Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Wiretap

Wells Unlikely To Waive Full No-Trade Clause

The Angels have a host of productive outfielders and little space for Vernon Wells as he approaches a return from thumb surgery.

A trade might be a possibility, but the veteran holds a full no-trade clause and doesn't sound like he plans to waive it.

"I prefer to stay here," Wells said. "I love being here. The guys are awesome. We have the potential to be really good for a long time.

"I haven't been thinking about (the possibility of a trade)."

He didn't completely rule out the possibility that he would allow a trade, but it probably would require an ideal fit.

Via Jon Paul Morosi/FOX Sports

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Trade Rumor

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30-Team MLB Scoop, June 25th Edition

The National League

The Kevin Towers AZ Snake Pit: "The Free Bauer movement can take a break, now that their favorite prospect will finally get his chance to bring his special style to the Major Leagues. Since being drafted last year 3rd overall, fans have been clamoring for Bauer to get called up, first for the playoff push in 2011, and this year to help bolster a rotation that has been shaky at best."

The Frank Wren David O-Brien of Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "Dan Uggla's past month has been a bit like the Braves' season, shifting from two-week power surge to two-week slump without any middle ground. After hitting .316 with five homers, 16 RBIs and a .789 slugging percentage in 12 games from May 26 to June 9, the second baseman hit .125 with no homers, one RBI and a .150 slugging percentage in his past 12 games before Sunday."

The Jed Hoyer Paul Sullivan of Chicago Tribune: "A couple of hours after his last start at Wrigley Field 11 days ago, Ryan Dempster walked around the infield with some friends, gazing at the old ballpark. Dempster's days as a Cub were seemingly numbered, and it appeared he wanted one last look at the place he'd called home since 2004."

The Walt Jocketty Andrew Simon of MLB.com: "Mat Latos has posted a 6.75 ERA over his last five starts, giving up 34 hits and 10 home runs in 28 innings. His 16 home runs allowed this season are the third-most in the NL and as many as he surrendered in 2010 and 2011."

The Dan O-Dowd Troy E. Renck of Denver Post: "Carlos Gonzalez is like nobody that's ever played for the Rockies before. He's brash, talented and has more tools than The Home Depot. Sometimes his motor purrs rather than roars, but his ability overshadows the random misfiring spark plug. So, of course, the Rockies want to move him."

The Michael Hill Juan C. Rodriguez of South Florida Sun-Sentinel: "The Marlins and Jose Reyes had a bit of a scare in Sunday's game. In the third inning, Reyes and center fielder Scott Cousins got tangled up pursuing a Brett Lawrie pop to short left-center. Cousins appeared to hesitate when he saw the charging Reyes. Once he decided to continue his pursuit, the contact could not be avoided."

The Jeff Luhnow Chip Bailey of Houston Chronicle: "The 31-year-old [Brett] Myers is in his third season with the Astros and has been extremely effective in two of those three seasons. After leaving the Phillies, Myers signed a one-year deal for $3.1 million that included an $8 million option ($2 million buyout)."

The Ned Colletti Jim Peltz of Los Angeles Times: "Will Billingsley ever again come close to winning 16 games in a season as he did early in his career in 2008? ... Or is he destined to remain the .500 or so pitcher he's been ever since? ... And why is he so unsteady?"

The Doug Melvin Michael Hunt of Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: "About the time the Chicago White Sox were making the necessary on-field personnel moves Sunday afternoon to bring Kevin Youkilis aboard, the Milwaukee Brewers were going in a direction that could not be more contradictory to the Southsiders' objectives. The White Sox are intent on raising another American League pennant. The only National League flag the Brewers seemed interesting in hoisting was a whiter shade of pale."

The Sandy Alderson Bill Madden of New York Daily News: "Talking about Dickey's knuckleball, Joe Girardi said the most impressive thing about it was the pitcher's ability to throw it so consistently for strikes."

