Monthly Archives: July 2019

Indians trade Bauer in blockbuster deal

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The Cleveland Indians dealt Trevor Bauer to the Cincinnati Reds in a blockbuster three team deal that also includes the San Diego Padres.

It was only a matter of time. Trevor Bauer is no longer a member of the Cleveland Indians. Trevor Bauer was sent to the Cincinnati Reds in a blockbuster trade. Cleveland receives Yasiel Puig, Franmil Reyes and Logan Allen to improve the big league roster. Cleveland also added minor league prospects Victor Nova and Scott Moss in addition to the Major League players they received.

The Indians entered this season stuck in-between a rock and a hard place in regards to Bauer. Bauer is a great pitcher but his contract status and his potential large salary next year through arbitration made a trade seem inevitable. The return that Cleveland got for Bauer right now is greater than if they would have waited to deal him after the season. For a team that has to work with financial constraints, this is a deal that had to be done now.

Adding Yasiel Puig and Franmil Reyes to the outfield provides a bit more pop in the lineup. The duo have combined for 49 home runs, 24 doubles and 107 runs driven in this season. Puig is only a rental for this season, but Reyes is under contract until 2025 and figures to be a fixture of the Tribe outfield for the foreseeable future.

Logan Allen may contribute in some form this season. Allen has started four games this season but has also come out of the bullpen for his last three appearances. While he has not had much success in San Diego (6.75 ERA, 1.776 WHIP in 25.1 innings), he should be able to help in the future. Allen is only 22 years old and has plenty of time to improve on his early performances.

Indians have a big test with Astros at home

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The Houston Astros come to town and the surging Cleveland Indians will have quite the test to see just where they stand with the best teams in baseball.

The Cleveland Indians have the best record in baseball dating back in the month of July (17-5). Now the criticism that many have had with that they have faced some sub-par competition. Kansas City, Cincinnati, Detroit and Toronto are hardly world beaters. The only above .500 team they have faced is Minnesota and the Tribe dropped two out of three to start the second half. While it is easy to criticize the level of competition, the best teams in baseball always beat up on weaker competition and at worst keep things even with the best in the league. Cleveland has a chance to do that starting Tuesday at home against Houston.

The Indians have been getting quite the boost from Jose Ramirez and Francisco Lindor. Ramirez has homered in four straight games and has collected seven extra-base hits in the last seven games. Lindor has five extra-base hits over the same span, two home runs, two doubles and one triple. Oscar Mercado has also put on a show at the plate, slashing .313/.333/.531 with an OPS of .865. This includes his four hit performance in Saturday’s 9-1 victory over Kansas City. Mercado has four extra-base hits over the past seven games, two doubles, one triple and one home run.

Shane Bieber is the only Indians pitcher with a track record against Houston

Shane Bieber will be the Indians best starter against Houston. Bieber is starting Game 1 and will look to build upon his last start that saw him striking out 10 batters in a one-hit complete game shutout in Toronto. The Astros as a team have a slash line of .167/.286/.333/.619 against Bieber over 24 at-bats. Hopefully Bieber will be able to continue his previous success against Houston and get Cleveland back into the win column as they continue chase Minnesota in the division.

Adam Plutko takes the hill for Game 2 and does not have a past against Houston. The only player on the Astros roster who has faced him previously is Aledmys Diaz who did so while with Toronto. Diaz is 3-5 with one home run and one double. Plutko will need to limit the damage and keep the ball in the yard in order to come out victorious against Houston.

Zach Plesac will start Game 3 and he has never faced Houston before. The Indians have won four consecutive games that Plesac has started and he has only allowed six runs over 18.2 innings in that span. Plesac is on a roll but a team like Houston is more than capable of scoring runs early and often.

Indians acquire Wood, Arroyo from Rays

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The Cleveland Indians made a trade Sunday, acquiring relief pitcher Hunter Wood and infielder Christian Arroyo from the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Cleveland Indians made a trade. No, it does not include Trevor Bauer. The Tribe got some help for the bullpen and a potential infielder for the future in Hunter Wood and Christian Arroyo. Tampa Bay needed to clear a roster spot for the recently acquired Eric Sogard.

