Road Trip: Cincinnati

      Upon waking up for day two, I had a general idea of how the early part of the day would be spent.

The morning portion would be in Fairfield, Ohio.

If that sounds familiar, it should as it was the first stop on the Omaha trip earlier in the summer. 

This meant a return to Jungle Jim's International Market, which entails plenty of food shopping to bring home for myself and others.

I've written plenty about Jungle Jim's in the past and all I can say is- you have to experience it to truly understand just how massive the inventory at Jungle Jims truly is.

We drove up the highway for a stop at the Ohio Valley Antique Mall, which Cherie and I drove by on the Omaha trip but we didn't stop so we could hit Hoosier Gym in Indiana.

Ohio Valley was top-notch and I saw a few things that I considered purchasing but walked away without buying anything- although I have some items in mind for my possible return this year!

We decided to drive back to Florence and our hotel but first, we stopped by a place that I had visited before on a trip with Ryan- the replica of Crosley Field, the home of the Cincinnati Reds until 1970.

The town of Blue Ash constructed a scale replica of the dimensions of Crosley Field including a replica scoreboard, an original ticket booth, and some of the original seats at one of their recreational areas.

I find it interesting that near the Crosley location is a field based on Riverfront Stadium to the dimensions of that former Reds home with artificial turf (or a lookalike) as its surface.

We slowly found our way across the Ohio River to Florence and decided to eat (since we hadn't all day) at a place close to the hotel, so we could rest a bit.

The pick was Ford's Garage, a chain based in six states, and one that I had never heard of before.

The motif is automotive with the wait staff wearing mechanics uniforms, and several cars around the building, and the chain has a licensing agreement with the Ford Motor Company to use their name and iconic logo.

I ordered a cheeseburger and they used a brand to place the restaurant logo onto the bun, which I thought was interesting.

After a short respite at the hotel, we drove back to Cincinnati for my first visit inside Great American Ballpark, the home of the Cincinnati Reds.

Ryan and I had stopped by on the mentioned trip earlier but only to check the outside of the stadium as there wasn't a game that day.

One thing that works against me going to major league games is the long walks to get anywhere near the ballpark.

Between my age and weight that gets harder every year but while the walk was lengthy, I don't think I did too badly and I didn't feel any pain from the walk.

When you walk up to GAP, the statues are all in front of the stadium, with a massive team store on the property but not as part of the stadium.

The stadium looms large in front of you as you walk up making it look even larger than it is!

Because we were only watching a few innings and wanted to get back before dark, we bought cheap seats in the upper deck.

I'm odd about heights, I don't mind once I'm at my destination but I'm uneasy about the climbing portion, I'm always worried about tumbling over, and that has been a concern of mine going back to childhood.

The Reds hosted the St.Louis Cardinals and hit three home runs, two by Spencer Steel, in a 6-1 win.

We didn't stay for the entire game as mentioned but we did see all three homers and all the runs that were scored in the game.

I liked Great American Ballpark, maybe a little better than Cleveland's Progressive Field but not as much as Pittsburgh's PNC Park.

The sight lines were good and I've always liked the right field stands overlooking the Ohio River from television viewing.

After we returned to the hotel and rested for the evening, we prepared for the final day of the trip which will include a stop at the independent Frontier League' Florence Ya'lls.

Giants add Gennett, deal others.

The trade deadline trades that one might have thought that Farhan Zaidi would have been making even a month ago didn't occur, but that didn't mean that the San Francisco Giants stood idle at the deadline as the team attempted to add to their offense for their post-July playoff try and yet still moved some players to gain for the future as well.

The one trade that added to the current roster could be a major addition with some luck as the Giants sent the always ambiguous "Cash Considerations" to the Cincinnati Reds for veteran second baseman Scooter Gennett.
Gennett (29) has struggled to a .212 average without a homer in sixty-six at-bats after missing much of the season with a severe groin strain suffered in an Arizona spring training game.
While Gennett has been having his problems at the plate since returning to the Reds lineup, his previous two seasons in Cincinnati saw his hitting leap forward after what had been an average career with the Milwaukee Brewers with averages of over .290 in both seasons, a combined total of fifty homers and 189 RBI.
Gennett will likely replace Joe Panik at second base, mainly because I cannot imagine the Giants bringing Gennett in, only to sit him behind Panik, who is hitting just .231 as of this writing,
Gennett is a free agent at the end of the season, but to add a potential All-Star level bat for what seems to be as simple as paying Gennett (who is making just under ten million for 2019) his salary for the rest of the season is a low cost in talent terms and well worth the risk even considering his recent struggles.

