8:14pm: Scott Miller of CBSSports.com hears that Oswalt already has several “very nice offers” on the table, though it’s unclear which teams presented them.

3:53pm: The Angels haven’t had anyone watch Oswalt throw near his Mississippi home recently, Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com tweets.

11:48am: Rosenthal reports (on Twitter) that neither the Yankees or Tigers are in the mix for Oswalt at this time. The righty intends to sign soon, possibly within the week, and pitch in MLB by mid or late June, Rosenthal tweets.

11:19am: The Phillies and Red Sox occupy last place in their respective divisions, but both teams are eyeing midseason reinforcements. Free agent right-hander Roy Oswalt threw a bullpen session for the Phillies last week and worked out for the Red Sox this week, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports (all Twitter links).

Oswalt is also throwing for two unknown teams, Rosenthal reports. Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com hears from someone who expects Oswalt to return within a month (Twitter link).

The Phillies, winners of five consecutive games, are familiar to Oswalt, who pitched for Philadelphia in 2010 and 2011. The Red Sox, who have won six of their last seven games, expressed interest in Oswalt last offseason after the Phillies declined his 2012 option. The 34-year-old appeared to be in good shape during his workouts but was not yet in midseason form, Rosenthal reports. Bob Garber of Select Sports Group represents Oswalt.

Mike Axisa contributed to this post.

The Rangers named 35-year-old Bobby Valentine their manager on this date in 1985. Valentine, now the skipper in Boston, managed the Rangers for eight seasons. Here’s the latest from the AL West, starting with the managerial situation in Anaheim…

Links from around baseball as Wednesday becomes Thursday..

The Angels announced that Mickey Hatcher has been removed from his job as the team’s hitting coach.  Hatcher will be replaced by Jim Eppard, who had been the hitting coach at Triple-A Salt Lake City.  This was Hatcher’s 13th year as the Angels’ hitting coach, and his firing is surely a response to the club’s overall lack of offense this season, particularly from Albert Pujols.  (Ironically, Pujols hit three singles in today’s 4-0 win over the A’s.)  Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times thinks this move came from owner Arte Moreno and is another sign that GM Jerry Dipoto is in charge of the team, not Mike Scioscia (both Twitter links).

Here are some items from around the majors…

David Wright told Adam Rubin of ESPN New York that he hasn’t been approached by the Mets about a contract extension and he hasn’t thought about the possibility of in-season negotiations.  We heard on Sunday that the Mets will likely offer Wright a multiyear contract, possibly sometime this summer.
Melky Cabrera and Angel Pagan, both free agents after the season, told Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle that they’d be open to midseason contract talks with the Giants but are both just focused on baseball for now.
Danny Duffy‘s Tommy John surgery is just the latest blow in what has been a hard-luck season for the Royals, writes Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star.  The Royals will essentially lose a year of control over Duffy (who will accumulate service time while on the DL) and “the pressure on the Royals…to sign a frontline starting pitcher this winter just intensified,” said Mellinger.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/05/14/3610785/royals-pain-continues-with-duffys.html#storylink=cpy

The Angels have placed outfielder Torii Hunter on the restricted list due to personal reasons and plan to select the contract of Ryan Langerhans from Triple-A Salt Lake, according to Tim Mead of the Angels (via Twitter).  Hunter’s Texas-based son was charged with a crime earlier today, according to a report from NBC Dallas Fort Worth.

Hunter, 37 in July, is in the final year of a five-year, $90MM pact.  So far this year, the outfielder is hitting .256/.328/.413 with five homers in 33 games.  Players on the restricted list do not count toward a team’s 25-man or 40-man roster. 

Here’s a look at the American League West and the division-leading Rangers..

Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports has new Full Count video up, so let’s dive in…

Despite reports to the contrary, Angels General Manager Jerry Dipoto denies that the club is actively shopping centerfielder Peter Bourjos, according to Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times (via Twitter).  Yesterday, the Angels were said to have had preliminary discussions with the Nationals involving Bourjos.

“We are not actively shopping him or looking for a fit for him. We believe he’s an asset for us,” Dipoto said.

The Royals, Diamondbacks, and Blue Jays also reportedly checked in on the outfielder’s availability.  However, MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez said earlier today that there’s no more truth to the Bourjos-Nationals rumors now than there was this offseason.  The Nats were actively searching for a solution in center field this winter and had the 25-year-old high on their wish list.

