Road Trip: Pulaski

The final day of the trip saw lots of downtime in the afternoon before an evening game in Pulaski, Virginia.

This meant checkout and lots of liquor store parking lots in Asheville, Bristol and other stops around those towns.
Really, a lot of liquor stores.
It's a good thing that I always carry things to read with me on the road- electronic or otherwise.
It does help to pass the time and it's not like I started this now, I have carried a book or a magazine everywhere for as long as I can remember.
That lifelong habit of mine made what could have been a long and tedious day and made it not so bad.

Michael wanted to see the Bristol Speedway as Fred and I did in 2017, so that was an easy stop.
The track still saw the football lines painted very visibly on the infield from the 2016 Tennessee-Virginia Tech football game held in Bristol.
Fred waited in the car since there is a lot of climbing to get to the actual track and we were fairly quick inside to take a picture and then move along.
As neat as it is to look around inside, there really isn't a lot to see once you make that first look around as it is a circular, contained facility that if I had to compare Bristol to a baseball stadium, it would bring to mind those "lovely" concrete doughnuts such as Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh and Riverfront in Cincinnati.
We drove to the opposite side of the track to snap the above picture of David Pearson, whose name I nicknamed Michael with a few years back for his excellent driving and the nickname stuck when Miguelito is behind the wheel.

We then moved to Fred's favorite restaurant in Bristol, the Mad Greek.
I like the pizza and Fred likes it for the food and it is the one place that he hit a home run of his picks for food stops on all our trips!
My pizza was fine, but the waiter and Fred had a miscommunication and Fred didn't receive the past with his veal.
Michael and I exchanged looks that we knew what was coming and we heard what we expected when Fred mumbled: "last time we'll be here".
Too bad, Mad Greek- it was fun.

A few more liquor store stops and eventually we wound our way to Pulaski, where Fred and I had been a few weeks before.
As a Tampa Rays fan (They apparently do exist), Michael was looking forward to the visiting Princeton Rays almost as much as going to 34 liquor stores and especially for their 17-year-old slugging prospect Wander Franco (one of about five Wander Franco's in baseball).
Considering that the Rays are our only chance to pick up Tampa prospects (Tampa is also in the New York-Penn League with Short-Season Hudson Valley).
Franco does not have any baseball cards as of now (I'm sure that will be rectified before the 2019 season), so I bought the Princeton team set just to have something for him to sign.

An aside on the Princeton Rays- they went above and beyond to get those sets to me and they even tossed in a logo baseball for my collection for free.
Princeton might not be at the top of the Appy League as far as my favorite facilities go, but I'm a big fan of their front office- Thanks to Danny in the Princeton office for the help!

Speaking of front offices, Pulaski's is another favorite because I love the way that they run things.
It's always a good time there, the top of the front office hustles all over the park just as the interns do and you can tell that such attention to detail helps the fan base to have a great time as Pulaski set an Appy League record this season for attendance.
That gives me an idea for an off-season column since the Appalachian League is now the first league that I have seen every stadium (I've been to every Carolina League stadium, but I wasn't able to watch a game at Myrtle Beach), so maybe I'll rank them in a few categories.

Pulaski is a pretty easy place to autograph for the visiting team, but not so easy for the home team (although I've noted in the past, their policy and access is postgame is terrific) before the game, so we moved to left field to hopefully add Franco before the game to save some pressure afterward.
I kept forgetting that Princeton had obtained Shane Baz in the Chris Archer trade, but Baz was the starting pitcher.
I make it a general policy not to bother the starting pitcher unless someone else calls a starter over and he doesn't mind signing.
I had missed Baz, when he was with Bristol on Dale Murphy Night when the rain rolled overhead and now with him being with Tampa, I really needed him on his Top 100 (I had a green one as well) ,so it was important to add him to the set now- while I had the chance.

I managed to get a few Rays before the game and Wander Franco walked right over to sign my two cards (Mine and Mike Oravec's) and Fred along with Michael each had some baseball's signed, so Franco was quickly finished.
Franco's season-ending stats were phenomenal for a player of his age finishing with a .351 average and 11 homers in a 61 game season, but the stat that stood out for me was that he struck out just 19 times in 242 at bats.
It's very early in a career, but that type of plate discipline is a very good sign for eventual success at higher levels,
However, the few were what I would get because the Rays position players warmed up and all said after the game when Fred and Michael asked them to sign cards along the side of the field, while I worked on the Rays relievers, which I did manage to get a few finished.

