Well I can think of one recent No. 1 pick the Indians made who is playing out pretty well.

Although the long line of recent Outfielders at the top of the draft has not produced a heck of a lot: Chiz; Zimm; Frazier did get us part of Miller; Naquin. The last two drafts netted Benson who's hitting 177 in Eastlake and Q. Holmes who isn't playing anywhere.

Update:


Blue Jays sent INF Gio Urshela outright to Triple-A Buffalo.

Urshela was designated for assignment by Toronto last week and passed through waivers unclaimed. The 26-year-old is a strong defender, but he holds a .225/.274/.315 career batting line at the major league level.

Greg Allen has been recalled to replace Chisenhall.

BA question on Bieber no longer fits in Minor Matters folder:

Thoughts on Shane Bieber I continue to hear backend of the rotation starter but he seems to be more than that when looking at his performances. Thoughts?

Josh Norris: I've heard as high as mid-rotation on Bieber because his stuff has gotten better in pro ball, and I tend to agree with that assessment. He's fascinating, and I've loved watching him pitch on MLB TV this year when I've gotten the chance.

I’d agree. Good middle of the rotation guy.

Although he is doing his best Tomlin impersonation tonight.

Carrasco doing great and starting Friday night.

Andrew Miller threw 25 pitches off mound yesterday and went good. Going to throw 25 more tomorrow.

Tyler Olsen pitching for Columbus tomorrow night. Then expecting another outing there around Friday or Saturday. If all goes well they hope to have him back by end of the weekend.

No timetable for Chiz at all. In a walking boot and they have no idea how long he'll be out.

So when Miller and Olson come back they'll have to pull the plug on some of the veterans who are looking consistently terrible.

I'm particularly agitated by McAllister. They've kept him around this long because of his stuff. He pitched in secondary bullpen roles until this year. This year, finally time to step up and he continues mediocrity.

Time to move on from him - all that promising stuff is just a tease.

Certainly another cheaper option than Machado - and how much would Ramirez and Lindor love this?

Rosenthal:

The Boston Red Sox and Indians are potential fits for Adrian Beltre, but it’s also possible no trade opportunity will arise. For the Rangers, that actually might be the preferred outcome, enabling them to avoid parting with their beloved third baseman.

Rosenthal:

Infielders everywhere!

Last week, I wrote about the glut of relievers on the trade market, and how it would behoove sellers to be realistic with their expectations if they want to move quickly. The same dynamic applies with infielders. As one executive put it, “There aren’t going to be enough chairs for everyone.”

Consider this partial list of players who are known or likely to be available:

Second base: DJ LeMahieu, Brian Dozier, Scooter Gennett, Josh Harrison, Asdrúbal Cabrera, Starlin Castro.

Shortstop: Manny Machado, Eduardo Escobar, Jordy Mercer, Freddy Galvis, Adeiny Hechavarria, José Iglesias.

Third base: Beltre, Josh Donaldson, Mike Moustakas, David Freese.

The only players in that group who are not potential free agents are Castro, who is under contract through next season, and Gennett, who will be in his final year of arbitration (Harrison and Freese have club options on their deals).

The group of shortstops beyond Machado and Escobar is a glut within a glut — and not an especially appealing one.

Follow up:

According to a report on MLB.com, Minnesota Twins second baseman Brian Dozier "could still draw significant interest" at the MLB trade deadline. Dozier is struggling through a slow season by his own lofty standards, hitting .218 with 12 homers, 52 runs, 35 RBI, and five steals.

The fact that Dozier is having a down season should make it less expensive for a contender to trade for him at the deadline. Several teams have been mentioned as potential fits for Dozier's services, including the Los Angeles Dodgers, Cleveland Indians, Milwaukee Brewers, Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sox, and St. Louis Cardinals.

It appears extremely likely that Dozier, a free agent after the season, will be in a different uniform after the trade deadline.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that the Dodgers and Brewers are the "most serious" suitors of Manny Machado.

Rosenthal adds that the Indians are also in the mix but taking on what remains of Machado's $16 million salary could be an issue for them. The Diamondbacks, Phillies, Braves and Cubs have also been connected to the star infielder. The rumors with Machado have been picking up a bit of late and it's looking like he could be traded well before the deadline.

