MadThinker88

When guys are playing in the minors, I believe some amount of "tampering" is allowed. Teams and agents talk all the time, arrangements/ plans get made & sometimes acted upon. I point to Oliver Perez asking for callup or release from the NY Yankees last yr @ Memorial Day. He was released and promptly signed with Cleveland and got placed on the MLB roster.. Milwaukee did something similar with Gio Gonzalez this season..

I don't know about that Joseph. The CLE FO likely has its own ideas & plans. IMHO the nationally perceived OF need has been mitigated by acquisitions & promotions of Oscar Mercado & Daniel Johnson (now in AAA). DJ is just awaiting his shot right now. He is hitting .289 on the season (.318 at AAA Columbus). Francona has gotten very adept at mixing & matching his outfield over the years in CLE so platoons & additional value add in areas other than hitting tends to be the norm. I recall posting the following observation on these boards in the past - The Brewer offense tends to be driven primarily by the OF & supported by the other positions. Meanwhile the Tribe offense is driven primarily by the INF (Lindor/ JRam/ others) & supported by the other positions. The Tribe offense has improved recently as Jose Ramirez has finally (after a near 12 month slump) started to produce again. To a lesser degree Jason Kipnis as well. On the season JRam is hitting .226 but .313 in the last 28 days. Kipnis is at .238 on the season and .271 in the last 28 days. The "dream scenario" floating around Tribe message boards & talk radio is landing Whit Merrifield from KC. His versatility helps for this season and with Kipnis departing after the season (the 2.5M buyout will be exercised instead of the $16.5M team option) Whit fills the spot at 2nd rather well moving forward. Obviously Bauer to KC is not a match but they could be 2 parts of a 3 team trade. The idea is Bauer heads to someone in the NL for a great package of prospects that is then used to either augment a Tribe offer to KC or replace pieces from the Tribe farm used to land Merrifield from KC.. We are 2 weeks out from the trade deadline. We shall see what happens..

In case others have not heard the injury updates out of Cleveland regarding its starters.... Corey Kluber tossed a 20 pitch bullpen today (1st off the mound since his injury). It seems to have gone well so there is hope a few more bullpens will lead to a rehab start before 7/31 and Kluber could be back for the Tribe before the end of August... Cookie Carrasco is still around the team and playing catch with various players. This past Sunday was with Kluber out in the outfield. IF (and I mean IF) he comes back this season, its great. No one is really counting on his return this season but I think no one would be surprised if Cookie is back out on the mound in 2020. Danny Salazar (yes that old name) has now made 4 rehab STARTS between appearances in Arizona (2) and AA Akron (2). IF no setbacks, his 30 day rehab calendar ends by 7/30. In his last rehab Salazar went 3 IP (58 pitches/ 38 strikes). Salazar is out of options but the work as a starter is intriguing. Perhaps there is a message in there. Mike Clevinger continues to pitch well returning from injury. He went 6 IP allowing 6H, 1 BB, 1 run allowed while recording 12 Ks on 100 pitches (68 strikes) on weds nite vs the Tigers.. I think he is fully back to form. Why all this? Consider if 2 of the top 3 names return to play this year. Add 2 to Clevinger, Bieber, Plesac, & Plutko. It means the Tribe could afford to deal Bauer IF their asking price is met..

More mid-season rankings (with a fantasy focus slant). This is free content https://prospects365.com/2019/07/15/ray-butlers-2019-midseason-top-200-prospects/ 154 Brice Turang 156 Trent Grisham I didn't see a listing for Hiura so he must have graduated from this sites ranking protocols..