The game was interesting to watch Baz, who has a plus arm, but does has some command problems with his fastball ( four walks in four innings) and as a very raw product may very well take time and patience to develop properly.
Baz allowed three runs, two of them earned but made the play of the game in the second inning.
A base hit scored two Pulaski runs and the throw home eluded the Princeton catcher on a bounce, but Baz was backing up the play as the pitcher should.
The ball bounced to the left of Baz (who is righthanded), yet Baz reached across his body to pluck the ball in the air before it hit the ground and fired the ball to second in one fluid motion to nail the Yankee runner attempting to move from first to second on the throw home.
It's the type of play that you expect to see from an agile third baseman, not from a pitcher backing up a throw and it was a play that I filed away in my mind for future reference.
I'm not sure what type of hitter that Shane Baz may have been in high school, but he might have the type of athletic ability to give another position a try if he doesn't develop as a pitcher.

Michael was tired and had the remaining drive time home, so he rested in his car for some of the game, so Fred and I watched a 3-2 Pulaski win, talked shop (baseball and life) and generally had a good time on a surprisingly chilly Pulaski night.
Good thing that I brought my Giants hoodie to knock the chill down a bit!

I wanted to try to get a Yankee or two off the field, but the area is small and I just wasn't going to squeeze into a small area.
Meanwhile, Fred and Michael went to the Rays side and attempted to stop a few players coming off the field, which was no dice as they all said later.
I really needed two Yankees in particular, 2018 first rounder Anthony Seigler on his Pulaski update card and outfielder Evan Alexander, for whom I had maybe the ugliest jersey that I had ever seen to be signed for Mike Oravec.
It was a Pulaski 2017 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles jersey worn by Alexander and it barely nosed out Fred's Paw Patrol jersey that he bought in Kannapolis for the ugly jersey crown.

Fred returned to meet me and said "Michael has your Princeton cards", go meet him by the Princeton bus and I'll do the Yankees until you are finished.
I didn't have the heart or the time to give Fred the rest of my Pulaski teams set (I think there were 8 guys), but I did give him the two Seigler cards and Mike's Alexander jersey in case they came out while I was working on the Rays.

I raced (or my best facsimile thereof) to the far side of the stadium where I expected to find Michael and the Shane Baz cards easily.
No dice, so I walked outside (the team doesn't mind if you come and go) and looked for him by the Princeton bus, which I could see from the inside.
Again, no dice as there was one person by the bus and it wasn't Michael Landucci.
I asked the one person waiting there if he saw a guy that looked like Miguelito Loveless and his response was that he had not.
Now I'm beginning to get a little nervous as I'm on the side of the stadium, I don't know as well, cannot find what I need to be signed most and this fellow is looking at me as in "don't you recognize me"?
I asked him if I knew him and he laughed and said yes, we met last night in Winston-Salem.
It turned out he was the man that asked me last night when the usher moved us out of the area and I apologized for not remembering.
I do that sometimes on these late season runs because you meet so many people and I can get a little punchy!

As I talked to Morgan as he introduced himself, Michael walked around the corner and gave us a little bit of the lowdown.
Princeton came to the park in uniform, so they were going to leave the way or worse with sweatshirts over the uniforms, leaving it very hard to tell who is who and without a lot of light in the area, this looked like a tougher chore than I had expected.
Wander Franco came out with a big smile and looked to sign, but we were all finished with him.
A sidebar, it is always so sad to see these guys as young, personable and ready to sign and then have so many just take advantage of them to the point that they are jaded within a few years.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr was so nice and accommodating in 2016 at Bluefield (I had one card) and the difference in him in just two years would be shocking, had I not seen it before with so many players.
I understand how it happens and even why the players feel that way, but it doesn't change the sadness in what should be a joyful part of living their dream and becomes a burden.

Michael told me Shane Baz was coming soon and Matthew Liberatore was with him as he had arrived that day.
Liberatore was the Rays most recent first-round draft pick and teams occasionally has pitchers that are high picks travel with teams but don't allow them to pitch.
I didn't have any cards for him, but I did have him sign a blank (Mine all say Cleveland, but I'll never see him so it's something) card and Baz was very nice in signing his green Top 100, a regular 100 and his 2017 Bowman.
It was dark and I couldn't see as well with players wearing jackets, so I said goodbye to Morgan and left to go to the Yankees side, where Fred had gotten the Seigler cards and Mike's jersey signed.
That was good enough for me with a four hour (five and change from Fred and Michael) and we were on our way home.