Indians Prospective @indiansPro
39 minutes ago
Columbus Clippers C/OF Francisco Mejia was hit by a pitch in the 1st inning today and was forced to leave the game

Lol, let's hope it isn't the dreaded injury right before the trade deadline.

Been out of town a few days. Catching up a bit from this weekend. Good weekend for pitching prospects.

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Indians Prospective @indiansPro

Indians 5 Clippers 4

Haase 2-4 R 2B HR 4RBI
Chang 2-3 2R 3B
Rosales 1-4 R
Ogando 1.1(IP) 0H 0R 0ER 0BB 1SO

Columbus Clippers C/OF Francisco Mejia was hit by a pit ch in the 1st inning today and was forced to leave the game.

Columbus Clippers (C) Eric Haase has been an extra base RBI machine over his last 9 games
13-33 9R 5(2B) 4HR 16RBI 4BB 1SB .394 AVG .447 OBP

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Flying Squirrels 2 RubberDucks 1

McKenzie 6(IP) 2H 1R 1ER 2BB 6SO
Lovegrove 1(IP) 0H 0R 0ER 1BB 2SO
Bradley 1-4 R HR RBI
Sever 2-4

Akron RubberDucks RHP Triston McKenzie has been fantastic over his last 2 starts:
- 12.1(IP) 3H 1R 1ER 3BB 10SO 0.73 ERA

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Hillcats 4 Blue Rocks 0

Morgan 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 10 K
Krauth 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K
Siri 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
Clement 3-4, 2B, RBI
Capel and Longo 0-4

- -

Captains 7 Whitecaps 1

Hillman 6(IP) 4H 1R 1ER 2BB 1SO
Perez 1-3 2R HR RBI BB
Benson 1-4 R HR RBI
Gonzalez 2-4 R 2B RBI

Lake County Captains LHP Juan Hillman has been outstanding over his last 4 starts:
- 24.1(IP) 14H 4R 4ER 8BB 19SO 1.48 ERA

Lake County Captains transactions
INF Tyler Friis placed on the 7-day DL
OF Gabriel Mejia promoted from Mahoning Valley

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CrossCutters 8 Scrappers 4

Oviedo 5 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 K
Freeman 1 -3, BB, 2 R
Palacios 3-3, 3B, BB, 2 RBI

Mahoning Valley Scrappers RHP Alex Royalty has not allowed a Run over his first 5 professional outings:
- 10.2(IP) 5H 0R 0ER 2BB 17SO 0.00 ERA 14.4 SO/9

Mahoning Valley Scrappers INF Richard Palacios extended his hitting streak to 7 straight games:
10-26 4R 1(2B) 1HR 6RBI 4BB 1SB .385 AVG .452 OBP

Mahoning Valley Scrappers 19yr old RHP Luis Oviedo really wants that promotion with another dominant performance again today
- 5(IP) 5H 1R 0ER 2BB 6SO
Season
- 28(IP) 14H 3R 1ER 5BB 40SO 0.32 ERA #Indians

Mahoning Valley Scrappers
RHP Luis Oviedo NYPL rankings:
1) ERA 0.39
1) FIP 1.07
1) xFIP 1.42
1) SO 34
1) SO/9 13.30
1) SO% 42.5%
1) SO/BB% 38.8%
1) AVG .117
1) WHIP 0.52
3) SO/BB 11.33
4) BB/9 1.17
4) SwStr% 14.7%
5) BB% 3.8%

Mahoning Valley Scrappers (SS) Tyler Freeman NYPL rankings:
1) AVG .418
1) Hits 33
1) SO% 5.8%
1) SwStr% 2.2%
2) wRC+ 188
2) wOBA .461
2) OPS .985
2) OBP% .453
2) 2B 7
3) Runs 15
4) RBI 15

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Congrats to #Indians 2017 International signee INF Brayan Rocchio on being promoted from (Dominican Summer League) to the (Arizona Rookie League) today. Rocchio was a high sign out of Venezuela. 2018 DSL:
32-99 19R 2(2B) 3(3B) 1HR 12RBI 5BB 8SB .323 AVG .391 OBP