Indians signed OF Brandon Barnes to a minor league contract and invited him to major league spring training.

The 32-year-old outfielder has 484 games of major league experience, logging a career .242/.290/.357 slash line with 20 home runs and 102 RBI in 1274 plate appearances since breaking into the majors in 2012 with the Astros. He has also seen action with the Rockies and Indians in recent seasons. He will serve as organizational depth for the Indians in the upcoming campaign.

LOL!! UD

Forgot about the Cleeeean, Cleeeean Coal.

In signing southpaw Andrew Miller on Friday, the Cardinals fulfilled their desire to pick up a lefty reliever this winter. Before nabbing Miller, though, they contacted the Indians regarding Brad Hand, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. The Indians’ asking price for Hand was presumably too high, however, given his star-level production from 2016-18, team-friendly contract and what they surrendered for him last July. Just five months ago, Cleveland sent elite prospect Francisco Mejia to San Diego for Hand and fellow reliever Adam Cimber.

Found it interesting Progressive Field was ranked so highly a hitter ballpark (PDF)

https://www.baseball-reference.com/leag ... laneous::6


And another:

http://www.espn.com/mlb/stats/parkfactor

Corey Kluber - S - Indians

MLB.com's Jon Morosi reports that the Padres have "emerged as a strong contender" to land Corey Kluber from the Indians.

Morosi notes that the Padres and Indians "are engaged in discussions," but adds that "one person with knowledge of the talks does not believe the Padres have eclipsed the Dodgers as favorites to land Kluber -- yet."

San Diego's top two prospects -- shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. and left-handed starter MacKenzie Gore -- are believed to be off the table entirely, but catcher Austin Hedges and outfielders Manuel Margot and Hunter Renfroe are apparently among the names under consideration for a potential Kluber swap. The Padres have also been connected to Blue Jays starter Marcus Stroman.

SD looks a very legit team since we do know the Tribe might want stud defensive catcher Austin Hedges. Umm, they have an opening there.

And the 2 outfielders are legit.

They just might work well with the SD front office - they did do the Brad Hand trade quite recently.

Ok, I'll take the SD outfielders.

If you want to up the price for your product, you have to have more than one interested party. I can see the Dodgers being interested in Kluber but why would SD want him?

Start more rumors.

Why would the Reds want him? I guess to rebuild credibility?

civ ollilavad wrote:Why would the Reds want him? I guess to rebuild credibility?

Sometimes these rebuilding teams crash for so many seasons it is an utter disservice to their fans and they stop coming.

Reds got the message. Attendance tanked. And in fairness to the organizations, they had dumped crap contracts, and young kids had made progress. So they were ready to spend and make their product more entertaining.

This is exactly what the Indians have resisted doing, and continue to resist doing. The possibility of them dealing Kluber would be a further attempt to "rebuild" on the fly by trading an older player who still has value for younger, controllable pieces with upside. And trading from an area of strength to upgrade weakness (offense).

Twins too trying to dress up the team a bit from the rebuild.

According to Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports, the Twins and Nelson Cruz are in agreement on a one-year, $14.3 million contract with an option for 2020.

The veteran slugger will make a $14 million salary in 2019 and the club option for 2020 is worth $12 million with a $300,000 buyout. Cruz showed signs of decline last season in Seattle, and that decline could certainly get more rapid as he nears age 40, but this is a relatively low-risk deal for a Twins club that needed a jolt of power. Cruz, 38, has averaged 41 home runs and 104 RBI per year since 2014.

Cardinals aren't on the list for Kluber are they? They have a big bat OF and a couple good hitting 3rd basemen among the top 5 on their prospect list.

https://www.baseballamerica.com/teams/1 ... dium=email

Can you cut and paste, Civ. Link for members.

2. Tyler O'Neill | OF


Tyler O'Neill


Born: Jun 22, 1995

Bats: R Throws: R

Ht.: 5'11" Wt.: 210

Signed By: Wayne Norton (Mariners)

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TRACK RECORD: O’Neill established himself with 75 home runs in two-and-a-half seasons before the Mariners traded him to the Cardinals for Marco Gonzales at the 2017 deadline. O’Neill kept crushing with 38 home runs in 101 games at Triple-A Memphis in 2018. He added nine more in 61 games during his big league debut.

SCOUTING REPORT: A walking ball of muscle, O’Neill swings hard and often. With lightning bat speed and tremendous strength, he sends jaw-dropping home runs out to all fields, and he has leveled out his swing a bit to make more contact. O’Neill does serious damage when he connects, but his uphill swing results in an alarming amount of swings and misses in the strike zone, particularly against spin. Though he improved his strikeout and walk rates in Triple-A, his strikeout rate spiked to 40 percent in the majors. O’Neill showed himself to be a nearly plus-plus runner despite his bulk as well as a plus defender in both corners with an above-average arm.

THE FUTURE: O’Neill has the power to lead the league in home runs but needs to get his strikeouts under control. He’ll return to the majors in 2019.

4. Nolan Gorman | 3B


Nolan Gorman


Born: May 10, 2000

Bats: L Throws: R

Ht.: 6'1" Wt.: 210

Signed By: Mauricio Rubio

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TRACK RECORD: Gorman emerged early as the top power prospect in the 2018 draft. He won the high school home run derby during all-star weekend at Marlins Park in 2017 and the Under Armour All-America home run derby at Wrigley Field a few weeks later. He continued to crush his senior year, headlined by a 400-plus foot shot in the Arizona 6A state playoffs. The Cardinals made him the 19th overall pick and he immediately delivered on his power promise, hitting 17 homers in his first 63 games.

SCOUTING REPORT: Gorman is as strong as any player his age. He displays easy plus-plus power against mid-90s velocity, making balls disappear to right field. Gorman doesn’t see lefthanders well and breaking balls give him trouble, but he adjusts quickly, shows power to all fields and makes enough contact to project a .250-.260 average with 30 or more home runs a season. Gorman is a touch stiff at third base, leaving evaluators split whether he will stick there. His range plays up with quick reactions, but he’ll have to maintain his body and agility. His arm strength is above-average.

THE FUTURE: Gorman has the bat to be future middle-of-the-order mainstay regardless of position. He finished his debut at low Class A Peoria and will start back there.