The Angels are in need of bullpen support and Washington would be a solid trade partner if it weren’t for the injuries suffered by Drew Storen and Brad Lidge. 

Links from the AL West, before the Rangers and Yu Darvish host the Angels and C.J. Wilson in Arlington…

FRIDAY: MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez hears there’s no more truth to the Bourjos-Nationals rumor now than there was this offseason (Twitter link).

THURSDAY: The Angels and Nationals have had preliminary discussions about a trade involving Peter Bourjos, reports Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. The Royals, Diamondbacks, and Blue Jays also checked in on the outfielder’s availability.

It’s unclear how far along the talks are, but Bourjos would give Washington the long-term center field solution they’ve been seeking. Anaheim could use their outfield surplus to shore up the bullpen, a priority according to Morosi. The Nationals are currently without Drew Storen (elbow) and Brad Lidge (hernia) but could be more open to a trade involving a reliever once one or both guys get healthy.

The Angels could also be in the market for a catcher following Chris Iannetta‘s injury, mentions Morosi. Iannetta will miss up to eight weeks following wrist surgery, the team announced today.

The latest minor moves from around the league…

Though offseason additions such as Albert Pujols and Heath Bell have disappointed so far this year, other free agent signings are playing well for new teams. Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com puts together a list of 25 such players, including C.J. Wilson, Bartolo Colon and Edwin Jackson. Here?s more from Heyman:

Keeping track of the day?s minor moves…

The Cardinals? bullpen struggled early on in the 2011 season but recovered to help St. Louis win the World Series. This provides hope for teams with early-season bullpen issues such as the Angels, as Buster Olney explained at ESPN.com this morning. Here are some more notes from Olney:

Sunday afternoon linkage..

Here’s a look at the latest edition of Full Count from Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports..

A look around the league as the Rays look to extend their winning streak to seven games as they take on the A’s at home..

The Angels were known to be looking for bullpen help and they have addressed that need in the form of Ernesto Frieri.  The Angels acquired the right-handed reliever from the Padres in exchange for right-hander Donn Roach and infielder Alexi Amarista.  The Padres first announced the move on their official Twitter feed.

Frieri has been one of the game’s more underrated relievers during his four Major League seasons.  Frieri has a 2.33 ERA, a 2.45 K/BB ratio, an 11.4 K/9 rate and 0.6 HR/9 over 105 career appearances, with 137 strikeouts in 108 1/3 innings.  As Padres broadcaster Andy Masur points out (Twitter link), Frieri had been the longest-tenured player in the San Diego organization, originally signing with the team in January 2003 at age 17.  Frieri turns 27 in July and has virtually identical home/away splits for his career, indicating he isn’t a creation of Petco Park’s pitcher-friendly dimensions.  Frieri is represented by Matt Colleran and is under team control through 2016.

Though the Angels’ closing situation is currently in flux with Scott Downs stepping in for Jordan Walden, it’s probably unlikely that Frieri would immediately be thrust into the closing mix or even necessarily a setup role in Los Angeles.  Frieri pitched in relatively few high-leverage situations in San Diego, though the Padres’ deep bullpens of recent years didn’t necessarily require Frieri to be used in a larger role.

In Amarista and Roach, the Padres pick up two young players ranked by MLB.com as the 12th and 16th-best prospects, respectively, in the Angels’ system.  Amarista has a .313/.370/.441 career slash line in six minor league seasons, including a .776 OPS at the Triple-A level.  The 23-year-old second baseman helps fill the Padres’ big organizational need for middle infielders, though Amarista also has experience at third, shortstop and the corner outfield positions.  Amarista was probably expendable in Anaheim given the long-term deals recently given to Erick Aybar and Howie Kendrick, not to mention highly-touted prospect Jean Segura, who MLB.com ranked as the Angels’ second-best prospect (behind only Mike Trout).

Roach, 22, was taken by the Angels in the third round of the 2010 amateur draft.  The right-hander’s numbers have gotten progressively better over his three minor league seasons, and Roach has a 2.16 ERA and a 9.67 K/BB ratio in six starts at high A-ball in 2012.

This is the first trade between Angels GM Jerry Dipoto and Padres GM Josh Byrnes.  Dipoto worked under Byrnes in Arizona and took over as the Diamondbacks’ interim GM when Byrnes was fired as the Snakes’ general manager in July 2010. 

