Giants dump salary-With a fascinating story!!!

The San Francisco Giants have been trying to contend in 2018, but at the same time, the team has been trying to reduce salary a bit to attempt to avoid payment for exceeding the limit for the luxury tax.

There is no other way to explain the Giants trade with the Texas Rangers, where reliever Cory Gearrin and outfielder Austin Jackson were headed along with minor league pitcher Jason Bahr for either a minor leaguer to be named or cash.

Neither Gearrin or Jackson was having an especially big year (Gearrin's ERA was over four in 35 games and Jackson was hitting just .242 without a homer) and the team saved over four million with Jackson (signed thru 2019) and another million and a half from Gearrin by sending them away.

Teams don't help others for free and Texas added an interesting prospect in Jason Bahr.who led the SAL in strikeouts at Augusta (88) before being called up to San Jose where he allowed only three runs in three starts.
The fifth-round pick from Central Florida in 2017 was assigned to the Rangers high A affiliate in Kinston NC-the Down East Wood Ducks...

San Francisco called up two players to fill the vacated two roster spots as outfielder Steven Duggar and reliever Ray Black arrived from AAA Sacramento.
Duggar is a plus defender and was hitting .272 in Sacramento, while the 28-year-old Black struck out 38 batters in 21 AAA innings.
Both played in Sunday's game against St.Louis with Duggar's double giving him his initial big league hit, while Black allowed three runs in a third of an inning to welcome him to the majors.
And there is where we write a story about Ray Black.
Let's say a fascinating story with full credit to the Folksmen.

Ray Black throws hard.
HARD- as in clocked at 104 MPH hard.
Look at Black's strikeout numbers and one can see that, but until he began to harness his control and cut back his walks as he did in 2017, Black was going to be looked at as more novelty act than bullpen asset.


We move back to our first trip to Charleston WV in 2016 when we saw the Augusta Greenjackets in town against the West Virginia Power.
As we needed to this season, to see the Greenjackets we needed to hit the road because Augusta doesn't visit Hagerstown.
I wrote back then about the famous West Virginia "Toastman" Rod Blackstone and his heckling.
The Toastman's routine has become somewhat famous through the minors and he has even been placed in a few of Topps minor league sets.
Fred and Michael Landucci were at our hotel, checking out the next day and our hotel was next to the hotel that Augusta was staying.
Their bus driver was waiting outside and we struck up a conversation about the previous night's game (a game so good that Fred and I still talk about it) with him.
The lack of hitting came up and the bus driver started talking about Rod Blackstone and his ability to distract players or as the driver put it " That F'ing Toastman knows how to get inside these kids head".
The driver told us about Blackstone getting to the players because he doesn't curse or do anything nasty, he simply drives them nuts by telling the truth about their stats, signing bonus, draft status or background- "Its hard to ignore someone that's telling the truth".


But then came the really interesting part- "but one guy pushed back on the Toastman".
Of course, we then needed to know the story and it features the power-armed Ray Black- as in the previously mentioned 104 MPH fastball Ray Black.

The driver said that Black had claimed that he wouldn't tolerate the Toastman experience and he didn't as he was brought into the game as a reliever and watched as Blackstone began his reciting of various facts for Black.
This is where the story gets interesting- The driver claimed that in his warmups that Black rocked back and gunned his best fastball "and you know that Black throws very hard" at Blackstone at the netting.
"The net bulged back, Toastman's eyes grew WIDE OPEN and he almost got nailed!"

I found this story very interesting and remembered for our trip to Charleston in 2017 and asked Rod if this indeed happened- his response was that he didn't remember it occurring.
I thought that perhaps the driver had been either telling a story or exaggerating one as sometimes a fable is far more fun to listen to than the actual truth.
Maybe Black did throw a wild pitch and then commented as we all do as "almost getting him" etc?

Fast forward a few weeks after this, I'm in Harrisburg for the Richmond Flying Squirrels and who comes walking by to their bullpen but Ray Black.
I have to ask him about this and I do so with Black answering with a sheepish grin and a "so where did you hear about this?".
I told him that the Augusta bus driver told us this story and Black replied so "bus drivers name ( I cannot say that I remember his name) still remembers that".
We talked for a few minutes about Augusta, the Greenjackets then-home, Charleston and of course, the Toastman before Black had to go back to work.
It didn't seem like a story that Black was bragging or embellishing and he was very matter of fact about it, which lent some credence to me that at least a portion of the story was factual.

The entire thing made me a Ray Black fan and he seemed like a cool guy when we talked about the story, so I was very happy to see him get a shot at the big time at the age of 28.
No matter if the story was as described or not, it was still a good tale and it is fabled such as those that make minor league baseball what it is- Fun...

Giants sign Austin Jackson, Indians lose Austin Jackson.

