2018 Tampa Bay Rays - Page 3

treymancini · 03-25-2020, 08:16 AM

DRAFT TIME
1st round:
Tigers take Casey Mize, to nobody’s surprise. The Giants take Carter Stewart, a favorite of my scout. Phillies take Nolan Gorman, Chisox get catcher Joey Bart, Reds get Kellenic, Mets take Matt Liberatore, the Padres take Brice Turang, and the Braves go for starter Ryan Rollison. Still remaining is one of the top players on my board, SS Logan Simmons. Oakland reaches on a starter, as do the Pirates, both are 3-star POT starters. The Orioles took 3B Jonathan India, surprisingly. The Blue Jays got college starter Logan Gilbert. The Marlins take two-way stud Simeon Woods-Richardson. Finally, the Mariners take Logan Simmons. Soooo close. Rangers take SS Nick Madrigal. Now our turn.
Candidates:
SS Raynel Delgado---High Schooler from Florida with a great eye and average other hitting skills, plus defender at short, plus runner. Good work ethic. Signability issues.
C Cal Raleigh---Not the strongest behind the plate, but a good switch-hitting power guy, already 21.5 years old.
SP/C/RF Mason Denaburg----Two way player with four pitches, control issues, but an above average hitter.
We decided on Denaburg with pick 16. He offers too much upside to ignore.

Pick 31 and 32 (comp. 1st round):
RF/RP Connor Scott---Great contact hitter and has good shot at relief role too.
OF Kingston Liniak---Average all around, maybe slightly above average.
CF Alek Thomas—Elite contact, abysmal power, great intangibles.
SP Mason Englert---A solid starter with a high floor but low ceiling.

We decided on Connor Scott and Kingston Liniak.

Of note, the Royals took Kyler Murray right after us, Englert was taken a few picks later, and the Rangers nabbed Thomas one pick before our 2nd rounder.

In round 2 we picked college starter Anthony Molina. He’s not exciting but was pretty much the only player we liked. Round 2 in our second pick we took Mark Potter, a Juco closer with good control and stuff. 3rd round we took light hitting shortstop Luis Tuero. 4th round was slugging RF Niko Decolati. 5th round was college closer Shane Ritter. 6th round was RP/1B Chris Gau. 7th round was 3.5 star closer Josh Hiatt, who fell due to work ethic issues. 8th round was promising SP Tyler Holton, who underwent tommy john surgery. 9th round was catcher Cody Roberts. 10th round was utitlity Ryan Olenek. This is where I let the AI sim heading forward.

treymancini · 03-25-2020, 08:17 AM

@ Washington
L, 4-6---Nathan Eovaldi made his return, but it didn’t necessarily go to plan. The young starter was matched up against the fearsome Max Scherzer, and shouldered the loss.

W, 7-3---Wilson Ramos hit a homerun, and the offense mustered 12 hits in this win. Alec Mills picked up his first win as a Ray as the first starter in the new 4-man rotation (more on that below).

treymancini · 03-25-2020, 08:17 AM

MLB TRADE WHISPERS
If it's rumored, we hear it...

RAYS NOTES: ROTATION, ARCHER, DRAFT PICKS

In a press conference following the Rays loss to the Washington Nationals, manager Jim Smith announced a radical new plan. The Rays are going to a four-man rotation. Each pitcher will be capped around 65 pitches per start, and will start more frequently, pitching less innings.
The current rotation is Chirinos, Eovaldi, Faria, and Mills. Miguel Gonzalez was recalled from Durham in order to serve as a long reliever for any mop-up duties. Smith was quoted as saying “we anticipate our pitchers will fill a variety of roles, depending on need”. This is definitely a new development for MLB, but with the Rays struggling under .500, a change was needed.

This plan will undoubtedly improve on the return of Chris Archer. Archer will have to adapt to pitching more frequently, a challenge he is “more than ready for”, according to the hard throwing right hander.

As for the draft picks, first rounder Mason Denaburg signed near slot for 1.4mil. Anthony Molina also signed for under 300,000. Shane Ritter and Connor Scott signed under slot the next day.

Reliever Juan Nicasio of the Mariners is out for the year, and catcher Gary Sanchez of the Yankees will miss six weeks.

treymancini · 03-25-2020, 08:18 AM

vs Seattle

L, 1-7---James Paxton torched the Rays offense, and Jake Faria walked six, in this frustrating game. Paxton with that complete game is having an incredible year, and is in the cy young hunt.