Hunter Wood figures to slide into the Indians bullpen. The 25-year old right hander has an ERA of 2.48 and a WHIP of 1.138 in 29 innings of work this season. Add in the fact that he is under control until 2025 the deal makes a ton of sense for Cleveland. Players who are young, with upside and are under contract for the foreseeable future is exactly what the Indians are looking for at this point in time. Especially considering that many expect Brad Hand to be dealt as early as this offseason, if not sooner.

Christian Arroyo is an interesting part of the deal. Once a highly regarded prospect, Arroyo has struggled at the Major League level. Cleveland is buying low on a reclamation project. Arroyo has a slash line of .215/.280/.342 with an OPS of .622 over 70 career games. Christian Arroyo has experienced a lot more success in the minors. in 33 games at Triple-A this season Arroyo slashed .314/.381/.603 with an OPS of .984. This is more in tune with what has been expected of him at the plate. Currently Arroyo is on the the injured list due to an arm injury. Whether or not Arroyo plays for the Indians this season remains to be seen. The intriguing part of Arroyo is his versatility. Arroyo has 42 starts at third, 11 at second and 10 at shortstop. With Jose Ramirez occupying third and Francisco LIndor at shortstop this leaves second as his opportunity.

Ex-Packer Mike Daniels visits Browns

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Recently released defensive tackle Mike Daniels visited the Browns on Thursday as Cleveland looks to add some depth on their defensive front.

The release of Mike Daniels came as a surprise to everyone. The now former Green Bay Packers lineman is looking for a new home and is considering teams that will contend this season. That includes the Cleveland Browns. Daniels visited the team Thursday.

As Adam Schefter notes, the current Browns front office brought Daniels to Green Bay. While sometimes this may not mean a lot, this does not necessarily be the case here. There does appear to be some sort of connection between Daniels and the Browns.

Mike Daniels did leave without a contract a today, but there is nothing to be alarmed about.

Daniels is taking his time and visiting multiple teams in order to correctly evaluate where the best fit would be. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. The last thing a team needs is a player not fully understanding the situation, signing, and then complaining about his role and/or playing time.

If the Browns were to sign Mike Daniels it would definitely help their defensive line. Cleveland already has the duo of Larry Ogunjobi and Sheldon Richardson in the middle. Adding Daniels to the mix would give opposing teams headaches in terms of blocking. The offensive line already has to worry about the outside rush with Myles Garrett and Olivier Vernon. Now having to worry about relentless pressure from the middle will only provide more difficulty for any blocking scheme.

The Browns were unable to sign Gerald McCoy earlier this offseason. Cleveland has another chance at improving their defensive line by signing Mike Daniels. Daniels has proven to be a productive defensive tackle in this league and would supplement the Browns front seven perfectly.

Indians to face Royals in Kansas City

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As the Cleveland Indians continue to close the gap in the American League Central they are set to take on the Kansas City Royals for a four game series.

The Cleveland Indians have faced American League Central opponents in three of their first four series to start the second half and this next series will make it four out of five. Cleveland will be in Kansas City to take on the Royals. Kansas City was just in Cleveland for three games last weekend, a series which saw Cleveland taking two of three. Cleveland averaged five runs per game while Kansas City only managed to average 3.33 runs per game.

Cleveland has been on fire since the All-Star festivities came to a close. The Indians have won 9 of their 13 games since the second half of the season got started. The only series that the Tribe lost was the first one against Minnesota. Even with that stumble out of the gate the Indians have closed the gap. Cleveland is now only two games back in the division and will have chance to continue closing the gap.

While Kansas City has a been on a bit of a good run (9-3 in their last 12 games), they did struggle against Cleveland last weekend. Cleveland has been the only team to really give the Royals trouble in the second half. Kansas City averages three more runs per game when they have not faced the Indians in the last 12 games. Cleveland’s ability to shut down a Royals offense that can be potent at times is quite impressive. This ability will be crucial if the Indians are to continue their rise in the standings.

