Minor League Fantasy Draft- Round Three- Deivi Garcia

The fantasy draft steamed into round three and I needed a pitcher or two to keep the system even in numbers.

The choice was Deivi Garcia, a right-handed pitcher from the New York Yankees system and I was pretty pleased to select Garcia among a small group of pitchers that I was looking at for this pick and later in the draft.

The right-hander from the Dominican Republic made fifteen starts last season at three levels, Low A Charleston, High A Tampa, and AA Trenton.
Garcia made just one start in Trenton, but pitched five innings without allowing a hit and striking out seven.


Garcia turns 20 in May and since he made only six starts at Tampa, I'd normally think that he would start the season there, but his six starts in Florida saw Garcia strike out 35 in 28 innings and finish with an ERA of 1.27, so there is the possibility that the Yankees may decide to start Garcia at AA with the Thunder.


Garcia is noted to throw in the mid 90's, but he is more than just a fireballer as his curveball is just as good at this time.
Garcia also has the motion that brings to mind the exaggerated windup's of Luis Tiant or Johnny Cueto that creates deception for the hitter and there is one point to add and it's a huge one for possible future success- Garcia throws strikes.
Sounds simple, but for a 19-year-old at three levels to strike out 105 and walk only twenty in seventy plus innings that shows the type of maturity that you don't always see from a young pitcher.

There is one concern, which is a slight frame at 5'10 and only 163 (pretty specific there) pounds.
Smallish pitchers don't always seem to have the length of career that larger pitchers have, but they often are dominant during their peak.
Deivi Garcia's size does give me a little pause, but the scouting reports are glowing and even though there is a risk, it's possible that Garcia could have the highest potential of any pitcher in this draft.

Deadline- Pirates move infielders

The Pittsburgh Pirates have fallen out of the wild-card race after losing seven of ten games and since they are now five games under .500, the time was right for a move or two.

Pittsburgh traded veteran third baseman David Freese to the Dodgers for minor league infielder Jesus Manuel Valdez in a deal that will help the contending Dodgers with a player that can play third or first and hits lefties very well.
Freese hit .282 with nine homers for the Pirates this season and is exactly the type of players that contenders go and get for the playoff run.

As far as the player coming from the Dodgers is concerned, I know next to nothing about Jesus Manuel Valdez other than he's an infielder, turns 21 in December and was playing for the Dodgers Dominican league team.
20 is pretty old to play at that level, where Valdez hit. 230 with six homers and stole 16 bases, so even terming him a lottery tickey is a major stretch for the Pirates, who must have seen something in him.

In the other deal, Adeiny Hechavarria made his stay in Pittsburgh a brief one, as the Pirates traded him to the New York Yankees for a player to be named later or cash (Care to guess which one the Nutting's will take?).
Hechavarria lasted just 15 games after being acquired from Tampa Bay, hitting .233 and a homer.
Hechavarria is expected to provide infield protection against further injury to Didi Gregorius, who has struggled with a heel injury of late.
That is a minor transaction, but I'd still rather have a longshot prospect than a check, which the Pirates usually prefer.

Whew, Now that I have caught up on baseball moves, it's time to look at the Browns cuts and additions as they prep for Pittsburgh.
I do have a few problems with those roster changes, so I will have plenty to say next time!

Deadline: Giants trade Andrew McCutchen

The San Francisco Giants traded for Andrew McCutchen as they thought they could contend for the postseason in 2018.
The Giants mildly contended, but for the most part, hung around the .500 mark and nearing the deadline for making waiver trades, did what teams that aren't contenders should do- move players that they can't or won't be keeping for the next season.

The Giants traded Andrew McCutchen to the New York Yankees in return for two minor leaguers- shortstop Abi Avelino and pitcher Juan DePaula.
McCutchen hit .255 with 15 homers and 55 RBI with the Giants and despite numbers that show McCutchen to possibly be in decline, please remember that AT&T Park is definitely a pitcher's park so it would not surprise me to see McCutchen do well with the Yankees in a league that he would be new to playing.

The Giants aren't getting top prospects in return, but both players were in Baseball America's Top 30 in the Yankees system.
The 23 year old Avelino looked to be just another organizational soldier entering the 2018 season for his third stint (Avelino had spent parts of 2016 and 17 there) at AA Trenton before a career season that re-ignited prospect status for the Dominican native.
Avelino hit .337 with 10 homers (both career highs) with 15 steals in 49 games with the Thunder before a promotion to AAA Scranton, where he hit .252 with 5 homers along with 10 steals for the Yankees in 74 games.
The AAA numbers were more in line with his numbers over the course of his minor league career, although the power was increased as his previous high for homers in a season was six and he hit five in AAA alone.
The increase makes Avelino a bit more intriguing, but the sudden numbers leap under the circumstances give me some pause to consider Avelino a true prospect as of this writing.
Avelino was assigned to AAA Sacramento to finish the last few games of the season and I'm not sure if he will be included in the September roster expansion or not.

