The Rangers and Donald Veal
by Adam J. Morris on Nov 26, 2008 5:39 PM CST
43 comments
So, the Rangers can't select a player in the Rule 5 draft, because their roster is full at 40 right now.
However, they can work out a deal where a team selects a player in the Rule 5 draft and then trades that player to the Rangers. That's how the Rangers ended up with Fabio Castro...the Royals selected him in the Rule 5 draft, then traded him to the Rangers for Esteban German.
So it is possible that the Rangers could end up as players in the Rule 5 draft in a couple of weeks, despite having a full roster.
And the guy who seems like someone the Rangers might be targeting is Cubs LHP Donald Veal. Last spring, when the Rangers were talking to the Cubs about a Marlon Byrd trade, Evan Grant said the Rangers wanted Veal, Jose Ceda (since dealt to the Marlins for Kevin Gregg) or Sean Marshall for Byrd. So the Rangers have, one would assume, scouted him pretty hard and are probably still interested in him
Veal throws hard, supposedly has a couple of good secondary pitches, but has lousy command. He struggled this year and hasn't done that well in the AFL. But the Rangers have made it clear that lefty relief help is a priority, and Veal was impressive against lefties in the minors last year, not allowing a homer to a lefty batter and striking out almost 9 per 9 IP (although walking almost 7 per 9).
The thing that mitigates against taking a Rule 5 guy is that the Rangers already have Dustin Nippert and Scott Feldman who are out of options, and taking someone like Veal would reduce the team's flexibility. But I have to think that they are taking a close look at Veal, and a few other power lefties like Pedro Figueroa of the A's organization, to see if their second lefty out of the pen might not be someone they could pluck from another team.
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From a Callis chat today:
Jeff (Dayton): Best player to get picked in the Rule-5 this year?
Jim Callis: The boys in the BA headquarters in Durham are working on a Rule 5 preview. The most interesting guy they’ve told me about is A’s LHP Pedro Figueroa.
"...my balls are really like a veiny flesh color" blueballlefty on Jun 4, 2008 7:44 PM EDT
"you gonna lose your horse. seriously." FX2
Yes we can! November 04, 2008
by Rodney on Nov 26, 2008 6:02 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
I like Veal a lot
He’s the guy I wanted included for Byrd last year. A lefty that can bring it 96-98 and still 24 is something we should be after, no matter how bad his control is.
by meatbonelefty on Nov 26, 2008 6:04 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
Veal
Well we do need a replacement for Rheinecker as the loogy don’t we? I could see us with a bullpen of Frankie, CJ, Benoit, Warner, Nippert, Veal, and Rupe.
Bryan Smith (12:17:17 PM PT): Justin Smoak and Josh Hamilton. The AL West might just have found their Bash Brothers, v. 2.0.
by bigsteve on Nov 26, 2008 6:18 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
Don't forget
Mendoza.
"My mother always taught me that if the only thing you have to say is,
‘(Expletive) Dave Samson,’ then don’t say anything at all.
So I’m not going to say anything at all.
Is my mother the greatest or what?"
- Mariners GM Bill Bavasi, after signing Ichiro to a $90 million contract
by tyd3311 on Nov 26, 2008 6:32 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
OKC bullpen
Bryan Smith (12:17:17 PM PT): Justin Smoak and Josh Hamilton. The AL West might just have found their Bash Brothers, v. 2.0.
by bigsteve on Nov 26, 2008 6:32 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
OKCfarfarawayfromtherangers bullpen
…i hope
Scout: He was a first-round pick right? Got a huge bonus?
KG: Oh yeah.
Scout: Well, he spent a lot of it on milkshakes.
by knockoutking on Nov 27, 2008 9:36 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Yuck:
Boomer, Wrigleyville: Donald Veal – thoughts on why the Cubs left him unprotected for the Rule V draft even though they have a few open spots on the 40 man?
Jim Callis: Because he’s just not that good. His delivery is a problem as it really hampers his control and command. He runs up high pitch counts, so even when he has good stuff (which isn’t consistently), it often lasts for no more than 2-3 innings. His stock is way down. He might get Rule 5ed by someone who thinks they can fix him, but he has made no progress with Cubs Double-A pitching coach Dennis Lewellyn, who has helped a lot of guys. I can’t see Veal sticking on a big league roster next year.
