MadThinker88

For some background on this: Amed's defensive numbers really tanked this year with the rule change against shifting and CLE finally started removing Amed late in games for a better defender over the past week. Unlike the past few years Amed's bat is not making up for the limited D he provides at SS. At this point there are already 3 better defensive SS on the CLE 26 man roster (Andres Gimenez, Gabrial Arias (mold of Carlos Correa) & Tyler Freeman). Another option made is MLB debut earlier this year in Brayan Rocchio (mold of Lindor) & he is in his 2nd year at AAA. Over the past few years all of Arias, Freeman & Rocchio have been on multiple top 100 prospect lists. This trade is a net zero impact on the payroll with the money LAD kicked in as Thor has a more expensive contract this year than Amed.. Since Amed was a FA after the season, CLE is utilizing the last few months to see which of the 3 (Arias, Freeman, Rocchio) is grabbing the position for going forward. I find it interesting that LAD has traded for multiple guys this week (Kiki H & Amed) to help at SS that have major limitations playing SS defensively.

Did MKE trade away is Competitive Balance pick in 2020?? I know they had done that a couple of times. I'm trying to understand why MKE made only 5 picks that year instead of 6.

You flipping between timing of a deal. You started your 1st post and ended your last post focusing on the now. Weak AL Central. CLE under .500. Looking for the Crew to make a splash and be instant WS threat. JRam would be a great fit and has exactly what the Crew needs. In the middle you note how plenty of players with NTC get dealt and if CLE needs a rebuild in the future JRam might want to get dealt. Well JRam has not requested a trade. In his signing of an extension he left anywhere from 80M to 100M on the table & it encouraged others (Clase, Straw at start of 2022 & Gimenez at start of 2023) to sign multi year extensions. So others feels he is sticking in CLE. You suggested if there was a rebuild during his current contract (which runs 5 more years after this season) might trigger a trade request. I don't see that as a possibility as CLE is doing a reload on the fly. Last year 16 players made their MLB debut as CLE won the AL Central with the youngest team in baseball. This year another 6 players have already made their debut. The entire starting rotation for CLE from the beginning of spring training has either fallen apart (Plesac) or spent time or is currently on the injured list (Beiber, McKenzie, Civale, Quantril). In their place 3 of the young guns have stepped up (LT Allen, Bibee, Williams). I fail to see where a rebuild would be taking place in that 5 year time frame. I'll make you a deal: If JRam gets dealt (to any team) during his current contract, I will stop posting on this site. I will be gone. If he does not get dealt during this current contract, you write me an apology,

FYI, with the changes rules the signing deadline is during this upcoming week. IIRC its 7/26/23. Once the draft got shortened from 40 to 20 rounds, CLE has signed every pick each year until this one. The 2020 pandemic year was 5 rounds but some teams like CLE & MKE still had Competitive balance pick so they drafted 6 players.

Anyone got the full signing list for MKE?? Fingers crossed MKE gets the entire draft class signed (or as many as they really want).. CLE has basically wrapped up its draft class signing 19 of the 21 selections. Prep pitchers taken in rounds 16 & 20 very unlikely to sign at this point, CLE has under $2300 remaining in its bonus pool (including the overage). 1st time since 2019 draft CLE has not signed its full draft class.

Are you guys including the overage that a team could exceed its draft bonus pool without penalty?? Teams that exceed their bonus pool by 5% lose a pick in the next draft but a team could go 4.999999995% over without any penalty. For years CLE has been to within a couple of bucks of its line to sign everyone it drafts. ------------------------------------------------------------ On another item ICYMI MLB changed the signing rules this year. Any player signed must be added to the domestic player development group within 15 days of being signed. That group has a 180 player limit.

There is no chance of a trade. Jose insisted on a full complete NO TRADE CLAUSE in the extension he signed before last season. Whatever CLE does going forward, its building its team around Jose Ramirez..