Whenever you are trading and receive a young Latino pitcher that is toiling in the low minors, one has to realize that you are buying a lottery ticket.
It's a long shot mainly because young pitchers from outside the U.S. often do not have the statistical base to consider them as prospects or not.
The data to help determine that status will eventually arrive, but it isn't always available to decide when you are making the deal.
The Giants acquired one of these young unknowns from Boston last year in Gregory Santos in a trade that sent Eduardo Nunez to the Red Sox and they are returning to that well with Juan DePaula in this deal with the Yankees.
The soon to be 21 year old DePaula has spent the last two seasons with the Yankees short-season affiliate in Staten Island and pitched well enough looking at the 2017 stats (5-5 2.90 and an opposing batting average of .191 in 11 starts) that one would think that he deserved a full season assignment to their Low A team in Charleston for 2018.
That did not arrive (Perhaps he was injured?) and he was 2-2 with an ERA under two in nine Staten Island starts.
The 6'3 165 pound DePaula was obtained by the Yankees from Seattle in 2016 in a trade for Ben Gamel, works in the low 90's and used the curve and change from reports.
In other words, don't bet on him, but there is some upside there if the ticket comes in.

Trades like this take a while to sift through, so the results are unknown for now, but the Giants should have been doing more of these deals to bolster a less than strong farm system.

I still have a look waiting at the Pirates trades at the deadline and the Browns roster shuffling as well before we resume the road trip series...

It's over- Cleveland's Soul Crushing Game Five loss

A tremendous season came to a crushing end as Didi Gregorius hit two homers off Cleveland starter Corey Kluber in the first three innings and the New York Yankees won game five of the ALDS 5-2 in Cleveland, taking the series with them to Houston to play the Astros.
The Indians would cut the lead to 3-2 in the fifth on consecutive RBI singles by Roberto Perez and Giovanni Urshela but would threaten no more against the Yankee bullpen.
Back with more soon from the Hot Stove.

Smoke Signals

1) Not a lot of excuses, but there were some reasons for this loss.
It really did come down to two balls hit in game three.
The Yankees Greg Bird's hit left the ballpark and stayed out.
Francisco Lindor's left the park, but Aaron Judge brought it back in.
Difference between moving on and moving out.

2) Now, I cannot explain how Corey Kluber pitched so well all season and then came up very short in his two playoff starts.
Kluber just didn't have it when they needed him and I'm not sure why.
I can give Kluber a mild pass for game two on somewhat short rest, but Kluber had no such excuse on this day.

3) The Indians did score twice and had the tying run on second with just one out in the fifth.
Francisco Lindor then banged into a double play and that essentially ended the Cleveland offense/

4) Cleveland just wasn't patient at the plate as they swung way too early in the count and allowed Joe Girardi to stick with just David Robertson and Aroldis Chapman from the bullpen.
Yankee pitchers threw 130 to Indian pitchers 177 and the difference was most glaring in the Yankee ninth when Brett Gardner wore Cody Allen down before singling home one run with the final run scoring on the same play on an error on an overthrow.

5) Top three hitters in the Indians lineup for the series-Francisco Lindor .111, Jason Kipnis .182 and Jose Ramirez .100.
Tough time of the year to have the top of your lineup get that cold and other than Lindor's homer in game two, the Indians received next to nothing from those players.

6) It didn't have an effect on the game, but what in the world when you are down to your final five outs and the season is on the line, why is lefty hitter Jason Kipnis being allowed to face the fearsome lefty Aroldis Chapman?
Chapman predictably dispatched Kipnis easily.
Not on Kipnis, being placed in that situation is on Terry Francona.

7) So many are now wondering about the record-setting winning streak contributing to the loss and I'd hesitate to blame that completely, but I would say this, sometimes it is possible for a team to use things up.
Not like karma or anything like that, but players are streaky and in an unusual run such as that, several Indians played great and all players have their good runs and bad runs.
Sometimes it's as simple as you are due.

8) And sometimes, there are no explanations other than the other team was better.
Maybe it's just that simple this time- The Yankees were the better team over five games.

