MadThinker88

Update time. For the games completed thru 7/28/18. Rank …… Franchise …… …….W …… ..L …… …..Pct 1 …… Houston Astros …...… 243 …… 177 …… 0.5786 2 …… Tampa Bay Rays …...… 237 …… 177 …… 0.5725 3 …… St. Louis Cardinals …...… 230 …… 184 …… 0.5556 4 …… Philadelphia Phillies …… 229 …… 186 …… 0.5518 5 …… Chicago White Sox …...… 222 …… 194 …… 0.5337 6 …… Toronto Blue Jays …...… 218 …… 194 …… 0.5291 7 ….. San Diego Padres …...… 220 …… 200 …… 0.5238 8 ….. New York Yankees …...… 216 …… 198 …… 0.5217 9 …… Milwaukee Brewers …...… 217 …… 199 …… 0.5216 10 …… Pittsburgh Pirates …...… 211 …… 194 …… 0.5210 26 ….. San Francisco Giants …… 191 …… 230 …… 0.4537 27 ….. Texas Rangers …...… 191 …… 230 …… 0.4537 28 ….. Washington Nationals …… 186 …… 224 …… 0.4537 29 ….. Chicago Cubs ….........… 190 …… 231 …… 0.4513 30 ….. Boston Red Sox …...… 185 …… 230 …… 0.4458 Others in NL Central 17 ….. Cincinnati Reds …… 202 …… 208 …… 0.4927 Items of note: Top 16 places have record of .500 or better #10 Pittsburgh has played the least games (405). Next lowest is Cincinnati at 410. #19 Seattle has played the most games (422)

Hard to say.. Which big market teams will be looking for a 3B? Which mid-market teams will be looking for a 3B?? How many of the big & mid markets teams already have established guys in place already or top prospect ready to take over??? Will teams like St. Louis or Baltimore be looking to spend money for guys that are 'compete now' as they have other weaknesses & holes on the team to deal with?? I grant you Boras & Moose mis-read the market last season & this time around they won't have to worry about the QO but I don't think it is cut & dried that Moose gets 4 or more years or $80M+ in contract value...

Let's do this. I can see it now: Shaw & a prospect (I'm not high on Luis Ortiz so let's say him) to the Twins for Dozier, Sano and Gibson and a prospect back (PTBNL)...

Always a chance this a forerunner of another move (ie Shaw being moved for other necessary pieces)..

FYI... Appears the Cards may be open for business...

Ouch. Bummer for Gatewood. Wish him well along with a speedy & complete recovery. Thanks for sharing the info and updating the rest of us...

I disagree. If the cost is Luis Ortiz, make the deal! In 4 previous years in the minors, Ortiz has yet to achieve 100 IP in a season. Currently he is at 62 IP over 15 games (10 starts & 3 games finished). He has a slim chance of getting to 100 this season. He has suffered injuries in previous years and got hurt again this year. IMHO, if you can get value for him, make a deal while you can..

To quote another Tribe poster- "Same old Shapiro - Winning Trades, Not Games"

Guys - Suter would not need to be kept on the 25 man while rehabing. He could easily be moved to the 60 man DL and rehab until he is ready for major league action & then would be on the 25 man for 90 days. As an FYI, a few year ago Baltimore grabbed an injured Anthony Santander off the Cleveland roster & then maneuvered him between the 60 day DL, 40 man roster & regular DL for a year plus until he had his 90 days completed.. If another team is short pitching & likes what they saw from Suter, he would get taken... It up to Milwaukee if they want to risk it (or not)..

If I understand the PTBNL rules correctly, to be a PTBNL the player cannot be on the 25 man roster & that player has to be eligible for trade the day the trade is made. The MLB office closed the old loophole where a recently drafted player (who couldn't be dealt at the time of the deal) would be the player dealt because the day the trade was later completed that recent draft pick was now eligible to be dealt.

The Indians will get to 90+ wins. You have to consider how many divisional games they still have remaining. And before bashing the win total, consider the 1997 Indians won the AL Central with a 86-75 record and then lost GM 7 of the World Series to the Marlins...

FYI - Zimmer will be down for at least part of 2019. He won't resume baseball activities for 8 to 12 MONTHS.... https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2018/07/bradley-zimmer-undergoes-shoulder-surgery.html As for Diaz at 2B, since coming stateside with the 2014 season he has played a total of 41.1 innings at the position across AA & AAA. This season it been time at 3B, 1B, & DH..

