Last night, Indians reliever Cody Allen’s year-long struggles continued as he blew a save against the cellar-dwelling Royals. Allen’s latest collapse on the mound, during which he gave up back-to-back homers to a pair of rookies, prompted Paul Hoynes of the Plain Dealer to address whether or not the newly-acquired Brad Hand ought to be given the full-time closer job. While Hoynes does more spitballing than actual answering of the question, he does quote manager Terry Francona at one point, who says that “I’ll sit down and talk to him again because we need him. We can’t run from Cody. We need him really bad to win. So we’ll visit a little bit.” From my perspective, Allen may not only be pitching himself out of his “closer” job, but also out of a potential qualifying offer at season’s end, which he seemed a near lock to warrant at the outset of the 2018 season. That’d be bad news for a small-market Cleveland ballclub that would surely like to be rewarded for his departure with a compensatory draft pick.
A couple of items from elsewhere around the league…
- 38-year-old Matt Holliday’s return to the Rockies became official last night, as he played left field against the Padres last night. After lingering on the free agent market all last winter in hopes of securing a major-league contract, Holliday recently joined the Rockies on a minor league pact and demolished Triple-A pitching en route to a call-up to help the MLB club, as Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post details in his latest piece. “I’m here to help the team in any way possible,” Holliday said of his return to the majors. “I’m just here to be part of the team and do everything I can to impact the team, as best I can.” The seven-time All-Star feels as though he’s in excellent shape, in part thanks to his tune-up in the minors. For his part, manager Bud Black is happy to have both Holliday’s playing ability and leadership in the fold as the team pushes for a playoff berth.
- The White Sox have opted to shut down one of their top pitching prospects for the season, James Fegan of The Athletic reports via Twitter. However, the decision isn’t related to any sort of injury. Rather, Dylan Cease has simply reached an innings threshold that the organization doesn’t wish to push him past. The 22-year-old right-hander has tossed 124 innings combined between Chicago’s High-A and Double-A affiliates, which exceeds his career high workload by about 30. Cease hasn’t faced much resistance in his ascension, posting a 1.72 ERA with Double-A Birmingham this season while racking up a whopping 78 strikeouts in just 52 1/3 innings pitched.
Allen’s player nickname this weekend is Chicken. Maybe he should change it to Toast?
It’s easy enough to put a fork in chicken
BRAD HAND OR BUST
“You’ve got hand…AND YOU’RE GOING TO NEED IT!” (SEINFELD)
Holliday played against Padres two days ago. Last night he PH against Cardinals.
Please stop mentioning a QO for an aging reliever. It was never going to happen. Teams can no longer take any risk that the offer will be accepted. Cody may not be at 100 per cent health wise but he has struggling last year too. It has gotten worse. this year.
At 29 years old he’s a freaking dinosaur I don’t know how he gets up the strength to make it to the mound to pitch when they call him in.
“I’m just here to be part of the team and do everything I can to impact the team, as best I can.”
Credit:
Matt Holliday
Bull Durham
Every baseball player who’s ever talked to the media
That’s about the truth. 95% of all post game interviews in any sport are just the same cliches that really don’t tell you anything at all. Every now and then you will get something interesting said, but for the most part they are really forgettable.
Francona needs to play the hot Hand. He needs to stop delaying and get it done.
Indians are making the postseason. They don’t currently care as much about regular season wins as they care about what happens in the ALDS. Letting Allen figure it out now instead of late September is the better move.
Cease having Dylan Cease in AA by the start of 2019.
Really smart move to shut down Cease, another good one by Rick Hahn, who really is doing a great job with this rebuild, although they should have gotten something for Shields and Abreu by now, I’m a big fan of his moves.
What exactly would they get for Shields except salary relief? And Abreu is a great clubhouse leader and still a good player.
Jose Abreu is the most likely White Sox veteran to be offered a contract extension and remain a part of their core as they head toward respectability and contention in the coming seasons. He is already the face of the franchise and could remain so beyond his 2019 walk year.
