage sustained in an alleged assault in December by former Weber State linebacker Anthony Morales. “As far as one thing after the other, with the whole hip surgery thing and my ab surgery—call it what you want, but I call that a fluke because, it’s just weird,” Hensley said. “Now this on the…

Columnist, MLB.com GLENDALE, ARIZ. Clayton Kershaw has taken on a larger-than-life persona—and not just with the Dodgers’ fan base. Kershaw is more than the ace of the Dodgers rotation. He is the trump card. It is why what would normally just be a routine spring start turned into an event on a Thursday afternoon in late March when Kershaw returned to the mound for the first time since he took a line drive off his jaw five days earlier. It’s why there was such a feeling of relief after Kershaw worked through an 88-pitch, six-inning effort in which he gave up a run on four hits with one walk and eight strikeouts, and then announced: “It’s still sore. I can’t eat jawbreakers or anything, but it’s OK.” And right now,…

These are the rosters for every major and minor league team that began the 2015 season in early April. The roster limit for all ballclubs, in both the major and minor leagues, is now 25 active players. Ages are as of April 1. For each player, we have listed the organization he played with last year (the most recent organization if he played in more than one), as well as the highest level they reached. No designation in parentheses means the player reached the major leagues. Players who appeared in foreign or independent leagues are noted as such. More detailed rosters, updated throughout the season, are available at BaseballAmerica.com * DISABLED LIST ** 60-DAY DISABLED LIST # SUSPENDED/INACTIVE/RESTRICTED LIST…

FORT MYERS, FLA. Righthander Pat Light was nearing the end of his campaign at high Class A Salem in 2014, a year in which he had thrown roughly 100 innings more than the 34 frames he threw in 2013. With just a couple of Carolina League starts left, fatigue had set in. A small concession to that fact prior to a late-August start led to a watershed. “That day, I really wanted to get my arm loose,” said Light, 24, a supplemental first-round pick from Monmouth in 2012. “I used less legs (while long-tossing) in the outfield. I just kept going further back, and all of a sudden, I was in center field and just using my arm. I got extension. It really taught me how to use my arm…

DUNEDIN, FLA. Watching four top prospects dominate in spring training to win big league jobs is the dream for every minor league pitching coordinator. Making things even better for Dane Johnson is that he’s graduating to the majors with them. “Tremendous,” said Johnson, who takes over as bullpen coach after 11 seasons as the minor leauge coordinator. “As an organization, where coaches get the most satisfaction is in watching a kid grow, and then not only mature physically, but also mentally as a person, being able to grasp that, take that and roll it into a professional career as a pitcher. “It’s the raw product you’ve got to spend a lot of time with, you see the silver linings of those guys in what they can do, the raw product…

JUPITER, FLA. Mason Davis started 175 career games at The Citadel, all at second base. He had no reason to believe he’d be playing another position when he joined short-season Batavia last June 15. He learned multiple new positions, in fact. Davis, a 19th-round pick in 2014, played third base in his first game. He also saw time at all three outfield spots, where he hadn’t roamed since his high school days in Stone Mountain, Ga. “I thought I would just be a second baseman,” said Davis, 22. “As long as I’m in the lineup, (moving around) is fine with me.” Davis hit .319/.393/.468 in 56 games before the Marlins shipped him to low Class A Greensboro in late August. He stole bases at an 80 percent success rate in 79…

For statistics, organization reports, prospect lists and recent drafts, check out: baseballamerica.com/t/organization-reports/ SURPRISE, ARIZ. In his final big league spring training game, outfielder Brett Eibner homered, then fouled a ball off his foot and exited with a limp. The 26-year-old suffered only a bruise, a fortunate outcome for a player who has had more than his share of injuries. “No kidding. Tell me about it,” Eibner said. “I’ve had plenty.” He appeared in 87 games in 2014, mostly at Triple-A Omaha, because of an injury. “It was a pretty severe one,” Eibner said. “I tore my abductor in my lower abdominal and missed about three months with that. “I was running to first base. It was a double play against El Paso, just a running injury, trying to beat it…

LAKELAND, FLA. Righthander Sandy Baez has several steps to take before he is ready to pitch in the majors, but the Tigers like what they see, not only about his talent but also his makeup. The 21-year-old pitched well and posted solid numbers in 2014 in his first season in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League. He pitched the previous two seasons in the Dominican Summer League. “We really like Sandy,” farm director Dave Owen said. “He’s really got a great body for a pitcher. Big, strong kid.Throws hard. Right now, Sandy’s just working on his consistency, repeating things in his delivery, but he’s a power pitcher. He’s going to be fun to watch.” Assistant general manager Al Avila had similar reviews regarding Baez, who signed out of the Dominican Republic…