Just an FYI on those Tribe prospects (Sandlin & Gonzalez) in the proposal: both are on the injured list and IIRC supposed to be out the rest of the season (Sandlin as a sidearmer with a forearm issue)

Update time for the games completed thru 7/13/19 Rank …… Franchise …… …….W …… ..L …… …..Pct 1 ….. Tampa Bay Rays …… 220 …… 147 …… 0.5995 2 ….. Milwaukee Brewers …… 205 …… 162 …… 0.5586 3 ….. Pittsburgh Pirates …… 200 …… 161 …… 0.5540 4 ….. Texas Rangers …… 201 …… 164 …… 0.5507 5 ….. L A Dodgers …...… 201 …… 164 …… 0.5507 6 ….. Arizona Dbacks …… 201 …… 165 …… 0.5492 7 ….. Cleveland Indians …… 194 …… 170 …… 0.5330 8 ….. Houston Astros …… 194 …… 170 …… 0.5330 9 ….. Minnesota Twins …… 195 …… 173 …… 0.5299 10 ….. Seattle Mariners …… 194 …… 177 …… 0.5229 26 ….. Cincinnati Reds …...… 162 …… 202 …… 0.4451 27 ….. Boston Red Sox …...… 157 …… 207 …… 0.4313 28 ….. Detroit Tigers …...… 155 …… 205 …… 0.4306 29 ….. L A Angels ….....… 158 …… 209 …… 0.4305 30 ….. St. Louis Cardinals …… 155 …… 212 …… 0.4223 Others in NL Central 20 ….. Chicago Cubs …… 176 …… 189 …… 0.4822 Items of Note: Top 15 clubs have .500 or better records Most games played by organization: 371 by Seattle Least games played by organization: 360 by Detroit Tampa Bay is extending its lead, now a whopping 73 games over .500. I have to tip the cap to them. This is an incredible performance. I took a look back at the records at the same time last year & Tampa was 56 games over .500 but was still trailing Houston (66 games over). This year the next closest team is currently Milwaukee (+43).. As for the other end St. Louis is at -57 and dropping fast. 3 teams (Boston, Detroit, LA Angels) are all at -50/ -51. Next Update: 7/21/19

He is worth taking a minor league flyer on.. All comes down to IF he is will to take an assignment to the minors to work on items. And that seems to be the rub: going to the minors to work on things. Boston is definitely needing help in its bullpen so if he fixes his issues, he would be back in the majors rather quick.

Update time for the games completed thru 7/6/19 Rank …… Franchise …… …….W …… ..L …… …..Pct 1 ….. Tampa Bay Rays …… 204 …… 138 …… 0.5965 2 ….. Pittsburgh Pirates …… 188 …… 150 …… 0.5562 3 ….. Milwaukee Brewers …… 189 …… 154 …… 0.5510 4 ….. Texas Rangers …...… 185 …… 153 …… 0.5473 5 ….. Cleveland Indians …… 186 …… 154 …… 0.5471 6 ….. Arizona Dbacks …...… 184 …… 155 …… 0.5428 7 ….. Minnesota Twins …… 185 …… 156 …… 0.5425 8 ….. Houston Astros …...… 182 …… 155 …… 0.5401 9 ….. L A Dodgers …...… 181 …… 155 …… 0.5387 10 ….. Seattle Mariners …...… 179 …… 164 …… 0.5219 26 ….. Cincinnati Reds …...… 153 …… 187 …… 0.4500 27 ….. Detroit Tigers …...… 146 …… 191 …… 0.4332 28 ….. L A Angels …...… 147 …… 194 …… 0.4311 29 ….. Boston Red Sox …...… 144 …… 194 …… 0.4260 30 ….. St. Louis Cardinals …… 143 …… 194 …… 0.4243 Others in NL Central 19 ….. Chicago Cubs …… 165 …… 174 …… 0.4867 Items of Note: Top 15 clubs have .500 or better records Most games played by organization: 343 by 3 teams (Seattle, Milwaukee, Washington) Least games played by organization: 335 by Chicago White Sox Tampa Bay is looking to lap the field at a whopping 66 games over .500. Next 4 squads are between 32 and 38 games over. There is a new squad in the basement: St. Louis at -51. Boston just ahead at -50. 2 other squads are worse than -45 (Detroit & LA Angels) Next Update: 7/14/19

Been there. Done that. No interest in going back to that steaming manure pile. Ok. No problem... Just checking... One or more of AJ Cole/ Dan Otero/ Tyler Clippard will likely be available later in July (as Tribe calls up Karinchak to the majors).

