The Astros called up top outfield prospect Kyle Tucker from Triple-A today, and that could very well mark the team’s final September promotion, manager A.J. Hinch tells reporters (Twitter links via Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle). Hinch added that Tucker probably won’t play much in the season’s final weeks, though with Tucker having already debuted earlier this summer and his season in Triple-A Fresno over, there’s little reason not to bring Tucker back up. The 21-year-old former No. 5 overall pick hit just .154/.254/.212 in 59 plate appearances with the ’Stros earlier this year, but he decimated Triple-A pitching at a .332/.400/.590 pace, swatting 24 homers and swiping 20 steals along the way.
More from the American League…
- In an interesting look back at what could have been, Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald examines the Red Sox’ initial pursuit of Jose Abreu when he was an international free agent. The BoSox maxed out at six years and $60MM in their pursuit of the vaunted Cuban slugger according to Silverman, but they ultimately lost out when the White Sox offered a total of $68MM guaranteed over that same term. Silverman runs through a series of trickle-down effects, as Boston instead pivoted to re-sign Mike Napoli. That was one of many lackluster offseason moves that set the stage for the ill-fated 2014-15 offseason that saw the Sox sign Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval. There’s little sense in fretting too much over hindsight, but it’s nonetheless an intriguing reminder of the domino effect that so many offseason moves (and non-moves) carry.
- Mookie Betts exited today’s game with soreness in his left side, the Red Sox announced today. That’s the same issue that caused him to land on the disabled list earlier this summer, but manager Alex Cora tells reporters that this instance was precautionary and not considered serious (Twitter link via Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic). Betts is expected to see some time at DH in the Red Sox’ upcoming series against the Yankees, with J.D. Martinez lining up in right field in his place.
- The Blue Jays are making some changes in their scouting department, as first reported by Robert Murray of The Athletic (Twitter link). Specifically, Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi reports that pro scouts Jon Bunnell, Dan Evans, Bryan Lambe and Kimball Crossley are being let go. A pair of veteran Jays scouts, Jim Beattie and and Brad Matthews are retiring as well. While some organizations have begun to pare back on their pro scouting staffs, Davidi notes that the Blue Jays are planning on replacing all six of them.
Didn’t the Sox also want abreu to play third base as well?
No
Yes they did
Or did you mean Red Sox not White Sox?
That’s a large chunk of scouting staff going out. Have to wonder if it’s coincidence or the relative lackluster signings of MLB players, particularly compared to the solid amateur scouts.
Jim Beattie’s retirement from baseball (if that’s what this really is) probably deserves a bit more than a footnote.
– Won a World Series with the Yankees (1978)
– GM of the Expos for several years
– Vice President of the Orioles for several years
– Director of Player Development for the Mariners for several years…. oh yeah, and he pitched the first one-hitter in Mariners history.
– Scouted for the Blue Jays for several years
Outside of baseball, he got himself an MBA and has worked in finance too. Good career.
yea, you are right
i missed it completely and had to
go back and re-read the article
yankee fan who remembers him
as a player, rookie year was 1978
george liked him because they
shared birthdays on the 4th of july
Ok, to all those Blue Jays fans Who criticized the team for leaving their top prospect behind and calling up RowdyTellez instead: trust the scouts and the front office. Do you want to hand the win back to the Yankees yesterday? Is all you know about baseball what you read and how high the draft position? Maybe Jim Beattie et al made a decision to protect another year of Vlad Jr. and still get to see what Rowdy could do in the heat of a pennant race. I mean, it certainly wasn’t an important game for the Jays but is was for the Yankees. Keep your frustration under control, you stat-mongering morons, and let the baseball people do their job
I always wonder if players regret making decisions based on the difference of a few million dollars over the course of a contract. 8 million in this case, means what—like 5 million after taxes? A million dollars per year difference, playing for a team well under .500 each of those years, versus playing for a contender. Surely, other Sox roster moves would have changed that team, but BoSox would still have been way on the plus side versus ChiSox. I say this as someone who is not a multi-millionaire, but i’d like to think i’d forgo a little bit of money for a much better playing/winning situation. That seems to be an uncommon perspective with people actually in the position to make such decisions.
So Cora says taking Mookie out is precautionary. Isn’t that the word he used for Sale too? Will Mookie play again before the playoffs or was this truly precautionary unlike Sale? Cora continues to confound me. So, today’s line-up is without the “precautionary” guy so it could end up like Sale but then he sits Benintendi too. Guess clinching today wasn’t in Cora’s plans, especially starting Eovaldi. Worst manager in baseball with the best team in baseball. Do you think he understands that he has a moral commitment to the integrity of the game to play a competitive line-up each day? How angry do you think the Tampa Bay fans will be when they see this line-up? They’ve been killing themselves to catch the Yankees and are now within striking distance if Boston can split or win more than half of the remaining six games with the Yankees. They are 8 back and they have 4 games against the Yankees, the rest are Baltimore and Toronto!! The Yankees have 10 of 13 against the Rays and Boston. Cora needs to realize that giving away games because we clinched doesn’t just affect us, it has a huge impact on the Wildcard race. Show some integrity Cora and play your best team EVERY DAY. Everyone realizes that if they clinch in NY the next day none of the starters will play so you’ve basically given NY two wins by not being competitive today. Those two wins may eliminate Tampa Bay! That stinks from an integrity of the game standpoint. Protect your team, so sitting Betts isn’t the issue, it’s sitting Benintendi on a day you sit Betts that is!! Your line-up today reflects a team that is experimenting not competing. You owe it to both Oakland and Tampa Bay to compete during the final 6 games with the Yankees!!
i understand your point but after playing for
six months the only thing that matters is
winning the world series, anything less is
a bad move by cora !
Finally! I have been calling for the Jays to redo the professional scouting department for a while now. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
The Blue Jays Amateur scouting continues to be very good.