On this date last year, Twins left-hander Francisco Liriano no-hit the White Sox. Here are some links for Thursday afternoon, starting with a note on Jered Weaver, who no-hit Liriano’s Twins last night…

Vladimir Guerrero looked pretty good in his workout for the Diamondbacks, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports (Twitter links). Arizona has some interest in signing the veteran DH, but he’s still considered a long shot according to Heyman. Here links for Monday…

The Rays are a “possible fit” for Mike Gonzalez, reports Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (on Twitter). Last week we heard that the left-handed reliever could sign within ten days.
Albert Pujols told Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports that he?s comfortable in Anaheim even though he hasn?t hit like a $240MM player since signing with the Angels.?Why not? This is my family,? he said. ?These guys are my family. I feel pretty comfortable.?
Ken Davidoff of the New York Post suggests the Tigers could release Delmon Young to make a statement about the conduct they expect from their players without hurting their team in the standings.
Jim Callis of Baseball America will be very surprised if the Royals don’t select a college pitcher with their top pick in the upcoming amateur draft. Callis suggests the Royals could take Louisiana State right-hander Kevin Gausman with the fifth overall selection.

Mike Axisa contributed to this post.

This used to be his home, the place where he spent parts of the past four seasons working as a relief pitcher for the San Diego Padres. But when he entered the game in the ninth inning, he was an employee of the Angels.

And in a way, he was sad about that.

“It’s tough to see your (former) teammates and then see yourself in a different uniform,” Frieri said later. “I miss those guys. I was with the Padres for 10 years. I still can’t believe I’m here, but this is baseball; it’s business. One day you’re here, the next day you’re with another team. I’ve still got to keep throwing strikes.”

Trades are part of the game, but they rarely come without some emotion for players. Frieri was the longest tenured player in the Padres’ organization when he was traded to the Angels on May 3 for infielder Alexi Amarista and pitcher Donn Roach. He was 17 when the Padres signed him in 2003 and sent him from his home in Colombia to the minors.

Now, he has become a valued member of the Angels’ bullpen, a right-hander whose fastball has been unhittable. In six games since joining the team, Frieri has yet to give up a hit or run over 5 23 innings. He has struck out 12 batters.

“If you look at his history, his numbers are great,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. “He might not be able to keep the pace that he’s keeping right now, but he’s not a fluke.”

Frieri, 26, is far from that. In 105 appearances for the Padres from 2009 to this season, he had 137 strikeouts in 108 13 innings. He also had 56 walks and hit 11 batters.

Frieri may miss his old teammates, who beat the Angels 3-2 on Saturday, but he’s getting an opportunity with the Angels that he didn’t have in San Diego.

With the Padres, he was a middle-innings reliever, working behind Andrew Cashner, Luke Gregerson and Huston Street. With the Angels, he’s getting a chance to pitch in the late innings. He could have earned his first career save in the big leagues Friday, but the Angels scored three runs in the top of the ninth, extending their lead from 4-2 to 7-2.

Although Angels left-hander Scott Downs remains Scioscia’s closer, the manager said he’s not averse to using Frieri and a revived Jordan Walden in the ninth inning. If given a chance, Frieri believes he can be an effective closer.

“That’s one of my goals,” he said. “I want to be a closer to bad, but I’m patient. I’m the kind of guy that will wait for the chance, and whenever they give it to me, I’ll take advantage of it. I’m just going to pitch, even if I pitch in the first, second or ninth inning. I’m going to do the same thing throw strikes and get people out.”

Bud Black, the Padres manager, believes Frieri has the potential to be a late-innings pitcher, if not a closer. His biggest hurdle will be keeping his fastball under control.

At batting practice, Angels manager Mike Scioscia called out to Trout and asked him, “What do you think about when you hit a ball to right-center field?”

“Triple,” Trout answered.

Good answer. In the game, Trout drove a pitch into right-center and sprinted to third with a triple.

“That’s pretty awesome,” Eppard said.

So is Trout, who has been the energizer the Angels were hoping for when they called him up from the minors on April 28. He’s still a work in progress, but since he became the team’s everyday center fielder and leadoff hitter, Trout has been a whirlwind of speed, aggressiveness and daring.

He wants to turn singles into doubles and doubles into triples. He’s a threat to steal a base at any time. He knows how to work counts and doesn’t fear striking out.