Game 1 of the four game set is Thursday at 8:15 P.M. The pitching matchup will feature Adam Plutko for Cleveland and Mike Montgomery for Kansas City.

Shane Bieber dominates in Indians win

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Cleveland Indians pitcher Shane Bieber only allowed one hit in a complete game shut out of the Toronto Blue Jays as the Tribe won 4-0.

Shane Bieber allowed only one hit in Wednesday’s 4-0 win over Toronto. Bieber carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning. Eric Sogard broke up the no-no with a ground-rule double to lead off the inning. While Bieber was unable to complete the first Indians no-hitter/perfect game since Len Barker’s perfect game in 1981, he was still able to finish off his dominant performances. Bieber struck out 10 batters, allowed one hit and walked one over his nine innings of work.

While Bieber was busy not he mound shutting down the Blue Jays, the offense took a little while to get going. The Indians finally got on the board in the fifth inning with Kevin Plawecki driving in Greg Allen with a double.

Oscar Mercado would hit a sacrifice fly in the eighth allowing Francisco Lindor to score and give the Tribe a little more of a cushion.

The ninth inning saw the Indians scoring two more runs. Jose Ramirez scored on a Jordan Luplow groundout and Greg Allen drove in Jake Bauers with an RBI single.

Jose Ramirez went 2-4 on the day as his hot hitting streak continues. Ramirez has collected a hit in 13 of the 16 games in July.

Speaking of hot hitting, Greg Allen is quite productive at the plate. Since returning from Triple-A Allen is slashing .500/.581/.769 with an OPS of 1.350. This is far from sustainable, but it has certainly helped the Indians while Tyler Naquin is sidelined with an injury.

The Cleveland Indians are now only two games back of the Minnesota Twins in the American League Central. Cleveland also holds the first Wild Card spot at this moment in time. The Indians will take on the Kansas City Royals for a four game series starting Thursday.

Duke Johnson to report to camp

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Cleveland Browns running back Duke Johnson will report to training camp Tuesday even though his desire to be traded has not changed.

The Cleveland Browns begin training camp Tuesday and all eyes are on the status of running back Duke Johnson.

Whether or not Duke Johnson would attend Cleveland Browns training camp was questionable. Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported that Johnson will indeed attend training camp.

Duke Johnson attending is not necessarily a surprise. It also would not have been a surprise if he did not attend. Johnson’s desire to be traded has not changed. Johnson decided to change his representation a few weeks ago. Now that Drew Rosenhaus represents Johnson it seems like a pretty safe bet that Johnson will end up elsewhere. As mentioned previously, Rosenhaus has successfully got several players out of Cleveland in the past. Including Emmanuel Ogbah and Breshad Perriman.

The problem for Johnson is that he is not in a position of power here. Cleveland has all the leverage. Johnson is not the lead back and there are other options available for the Browns. This is vastly different than the situation in Los Angeles with Melvin Gordon. Gordon knows that he is “the guy” in the backfield and can hold out in order to get a new contract. Gordon is also a much better running back than Johnson.

The best chance for Duke Johnson to be dealt is if a running back goes down with a serious injury. This does not necessarily mean that Johnson would be in the driver’s seat in regards to his status with the Browns. It just means that a team would need to acquire a running back and Cleveland may be able to get more for him in this scenario rather than if they attempted to deal him now.

Indians drop Game 2 to Blue Jays

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The Indians were not able to take Game 2 against the Blue Jays in Toronto as they fell by a score of 2-1 in extra innings.

Justin Smoak put his mark on the game. Smoak launched a solo home run off of Brad Hand in the bottom of the ninth to force extras. In the 10th Smoak drove in the game winning run as the Blue Jays won 2-1. This was Brad Hand’s second blown save of the season and the first loss for Tyler Olson. Hand has given up a home run in three of the past four outings. This is not a good trend and further amplifies the Indians need for another dependable reliever.

Trevor Bauer got the start and pitched well. Bauer pitched 7.2 innings, allowing three hits, struck out nine while walking three. Trevor Bauer kept Toronto hitless until the bottom of the fifth when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a leadoff double. Bauer pitched good enough to earn a win but it was just not meant to be.