The San Francisco Giants still needed a centerfielder after the Andrew McCutchen trade and the team at least partially did so with the signing of veteran Austin Jackson to a two-year contract worth six million dollars.
The contract can rise to as high as 8.5 million with various performances bonuses and contract escalators and with or without the bonus clauses, is reasonable enough to add a veteran outfielder and still keep the Giants under the luxury tax hit.

The 31-year-old Jackson hit well last season for the Indians (.318/7/35) but struggled to stay healthy as he has had in the past and played in just 85 games.
I was hoping the Indians would be able to re-sign him, but part of what (up until now at least) has been the lost Indians offseason has been players that played well being allowed to leave Cleveland even when it seemed as the cost of keeping them (with the exception of Carlos Santana) would not be oppressive.
Jackson would have been a helpful role player for the Indians, but I'm still furious about the decision to keep the brittle Michael Brantley over the sturdy Jay Bruce over a million dollar difference (OK, the contract that the Mets gave Bruce was over three years, while the Tribe simply accepted an option on Brantley).
Jackson wouldn't have cured what is a worrisome outfield situation for me that seems to rely upon the hopes of Bradley Zimmer  being the real deal as a prospect ( I hope, but no prospect is a sure thing), Lonnie Chisenhall (I've never been as big of a fan of his as others are) to put up his half season 2017 numbers over an entire 2018 campaign and as mentioned above Brantley to stay healthy and just approach past performance, but he would have added a veteran bat to the depth chart and gave the Indians a little bit of wiggle room.

As for the Giants, I think the Giants are setting the righthanded-hitting Jackson up to share time in center and do not plan on handing him the full-time job there.
I think that they would love for it to be rookie lefty batter Steven Duggar that splits the job with Jackson because they really like Duggar, he'll be cost-conscious (rookie minimum) and he is very strong with the glove.
The question that Duggar brings to spring training is basically this- will he hit enough to be able to carry him right away and will the spring tell the Giants enough to know?
After all- Duggar has a grand total of 59 at-bats above AA ( 54 with AAA Sacramento and 5 with the Giants), so they will need to feel good about that answer either now or later before making the decision to go with Duggar, keep the glove first Gorkys Hernandez (they'd rather not since he's a righthanded hitter like Jackson), mine the dollar store free agent outfielder bin, perhaps sign a 4A type outfielder coming into April or make a trade soon, but no matter the decision, one thing is certain-whatever the decision, it will be someone that bats lefthanded.

Next post- Barring breaking news, I plan on writing about the Browns hiring Todd Haley as the new offensive coordinator and more importantly the play caller...

Rounding the Bases

Lots of news with passings and the inbox has seemingly filled up overnight.
I likely will have a few extra posts over the next day or so on various things,so hopefully those will interesting to some of you.

Two podcasts have been listed already this week and I have another one finished and likely to go up either Friday or the weekend,so keep an eye out for that...

A few baseball moves for the Indians and Giants on tap,but first a few words on the death of Yordano Ventura and Andy Marte in separate accidents in the Dominican Republic.

Ventura was known for his hard throwing and being part of the World Series champion Royals in 2015 and often hit the magic 100 MPH target,while Marte was at one time considered one of the games future stars as a highly touted 3rd base prospect as he rose through the Atlanta system,but never was able to hit as well as projected and wound up as one of those "4A" players that was excellent in AAA,but unable to post similar major league numbers.

As tragic as the loss of these players are,the bigger story is how it has opened my eyes to just how dangerous the roads are in the Dominican Republic.
I mentioned the deaths to Cherie in passing and I was surprised that the first thing that she said was about the horrible driving conditions there.
I looked it up shortly thereafter and this ESPN article by Jerry Crasnick described the situation there perfectly.
It seems like an awful situation and one with no solution in sight....

The Indians added a player that I hoped (In hindsight,I might have hyped that far more than it proved to be worth) that they would add last year to a minor league contract and I have a feeling that this player is going to make the team in outfielder Austin Jackson.
The 30 year old Jackson missed much of last season with an injury (54 games,.254 0 Hr and 18 RBI) with the White Sox,but I suspect Jackson should take up the spot vacated by Rajai Davis and could challenge for the center field position with Tyler Naquin and Abraham Almonte.
The deal pays Jackson 1.5 million if he makes the roster and a maximum of four million,if Jackson hits all incentives.
As some one that has never been an Abraham Almonte fan and having watched the late season stick struggles of Tyler Naquin (The book on him is out),this might be (IF Jackson can stay healthy) a very valuable move for the Wahoos....

Meanwhile in San Francisco,the Giants added two players,one very intriguing and the Baysiders designated another for assignment.
Versatile infielder Ehire Adrianza was designated for assignment after these moves,but would be offered a spring training invite should he clear waivers...