Here is what I have been able to find.. https://twitter.com/i/status/1677146340453756932

Valera has missed most of the season with multiple injuries and has had multiple hamate injuries over the past few years. He is definitely trying to get back into a good productive place & has had limited success this season. A fan at the game tweeted a 45 second video of the brawl but nothing indicated what had started it. Thanks for the info..

Any idea what set off the brawl with Valera during the 3rd inning??? BTW the Clippers are an average offense at this point with Bo Naylor (& others up) with the big league club. They just happened to get on a roll this week.

Multiple AL All-Stars are on the injured list (Judge, Yordis the position guy from Houston & Shane M the pitcher from Tampa) so Franco will get named on as a replacement. With the multiple replacements they do not need to do 1 for 1 sub by position.

You might want to take a closer look at the Bieber start vs the D'backs. The CLE bullpen was toast by the end of that went coast road trip where the longest start had been into the 4th inning. Bieber pitched well outside of a 2 run homer thru 7 innings. His pitch count was in the 80s so he went out for the 8th inning and he fully imploded. With a normal bullpen setup it is likely Tito goes to the pen in the 8th & then its back to back starts where it appears like the Cy Bieber has returned.

I doubt Texas would call CLE or try to deal fro Bieber.. The last time CLE traded a SP to Texas it was Corey Kluber to Texas for Delino DeShields Jr & a young RH reliever pitcher named Emmanuel Clase. Kluber lasted only 1 IP for Teas before getting injured and then departing as a FA after that season (going to NY Yankees if my memory is correct)..

Thank you for chiming in & sharing the insights regarding the spring training situation.

IF MLB expands after the situations are resolved with the A's & Rays, not only are 2 sites needed for the 2 expansion teams, but also 8 other sites for the full season minor league clubs for those 2 expansion clubs. So 2 more locations for AAA, 2 more for AA, 2 more for High A & 2 more for Low A. There is also the question of spring training / complex sites.. I suggest taking a good look at the locations that recently lost minor league teams. While a number of those locations lost clubs for good reason, I am sure a few of those cities will start pulling out all the stops in order to regain a full season minor team..

Be carefully with that. If your feeling that way then the A's items would revert back to Philly (they were the Philly A's before KC or Oakland) and the Braves history would revert to Boston (they were Boston prior to MKE or Atlanta).

Interesting that you note the "Clevinger style" trade since MKE now has 1 of those 6 players from the deal (Owen Miller). That deal between CLE & SD had 9 players in total being moved: CLE sent 3 (2 MLB players in Clevinger & Greg Allen) & a PTBNL (milb pitcher Matt Waldon) to SD for 6 players back (3 MLB players in Josh Naylor, Cal Quantril & Austin Hedges) & 3 prospects (SS Gabriel Arias, LHP Joey Cantillo & INF Owen Miller).

Just placing this here for future reference... Jensen Lewis @JLEWFifty Mar 28 Crazy to think for the price of Francisco Lindor’s Mets contract ($341M), the #Guardians spent almost that on the following extensions/FA currently on the roster: $141M/7yr: JRAM $106.5M/7yr: Gimenez $33M/2yr: J.Bell $25M/5yr: Straw $20M/5yr: Clase $6M: Zunino $331.5M total ---------------------------------------------------------- & that was before this news broke on Weds evening https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/03/guardians-trevor-stephan-extension.html Note: No deals above were made to someone before their MLB debut... Not every deal is for mega dollars or going great (that Straw deal looks bad for the team at the moment), but a good front office (& I feel most believe MKE has a good FO) can effectively operate within a set of reasonable parameters.