Bummer news on Suter, but its not the end for the Crew. I don't think they can stretch Burnes back out but it does set up an interesting possibility (especially once Davies is back)... Piggyback Burnes with 1 of the others.. That other person goes 3 or 4 IP and then Burnes comes in for 2 or 3 IP. Basically getting the game thru 6 innings. If the Crew is looking to manage the IP of Peralta or concerned about the extended effectiveness of Miley or Davies, Burnes could help by being a bridge to the later innings.

Way too generous. First: the recent draft & international signing will be in play for the top 200. I will suggest 12 players (9 draft signings & 3 internationals) from this group land in the top 200. Second: between the guys your suggesting for 100-200 range plus guys the Brewer have in the top 100, your proposing over 10% of the top 200 prospects are in the Brewers system.. There are 29 other teams and many are as deep or deeper than the Brewers. We know that SD (after getting Mejia) has 10 of the top 100. I would be shocked if they didn't have another name or 2 in next 100. LA Dodgers have another very deep system. So let's quantify 'many' as 9 other clubs (including SD & LAD). Your then suggesting that 10 clubs/ farm systems make up roughly 55-60% of the top 200 and the other 20 clubs/systems make up around 40-45% of the list. I don't see that math working out..

Update time. For the games completed thru 7/21/18 Rank …… Franchise …… …….W …… ..L …… …..Pct 1 …… Houston Astros …...… 230 …… 165 …… 0.5823 2 …… Tampa Bay Rays …… 223 …… 168 …… 0.5703 3 …… St. Louis Cardinals …… 214 …… 175 …… 0.5501 4 …… Philadelphia Phillies …… 211 …… 178 …… 0.5424 5 …… Toronto Blue Jays …… 207 …… 179 …… 0.5363 6 …… Chicago White Sox …… 207 …… 183 …… 0.5308 7 ….. Milwaukee Brewers …… 205 …… 186 …… 0.5243 8 ….. San Diego Padres …… 205 …… 189 …… 0.5203 9 …… Pittsburgh Pirates …… 198 …… 183 …… 0.5197 10 …… New York Yankees …… 201 …… 188 …… 0.5167 26 ….. Chicago Cubs …...… 182 …… 212 …… 0.4619 27 ….. New York Mets …...… 178 …… 210 …… 0.4588 28 ….. Washington Nationals …… 176 …… 211 …… 0.4548 29 ….. Texas Rangers …...… 179 …… 216 …… 0.4532 30 ….. Boston Red Sox …...… 174 …… 216 …… 0.4462 Others in NL Central 18 ….. Cincinnati Reds …...… 187 …… 197 …… 0.4870 Notes: - Top 15 places have records of .500 or better. - #9 Pittsburgh has the fewest games played (381) - #1 Houston, #15 Arizona & #29 Texas tied with most games played (395)

I do believe that Mejia has his positives and his negatives. He has the chance to remain as a catcher. The question is how good (or bad) will he be when not hitting. Hitting-wise I am convinced he could do well. The rest is up in the air. I don't think he has much power in the bat so a catching comp to Piazza or Gary Sanchez might not be a good comp fit offensively. Brian Harper (former Twin, high avg) might be better comp but Harper was brutal controlling a run game (Mejia has an arm). Gary Sanchez & Mejia might be very similar defensively... overall brutal in framing, receiving, handling a pitching staff. I have written this before & will do so again here: I am convinced there are some teams that prefer their catcher to be Offense first, other teams want their catcher to be a staff handler & defensive force first. Cleveland (since Francona arrived for the 2013 season) is definitely in the latter category. This made Mejia a poor match for remaining in Cleveland as he was the opposite of that. Consider: although Mejia was called up to the majors last September and at a couple points this 2018 season, he never started a MLB game as catcher. He has started as DH. He has come in later in the game (8th or 9th inning) to catch. He has pinch hit as well. But this catcher never started a MLB game as catcher. I think that is telling. Add to that the majority of Tribe prospects play multiple positions coming thru the minors, especially those with better bats. This allows the major league group to mix & match where needed to get the better players into the lineup or situations where players can succeed & thrive. Cleveland wanted Mejia to try 3B in the fall (he sulked & only went thru the motions). They wanted him in the OF this spring & as he played AAA while he still got time behind the dish. Again there were reports that Mejia went thru the motions and only wanted to catch. A friend was telling me there were a series of tweets about the deal after it was announced & (i think) it was a LA beat writer/ reporter that said something along the lines of "he's your headcase now San Diego". I couldn't agree more.