Any better opinions out there?
"...my balls are really like a veiny flesh color" blueballlefty on Jun 4, 2008 7:44 PM EDT
"you gonna lose your horse. seriously." FX2
Yes we can! November 04, 2008
by Rodney on Nov 26, 2008 6:18 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
sounds like the sort of guy
who could blossom in a bullpen role. of course, and I was thinking about this a few days ago, another name to think about is minor league FA LHP Travis Blackley, another career starter who could come into his own as a loogy. He was once one of the top pitching prospects for the Mariners, and he looked pretty great until an injury derailed his career. He’s an Australian who was originally signed by Jim Colborn when he worked in that org. A low risk name to consider who doesn’t have to be kept on the 25 all year…
by clark on Nov 26, 2008 7:17 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
blackley
is a guy that was a good prospect BUT BUT BUT he was also a soft throwing lefty (nothing plus about his pitches, maybe plus control?)
and yes, he would be a guy id be interested in bringing in on a NRI
Scout: He was a first-round pick right? Got a huge bonus?
KG: Oh yeah.
Scout: Well, he spent a lot of it on milkshakes.
by knockoutking on Nov 27, 2008 9:37 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
me likey that idea...
"For those booing me. Take that, beeep." - Ramon Vazquez
by 8legs2fangs on Nov 26, 2008 6:30 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
Morlan
from the Rays org, he was pretty highly regarded when he came over from the Twins in the Young/Garza deal, but he got injured last year. Unless his injury is career threatening, I could see him as an ideal option.
by clark on Nov 26, 2008 7:13 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
this guy
from Camden Depot
Eduardo Morlan | Stats | Organization – Tampa Bay
6-2 / 210 | Age – 22 | RHP | B/T – R/R | Drafted – 2004 (R3) | Miami HS (FL)
Morlan looks to have at least taken a big step towards turning the corner at AA Montgomery in 2008. Through the first four years of his professional career, Morlan has struggled to command his low- to mid-90s fastball and mid-90 slider, resulting in a high BB/9 rate. While his high strikeout rate has helped him to work out of these jams, he often reached his pitch counts too early in ball games and accordingly was shifted to the pen by Minnesota in 2007. After coming over to Tampa in the Garza/Young swap, Morlan stayed in the pen, maintained his strikeout rate (8.5 SO/9) but was also showed solid command, posting a 2.87 BB/9 rate, down from 3.45 in his previous four seasons. His fastball and 2-plane slider are both plus-offerings, and he could provide quality innings in the back-end of a Major League pen.
by clark on Nov 26, 2008 7:27 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Hamburger and Veal?
"Colt mccoy sucks, mack brown needs to be fired." - Longhorn
by DaheelzCM on Nov 26, 2008 8:48 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
Perhaps we should trade for
Robert Fish?
I guess you heard Fat Joe left Atlantic.
by Haeger Champ on Nov 27, 2008 12:39 AM CST up reply actions 1 recs
Veal
I think his velocity has been down as well. If we were just going on what he’s shown for the last couple of years, he wouldn’t be much of a name.
by Brett Perryman on Nov 26, 2008 10:42 PM CST reply actions 1 recs
Not too excited about Veal
I’d rather see them pick up a higher ceiling guy like Eduardo Morlan, even though he’s a righty. I guess as a LOOGY, Veal might make some sense, but after reading the Baseball Analysts piece, Minnesota’s Ryan Mullins peaks my interest.
G G G E-flat_______ F F F D__________....
by t ball on Nov 26, 2008 11:08 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
No, thanks.
The 40 Trumps All!!!
There are two kinds of men in this world: Men who make jump throws, and men who wish that they were Derek Jeter so that they could make jump throws.
by thedirkatron on Nov 27, 2008 12:05 AM CST reply actions 1 recs
OT:
dirkatron, can you direct me to the website address with the pictures of Derek Jeter on the verge of delivering a jump throw?
by jonthefon on Nov 27, 2008 1:23 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Use it wisely, my friend.
http://www.baseballmusings.com/archives/024934.php
The 40 Trumps All!!!