The Ruben Amaro Jr. Jay Floyd of Phillies Nation: "Tropical Storm Debby swept through Florida this weekend and impacted the home of the Class A Advanced Clearwater Threshers, Brighthouse Field."

The Neal Huntington Bucs Dugout: "Now that most of the picks from the first ten rounds have signed, the picture is becoming clearer on the Pirates' available pool money for above-slot signings. I thought it might be a good idea to revisit the known information on signability for some of the remaining outstanding picks."

The John Mozeliak Viva El Birdos: "In the 6th inning of yesterday's game, with a 4 run lead, the Cardinals found themselves with runners on first and second and no outs. A quick look at a run expectancy matrix would tell you that the "average" team between 1990 and 2010 ended the inning having scored 1.56 runs in that situation. A successful bunt would have put runners at second and third with one out leaving the Cardinals with a 1.45 run expectancy. Is it a significant drop off in scoring? No. Why, however, would you sacrifice any probabilistic edge?"

The Josh Byrnes Gaslamp Ball: "It's nice to see the dugout fired up after a big hit. We haven't seen that too many times this season. As good as he's been [Chase] Headley has taken over for Adrian Gonzalez with his permanent poopy face. The rest of the team usually looks about as bored as the fans."

The Brian Sabean Steve Kroner of San Francisco Chronicle: "Matt Cain came oh-so-close to the Barber. That would be Sal "The Barber" Maglie, who won nine consecutive starts for the New York Giants in 1952. Cain brought an eight-start win streak into Sunday's game against the A's. No San Francisco Giants pitcher has won nine straight starts in one season."

The Mike Rizzo Nats Enquirer: "Take a look at the "Clown Question Bro" beer logo."

The American League

The Dan Duquette Zach Helfand of Baltimore Sun: "[Jake] Arrieta didn't have too much time to refocus. After moving to the bullpen, an injury to Brian Matusz and the need to get Jason Hammel some rest put Arrieta right back into the rotation. Since then, Arrieta has been solid in three outings, with the exception of one pitch that led to a grand slam against the Mets."

The Ben Cherington Nick Cafardo of Boston Globe: "With Kevin Youkilis gone, David Ortiz is the only player remaining from the 2004 Red Sox World Series team."

The Kenny Williams Dave van Dyck of Chicago Tribune: "Let the record show that the White Sox won a one-run game Sunday - although it took them 10 innings to do it - and that is big news in the Central scheme of things."

The Chris Antonetti Paul Hoynes of Cleveland Plain-Dealer: "Jeanmar Gomez has been put on notice. Following his fifth inning collapse Saturday against the Astros, he could be in line for a trip to Class AAA Columbus."

The Dave Dombrowski Mark Emery of MLB.com: "When a team's offense has sputtered to the extent that Detroit's has recently, it's not uncommon for starting pitchers to talk about taking responsibility and hurling a gem to relieve some pressure from the other players in the lineup. But Tigers manager Jim Leyland called that "shop talk," saying pitchers don't think along those lines as much as it might seem. Justin Verlander, Sunday's starter in Pittsburgh, has kept plenty of opponents off the scoreboard before, and he took a no-hitter into the ninth inning at home against the Pirates in May. Even so, Leyland didn't think his ace would grab the ball Sunday assuming he needs to be perfect for Detroit to win."

The Dayton Moore Royals Review: "I can understand fans and members of the media wanting Dayton Moore to keep his job. I can understand a balanced discussion, followed by the conclusion that Moore should be retained. What I can't understand is the complete lack of pressure or criticism directed towards this regime."

The Jerry DiPoto Halos Heaven: "Mike Trout was drafted on June 9, 2009 by the Angels with the 25th pick in that year's amateur draft. 21 teams passed on him."

The Terry Ryan Joe Christensen of Star-Tribune: "The Twins plan to promote left-handed reliever Tyler Robertson from Class AAA Rochester to fill an expected roster opening Monday, with closer Matt Capps likely headed to the disabled list."