L, 6-7—Chrinos was torched in a few innings, but Sergio Romo and Tim Hill combined for a stellar 5.2 innings out of the pen. The game looked out of reach at 7-0, but a Span homer and Cron grand slam had it 7-6 by the fifth. Unfortunately we just couldn’t get the last run across.

L,7-9---I have no words. After being down 5-0 after the first inning, the Rays stormed back, led by Mallex Smith, to tie the game and eventually take a 7-6 lead. All Chaz Roe needed to do with a runner on first was get three outs and send us home. He walked four straight batters to start the inning. A sac fly scored a third run, and it was 7-9. We have to sell this year. This is not a winning team.

L, 4-6---The one positive to take from this game is that we are done with Seattle.

Chris Archer came back, and Smith announced the end of the 4-man rotation. It seems that you need to actually have four good starters for it to work, making it better for a strong rotation lacking depth than a weak rotation. Alec Mills was demoted.

treymancini · 03-25-2020, 08:18 AM

vs. Toronto

W, 4-2---Archer came back in spectacular fashion to win his sixth game of the year. A lot of hits combined to allow the Rays to push across a few runs.

treymancini · 03-25-2020, 08:20 AM

MLB TRADE WHISPERS
If it's rumored, we hear it...

METS ACQUIRE JUSTIN BOUR

The Miami Marlins have traded first baseman Justin Bour to the New York Mets for two minor leaguers. Bour, who is making 3.4 million dollars this season, was hitting .268/.329/.445 at the time of the trade. At first glance, this move appears questionable, with first base locked down by the veteran Adrian Gonzalez. But the cost to acquire Bour was not steep at all, and at the very least he will be a good bench bat for the remainder of the season.

The two players acquired by the Marlins, 3B Mark Vientos and SS Kelvin Smith, are likely non-factors. Both are only 18 but have no real prospect status or projectability. This move reads more as a salary dump by the Marlins, truly.

Trade Grades:

Mets: B ----- You can never have enough depth, and the players they gave up were inconsequential, but I don’t think this really moves the needle enough to give them anything better than a B.

Marlins: C- ---- This was clearly a cost-motivated decision, but even then it’s not like Bour was making much money. He probably wouldn’t have fetched more than this but it’s still odd to see the Marlins sell so low when there was an outside chance he might’ve gotten more closer to July.

treymancini · 03-27-2020, 08:28 AM

MLB TRADE WHISPERS
If it's rumored, we hear it...
RED SOX ACQUIRE JOSE ABREU

In a stunner, the Boston Red Sox have acquired first baseman Jose Abreu from the White Sox in exchange for minor league 3B Danny Diaz and minor league RP Luis Colmenares. Abreu has been a pillar of the pale hose for years, but he now moves to join the other stockings in the league. Abreu has been hitting .306/.359/.528 this season, posting a solid 1.5 WAR. He will make 13 million dollars this season, and instantly is an upgrade for the red sox over Hanley Ramirez and Mitch Moreland. Still, Moreland had been doing okay, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see a follow-up move shipping the old first baseman out of Boston.

As the for the prospect return, Danny Dias projects as a stellar power hitter with below average contact and an above average glove at the hot corner. He has a cannon arm and a good eye. The Venezuelan gives the White Sox a nice, if far away, prospect to build around. Culminares has three good pitches, but a lack of velocity has been his calling card. He has a ceiling of a swingman, but if he could add a few mph or maybe a fourth pitch, Chicago may have another good pitcher.

Trade Grades:
Boston: B+ ---- They got a good player, and didn’t give up top guys for him. Is it necessarily a high position of need, no, but will he improve the team, yes. Going for the expensive rental 1B is a bold move however.

Chicago A: C+ --- They got a good player in Diaz for Abreu. But this is a guy who is a franchise cornerstone, and ultimately they are pinning their hopes on one single 17-year old to justify trading the pillar of their team, and that’s just a weak move.

treymancini · 03-27-2020, 08:29 AM

@ New York
L, 2-5---Nate Eovaldi carried an improbable no-hitter (6 walks!!!) into the sixth but ultimately lost it and then Sergio Romo came in and made sure we had no possible way to win the game since the offense can’t score more than 2 runs.
Jose Alvarado, who’s rebounded nicely, hit the DL for 2 weeks. Jaime Schultz has been selected from Durham to take his place.
L, 1-4---Another bad day for the offense doomed a solid start by Miguel Gonzalez.

