Catchers that are free-agents after this season include Bengie Molina, Jason Varitek, Victor Martinez, Rod Barajas, Yorvit Torrealba and A.J. Pierzynski. Yesterday, Angels‘ Mike Napoli said he wanted more playing time, and with the Angels being likely crowded next season behind the plate, he could be a good fit for the Marlins. Napoli is also under team control, so he wouldn’t be a short-term rental.

Van Mil, 25, is best known for being the tallest pitcher in the Minor Leagues at 7′1″. He was designated for assignment by the Twins on August 28.

He has not played in the Major Leagues, but was added to the Twins 40-man roster last November. In High-A and Double-A in 2010, Van Mill is 1-3 with a 6.15 ERA in 26 games. He has a 1.960 WHIP and 1.23 SO/BB ratio.

Last month, Cafardo said that there have been preliminary talks regarding an extension with Martinez. At the time, he said that Martinez may fall into the four-year, $60 million range, and the Sox may not believe he may be worth that.

The Sox made an attempt at acquiring Los Angeles Angels catcher-first baseman Mike Napoli, but the deal fell through. Napoli would like to get the opportunity to play everyday. If the teams could work out a deal this winter, he could be a cheaper option for the Sox. Napoli could be signed to a long-term deal between what the Colorado Rockies’ three-year, $8.35 million deal with Chris Iannetta and the Oakland Athletics’ four-year, $16.25 million deal with Kurt Suzuki (approximately $3-4 million per season).

Paulino is under team control, and could see a salary increase to $3 million for 2011, but the Marlins may be cautious about paying that much money to a player coming off a suspension.

The other internal option the Marlins have is John Baker, but he has been out with elbow issues since mid-May. He will likely undergo surgery on his right elbow.

Catchers the Marlins could go after this off-season include Bengie Molina, Jason Varitek, Victor Martinez, Rod Barajas, Yorvit Torrealba and A.J. Pierzynski. We talked earlier today about the Angels‘ Mike Napoli wanting more playing time, and with the Angels being likely crowded next season behind the plate, he could be a good fit for the Marlins.

Napoli said, “It could go either way; I’d say it’s 50-50.”

“I want to play every day,” Napoli continued. “I feel I could potentially help the team a lot by being in there every day. I just like to play. … I’m not in there again today.”

Napoli was almost traded to the Boston Red Sox on Monday, but the two teams could not come to an agreement after the Sox made a waiver claim on Napoli.

The Angels home run leader is clearly frustrated by his lack of playing time. “Yeah,” said Napoli, who shares catching duties with Jeff Mathis and the first base job with Juan Rivera. “I’m having one of the best years of my career, and I’m not playing much. I guess I don’t get it done on the defensive side. I have to clean things up.”

Despite leading the team in home runs he also leads the team with 108 strikeouts (7th most in the American League).
“I’m an Angel now,” Napoli said. “I want to help this team. I love everyone in this clubhouse. I don’t want to go anywhere else. I want to play. If there are other teams that want to give me an opportunity, I will always do my best.”

With the crowded catcher and first base positions in Los Angeles, it’s likely that the Angels could move Napoli in the off-season. They shouldn’t close the book with Boston given the uncertainty of Victor Martinez re-signing with the team.

A second source close to Speier said the Angels were “not really looking to move” Napoli right now.

8/29 17:21: The Angels will likely pull Napoli back as they can create more of a trade market for him over the winter, a league source told John Tomase of the Boston Herald.  The Red Sox had interest in Napoli but also needed to put a claim in to block the Rays from obtaining him.

8/29 14:50: According to ESPN’s Joe McDonald, the Boston Red Sox have claimed Mike Napoli. McDonald adds that is is unlikely the Red Sox will complete a deal.

8/28 23:01: Major League sources close to FOXSports.com say that Los Angeles Angels catcher/first baseman Mike Napoli was claimed on trade waivers by an unknown team. The Angels and the claiming team now have until Monday afternoon to work out a deal.

Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOXSports says the team is probably another American League club. Possible candidates include the Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox, Tampa Bay Rays, Minnesota Twins, Chicago White Sox and the Texas Rangers. All of those teams could use help at catcher, first base and/or designated hitter.

Since the return of catcher Jeff Mathis from the disabled list in June, Napoli has spent more time at first base.

Napoli is earning $3.6 million this season and is on track to be a free agent after the 2012 season. He is hitting .249 with 21 home runs and 60 RBIs in 112 games.