The Brian Cashman Erik Boland of Newsday: "Nick Swisher said the approach against R.A. Dickey was to have no approach. "You can't have a plan," he said Sunday night before facing Dickey's knuckleball. "There is no plan because you never know what it's going to do. Just see it and hit it." Solid advice. And Swisher followed it to a T, swatting a 2-and-1 knuckleball for a three-run home run in a four-run third inning as the Yankees gave CC Sabathia a 4-0 lead in a game they'd eventually win, 6-5. "See it high, let it fly," Swisher said of the pitch he hit out for his 11th homer of the season."

The Billy Beane Susan Slusser of San Francisco Chronicle: "Oakland has a full bullpen at the moment, eight strong, with the addition of right-hander Evan Scribner on Sunday. Considering the inexperience of the rotation, pitching depth seems wise, plus, according to manager Bob Melvin, the team would like to be careful with rookie relievers Sean Doolittle and Ryan Cook and not overuse either one."

The Jack Zduriencik Geoff Baker of Seattle Times: "Dustin Ackley is struggling mightily. Manager Eric Wedge talked about it after the game, showing support for his second baseman. I think he will ultimately be fine, and for now am willing to write this off as growing pains for a 24-year-old player in his first full season. A player who has hit everywhere he has been, and who showed so much potential last year in his first callup that I'm truly surprised at his ongoing struggles."

The Andrew Friedman Roger Mooney of Tampa Tribune: "Rays third baseman Sean Rodriguez was involved in another collision with a catcher during Sunday night's 7-3 win against the Phillies, crashing into Brian Schneider as Rodriguez scored from first in the sixth inning on a double off the right wall by Brooks Conrad."

The Jon Daniels Evan Grant of Dallas Morning News: "With their 22nd sellout of the season tonight, the Texas Rangers established a new club record for home sellouts in a season. The previous record was 21 in the team's first season at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington in 1994. The club has sold out five of its last six games in Arlington."

The Alex Anthopoulos Bluebird Banter: "Adam Lind has had his contract purchased from AAA Las Vegas. Ben Francisco is being activated as well. To make room on the roster Mike McCoy and David Cooper are being sent back down."

Via Andrew Perna/RealGM

Arizona Diamondbacks, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Tampa Bay Rays, All-Star, Misc Rumor, Team Achievement

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Jered Weaver To Face Giants

Angels manager Mike Scioscia announced Monday that Jered Weaver will return to the rotation Wednesday against the Giants. Weaver has been out since May 28 with a lower-back strain.

"We're going to monitor Weave and probably limit him to the 80- to 90-pitch range," Scioscia said. "We could probably have pushed it a little further, but we want to just get him back out there and ease him in."

Via ESPN.com

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, San Francisco Giants, Injury

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30-Team MLB Scoop, June 18th Edition

The National League

The Kevin Towers Steve Gilbert of MLB.com: "It seems hard to imagine now, after he's spent 15 years in the big leagues as a catcher, but Henry Blanco was a third baseman in the Dodgers organization in 1995. With Blanco's path to the big leagues blocked by Paul Konerko and Adrian Beltre, Mike Scioscia, who was then the Dodgers' catching coordinator, suggested a shift behind the plate."

The Frank Wren Carroll Rogers of Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "After eight years in the Braves organization, including the past four in Triple-A Gwinnett, Todd Redmond finally got his big league chance. The 27-year-old right-hander was called up to take Brandon Beachy's roster spot and give the Braves another arm in the bullpen."

The Jed Hoyer Gordon Wittenmyer of Chicago Sun-Times: "With the Boston Red Sox and a good portion of their so-called Nation descending on Wrigley Field, this weekend has turned into an ad-nauseam reminder of the Red Sox Way that Cubs president Theo Epstein is trying to mold for his new team."