The Indians lone run came in the top of the third. Greg Allen reached on a single with two outs in the inning. Allen would steal second with Francisco Lindor at the plate. Lindor would drive in Allen with a single as the Indians took a lead in the third.

Allen and Lindor combined for three of the Indians six hits. The other Cleveland batters with hits were Oscar Mercado, Carlos Santana and Roberto Perez. Mercado went 1-5 while Santana and Perez both went 1-4. Jason Kipnis, Jose Ramirez, Jake Bauers and Mike Freeman went a combined 0-14. This is not necessarily the recipe for success and will need to change if the Indians are going to win Game 3.

The final game of the series takes place Thursday at 7:10 P.M and will not be broadcast on YouTube.

Indians interested in Mychal Givens

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The Cleveland Indians are looking to add an arm in their bullpen and are showing interest in Baltimore Orioles reliever Mychal Givens.

Mychal Givens is receiving interest from several teams. Cleveland is just one of five teams who are interested in his services. The other teams being the Phillies, Nationals, Braves and Dodgers.

While on the surface Mychal Givens has not had the best of season (4.23 ERA, 4.63 FIP) it is important to note the strikeouts per nine. In 38.1 innings Givens is averaging 12.2 strikeouts per nine. Brad Hand is the only reliever on the Indians with a higher strikeout rate (14.5). Mike Clevinger is the only pitcher besides Hand who strikes out more per nine than Givens. (13.8). All other pitchers on the Cleveland pitching staff average fewer than 11.4 strikeouts per nine.

In previous years Cleveland had players such as Bryan Shaw, Andrew Miller and Cody Allen who could be depended on for an entire inning. Now that those players are gone the only pitcher who fits that bill is Brad Hand. This means that the rest of the bullpen is put together on a game-by-game basis. There are some pitchers who get called on more often than others, but none are the quality that Shaw, Miller and Allen were. This means adding another pitcher to help the collective group will only help the Indians cause.

With so many teams showing interest in Mychal Givens it may be a bit difficult for the Tribe to acquire him. The Indians need to weigh their options when it comes to Givens. There will be plenty of arms available over the next week or so. It is important to not overpay for a reliever who is not a shut down guy. Mychal Givens is not 2016 Andrew Miller and should not cost that much. If that is what the asking price it may be best to move in another direction.

Indians hit five doubles in win over Toronto

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The Cleveland Indians collected seven extra-base hits including five doubles in their 7-3 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.

It was a pretty good night in the extra-base hit department for the Cleveland Indians. The Tribe finished with seven total hits going to extra-bases, five of which were doubles. Oscar Mercado hit the non-doubles, a triple in the sixth and a home run in the eighth. Mercado finished the game going 2-4 with two RBI’s and a walk.

Carlos Santana, Roberto Perez, Tyler Naquin, Jose Ramirez and Jake Bauers all hit doubles. Perez and Ramirez both drove in runs with their doubles, each finishing with one RBI on the night. Ramirez went 2-4 as he continues to keep on hitting. Ramirez has recorded a hit in 14 of the 16 games in July. Six of these games happened to be multi-hit performances which is showing signs of Jose Ramirez being back to being Jose Ramirez.

Jason Kipnis also had a good day at the plate, going 2-3 with two runs scored, one walk and walking twice. Kipnis is slashing .318/.380/.432 with an OPS of .812 over his past 12 games. This includes two doubles, one home run and five RBI’s. It is unlikely that Kipnis continues this type of a production, but even a bit of a drop off will certainly help the Indians in their efforts to come back in the division.

Mike Clevinger got the start for the Tribe and was fantastic. Clevinger went seven innings allowing three runs on five hits while striking out seven. The only blemishes on his performance were the two home runs he surrendered. A solo shot from Justin Smoak in the second and a two-run homer for Billy McKinney in the fifth. Clevinger has a 1.88 ERA with opponents slashing .226/.278/.369.647 against him in his past four starts.

Indians will face the Blue Jays in Game 2 on Tuesday at 7:10 P.M.