9) And this is sour grapes of course, but this is one of the reasons that I hate the Wild Card among many.
I hate the Wild Card, to begin with, but baseball makes it far too easy for the Wild Card to overcome any obstacles.
I was talking about how to fix things after baseball inevitably moves to 32 teams with Fred Landucci and I think the best way is 4 four-team divisions in each league and punt the wild card.

10) I might be doing a pre-Hot Stove series for the Indians, Giants and Pirates, but for now- here are the Indians free agents. We'll see who stays and who goes.
Hitters: Jay Bruce, Carlos Santana, Austin Jackson, Michael Brantley
Pitchers: Bryan Shaw, Joe Smith, Craig Breslow, Boone Logan
Brantley and Logan are team options.
Logan is unlikely at seven million, if picked up with a one million buyout.
Brantley is a maybe at eleven million and it might depend on who they can keep of Bruce and/or Santana.

Fielding Failures plague Wahoo's in Game 4 Loss.

Photo Courtesy Cleveland Plain Dealer

The Cleveland Indians were the American League's best fielding team, but on Monday night, they sure didn't show with four errors and six unearned runs in game four of the ALDS against the New York Yankees.
Those results went a long way towards Cleveland's 7-3 loss and a tied series with the game five that will decide the series Wednesday night in Cleveland.
The pitchers will be a rematch of game two with Corey Kluber for Cleveland and CC Sabathia for New York.
Carlos Santana hit a two-run homer and Roberto Perez smacked a solo shot to account for all of Cleveland's runs.

Smoke Signals

1) On the surface, Trevor Bauer would appear to have pitched in bad luck in his less than two-inning start.
All four of Bauer's runs allowed were unearned, but some of the damage was of his own making.
With one on and one run scored, Bauer still had two out and just needed to retire Aaron Hicks.
Bauer couldn't and after the Hicks single both Brett Gardner and Aaron Judge smacked base hits and the game was 4-0.

2) The crowd in Yankee Stadium was loud and I was surprised about how it was so loud on the television.
I only watched a little bit with sound (I was doing Fightheads at the time, so the TV was on mute), but the stadium was very loud-Cleveland can hopefully match that environment on Wednesday.

3) The game started in a hard rain that died off as the game moved on, but I was surprised that the game started under those conditions.
I know there are other things involved in these decisions, but I thought that a short delay might have been a good idea...

4) Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez have got to get their bats started and hopefully on Wednesday.
Lindor did hit the huge homer in game two, but even figuring that in, Lindor is hitting .091 for the series and Ramirez is flailing away with little plate patience with his .118 average.
It'll be fingers crossed that those key players pick it up back in Cleveland.

5) Giovanni Urshela's value is for his defense and his two errors make you wonder, if on Wednesday for game five, the Indians might consider Jason Kipnis at second, Jose Ramirez at third and maybe Austin Jackson in center or maybe a real gamble with rookie Greg Allen.

6) How will the Indians react for game five?
I do know how the star-crossed Indians fans are looking at things.
Worrying about did the long winning streak mean that the Indians peaked too soon?
Closing windows, etc and more-almost anything other than a one-game series.
I have some feelings about the wild card to begin with, let's hope that a win Wednesday will not lead to a whiny post from me after the game about hating the wild card!
Go Tribe.

Bird blast saves Yankees in 1-0 Game 3 win

Photo Courtesy:Cleveland Plain Dealer

Greg Bird's blast in the seventh inning off the usually unhittable Andrew Miller provided the only run of the game and allowed the New York Yankees to survive in the ALDS with a 1-0 game three win.
Miller was the losing pitcher and the loss wasted five and two-thirds shutout innings from starting pitcher Carlos Carrasco.
Game four is tonight in New York with the Indians returning game one starter Trevor Bauer to the hill with the Yankees countering with Luis Severino, who pitched less than an inning in his wild card start vs Minnesota.

Smoke Signals

1) Why not a picture of the only run scored of the game?
I wasn't able to find one of Greg Bird swinging!
Consider the odds of the most terrifying lefthanded pitcher in the game against a lefty swinger and then hitting a homer?
Long odds!
That said, Miller put a ball over the plate that was perfect to pull and Bird was able to thump it into the second deck.
Unlikely, but much of the game is taking advantage of another's mistake...