The Giants didn't only make trades to add to the rosters, they made three to add talent to their upper minor league levels-all of these trades would send away relievers, but none of the top relievers were moved as both Will Smith and Tony Watson would stay after being mentioned often as trade bait for contenders for months.
The Giants have drafted well over the last two seasons and their lower-level teams have several potential quality players, but their AA (Richmond) and AAA (Sacramento) are downright bereft of position players.

The first of these trades would see San Francisco trade pitchers Drew Pomerantz off the main roster and Ray Black from AAA Sacramento to the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for AAA shortstop Mauricio Dubon.
Dubon, a 25 year old from Honduras and the third-rated prospect in the Brewers system, was acquired by Milwaukee from Boston in 2016 and made his major league with the Brewers earlier in July, batting twice before being returned to AAA San Antonio, where Dubon was hitting .297 with 15 homers and nine steals this season after missing much of the 2018 season with an ACL that was torn during a rundown.
Dubon was carrying a 23 game hitting streak when that injury occurred and seems to be ready to see if his bat will play in the big leagues.
Dubon's glove is not reported to be an issue and his hit tool has always thought to be above average and while some questioned his power, his 15 homers in a pitchers park might be a sign that despite the juiced ball, Dubon could be growing into having at least average pop.

Drew Pomerantz was signed in the off-season to be a back of the rotation arm and in 17 starts struggled to a 2-8 record with an ERA over five.
However, the lefthander had pitched well in his four appearances since moving to the bullpen, allowing only one hit in five innings and Milwaukee must have liked what they've seen, considering what they gave for a reliever that can return to free agency at the end of the season.
Ray Black has always been a player that showed a lot of talent but never seemed to get a break, either from the Giants or injury, Black, who throws over 100 MPH, never was able to have that breakthrough.
The 29-year-old pitched only two innings for the Giants this season, allowing one run as he spent most of the season in AAA Sacramento, where he was 1-0 with a 5.23 ERA in 23 innings, where as always, Black struck out plenty of batters, this time 36 of them.
I'm sorry to see Ray Black leave, but perhaps it was time for Black to have a chance somewhere else.
Besides that, I'll always have that great Ray Black story.

The Giants would also move reliever Mark Melancon to the Braves for two pitchers.
Melancon, who signed a big contract in 2017 when the Giants were expected to contend and instead finished with the worst record in the National League,was then injured, managed to bounce back with two solid seasons, although he received closer money ( a total of sixty-two million) to be a solid reliever in a non-closing capacity.

The surprising part of this trade was that San Francisco managed to make Atlanta pick up the final year of Melancon's contract in full at fourteen million dollars for 2020.
That alone makes the trade worth making, but the Giants added a prospect in Tristan Beck, the Braves fourth-rounder in 2018 from Stanford.
Beck has started eight games for Atlanta's High A team in Florida with a high ERA of 5.65 but has struck out 39 in 36 innings for the Fire Frogs.
Beck's a little old for that level (23) and those struggles are a bit concerning, but Beck has good command and is pretty polished as a college product and considering he was part of Atlanta's taking all of Mark Melancon's contract, he's well worth a flier.
Beck has not been assigned anywhere as of this writing, but my guess is he'll be sent to High A San Jose.
Veteran Dan Winkler was tossed into the deal as well as a reclamation project.
Winkler pitched very well for Atlanta in 2017 and 18 but has not pitched well this season (2-1 4.98 ERA) and was sent to AAA Gwinnett, where he pitched just as bad (0-1 4.86 ERA).
At 29, relievers can be quite inconsistent and capable of bouncing back as well as falling apart, so even though Winkler is arbitration-eligible over the winter, one never knows if Winkler can be turned around in either the short or long term.

The final of the deals was with the Minnesota Twins as one of those reliever reclamation projects that worked out as the Giants sent Sam Dyson to Minnesota for three minor leaguers.
Dyson, who was dominant for Texas in 2015 and 2016 and then flew off the rails in 2017 with an ERA of over ten before being acquired by the Giants, tuned a bit and returned to his previous level (4-1 2.47 ERA in 49 appearances), so gambling on relievers that have fallen on hard times can be a lucrative proposition when such pitchers work out.
The 2017 addition and subsequent revitalization of Dyson paid with three players that are far from sure things, but if one works out, the gift keeps on giving.