L, 5-9--- Chris Archer got torched today, miserably. Christian Arroyo is beginning to get hot though, which is good. These prospects need to work out if we’re gonna have a future.

L, 4-9---Okay I’m done going game-by-game, this is just too painful. I’ll give a series recap or perhaps a week recap from now on.

treymancini · 03-27-2020, 08:29 AM

@Astros
The rookies led the charge in a 9th inning comeback in a good team win to start things off. We then dropped another bad loss 1-7, but capped off the series with an extra inning 10-4 win thanks to some late scoring and a lot of on-base and clutch hits.

The Mets are first in the NL East right now, but that’s taking a hit with an injury to Jacob DeGrom who will miss 7 weeks.

treymancini · 03-27-2020, 08:29 AM

vs. Yankees

A 0-0 tie heading into extras was broken when a runner got across who was placed on base by an error on pitcher Diego Castillo. Montgomery hamstrung our offense. Two more bad losses followed. We need to start selling on these players.

treymancini · 03-27-2020, 08:30 AM

vs. Nationals

Strasburg pitched very well against us in the first game of the series, losing 2-9. Harper and the Nationals slaughtered Miguel Gonzalez in the second game, 4-11. Gonzalez was immediately “hidden” on the DL right after the game. A day later, we found out he sprained his AC Joint and is out for the season. Great trade for us there. In better news, Brendan McKay hit for the cycle down on the farm! He also racked up 5 hits in that game.

Adrian Beltre of the Rangers is out for the season with a broken kneecap.

treymancini · 03-27-2020, 08:31 AM

MLB TRADE WHISPERS
If it's rumored, we hear it...

NATIONALS ACQUIRE WILSON RAMOS, NATHAN EOVALDI

The Nationals will have a pair of new players on the bus back with them to Washington, as they have just acquired catcher Wilson Ramos, swingman Nathan Eovaldi, and minor league first baseman Devin Davis from the Tampa Bay Rays, who they just finished a series against in Tampa. Heading south will be catching prospect Raudy Read, minor league left fielder Telmito Augustin, and minor league center fielder Jameson Hannah.

Ramos, who is in the second and final year of a 2y/14m contract (and will cost about 10 million this year), has been a below average hitter once again this season, managing a .255/.279/.429 slash line, but his strong defense behind the plate has him still a valuable contributor, and his power is unquestionably strong. His reunion with his old team upgrades the catcher position for the Nationals, who have been starting Matt Wieters all season. The Nationals are taking advantage of an 8-game win streak that has vaulted them to the top of the NL East, and a move like this suggests they aren’t going to let up off the gas pedal.

Nathan Eovaldi is not to be overlooked either though. The right-hander will cost 2 million in his final year of arbitration and is a solid low-cost depth option for the Nationals to stash in their pen. He struggled to a 6.55 ERA so far this season, but has a great track record and is a good bounce-back candidate. As for the minor leaguer the Nationals received, Devin Davis is a power bat who will likely not see the majors.

The return for the Rays catcher and pitcher consists of three upside prospects who aren’t necessarily going to make any top lists. Catcher Raudy Reed slots in as the #28 prospect in a deep Rays system, and he will likely be promoted to the bigs to replace Ramos. Read is just coming off of a 3 month suspension, and has yet to play much for the Nats system this year. Augustin is a strong defensive outfielder who has torn up single A for the Washington organization. He is said to have good power and average other tools. Jameson Hannah was drafted in the 2nd round by the Nationals a few weeks ago, and is a toolsy contact outfield bat with good speed but poor intangibles.

All in all, the prospects that the Nationals gave up (#11 and #13 in a weak system, #28 and NR in the Rays) were not major prospects, and they got two impact big leaguers. The main cost is taking on the remaining 6 million or so owed to the pair over the next few months. It will remain to be seen how this move shakes out.

progen · 03-29-2020, 11:18 AM

Good read! Like the detail you include as the days go by! Keep going!!

treymancini · 03-29-2020, 10:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by progen

Good read! Like the detail you include as the days go by! Keep going!!

