Eye Black

I think Woodruff has a chance to have a Jimmy Nelson-esque rise at the MLB level if the Brewers decide to give him enough opportunities to pitch and improve.

I love the bunt from Saladino except that he is the 5th hitter tonight without much offense behind him in the order.

Should there be a rule that you can’t bring in a pitcher mid-inning to only face one batter (barring injury of course)?

There has been a lot of action tonight for a 3-2 game.

I know this is nearly impossible, but it feels like they are never going to win again.

If they are going to have a chance to come back it seems like it is going to have to happen this inning.

That was amazing. Wow, I can’t believe he got the toe of his shoe in there just ahead of Muncy.

The strike zone is making the game not so fun to watch.

Haudricourt (Link) coming out of the 2nd half gate spittin’ fire... Somebody should tell home plate umpire Lance Barrett the second half has begun. From his first inning strike zone, he missed the wake-up call.

I try to avoid complaining about the strike zone every night, but there were some “strikes” that were inexcusable in the first inning.

Aguilar’s at bat was so patient he took 5 balls. Edit: It would be easier to watch these wide strike calls if the catcher wasn’t moving his glove a foot to catch them.

This is a good read... Fangraphs: The One Ball Keon Broxton Didn’t Catch

I am surprised Broxton isn’t in centerfield where he offers the most defensive value.

It is a little weird to me that fans are booing Machado. What did he do other than say very complimentary things about Milwaukee when asked about the possibility of being traded to the Brewers? If a guy stiffs you in free agency or denies a trade to your team, sure, boo away.

Not to completely belabor the point (probably too late), but the first lineup back from the All-Star break illustrates the distinct divide between the top half and the bottom half of the lineup. I know they are facing lefties and have some guys on the DL, but it seems like you are starting each game in a big hole if you have an NL lineup with 3 non-pitchers that are below average hitters for their position. There is so much pressure on the top 1-5 in the order to deliver runs because the bottom provides such little hope for production. Now I will be very glad to have this age terribly while the bottom of the lineup gets hot, but I wouldn't bet on it happening.

The top ten came out today. The Indians had players take the #2 and #1 spots. The #1 highest trade value in baseball was bestowed upon infielder José Ramírez. Whether or not Ramírez should be number one may be debatable, but what isn't is how good of an underdog story he has become. He wasn't signed as a 16-year old out of the Dominican Republic. He was noticed by an Indians scout when he was 17 and signed for $50,000. Despite hitting success throughout the minors, to my knowledge he never appeared on a single top 100 prospect list. As he was coming through the Indians system he was overshadowed by infielders Francisco Lindor, Dorssys Paulino, and Ronny Rodriguez. He reportedly stands just 5'9", yet he has developed incredible power that now at age 25 seems to only be getting better.

Hey, hey, what do you say, some optimism to start the second half!... Fangraphs: The Cubs Are on Pace for Their Worst Rotation Ever

[pre]Dodgers Lineup Brewers Lineup 1. Chris Taylor ® LF 1. Lorenzo Cain ® CF 2. Manny Machado ® SS 2. Christian Yelich (L) LF 3. Max Muncy (L) 3B 3. Jesús Aguilar ® 1B 4. Matt Kemp ® RF 4. Travis Shaw (L) 3B 5. Enrique Hernández ® CF 5. Tyler Saladino ® SS 6. Cody Bellinger (L) 1B 6. Hernan Perez ® 2B 7. Logan Forsythe ® 2B 7. Manny Piña ® C 8. Austin Barnes ® C 8. Keon Broxton ® RF 9. Rich Hill (L) P 9. Wade Miley (L) P[/pre]

Here is a collection of the David Stearns responses in regards to the Machado negotiations: “We thought we did everything we could to work out a deal and unfortunately we couldn’t.” “Manny Machado is a very good player; he was going to help whatever team he ended up going to, and obviously that includes the Milwaukee Brewers.” “We weren’t able to complete a deal; the Dodgers were. And now we move on.” “We’re going to see plenty of him, and we’re going to do our best to pitch him as tough as we can.” “I think the Dodgers gave up some very good players. I think players that were in the discussion from us were very good players as well. Ultimately, each team gets to evaluate players as they see fit. In any negotiation, in any trade discussion, whether it’s for this player or any other player, there are going to be some players who we aren’t going to part with. In this case, the Orioles determined those were the players who needed to be in the deal and moved in another direction.” “Frankly, we’ve felt like we’ve been in a fairly serious level of competitiveness for the last year and a half. We believe we have a playoff-caliber team. We expect this team to compete for a playoff spot, not only for this year but for years to come. “This time of year, when you believe you have a team that is this talented, it’s our job to explore every opportunity to improve the ball club.” [Joking] “I’m going to take the next two weeks off, let Craig do his thing and see what happens.” “Look, there are a lot of on-going discussions this time of year. Manny Machado is probably going to be the best player traded before the deadline. I think that’s going to be the reality but that doesn’t mean there aren’t other players out there who can potentially help us and we’re going to see if we can find a fit for a deal somewhere.”

Well now that I am the GM here we go... Hold on to Keston Hiura Roll with Tyler Saladino covering Shortstop Call-up Christian Betancourt for a turn on the Catcher merry-go-round Trade for Brian Dozier to play Second Base (return is Jake Gatewood and one of Kodi Medeiros or Cody Ponce) Trade for Madison Bumgarner to lead the rotation for 2018 and 2019 (return is Freddy Peralta, Corey Ray, Marcos Diplan, Domingo Santana)

Brian Dozier’s career stats at Miller Park... [pre]G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS BAbip tOPS+ 17 79 72 12 24 4 0 4 10 3 4 11 .333 .367 .556 .923 .339 136[/pre]

We wouldn’t even be discussing Machado if he hadn’t sold incredibly low on Segura and Scooter. We would be discussing corner infielders if he hadn’t bought incredibly low to acquire Shaw and Aguilar.

From Jeff Passan... The return to the Orioles for Manny Machado: OF Yusniel Diaz, 3B Rylan Bannon, RHP Dean Kremer, RHP Zach Pop and 2B Breyvic Valera. Diaz is the only top-100 type. Kremer could be a dude. Bannon undersized 3B crushing in Cal League. Pop is a reliever, Valera 26-year-old in AAA.

Lots of confirmations that the deal is now going through. Reportedly five prospects are headed back to Baltimore in the deal. From MLB Trade Rumors: Dodgers To Acquire Manny Machado

I updated the links at the top. Christian Yelich moved up five spots from his ranking last year, from #27 to #22. I was a little surprised to see Yelich's former teammate J.T. Realmuto only two spots behind him this year at #24. Realmuto wasn't ranked in the trade value series last year.