Some might argue that Mike Trout has taken his focus away from speed and put more into being a middle-of-the-order hitter, but Angels manager Mike Scioscia says that’s not really the case, writes Pedro Moura of the Orange Country Register. “If your point is, has he lost speed, the answer is no,” Scioscia said. “Is his game shifting more toward the middle-of-the-order hitter where he won’t run again? No. There’s been no strategic change in how we view his assets or how he should play the game, philosophically, this year.” Here’s more out of the AL..
- In theory, the Indians could move Jason Kipnis to the outfield in 2015 with the emergence of Jose Ramirez at shortstop and Francisco Lindor breaking in at Triple-A, but now is not the time, argues Paul Hoynes of The Plain Dealer. It’s not clear where Kipnis would fit considering Michael Brantley’s season in left field and the less-than-stellar trade values of Michael Bourn and David Murphy. Nick Swisher could also be slotted in the outfield next year.
- The Indians will certainly look out-of-house for offseason improvements, but there’s a lot to like about what they have for 2015, writes Hoynes. The Indians have a number of young pitchers emerging at the same time and and bullpen has been sharp all year. Even though the bats haven’t been there this year, Hoynes says 2015 is looking like one of the best situations the Tribe has been in in a while.
- A reader asked Jim Callis of MLB.com (on Twitter) if Brady Aiken will have to disclose his medicals to all interested clubs next year and Callis responded in the affirmative. Aiken’s name came up in the news again when commissioner Bud Selig inadvertently implied that the Astros could still sign him. It seems rather unlikely that Houston would be allowed to do that.
Swisher was never the greatest outfielder but after that knee trouble? I would welcome him back to the Yankees for his power though if Cleveland were willing to eat some money. I would trade okay but not great prospects for him.
SOLD! You can have Bro-hi-o. Just have Steinbrenner send 640,000 hot dogs to the corner of Carnegie and Ontario St. to subsidize Dollar Dog Nights next season.
I am sooooo thankful the Indians signed Bourn and Swisher. The stat geeks were all over having the M’s sign them to 5 year deals.
How funny would it be if the Astros drafted Aiken again? That would pretty damn funny.
I believe they have to have Aiken’s permission before they draft him again.
That is one thing I was wondering. What happens if the just end up drafting him again. Because they will have 2 top 11 picks this year. The number 2 and if the season ended today it would be number 7.
Purple is correct, they cannot draft him again without his consent. Seems very unlikely he would approve them redrafting him.
And even if he was ok with it, there is no way that his agent would allow it.
What? The agent works for the player, not the other way around. He is there to advise, not decide.
Do you really think it works that way for a 19 year old kid?
Yes.
Tribe fans. With the emergence of Jose Ramirez, should Lindor be traded for a power bat, what the tribe has needed for awhile now? What’s your thoughts?
NO!!!!!!!!!!!!! Unless they are getting a guy that is cheap and young. And they should try to Ramirez and get something for him. I am not a tribe fan but figured I would give my opinion.
What power bat could we get, that we could afford to pay the contract of, And have a place to put them? DH is a rotation of player, 1B is Santana, Bourn is in center (no one would take that contract), Brantley is in LF, RF has Raburn, and Murphy. Plus you still have Swisher to get put in there somewhere, and two good outfield prospects in Naquin, and Ramsey. So the short answer, is that there is no where to put a power bat, plus we already have players that have plus power.
Personally, I’d say to trade Murphy, use Raburn as a utility man, and move Kipnis back to the outfield, where he would play better defense. Move Ramirez to second, and have Lindor at short. That also improves the worst defense in MLB this year.
You do have a point. Not really many power bats on the market. The only two players that I can remember being available over the past couple years is Bautista and Edwin from the blue jays. I mean this is a long shot but if say a idea of maybe Jose for Lindor, Murphy, and maybe a couple more prospects could be considered. Jose is only making 14 mil next year and he could just replace Murphy in the outfield. Now I have no idea if the blue jays are even going to have him on the market this year and if they’d listen to a trade. It’s just an idea. I don’t want to see Lindor traded but if the indians can get some power and improve their offense, I would consider moving him and seeing how Ramirez does at ss.
The biggest problem with that, is that the Blue Jays have Reyes as SS, so they don’t really need Lindor. That, and they may already have a hole opening in the outfield depending on Cabrera.
That actually would be a seemingly fair valued trade though.
I thought if they trade Bautista the jays will have money then to keep Melky. I also thought that maybe the jays could put Reyes or Lindor at 2nd cuz they haven’t really had great production from there 2nd basemen. Also they could always move lawrie to second and put one of the ss at 3rd. Or last possibility, Reyes makes 22 mil next year. They could flip him for something cheaper and improve another position then if they get Lindor.
Trading ether would only open up a second hole in the outfield. Isn’t their centerfielder a FA as well? I just can’t see the two teams being able to agree to terms on a trade involving Lindor, unless a third team was involved, and thats a whole new concept that I don’t even want to think about getting into on here.
If Murphy was added in the deal they would at least have Cabrera and Murphy at the corners. They would need to find a cf. I mean holt or naquin could be added to help cf. if that didn’t work they would have to find a cf outside the trade just like they would without the trade. Also while Murphy is a downgrade from Jose, Murphy is definitely a solid of for a team. He could put up 10 hrs .260 ba and a good number of rbis. He does have a high risp avg. Like one of the top in the league.
I forgot the indians could always give them Ramsey to play centerfield for the jays.
The team is going to have to make room for a power bat. Somewhere. It might mean eating salary to make a trade.
I wouldn’t. i am not sure i trust Jose Ramirez to be much more than a super utility type.
Is there a reason why MLB teams do not have pre-draft access to medical evaluations now? Or did they always have access and it was just never asked for?
The word about Aiken surely got around, medicals or not, and I would imagine any drafting team would want the full story. I’m sure Houston was counting on that when they chopped their offer in the first place. Bad situation handled abysmally. In the end, it’s probably Aiken who will have less security, but I’d like to see him succeed on the field.