Hey thank you! I appreciate it, thanks for following along. I'll be posting a big update once I can connect my laptop to the internet tomorrow to post everything. Do you think I robbed the AI with the Ramos trade haha.

progen · 03-29-2020, 10:31 PM

It will be interesting to see how things turn out.

treymancini · 03-30-2020, 09:09 AM

vs. Houston

The Rays promoted prospects SP Anthony Banda (#30 Rays) and C Raudy Read (#28 Rays) to their big league squad before this series. We started off with a win 6-2 on a strong start by Archer. Hechavarria rebounded from his slump with three hits. The second game was unbelievable. Down 5-0 through five, Jake Bauers helped the offense score 3 in the 6th, and then he hit a clutch single in the 8th to make it 5-4, and Brad Miller hit a 9th inning homer to tie it. In the 12th inning, Jake Bauers walked it off with a homer for his club record-tying fifth hit! We lost the next two though, but good new arrived. For the second straight month, a Ray has won rookie of the month. Jake Bauers took it this time for his heroics in June.

treymancini · 03-30-2020, 09:10 AM

Pitchers through June:
Chris Archer: 88.2 IP, 3.55 ERA, 2.8 WAR
Chaz Roe: 35.2 IP, 3.03 ERA, 1.2 WAR
Yonny Chirinos: 86.2 IP, 4.36 ERA, 1 WAR
Alex Colome: 42 IP, 3.21 ERA, 0.8 WAR
Diego Castillo: 46 IP, 4.11 ERA, 0.4 WAR
Jacob Faria: 87 IP, 5.79 ERA, 0.1 WAR
Tim Hill: 34 IP, 3.44 ERA, 0 WAR
Anthony Banda: Not pitched yet
Alec Mills: 15,2 IP, 4.60 ERA, 0 WAR
Ryan Yarbrough: 69.1 IP, 5.32 ERA, -0.1 WAR
Jaime Schultz: 7.1 IP, 4.91 ERA, -0.2 WAR
Sergio Romo: 22 IP, 6.55 ERA, -0.4 WAR

Archer continues to dazzle, but the issue of really having only four (five if you count Castillo, who has rebounded nicely) pitchers is a problem. Maybe Tim Hill and Alec Mills put everything together for an extended period of time but I don’t have high hopes.

treymancini · 03-30-2020, 09:11 AM

Batters:
SS Adeiny Hechavarria: .312/.343/.430, 2.4 WAR
CF Kevin Kiermaier: .238/.291/.362, 1.4 WAR
3B Matt Duffy: .264/.318/.354, 1.2 WAR
1B/DH CJ Cron: .262/.311/.503, 1.0 WAR
LF/RF Angel Pagan: .311/.354/.383, 0.6 WAR
LF Denard Span: .288/.347/.391, 0.5 WAR
1B/2B Brad Miller: .219/.324/.381, 0.4 WAR
1B Jake Bauers: .273/.335/.404, 0.3 WAR
OF Mallex Smith: .203/.289/.365, 0 WAR
C Jesus Sucre: .219/.239/.344, 0 WAR
C Raudy Read: .125/.222/.250, 0 WAR
U Daniel Robertson: .222/.306/.351, -0.3 WAR
IF Christian Arroyo: .140/.183/.158, -0.5 WAR

Hechavarria is finally on the downswing, Cron is hot, and Bauers has become a real weapon for us. Disappointed about Arroyo though.

treymancini · 03-30-2020, 09:11 AM

@ Miami

Our record heading into this series was 33-50, 3rd worst in the MLB. We are now last in the power rankings.

Anthony Banda made a good debut but ultimately shouldered the L in game one. Following that game, a trade was consummated….

treymancini · 03-30-2020, 09:13 AM

MLB TRADE WHISPERS
If it's rumored, we hear it...
BREWERS ACQUIRE BRAD MILLER

The Tampa Bay Rays fire sale continues, with utilityman Brad Miller being shipped off to Milwaukee in exchange for two prospects, minor league 1B Fernando Perez Mayoral and veteran minor leaguer RHP Erik R. Davis. Miller has played at all seven fielding positions in the past few years, although he is at his best in the infield, with average marks at first, second, and shortstop. His bat however has been cold for a few seasons, only hitting .217/.324/.378 this year (good for 0.4 WAR, although his flexibility makes him more valuable than that). For Milwaukee to buy at the deadline is odd, given they are under .500, yet they are only 7.5 games out of first place in the weak NL Central, and Miller is controllable for another year.

Miller fits a mold that the Brewers organization has followed in recent years: acquiring controllable, if older players that have multi-positional flexibility. To see them having some use for the infielder Miller is not a surprise. Miller will make 4.5 million dollars this season.