GOODYEAR, ARIZ. Basketball, finally, is in the past for Amir Garrett. Despite being drafted in 2011, Garrett went through his first spring training in 2014 and then was in big league camp this spring. The 6-foot-5 lefthander had been pursuing a basketball career at the same time as his baseball career, and unlike others who fancy themselves ballers, Garrett has bona fides. A top 100 recruit in basketball coming out of high school, Garrett played two seasons at St. John’s, averaging 6.2 points and 4.2 rebounds per game before transferring to Cal State Northridge. The Reds drafted Garrett in the 22nd round of the 2011 draft and signed him for $1 million. He played in the minors in 2012 and 2013, but it wasn’t until this past August that he…

JUPITER, FLA. One of the best all-around performances during spring training put rookie Randal Grichuk on the Opening Day roster. Playing time is the only thing that could keep him from staying there. General managerJohn Mozeliak said that for the 23-year-old outfielder to continue developing and perhaps emerge as an everyday option for the team, he has to get enough atbats off the bench. “I’m going to be patient with that,” Mozeliak said. “There is going to be a time that we’re going to have to look at that. Make sure we’re not dwarfing his development because of lack of playing time..” Grichuk led the team with four homers in spring training, and his work in the games and during drills rewrote what the Cardinals expect from him. What he…

MESA, ARIZ. For the last two years, catcher Bruce Maxwell has worked diligently to improve on every little technical issue, both with his swing and behind the plate. Now that he has a command of the basics, it is time to take off. “I’m just going to go out there and have fun,” said Maxwell, 24. “I play my best baseball when I’m having fun. I’ve made the adjustments, and they have become a normal part of my game.” Maxwell began the spring in big league camp and made an impression with his work in drills and handling pitchers, farm director Keith Lieppman said. That is no real surprise, since he exudes his love of the game and constantly shows an intense work ethic. Since being drafted in the second…

For statistics, organization reports, prospect lists and recent drafts, check out: baseballamerica.com/t/organization-reports/ SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ Brian Ragira might have made the most improvement at the plate of any player in the Giants system last season. The 23-year-old first baseman and righthanded batter struggled to hit .224/.287/.364 with five home runs in the first half at high Class A San Jose before making adjustments and beginning to understand how California League pitchers were attacking him. Ragira hit .297/.353/.524 in the second half with 15 home runs. He ended the year as one of just four players in the Giants system (along with Adam Duvall, Tyler Horan and Chris Dominguez) to hit 20 home runs. “Coming up through the amateur ranks, I was a guy who hit for more average, but once I…

GLENDALE, ARIZ. Lefthander Adam Liberatore had reason to be flattered by one of the first movesAndrew Friedman made in his new job as Dodgers president of baseball operations. Then he was challenged by it. Friedman acquired Liberatore in a November trade that also brought veteran reliever Joel Peralta to Los Angeles from Friedman’s former team, the Rays. Peralta figures to be a key piece of a rebuilt Dodgers bullpen this season—and the Liberatore could contribute as well. “It was exciting,” said Liberatore, 27, in spring training. “I definitely wasn’t expecting it. I didn’t really know what to think, to be honest with you. Andrew’s great at what he does. I know he’s a got a good history of getting good return on his trades. I’m just hoping to make good…

Rule 5 Pick Clicks When many look at Opening Day rosters and try to figure up backup closers and surprise starters, it’s fun for me to look at which indy ball veterans stuck (Brandon Cunniff and Drew Rucinski) and which Rule 5 picks are still major leaguers, which leads right into this week’s question. I was wondering if you could tell me the approximate percentage of Rule 5 draftees that break camp with the big club? HOWARD KATZ Normally, a player picked in the major league Rule 5 draft has about a one in four chance of sticking with his new team. If we look at the Rule 5 draft since new eligibility rules were put in place for the December 2006 draft, 28.6 percent of draftees have stuck with…

TWINS COACH, FORMER PLAYER INGRAM DIES Longtime Twins instructor and manager Riccardo Ingram, who was a two-sport star at Georgia Tech in the late 1980s, died April 1 after a long battle with cancer. He was 48. Ingram coached in the Twins organization from 1998-2014 with stints as a manager with three minor league affiliates for Minnesota. Ingram led the Georgia Tech in batting with a .426 batting average in 1987 and led the football team in tackles with 79 in 1986. “He was always smiling,” Twins outfielder Torii Hunter told the Fort Myers News-Press. “I was a younger guy, and I always looked up to him. He had so much talent, and he was so athletic. He had such a great presence. You can’t say anything bad about Riccardo…