The interesting signing was of Korean third baseman Jae-Gyun Hwang to a minor league deal that would pay him a million and a half,should Hwang make the roster.
Hwang is 29,but this is a very inexpensive chance to take,if Hwang proves to be productive as he could allow Eduardo Nunez to play the super utility "Zobrist" position,if he (and Conor Gillespie) could hold down third base.
Hwang hit .335 with 29 homers in a hitters league with 25 stolen bases and despite being a far from sure thing is an interesting flyer to take for a team that still needs help with the bats...

The Giants also signed veteran Nick Hundley to likely be the backup catcher to Buster Posey.
Hundley hit ten homers in just over eighty games with the Rockies last season,so he does provide some power for the Posey off days and isn't a negative to the point of being afraid to move Posey to first base here and there to keep him from wearing down too much.
Hundley likely has the edge for the job,but the Giants do have last years backup Trevor Brown returning with Tim Federowicz and Josmil Pinto signed to minor league deal to challenge....

So much more to write about we have the passing of Mary Tyler Moore among others,a filled up inbox,new TRS boxing ratings for the year and more!
Stay tuned!!

Austin Jackson-Does he finally tip the scale against the Indians?

I've always tried to be an understanding fan.
Being a fan of Cleveland teams in sports (Particularly non-capped ones),you have to be!
It can be hard to entice players to come to Cleveland in the first place and often the teams (read Indians) are underfunded,but this time I cannot fault the city,pro sports or anything else but the Indians themselves.

The Indians entered the winter with one of best rotations in baseball,but with a desperate need for hitters-particularly at third base and the outfield.
The outfield was a huge need considering only Michael Brantley was an average big league outfielder and the outstanding Brantley's status was considered to be tenuous at best with an injury that was figuring to keep him out of the lineup for a minimum of a month and likely more of the 2016 season.

Cleveland's answer to this was signing aging Mike Napoli to be the first baseman based off a good final month of the season (after a awful rest of it in Boston) in Texas and a spring training sign of another aging player in Juan Uribe-who at 36,245 pounds and losing defensive range by chunks,looks to be perhaps a risk likely to fail.

However,the bigger indictment was the signing of veteran Rajai Davis in the off-season.
Davis signed a one year deal for a nick over five million,which is a little of an overpay,but not outrageous.
However,Jackson is a better player,younger and both would eventually sign for similar deals,but lets not get too far out front yet.
Put aside the questionable decision of Davis,a player that at 35 brings one tool to the table (speed) that is beginning to fade (Steals dropped in half last year 36 to 18) and was a 4th outfielder at his peak and that brings us at the decision to bank on Abraham Almonte.
Again,put aside the eventual PED suspension of Almonte-the Indians didn't know that was coming entering the hot stove league,Look deeper to see why the team banked so much on a career AAA outfielder that put together this line in 51 games at the Jake (.264 ,5 and 20) to begin with,
What about Almonte enabled the Indians to believe that he was the everyday answer to begin with,even with a healthy Michael Brantley,Almonte wasn't anywhere near that type of player.

Which brings us back to Austin Jackson.
Now Austin Jackson's numbers have dipped over the last two years,but I'm willing to excuse that a little by considering he played for three teams in that span and some players are affected more than others by changes in ballparks,leagues etc.
Jackson is younger than Davis (29 to 35) and comparable to Almonte (Jackson turned 29 in January to Almonte turning 27 in June),has better career numbers and has a track record of being able to be a full time starter,which is more than I can say about Davis,Almonte or any of the other players out of the grab bag that the Indians signed in the off season for outfield competition in Collin Cowgill,Joey Butler or the in-house competitors headed to a AAA ballpark near you in Zach Walters, Tyler Naquin and James Ramsey.

When you consider all of the things wrong with the Indians lineup and especially the outfield,one would make an argument that Jackson (still a free agent until yesterday) would have been a nice fit on a one year deal (which he signed with division rival Chicago) and at a cost BELOW that of Davis (five million) for a team in either need or (in my opinion) desperate need would have been an excellent fit.
However,Indians fans saw this "the budget is tight and Jackson would have wanted more to play here than Chicago" and naturally thought-finances,AGAIN.

I'm not going to argue against that,especially considering that for an additional five-six million that the Wahoos would have a much better chance of avoiding dropping to their knees out of the gate,but what I will say is this-The Indians did a poor job of allocating the finances that they did have.
Rajai Davis is not a MLB average starting outfielder and even if Austin Jackson didn't perform up to expectations over his career,I'd still consider him a better player than Davis.
The Indians took what money they had and invested into a guy that looked ready for retirement before a final month in one of the best hitters parks in the game,a mediocre 4th/5th outfielder and then in desperation signed a older player with a slowing bat and a weight problem to address a problem that wasn't even mildly looked at.

Now is the issue that the Indians don't have the funds or don't allocate them properly?
I'd make the argument that it is both.
Combine the two and you have a good reason why the Indians have a tough time pleasing their ardent fans and capturing the casual ones....