As for the return heading back to the Rays, it’s what you’d expect from an average fielder and below-average hitter with a 4.5 million price tag. Perez Mayoral has not played above the double-A level, and will likely not see the majors, given below average scouting remarks in every part of his game. Erik R. Davis is a 31-year old journeyman reliever who has not pitched in the majors since 2013 (with Washington).
This move by the Rays appears primarily motivated by saving money, and making for infield prospect Willy Adames, who was promoted in a corresponding move. Adames is the #17 prospect in all of baseball (#3 Rays) and is an elite hitter with a great eye. He has destroyed AAA this year, being worth almost 2.5 WAR with over 400 OBP and 550 SLG.

03-25-2020, 08:17 AM	#43
treymancini Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Feb 2020 Posts: 251	MLB TRADE WHISPERS If it's rumored, we hear it... RAYS NOTES: ROTATION, ARCHER, DRAFT PICKS In a press conference following the Rays loss to the Washington Nationals, manager Jim Smith announced a radical new plan. The Rays are going to a four-man rotation. Each pitcher will be capped around 65 pitches per start, and will start more frequently, pitching less innings. The current rotation is Chirinos, Eovaldi, Faria, and Mills. Miguel Gonzalez was recalled from Durham in order to serve as a long reliever for any mop-up duties. Smith was quoted as saying “we anticipate our pitchers will fill a variety of roles, depending on need”. This is definitely a new development for MLB, but with the Rays struggling under .500, a change was needed. This plan will undoubtedly improve on the return of Chris Archer. Archer will have to adapt to pitching more frequently, a challenge he is “more than ready for”, according to the hard throwing right hander. As for the draft picks, first rounder Mason Denaburg signed near slot for 1.4mil. Anthony Molina also signed for under 300,000. Shane Ritter and Connor Scott signed under slot the next day. Reliever Juan Nicasio of the Mariners is out for the year, and catcher Gary Sanchez of the Yankees will miss six weeks. Last edited by treymancini; 03-25-2020 at 08:20 AM.

03-27-2020, 08:31 AM	#52
treymancini Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Feb 2020 Posts: 251	MLB TRADE WHISPERS If it's rumored, we hear it... NATIONALS ACQUIRE WILSON RAMOS, NATHAN EOVALDI The Nationals will have a pair of new players on the bus back with them to Washington, as they have just acquired catcher Wilson Ramos, swingman Nathan Eovaldi, and minor league first baseman Devin Davis from the Tampa Bay Rays, who they just finished a series against in Tampa. Heading south will be catching prospect Raudy Read, minor league left fielder Telmito Augustin, and minor league center fielder Jameson Hannah. Ramos, who is in the second and final year of a 2y/14m contract (and will cost about 10 million this year), has been a below average hitter once again this season, managing a .255/.279/.429 slash line, but his strong defense behind the plate has him still a valuable contributor, and his power is unquestionably strong. His reunion with his old team upgrades the catcher position for the Nationals, who have been starting Matt Wieters all season. The Nationals are taking advantage of an 8-game win streak that has vaulted them to the top of the NL East, and a move like this suggests they aren’t going to let up off the gas pedal. Nathan Eovaldi is not to be overlooked either though. The right-hander will cost 2 million in his final year of arbitration and is a solid low-cost depth option for the Nationals to stash in their pen. He struggled to a 6.55 ERA so far this season, but has a great track record and is a good bounce-back candidate. As for the minor leaguer the Nationals received, Devin Davis is a power bat who will likely not see the majors. The return for the Rays catcher and pitcher consists of three upside prospects who aren’t necessarily going to make any top lists. Catcher Raudy Reed slots in as the #28 prospect in a deep Rays system, and he will likely be promoted to the bigs to replace Ramos. Read is just coming off of a 3 month suspension, and has yet to play much for the Nats system this year. Augustin is a strong defensive outfielder who has torn up single A for the Washington organization. He is said to have good power and average other tools. Jameson Hannah was drafted in the 2nd round by the Nationals a few weeks ago, and is a toolsy contact outfield bat with good speed but poor intangibles. All in all, the prospects that the Nationals gave up (#11 and #13 in a weak system, #28 and NR in the Rays) were not major prospects, and they got two impact big leaguers. The main cost is taking on the remaining 6 million or so owed to the pair over the next few months. It will remain to be seen how this move shakes out. Last edited by treymancini; 03-27-2020 at 08:32 AM.