The main addition appears to be 25-year-old outfielder Jaylin Davis, who has broken out into prospect status with four excellent months between AA Pensacola and AAA Rochester with a combined 25 homers and a .298 average between the two Twins affiliates.
Davis does have issues with strikeouts as he has fanned 110 times already this season and the big question is this- is the power legit or is it a product of the juiced baseball with AAA using the exact same baseball as the major leagues?
The answer to that question will determine whether Davis can contribute to the big club or will be just another AA/AAA hired gun.

Kai-Wei Teng is pitching well at the low A level (Cedar Rapids) with a 4-0 record and an ERA under two in eight starts, plus at 20 Teng is young for the level, so he appears that he could be a surprise in the making.
Teng may very well be, but his strikeout rates aren't excessively high (49 in 50 innings) and this could be a case of a polished pitcher with good breaking stuff overwhelming young hitters that doesn't hold up as the pitcher rises to other levels.
Strikeouts per innings pitched is my favorite stat when looking at the lower minors because usually if you aren't missing bats in low A, pitchers don't start missing them at double or triple-A.
Still, those are strong numbers and Teng is someone to at least keep an eye on.

The other player is also a pitcher, but this one is the proverbial shot in the dark with 19-year-old Dominican native Prelander Berroa, who has made seven starts in the Twins Appalachian League team in Elizabethton.
Berroa has an ERA of over four and a half but has struck out 37 in 31 innings, but his 2018 numbers in the Gulf Coast League are what raises eyebrows with 41 K's in 29 innings, an ERA of 2.43 and allowed only eight earned runs.
The numbers aren't deep enough yet to know for sure, but I wouldn't be ready to cast Berroa as just a throw-in, he could eventually be what stands out from this trade.

One has to like what the Giants were able to do considering their fringe contender status.
They added a possible All-Star level bat for the cost of paying him for the final two months of the year., added a potential eventual starter in the infield, dumped an expensive contract and added three interesting young arms as well.
No complaints here considering what they traded and what they had invested in those assets, I think the Giants did well for what they wanted to accomplish.

Indians spin the wheel in three team deal

The Cleveland Indians decided not to wait for the final day of trading and pulled their big swap on the night before in a three-team trade that saw several players changing locations.

The Indians added two power-hitting outfielders for the stretch run in adding Franmil Reyes from San Diego and Yasiel Puig from Cincinnati, two pitching prospects in Logan Allen from the Padres and Scott Moss from the Reds and a young infielder that played in the Arizona Rookie League for the San Diego team entry in Victor Nova.

The cost of this haul?
Trevor Bauer (to the Reds, while the Padres portion saw them add minor league outfield prospect Taylor Trammell) from the starting rotation.
That's all, but it's huge "that's all" for a team trying to contend for the AL Central title and that now has their top three starters entering the season currently either traded or injured (Corey Kluber and Carlos Carrasco).
Bauer was under control of the Indians for only the 2020 season but could have once again taken the team to arbitration where Bauer was the winner in last winter's case and would have been a free agent following the 2020 season.
Bauer notched a record of 9-8 this season for Cleveland with an ERA of 3.79 in 24 starts and was considered to be the best-righthanded starter available at the trade deadline.
Bauer's incident in his last start that saw him fire the ball from the mound over the outfield batters eye after being removed from the game might have been the difference in listening to offers and feeling that the Indians had to make a deal.
Bauer is a talented pitcher, with temperamental quirks that might make him a player that is best suited to a team in small doses of a few years before he wears out his welcome and that seems to be the case in Cleveland.

The Indians return was vast and interesting on a few different levels.
The biggest name is the mercurial Yasiel Puig, who was hitting .252 with 22 homers, 61 RBI and 14 steals for the Reds in 2019.
The right-handed hitting outfielder is a free agent at the end of the season and is more than likely a rental player for the remainder of 2019.
Puig will play right field for the Indians but may miss a few of his initial games with Cleveland as in his last night with the Reds, Puig was involved in a brawl with the Pirates and could be facing a suspension.
At 28 years old, Puig will be likely on his best behavior and will be motivated for his first swing at free agency, so Puig is more than capable of a strong performance down the stretch.