2) Cleveland almost won the game and series in the sixth inning when Francisco Lindor hit a ball that seemed destined to leave the park and lift the Indians to a 2-0 lead.
It did leave the park, but the problem was that the one player tall enough to pull that in was playing right field in 6'7 Aaron Judge, who made a great play keeping the ball in the stadium and saving the lead, game, and series all with one play.
If Cleveland loses this series, remember that play.

3) Cannot complain about Carlos Carrasco, who missed last years playoff run due to injury.
Carrasco struck out seven and allowed just three hits in five and two-thirds innings before loading the bases in the sixth and leaving the game.
Carrasco pitched very well and gave signs that should the Indians move on in the playoffs, Carrasco might be the bully of the rotation.

4) Andrew Miller did take allow the homer and take the loss, but remember that it was Miller that got the Indians to that point with his sixth inning pop-up against Starlin Castro with the bases loaded.
Miller isn't going to lose often, but anyone can be beaten on one pitch.

5) Masahiro Tanaka was downright nasty in his seven innings with a split finger fastball that was on the money.
Tanaka was only really threatened by Lindor's shot to right field and gave an effort that exceeded that of Carlos Carrasco as he made it through seven.

6) Onto game four and Trevor Bauer on short rest.
The Indians feel Bauer on short rest is better than Corey Kluber on short rest and the statistics bear that out, but I do wonder why the Tribe didn't consider one of the three starters that are playoff relievers in Josh Tomlin, Danny Salazar or Mike Clevenger.
The bright side to the Bauer decision is that if he gets knocked out early, the Indians have three guys capable of picking up the slack for multiple innings.

I'm going to be back later with the Devils Columbus Day matinee in Buffalo and later-game four!

Indians rise from the mat-win Game Two in 13 Innings!

After five innings of play, things couldn't have looked bleaker for the Cleveland Indians.
The Wahoos trailed 8-3, their likely Cy Young award-winning pitcher had been knocked around, their leader in home runs had injured an ankle and it looked like they would be traveling to New York tied in the series and needing to win one of two, just to come back to Cleveland.

However, as Howard Cosell used to say "BUT, NO" as Francisco Lindor crushed a grand slam (1) in the sixth inning off the foul pole to trim the lead to a manageable 8-7 and return legitimate hope to Tribe fans.
Hope springs eternal as entering the bottom of the eighth, the one run was holding up and time was drawing shorter for the Indians.
Once again, cue Cosell- "BUT, NO"- it's Jay Bruce stepping up and slamming the game-tying homer (2) and we are tied with free baseball to come.
I'll add more in Smoke Signals, but the stage was set for the bottom of the 13th when Austin Jackson singled, stole second and scored on Yan Gomes base hit down the third base line for a 9-8 Indians win.
Josh Tomlin was the winning pitcher after throwing the final two innings.
Cleveland can win the series Sunday night at 7;30 as Carlos Carrasco will start for the Indians against Masahiro Tanaka for the Yankees.

Smoke Signals

1) What a game.
The game lasted over five hours and didn't have a delay.
I tweeted ( after the first three innings lasted close to two hours) that at this rate, I would be going to work before it was over.
Sure enough- It was not over until I was on my way to work.

2) My last tweet before work?
The Indians will win this while I am in the car- that is usually how it works.
However, if that is what it takes to win- No problem at all.

3) The Indians usually set things up correctly, but Corey Kluber is a creature of habit and doesn't pitch well on short rest.
Kluber didn't pitch well today either, but the gamble, in the end, paid off with Cleveland getting a win on a Kluber start day.
And that means that Kluber is on track to pitch on proper rest for the rest of the playoffs and that might mean bad news for the opponents of the men of Lake Erie.

4) The worst news (worse than a bad start from Corey Kluber) in this one was the injury to the ankle of Edwin Encarnacion as he hustled back to second after a liner by Jay Bruce was caught by Didi Gregorius.
The length of loss is still unknown, but the diagnosis was a big sprain, so you have to hope that it is not too severe, but the Indians might be able to survive for a bit with Michael Brantley.
Still, that is 38 home runs that are no longer in the lineup.

5) I also thought it was a little bit of poor sportsmanship by Joe Girardi to challenge the play on Encarnacion as he writhed on the ground in agony.
I understand you are paid to win and I'll give him a pass on the appeal (which his team won), that is what he's paid for, but unless the time to appeal is rolling during the injury, I thought it was poor taste in timing otherwise.