03-25-2020, 08:16 AM	#41
treymancini Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Feb 2020 Posts: 251	DRAFT TIME 1st round: Tigers take Casey Mize, to nobody’s surprise. The Giants take Carter Stewart, a favorite of my scout. Phillies take Nolan Gorman, Chisox get catcher Joey Bart, Reds get Kellenic, Mets take Matt Liberatore, the Padres take Brice Turang, and the Braves go for starter Ryan Rollison. Still remaining is one of the top players on my board, SS Logan Simmons. Oakland reaches on a starter, as do the Pirates, both are 3-star POT starters. The Orioles took 3B Jonathan India, surprisingly. The Blue Jays got college starter Logan Gilbert. The Marlins take two-way stud Simeon Woods-Richardson. Finally, the Mariners take Logan Simmons. Soooo close. Rangers take SS Nick Madrigal. Now our turn. Candidates: SS Raynel Delgado---High Schooler from Florida with a great eye and average other hitting skills, plus defender at short, plus runner. Good work ethic. Signability issues. C Cal Raleigh---Not the strongest behind the plate, but a good switch-hitting power guy, already 21.5 years old. SP/C/RF Mason Denaburg----Two way player with four pitches, control issues, but an above average hitter. We decided on Denaburg with pick 16. He offers too much upside to ignore. Pick 31 and 32 (comp. 1st round): RF/RP Connor Scott---Great contact hitter and has good shot at relief role too. OF Kingston Liniak---Average all around, maybe slightly above average. CF Alek Thomas—Elite contact, abysmal power, great intangibles. SP Mason Englert---A solid starter with a high floor but low ceiling. We decided on Connor Scott and Kingston Liniak. Of note, the Royals took Kyler Murray right after us, Englert was taken a few picks later, and the Rangers nabbed Thomas one pick before our 2nd rounder. In round 2 we picked college starter Anthony Molina. He’s not exciting but was pretty much the only player we liked. Round 2 in our second pick we took Mark Potter, a Juco closer with good control and stuff. 3rd round we took light hitting shortstop Luis Tuero. 4th round was slugging RF Niko Decolati. 5th round was college closer Shane Ritter. 6th round was RP/1B Chris Gau. 7th round was 3.5 star closer Josh Hiatt, who fell due to work ethic issues. 8th round was promising SP Tyler Holton, who underwent tommy john surgery. 9th round was catcher Cody Roberts. 10th round was utitlity Ryan Olenek. This is where I let the AI sim heading forward.

03-25-2020, 08:18 AM	#44
treymancini Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Feb 2020 Posts: 251	vs Seattle L, 1-7---James Paxton torched the Rays offense, and Jake Faria walked six, in this frustrating game. Paxton with that complete game is having an incredible year, and is in the cy young hunt. L, 6-7—Chrinos was torched in a few innings, but Sergio Romo and Tim Hill combined for a stellar 5.2 innings out of the pen. The game looked out of reach at 7-0, but a Span homer and Cron grand slam had it 7-6 by the fifth. Unfortunately we just couldn’t get the last run across. L,7-9---I have no words. After being down 5-0 after the first inning, the Rays stormed back, led by Mallex Smith, to tie the game and eventually take a 7-6 lead. All Chaz Roe needed to do with a runner on first was get three outs and send us home. He walked four straight batters to start the inning. A sac fly scored a third run, and it was 7-9. We have to sell this year. This is not a winning team. L, 4-6---The one positive to take from this game is that we are done with Seattle. Chris Archer came back, and Smith announced the end of the 4-man rotation. It seems that you need to actually have four good starters for it to work, making it better for a strong rotation lacking depth than a weak rotation. Alec Mills was demoted.

03-25-2020, 08:20 AM	#46
treymancini Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Feb 2020 Posts: 251	MLB TRADE WHISPERS If it's rumored, we hear it... METS ACQUIRE JUSTIN BOUR The Miami Marlins have traded first baseman Justin Bour to the New York Mets for two minor leaguers. Bour, who is making 3.4 million dollars this season, was hitting .268/.329/.445 at the time of the trade. At first glance, this move appears questionable, with first base locked down by the veteran Adrian Gonzalez. But the cost to acquire Bour was not steep at all, and at the very least he will be a good bench bat for the remainder of the season. The two players acquired by the Marlins, 3B Mark Vientos and SS Kelvin Smith, are likely non-factors. Both are only 18 but have no real prospect status or projectability. This move reads more as a salary dump by the Marlins, truly. Trade Grades: Mets: B ----- You can never have enough depth, and the players they gave up were inconsequential, but I don’t think this really moves the needle enough to give them anything better than a B. Marlins: C- ---- This was clearly a cost-motivated decision, but even then it’s not like Bour was making much money. He probably wouldn’t have fetched more than this but it’s still odd to see the Marlins sell so low when there was an outside chance he might’ve gotten more closer to July.