The Walt Jocketty Joey Nowak of MLB.com: "As much deserved attention as Aroldis Chapman has received in the back end of the Reds' bullpen this summer, his fellow relievers have been equally formidable, providing the club with the top bullpen staff in the National League."

The Dan O-Dowd Andrew T. Fisher of Purple Row: "19-year-old southpaw Jayson Aquino posted a 1.02 ERA as a 17-year-old in 2010, then "regressed" to a 1.30 ERA last season. After throwing eight shutout innings with 13 strikeouts yesterday, his ERA sits at a cool 0.43 after three starts."

The Michael Hill Cole Harvey of South Florida Sun-Sentinel: "Marlins hitting coach Eduardo Perez has good reason to be disappointed, frustrated and downright angry at his batters who in recent weeks have stumbled into sudden and surprising offensive mediocrity."

The Jeff Luhnow Zachary Levine of Houston Chronicle: "Lance McCullers Jr., the Astros' supplemental first-round pick, is on his way to Houston for a physical and is on the verge of signing a professional contract, according to a person with knowledge of the situation."

The Ned Colletti Eric Stephen of True Blue L.A.: "The Dodgers were able to pull out a comeback win on Sunday afternoon, a 2-1 extra-inning triumph over the Chicago White Sox at Dodger Stadium. With the win, that lessened the blow of an earlier call that took a run off the scoreboard for the Dodgers."

The Doug Melvin Michael Hunt of Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: "There was a time when I thought the Brewers had a chance to re-sign Zack Greinke, just the kind of guy to give up a few million after-tax dollars for the sake of his personal comfort. His social-anxiety disorder and the low-pressure, small-town vibe of Milwaukee seemed like an ideal match at something close to market price. Then, three events changed everything."

The Sandy Alderson Filip Bondy of New York Daily News: "The Mets will not rise or fall because of Jason Bay's unfortunate injury problems. They will hang in there, or not, behind a starting rotation anchored by R.A. Dickey and Johan Santana."

The Ruben Amaro Jr. Ryan Dinger of Phillies Nation: "The loss [Saturday] marks the eighth time this season the Phillies have lost on a walk-off win."

The Neal Huntington Charlie Wilmonth of Bucs Dugout: "Pedro Alvarez -- what a frustrating, intriguing, bizarre season he's having. He vanishes for a month, and then he practically wins games by himself. After hitting two homers on Saturday, he added two more today as the Pirates beat the Indians 9-5 to win two out of three."

The John Mozeliak Viva El Birdos: "Lance Lynn has surprised everyone this season. He now ranks 9th on the MLB list of qualified starters by K%. I don't think that was on anyone's list of expected outcomes."

The Josh Byrnes San Diego Union-Tribune: "[Carlos] Quentin has been hit by pitches five times in 16 games this season, but [Bud] Black doesn't think teams are intentionally throwing at the outfielder."

The Brian Sabean Henry Schulman of San Francisco Chronicle: "Why so long? Why have the Giants gone to Seattle three times since 2002 and not set foot in Orange County? Did the Giants plead with the league not to send them to the site of one of the franchise's most harrowing moments?"

The Mike Rizzo James Wagner of Washington Post: "Nationals closer Drew Storen is throwing off the mound three times a week, slowly increasing his workload, and still hopes to return to the team in a month or less, and remain around the team rehabbing until then."

The American League

The Dan Duquette Eduardo E. Encina of Baltimore Sun: "Jake Arrieta said he's going into his next start Monday against the New York Mets at CitiField refreshed and with a much better frame of mind than the cluttered one of frustration he experienced before being demoted to the bullpen."

The Ben Cherington Alex Speier of WEEI.com: "Mark Prior worked a perfect ninth for his first save with Pawtucket. He punched out two, and in 6 2/3 innings, he's now recorded 15 of 19 outs by strikeouts. Opponents are hitting .130 against him."

