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Chief Wahoo to be replaced by ... Groot?

[quote="seagull"]Cleveland Guardians

Looking for love

The name is growing on me. I'm OK. Maybe they'll have better luck than the old team did; 2 world champions in 110 or so years.

What's the new name for the forum: Home of the Guardians"?

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Ghoulardians!

Went to the local flea market yesterday and bought the last INDIANS T shirt they had. It wa XL and I really need XXL but I got it anyway as the vendor said we wont be getting any more of these. Wore it while I watched todays win, May never take it off until we lose.

Friday is the trade deadline.

Pick one.

no deals

minor deal ----no help this season

tribe dumps players for money savings

tribe spends money trying to win this year

Blockbuster--- major played traded...... money dump

Well, as Meisel keeps saying and the announcers on tv as well, with the injury status STILL for the rotation it doesn't make sense to see this team as buyers. So for me I totally scratch that.

I see a minor deal with a guy like Cesar Hernandez being dealt. His veteran presence could help the right team - yes I know he would fetch only an ok prospect back.

Same with Amed Rosario - he has shown himself a good solid veteran with bat skills - especially with runners in scoring position. Also he actually fields better than I had expected and has quite a strong arm at SS.

Just small stuff like that. Unless (unlikely) someone surprises them with an overpay. It's been done before but they don't have guys like that now.

This is the type of season - and the injuries clinched that - that you give the last 2 months to auditions and actually working Civale and Bieber back into pitching condition. As well, Quantrill and Triston keep getting experience.

ESPN's Jeff Passan reports that the White Sox are finalizing a trade for Indians second baseman Cesar Hernandez.

After being connected to Adam Fraizer and Eduardo Escobar, the White Sox have finally found the infield help that they were seeking. Hernandez has already reached a career-high in homers this year with 18 in 96 games. He's usually a sound on-base guy, too, but the OBP this season sits at just .307.

Good guy, wish him well, bring on the kids!

Max trade value now.

None at end of season

Right Seagull because Madrigal was injured they had a need at 2B. Obviously they are serious contenders.


Look - we play the White Sox a zillion times in division. They've seen Cesar a zillion times. So they certainly know what he is and they must think somewhat highly of him.

Indians acquired LHP Konnor Pilkington from the White Sox for 2B Cesar Hernandez.

Pilkington has registered a promising 3.48 ERA, 0.919 WHIP, and 71/21 K/BB ratio over 62 innings (14 starts) this season at the Double-A level. The 23-year-old southpaw was a third-round pick in the 2018 MLB Draft out of Mississippi State University.

Konnor Pilkington: The Best Pitching Prospect Nobody is Talking About
3
The Birmingham Barons have the best crop of arms in the system, but don’t overlook their young southpaw

By Jake Mastroianni@ShortStopBall Jun 22, 2021, 12:18pm CDT


Mere months (in actual baseball played) after his Winston-Salem Dash debut here in May 2019, Konnor Pilkington now stands out in a strong Birmingham Barons rotation. Tiffany Wintz/South Side Sox
There was one name, other than Micker Adolfo, that really excited me when the roster for the Birmingham Barons was released: Konnor Pilkington.

As someone who loves the college game and covers it as well, Pilkington is a name that I’m very familiar with.

The big lefty was a workhorse for the Mississippi State Bulldogs in his last two seasons there (2017-18). As a sophomore, he posted a 3.08 ERA in 108 innings with 111 strikeouts over 17 starts with a WHIP of 1.14. He got a hit around a bit more as a junior, but still managed to throw over 100 innings across 18 starts.

He’d certainly flashed the potential to become an innings-eating starter at the back of a big-league rotation.

Because of his struggles in his junior season, Pilkington fell to the third round, where the Chicago White Sox took him — signing him under-slot, at $650,000.

Despite being a college junior, Pilkington was 20 years old when the White Sox drafted him. The profile on him then was that he could have three solid or better pitches, with a fastball sitting in the low 90s to go along with a changeup and slider. Pilkington has the additional advantage of throwing from a three-quarter arm slot, which makes him really tough on lefties.

After being drafted, Pilkington threw 14 more innings during his pro debut, but he was clearly exhausted after the long college baseball season in which his Bulldogs made it all the way to the semifinals of the College World Series (losing to the eventual champions, Oregon State, led by the No. 1 pick in 2019, Adley Rutschman).

Pilkington came back in 2019 and showed why many think he can be a solid middle-rotation arm for a long time, throwing 129 innings in 25 starts with a 4.12 ERA across both Single-A levels.

Last year was obviously a lost year for just about every prospect. But whatever he did during that time off has helped, as he has a 2.76 ERA in seven starts and 32 2⁄3 innings for the Barons to start 2021, with 34 strikeouts and a WHIP of 0.888.


AD

That’s still a very small sample size, but what I’ve seen from him is very encouraging. He’s pounding the strike zone and keeping hitters off-balance with a fastball that plays up because of his delivery and a plus-plus changeup.

Pilkington could be the next version of another current White Sox pitcher, Lance Lynn.

Lynn is 6´5´´, 270 pounds and Pilkington is 6´3´´, 230 pounds — both are big boys. One played at Ole Miss, the other at Mississippi State. And both profiled as innings eaters coming out of college, with a bulldog mentality on the mound.

That’s pretty much where the similarities end. Lynn is clearly the better prospect of the two, and features mainly a fastball, cutter, and sinker. But Pilkington could be Lynn-lite in terms of his ability to go to the post every five days, eat up some innings, and give you competitive frames.

Remember, he’s still just 23 years old and is pitching very well against competition almost two years older than him, on average. If he’s ever able to regain the velocity he had in college when he threw mid-to-upper 90s, we could see him turn into a top-of-the-rotation horse.

I’m glad to see him get out to a good start in 2021. I know the White Sox are going to be careful with all their pitchers, applying ample innings limits, but hopefully Pilkington continues to improve and show why he’s the best pitching prospect in the system nobody is talking about.

MORE FROM SOUTH SIDE SOX

Owen Miller will be called up by the Indians on Friday.

And he is likely to get a lot of run at second base down the stretch after Cesar Hernandez was traded to the White Sox on Thursday afternoon. Miller has posted a wretched .288 OPS over 50 plate appearances this season in the majors, but he holds a promising .297/.374/.489 batting line with seven home runs in 48 games at Triple-A.

Somebody must be pushing for Miller so soon. He absolutely fell flat on his face in his previous opportunity.

Just wondering if that horrific experience goes thru one ear and out the other or lingers subconsciously.

Maybe it's the only way to find out. Bring him up...sink or swim