There are two kinds of men in this world: Men who make jump throws, and men who wish that they were Derek Jeter so that they could make jump throws.
by thedirkatron on Nov 27, 2008 1:31 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Google has better ones
http://images.google.com/images?q=jeter20jump20throw&rls=com.microsoft:en-us&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&startIndex=&startPage=1&um=1&sa=N&tab=wi
I particularly like this one. Jump throw + dirty uniform = the very definition of grit, heart and soul.
"Somewhere out there, between 14-32 BBWAA NL MVP voters are trying to get cheaper winter heating by drilling a hole in the microwave." - Jeff at LoL
by lonestarJon on Nov 27, 2008 4:19 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
The great thing about loving Derek Jeter and his Christ-like abilty to do jump throws is that there's no shortage of awesome internet goodies to find and share with the world.
I mean, look at this one.
I don’t have anything to add to that picture. Literally nothing.
Or how about this one:
You see, now this is art. Somebody drew a kickass sketch of Derek Jeter looking handsome and awesome and then decided to put four smaller action shots of Jeter in the background. And you know what he did with those four background action shots? He made them 50% jump throw. Fifty percent!!!
Fuh. King.
Gene.
E.
Us.
The 40 Trumps All!!!
There are two kinds of men in this world: Men who make jump throws, and men who wish that they were Derek Jeter so that they could make jump throws.
by thedirkatron on Nov 27, 2008 4:52 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
You're gonna looooove Elvis
He made the best jump-throw play from the deep SS hole I’ve EVER seen during the playoffs a few months ago. Better than Jeter. Yeah … I said it. Better. And the runner to 1st wasn’t slow by any means.
by shroomer on Nov 27, 2008 5:02 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
But can he do a jump throw when it's not even necessary?
The 40 Trumps All!!!
There are two kinds of men in this world: Men who make jump throws, and men who wish that they were Derek Jeter so that they could make jump throws.
by thedirkatron on Nov 27, 2008 5:17 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
BTW, the beefcake photo above ...
it’s like a Menudo reunion broke out or something.
by shroomer on Nov 27, 2008 6:07 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Yah, about that deeply haunting photo...
I’m almost positive the dark-skinned guy rocking the pseudo-Burt Reynolds pose in the back is Edgar Renteria and that the guy leering over Jeter is Rey Ordonez (at least it looks like him)… who is the guy on the left of ARod? Seems like I should recognize him. Alex Gonzlaez, maybe?
The 40 Trumps All!!!
There are two kinds of men in this world: Men who make jump throws, and men who wish that they were Derek Jeter so that they could make jump throws.
by thedirkatron on Nov 27, 2008 6:22 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Veal video
from the AFL
Is it just me or does his timing/stride/front knee look different in all four of the
pitches during that clip? Like he’s drunk or something.
by shroomer on Nov 27, 2008 2:06 AM CST reply actions 0 recs
I'm not all that interested in Veal, really
Not if his control is as bad as Callis indicates. Sounds like a lefthanded Robbie Tejeda, the type of guy that we just wouldn’t be able to put enough time into fixing to warrant keeping. Besides, we’ve already got one fireballer with no options who deserves every chance to succeed in Nippert. I think I’d rather be able to focus on him in 2009 than go swiping yet another reclamation project in the rule 5.
Besides, we might need that roster spot yet this winter.
"Somewhere out there, between 14-32 BBWAA NL MVP voters are trying to get cheaper winter heating by drilling a hole in the microwave." - Jeff at LoL
by lonestarJon on Nov 27, 2008 4:32 AM CST reply actions 0 recs
yea but you can get him
and drop him in the middle of the winter/whenever
anyway a spot is free’d up if you trade a catcher
a spot can be freed up if you do anythign w/ catt
i would think that if they go another directiong w/ 3b they could free up a spot by dropping metcalf (surely he wouldnt get picked up)
doug mathis (ditto on any RP – why keep mathis over a rule V guy if you really like the rule V guy?)
ditto on mendoza (same as mathis)
essentially if you add a RP you have mathis/mendoza you can drop
if you trade 2 catchers (or just one) thats another spot
catt can be moved/cut/dropped and theres another spot
i thinkn what happens if they take anyone is that mathis or mendoza is gone and replaced by the rule V guy (which i see no reason we shouldnt take a chance on someone….its not like were the effing angels here)
Scout: He was a first-round pick right? Got a huge bonus?