Any interest in trading for Neil Ramirez??? He is stashed away in Columbus (Tribe AAA) in case there is an interest... Could likely be had for cheap (especially since James Karinchak is scheduled to return to action after the All-Star break)..

Anyone else catch this DSL boxscore?? The phrase "Yankees blewout the Twins" is a massive understatement... 40 runs scored in a single game at any level is noteworthy.. When the difference is THIS large (see for yourself) your eyes bug and the jaw hangs open for a moment...

Here is the updated link for Indians Baseball Insider https://247sports.com/mlb/indians/

Update time for the games completed thru 6/29/19 Rank …… Franchise …… …….W …… ..L …… …..Pct 1 ….. Tampa Bay Rays …… 188 …… 130 …… 0.5912 2 ….. Milwaukee Brewers …… 178 …… 141 …… 0.5580 3 ….. Texas Rangers …… 175 …… 139 …… 0.5573 4 ….. Pittsburgh Pirates …… 173 …… 141 …… 0.5510 5 ….. Arizona Dbacks …… 171 …… 144 …… 0.5429 6 ….. L A Dodgers …...… 168 …… 143 …… 0.5402 7 ….. Houston Astros …… 168 …… 144 …… 0.5385 8 ….. Cleveland Indians …… 170 …… 146 …… 0.5380 9 ….. Minnesota Twins …… 167 …… 149 …… 0.5285 10 ….. New York Yankees …… 165 …… 148 …… 0.5272 26 ….. Cincinnati Reds …… 141 …… 175 …… 0.4462 27 ….. St. Louis Cardinals …… 137 …… 177 …… 0.4363 28 ….. Detroit Tigers …...… 134 …… 178 …… 0.4295 29 ….. L A Angels …...… 136 …… 181 …… 0.4290 30 ….. Boston Red Sox …… 131 …… 182 …… 0.4185 Others in NL Central 19 ….. Chicago Cubs …… 153 …… 162 …… 0.4857 Items of Note: Top 16 clubs have .500 or better records Most games played by organization: 319 by 3 teams (Seattle, Milwaukee, Washington) Least games played by organization: 311 by LA Dodgers While Tampa is +50, no other squad is over +40 and only 3 others (Milwaukee, Texas & Pittsburgh) are over +30 While Boston is -51 there are 3 squads (St. Louis, Detroit & LA Angels) at -40 or worse.. Next Update: 7/7/19

Being far removed and rarely seeing Brewers games anymore, what is the thoughts on bullpen coach Steve Karsay?? He appeared to do a fine job for many years working up the Cleveland farm system before spending the past few years in Columbus (AAA). Although Francona turned over the pitching side of his big-league staff the past few seasons, Karsay never seemed to get a chance so I wasn't surprised he departed for other opportunities...

Thanks for sharing..

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2019/06/brewers-to-promote-keston-hiura-option-travis-shaw-to-triple-a.html Posted at 6:48 pm CDT

I've been to ten different MLB stadiuims, half have had huge signs, or at least people saying, "Don't go to your seat during an At Bat" or something similar. Don't know if Cleveland (Progressive/ Jacobs Field) is part of your listing but I can share the Signs AND the USHERS will stop the flow of people down to the seats during at-bats. People can move down between at-bats. Nothing can be done about preventing people from leaving their seats to head to the concourse...

Granted not everyone recovers from the surgery and returns to mound. That said, many pitchers experience a bump up in fastball velocity... Hicks was already around 105. IF he recovers fully and gets a bump up too, where is he at?? 108 -110?????