The main piece of the trade is someone that I have thought for quite a while would be an excellent fit with the Indians as outfielder Franmil Reyes will slot in as the Indians DH for the remainder of the season.
I have written (and tweeted) about my desire for the Indians (or Giants) to acquire or re-acquire Clint Frazier at the trade deadline with both teams need for a young outfielder with plus power that would be under the team's control for several years, but Franmil Reyes was my clear second choice to fill that need.
The 24-year-old has already hit 27 homers this season, hitting. 255 on a San Diego team that had a surplus of young outfielders with power.
Reyes is going to provide power and with the juiced ball in play, Reyes has the type of pop that could see him slam forty homers and his power for a righthanded hitter plays well to all fields, which should see him have success in Jacobs Field.
Reyes is under the Indians control through 2024 and therefore affordable, but he does have some flaws.
Reyes is a below-average runner at 24, he won't get faster as ages and he's below-average defensively so that won't improve very much either, although hard work and positioning could help him a little.
Still, young yet somewhat proven power bats like Reyes aren't often swapped in trades with that amount of years to be used by their new team and Franmil Reyes is exactly what the Indians lack with their current young players.

The Indians also added two lefthanded pitchers with intrigue in Logan Allen and Scott Moss.
Allen, who was assigned to AAA Columbus, was regarded as a top 100 level prospect entering the season and posted a 2-3 record with a 6.75 ERA in eight games with San Diego, starting four of them.
Allen pitched very well in his first two starts, but was hammered in his following two and had been returned to AAA El Paso where he was 4-3 with a surprisingly high ERA of 5.15 in 13 starts in the West Texas town.
Allen is not an exceptionally gifted thrower and gets by with guile and deception more than throwing pure gas.
Allen just turned 22, so it did seem like the Padres were moving him a bit prematurely to the bigs after not having really conquered AAA yet, but he still should eventually be a solid 4th or 5th starter type for the Indians.

The 6'5 Moss, a 4th rounder from 2016 and the University of Florida, was 6-5 with a 3.44 ERA in twenty starts this year for Cincinnati's AA affiliate, the Chattanooga Lookouts.
Moss struck out 127 batters and walked 57 in 102 innings and was rated as the 12th best prospect in the Reds system before the trade by MLB Pipeline.
Moss has been projected as a 4th or 5th starter or a long reliever capable of filling in as a starter.
Moss was assigned to AA Akron.

The final player was the proverbial lottery ticket in Victor Nova, a 19-year-old infielder, who was playing for the AZL Padres.
Nova was mainly playing third base, but also spent time in the outfield in his AZL season, where he was hitting.330 with a homer in 91 at-bats.
Nova is just 5'9 and at that size, Nova may be tried eventually at second.
Nova stayed in the AZL, moving to the Indians squad there.

Here's my take: The Indians gained several players here, yet didn't fall into the total quantity over quality department such as when the Orioles last year traded Manny Machado to the Dodgers for one prospect in the Dodgers top ten (but not top five) and four players from 15-30.
Whereas the Indians didn't land one of the Padres top five prospects from a loaded San Diego program, Franmil Reyes more than counts as equal to that level considering his age and MLB time, they still landed Reyes, Logan Allen (top ten Padres), Scott Moss (top 15 Reds), a lottery ticket that they must have seen something worthwhile in Victor Nova and the veteran bat for a postseason run in Yasiel Puig.
I don't think that this could have been topped, especially considering that Trevor Bauer might have been a player that, for all his ability, Cleveland could not keep, and even though the minor leaguers involved might not be elite prospects, Chris Antonelli and the Indians have made what seems to be an excellent deal for deals of these types.

Well, that took longer than I expected and I still have to work on the final day's trades, where the Giants finished a few deals, importing a few players and exported a few as well, while the Pirates made one minor transaction.

I'll be working on those trades in the next post.

Frank Robinson

Hall of Famer Frank Robinson passed away yesterday at the age of 83 from bone cancer.
Robinson played for five teams, with his best seasons with Cincinnati and Baltimore and won the 1966 Triple Crown in his first season with the World Champion Orioles.

Robinson was the first player to win the MVP award in both leagues (1961 Cincinnati and 1966 Baltimore), made the All-Star team fourteen times and hit 586 home runs in an era filled with dominant pitchers.
Robinson is also remembered for being the first African-American manager in the big leagues with the Cleveland Indians in 1975, a post he held until midway through the 1977 season.
Robinson would later manage the Giants, Orioles and the Expos/Nationals, piloting the Expos through their final three seasons in Canada and the Nationals first two years in Washington.