KG: Oh yeah.
Scout: Well, he spent a lot of it on milkshakes.
by knockoutking on Nov 27, 2008 9:43 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
options
Why pick up a guy who you have to keep on your 25 man roster and who wasn’t thought highly enough by another organization to add them to the 40 man roster and drop a guy who you can stick down in OKC for another year or three (in Mathis’ case)? Unless the talent level is so different and veal is so much better than either Mathis or Mendoza and you know, absolutely know, he will get it you don’t do that.
Now if you want to drop a guy like Nippert or Feldman for Veal then thats one thing because all three of those guys must stay on the 25 man all year. But as we learned last year with Galarraga, teams will take a chance on snagging guys with options left because that gives them more time to evaluate them. In Mendozas case he has one option left and Mathis has three. No matter how fluky you think Galarragas season was last year you can’t deny that it would have helped us.
Bryan Smith (12:17:17 PM PT): Justin Smoak and Josh Hamilton. The AL West might just have found their Bash Brothers, v. 2.0.
by bigsteve on Nov 27, 2008 11:16 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
the talent level between a guy like veal or figueroa is so much higher than someone like mathis
mathis isnt gonna be a guy who is in our bullpen this year or probably in the future. he has next to zero chance of making a big impact on the rangers unless something drastically changes.
meanwhile having a guy who has talent but has rough edges that need to be ironed out (and therefore has less value to certain teams)
galarraga last year has a huge fluke season and NO ONE saw that coming, much like danks going into this year w/o the cutter…
the talent level from a guy like veal or figueroa (who throw very hard) and mathis (who doesnt) to me would make sense to me
what makes mathis better than loe?
Scout: He was a first-round pick right? Got a huge bonus?
KG: Oh yeah.
Scout: Well, he spent a lot of it on milkshakes.
by knockoutking on Nov 27, 2008 1:06 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Theres a very good chance you're right
But those guys you mention have to be on the 25 man roster all season. If they struggle and don’t have what we think they have we can’t simply option them down to get more development time.
With guys like Mathis and Mendoza, while they may not be as good as Veal or Figuroa we have options with them. Let them develop some more and maybe they do get it. Maybe it does click and they become solid pieces of a bullpen here. But we have options which is crucial. If they come up and struggle with some aspect like control or consistency we can send them back down to work on things. You can’t do that with a rule 5 pick.
And while I agree no one could have seen Galarraga coming last year Detroit did know they could claim him and give him another full year in the minors to work things out in case it did click for him. And it did and they benefitted no matter how lucky it was. I don’t want to see us DFA Mendoza or Mathis for a guy like Veal or Figuroa to see them struggle and then in a year or two see Mathis or Mendoza become a nice bullpen piece all because they were able to spend time in the minors working things out while our guy struggled and we had to give them back to their original club. Theres a reason the teams didn’t protect those players. Its because they don’t think they are ready. They need more time. Picking them doesn’t give us that time because we are forced to carry them all year.
Bryan Smith (12:17:17 PM PT): Justin Smoak and Josh Hamilton. The AL West might just have found their Bash Brothers, v. 2.0.
by bigsteve on Nov 27, 2008 5:02 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Detroit did know they could claim him and give him another full year in the minors to work things out in case it did click for him
yes your right, we agree on this
Scout: He was a first-round pick right? Got a huge bonus?
KG: Oh yeah.
Scout: Well, he spent a lot of it on milkshakes.
by knockoutking on Nov 28, 2008 1:32 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
hanging onto spares, just because they have options
is a horrible idea.
In memory of Ulysses Simpson Grant Stoner. RIP Lil Stoner.
by tricer on Nov 28, 2008 8:04 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Giving up on spares with options
For more spares without options is an even worse idea
Bryan Smith (12:17:17 PM PT): Justin Smoak and Josh Hamilton. The AL West might just have found their Bash Brothers, v. 2.0.
by bigsteve on Nov 28, 2008 11:43 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs
not if the guys without options have a lot more talent than someone like say doug mathis
Scout: He was a first-round pick right? Got a huge bonus?
KG: Oh yeah.
Scout: Well, he spent a lot of it on milkshakes.
by knockoutking on Nov 28, 2008 6:22 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
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