Cleveland Sports Forum

I can see why. Indians don't need a SS for the future and Chang is hitting with lots of power at age 20. If we keep him it's as a 3rd baseman. BA rated him our No. 10 prospect at midseason but easy to see him higher than that -- plays a more important position than Bradley; more consistent hitter than Zimmer; much more experience than pitchers ranked ahead of him Aiken and McKenzie. I'd love to keep him, but he could be an important piece of a trade package.

According to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports the Yanks are trading Chapman to the Cubs. He says it's done deal now.

I thought the Indians were getting Aroldis?

I bet we could get Todd Frazier from the CWS now.

how about Chris Sale? I could stand an excellent lefty. If he doesn't object to our uniforms

Couple days late but happy birthday JR. My sister's was Sunday also. We just celebrated it about 2 hrs ago. 60 for her.

I couldn't get on yesterday afternoon and evening. Could the rest of you?

Melvin Upton traded for practically nothing:

With the trade deadline less than a week away, the Blue Jays struck a deal to bolster their outfield on Tuesday morning, acquiring a reborn Melvin Upton Jr. from the Padres in exchange for 19-year old righthander Hansel Rodriguez.
The Padres also will reportedly pay all but $5 million of the roughly $22 million owed to Upton Jr. through 2017.
For Toronto, it’s a deal that improves the club both offensively and defensively as it makes a push for a second straight playoff berth, while San Diego receives another young pitcher in its latest veteran-for-prospect trade.
“I think it’s been a few weeks in the making judging the market for Upton,” Padres general manager A.J. Preller said in a conference call with reporters. “Ultimately it came down to two or three teams that were serious and the Blue Jays stayed on it. We looked at a couple of their prospects and scouted their system pretty heavily and were able to come to an agreement we felt was the best fit for us.”

The Blue Jays signed Rodriguez for $330,00 in 2014 out of the Dominican Republic based largely on his fastball velocity, which touched 95 mph as a 16-year-old before signing. The arm strength that initially attracted Toronto to Rodriguez has remained. Now 6-foot-2 and 170 pounds as he’s filled out and added strength, Rodriguez reportedly has touched 98 mph with Rookie-level Bluefield this year. The main concern has been his slow development with his offspeed offerings. Now in his third consecutive season pitching at Rookie ball, Rodriguez’s slider and curveball both grade below average and he is largely regarded as a thrower more than a pitcher, the same scouting report as in previous years. In part because of his lack of secondary development, Rodriguez is averaging a respectable but not overwhelming 7.2 strikeouts per nine innings with Bluefield this year despite his upper 90s fastball. He entered the year as Toronto’s No. 18 prospect and did not make it into their top 10 in the Midseason Update. How his secondary pitches develop will determine if his future is in the rotation or the bullpen, or even in the majors at all. The most optimistic projections have Rodriguez as a No. 3 starter, but the risk of him reaching that ceiling is high.
“We’ve had probably three looks at him the last month and seen him anywhere from a fringe-average slider to a plus slider,” Preller said. “You see velocity on the pitch, 81-85, and that ends up a workable slider.
“We talked about a lot of guys in a bunch of scenarios,” Preller added. “We saw Francisco Rios and Angel Perdomo in the Futures Game. Our scouts with Rodriguez liked what they saw there. He’s had a couple outings where he’s gone seven innings, 92-95 with the fastball, good body, and we’ve seen flashes of secondary. For us he separated himself a little bit from the group.”
Club Class W L ERA G GS IP H R ER HR BB SO
Bluefield (APP) R 2 1 3.06 6 6 32.1 25 13 11 1 11 26

Uribe started the season not hitting very well but now he's not hitting at all. In July he's had 5 hits in 42 at bats, one was a double as the only xb hit. He has not walked once. His slash line is 119/159/143. His defense is crap.

If he is a true professional, he should report to Tito that he realizes that he can no longer cut it and announce he's retiring.

And if not, the Indians have two choices in Columbus who are much better, one can field great and may hit some; the other hits great and fields quite satisfactorily. there's no reason for Uribe to stay around any longer than 10 a.m. today.

LOL, the voice of frustration!

Obviously I'd be foolish to argue with Uribe's hitting, but I do watch. Yes, he's had mishaps but he's made some great defensive plays as well. Overall he is still a good fielder, just IMO of course.

Not questioning an upgrade would be really nice. On that note:

MLB roundup: Indians may stick to smaller deals before deadline
Terry Francona probably shouldn't count on getting much help via the trade route.

Buster OlneyESPN Senior Writer

The Cleveland Indians have a loaded farm system, with enough firepower to land Andrew Miller or Josh Reddick or Jay Bruce or just about any available player on the trade market. They probably could've had Aroldis Chapman.

Cleveland will make upgrades, but chances are its choices will be valued more for infrastructure than headlines. Eduardo Nunez of the Twins could be a natural target because of his speed, athleticism and versatility -- he can play the left side of the infield or the outfield -- and he is having the best season of his career, with 15 doubles, 12 homers and 26 stolen bases.

Minnesota might want to sell high both on Nunez and on left-hander Fernando Abad, who has held lefties to a .497 OPS.

Cleveland won Tuesday night on a Francisco Lindor walk-off hit, and leads the AL Central by 5 1/2 games. The Indians' needs have become more and more glaring.

Michael Brantley is still confident he'll return and play a part this season.

I dunno, if we could get a Nunez and Abad without sending out a top shelf prospect, that would work for me.

Especially Nunez with his ability to play 3B, SS and steal bases. It's sort of be like adding another Jose Ramirez, but he is a natural infielder (3B).

Again, I agree with Hillbilly that Yandy Diaz is ready for the big leagues and I'm quite surprised he was not given a couple weeks before the trade deadline to prove whether he is really is ready; and if not, then a trade for Nunez or whoever to take over 3rd would make sense.

The bottom third of the order against LH starters is abysmal. Uribe-Almonte-Perez combo have combined to hit 11-84 this month. That amounts to something worse than awful. And afield, Uribe is at best inconsistent; Almonte can catch; Perez threw away the game a couple days ago and the play was stupid enough even even-keeled Francona blasted him.

Trading for a Nunez without giving Yandy a chance would be dumb as hell. Dude is hitting like 340 or 350 in Columbus. Why waste prospects dealing for a guy who may not be as good. Buster Oleny covers MLB but he must not know what is going on in AAA for some teams.

Peter Gammons: Trade rumors, Hall of Fame, and more notes from July
July 27, 2016 by Peter Gammons

–The Indians strongly believe they have a legitimate chance to get to the World Series, and will be one of the most interesting teams to watch leading up to the Monday deadline.

They still hold out hope that Michael Brantley, who took BP Monday, could be back, which would put Jose Ramirez back at third. They are still trying to determine what they most need: a bat, Jonathan Lucroy, or a big arm in the bullpen, preferably lefthanded.

What has been interesting is the number of teams that have come to them, because their system may be the most underappreciated, with 7 of the so-called top 100 prospects in the game, from outfielders Clint Frazier and Bradley Zimmer to first base slugger Bobby Bradley to pitchers Mike Clevinger, Justus Sheffield and Brady Aiken to 21-year old catcher Francisco Mejia and Cuban third baseman Yandy Diaz.

“The Indians may have the most underrated farm system in the game,” says one NL GM. “They are taking a lot of calls right now. If a team is selling, they will call Cleveland.”

One way or another, Cleveland is going to make a significant move, knowing they have the power starting pitching that plays in October.

OH, sure they want our top players in the system. While everyone else deals what appear to be pretty trashy products.

I say give them Cowgill, Aguilar, and just one good guy.