Rather than try to rein him in, the Angels would prefer to let him go, believing he’ll become a smarter risk taker as he gains big-league experience. He’s only 20, and these things take time.

“This guy’s got a special talent,” Scioscia said. “He’ll mold it himself as he understands the league and learns a little more. But he needs to get out there and run. He’s like a mustang. He needs to be out there running, and we want him to keep doing it.”

After going hitless in his first seven at-bats following his call-up, Trout is batting .338 with nine extra-base hits and 13 runs scored. In Friday night’s 7-2 win over the Padres, he was 3 for 4 and reached base four times on a walk, an infield single, an RBI triple to left that didn’t even draw a throw to the bag and another single. His triple drove in Angels pitcher Jered Weaver, who singled earlier.

Asked if he was worried that Trout might pass him on the bases, Weaver smiled and said, “I would’ve needed eyes in the back of my head to watch him. He’s a tremendous talent.”

The victory was the Angels’ third in four games and left them with a 10-7 record this month hardly worth toasting but a sign they finally might be rising to a higher level after their ugly April start.

Trout deserves some credit, but so does Mark Trumbo, who drove in a run with a double to extend his hitting streak to nine games and has 15 hits in his past 26 at-bats. And Weaver, who rebounded from his worst outing of the season to pitch seven innings and earn his seventh win.

Trout acknowledges that he’s much more relaxed this season than he was in 2011, when his promotion from the minors caused a stir. He was just 19 years old and already had been named minor league player of the year by Baseball America. In his first game, he received a rousing ovation from the Angel Stadium crowd.

Now, in some ways, he has the look a veteran or at least someone who feels at home in a big-league clubhouse.

Manager Mike Scioscia said Pujols came to him recently and offered to play third, and the idea is currently under consideration.

If it happens, though, it’s not likely to be soon.

“It’s a long way off,” Scioscia said Friday before the Angels opened a three-game interleague series with the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. “Not this series obviously, but you always want to understand the versatility your team has and see if you can tap into it. Short term, a game or two, I don’t think that would be a problem.

“I don’t think it’s something we would want to take an extended look at, but we’ll see.”

The subject came up as Scioscia discussed the fact that Kendrys Morales, who is usually the team’s designated hitter, may sit against the Padres. In National League parks, pitchers are required to hit, so Angels starter Jered Weaver, who has 26 big league at-bats under his belt, was in the lineup.

Morales has been taking ground balls at first base and may get a chance to play there at some point, Scioscia said. As a way to get Pujols, Morales and Mark Trumbo in the same lineup in interleague games, he could use Pujols at third.

“He feels really comfortable down there, so we’ll take a look at it and see,” Scioscia said. “He’s taken ground balls on the left side already.”

Pujols has some familiarity with the position. He played third base in seven games last season with the St. Louis Cardinals, although with mixed success, making three errors in 17 chances, an .824 fielding percentage. In 12 big-league seasons, he’s played third in 103 games, compared to 1,372 games at first.

“In the NL parks, you could keep Trumbo, Albert and Kendrys’ bats in the same lineup,” Scioscia said. “It’s a long way off. I don’t think it’s anything we need to make a decision on right now. We’re going to progress with Kendrys’ work at first and see if it becomes anything that’s a possibility later in the summer.”

It surely wouldn’t happen before the Angels play the Colorado Rockies and Dodgers on the road for six games in June.

AVG
OBP
SLG
BB%
K%
ISO
wOBA
BABIP

.225
.244
.425
2.4%
15.9%
.200
.288
.222

Ew, gross. But you know this because you know how bad Wells was in 2011 and those April 2012 numbers are appreciably worse. This caused many fans, myself included, to want to write Wells off as a lost cause.
But lo and behold, the calendar turned to May and now look out our boy:

AVG
OBP
SLG
BB%
K%
ISO
wOBA
BABIP

The shot he hit Wednesday night in the third inning against the Chicago White Sox soared into the night and landed over the fence in left-center field at Angel Stadium. You figured by this time Pujols would have hit many more like that, but in fact it was only his second home run of the season and his first since May 6.

Pujols hasn’t exactly put his troubles behind him, but he’s got his average up to .213, and his 17 RBIs now lead the Angels, who beat the White Sox 7-2.

“It feels good any time you hit a ball like that,” Pujols said. “It’s been a while. In that situation, you don’t try to do too much. You just stick with your approach, and that’s what I did.”