The addition of relief pitcher Brian Fuentes to the Minnesota Twins’ bullpen via trade from the Los Angeles Angels adds almost $2 million more to the Twins’ payroll, but it could be well worth it. Fuentes gives the Twins another closing option, but he fits best in left-on-left situations. Fuentes has held left-handed hitters to a .132 batting average. Left-hander Jose Mijares could come back to Minnesota in the last few weeks of the season – giving the Twins three left-handed options out of the bullpen.

Part of the reason the Texas Rangers made a claim on Manny Ramirez this week was to keep him away from two potential playoff opponents – the Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees. It’s probably best that the Rangers did not win the claim due to Ramirez’s defensive liability. Rosenthal says the Rangers should be fine with Nelson Cruz and Ian Kinsler expected to come off the DL shortly. The Rangers had been looking into acquiring a fourth outfielder – somebody like the Dodgers’ Reed Johnson.

If the Los Angeles Dodgers’ decision to part with Ramirez comes down to the outcome of their next three games, then Rosenthal says the pitching matchups will be critical. Rosenthal points out that Monday’s matchup will be between Hiroki Kuroda versus the Philadelphia Phillies Roy Halladay.  The Dodgers could let Ramirez go regardless of the outcome of their next three games because he hasn’t really been a factor for the Dodgers’ this season.

With three teams making a claim on Ramirez this week, and the possibility of inheriting the $4 million that he’s due, Rosenthal points out that teams are more robust financial than what we are led to believe.

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Rosenthal adds that Fuentes will give the Twins another option to close with Matt Capps.

There were questions earlier this month if the Angels were going to re-sign the free-agent-to-be Fuentes.
Fuentes is in the final year of his two-year, $17.5 million deal that he signed before the 2009 season. There is a $9 million option for 2011 that will automatically vest if he finishes 55 games this season. He’s currently at 33 games finished, so it’s unlikely that the option will vest.

Fuentes, was 4-1 with a 3.52 ERA and 23 saves this season for the Angels.

“If they’re really serious about him, yeah,” Kazmir said. “I’d love to have him on the team. I don’t think there’s anyone in the league who has the skills he has, who brings so much to the table. He creates stuff, he’s an excellent outfielder and he has power. He pretty much has it all. I think everyone would love to have him.”

8/25 11:45: Free-agent-to-be Carl Crawford could be headed to Southern California if the rumors of Torii Hunter’s recruiting efforts are true. Despite the rumors, Hunter is denying any attempts at luring his friend to the Los Angeles Angels.

“Everybody and their mama’s going to want Carl Crawford,” Hunter said according to Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times. “So you never know what can happen.”

“People forget he’s my friend, he’s one of my best buddies in the game,” Hunter said. “People are making it out like I’m trying to recruit him and everything. I’m just his friend, like always. But since he’s a free agent they think I’m trying to recruit him. I’m not.

“I was a free agent once, so if he asks me about free agency I’m going to help him out, whether he joins the Angels or not. He’s my friend first.”

Crawford will draw heavy interest from those that could afford him. It’s expected that he could command a contract over $70 million that breaks down to the $12-14 million per season range. The Rays are unlikely to have him back since the team’s payroll will be under $60 million next year. The Washington Nationals, Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees have previously expressed interest in Crawford. At the time when Crawford was told that the Yankees were interested in him, Crawford said, “I don’t think about other teams. I’m only concerned with what goes on with the Rays.”

“I’m pretty sure he would love to stay with the Rays,” Hunter said. “But I’m pretty sure he has to think about that turf and that dome, and you have to think about your future first. Baseball is No. 1, and if you can’t play it because you’re sore every day, you learn that.”

Deadspin.com and the Associated Press published a series of confidential financial reports for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Tampa Bay Rays, Florida Marlins, Seattle Mariners, Los Angeles Angels and Texas Rangers.

The reports show how small market teams such as the Pirates make millions in profits despite poor on-field performances.

“It was beneficial, some of the information,” said one of the sources. “I think a lot of people were glad to see that the receipts were higher” but not happy to see some “transfer of equity was not going toward players and player development.”

The Angels were one of the more aggressive teams before the July 31st trade deadline. They acquired infielder Alberto Callaspo and right-handed pitcher Dan Haren while giving up several prospects. Now it seems the team is trying to salvage as much payroll as possible in order to prepare for future season.

Fuentes, is in the final year of his two-year, $17.5 million deal. Earlier this month, Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times said the Angels could look to re-signing the closer to a new contract. He has a vesting option for 2011 should he finish 55 games this season. He’s currently at 32, so the option will unlikely vest.

Placing players on trade waivers does not necessarily mean they are going to be moved, but in order to make a trade in August, the team needs to pass them through  waivers in order to freely negotiate a deal with the 29 teams. August 31st is the deadline to set postseason rosters, so contending teams are looking for the final pieces to make them competitive come October.