A good trip and a decent graphing haul although far from perfect to end the traveling year.
I would have two more short trips (Harrisburg for the Erie SeaWolves with Bill Cover and Altoona with the family) which I may write about on a slow day.
A good year-I enjoyed it throughly and now off to the season for the fall and winter sports with the working season to pay for 2019.

Pirates leap into deadline!

The Pittsburgh Pirates looked to be sellers a few weeks back if you looked forward to the trade deadline, but then something happened in Pittsburgh- the Pirates ripped off eleven wins in a row, leaped back into the wild-card race with a Bob Beamonesque leap and Neal Huntington suddenly had a decision to make- sell and basically tell his fan base that the franchise had decided to punt the season from the green flag, stand pat with a suddenly hot team or make some moves and try to make the postseason.

To my surprise, Huntington made not just one, but two moves and they were big ones for the Pirates, costing them several good prospects that might have Pirates fans looking at these trades for years as either the day the Pirates added some arms that turned them into contenders for a few years or the day the team overreacted to a win streak and dealt players that should have thrived in Pittsburgh.

Starting with the larger of the two trades (the second of the pair), the Pirates landed perhaps the biggest arm to change teams at the deadline as Pittsburgh added righthander Chris Archer from Tampa Bay for outfielder Austin Meadows, right-handed pitcher Tyler Glasnow, and a player to be named later.
That's quite a package of cost-controlled young talent to send away for an often financially challenged franchise, but let's look at what Pittsburgh acquired first before the lost prospects in Chris Archer.

The soon to be 30 year old Archer (turns 30 in September) has been the best pitcher on a bad team over the last few seasons (53 wins since 2013), has been durable (no trips to the DL since his 2013 call-up) and hasn't notched an ERA higher than his current 4.31, so this is a quality starter to slot into the rotation for the Buccos.
Add to that, Archer's very team friendly contract that has him under control for 2019  (7.5 million) at a minimum with two team option years for 2020 and 21 at a very affordable (9 and 11 million) cost as well and you can see why the Pirates paid what they paid in prospects.

However, there are a few caveats on Chris Archer.
The largest of these is that Archer never took the expected leap to the next level after 2014 and 15 seasons that would have seen him firmly in the Cy Young race on even an average team and his numbers although still good, are declining slightly.
It could be that Tampa dealt Archer just as he is at his highest value and just before Archer could be starting a steep decline.
Archer's strikeouts numbers are down a bit (a strikeout and a half per nine innings from last year) and his hits per nine innings are up one from last season and those make me at least wonder a bit about Archer.
Still, Archer is still about as safe as you can trade for at this stage and even if he gives the Pirates what he has given to the Rays this season for three and a half seasons, that's still enough to be in the upper half of the Pirate rotation and if he gives you what the 2015 Archer is capable of, the Pirates have a clear number one starter.

Here's the issue for the Pirates though- you don't get a pitcher like this for free and they sure didn't this time.
Tyler Glasnow has the type of arm that makes scouts drool and as he flew through the minors, Glasnow was thought to give the Pirates a contention window with three big righthanders with power arms with Gerrit Cole and Jameson Taillon, but for one small problem- every time that Glasnow was given a chance with the Pirates, he had problems finding the strike zone.
The Pirates placed him in their bullpen and despite the walks remaining high (34 in 34 appearances), the strikeouts were as well ( 72 in those 34 appearances) and to me to have an arm like this that hasn't turned 23 (He will later this month) that you seem to have given up on as a starter is incredibly short-sighted.
Perhaps the Pirates figured they had run out of answers for Glasnow's questions or that their staff couldn't get through to Glasnow or who knows what other thoughts that they have, but all I will write is this- when you have a 6'8 fireballer with that kind of stuff and you give up on him this soon- you had better hope you are right because those arms don't come along as a homegrown product every day.