Update time for the games completed thru 6/22/19 Rank …… Franchise …… …….W …… ..L …… …..Pct 1 ….. Tampa Bay Rays …… 171 …… 121 …… 0.5856 2 ….. Milwaukee Brewers …… 165 …… 127 …… 0.5651 3 ….. Pittsburgh Pirates …… 158 …… 128 …… 0.5524 4 ….. LA Dodgers …...… 158 …… 129 …… 0.5505 5 ….. Texas Rangers …… 159 …… 131 …… 0.5483 6 ….. Houston Astros …… 158 …… 131 …… 0.5467 7 ….. Arizona Dbacks …… 157 …… 131 …… 0.5451 8 ….. Cleveland Indians …… 155 …… 133 …… 0.5382 9 ….. Minnesota Twins …… 155 …… 135 …… 0.5345 10 ….. New York Yankees …… 151 …… 134 …… 0.5298 26 ….. Miami Marlins …...… 129 …… 159 …… 0.4479 27 ….. LA Angels ….....… 129 …… 161 …… 0.4448 28 ….. St. Louis Cardinals …… 129 …… 162 …… 0.4433 29 ….. Boston Red Sox …...… 119 …… 167 …… 0.4161 30 ….. Detroit Tigers …...… 118 …… 166 …… 0.4155 Others in NL Central 22 ….. Chicago Cubs …… 135 …… 153 …… 0.4688 23 ….. Cincinnati Reds …… 133 …… 158 …… 0.4570 Items of Note: Top 15 clubs have .500 or better records Most games played by organization: 294 by Seattle Least games played by organization: 282 by NY Mets A virtual tie for the basement (both at -48) between Boston & Detroit... While Tampa is +50, no other squad is over +40 and only 2 others (Milwaukee & Pittsburgh) are over +30 Next Update: 6/30/19

Chris Archer trades haven’t really worked out for any team in the NL Central (except for those now facing him). That seems to be a great return in comparison to what Cleveland got.. People forget that Chris Archer was originally a Tribe prospect. Archer was dealt along with 2 other pitchers (including the 1 and only guy the Tribe got back in return from the Reds for Brandon Phillips) for Mark DeRosa. After half a season in '09, DeRosa was then sent to St. Louis for Chris Perez and Jess Todd in July 2009. Both Perez & Todd departed the Tribe for no return over the next few seasons (Perez granted free agency in Oct 2013 & Todd waived in May 2011).. Its really interesting at times to follow the transaction threads regarding a player to see where a club was successful or not..

Maybe, just maybe I interpreted the tea leaves correctly this time.. https://www.mlb.com/news/cody-allen-twins-deal

Many suitors for Cody Allen https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2019/06/cody-allen-drawing-interest.html#comments

The updated listing is out (for mlb pipeline)... https://www.mlb.com/news/updated-top-100-prospects-list-june-2019 Hiura = #12 Turang = #93 No other Brewers listed in top 100..

"work environment" is subject to collective bargaining & if the union is adding the phrase "unsafe" to it, they can force some discussions to the bargaining table. That said, you being up a great point about accountability & indirectly an electronic strike zone. Baseball Mgmt can make it a negotiation swap - make the conditions "safer" by ensuring the umpires are held accountable and a big point of contention (the strike zone) is negated by making the zone electronically monitored...

While the proposal might work from the Brewer side, to be clear I doubt the Tribe accepts that package proposed by Briggs. The Tribe is NOT in need of a LH slugging INF... As it is the Tribe sluggers are either LH or Switch hitters... If the Tribe really wanted more LH power, their top 1B prospect is Bobby Bradley at AAA Columbus (International league). 22 homers already. He is already on the 40 man roster & is a pure lefty. Listen, I am a fan of Freddy Peralta (I've thought for a while he would make a VERY good RHRP) & a fan of Travis Shaw (he & I both went to Kent State) but considering the number of teams that would have an interest in Brad Hand (if he was to be dealt) the offerings of those other teams are likely much greater than the Briggs suggestion... Its why I pointed to Oliver Perez. He won't cost as much to acquire and it allows the Brewers to retain & use its assets for other needs.