“We’re going to wait,” Feliciano said, according to Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com.

This year, Feliciano, is 3-6 with a 3.05 ERA in 65 appearances. He set a franchise record for relief appearances in 2008 with 86 and then topped that number with 88 in 2009. He’s on pace for 89 this year.

A Mets official close to Rubin said that because of Feliciano’s workload the Mets did not want to pursue a long-term deal. Rubin adds,
“The logic was that the Mets, as a New York team, would be able to wait to ensure Feliciano remained healthy and productive while not risking being outbid for Feliciano’s services the following year because of their big-market bankroll.”

ESPN’s Mark Simon compiled a list of left-handed comparables:
John Grabow, two years, $7.5 million, Chicago Cubs
Darren Oliver, one year, $3.5 million, Texas Rangers; and one year, $3.655 million, Los Angeles Angels
Damaso Marte, three years, $12 million, New York Yankees
Jeremy Affeldt, two years, $8 million, San Francisco Giants
Alan Embree, one year, $2.25 million, Colorado Rockies
Arthur Rhodes, two years, $4 million, Cincinnati Reds
Joe Beimel, one year, $2 million, Washington Nationals

Cowart, 18, as a hitter has power potential. According to MLB.com, as a pitcher he has an outstanding fastball with plus movement and decent fastball command. He has good athleticism and a chance to throw three pitches.

Fuentes in the final year of his two-year, $17.5 million deal that he signed before the 2009 season. There is a $9 million option for 2011 that will automatically vest if he finishes 55 games this season. He’s currently at 31 games finished, so he has 46 games left this season to finish 24 games – a pretty tough task. So with the vesting option unlikely to trigger, what will the Angels do this winter?

Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times says the Angels could look to re-sign the closer to a new contract.

“I don’t think that far ahead — I just worry about today,” Fuentes said. “That’s always been my approach, whether I was a rookie trying to make the team, going into an arbitration year, or whether there was a question of what role I was going to play.

“It’s all speculation, and there’s no point speculating on what is going to happen when nothing is guaranteed. All that stuff takes care of itself if I pitch the way I can. … Right now I’ve got the blinders on, and I’m moving forward.”

”It’s hard to say if it’ll be the last one,” assistant general manager Randy Bush said . ”Anything that we can do that we feel is to the betterment of the organization we’re going to continue to look at.”

The Chicago Sun-Times suggests that Xavier Nady should probably “keep his bags packed.” The Texas Rangers had interest in Nady in July. In early June, Nady was rumored to be a target of the Los Angeles Angels. Nady is signed to a one-year, $3.3 million contract with the Cubs.

Right-handed pitcher Carlos Zambrano may want to look over his shoulder too since the Cubs already tried to trade him in July. However, it will be unlikely that the Cubs will move Zambrano without absorbing much of his contract.

After spending his first 15 years in the Los Angeles Angels organization, Anderson played one year for the Atlanta Braves in 2009. It’s likely that Anderson may retire.

In 80 games this season, the outfielder hit .181/.204/.271 with 2 home runs and 12 RBIs.

Shields had a closed-door meeting with Manager Mike Scioscia and pitching coach Mike Butcher on Monday afternoon.

“He takes things hard, and he’s frustrated with where his level of contribution and achievement are,” Scioscia said. “We’re trying to get him back to basics.

“Every year, he has to adjust his release point and mechanics. He’s fought through a lot this year, but the arm speed and stuff are there. He needs to marry that with command.”

“It’s frustrating because I’ll feel like I’m getting back to the pitcher I know I can be for a couple of outings, and then I’ll take a step or two back,” Shields said.

“A lot of [my frustration] is not being there and helping the team, whether I’m in the role I’m in now or my old role. It was a two-run game when I came in [Sunday]. There have been four, five, six games where if I do my job, we have a chance to win.”

After spending his first 15 years in the Los Angeles Angels organization, Anderson played one year for the Atlanta Braves in 2009. It’s likely that Anderson may retire if the Dodgers do not trade him within the next 10 days.

In 80 games this season, the outfielder hit .181/.204/.271 with 2 home runs and 12 RBIs.

The Sox are maxed out on their payroll at $170 million and they could pay a luxury tax of 30 percent if they exceeds $178 million next season. This could be a problem if the team targets the Philadelphia Phillies Jayson Werth or the San Diego Padres Adrian Gonzalez in the off season.

The Red Sox will be headed to an off-season where the status of Victor Martinez an Adrian Beltre, both free agents who could command a high salary, will be in question. Additionally, designated hitter David Ortiz has a $12.5 million team option that the Sox may consider renegotiating. Cafardo suggests a few candidates that could be traded to straighten out the payroll include Jonathan Papelbon, Daisuke Matsuzaka and Jacoby Ellsbury.

