Daily Notes: Three Transactions That Just Happened

Table of Contents
Here’s the table of contents for today’s edition of Daily Notes.

1. Three Transactions That Just Happened
2. SCOUT Leaderboards: Dominican Winter League
3. Double Video Situation: Domingo Santana Hitting Home Runs

Three Transactions That Just Happened
Here are three transactions that just happened — where, by just, we are understood to mean “last two or three days.”

Arizona Signs Garrett Mock
Right-handed reliever Garrett Mock had some success out of the bullpen with the Nationals in 2008, posting an 89 xFIP- in 91.1 innings 41.0 innings. He’s had no major-league success in the meantime, however. He did post a 68:28 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 61.2 innings between the Triple-A affiliates of Boston and Houston in 2012. Also, he’s been signed by Kevin Towers now, who has a reputation for identifying possible reclamation projects.

Milwaukee Signs Jairo Asencio
Right-hander Jairo Asencio was the most dominant reliever by a considerable margin in last year’s iteration of the Dominican Winter League. He proceeded, then, to pitch effectively (25.2 IP, 98 xFIP-) out of the Cleveland bullpen. He proceeded, then, to be waived and picked up by the Cubs and fall apart (14.2 IP, 152 xFIP-). He pitched well (13.1 IP, 25.5% K, 7.8% BB) in the minors for Chicago, however, following a demotion to Triple-A.

Pittsburgh Signs Darren Ford
Mere days after becoming a free agent, outfielder Darren Ford has signed a minor-league deal with the Pirates. Footspeed is the 27-year-old’s main asset. That’s manifested itself in excellent (like, +10 runs per season) defensive numbers in center field, per Brian Cartwright’s OLIVER projection system, although, as his stolen-base record of 26-for-40 suggests from Triple-A Tacoma this past season, not always in baserunning.

SCOUT Leaderboards: Dominican Winter League
Below are the SCOUT leaderboards for the Dominican Winter League, current through Tuesday. (Players listed with most recent team. Click here for more on what is SCOUT.)

SCOUT Leaderboard: Dominican Winter League Hitters (Overall)
Below is the current SCOUT batting leaderboard for the Dominican Winter League. SCOUT+ is calculated using regressed home-run, walk, and strikeout rates, where 100 is average and above 100 is above average.

Player	Team	Age	Pos	PA	xHR%	xBB%	xK%	SCOUT+
Felix Pie	Braves	27	OF	71	2.3%	12.9%	15.7%	121
Marcell Ozuna	Marlins	21	OF	68	4.0%	8.0%	20.1%	118
Hector Luna	Phillies	32	3B	72	2.7%	9.8%	16.3%	115
Jordany Valdespin	Mets	24	2B	41	2.5%	10.2%	17.0%	113
Donell Linares	MEX	28	3B	21	2.7%	9.1%	17.0%	112
Nelson Perez	Cubs	24	OF	26	2.7%	11.4%	20.3%	112
Wilkin Castillo	Rockies	28	C	46	2.2%	10.5%	16.3%	111
Mike Olt	Rangers	23	3B	37	2.2%	11.9%	19.5%	110
Francisco Pena	Mets	22	C	55	2.4%	8.1%	15.8%	108
Leonys Martin	Rangers	24	OF	66	2.4%	10.1%	18.4%	108

SCOUT Leaderboard: Dominican Winter League Hitters (Prospects)
Here is the SCOUT batting leaderboard for the Dominican Winter League, but only populated with players who are 24 or under — i.e. something more like “prospect” age relative to the league.