03-27-2020, 08:28 AM	#47
treymancini Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Feb 2020 Posts: 251	MLB TRADE WHISPERS If it's rumored, we hear it... RED SOX ACQUIRE JOSE ABREU In a stunner, the Boston Red Sox have acquired first baseman Jose Abreu from the White Sox in exchange for minor league 3B Danny Diaz and minor league RP Luis Colmenares. Abreu has been a pillar of the pale hose for years, but he now moves to join the other stockings in the league. Abreu has been hitting .306/.359/.528 this season, posting a solid 1.5 WAR. He will make 13 million dollars this season, and instantly is an upgrade for the red sox over Hanley Ramirez and Mitch Moreland. Still, Moreland had been doing okay, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see a follow-up move shipping the old first baseman out of Boston. As the for the prospect return, Danny Dias projects as a stellar power hitter with below average contact and an above average glove at the hot corner. He has a cannon arm and a good eye. The Venezuelan gives the White Sox a nice, if far away, prospect to build around. Culminares has three good pitches, but a lack of velocity has been his calling card. He has a ceiling of a swingman, but if he could add a few mph or maybe a fourth pitch, Chicago may have another good pitcher. Trade Grades: Boston: B+ ---- They got a good player, and didn’t give up top guys for him. Is it necessarily a high position of need, no, but will he improve the team, yes. Going for the expensive rental 1B is a bold move however. Chicago A: C+ --- They got a good player in Diaz for Abreu. But this is a guy who is a franchise cornerstone, and ultimately they are pinning their hopes on one single 17-year old to justify trading the pillar of their team, and that’s just a weak move.

03-27-2020, 08:29 AM	#48
treymancini Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Feb 2020 Posts: 251	@ New York L, 2-5---Nate Eovaldi carried an improbable no-hitter (6 walks!!!) into the sixth but ultimately lost it and then Sergio Romo came in and made sure we had no possible way to win the game since the offense can’t score more than 2 runs. Jose Alvarado, who’s rebounded nicely, hit the DL for 2 weeks. Jaime Schultz has been selected from Durham to take his place. L, 1-4---Another bad day for the offense doomed a solid start by Miguel Gonzalez. L, 5-9--- Chris Archer got torched today, miserably. Christian Arroyo is beginning to get hot though, which is good. These prospects need to work out if we’re gonna have a future. L, 4-9---Okay I’m done going game-by-game, this is just too painful. I’ll give a series recap or perhaps a week recap from now on.

03-27-2020, 08:30 AM	#51
treymancini Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Feb 2020 Posts: 251	vs. Nationals Strasburg pitched very well against us in the first game of the series, losing 2-9. Harper and the Nationals slaughtered Miguel Gonzalez in the second game, 4-11. Gonzalez was immediately “hidden” on the DL right after the game. A day later, we found out he sprained his AC Joint and is out for the season. Great trade for us there. In better news, Brendan McKay hit for the cycle down on the farm! He also racked up 5 hits in that game. Adrian Beltre of the Rangers is out for the season with a broken kneecap.

03-29-2020, 11:18 AM	#53
progen All Star Starter Join Date: Mar 2002 Posts: 1,526 Infractions: 0/1 (1)	Good read! Like the detail you include as the days go by! Keep going!!

03-29-2020, 10:31 PM	#55
progen All Star Starter Join Date: Mar 2002 Posts: 1,526 Infractions: 0/1 (1)	It will be interesting to see how things turn out.

03-30-2020, 09:09 AM	#56
treymancini Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Feb 2020 Posts: 251	vs. Houston The Rays promoted prospects SP Anthony Banda (#30 Rays) and C Raudy Read (#28 Rays) to their big league squad before this series. We started off with a win 6-2 on a strong start by Archer. Hechavarria rebounded from his slump with three hits. The second game was unbelievable. Down 5-0 through five, Jake Bauers helped the offense score 3 in the 6th, and then he hit a clutch single in the 8th to make it 5-4, and Brad Miller hit a 9th inning homer to tie it. In the 12th inning, Jake Bauers walked it off with a homer for his club record-tying fifth hit! We lost the next two though, but good new arrived. For the second straight month, a Ray has won rookie of the month. Jake Bauers took it this time for his heroics in June.