Editor in Chief Baseball America johnmanuel@baseballamerica.com Daniel Robertson heard all the warnings, and he was wary about the change. “But spring training in Florida wasn’t as bad as everyone makes it out to be,” he said with a laugh as March drew to a close. “We’ve had beautiful weather, there are great beaches 30 minutes away—that’s a plus, a huge plus. “The minus, if it is a minus, is the (longer) bus rides (compared with Arizona), but that’s all part of it. I’m a little biased because I’m a West Coast guy, and my family and friends can just come out to Arizona a little easier than they can to Florida.” Robertson, 21, spent his first spring in the Sunshine State after being traded from the Athletics to the Rays…

TAMPA Outfielder Slade Heathcott has experienced almost everything in life and baseball and bounced back each time. Yet last year’s right-knee operation, the same hinge that needed surgery in 2013, put the 24-year-old’s mind in a different place. “As I was sitting in Pensacola (Fla.) and didn’t play at all last year except for the nine games, I felt really distant for the first time in my life,” said Heathcott, a first-round pick in 2009 out of high school in Texarkana, Texas. “I thought about it every day, what it would be like to play again. Rehab wasn’t going well, I couldn’t get over the hump. Maybe it was 50 to 60 percent.” After the Yankees lopped him off the 40-man roster last December and then resigned him to a…

For statistics, organization reports, prospect lists and recent drafts, check out: baseballamerica.com/t/organization-reports/ VIERA, FLA. In lefthander Felipe Rivero’s four innings in major league camp, he showed why the organization is looking forward to seeing what he can do in a healthy season. Rivero did not allow a run over his three big league spring training appearances. He struck out four and walked none while allowing three hits. Manager Matt Williams said he was impressed with the 23-year-old Venezuelan’s work before Washington optioned him to Double-A Harrisburg, where he will continue to work with pitching coach Chris Michalak. Farm director Mark Scialabba said that the 6-foot-2, 195-pound Rivero would remain in the rotation while in the Eastern League. This year marked Rivero’s third spring in a big league camp. He had shown…

PORT ST. LUCIE, FLA. Danny Muno’s under-theradar days in the Mets organization are over. With second baseman Daniel Murphy and shortstop Wilmer Flores banged up during spring training, general manager Sandy Alderson talked up the 26-year-old Muno as a potential fill-in. That made sense with the front office so keen on plate discipline and on-base percentage. Muno, an eighth-round pick in 2011 out of Fresno State, hit .259/.372/.418 in 117 games at Triple-A Las Vegas last year. “Coach (Mike) Batesole at Fresno State taught me a lot about how to see pitches and work the count,” Muno said. “That’s been my forte. I’ve just been trying to get on base, score runs, help the team win.” Muno entered the 2015 season having played 239 games at second base, 108 at…

CHICAGO The White Sox aren’t quite ready to anoint Micah Johnson as their everyday second baseman. Give it time. Johnson got the start on Opening Day, batting ninth against the Royals. The lefthanded hitter was on the bench in the second game, started by Royals lefthander Danny Duffy. As the season moves along, Johnson should be in the lineup regardless of who is on the mound. “We first and foremost wanted him to come in healthy after (the strained hamstring) he had last August,” general manager Rick Hahn said, “and we wanted to make sure he was comfortable with the speed of the game from a defensive standpoint. “There will be growing pains. That’s part of the reason he’s hitting ninth, and we have options defensively to mix in and…

FORT MYERS, FLA. In his second game as a professional, outfielder Roberto Gonzalez singled once, doubled twice, stole a base and drove in three runs in a Rookie-level Gulf Coast League game. A 15th-round in 2014 from University High in Orlando, he then went into a 1-for-15 slump, with nine strikeouts. “We were just starting to see how he would respond to a challenge,” the vice president for player personnel Mike Radcliff said. “Then he got a much bigger one.” While stealing second in a late-July game, Gonzalez hit the bag awkwardly and broke a bone in his right leg. He missed the rest of the season and instructional league, getting to work on months of rehabilitation. The 20-year-old, lefthanded-hitting outfielder returned to camp with a good attitude, but question…

PHOENIX Lefthander Jed Bradley, a first-round pick in 2011 who has not progressed, will pitch in relief this season. “That’s the role they see me having the most success in,” said Bradley, 24. “I trust them. This spring has been and will be a little bit of an adjustment period, but I’ve always been a guy who will do whatever it takes.” When the Brewers took Bradley out of Georgia Tech with the 15th pick in 2011— three selections after taking righthander Taylor Jungmann out of Texas—they hoped he would make a rapid ascent to the majors. Bradley, though, was plagued by injuries in his first two seasons before finally putting together a solid string of starts (5-2, 2.98 ERA in 10 games) last season at high Class A Brevard…