The Kenny Williams Mark Gonzales of Chicago Tribune: "Instead of visiting his teammates this weekend, third baseman Brent Morel stayed 110 miles north of Dodger Stadium to embark on a lower-back rehabilitation program with the hope he can rejoin the White Sox at the start of the second half."

The Chris Antonetti Paul Hoynes of Cleveland Plain-Dealer: "The streak is over for Michael Brantley. It lasted 22 games, the longest by an Indians player since Casey Blake hit in 26 straight games in 2007, and ended with Saturday's 0-for-3 in a 9-2 loss to Pittsburgh."

The Dave Dombrowski Jason Beck of MLB.com: "Jim Leyland isn't going to get committed to starting Quintin Berry every day. Likewise, Berry isn't going to go outside of his skill set to try to prove he should be starting all the time."

The Dayton Moore Royals Review: "The goal of Isolated ERA (iERA) is to eliminate the effects of the rest of a pitching staff on an individual pitcher's ERA. When a pitcher leaves runners on base that they are "responsible for", whether or not the next pitcher(s) allows these runners to score no longer influences the original pitcher's ERA."

The Jerry DiPoto Lance Pugmire of Los Angeles Times: "For losing his starting job, enduring eight of 23 April games on the bench and playing only his second full season in the big leagues, Mark Trumbo has proved resilient."

The Terry Ryan Joe Christensen of Star-Tribune: "Twins catcher Joe Mauer said Rickie Weeks' knee gave him a Charley horse in his right thigh, when Weeks made a hard slide into home in the second inning Sunday. And Mauer didn't sound too pleased."

The Brian Cashman Mark Feinsand of New York Daily News: "Andy Pettitte said Friday that he felt no different after celebrating his 40th birthday. Based on the way he pitched Saturday, he meant it."

The Billy Beane Athletics Nation: "If Grant Green's career so far were a flip book, on page 6 you might find him peeking out, upside down, from the top right-hand corner of the page. "There he is!" a delighted 4-year boy would squeal. "Next page, daddy!" He seems to be repositioned that frequently."

The Jack Zduriencik Geoff Baker of Seattle Times: "The Mariners' relievers are working on a streak of 15 consecutive scoreless innings. Mariner relievers have the best ERA in the majors in the month of June (1.36)."

The Andrew Friedman DRB.com: "The story of the day was Alex Cobb who continued the dominance shown by the Rays starting staff this weekend with arguably the best outing of his young career and a very positive sign as he gets further and further away from last years surgery and closer to the pitcher many in the Rays organization think he can be."

The Jon Daniels Gerry Fraley of Dallas Morning News: "Nelson Cruz started in left field for the first time this season in the Texas Rangers' game against Houston on Sunday. With the Astros starting left-hander Dallas Keuchel, manager Ron Washington put the right-handed bat of Brandon Snyder in the lineup."

The Alex Anthopoulos Adam McCalvy and Jeremy Warnemuende of MLB.com: "Back in 2008, after the Brewers made a prep catcher from British Columbia their first-round Draft pick, Brett Lawrie predicted he'd ride the fast track to Miller Park. "One hundred percent," Lawrie said then, "I see myself there, hopefully, in a year and a half." It took four years and a change of uniforms, but here he comes."

Via Andrew Perna/RealGM

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Milwaukee Brewers, Seattle Mariners, All-Star, Draft Misc, Free Agent Rumor, Misc Rumor, Personal Award, Team Achievement, Trade Rumor

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Jered Weaver Could Return This Week

Jered Weaver, who has been on the disabled list with a back strain since May 28, could return to the Angels this week.

The right-hander is scheduled to throw a bullpen session on Sunday.

Mike Scioscia said Weaver hasn't missed enough time to automatically require a rehabilitation start in the minor leagues.

The manager said Weaver probably will throw 35-40 pitches Sunday after throwing 60 in the sharp simulated game that included his full arsenal of pitches.

Said Scioscia: "If he throws a power 'pen,'" then returning directly to the big leagues "is doable, without a rehab start."

Via Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Injury

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