Tingkat awan: Juli 2019

Rabu, 31 Juli 2019

MLB trade deadline: Trevor Bauer heads to Reds, Indians get Yasiel Puig in three-team blockbuster with Padres - CBS Sports

The Indians have traded right-handed starter Trevor Bauer to the Reds as part of a three-team deal that also involves the Padres, the teams announced Wednesday, hours before the trade deadline. The trade was first reported by Jeff Passan of ESPN.com on Tuesday night. The Indians are receiving a large contingent in return, led by outfielder Yasiel Puig (from the Reds) and outfielder Franmil Reyes and pitching prospect Logan Allen (from the Padres). San Diego is getting outfielder Taylor Trammell from Cincinnati, and Cleveland received two other prospects in the deal.

Here are the details of the trade:

GOOD MORNING.
We have acquired OF Yasiel Puig and LHP Scott Moss from the Cincinnati Reds, and OF Franmil Reyes, LHP Logan Allen, and INF Victor Nova from San Diego Padres as part of a three-team trade.
RHP Trevor Bauer has been traded to the Cincinnati Reds. pic.twitter.com/3FgVLtpdug
— Cleveland Indians (@Indians) July 31, 2019

The second major blockbuster of the 2019 trade deadline has a lot of moving parts, so let's sort this out from the perspective of each of the three teams.

Indians

Bauer was a Cy Young contender last season, but otherwise has been pretty inconsistent. He's made it clear he wasn't going to re-sign with the Indians when he hit free agency after next season and they have rotation depth. It's possible his on-field incident over the weekend wasn't taken too kindly by the organization, either.

As things stand, Mike Clevinger, Shane Bieber, Zach Plesac and a returning Danny Salazar (he'll make his 2019 debut on Thursday after a long road back from injury) as their four members of the rotation. Adam Plutko has made some starts so he'll likely hold down the fifth spot until Corey Kluber comes back (which could be the middle of August). This still has the makings of a good rotation.

Allen, 22, is a top-100 prospect and figures to get a shot in the rotation in future years (Kluber has club options for 2020 and 2021 and they might not pick both up). Allen has a 5.15 ERA with 63 strikeouts in 57 2/3 innings in Triple-A, but that's the Pacific Coast League, which is notoriously hitter-friendly and, in fact, the league ERA is 5.51, so Allen's been good despite the number looking ugly. He was roughed up in his MLB stint, but he's a 22-year-old rookie.

Moss, 24, has a 3.44 ERA, 1.38 WHIP and 123 strikeouts in 102 innings in 20 Double-A starts this season. He's a depth play.

As for the offensive side, the Indians came into Tuesday night ranking 10th in the AL in runs and ninth in slugging percentage. Enter Reyes and Puig. Reyes has 27 homers with a .536 slugging percentage. Puig has 22 homers and a .475 slugging mark.

Reyes immediately gives the Indians a very good everyday designated hitter, as he's certainly an upgrade over Jake Bauers. If they are so inclined, Puig could serve as a platoon-mate to lefty-swinging Tyler Naquin in right field.

Interesting side note: Puig was involved in a Reds-Pirates brawl in Cincinnati as the trade was being reported but before he had been notified. He walked off the field for the last time as a Red after being ejected.

As for Nova, he's a bit of a lottery ticket. He's 19 and in Rookie Ball right now, where he's hitting .330/.421/.451 with two doubles, three triples, a homer, 17 RBI, 22 runs and seven steals in 26 games.

Reds

Trammell is a top-20 prospect per MLB.com, but he's having a rough season (.236/.350/.338) and apparently the Reds wanted Bauer enough to part with him (and two months of Puig, who hits free agency after this season). They are definitely gambling big here on Bauer helping them make the playoffs next season and Trammell not blossoming into a star.

Maybe Bauer just needs a change of scenery? He had a 2.21 ERA last season and finished sixth in Cy Young voting despite missing the last month with an injury. He leads the majors in innings pitched right now. The Reds could play themselves into contention next season -- they were contending not long ago this year -- and they're losing Alex Wood and Tanner Roark in free agency, in all likelihood. Bauer returning to form along with Luis Castillo and Sonny Gray would give the Reds are very good 1-2-3 in the rotation.

Padres

Reyes is very good and fun to watch ... when he's batting. He's a negative on the defensive side and that's likely what the Padres were thinking on shipping him out. They have lots of young pitching and pitching prospects, so it's possible they didn't figure Allen would figure in their future rotation plans, especially if they acquire veteran pitching either via trade or in free agency in the offseason, which would be advisable.

In Trammell, they are looking to the future and dreaming on his upside. As noted, he's having a rough year, but he's only 21. The hits left-handed and could profile as a top-of-the-order guy down the road in front of the likes of Fernando Tatis and Manny Machado. In 393 career minor-league games, he's stolen 107 bases and hit 23 triples. He's good at drawing walks; take note of the .350 on-base percentage in spite of the low average.

The word on Trammell is he doesn't have five-tool star potential due to his arm, but the other four tools are in star territory with above-average power and excellent speed. MLB.com ranked him as the 16th-best prospect in baseball heading into the season.

Again, the Padres are dreaming on upside and tools, but it's worth the gamble. The best versions of Trammell, Tatis and Machado as a 1-2-3 looks like the start of a playoff-caliber lineup.

Fantasy impact

How does this trade impact fantasy baseball players? CBS Sports expert Scott White writes that the fantasy implications range far and wide from the trade. White breaks down the fantasy impact of each player included in the seven-player trade, and there are winners all across the board.

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2019-07-31 15:16:00Z
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Indians send Bauer to Reds, get Puig, Reyes - ESPN

10:09 PM ET

ESPN News Services

In the midst of a heated playoff race, the Cleveland Indians have traded right-hander Trevor Bauer to the Cincinnati Reds and received outfielders Yasiel Puig and Franmil Reyes as part of a three-team deal that includes the San Diego Padres.

As part of the trade, the Indians also received left-hander Logan Allen and minor league infielder Victor Nova from the Padres and minor league pitcher Scott Moss from the Reds. Cincinnati outfield prospect Taylor Trammell, ranked No. 14 on Keith Law's top midseason prospects list, was sent to San Diego.

Cleveland (62-44) is three games behind the Minnesota Twins in the American League Central and has a 2½-game cushion atop the wild-card standings.

Following the Indians' 2-0 home loss to the Houston Astros on Tuesday night, Bauer talked and exchanged hugs with several teammates in the clubhouse before departing around 10:45 p.m. He declined to speak with reporters.

Puig, who joined the Reds in a December trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers, was still in Tuesday night's game against the Pittsburgh Pirates as reports of the three-team trade surfaced. He ended his short stint in Cincinnati with a bang when he was involved in a benches-clearing brawl in the ninth inning and was among seven players ejected from the game.

Puig, who had to be restrained after reigniting the melee with more shouting and shoving, could face disciplinary action, including a suspension, as a result of his participation in the brawl.

"I'm going to miss all my teammates here,'' Puig said about the trade after the game. "This part of the year is amazing for me, being on this team and the city. Now it's time to move forward and go to my new team and help my team go to the playoffs. ... I want to say thank you to all the city, Cincinnati. We stay next door -- we're going to Cleveland."

Bauer, who is 9-8 with a 3.79 ERA and 185 strikeouts, will head to a Cincinnati team (49-56) that is seven games out of the wild card after Tuesday's 11-4 loss. After a breakout 2018 season in which he made his first All-Star team, Bauer hasn't been as consistent as the Indians have needed while waiting for two-time Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber (broken arm) and Carlos Carrasco (leukemia) to return to their rotation. Kluber, who was hit by a line drive May 1, is scheduled to throw a simulated game against a group of Indians minor leaguers Saturday and could begin a minor league rehabilitation assignment if he gets through the simulated game with no issues.

The 28-year-old Bauer, who isn't a free agent until after the 2020 season, is making $13 million this season. In eight seasons since he broke into the majors with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2012, he is 68-55 with 1,111 strikeouts and a 3.92 ERA.

Bauer has had his share of non-pitching issues. Earlier Tuesday, Bauer was informed that he would be fined by Major League Baseball but not suspended for firing a baseball from the mound over the center-field fence before being removed from Sunday's game against the Royals.

In 2016, Bauer was scratched from Game 2 of the AL Championship Series after a freak injury in which he sliced the tip of his finger while doing maintenance on his drone. He tried to start Game 3 but left after 21 pitches when the wound ripped open and caked his jersey, pants and portions of the mound in blood. He returned for the World Series.

In 2018, he traded barbs on social media with members of the Astros after insinuating that Houston pitchers were applying pine tar or some similar substance to baseballs to increase spin rate.

The additions of Puig and Reyes will give the Indians a nice upgrade offensively, particularly in the power department. They have combined for 49 home runs, 21 more than all Indians corner outfielders combined this season.

Puig is batting .252 with 22 homers and 61 RBIs, and Reyes is batting .255 with 27 homers and 46 RBIs.

ESPN's Jeff Passan and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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2019-07-31 15:04:49Z
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New year, new blockbuster deal for the Tribe - Waiting For Next Year

In what has become an annual tradition, the Cleveland Indians have again gone and got themselves a new cast of characters at the new and unimproved single trade deadline to try and fit themselves into the postseason puzzle. Like Andrew Miller, Jay Bruce and Josh Donaldson before, Yasiel Puig and Franmil Reyes have now been tasked with helping the Tribe not only make it to the postseason but win the World Series. Let’s look at the trade from Cleveland’s point of view as to why it was made and what we can reasonably expect from the return.

Going out: Trevor Bauer

It feels wrong to say the words the only thing Cleveland lost is Trevor Bauer, but it’s the facts. The nuances of why Bauer was on the move are much more in-depth. We know that Bauer has the personal mission to never sign a long term deal, which is completely within this prerogative and makes sense from a player standpoint, but getting players to sign the long term “hometown discount” deal is what allows Cleveland to keep contending and not dip further into the free agency pool than they feel comfortable. Knowing Bauer was due a large raise in next year’s arbitration hearing is what inevitably spurned Cleveland to look to move the mercurial starter.

Bauer’s 2019, while good to great in its own right, pales in comparison to his almost Cy Young-winning 2018. A 27.9 K-rate is nothing to cry about, but down from his 30.8% in 2018, and coupled with a rise in his BB-rate, Bauer was allowing more hitters on and paying for it. 2018 seems to be more of the outlier season as Bauer’s HR/9 ballooned back to more inline career numbers in 2019 after being almost superhero level low in 2018.

Moving Bauer via trade seemingly became priority No. 1 after Sunday’s antics, but despite every single national writer saying the centerfield long toss session hurt his value, Cleveland was able to recoup arguably the two best bats available at the deadline, one controlled until 2024, along with even longer-term options Logan Allen, Victor Nova, and Scott Moss. That return is mighty for a player many thought threw his value as far as the centerfield wall.

Coming in: Yasiel Puig, Franmil Reyes, Logan Allen, Scott Moss, Victor Nova

Let’s quickly run through the lower players before getting into the beefy bats. Victor Nova is a 19-year-old third baseman playing rookie ball but hitting .303. It will be sometime before he is making noise, but he’s a good long term piece nonetheless. Moss is a 24-year-old lefty in Double-A for Cincinnati who struggled in A+ last year but came back around to have a 28.2% K-rate while holding Double-A batters to a .223 average. It remains to be seen whether or not Moss will continue to be stretched as a starter, but he’s an interesting prospect as well. His age could necessitate a move to the pen if he is to be utilized sooner rather than later, but if the developmental team sees him as a possible plus starter, that makes sense as well.

Logan Allen’s fit on the 2019 roster is a little more complicated and convoluted. Allen has been used as a starter throughout his minor league career with good results but has struggled in San Diego’s rotation in 2019. He sits in the mid-90s with his fastball, with a slider that he uses as a weapon to lefties and a changeup against right-handed batters. That mix has done him well, and he’s definitely far from a two-pitch pitcher, but with Cleveland’s rotation, he could see more bullpen time going forward, which makes sense given Tyler Olson’s lacking production. A return to health of Danny Salazar makes up for the loss of Bauer and prospect Aaron Civale is healthy again to help out the big club as well until Corey Kluber and *fingers crossed* Carlos Carrasco get healthy.

Now the big bats. Puig has been a long-time target of Tribe fans for years, always yearning for the Right-Handed-Power-Bat™. Puig might be the closest thing to Manny Ramirez we see in our lifetimes: the ability to get around a baseball, paired with the arm cannon in right and the head of a punch drunk boxer. While only in Cleveland for the rest of the 2019 season Puig instantly ups the level of play in the outfield, offensively and defensively. Taking over The Corner from Tyler Naquin should be easy, as his 54 assists since 2013 puts him at 8th most in that amount of time, and I couldn’t be happier about seeing him gun down runners at the plate in a Tribe jersey.

As good as Puig has been, his 22 home runs would tie the current team leader Carlos Santana, Reyes is the bigger get to me. Cost controlled through the 2024 season, Reyes is prototypical DH most American League teams see themselves using. His 27 home runs are the leader in the clubhouse, and his 117 wRC+ is the third-best mark among qualified Indians hitters. Reyes will fill the DH spot for 2019 with an eye to be in left field in the future, and when you look at the production former DH Jake Bauers was putting out, he will be lightyears better suited for the role. His age and contractual control allow for the team to continue to keep the window open further, putting a big bat like his in the lineup allows for Bauers to go back to Columbus and work a bit more on his swing. An outfield of Reyes, Oscar Mercado, Bauers, Greg Allen, and Daniel Johnson is a group that is young, exciting and the future of the franchise.

While losing Bauer’s abilities does put a damper on what can be expected in a postseason series, the return to health of Salazar and Kluber does loom large. If they come back healthy and productive, this is a slam dunk trade for both the here and now. If either one falters as they come back, the trade for it’s future parts, is still a win for Cleveland.

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2019-07-31 13:30:31Z
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Sources: Saints, WR Thomas reach $100M deal - ESPN

8:37 AM ET

Michael Thomas has reached agreement with the New Orleans Saints on a five-year, $100 million extension that includes $61 million guaranteed and makes him the NFL's highest-paid wide receiver, league sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter on Wednesday.

Thomas is now tied to the Saints for the next six years, through the 2024 season.

Thomas is set to make $1.148 million this season in the final year of his rookie contract. He did not report for the start of Saints training camp as he sought a new deal.

Thomas was one of several high-profile players holding out from training camp, including Los Angeles Chargers and Dallas Cowboys running backs Melvin Gordon and Ezekiel Elliott, Washington Redskins offensive tackle Trent Williams and Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Yannick Ngakoue.

Ngakoue noticed news of Thomas' deal and tweeted "well deserved."

Thomas could become the first in a very expensive set of dominoes to fall, with fellow top receivers like Julio Jones, Amari Cooper, A.J. Green and Tyreek Hill also seeking extensions. There was some sense that none of those receivers wanted to sign first, so the others could raise the bar for them. But no one stood to gain more than the 26-year-old Thomas.

Teammate Cameron Jordan tweeted congratulations to Thomas on Wednesday.

100 mm 100 mm where yo hood at!!!! @Cantguardmike #paytheman
— cameron jordan (@camjordan94) July 31, 2019

And even LeBron James weighed in on the deal.

Noted! 🐐 🙏🏾🏁 https://t.co/VjSdzGwyRC
— Michael Thomas (@Cantguardmike) July 31, 2019

Thomas' deal marks a 1,700% pay raise for the first-team All-Pro, whose 321 career catches are by far the most in NFL history by a player in his first three seasons. Odell Beckham Jr., who signed with the Giants for around $18 million per year last season before being traded to the Browns, ranks second on that list at 288.

The Saints have never paid a skill-position player more than $10 million per year, which was the size of tight end Jimmy Graham's extension before he was traded away in 2015. But Thomas, who was drafted in the second round out of Ohio State in 2016, has played a bigger role in New Orleans' offense than any skill-position player to come before him in the Payton-Drew Brees era.

Last season, Thomas set franchise records with 125 catches and 1,405 yards while catching nine touchdown passes. His catch rate of 84.5% in 2018 was the highest of any NFL receiver since at least 2001, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

No other receiver had more than 28 catches for the Saints last season, and their lack of reliable targets behind Thomas and running back Alvin Kamara really hurt them down the stretch. They signed tight end Jared Cook in free agency to help with that depth issue.

Noted! 🐐 🙏🏾🏁 https://t.co/VjSdzGwyRC
— Michael Thomas (@Cantguardmike) July 31, 2019

As usual, the Saints will have to get creative with their bookkeeping to fit Thomas under the salary cap and to keep their loaded roster together in future years. They had about $12 million in cap space before Thomas' new deal, after they also signed All-Pro defensive end Cameron Jordan to a lucrative contract extension earlier this offseason.

The Saints already have more than $26 million in "dead money" scheduled to count against their salary cap in 2020 because of the way they have structured Brees' contract. Next year, Brees, backup quarterback Teddy Bridgewater and guard Andrus Peat, among others, are scheduled to be free agents. Then Kamara, guard Larry Warford and linebacker Demario Davis come due in 2021, followed by cornerback Marshon Lattimore and offensive tackles Terron Armstead and Ryan Ramczyk in 2022.

ESPN's Mike Triplett contributed to this report.

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2019-07-31 13:10:23Z
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Cleveland Indians' Jason Kipnis on Trevor Bauer trade: 'You're losing a damn good pitcher" - cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Jason Kipnis has seen the scene unfold many times.

A player gets traded, gets hugs from his former teammates, and then tries to process what just happened to him. So it was with Trevor Bauer on Tuesday night following the Indians’ 2-0 loss to Houston.

The Indians traded Bauer to Cincinnati in a three-team deal. They will receive outfielder Yasiel Puig and left-hander Scott Moss from the Reds and outfielder Franmil Reyes, left-hander Logan Allen and infielder Victor Nova from San Diego.

As Bauer was processing the deal, so was Kipnis, who is in his eighth season with the Tribe. He said he wanted to gather his thoughts, and make sure everything was official, before commenting, but he still talked about the pitcher the Indians gave up and what it means to a team in the middle of a race for the postseason.

“You’re losing a damn good pitcher and we’re in a race right now," said Kipnis. "It’s not fun for our clubhouse and I’m sure it wasn’t fun for the front office. It’s a hard trigger to pull, but hopefully we get some guys here who are ready to compete and fit in and ready to buy into what we’re doing here.”

Bauer was quirky. His last pitch as an Indians player saw him throw a ball over the center field fence at Kauffman Stadium in a fit of frustration on Sunday. He was fined by MLB for his actions, but Kipnis said he had confidence in Bauer whenever he took the mound.

“Regardless of what’s has happened with Trevor ,the last few days here, he was pulling on the same rope we were,” said Kipnis. “He was fighting with us to get back in this division race the whole time. Like I said, he’s a damn good pitcher. Hopefully we get guys who can replace him and keep going.”

Puig and Reyes will join the Indians in the near future. Moss, Allen and Nova will go to the minors.

The Indians acquired Bauer on December of 2012 in a three-team deal with the Reds and Arizona. He has his own training routine and a obsession with drones that may have cost the Indians a chance to win the World Series in 2016 when he suffered a cut right pinky finger early in the postseason. But eventually Bauer found a home with the Tribe and became a key part to one of the best rotations in the big leagues.

“He’s just of those guys who is set in his ways and you have to get used to him,” said Kipnis. "Telling him just don’t do that doesn’t resonate with him. You have to give him a reason why or show him why that makes sense to him.

"It doesn’t mean he’s a bad person, a bad teammate just because he has his own ways about things. He can be misunderstood at times. You have to find that middle ground, which we have over time. You learn how to communicate with him, learn how to work with him and progress toward having a productive environment here.

“I think we were getting there. I think we got there.”

Like most big-league teams, the Indians are not made up of 25 guys who go out to dinner together after every game. But they have co-existed enough on the field to where they are in contention for their fourth straight AL Central title.

“No one has to be best friends here,” said Kipnis. "No one has to hang out off the field. It’s still business. It’s still work. I think guys come here and are professional about it.

“I don’t think you have to love everybody that you play with. But you will respect everybody you play with, you will fight alongside them and for them. He was doing that.”

Bauer heads to the non-contending Reds with a 9-8 record and a 3.79 ERA in 24 starts this season. He leads the big leagues in innings pitched, hit batsmen, walks and pitches thrown. That does not include the ball he threw over the center field fence on Sunday.

He went 67-53 with a 3.89 ERA with the Indians.

“I’m guessing we were favored in every game he’s started (this year),” said Kipnis. "He’s been in the Cy Young race the last couple of years. You ask opposing hitters. . .he’s one of the top strikeout pitchers in the league and he’s a damn good righty. He eats up innings. There’s a lot of value in that.

“Like I said he’s one of the better pitchers in this league. We know that. He knows that. You can’t really take that away from him. You feel confident when he’s out there on the mound.”

The trading deadline ends Wednesday at 4 p.m. The Indians were still talking to a lot of teams following the Bauer deal. So the possibility of more moves exits.

Kipnis, meawhile, said the players that remain will probably take a moment to regroup.

“Sometimes you don’t even have to,” he said. "Sometimes you take a step back. You want to make the new guys feel as comfortable as possible. Kind of introduce them to what we’re doing here, what we’re trying to accomplish.

"There’s always a trade deadline. It makes you realize there’s a business side of it. It’s not all fun and games all the time. Sometimes a guy you may go to breakfast, lunch and dinner with seven days a week is out of your life forever pretty much. It happens in the minors leagues. It happens with other guys’ careers. It just happens.

“I think we’re getting used to it. At least I have for as long as I’ve been around it. I think we have such a good thing going here that any newcomers will look to jump in immediately because it will be a fun inviting place for them to work.”

But how does a contender deal with losing a pitcher who many felt was the ace of the staff?

“The front office has earned our trust enough not to just second guess any move they make,” said Kipnis. "It’s tough. You consider him No.1, I guarantee you someone else considers Shane Bieber our No.1. Someone else considers Mike Clevinger our No.1.

"That’s the value in having that much starting pitching depth where you might be able to take a shot and fill in some other spots. They knew that was our strong point and it would probably give us our biggest return. I’m guessing that’s what’s happened here.

“You’ll miss him pitching for you every fifth day because he’s a damn good pitcher. But at the same time we’ve always gone with the motto next guy up. Some guy will take the ball every fifth day and do his job.”

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2019-07-31 13:19:00Z
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Sources: Saints, WR Thomas reach $100M deal - ESPN

8:37 AM ET

Thomas is now tied to the Saints for the next six years, through the 2024 season.

Thomas is set to make $1.148 million this season in the final year of his rookie contract. He did not report for the start of Saints training camp as he sought a new deal.

Ngakoue noticed news of Thomas' deal and tweeted "well deserved."

Teammate Cameron Jordan tweeted congratulations to Thomas on Wednesday.

100 mm 100 mm where yo hood at!!!! @Cantguardmike #paytheman
— cameron jordan (@camjordan94) July 31, 2019

The Saints already have more than $26 million in "dead money" scheduled to count against their salary cap in 2020 because of the way they have structured Brees' contract. Next year, Brees, backup quarterback Teddy Bridgewater and guard Andrus Peat are scheduled to be free agents, among others. Then Kamara, guard Larry Warford and linebacker Demario Davis come due in 2021, followed by cornerback Marshon Lattimore and offensive tackles Terron Armstead and Ryan Ramczyk in 2022.

ESPN's Mike Triplett contributed to this report.

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2019-07-31 13:04:40Z
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Saints, Michael Thomas agree to five-year extension - NBCSports.com

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Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas is ending his holdout and signing a lucrative new contract.

The Saints and Thomas have agreed to a five-year extension, according to multiple reports.

The reports say the total value of the extension is $100 million, which would give Thomas the $20 million a year he was looking for, but there’s no word on how that $100 million is structured. The value of the guarantee is said to be $61 million, but again, there’s no word on how that “guarantee” actually breaks down.

Thomas is heading into the fourth and final year of his rookie contract and was holding out for a big pay increase. There was little doubt that he deserves it, given that he has 321 catches for 3,787 yards and 23 touchdowns in just three NFL seasons. At age 26, the Saints think Thomas still has plenty of good years left in him, and they want him to spend those years in New Orleans.

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2019-07-31 12:36:00Z
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Reds To Acquire Trevor Bauer In 3-Team Deal With Indians, Padres - MLB Trade Rumors

TODAY: The deal is on track to be announced today, Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweets.

YESTERDAY: The dust has settled on a stunning three-team trade, but not before a dust-up in last night’s Reds-Pirates game threatened to scuttle the arrangement. Even as the Reds, Indians, and Padres completed medical reviews on the players involved, one of them — Cincinnati outfielder Yasiel Puig — was playing a central role in an on-field brawl. That show punctuated what has been a notably slow-moving market in the approach to the trade deadline.

The hoopla began when reports emerged that the Reds had struck a deal for star right-hander Trevor Bauer, who was himself the central figure in a memorable recent display of frustration. In exchange for Bauer, the Indians will pick up Puig and lefty pitching prospect Scott Moss from Cincinnati. They’ll also add a trio of players from the Padres: outfielder Franmil Reyes, young left-hander Logan Allen, and rookie-level infielder Victor Nova. On the San Diego end of the swap, the Friars have landed much-hyped outfield prospect Taylor Trammell from the Reds.

At 49-55 and 6 1/2 games out of wild-card position, Cincinnati’s chances of earning a playoff spot this year appear close to dead. Nevertheless, the poor win-loss results the team has achieved this season didn’t deter president of baseball operations Dick Williams and general manager Nick Krall, whose goal is to make a more serious playoff push in 2020. The Reds may be in position to do that by picking up Bauer, who – barring more deals – could team with Luis Castillo, Sonny Gray, Anthony DeSclafani and Tyler Mahle to give the Reds one of the game’s best rotations next season. Cincinnati’s starting staff has been a formidable group without Bauer this year, but it could lose one or two veterans by Wednesday’s trade deadline. Tanner Roark and Alex Wood look like possible candidates to wind up on the move, but even if they stay put through the season, they’re not under contract beyond then.

The 28-year-old Bauer has been a quality, albeit somewhat frustrating, starter since he entered the pro ranks as the third overall pick of the Diamondbacks in 2011. He went to the Indians in a three-team trade in 2012 (which also involved the Reds) and has since pitched to a 3.89 ERA/3.95 FIP across 1,044 1/3 innings and 180 appearances (170 starts). Bauer was at his best last year, during which he earned Cy Young consideration on the strength of a splendid 2.21 ERA/2.44 FIP over 175 1/3 frames.

While Bauer hasn’t been as effective this season, he has still notched a solid 3.79 ERA/4.17 FIP with 10.63 K/9 against 3.62 BB/9 through a league-leading 156 2/3 innings. That was eminently valuable production to a Cleveland team which has been without Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco and Mike Clevinger for significant parts of the season, but the Tribe nonetheless deemed Bauer expendable. In his final act as an Indian, Bauer fired a ball from the pitcher’s mound over the center field wall Sunday after a frustrating outing in Kansas City.

Clearly, Bauer’s on-field tantrum last weekend didn’t have an adverse affect on his trade value. The Indians are bringing back a major haul for Bauer, who’s making $13MM now, will earn an arbitration raise next season and has said he plans to go year to year in free agency thereafter. As a 62-44 team that holds the American League’s top wild-card spot and trails the AL Central-leading Twins by 2 1/2 games, the Indians were only going to trade Bauer if it helped them stay in contention this season. It appears this deal will enable them to accomplish that. It’ll also shave quite a bit of salary from the Indians’ 2020 books while giving them multiple potential long-term pieces.

Puig is only under control through this season, during which he’s making a $9.7MM salary, but will team with Reyes to help give the Indians the right-handed outfield/DH punch they’d been seeking on the trade market. With the Puig and Reyes acquisitions, the Indians have become the first team to ever land two 20-home run hitters in one midseason trade, Joel Sherman of the New York Post points out.

The 28-year-old Puig joined the Reds last winter in a previous blockbuster involving the Dodgers. Although Puig got off to a horrible start this season, his production has taken off over the past several weeks. Puig now owns a .252/.302/.475 slash with 22 home runs and 14 stolen bases (19 attempts) across 404 plate appearances. Long a capable defender in right field, Puig has also performed well in that aspect this year.

One of the key elements of this deal for Puig is that it completely wipes out the possibility of him receiving a qualifying offer after the season. Puig only looked like a borderline candidate for a QO, but now that he’s off the Reds, he’s on schedule to reach free agency unfettered over the winter.

Just as Bauer’s Indians stint ended in bizarre fashion, so did Puig’s days with the Reds. He was involved in a brawl during the Reds-Pirates game Tuesday when news of the trade came down. Puig may have to serve a suspension early in his Tribe tenure as a result.

There are no such concerns centering on Reyes, who has emerged as one of the game’s foremost power bats since he debuted a year ago. Although Reyes has struggled to consistently get on base this season, his first full campaign in the majors, the big-bodied 24-year-old has still batted .255/.314/.536 (117 wRC+) with 27 home runs in 354 PA. Given his prolific home run totals, Reyes could eventually rake in sizable sums via arbitration, but that isn’t something the Indians will have to worry about for the foreseeable future. Reyes isn’t on track to reach arbitration until after the 2021 season, and he’s not scheduled to become a free agent until the conclusion of the 2024 campaign.

Not to be forgotten, the Indians are also getting three less established players in this deal in Allen, Nova and Moss. The 22-year-old Allen entered the season as a top 100-caliber prospect. He has since struggled in a 25 1/3-inning major league sample and in 57 2/3 frames with Triple-A El Paso of the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. However, Allen was still regarded as one of the many high-end prospects in a jam-packed Padres system. FanGraphs’ Kiley McDaniel and Eric Longenhagen ranked Allen as the Padres’ eighth-best farmhand back in May, writing that he “comfortably projects as a No. 4 starter.”

Nova, 19, was not grouped in with the Padres’ premier farmhands, but Longenhagen tweets that the infielder’s “an interesting, bat-first flier.” The Dominican Republic native has held his own this year in rookie ball, where he has batted .330/.421/.451 (136 wRC+) with seven steals in 109 PA.

Now 24, Moss became a Red when they used a fourth-round pick on him in 2016. The former Tommy John patient has since put up appealing results in the minors, including this year. In his first experience in Double-A ball, Moss has thrown 102 innings and recorded a 3.44 ERA/3.52 FIP with 10.85 K/9, though he has walked just over five hitters per nine. Moss ranked as the Reds’ 12th overall prospect at MLB.com, which notes he has a “somewhat limited” ceiling but could turn into a back-end starter or swingman at the MLB level.

The highest-ranked prospect in this trade is Trammell, whom Baseball America and ESPN’s Keith Law (subscriptions required) placed near the top of the sport in their most recent updates. BA rates Trammell 41st, while Law’s even more bullish (No. 14). This hasn’t been a hugely effective season for the 21-year-old Trammell, who has batted .236/.350/.338 (108 wRC+) with six homers and 17 steals in 377 PA during his initial taste of Double-A action. However, youth and injuries have played a part in Trammell’s unspectacular output, explains Law, who contends the youngster has the tools to become “a good regular or a star” in left field.

The Padres, of course, surrendered a substantial amount to acquire the unproven Trammell. But trading Reyes will somewhat enable the club to alleviate its current logjam in the outfield. With Reyes out of the mix, the Padres still have two starting-caliber corner outfield options in Hunter Renfroe and the maligned, expensive Wil Myers. They also have rookie Josh Naylor, Travis Jankowski and Franchy Cordero as 40-man options who are either in the minors or injured at present.

Weighing all the pieces in this trade, it’s all the more surprising the Blue Jays couldn’t reel in a greater return for righty Marcus Stroman this past weekend. At $7.4MM, Stroman’s cheaper than Bauer, under control for the same period and has arguably been the better of the two this season. Nevertheless, in a trade with the Mets, the Jays were only able to secure two non-elite prospects – pitchers Anthony Kay and Simeon Woods Richardson – for Stroman. There was plenty of chatter afterward that teams were clinging to their prospects and unwilling to give up truly outstanding young talent anymore, but this three-way deal shows that isn’t the case.

Jeff Passan of ESPN broke the news of the deal. Additional players involved were conveyed by Jon Heyman of MLB Network, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, Dennis Lin of The Athletic, AJ Cassavell of MLB.com, and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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2019-07-31 11:13:00Z
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It's MLB Trade Deadline Day! Here's what you need to know - ESPN

6:57 AM ET

We got off to a slow start to the trade deadline, and then Marcus Stroman was traded to the New York Mets, and then we had the three-team blockbuster Tuesday night that sent Trevor Bauer to the Cincinnati Reds, Yasiel Puig, Franmil Reyes and Logan Allen to the Cleveland Indians and Taylor Trammell to the San Diego Padres. That was fun. What will happen before the MLB Trade Deadline arrives on Wednesday? Those two trades were certainly unpredictable, so maybe that foretells a crazy few hours before the 4 p.m. ET deadline hits. Here are some final questions to consider:

What will the Mets do?

With their playoff odds hovering below 10%, the Mets put a monkey wrench into the final days before the deadline when they acquired Stroman, one of the best starters available and who was presumably headed to a contender in a stronger position than the Mets. Instead, the Mets got him without giving up a top-100 prospect -- a trade many considered a great deal for the Mets.

Stroman is signed through next season, so the trade was sold as a rotation addition for 2020, but the Mets have remained on the fringes of the wild-card race, with five straight wins. They traded Jason Vargas, who was very good the past two months, for a catcher hitting .195 in Double-A. Where does that leave the Mets for Wednesday? They have four options:

This being the Mets, they'll probably try Option F. The unknown part of the Syndergaard equation: If the Mets are going for it in 2020, isn't their best chance of winning to ride a front three of Jacob deGrom, Syndergaard and Stroman? The same sort of applies to Diaz, while Wheeler is a free agent after this season and likely will be traded.

If the Mets flip Syndergaard for a package that can help in 2020, such a deal could involve a trade partner such as the Padres, who have MLB-ready talent and a deep farm system (though a report from USA Today's Bob Nightengale on Tuesday night said those talks are dormant). The Padres made the big deal on Tuesday, but they didn't get the controllable veteran starter they've been seeking to add to their rotation.

Keith Law says that the Mets are asking for team's top prospects in exchange for Noah Syndergaard, which may lead to teams like the Padres saying "no."

On the other hand, you can see the Astros' analytics department salivating about working with Syndergaard like it has in raising Gerrit Cole's game. (Suggestion No. 1: Syndergaard has allowed a .750 OPS on his four-seamer and an .860 OPS on his sinker, but he has thrown his sinker more often.) The Astros might be a tough match, however, as Forrest Whitley, who entered the season as the top pitching prospect in the game, has suffered through a lost season (10.97 ERA), and outfielder Kyle Tucker is a corner guy when the Mets need a center fielder. The Braves would be a match with all their young pitching, but an intra-division trade -- or one with the Yankees -- would seem unlikely.

With Stroman and Bauer off the market, Syndergaard's value has probably gone up, and it didn't hurt that he pitched one of his best games of the season on Tuesday, allowing one unearned run with 11 strikeouts in 7⅓ innings against the White Sox. After the game, Syndergaard told reporters, "I think I'm staying put."

Prediction: Zack Wheeler to the Astros.

What does the Bauer trade do to the starting pitching market?

To get Bauer, the Reds gave up a top-30 prospect in Taylor Trammell, who is struggling at Double-A (.236/.350/.338) but has loud tools and defensive chops in center field. The Reds' playoffs odds are at just 4.2%, so acquiring Bauer is more about aligning him with Luis Castillo and Sonny Gray for 2020 -- unless the Reds decide to flip him. At this point, don't rule anything out.

Leaving out Bauer, the starting-pitching market looks something like this: Madison Bumgarner, Mike Minor, Robbie Ray, Zack Greinke, the two Mets, Tanner Roark ... maybe Matthew Boyd or Caleb Smith.

Who is looking for a starter? The Yankees ... the Astros ... maybe the Braves and Twins. One factor to consider is that this winter's free-agent market is thin outside of Cole and Bumgarner. That makes a pitcher such as Ray or Minor attractive given that both are under team control for another season. The Astros and Yankees are the teams most tied to Ray, and it appears the Diamondbacks are going to be sellers.

Prediction: Robbie Ray to the Yankees.

Will Bumgarner or Greinke get traded?

Hey, anything is possible. The rumor mill with Bumgarner keeps going back and forth, but Jeff Passan reported Tuesday that Bumgarner "remains available." The Giants' playoffs odds are slim -- just 6.2%, via FanGraphs -- but they're red-hot, he's a franchise icon and it's Bruce Bochy's final season. That's a lot of emotion tied into any Bumgarner trade, and as Buster Olney tweeted, the players have earned the right to give the postseason a shot. Heck, maybe the Giants just ride it out and end up re-signing him in the winter.

Greinke is even more complicated. He's still really good at 35 years old -- 10-4, 2.87 ERA, 128/18 SO/BB ratio -- but he's signed for two more seasons at a hefty $35 million per year. He also has a no-trade clause to 15 teams, reportedly including the Yankees. Any Greinke deal would likely include the Diamondbacks eating part of his salary to get some prospects in return.

Prediction: Bumgarner and Greinke are not traded.

What about the relief market?

We saw two relievers traded on Tuesday: The Cubs picked up David Phelps from the Blue Jays, and then Chris Martin went to the Braves from the Rangers, with Texas acquiring one-time top prospect Kolby Allard. That's not a bad return for a 33-year-old journeyman having the best four months of his career. Allard's star has lost some luster, but he's still just 21, so this trade sets a pretty high bar for some of the other relievers out there. Trade candidates include Sam Dyson and Will Smith of the Giants, Ken Giles of the Blue Jays (except he just had a cortisone shot for inflammation in his elbow), Mychal Givens of the Orioles and others. The two biggest questions: Will the Padres trade Kirby Yates (arguably the best closer in baseball right now), and will the Pirates trade hard-throwing lefty Felipe Vazquez (signed through 2023)?

Pretty much everyone needs bullpen help, so expect a lot of movement on the reliever front. The Nationals have a glaring need in front of Sean Doolittle, the Red Sox need a closer, the Twins could use some depth and the Dodgers need some set-up help. Even the Yankees might look to add bullpen depth if they don't get a starting pitcher.

Prediction: The Dodgers go big and pry Vazquez from the Pirates; Yates stays put.

Who could be a surprise player who gets traded?

Whit Merrifield is a player every team could use because of his versatility and production. He's signed to a team-friendly contract that makes him even more valuable -- except he's 30 years old, and the Royals might not be good for a few years. This is how we get to this:

• The Royals keep him, and everyone wonders why, since they're a bad team.

• They trade him, and everyone complains that they just traded away their best player on a good contract and bad teams don't care and baseball has a tanking problem.

Prediction: Merrifield stays in Kansas City.

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2019-07-31 11:10:13Z
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Joe Girardi thinks Trevor Bauer could be traded again before deadline - New York Post

Joe Girardi thinks there is a chance Trevor Bauer won’t be with the Cincinnati Reds by the time the trade deadline ends on Wednesday afternoon at 4 p.m.

The former New York Yankees manager, who is now working for MLB Network, said he thinks a team such as the Bombers, Astros or another contending team who needs pitching still could have a chance to land the controversial starter.

“My initial reaction when I saw Trevor Bauer going to the Cincinnati Reds was was they were going to flip him to a team that maybe couldn’t match up with Cleveland with the prospects they had or the ready-made major league players that they had,” Girardi said during a conversation with Ken Rosenthal. “Because for a year and two months, you know, to give up a prospect like (Taylor Trammell). That’s a lot for me in a sense when they might not be ready to win yet.”

While saying anything could happen before the deadline ends, Rosenthal seemed to think the Reds won’t flip Bauer and will look to contend next season with a strong top three in their rotation of Bauer, Luis Castillo and former Yankee Sonny Gray.

Sources with knowledge of the front office’s plans told The Cincinnati Enquirer that Bauer isn’t expected to be flipped in another trade.

On Tuesday night, the Cleveland Indians right-hander was traded to the Reds as part of a three-team deal that included the San Diego Padres. The Reds shipped outfielders Yasiel Puig and Franmil Reyes, utilityman Victor Nova left-handed pitching prospect Scott Moss to the Indians as part of the deal, according to multiple reports. The Indians also got right-hander Logan Allen from the Padres.

Reds outfield prospect Trammell was shipped to San Diego.

The 28-year-old Bauer was fined by Major League Baseball earlier Tuesday for heaving a ball from the pitcher’s mound over the center-field wall at Kansas City last weekend. Bauer, who is making $13 million this season, isn’t a free agent until after 2020.

If the Yankees or another team are still looking for a back-end-of-the-rotation starter, the Reds could move Tanner Roark or Alex Wood because both pitchers are free agents at the end of the season, according to The Enquirer.

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2019-07-31 09:43:00Z
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The one pitcher the Mets should look to deal - New York Post

CHICAGO — Well, after this display Tuesday night at Guaranteed Rate Field (worst ballpark name ever), you know what the scouts on site will report back to their respective central commands:

Go get Noah Syndergaard.

Stay away from Edwin Diaz.

The Mets, naturally, should do the opposite with Wednesday’s trade deadline arriving. Now winners of five in a row after they overcame another Diaz blown save, with homers by Jeff McNeil and Michael Conforto producing an 11-inning, 5-2 victory over the White Sox, the Mets are sort of in this playoff race, trailing the Cubs by five games in the pursuit of the National League’s second wild card. Because they already damaged their farm system further with the trade for the Blue Jays’ Marcus Stroman, it would be silly to jettison Syndergaard and his ace-like stuff, not to mention his larger-than-life persona.

Diaz, though? If they receive a fair offer for him, they should quit while they’re behind on Brodie Van Wagenen’s biggest and worst trade.
Syndergaard looked absolutely brilliant in going 7¹/₃ innings and allowing one unearned run on five hits and one walk while striking out 11. His fastball reached 100 miles per hour on the radar gun, and his slider, missing in action for much of this campaign, played an integral role in his dominance.

“I think tonight was probably the top it’s felt mechanically [this season],” said Syndergaard, who dropped his ERA from 4.33 to 4.10. “Felt really good out there.”

“Wow. He was electric,” Mickey Callaway said. “I thought he had all pitches working. To pitch that deep in the game, he did a tremendous job. That was probably the best I’ve seen him.”

In his postgame interview, Syndergaard acknowledged that he has been in touch with the team’s front office concerning his future and professed confidence that he would still be a Met come 4 p.m. (Eastern time) on Wednesday. He agreed with the premise that the Mets wouldn’t have let him pitch Tuesday if they were close to trading him away.

Diaz didn’t speak with the media, though what could he say at this point, anyway? His actions speak loudest, and they continue to disturb.
Handed a 2-1 lead for the ninth, after Seth Lugo escaped an eighth-inning jam by inducing the dangerous Jose Abreu to hit into a double play, Diaz put together an impressive display of inaccuracy: Walk, strikeout, wild pitch, hit batter, wild pitch, sacrifice fly. Tie game, and not a hit to be found in the mix, and with his fifth blown save in 28 tries, Diaz exceeded last year’s total of four blown saves in 61 opportunities with the Mariners.

“His arm’s late,” Callaway said. “The [sliders] that are up, going up and into righties, his arm is just late. So I know [Diaz and pitching coach Phil Regan] are going to get together tomorrow and see if we can figure it out.”

Catcher Tomas Nido said Diaz could be “a little anxious, opening up [his front shoulder] a little quick.”

It’s fair to start wondering whether Diaz can tackle New York. If the Mets can unload him and replenish their farm system, you can envision Seth Lugo closing, and maybe the Mets can find a walk-year veteran for sale go give them another body.

In any case, if these Mets are to make a miracle run to October, it’ll happen with Syndergaard serving as an enormous wingman to ace and reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom, then with Suffolk County boys Stroman and Steven Matz serving as a strong secondary one-two punch. If they’re going to choose a questionable path, though, the Mets might as well do so with flair. And no active player — where have you gone, Yoenis Cespedes? — does it with more flair than Syndergaard.

Diaz’s flair has gone with the wind. If he joins Zack Wheeler as departees by the deadline, it might just be for the best.

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https://nypost.com/2019/07/31/the-one-pitcher-the-mets-should-look-to-deal/

2019-07-31 07:35:00Z
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Podcast: Trevor Bauer trade rumors become ‘Trevor Bauer - Cincinnati Reds pitcher’ - Red Reporter

We set out to record a routine pre-deadline podcast. It was nothing more complicated than that.

While recording, however, the Cincinnati Reds not only got in yet another newsworthy brawl with the Pittsburgh Pirates after their shenanigans, the Reds also engaged in a 3-team trade that had massive, massive ramifications for both the present and the future of the club.

As the dust settled, we assessed both the rumors that the Reds might acquire Cleveland starter Trevor Bauer, as well as what the Reds might do in other deals at the deadline. By the end of recording, however, we were presented with the breaking news of the actual deal that sent Bauer to the Reds, cost the Reds their top prospect in Taylor Trammell, and saw Cleveland net a haul from both Cincinnati and the San Diego Padres that made them come out looking incredibly rosy by most every single prospect evaluator involved.

Oh yeah - the Reds included Yasiel Puig in the deal, too, which just made this one of the more ill-fitting, unsatisfactory deals that I could possibly fathom. Don’t worry, you’ll absolutely hear that in the reactions from me, Tony, and Grimey.

Tune in, if you will. If you choose to tune out after this deal, however, I sure as hell wouldn’t blame you.

If Google hasn’t jobbed you out of the html link to our SoundCloud post below, you can find this latest episode by clicking here.

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https://www.redreporter.com/2019/7/31/20748262/trevor-bauer-trade-cincinnati-reds-trammell-puig

2019-07-31 06:21:02Z
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Selasa, 30 Juli 2019

New US Soccer fact sheet eviscerates Megan Rapinoe's 'equal pay' narrative - Washington Examiner

The United States has the best women’s soccer team in the world, as evidenced by our recent Women’s World Cup win. But we're told that the women’s team still faces blatant sexism and a pay gap compared to our men’s team.

That’s what woke feminists like USWNT Captain Megan Rapinoe keep telling us. In fact, the women’s team has even filed a lawsuit against U.S. Soccer alleging gender-based pay discrimination. I’ve already made the argument against equal pay and explained why Rapinoe is far from a good role model, but a new open letter and fact sheet released by U.S. Soccer completely refutes the equal pay crusaders’ argument.

First, it reveals that while U.S. Soccer is the target of the USWNT’s equal pay lawsuit, they’re not even the ones paying the men and women unequally. According to U.S. Soccer President Carlos Cordeiro, they actually pay the women more than the men. He writes:

Over the past decade, U.S. Soccer has paid our Women’s National Team more than our Men’s National Team. From 2010 through 2018, U.S. Soccer paid our women $34.1 million in salaries and game bonuses and we paid our men $26.4 million—not counting the significant additional value of various benefits that our women’s players receive but which our men do not.

How’s that for sexist? Cordeiro explains that this pay gap — in favor of the women — is due to different pay structures the men and women have negotiated, as the women’s team is given an annual salary and benefits while the men are paid more sporadically, proportional to participation. This disparity is necessary because the men have more professional soccer opportunities outside of international competition, such as the leagues in Europe and Major League Soccer. National soccer is a side gig for them, not a full-time job.

Now, it is true that the men’s World Cup offers significantly higher prize money, and that when prize money is counted, the men received $41 million from 2010 to 2018 and the women received just $39.7 million despite vastly outperforming the men relative to their own competition. And more generally, the winning team in the last men’s World Cup received $38 million in prize money, while the winners of this year’s Women’s World Cup get a relatively modest $4 million.

But this is up to the International Federation of Association Football, not U.S. Soccer, which means the “equal pay” lawsuit hasn't even been filed against the right entity. Moreover, the differential in prize money offered by FIFA is explained by differences in revenue generation and viewership, not sexism.

As I wrote before:

Almost half the world watched the men’s 2018 World Cup, with nearly 3.6 billion total viewers tuning in to watch some part of the tournament. The final match alone reached an audience of over 1.1 billion people. Subsequently, the tournament’s sponsor, FIFA, brought in a profit of over $6 billion.

The women’s team garners significant but substantially lower viewership. We don’t have data for the 2019 tournament, but during the women’s last World Cup in 2015, 764 million viewers tuned in for some portion of the tournament. This is quite good, but it still pales in comparison to the men’s tournament's audience.

Unsurprisingly, Cordeiro’s letter explains, “We look forward to the day when Americans choose to spend their time and money equally between women’s and men’s soccer.” But as the U.S. Soccer fact sheet makes clear, today is not that day, and the pay structures reflect that reality.

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https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/new-us-soccer-fact-sheet-eviscerates-megan-rapinoes-equal-pay-narrative

2019-07-30 14:29:00Z
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Marcus Stroman Let The Blue Jays Know Exactly How He Felt About Being Traded To The Mets - Deadspin

Illustration for article titled Marcus Stroman Let The Blue Jays Know Exactly How He Felt About Being Traded To The Mets — Photo: Vaughn Ridley (Getty)

Marcus Stroman seems cool with it now. The pitcher, acquired by the Mets on Sunday in a shock trade with Toronto, tweeted out an old photo of himself as a small child wearing a Mets jacket, saying “some things were meant to be.” He comes across as genuinely excited to be a Met, and—not for nothing—no longer a Blue Jay. That was not his first reaction.

As the news and confusion of the trade was breaking, the Blue Jays’ clubhouse was closed to press after their home loss. Reporters outside could hear something going on in there—a “commotion,” and that someone was audibly “not happy.” They were told, ominously, that “there’s a reason [the clubhouse] is closed.”

It didn’t take the Fox sisters rapping on tables to suss who might be upset and why. Stroman had been publicly angling for months to be sent to the Yankees, and even after the trade, his father admitted that Stroman “was hoping it was the Yankees a little bit.” And indeed, multiple reports confirmed that it was Stroman blowing up in the clubhouse, and he was upset he was being sent to Queens. Not that he has anything particular against the Mets, mind you; he had just been hoping to go to a contender, reports the Post and the Sun, with the Yankees, Astros, and Red Sox specifically mentioned.

Here’s how Stroman describes the scene in the clubhouse:

“The commotion was a discussion I had with some of our coaches and some of our higher-ups,” was how Stroman carefully termed it in a Monday conference call. “It was kind of like an exit meeting. I didn’t like how things were handled along the process and that was it. I was voicing my opinion. It hit me kind of quick.
“The conversation was based off how I thought things were handled and the conversation just ended there,” Stroman said. “There’s no hard feelings. I was just voicing my opinion. I’m sure anyone’s going to be frustrated after being here for seven years.”

I’m not sure about that “no hard feelings” part, especially in Toronto. The day after the trade, Blue Jays management did two things. First, they put out that they had tried to sign Stroman to an extension—something the pitcher himself had said a couple days earlier wasn’t true. Second, whatever the hell this is:

Please do not let the fact that Stroman was in fact the longest-tenured Blue Jays veteran completely overshadow the fact that he’s two years older than Noah Syndergaard, the so-called veteran who will keep him in line. If this anonymous Toronto official thought this quote would say something about Stroman instead of about himself, he fucked up.

Stroman does owe the Blue Jays some thanks, I think, for softening the blow of landing on the Mets by reminding him that, hey, at least he’s not in Toronto anymore.

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https://deadspin.com/marcus-stroman-let-the-blue-jays-know-exactly-how-he-fe-1836813570

2019-07-30 12:58:00Z
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	vs NL	vs AL
W-L	2-0	7-8
ERA	2.57	4.06
WHIP	1.11	1.24
Opp OPS	.586	.731
-- ESPN Stats & Information

Rabu, 31 Juli 2019

Indians

Reds

Padres

Fantasy impact

What will the Mets do?

What does the Bauer trade do to the starting pitching market?

Will Bumgarner or Greinke get traded?

What about the relief market?

Who could be a surprise player who gets traded?

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Selasa, 30 Juli 2019