Mejia optioned but seems to be suggestion that he'll come back after the All Star game.
If I had a choice I'd leave him in Columbus to develop. I think he has the most upside over Hentges, Morgan and Allen and would prefer him to do his development work in the minors with much less pressure.

So would they civ. And once they have more rotation options then Columbus full time it will be.

Agree it's JC Mejia and Hentges too with the most potential. But they have to work out the issues in the minors.

Sorry to see McKenzie back tonight. Tito says his control has improved. Yes, a little, but he has also been hit hard. His 4 Columbus starts since latest demotion:

3 1 1 1 4 4 1 homer
4 4 1 0 4 3
4 7 3 3 1 6 2 homers
5 4 3 3 1 7 2 homers

totals:
16 16 8 7 10 20 5 homers ERA 3.93 WHIP 1.62

4 innings per start vs AAA Not impressed. Leave him there until he gets it all together.

Too bad - Rivera did a nice job.

Indians released C Rene Rivera.

Rivera had been designated for assignment last weekend. The veteran backstop is now free to look for a job elsewhere.

I guess they Lavernway, Ramos and Collins who are the catchers in Columbus.

They probably signed him originally on the condition that they'd give him a release to look elsewhere they we didn't need him in the majors any longer.

Jordan Luplow (ankle) has been assigned to the Arizona Coast League Indians to begin a rehab assignment.

Luplow originally went on the injured list back in late May with a left ankle injury but had a setback while on an initial rehab assignment about a month ago. He's now ready for games again but isn't eligible for activation until late July.

They call it the Arizona Coast League?

What coast is Arizona on?

It's the Arizona Complex League

as contrasted with the Arizona Simple League

Meisel from a fantasy website regarding 2nd half breakout candidates:

Cleveland Indians: Franmil Reyes

Only four hitters in baseball rank ahead of Franmil Reyes in slugging percentage: Shohei Ohtani, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Fernando Tatis Jr. and Ronald Acuña Jr. That’s some elite company — four All-Stars, a few MVP candidates, three juniors. Reyes missed nearly six weeks with a strained oblique, so his counting statistics paint an incomplete portrait at the moment, but his ratio of one home run per every 12.4 at-bats would rank sixth in the majors if he qualified.

In that category, he trails only Ohtani, Tatis, Guerrero, Kyle Schwarber and Joey Gallo. His metrics suggest this is no fluke — he ranks in the top 1 percent in barrel percentage, for instance — so he should be primed for a powerful second half. But you already knew that.

If you’re seeking a deep cut, a name that you never would have considered, let’s go with Oscar Mercado. In the waning days of the first half, he showed flashes of his rookie-season self, with extra-base hits and stolen bases. He’ll have ample opportunity to prove he belongs in the big leagues. — Zack Meisel

Cleveland continues to build a team around pitchers [mostly control freaks although top pick this year is a power rm] and middle infielder

As this season in the majors shows, you can never have too many major league quality starting pitchers,

And the future will reveal is you can always convert SS into CF and/or if there's a solid demand for infielders from deeps with depth of outfielders.
Naylor and Reyes were collected from trading "excess" pitching.
We haven't started dealing our IF depth yet. Correction: Samad Taylor a couple years ago who's having a breakout year in AA

The trades that I dislike are when we deal from our thin supply of OFs. Jhon Torres is coming along slowly with the Cardinals. Ruben Cardenas has moved to up to AA where his OPS is in the 850 zone after a terrific start for Tampa's High A club. We traded him for of all things a middle IF Christian Arroyo who we let go the next season and is now playing solidly for Boston.

This is the time of year...just after the draft...when teams make room for the new signees.

End of the line for some guys not making progress.

Very hard to find out who gets dropped.

Don't forget we did trade for our buddy Mercado. Results still inconclusive.

Mercado has a hit a little bit this month. Jhon Torres isn't developing into the power bat expected but he has lots of time. As TF, result too early to jujdge

Placement of his year's draft class will be different than in the past for 2 obvious reasons:
One, the draft was a month later so there will be less time for gametime action so many may just stay in Arizona camp
two, the "short season A" leagues have been eliminated which is where many of the college draftees were assigned. Will then instead play in the Arizona League or advance directly to Lynchburg for the final 1/3 of the minor league season?

This weekend's pitching matchups:

RHP Eli Morgan (1-3, 8.44) vs. LHP Sean Manaea (6-6, 3.19) Friday at 9:40 p.m. ET; RHP Cal Quantrill (1-2, 4.23) vs. RHP Frankie Montas (8-7, 4.41) on Saturday at 4:07 p.m. and RHP Zach Plesac (4-3, 4.31) vs. TBD on Sunday at 4:07 p.m.

2 out of 3 major leaguers on the mound is better than we've done for a long time