Austin Meadows was thought to be the next starting young outfielder and was the natural long-term replacement for Andrew McCutchen.
McCutchen's trade to the Giants was thought to have opened the door for Meadows, but when the team traded with Tampa Bay to add veteran Corey Dickerson, that door closed until Meadows was given a shot in May and responded with a torrid first month in the bigs hitting over .400 with four homers in his first 13 games.
Meadows cooled off in his next forty games, but still seemed to be in their long-term plans between the veteran Dickerson and the erratic Gregory Polanco, but Tampa had to have wanted the cost-controlled Meadows in this deal to make it work.
I've always liked Meadows bat, but he has had problems staying healthy and with the way that Meadows had dropped off after his start, the Pirates had to have wondered at least a little.
Meadows was the best outfield prospect in the system as far as talent and was the nearest to the parent club as well, so this was not a player that the Pirates could easily trade away.
The departure of Meadows also puts a lot of heat on the Pirates to re-sign Corey Dickerson in the off-season, despite an arbitration number that might make a Dickerson re-signing oppressive, this trade almost makes that a must do rather than we'll see consideration.


The player to be named will be interesting as well.
Will it be a third higher level prospect ( O'Neil Cruz at low West Virginia is the best prospect position wise or pitcher Mitch Keller at AAA Indianapolis, which I would think is unlikely), a b-level player that is at Bradenton or Altoona or a lottery ticket from the lower end of the system?
Glasnow was added to the Tampa roster and Meadows was assigned to the Rays AAA affiliate in Durham after the deal,
This trade will be evaluated for years and many Pirates fans will be following Tampa box scores for quite a while.

Editor's Note; The PTBNL was pitcher Shane Baz, the Pirates 2017 first round selection,

The first trade saw the Pirates add to their bullpen with a trade with the Texas Rangers as they added closer Keone Kela, favorite of former TRS fan Brad Adams (If two people read this and ask, I'll write about the Kela story that I have to tell) and owner of 24 saves in 25 chances for the Arlington's in exchange for minor league lefty Taylor Hearn and a player to be named later.
The 25-year-old Kela pitched well for the Rangers in 2017 and 18, can close or fill a setup role and can even pitch in a semi-long role in a rare situation that calls for it.
Kela will be arbitration eligible, but the Pirates again have added a pitcher that gives them some control over his rights for a while.

The part that hurts is losing former Hagerstown Sun lefthander Taylor Hearn, who was having a breakout season at AA Altoona.
Hearn has an ERA of 3.12 in twenty starts, struck out 115 in 109 innings and held opposing hitters to under a .200 batting average.
Add that to a lefty that sits in the mid-90's and you have a southpaw that didn't seem to be far away from the big leagues.
This might be another pitcher that the Pirates might have wished hadn't gotten away.
Hearn was assigned to the Rangers AA squad in Frisco after the trade.

Give the Pirates credit, they saw an opening and for once- went for it.
For a team that is almost always questioned about finances, you have to give them credit for doing what they are usually criticized for not doing- giving themselves a chance to win.
However, you can argue (and time will answer this question) that the Pirates might have overreacted to a winning streak that put them in sight of a playoff spot (and that's really what the streak did put them in the running) and might have cost themselves as many as five young players that make the big leagues for a mirage of a playoff run.
They are valid questions to ask and I don't think that the answer is an easy one, mainly because I've been critical for the Pirates not being buyers when in the position to make sense to do so.
Still, looking at all things fairly, I lean to the side of not making the deal for Chris Archer.
Here's why- you didn't think that you were going to contend, which is why you moved Gerrit Cole for young players (Michael Feliz, Joe Musgrove, and Colin Moran) that were expected to make the parent club, yet weren't expected to make instant impacts on the lineups.
The team (in my opinion) traded better prospects for Archer than they received for Cole and yet the trade for Cole put the surprise contender in need for a pitcher.
Archer will be under team control longer than Cole, so that plays a part in those deals, but still, if you don't trade Cole, the need for Archer is not as great and so it goes down the line.
Now you lose players with the potential to help you down the road for what could be a mirage of a few weeks in one season and the risk is massive, particularly if Tyler Glasnow figures things out in Florida.
I understand the reasons why but consider me more than concerned about the end results of these trades.

Random Thoughts

Time for a few random thoughts.

The Giants have signed their first rounder in Heliot Ramos with a slot value bonus of 3.1 million, and the Pirates signed Shane Baz fairly quickly to a slightly over slot bonus of 4.1 million,but the Indians have yet to sign Quentin Holmes,their first pick (2nd round) as of now.

Ramos was expected to be a relatively easy sign,but Baz was reported to be a tougher sell on the Pirates with a strong commitment to TCU and I'm a little surprised that it took just 800,000 over slot to land Baz and to do so well before the signing deadline.
Good for the Pirates for landing Baz,who was regarded as the hardest thrower among high school pitchers in the draft.
I haven't heard any rumors on Holmes and the Indians coming to an agreement or not.
Holmes has a college commitment to Mississippi State.