I think you want to double check where guys pitched last year.. Gavin Williams (#2) had 16 starts in AA in 2022 so being in AAA midway thru 2023 is not out of the question. Tanner Bibbe had 13 starts in AA in 2022 so he could also see AAA midway thru 2023... As for a healthy use of Espino - depending on how things are going, bullpen arm is not out of the question... Either way he is R5 eligible this December... -------------------------------------------------------------------- Edits: Logan T Allen was working on a 4th pitch in AAA (IIRC a cutter) that was getting hammered & impacted his overall numbers. He is R5 eligible after the season so I would not be surprised if he is used as rotation or bullpen depth during this coming season if he remains healthy. No disagreement on Jason Campbell being years away. He was just drafted in 2022 & hasn't pitched in organized professional ball yet. IMHO his placement on top prospect listings is a mistake as he hasn't done anything yet. It will be interesting to see where they have him begin the 2023 season (in High A or in Low A). While not getting much notice at this time, a group of college pitchers from the 2021 Draft class are worth keeping an eye on: LHP Doug Nikhazy, LHP Will Dion (aka Little Kershaw), RHP Trenton Denholm & RHP Jack Leftwich. Member s of this group begin 2023 at AA or at High-A and that puts them in line to help the MLB club in later 2024 or for 2025. They would be Rule 5 eligible after the 2024 season... I am unsure which source you are using for the rankings, but I would encourage use of Fangraphs & their Roster Resource section... A lot of good info in there

The past few years when there was no minority ownership group in CLE, I would completely agree. Now that the Sherman shares have been bought by a new minority group (along with path to full ownership in 5 more years) and more money is flowing in, the payroll should continue to rise. I don't foresee Cohen levels of spending, but I suspect CLE will get itself back to the middle tier of spending.

Heck, Espino & Valera are hurt right now... If those 2 are healthy & performing, they might be filling roles in CLE by the trade deadline. Valera is already on the 40 man roster & Espino is Rule 5 eligible after this season. It will be interesting to watch how CLE handles its 40 man roster throughout the season. They already have a young overall group and there are even more young talented players on the cusp on the majors and due for Rule 5 roster protection after the season.

Cleveland is not making that deal for multiple reasons.. I also find it curious how you described the CLE pitching prospects (in bold above)... Pitching, Middle INF and outrageous depth are the key traits of the CLE farm system that have a consensus ranking between #3 and #5 in baseball this year. If the CLE pitching future is not bright, how dim is the pitching future for MKE in comparison???

Serious question: Even with a sweetener: what is the reason for CLE to make this trade & bring in Hunter Renfroe?? With a new minority owner approved, the budget constraints will be reduced. I could easily see a payroll figure in the $90- 100M range for 2023. I get CLE trading Amed Rosario, but that is more a function of all the great young talent that is ready to graduate from the farm system. I fully expect Amed to get dealt in order to open a 40 man roster spot and bring in some low-level minor league talent to replenish the system. After years of little to no outfield help 3 different OF rookies made their debuts in 2022 (looking rather good in the process- Steven Kwan, Oscar Gonzalez & Will Brennan) and perhaps the system's best OF prospect (George Valera) will be ready to debut in 2023. Even with the struggles at the plate for Straw, is D in CF likely gets him a Gold Glove this off season. If the name Will Brennan does not ring a bell, do yourself a favor a look at his numbers across AA & AAA in 2022: https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=brenna008wil 166 hits including 40 doubles/ 4 triples/ 13 homers over 129 games is good production regardless of level. Outfield is no longer a pressing need for the CLE club.

After the 2019 season: Delino DeShield Jr & Emmanuel Clase for Corey Kluber & cash... Kluber had 1 IP in 2020 before injury and then signed with the NY Yankees for the 2021 season. IOW: Texas gave up Clase for 1 IP of Kluber

Just as FYI, David Fry was the player traded to acquire JC Mejia. He is among the Guardian players going out to play in the Arizona Fall league this year.. He has only played a handful of games at C this year for AAA Columbus.. #Guardians participating in the Arizona Fall League: RHP Mason Hickman RHP Cade Smith RHP Lenny Torres C/INF David Fry INF Angel Martinez OF Connor Kokx Coach Junior Betances #ForTheLand