As for trading Abreu this summer, the White Sox would have likely been selling low on him due to his poor first half and now with his abdominal/groin (hernia?) injury that will keep him on the DL past the August 31st waiver deadline. If an extension with Abreu isn’t reached before his final offseason of arbitration this winter then Rick Hahn will continue fielding offers for him up through next summer’s trade deadlines.
Every rebuilding team will need some veteran leadership once they reach their goal of becoming perennial championship contenders. The White Sox would be wise to not only consider extending Abreu but also should make a serious run at free agents Manny Machado and/or Bryce Harper this offseason. Signing one or more of those three could speed up their window and possibly have them competing for an A.L. Central crown as soon as 2020.
Cease is an excellent prospect and has the potential to be a #1 starter in the bigs. Play it safe with this guy and with Eloy also. And the Sox could use some help on the left side of the infield so Machado may be a target for the South siders.
Moncada needs to cut down on those strike outs. Holy cow. Maybe Boston saw something they didn’t like. I truly thought this guy would be a star. Only time will tell
Straightball he hits it very much. Curveball, bats are afraid.
Hat for bat
Moncada’s batting average continues to decline, and now I hope he can manage to finish above the Mendoza line. This guy is no leadoff hitter and needs to make more contact at he plate. Forget about home runs and just try to reach base. You are making it easy for the pitchers. He still has loads of potential, but he should be hitting 7,8 or 9 in the order.
…the guy is 23. If he is going to struggle then let him do it in a year where nothing matters anyway. Just want to see him in Winter ball maybe and then see him start to turn it around next season.
Yeah, Boston saw him strikeout out a ton in a small sample size. I dont mind the swinging variety, it’s the looking that is killing me.60 k’s looking. That is either very poor pitch recognition or way too much patience. Probably both.
Allen is done.. it was great while it lasted but his career as a closer is over.
He’s morphed into Chris Perez. My cardiologist agrees.
Good t have Carl Willis back running the show
“Allen may not only be pitching himself out of his “closer” job, but also out of a potential qualifying offer at season’s end, which he seemed a near lock to warrant at the outset of the 2018 season.”
Not sure why you expected Cleveland to extend a QO (~18$M, iirc), Kyle, even before this season’s problems. Allen appears to be a strict closer type, and not an exceptionally good one. Isn’t ~18$M around what Chapman makes. Does Cleveland like him so much they would overpay on a one year deal to keep him? What’s the difference between Allen and say, the Nationals version of Drew Storen? On the open market methinks Allen would have a tough time finding a deal for half that.
Chapman has a multi-year contract. The QO is for one year. Most players would turn it down if they felt they could get a solid multi-year contract. Yes, $18m is an overpay for Allen even before his troubles. But, 3/$39m wouldn’t have been and it’s a contract he might have taken.
“Chapman has a multi-year contract. The QO is for one year.”
Right and right. But irrelevant here as Allen would gladly and quickly accept a contract for as many years as the team likes @ $18M per annum.
“But, 3/$39m wouldn’t have been and it’s a contract he might have taken.”
Not sure how that would happen. The next move is this offseason when Cleveland must decide whether to extend a QO. Why would the player spare them this choice when he stands to benefit no matter which way the team chooses to go. Either he would be an unrestricted free agent or he would have an ~$18M offer in hand but no obligation to accept it.
If the team doesn’t extend a QO it’s possible that the player would sign for the amount you stated but, from memory, that doesn’t happen very often if at all. If the player both receives and accepts the QO that’s usually the end of the process. Hence, while your numbers appear realistic it doesn’t appear that the process would have led to that result.
I see Allen and Miller both leaving Cleveland after this season. They’ll most likely want more than the Tribe will be willing to pay.
I will personally drive Allen out of Cleveland…..and Kipnis for that matter.
I’m hoping Holliday can add something to the Rockies playoff push. He has experience and knowledge to impart but his best playing days are long gone.
Cease, Kopech, Rodon, Giolito, Lopez. An incredibly talented and young rotation. That should excite every Sox fan.
Don’t forget Dunning. He’ll have a shot to replace either Giolito or Lopez later in ’19 if they don’t become more consistent. Nice to have a scenario where one has to pitch well just to keep their spot.