As a player. Robinson was always thought of as a great one in his time but often wasn't thought of first among his peers.
That is far from an insult considering those peers were players named Mays, Aaron, Clemente to name just a few, but it shows that not only did Robinson play in smaller cities and that he wasn't always the most media-friendly player either.
Still, Robinson was a player and manager for that matter, that didn't suffer fools lightly and it showed.
One of the major issues with Robinson in managing the Indians (besides the Indians being an average team at best) was his dealings with Gaylord Perry, who was the best player that the Indians had at the time and Perry was eventually dealt to the Rangers before Robinson's first season was complete.
Robinson's hiring was a major news story with the above cover of the monthly SPORT magazine shows (Wearing the hat that I hope the Indians would consider using with the absence of Chief Wahoo) at the time as his hiring gained far more publicity than a lower division team in Cleveland would have received.

The 1956 Rookie of the Year, Robinson slugged 38 homers and would only hit less than 29 homers once in his first twelve years in the league (21 in 1963), but yet isn't always remembered as a master of the long ball despite his career numbers and the as noted 586 career homers.
Robinson was a better runner than is recalled as he finished with double figures in steals in nine of his first ten seasons in an era where the stolen base was not nearly as common as it would become in the artificial turf era.
Robinson won the 1961 MVP with a dominant season (.323 37 HR 124 RBI and a career-high 22 steals to lead the Reds to what would be their only pennant between 1940 and 1970, but what isn't always remembered is Robinson's follow-up campaign in 1962 when he exceeded his MVP season (.342 39 HR 136 RBI and a league-leading 51 doubles), but finished only fourth in the MVP voting.

Following the 1965 season at Crosley Field that saw his typical strong statistics ( .296, 33 HR and 113 RBI), Robinson, at the age of 30, was traded to Baltimore for three players, most notably pitcher Milt Pappas with one of the most memorable quotes by a GM ever as Reds general manager Bill DeWitt claimed that Robinson was an "old 30".
Robinson led Baltimore to the World Championship as he won the Triple Crown with Pappas, a solid, but far from an elite pitcher, winning 28 games in the two seasons that he spent in Cincinnati.

Baltimore would win the American League for three seasons in a row from 1969-71, winning the 1970 Series in five games over Robinson's former club in Cincinnati.
Following the 1971 series in which the Orioles lost in seven to the Pittsburgh Pirates, Robinson was again at the center of a puzzling trade.
Robinson hit well at 35 for Baltimore in 1971 (.281, 28 HR 99 RBI), but was traded to the Dodgers for a four-player package headed by pitcher Doyle Alexander, who would be part of another memorable trade 16 years later when Alexander was traded to Detroit by Atlanta for a minor leaguer.
Alexander would win nine games without a defeat to help the Tigers down the stretch to win the American League East title, but the minor leaguer was Hall of Famer John Smoltz.

Robinson would struggle in his lone season as a Dodger as he hit only .251 (19 homers) in 103 games and feuded with manager Walter Alston.
Robby would bounce back with 30 homers in a season spent as the DH for the California Angels in the initial year of the position.
Robinson would be traded to Cleveland late in 1974 with the surprising Indians on the edge of contention until September and would be named player/manager to start the 1975 season.

Robinson started himself as DH to start the season and wearing those fire engine red uniforms of the time, hit a home run on Opening Day before hitting only .237 with nine homers in 118 at bats.
Robinson would bat 67 times in 1976, adding three homers to his final stats before concentrating on managing the Tribe.
Robinson was the opposite as expected, relating well to the younger players such as Dennis Eckersley, Rick Manning, and Duane Kuiper, but battled with veterans such as Gaylord Perry, John Ellis and Rico "The Big Man" Carty.
Robinson would fare better in future managing stops, often when teams least expected it as he kept the 82 Giants in the NL West race until late in the season, finished second with the 89 Orioles after they had won only 54 games the season before and finished second with the league-owned and shoestring budget Expos in 2002.

Frank Robinson also might have the record for most statues outside stadiums ( I didn't check anyone else!) as he has statues of his likeness outside the parks in Cincinnati, Baltimore and Cleveland.

One of the toughest players of his time and one of the best ever, it's hard to believe that you can be in the Hall of Fame with tremendous performance and still be underrated, yet that is the legacy of Frank Robinson, who might be remembered best simply as a ballplayer that doesn't come along every day.