For statistics, organization reports, prospect lists and recent drafts, check out: baseballamerica.com/t/organization-reports/ TEMPE, ARIZ. Strictly speaking, 22-year-old lefthander Greg Mahle throws three pitches— a fastball, slider and changeup. In reality, he throws nine or 10, because he delivers his repertoire from four different arm slots at a variety of speeds, giving him varied looks that could put him on a fast track to Anaheim as a situational reliever. “It’s really unique,” general manager Jerry Dipoto said. “He’ll drop down to a submarine angle and throw 86-88 (mph). He’ll throw sidearm and hit 90. From a three-quarter arm slot, he’ll throw 90-92. He’ll touch 95 from a high three-quarters arm slot. And he has a nasty breaking ball that creates tough angles for lefthanded hitters.” The 6-foot-2, 230-pound Mahle was a 15th-round…

PEORIA, ARIZ. The Mariners didn’t hope for Victor Sanchez to return to baseball. They simply hoped he could live a normal life. But the 20-year-old righthander lost that battle. On March 28, Sanchez passed away at a hospital in Caracas, Venezuela. “The Seattle Mariners are saddened to learn of the passing of Victor Sanchez,” said general manager Jack Zduriencik in a statement. “Victor was a tremendous young man and a wonderful teammate. He was a very talented player who was close to fulfilling his promise as a major leaguer.” On Feb. 14, just days before he was scheduled to report to Arizona for minor league minicamp, Sanchez was injured while swimming off the shore in Playa Medina in the Venezuelan coastal city of Carupano. A boat and its rotating propeller…

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. Righthander Enrique Burgos spent the winter before the 2014 season refining his delivery, leading to better command. This winter, he tinkered with his fastball and slider grips, helping him take another eye-opening step forward. A 98-99 mph fastball and a stellar spring performance helped keep Burgos in the running for an Opening Day roster spot. He struck out 16 and yielded just two earned runs over 13 spring innings but will begin the season at Double-A Mobile. Burgos, even at 24, is relatively new to the game after playing mostly soccer while growing up in Panama. He credits his father, a former major league lefthander of the same name, for helping fine tune his game. The two went to work even after Burgos’ strong Arizona Fall League season,…

SAN DIEGO In recent months the Padres upgraded their major league club by acquiring several major league starters and a dominant closer, Craig Kimbrel. For a franchise that last won a playoff series in 1998, the moves made sense, but one of the downstream costs will become apparent in the June draft. San Diego forfeited the 13th pick in the 2015 draft by signing James Shields, and then dealt pick No. 41 to Atlanta in the Kimbrel deal, thus the Padres don’t pick until 51st overall. It’s the latest initial draft slot for the Padres since 1992. Their draft assets slimmed, the Padres are counting on their international efforts to pick up the slack. International scouting is a strength of two executives who are in their first full season with…

WINSTON SALEM, N.C. Boston College head coach Mike Gambino was still in disbelief after the game, standing near the visitors’ dugout, pointing to the spots over the outfield wall where Chris Shaw sent three pitches to die. “Have you ever seen that? With left field, center field and right field?” he asked, grinning. “I don’t know which one he hit harder.” Shaw, Boston College’s junior power-hitting right fielder/first baseman, unloaded for three home runs and seven RBIs to help the Eagles salvage a series at Wake Forest on Easter Sunday. He went 4-for-5 on the day, his lone out an RBI grounder in the first inning that the first baseman needed to dive for. He just narrowly missed a home run in the third inning, settling for an opposite-field double…

ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS: Signed RHP Ethan Elias. Released RHPs Jeremy Accardo, Stew Brase, Dustin Loggins, Danny Moskovits, Henry Rodriguez, Kyle Schepel, Justin Van Grouw, Kyle Winkler and Rob Wort; LHPs Spencer Medick, Trevor Reckling, Cody Wheeler and Al Yevoli; 1B Jon Griffin, 2B Tyler Bortnick, 3Bs Ryan Court, Shayne Houck and Jordan Parr; SSs Justin Gonzalez, Steve Nyisztor and Ronald Ramirez and OFs Aaron Cunningham and Carlo Testa. Traded RHP Trevor Cahill and cash to Braves for OF Josh Elander.Traded RHP Sean Furney to Braves for cash.Acquired C Mike Blanke from White Sox for cash. ATLANTA BRAVES: Signed RHP Tyler Jones. Released RHPs Matt Capps, Danny Carela, Abraham Espinosa, Jarett Miller, Pete Perez and Andry Ubiera; LHPs Sean Bierman, Michael Flores, Carlos Perez, Leyson Septimo and Dail Villanueva; Cs Blake Austin…