Player	Team	Age	Pos	PA	xHR%	xBB%	xK%	SCOUT+
Marcell Ozuna	Marlins	21	OF	68	4.0%	8.0%	20.1%	118
Jordany Valdespin	Mets	24	2B	41	2.5%	10.2%	17.0%	113
Nelson Perez	Cubs	24	OF	26	2.7%	11.4%	20.3%	112
Mike Olt	Rangers	23	3B	37	2.2%	11.9%	19.5%	110
Francisco Pena	Mets	22	C	55	2.4%	8.1%	15.8%	108
Leonys Martin	Rangers	24	OF	66	2.4%	10.1%	18.4%	108
Domingo Santana	Astros	19	OF	12	2.1%	10.5%	18.2%	106
Jean Segura	Brewers	22	SS	62	2.1%	9.3%	16.2%	106
Oscar Taveras	Cardinals	20	OF	58	2.4%	8.9%	18.1%	106
Moises Sierra	Blue Jays	23	OF	62	2.7%	7.8%	18.2%	106

SCOUT Leaderboard: Dominican Winter League Pitchers (Overall)
Below is the current SCOUT pitching leaderboard for the Dominican Winter League. SCOUT- is calculated using regressed strikeout and walk rates where 100 is average and below 100 is above average.

Player	Team	Age	G	GS	IP	TBF	xK%	xBB%	SCOUT-
Kyler Newby	Orioles	27	3	3	14.0	52	24.8%	8.3%	83
Erick Abreu	Astros	28	6	0	11.1	39	23.8%	8.4%	86
Johan Yan	Rangers	27	8	0	6.1	26	24.1%	8.9%	87
Kelvin De La Cruz	Tigers	23	4	0	6.1	22	24.0%	9.0%	87
Jose Diaz	Pirates	28	9	0	8.2	33	23.3%	8.6%	88
Fabio Castro	Athletics	27	4	3	14.1	57	22.8%	8.2%	89
Danny Salazar	Indians	22	4	2	10.0	43	22.6%	8.8%	91
Scott Rice	Dodgers	30	8	0	5.2	24	22.5%	9.2%	92
Winston Abreu	MEX	35	6	0	3.2	15	22.3%	9.1%	92
Francisco Rondon	Yankees	24	6	0	3.1	15	22.2%	9.1%	93

SCOUT Leaderboard: Dominican Winter League Pitchers (Starters)
Here is the SCOUT pitching leaderboard for the Dominican Winter League, but only populated with pitchers who’ve made at least half of their appearances as starts.

Player	Team	Age	G	GS	IP	TBF	xK%	xBB%	SCOUT-
Kyler Newby	Orioles	27	3	3	14.0	52	24.8%	8.3%	83
Fabio Castro	Athletics	27	4	3	14.1	57	22.8%	8.2%	89
Danny Salazar	Indians	22	4	2	10.0	43	22.6%	8.8%	91
Bartolo Colon	Athletics	39	2	2	9.1	37	21.4%	8.4%	93
Roman Colon	Royals	32	3	3	11.1	51	21.5%	9.1%	95
Steven Wright	Red Sox	27	1	1	6.0	24	21.1%	8.8%	95
Kevin Pucetas	Nationals	27	4	4	16.1	73	20.7%	8.5%	96
Raul Valdes	Phillies	34	1	1	3.0	10	20.9%	8.8%	96
Lorenzo Barcelo	MEX	24	5	5	25.1	105	19.8%	7.8%	96
Derek Hankins	Rangers	29	4	3	10.2	51	20.3%	8.9%	98

A Brief Introduction to Domingo Santana
Domingo Santana is the youngest player on any of the four lists here. “Who is that guy?” the curious reader might ask. Here’s who: an outfield prospect in the Astros system. Here’s who else: an international signing out of the Dominican Republic at age 16 by the Phillies. Here’s who furthermore: part of the package sent to Houston from Philadelphia for Hunter Pence in 2011. Santana demonstrates considerable power on contact, but also has posted strikeout rates in the 30% range at more than one minor-league level. He was the youngest qualified batter in the California League in 2012.

Double Video Situation: Domingo Santana Hitting Home Runs
Here’s video from August 2011 of Houston outfield prospect hitting a home run for Class A Lexington:

Here’s a second video which matches the precise same description as the first one: