Indians trade for Jonathan Lucroy-Maybe

The Cleveland Indians appear to have upgraded behind the plate as the Indians have agreed to a trade with the Milwaukee Brewers that would see All-Star backstop Jonathan Lucroy come to Cleveland for four prospects-none of which are higher than AA Akron at the present time.

The deal is not official yet as Lucroy has Cleveland listed among eight teams that he cannot be traded to without his waiving the clause.
One report has Lucroy wanting a contract extension before approving the deal,which I find ironic that a player wants a contract extension to stay in a town that you placed a clause in a contract to not play in.
Whew......

The 30 year Lucroy would immediately shore up what has been a disaster area for Cleveland this season with the injury issues and anemic offense from Yan Gomes and Chris Gimenez and assuming he would be able to agree to a contract extension could be the mainstay for years.
Lecroy is hitting .300 with 13 homers and is noted for his ability to work with pitchers,so once he settles in would be a an asset behind the plate as well as with the stick.

The four players that are rumored to be in the trade are all prospects,but only one is considered one of the top of the Indians system and only two reside in the top ten.
The jewel of the trade is catcher Francisco Mejia ,who at the age of 20 has hit .343 at stops at Low A Lake County and High A Lynchburg and is in the middle of a 42 game hitting streak at the two levels.
Considering his age,hitting prowess and isn't looked at as a defensive liability,Mejia is a player that you hate to lose,but veteran players like Jonathan Lucroy do not come for free.

Yu-Cheng Chang is a 20 year old shortstop that is a top 15 prospect for the Indians with a .272/12/65 line in High A Lynchburg that looks to be blocked at higher level,so Chang will likely have a faster way to the big leagues in Milwaukee.
Chang has 28 doubles,which shows that he might not be a slap-hitting infielder.although he might project best as a "super sub" similar to the Indians Jose Ramirez.

Greg Allen is a speedy outfielder that looks to be a leadoff hitter.
Allen hit .298 with 31 steals at High A Lynchburg before being promoted to AA Akron last week.
A strong defender,Allen's issue was being in a system with Tyler Naquin,Clint Frazier and Bradley Zimmer before the Indians used their first rounder on another prep outfielder in Will Benson will have a much better opportunity in Milwaukee.

The fourth name in the trade is the one that isn't consistently mentioned in reports of the trade,but is usually mentioned as 20 year old former first round pitcher Justus Sheffield.
Sheffield is 7-5 with a 3.59 ERA and 93 strikeouts in 91 innings at again-High A Lynchburg.
Sheffield is a good arm in a system that boasts Brady Aiken,Tristan McKenzie and Juan Hillman soon to be on his heels with a solid big league rotation as well,is a prospect that despite his talent would not deplete the system.
In other words,he has been passed by other prospects and could afford to be moved.

Now,here is hoping Lucroy approves the trade,helps the Indians and doesn't make this work all for naught!!

Good fight salvages bad night-Boxing Challenge

Showtime had a bad night saved by a great fight as Carl Frampton upset Leo Santa Cruz and took away his WBA featherweight title via a majority decision in Brooklyn.
The fight certainly deserves consideration for the fight of the year as the action ebbed and flowed.

Frampton threw far fewer punches than the defending champion,but threw the harder shots and won the old adage of "ring generalship" as he swept most of the early rounds on my card and created a cushion that Santa Cruz could not erase in the second half of the fight.
Neither fighter was knocked down although Santa Cruz was stunned and stumbled backwards into the ropes in the second round.
I scored Frampton a 116-113 winner,which translates to 7-4-1 in rounds.
Frampton has a few options next,which could be a unification fight vs IBF champion Lee Selby of Great Britain or a Santa Cruz rematch-either of which would have a good chance of being held in Frampton's Northern Ireland home of Belfast...
Ramon Malpica and I each picked Santa Cruz,so no points scored in the boxing challenge.

The exciting main event saved an awful evening of boxing on Showtime,which gave us a mismatch,a boring bout,Danny Garcia trying to convince people that he had no say in his opponents and Gary Russell,he of the Zabbie award win for fighting arguably the worst competition for a champion around,who then called out Vasyl Lomachenko,who schooled Russell in Russell's only bout against top ten opponents...
Combine that with the usual cliche' filled awful announcing from Mauro Ranallo and you get the point.
Just a terrible night to watch,other than the main event....

Mikey Garcia returned from his Carter administration hiatus to blast out the smaller Eloy Rojas in the fifth.
The win proved little,but considering the time off (2.5 years),I suppose Garcia deserved a gimme.
Both Ramon and I added two points for the win.

Over on HBO Latino,Golden Boy's hyped Antonio Orozco was in a life and death battle with Adam Lopez.
I thought Lopez scored the upset narrowly 96-94,but wouldn't have argued with the same score for Orozco.
Instead,boxing did what boxing does and offered a decision made before the fight started with Orozco winning a wide unanimous decision.
Ramon picked up two points for the decision win,with me adding one...

Joseph Diaz impressively took out Victor Proa in two rounds in a featherweight fight.
Diaz looks to be a comer in a suddenly talent packed 126 pound division.
Ramon and I each added one point for the Diaz win.

The boxing challenge is at 96-80....

Pirates send Melancon to Washington

The Washington Nationals were concerned with the state of their bullpen.
The Pittsburgh Pirates wanted to get something for a player that that they were unlikely to be able to afford in a few months and as usual in these situations-a match is created as Pittsburgh shipped their closer in Mark Melancon to Washington for reliever Felipe Rivero and minor league pitcher Taylor Hearn.

Melancon had already notched 30 saves this season after 51 in 2015 with a 1.51 ERA for the current season.
The 31 year old Melancon will be a free agent at the end of the season and Pittsburgh was unlikely to pay double digit millions for the veteran righthander,so getting any kind of return was paramount for the Pirates.

The return was underwhelming on the surface,especially when you look at the haul that the Yankees brought back for Aroldis Chapman,but despite the save numbers,Mark Melancon isn't Aroldis Chapman and in the postseason,which pitcher would you fear facing more?
Still,Felipe Rivero is a decent arm for the bullpen and at 24 and with plenty of contract control,could be helpful in a Pittsburgh 'pen that is all about putting together a unit that is cost efficient.
Rivero's ERA is higher than last season,but his strikeouts are up and some of his numbers indicate that he had been pitching better than the basic stats show.
Rivero has five years of team control,throws in the mid-90's and could eventually prove to have closing level ability.
Rivero was obtained by Washington before the 2015 season from Tampa in the trade that sent Nathan Karns to the Rays.

The other part of the trade might be the most interesting as Taylor Hearn leaves the Hagerstown Suns in the trade and most likely will be in town Monday as a member of the visiting West Virginia Power.
The 6'5 lefthander had impressive numbers after an early season ankle injury that cost him over two months of the season,but has been a reliever after his return after being in the Hagerstown rotation at before the injury.
Hearn turns 22 in August,but isn't extremely old for the level.
Hearn touches 96-97 and has an excellent slider when the mechanics are smooth,which isn't always the case for tall pitchers.
An interesting lottery ticket for a strong arm for the Pirates,although he will need plenty of refinement to reach his potential.

For the effect on the current Pirates-Southpaw Tony Watson will likely receive most of the save chances at first with Neftali Feliz having the odd opportunity as well from the righthanded side.
I don't think the Pirates will take a huge hit in the bullpen even if Watson proves to be better suited as a setup man.
Feliz was an experienced closer in Texas and should be able to take over should Watson falter.

Sure,it is easy to scream about not getting what other teams are getting for high end closers,but Melancon isn't an elite closer to me,he is solid and the return was in line as such.
Something certainly beats nothing and the Pirates decided to be proactive in this situation.
You may argue about the return,but you shouldn't complain about moving the player.

Back later with a report on Leo Santa Cruz vs Carl Frampton...

Stevenson pounds Williams-Boxing Challenge

Adonis Stevenson retained his WBC light heavyweight title in a pretty entertaining scrap as he disposed of Thomas Williams in the fourth round in Quebec City.

The defense was the latest in several lopsided title retentions against overmatched competition for Stevenson,who has seen his reign be more notable for who he hasn't fought (Sergey Kovalev most prominently) than who he has.

Stevenson may have been well above the talent level of Wiliams,who lacked a notable win other than a two round shootout against another fringe contender in Edwin Rodriguez,but give Williams credit-he tried to win.
Williams threw punches (many of them wild) and even appeared to sting Stevenson a time or two,which brings to mind the criticisms of some observers (including me) of Stevenson's chin being questionable.
However,in the end,the superior power of Stevenson shone through and after some rehabilitating body shots Stevenson ended the bout with one power left.
The strong moments of Williams almost never happened as Stevenson dropped Williams late in the first round and Williams was almost finished then and there.
Stevenson's next opponent will be his WBC mandated contender in undefeated Elieder Alvarez,who fought on the undercard and delivered a drizzlingly boring decision win over late replacement Robert Berridge.
Looks like defense number eight might be little better than what we have seen already from Stevenson and his title defenses.

I don't dislike Adonis Stevenson,he's a fun fighter to watch and his power combined with a chin issue makes most of his fights somewhat entertaining,
My issue is with Stevenson's blatant ducking of Sergey Kovalev and to a lesser extent Artur Beterbiev,which would be a fight easy to make as both are under the same promotional umbrella.
Every champion has the right for occasional optional defenses as long as they are mixed in with quality opponents as well-Stevenson has not faced a top ten caliber opponent since Andrzej Fonfara over two years ago and even then Fonfara built his name more from the decision loss to Stevenson and thereafter then anything done before signing for the bout.
Stevenson-Kovalev or Stevenson-Beterbiev would be fun and exciting fights-must see fights for the fight fan.
Unfortunately,either (or both) Stevenson or the PBC has little interest in those fights and prefer these pro wrestling like squash matches.
Stevenson uses the nickname Superman,but as a comic fan,I know this-Superman didn't make his rep by beating the Clock King and the Rainbow Raider-he built it by beating top notch opponents.

In the boxing challenge I earned four points for the Stevenson and Alvarez wins,with Ramon Malpica picking Williams and getting two points for the Alvarez win.
The boxing challenge now stands at 92-75...

Boxing Challenge

The boxing challenge continues with a multiple network and fight nights that covers many divisions...
The challenge is currently at 88-73 in my favor...

The biggest fights include the lineal and WBC light heavyweight champ (Adonis Stevenson) defending against another flawed opponent,a great bout between the best featherweight in the world (Leo Santa Cruz since Vasyl Lomachenko moved up) and the second best junior featherweight (Carl Frampton) moving up in weight and a former multiple division champ (Mikey Garcia) fighting for the first time in two and a half years.

WBC Lt.Heavyweight title.12 rds
Adonis Stevenson vs Thomas Williams
R.L:Williams unanimous decision
TRS: Stevenson KO 7

Lt.Heavyweights.10 rds
Elieder Alvarez vs Robert Berridge
Both:Alvarez unanimous decision

WBA Featherweight title.12 rds
Leo Santa Cruz vs Carl Frampton
Both: Santa Cruz unanimous decision

Jr.Welterweights. 10 rds
Mikey Garcia vs Eloy Rojas
R.L:Garcia KO 4
TRS:Garcia KO 6

Jr,Welterweights.10 rds
Antonio Orozco vs Abner Lopez
R.L:Orozco unanimous decision
TRS:Orozco KO 9

Featherweights.10 rds
Joseph Diaz vs Victor Proa
Both:Diaz unanimous decision

Podcast:Back from Hiatus

Back from Podcast hiatus with thanks,some political talk,IFL and fantasy football talk with why teams are always looking for bullpen help at the trade deadline....

Giants trade for Eduardo Nunez

The struggling offense of the San Francisco Giants needed an infusion and along with waiting for the return of Joe Panik and Hunter Pence,decided to add a little more as the Giants traded minor league pitcher Adalberto Mejia to the Minnesota Twins in return for Eduardo Nunez.

The 29 year old Nunez is in the midst of a career year as he made his first all-star team and has already set career highs in several offensive categories.
Nunez played shortstop for the Twins,but can play second or third also and looks to see plenty of time at third with the injury to an Achilles tendon for the regular at third in Matt Duffy.

The Giants always like to have a supersub around and in the best of times (which right now,these aren't) Nunez will have plenty of playing time available at various positions.
Bruce Bochy handles his position players well and is able to use a player like Nunez almost as a starter without having a steady position to play.

The cost of Mejia is one that some are wondering about as some prospect ratings have him as high as third in the Giants system.
I don't rate the 23 year old that highly,but he does possess potential,even if he may project better down the road as a reliever more than a starter.
Mejia has pitched better at AA Richmond over most of the last three (red flag) seasons there than he has in sporadic appearances at AAA Sacramento,so I wonder about that,but he certainly is still of prospect status at 23..

I like the addition of Eduardo Nunez for the Giants.
Nunez had been rumored to be of interest to the Indians of late,so I thought I might be typing a post for him,but of his arrival in Cleveland,not San Francisco.
Nunez will hopefully plug in at third base for at least a while and then find plenty of at-bats elsewhere.
Mejia is an interesting arm,but one of a cluster of interesting/not elite arms that the Giants have at Richmond and Sacramento,so I'm not too concerned about losing Mejia....

Still working on a podcast,so look for that,but wanted to hammer out this breaking news.