03-30-2020, 09:10 AM	#57
treymancini Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Feb 2020 Posts: 251	Pitchers through June: Chris Archer: 88.2 IP, 3.55 ERA, 2.8 WAR Chaz Roe: 35.2 IP, 3.03 ERA, 1.2 WAR Yonny Chirinos: 86.2 IP, 4.36 ERA, 1 WAR Alex Colome: 42 IP, 3.21 ERA, 0.8 WAR Diego Castillo: 46 IP, 4.11 ERA, 0.4 WAR Jacob Faria: 87 IP, 5.79 ERA, 0.1 WAR Tim Hill: 34 IP, 3.44 ERA, 0 WAR Anthony Banda: Not pitched yet Alec Mills: 15,2 IP, 4.60 ERA, 0 WAR Ryan Yarbrough: 69.1 IP, 5.32 ERA, -0.1 WAR Jaime Schultz: 7.1 IP, 4.91 ERA, -0.2 WAR Sergio Romo: 22 IP, 6.55 ERA, -0.4 WAR Archer continues to dazzle, but the issue of really having only four (five if you count Castillo, who has rebounded nicely) pitchers is a problem. Maybe Tim Hill and Alec Mills put everything together for an extended period of time but I don’t have high hopes.

03-30-2020, 09:11 AM	#58
treymancini Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Feb 2020 Posts: 251	Batters: SS Adeiny Hechavarria: .312/.343/.430, 2.4 WAR CF Kevin Kiermaier: .238/.291/.362, 1.4 WAR 3B Matt Duffy: .264/.318/.354, 1.2 WAR 1B/DH CJ Cron: .262/.311/.503, 1.0 WAR LF/RF Angel Pagan: .311/.354/.383, 0.6 WAR LF Denard Span: .288/.347/.391, 0.5 WAR 1B/2B Brad Miller: .219/.324/.381, 0.4 WAR 1B Jake Bauers: .273/.335/.404, 0.3 WAR OF Mallex Smith: .203/.289/.365, 0 WAR C Jesus Sucre: .219/.239/.344, 0 WAR C Raudy Read: .125/.222/.250, 0 WAR U Daniel Robertson: .222/.306/.351, -0.3 WAR IF Christian Arroyo: .140/.183/.158, -0.5 WAR Hechavarria is finally on the downswing, Cron is hot, and Bauers has become a real weapon for us. Disappointed about Arroyo though.

03-30-2020, 09:13 AM	#60
treymancini Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Feb 2020 Posts: 251	MLB TRADE WHISPERS If it's rumored, we hear it... BREWERS ACQUIRE BRAD MILLER The Tampa Bay Rays fire sale continues, with utilityman Brad Miller being shipped off to Milwaukee in exchange for two prospects, minor league 1B Fernando Perez Mayoral and veteran minor leaguer RHP Erik R. Davis. Miller has played at all seven fielding positions in the past few years, although he is at his best in the infield, with average marks at first, second, and shortstop. His bat however has been cold for a few seasons, only hitting .217/.324/.378 this year (good for 0.4 WAR, although his flexibility makes him more valuable than that). For Milwaukee to buy at the deadline is odd, given they are under .500, yet they are only 7.5 games out of first place in the weak NL Central, and Miller is controllable for another year. Miller fits a mold that the Brewers organization has followed in recent years: acquiring controllable, if older players that have multi-positional flexibility. To see them having some use for the infielder Miller is not a surprise. Miller will make 4.5 million dollars this season. As for the return heading back to the Rays, it’s what you’d expect from an average fielder and below-average hitter with a 4.5 million price tag. Perez Mayoral has not played above the double-A level, and will likely not see the majors, given below average scouting remarks in every part of his game. Erik R. Davis is a 31-year old journeyman reliever who has not pitched in the majors since 2013 (with Washington). This move by the Rays appears primarily motivated by saving money, and making for infield prospect Willy Adames, who was promoted in a corresponding move. Adames is the #17 prospect in all of baseball (#3 Rays) and is an elite hitter with a great eye. He has destroyed AAA this year, being worth almost 2.5 WAR with over 400 OBP and 550 SLG.