It’s tempting to say that Pujols is beginning to drive the ball better, but his stroke is still not where it should be. He popped up in two other at-bats and struck out in another, so he’s still probably not satisfied with his results.

But perhaps he’s getting there.

“It was good that he got a pitch middle in and stayed inside a little bit better and drove it out to left-center,” manager Mike Scioscia said. “Albert’s got a special presence in the batter’s box, and when he’s on, he’s the type of guy that will carry you for a long time. Hopefully he’s starting to get a little frisky and getting into that zone.”

Before the game, Pujols declined to address the firing of hitting coach Mickey Hatcher on Tuesday. Two weeks ago, Pujols had been visibly perturbed that Hatcher revealed some innocuous comments made by the Angels first baseman during a hitters’ meeting.

After Wednesday’s game, Pujols balked at discussing Hatcher again, then finally said, “One thing I can say is that I have a lot of respect for Mickey. He never took his job for granted. He was a guy that was always positive, even though we were going through some struggles, and that was something that I always admired. He was in the cage every day to try to get you going. It’s a tough situation.”

General manager Jerry Dipoto, asked if the Pujols-Hatcher issue played a part in Hatcher’s firing, answered with a terse, “No.”

Even though Pujols is still in search of his stroke, he’s driving in runs five in two games and 12 in his past 10 games.

Is he feeling close to getting locked in?

“There are some times I feel good at the plate and hit some hard balls, but you just don’t catch any breaks,” he said. “There’s other times you feel lost out there and try to do too much. Every at-bat, no matter how I feel, I try to take it like it’s my last at-bat of my career. I don’t take this game for granted.”

He knows his teammates are waiting for him to begin thriving on pitchers as he had in the past. When he starts hitting, he can be a catalyst for an Angels revival.

He knows it, too.

For Bourjos, it was look for the outside fastball and drive it to right-center field.

Bourjos finished with a record 60 hits that July and was summoned Aug. 3 to the major leagues, where he remains.

Eppard joined his former student Wednesday, replacing Angels hitting coach Mickey Hatcher, who was fired Tuesday after the team had sputtered to a 16-21 start while being shut out eight times, worst in the big leagues.

“He doesn’t dwell on mechanics,” Bourjos said of Eppard, a former Angel who spent the last 10 seasons as Salt Lake hitting coach. “It’s having a plan, executing by not deviating from your plan. When you’re at this level, your swing is your swing. If you have confidence in your approach, you’ll have success. Eppard simplifies your plan, he keeps it easy.”

The Angels, starting with slugger Albert Pujols (one home run), thus far have made hitting appear highly complex, ranking 12th in the American League in runs scored.

That’s highly disappointing, given the investment in Pujols, and this year’s contract extensions that went to second baseman Howie Kendrick and shortstop Erick Aybar, who has dropped from the leadoff spot to No. 8 in the batting order by batting .187.

“Mickey brought energy, he worked his rear off, it’s tough to see him go,” Bourjos said. “I could never beat him to the field. … I think everyone feels bad. We always put it on ourselves.”

Angels General Manager Jerry Dipoto decided to fire Hatcher before Tuesday’s 4-0 victory over the Oakland A’s, and Dipoto and Angels Manager Mike Scioscia — a former Dodgers teammate and longtime advocate of Hatcher — informed Hatcher of his firing after the game.

Scioscia stopped far short of saying he endorsed Hatcher’s firing, after late last month saying he was confident Hatcher was the right man to guide the Angels through their struggles on offense.

“Mickey was a great teacher and great hitting coach,” Scioscia said. “We all respect what the general manager’s office is looking out for … we were not in a funk because of Mickey Hatcher. We respect the decision, and go on.”

Said Angels outfielder Vernon Wells of Dipoto’s breaking the Scioscia-Hatcher bond: “Not everything in this game is going to make you happy. … It’s a tough day. It’s gotta be difficult on Scioscia.”

Eppard comes to Anaheim possessing what he called “a mental tape” of players such as Bourjos, slugger Mark Trumbo, leadoff hitter Mike Trout, Kendrick and others he helped in Salt Lake.

“The important thing is getting back to basics, hitting a good pitch, going after it,” Eppard said.

Eppard said he respects Pujols so much that “I ask Albert a lot of questions. I’m constantly trying to learn myself.” Eppard added that sorting out the slugger’s missing power will “be a topic for down the road.”