On a side note, free-agent-to-be Carl Crawford was predicted to land with the Los Angeles Angels for 2011, but Cafardo says the Angels are having payroll issues. The Angels are estimated to have a $110 million payroll for next year, before adding free agents. Crawford is expected to get an expensive multi-year deal, so the Angels will need to get creative in order to afford the free-agent outfielder.

You can see that Hunter bumped homeplate umpire Ron Kulpa with his helmet. He later threw a bag of balls onto the field.

Skaggs went 8-4 with a 3.61 ERA with 21 walks and 82 strikeouts in 19 games (14 starts) for Single-A Cedar Rapids this season. Skaggs was selected by the Angels in the supplemental round (40th overall) of the 2009 First-Year Player Draft.

Huh? But what was all this July 31st Trade Deadline stuff that caused me to hit my refresh button so many times on July 31st? You’re telling me that my team could still make a move?

Adam Dunn of the Washington Nationals, Jose Bautista of the Toronto Blue Jays and Manny Ramirez of the Los Angeles Dodgers could still change teams. However, you should know your waiver rules before making an attempt at moving these guys.

There are bunch of waiver rules in Major League Baseball, but we’ll focus in on the most common one involved for August 1-31. Here are the rules you need to understand so when you go to the bar and start talking about trading players this month you’ll look pretty smart.

Almost every player on the 40-man roster will be placed on waivers this month. So don’t be surprised when Albert Pujols or Tim Lincecum or C.C. Sabathia are placed on waivers. They’ve been on there before, and they’ll be on there again. Why do they do this? Two reasons:

• In the event that the team wants to trade the player and they clear waivers they can trade them
  
• GMs use this process to gauge which teams might be interested in their players for winter trades.

So now a player is placed on waivers. Any team now can place a claim on that player, but only one team is awarded the claim even if multiple claims were submitted. The waiver claim is awarded to the team based on reverse order of standings, starting with the same league the player is in. So let’s say the St. Louis Cardinals place Albert Pujols on waivers and the New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles and San Diego Padres put a claim in. The Padres would win the claim despite the Orioles having a far worse record. In this scenario, the Padres have priority because they are the only National League team to place a claim. If no NL team placed a claim, the Orioles would have priority over any American League by virtue of having the worse record in the AL.

Three things can now happen:

• The original team says they don’t want to trade him, so they pull the player back. The player can be placed on waivers again, but he cannot be recalled a second time.
• The team that was awarded the waiver claim has 48 hours to work out a trade with the originating team.
• The original team can let the player go to the team that made the waiver claim and the new team is responsible for the salary. (This is the reason why many players with high salaries will go unclaimed such as Barry Zito of the San Francisco Giants. Teams do not want to take the risk of being stuck with poor performing but high salaried player.)

Now here comes the chess match – blocking claims.

Let’s go back with Pujols. The Cardinals put Pujols on waivers and the Yankees knowing they could use the bat would submit a claim. The Red Sox and the Rays would likely place a claim in there since they don’t want the Yankees to get another bat. They have a worse record than the Yankees so they would be given priority to make a deal for Pujols. In this case, the Red Sox are awarded a claim. The Cardinals would likely pull Pujols back.

Let’s say that Pujols had years left on his contract with millions of dollars tied to it, and he was performing poorly. The Cardinals could give Pujols away, and the Red Sox would be responsible for the remainder of his contract. So there’s a risk involved when trying to block a claim especially for those competitive teams on a tight budget.

An example of this was when the Rays let Jose Canseco go via waivers in 2000. The Yankees blocked Canseco from going to the Toronto Blue Jays. The Yankees won the World Series, but Canseco sat on the bench during his Yankees’ tenure.

That’s it in a nutshell. So take the knowledge and spread the word!

Information from Jayson Stark of ESPN and John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle was used in this article.

Saxon points out that designated hitter and outfielder Hideki Matsui is 41 points off his career average and he suspects that if his numbers don’t pick up, he could be traded or released in the coming weeks.

Other older players that are seeing a drop-off include Howie Kendrick, Juan Rivera, Erick Aybar, Maicer Izturis, Bobby Abreu, Torii Hunter and Mike Napoli.

The Angels are eight games out of the American League West, and are struggling to stay afloat. At some point this month, they may want to wave the white flag and see if they can trade some of their players to save cash on their payroll and get the younger guys more playing time in preparation for 2011.

Yesterday, Angels’ GM Tony Reagins said the teams received calls about veteran players just before the deadline, but “those [calls] didn’t make sense for us with what we want to accomplish.”