I'm not against the Houston Rockets move to challenge the Golden State Warriors by obtaining Chris Paul from the Clippers for a collection of odd parts and a first round draft pick,but as someone that has liked Chris Paul since his Wake Forest days,I have to question Paul for wanting to leave just two years after his meeting that ended with Paul,Blake Griffin (soon to be leaving as well) and others begging DeAndre Jordan to stay in Los Angeles rather than stick with an agreed to,but not signed contract with Dallas.
For the Rockets-I still think they are one player away from seriously pushing the Warriors even with Paul,while the Clippers may be at the end of their modest fringe contender status.
Unless the hated Sam Dekker can do as well on the court as well as he did in his love life...

Was asked recently about two recurring features on the blog and if they will be returning.
On the signing front will be around on an occasional basis,but especially as part of the road trip features and the PPM will be back again in late August with the start of the college season.
Who will be this years "host"? I have a few candidates in mind.
Previous hosts have been Heather Cox (ESPN now NBC),Jessica Korda (LPGA),Christi Paul (CNN) and last year Molly McGrath (ESPN) for two months before being replaced by Legate Damar of Star Trek fame.

Also was asked my opinion on the Tim Tebow promotion.
I think it's a joke.
Nothing wrong with minor league baseball being entertaining and I get that fans want to come out and meet Tebow,but for a 29 year old batting .220 in the SAL to get a promotion,couldn't teams draw a big house for a Tebow appearance rather than this exhibition on the field?
Tebow has handled this situation with grace,but he has to know what this truly is...

Wrapping up with thoughts on the release of Cubs catcher Miguel Montero one night after throwing pitcher Jake Arrietta under the bus for the Washington Nationals stealing seven bases against the battery Tuesday night.
Do I feel that Montero was totally wrong?
No,but you have to know your place in the pecking order and platooning catcher ranks far below top of the rotation pitcher.
Sometimes,people need to realize that they might not be wrong,but the prudent thing is try to grit your way through without making it easy for the team/employer to move you alone...

Baseball Draft Updates

Now that the basketball season is over and I get revved up for the beginning of my concern for hockey (even though it just ended,my interest ended when the Devils skated off the ice for the last time in April) with baseball in full throttle-it's time for the baseball draft.

Some seasons I pay more attention to the baseball draft than others.
This was one of those that I didn't pay as much attention as far as research with the Cavaliers advancing,trips etc.
I pay huge attention to the NFL draft.a decent amount of attention to the NBA,as I said varying attention to the MLB Draft (that picks up once the players sign) and really just the first round of the NHL draft as I just don't know as much about those players.

The Pirates selected first of the three teams at the 12 slot and gambled on a talented player that is widely loved by scouts,but one regarded as one that that ranks as one of the more difficult players to sign in Tomball Texas righthander Shane Baz.
Baz throws in the middle 90's and is regarded to have a plus slider.
Baz has a commitment to TCU,which is said to be a strong one,so the Pirates will have to open their checkbook to land Baz.


The Giants were next at 19 and took what is regarded as a very intriguing selection in Puerto Rican outfielder Heliot Ramos.
Ramos is the exact type of player that the Giants traditionally NEVER draft-very toolsy and one that needs lots of refinement.
Ramos is projected as having plus power and speed and a slightly above average arm,yet many observers looked at Ramos being a slight overdraft.
Some don't like his swing and think he needs be more consistent and others wonder if he plays a corner outfielder or center.
San Francisco has often a different draft board than most,so their liking a player more than many others doesn't come as a surprise to me-the surprise is the type of player.
Ramos has a college commitment to Florida International,but is expected to sign...


The Indians sent their first rounder to the Blue Jays as compensation for signing free agent Edwin Encarnacion over the winter,so their first selection came in round two with New York outfielder Quentin Holmes at number 64.
Holmes is the highest drafted player from New York City in 21 years and was rated as the fastest player in the draft.
At 6'1 Holmes is projected to fill out and add more power,but the Indians will have a battle to buy Holmes out from his commitment to Mississippi State.


Now that we have some things taken care of,I hope to take care of the trips to Carolina and Kinston in the next day or two before I have the Devils draft on Friday.
I may have a short preview,but I'll definitely have a Friday post on the player that the Devils tab with the first pick.