6) And baseball can be a funny game and maybe someone tweaked Girardi for that call in the sixth.
With two outs, two on and the Tribe trailing by five, Lonnie Chisenhall appeared to be brushed by a pitch by Chad Green, which loaded the bases for Francisco Lindor.
Upon "further review", which meant super slow motion.zoom etc, the ball might have hit the knob of Chisenhall's bat and the Yankees might have won the appeal, but Girardi didn't appeal it.
That decision would cost the Yankees...

7) I don't want to go as far as to say I called Francisco Lindor's grand slam, but I thought there was a
possibility and not just because of his ability as a hitter.
I've been a Lindor fan from the first time that I saw him play, he's charismatic and he has a flair for the moment.
Such players step up on the stage and shine - that's Francisco Lindor.

8) I'll have to tell my two favorite interactions with Lindor sometime, but what resides beneath the smile of Lindor is a competitor.
I listened to some of the game on the Indians network and Andre Knott was talking about the look that Lindor gave him after Knott told him of the day that Lindor's friend off the field and rival on the field for the title of best shortstop in the league-Carlos Correa had vs the Red Sox.
You can wonder how long the Indians can keep such a player as Francisco Lindor over the long haul, but while we have him in Cleveland, he'll be going all out all the time.

9) Jay Bruce may not be in Cleveland after this postseason (think we can talk him into staying?), but he continues to punish the ball in big situations.
Bruce has always been a player that the SABR crowd hasn't cared for but produced numbers for both the Reds and Mets that the old guard could wrap their heads around.
Bruce might be beyond the Indians budget, but the Indians should try with a high dollar, short-term deal.

10) Yan Gomes has disappointed me since signing a large contract, but on this night, Gomes was a star and not even for the game-winning hit.
The play of the game by Gomes was coming up throwing in the eleventh to pick off pinch runner Ronald Torreyes.
That play not only took a Yankee out of scoring position but it also for the first time seemed to make the Yankees psyche sag...

11) The Indians winning this game is one that fans might look back on and say at that moment that it became clear that this was the "team of destiny" moment.
Most championships have that moment and this could have been Cleveland's.

12) As for the Yankees, they do get two games at home, but this loss has to be devastating to them.
I'm not sure great teams can get off the mat after a loss such as this, let alone a wild-card team.
New York will get their chance, but it's going to take a lot of moxie to win three games in a row against a 102 win team, let alone under these circumstances....

Back later with the boxing challenge, Eubank vs Yildrim in the World Boxing Super Series and Ohio State's homecoming vs Maryland.

Bauer & Bruce star-Indians win Game One ALDS

Trevor Bauer allowed just two hits in six and two-thirds innings, striking out eight and Jay Bruce blasted a home run and finished with three RBI on the evening as the Cleveland Indians defeated the visiting New York Yankees 4-0 in game one of the ALDS in Cleveland.
Bauer picked up the victory with Andrew Miller and Cody Allen closing the game with the final seven outs of the game, Allen earning the save.
Game two is tomorrow in Cleveland with the Indians sending the likely Cy Young winner Corey Kluber to the mound against the Yankees C.C.Sabathia.

Smoke Signals

1) There was some controversy over the selection of Trevor Bauer as the game one starter over Corey Kluber in order for Terry Francona to organize the rotation as he wished.
Trevor Bauer had pitched well in the second half and now the Indians have their best pitcher going in game two.
Gamble paid off...

2) Trevor Bauer had his best stuff going and best of all for the righthander on this night was the curveball that handcuffed Yankees all night long.
Bauer has always been a pitcher with tremendous stuff, it appears that now the mental game is catching to his toolbox...

3) There weren't any runners on base, but the play that set the tone was the diving catch in left center by Jason Kipnis in the third inning.
That catch not only showed the emotion from Trevor Bauer but it also revved up an already loud crowd.
Kipnis may not have a load of major league experience in center, but he was an outfielder at Arizona State and only after being drafted by the Indians did Kipnis move to the infield.
Kipnis in center has its own risks, but inexperience in the outfield isn't one of them.

4) Jay Bruce was involved in all four Indian runs, scoring in the first, knocking in the following three with a two-run homer and a sacrifice fly.
The narrative so far on the Bruce trade in this series is that the Indians obtained Bruce from the Mets over the Yankees because the Indians were more willing to pay the remainder of his contract than New York was.
The missing part was the price the Indians paid in Ryder Ryan.
Ryan was mediocre for low A Lake County but was impressive in eight outings for the Mets low A squad in Columbia.

5) Now the pressure is all on the Yankees-lose today (5;00 ) and they'll have to beat the Indians three in a row.
Pressure is on Cleveland too,lose game two and they could lose the series by dropping both games in New York.