I'm the opposite of your thoughts - that is a lot for a catcher (even Mejia). Both Hand & Cimber have multiple years of control remaining. I was expecting 1 or more other pieces being dealt with Mejia for that package..

No chance. A) Kipnis has been doing better since the beginning of June. B) If Cleveland wanted to upgrade 2B, it would move Jose Ramirez back to his regular spot (2B) and use a different 3B (Yandy Diaz or trade acquisition like Beltre, etc) C) Castro is well liked in the organization & has been in AA all year (at age 20, 21). D) Cleveland has other internal options to go thru before even considering Villar.

Excuse me, how do we know the Brewers offer had them in a close 2nd place?? Last I heard, Philly was the front-runner to land Machado on Monday until LA increased it offer.. IMHO its clear the Brewers were in on the negotiations and made a "solid" offer to Baltimore. That said unless all the various offers are listed for public review or the Orioles come out and say that unless LA 'did x' the deal would have been with Milwaukee, I don't buy the Brewers were a close 2nd.

Many Tribe fans think that the Reds might deal R Iglesias... I don't think the Reds are ready to deal him unless they get double the value. I agree with you, if the Reds can get some more pitching in the offseason they can make some noise in the division NL Central in 2019 & 2020..

Red Sox, Nationals, Indians. Red Sox, Nationals, Indians. If Cleveland wanted to move on from Kipnis (who has finally started to perform again), they would have natural 2B Jose Ramirez move across the diamond and go with a different 3B (Yandy Diaz, trade for Beltre, etc..)

FYI - Don't know if there is more to the story but Devin Williams started for High-A Carolina & came out of the game during the 3rd inning vs Lynchburg tonight He had only given up 1 run (earned) on 1 hit & 1 walk while recording 3 strikeouts (47 pitches, 32 for strikes) during that time..

I like the idea of this thread... Kudos to the person that started it... Might be unnecessary but its better to be prepared...

I would bet money that they keep this Shildt guy. GM Mozelic would never bring in a man with his own baseball mind. The man's too insecure. EDIT: In answer to your second question (my preference) of the men available I would like Ozzie Guillen. Too bad he's Latino. So no chance at Joe Girardi??? As a baseball fan I would think he would be a very good addition if the Cards decided to pursue him. If Buck Showalter is not kept in Baltimore after the season, he is another very good baseball mind out on the market. I think John Farrell is a good addition to a mgmt group (either in FO or coaching staff) but was not a fan of him as a manager (in Toronto or Boston)..

Update time. For games completed thru 7/14/18. Rank …… Franchise …… …….W …… ..L …… …..Pct 1 …… Houston Astros …...… 217 …… 151 …… 0.5897 2 …… Tampa Bay Rays …… 211 …… 155 …… 0.5765 3 …… Pittsburgh Pirates …… 192 …… 162 …… 0.5424 4 …… Toronto Blue Jays …… 194 …… 165 …… 0.5404 5 …… St. Louis Cardinals …… 196 …… 167 …… 0.5399 6 …… Philadelphia Phillies …… 195 …… 168 …… 0.5372 7 ….. Chicago White Sox …… 193 …… 172 …… 0.5288 8 ….. New York Yankees …… 190 …… 172 …… 0.5249 9 …… Milwaukee Brewers …… 190 …… 176 …… 0.5191 10 …… San Diego Padres …… 191 …… 179 …… 0.5162 26 ….. Chicago Cubs …...… 172 …… 198 …… 0.4649 27 ….. Atlanta Braves …...… 169 …… 197 …… 0.4617 28 ….. Washington Nationals …… 165 …… 198 …… 0.4545 29 ….. Texas Rangers …...… 167 …… 201 …… 0.4538 30 ….. Boston Red Sox …...… 163 …… 200 …… 0.4490 Others in NL Central 19 ….. Cincinnati Reds …… 172 …… 187 …… 0.4791 Other Notes: Top 16 have records of .500 or better #3 Pittsburgh has fewest games played (354) #16 Arizona has the most game played (371)