since he can't hit or field, but they keep him out there and don't even pinch hit for him, they must think even less of Moroff. Why the heck did we trade for him?

civ ollilavad wrote:His quote "Obviously they don't want the best guys up here" has some truth, but unfortunately:
1. Miller cannot play SS and although stamets cannot hit he can field
2. Kipnis hardly hit a bit in Columbus but they've invested tons of money at him so they cannot DFA him
So Miller and his 250 average is gone and we can be excited to have Jason the Overpaid back in the lineup.

I am hoping that Miller ends up passing through and goes to Columbus. And the guy played tons of SS not that long ago. I doubt he is Vizquel over there but the bar isn't set all that high at SS right now.

Home Runs in 2019: A Historical Perspective

Mitch Haniger hit a lead-off homer yesterday to extend the Seattle Mariners' now 18-game streak of at least one home run, an MLB record to start the season, and Haniger's was one of 38 home runs recorded yesterday. At the league level, this season is currently at 1.30 home runs per game; the previous high was in 2017 when the league finished with 1.26 home runs per game. Here's a look at the home run-heaviest years in MLB history.

Year HR/G
2019 1.30
2017 1.26
2000 1.17
2016 1.16
2018 1.15
1999 1.14
2001 1.12
2004 1.12
2006 1.11

Cleveland Indians designate Brad Miller for assignment: ‘Obviously, they don’t want the best players up here’
By Paul Hoynes, cleveland.com

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Right now what’s up is down and what’s down is up for the Indians.

Confused? Imagine how Brad Miller feels?

Miller, one of the few Indians’ players who looks like he knows what to do with a bat, was designated for assignment after Sunday’s 9-8 loss to the Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Miller was DFA’d to make room for second baseman Jason Kipnis, who will join the team in Seattle for their three-game series which open Monday night at Safeco Field.

Kipnis opened the year on the injured list with a strained right calf. He’s been on a rehab assignment at Class AAA Columbus. Miller went 1-for-4 Sunday. In Saturday’s 2-0 loss, he had the Indians only two hits.

The Indians signed Miller to a one-year $1 million deal near the end of spring training after Kipnis strained his calf, but it was not guaranteed. Miller leaves the Indians with a .250 (9-for-36) batting average. On a team hitting .194 for the season, he looks like Ted Williams.

“It’s a tough trend,” said Miller. "They acknowledge that it wasn’t fair. But I’m just a player. I go out there and play my hardest and play for the guys next to me.

“Obviously, they don’t want the best guys up here. So I’m just trying to take it somewhere else and see what we’ve got.”

Miller said he could see the handwriting on the wall with middle infielders Kipnis and Francisco Lindor getting close to joining the big-league club. Lindor left the Indians after Sunday’s game to begin a rehab assignment with Class AAA Columbus. The Clippers open a three-game series against Louisville on Monday.

“I’m a player,” said Miller, when told he was one of the few consistent hitters on the roster. "I really enjoyed playing for Tito (Terry Francona). That’s why I’m frustrated. I want to be here. I like this group. It’s a good team and I was hoping I’d be a part of it, but they have other plans.

“I think the writing was on the wall from the get-go. I just hope I can go somewhere else and get after it.”

Miller went to spring training with the Dodgers, but was released after a good showing. The Indians signed him after the Dodgers released him in response to Kipnis’ calf injury.

In his 18 days with the Indians, Miller made an estimated $105,000 based on a big-league season consisting of 172 days. If he gets claimed by another team, they will continue to pay him at the salary he agreed to with the Indians. If he goes unclaimed and agrees to a minor league assignment with the Indians, he’d receive $120,000, the minor league portion of his deal.

Miller can refuse the assignment and become a free agent because he has more than five years in the big leagues. If he does that, he would forfeit the minor league portion of his contract with the Indians.

If the Indians had kept Miller in the big leagues for 45 days or more, his $1 million salary would have been guaranteed. Hanley Ramirez has a 45-day clause in his contract. When the Indians signed Oliver Perez last year, he also had the same clause in his deal.

Miller was caught in a tough spot. With Kipnis’ return, the Indians didn’t need two left-handed hitting second basemen. His bat would have worked at shortstop, but that is not his best position.

Frustrating because they did a good job picking Miller up off the trash heap. Booooo

Kind of amazing we don't have anyone on hand to pinch hit for Stamets. Maybe one less pitcher and then they'd have room for Miller.
But of course if Carrasco and Kluber are going to require 6 innings plus of relief help we'll need all the pitchers we can find.

So I assume if Miller is claimed, then the new team will be on the hook for his contract.

So he may pass and accept a trip to Columbus - to be recalled at a later date.

he doesn't sound too happy about being dumped. Not so sure he's all that excited about coming back to this organization.

Well, he did say he liked playing for Tito and liked the team. Shoulda dumped Hanley instead.

Some analysis on Jose Ramirez from a fantasy site (before last night)

Jose Ramirez

There was a fair bit of debate during draft season surrounding Jose Ramirez's overall ADP of three. A lot of things went right for him in 2018 for him to finish with a 110/39/105/34/.270 line, it seemed. His impressive .392 wOBA was much higher than his .366 xwOBA. He struggled against breaking pitches. He had never stolen more than 22 bases in a season previously. Given the downside, his owners aren't feeling too good about his .140/.180/.193 slash line 61 plate appearances into the season.
To begin with, we have to consider that Ramirez's Spring Training knee injury suffered from a fouled ball is still lingering. There's no way for us to know for sure from the safety of our couches, but we have to keep it in the back of our minds. He has also fouled a ball off his foot already, but the trio of stolen bases offers some small reassurance that his struggles aren't injury related.

Frankly, Ramirez's early plate discipline and batted ball profile look like they belong to someone else. For starters, the 2:10 BB:K ratio (3.3%/16.4%) are quite contrary to his elite 106:80 (15.2%/11.5%) BB:K from last season. His elite eye and contact rates are a large part of what makes him such a strong hitter. His career contact rate is 87.9%, but to this point, he is making contact at a much lower 81.5% clip. Contact rate stabilizes rather quickly, so that number is stark and concerning. His swinging strike rate sits at a career-high 7.8%, which is far from bad but not his uber-elite 4.7% 2018 mark. His 42.4% swing rate and 24.6% O-swing% are in line with his career rates though, indicating the walk rate will bounce back.

Perhaps the most peculiar part of the early Jose Ramirez results lies in his batted ball profile. Last year we saw him take on a pull-heavy fly ball approach. He had a 50% pull rate with 45.9% fly balls, both easily career highs. It led, unsurprisingly, to a surge in HR/FB rate at 16.9%. That type of batted ball profile leads to poor BABIP's though, which is why he was saddled with a .252 BABIP despite plenty of foot speed and hard contact. Early on, he seems to be trying to look like someone else.
While he's still putting the ball in the air, he is pulling the ball half as much as he was in 2018, at 25%. 21 of his at-bats - nearly a third - have ended with a fly ball to center or the opposite field. On those balls, just 28.6% of them have been hard-hit. He has a .095 BABIP and a .100 batting average on those outcomes. While that is slightly unlucky, those just are not good outcomes for a hitter. The MLB average on fly balls to the center or opposite field is just .183 with a BABIP of .112. A soft- or medium-hit fly ball that isn't pulled is only marginally better than a pop-up.

Perhaps he merely needs a mechanical tweak, but it could also be a conscious approach on his part to beat the shift. In 2018 he was shifted on 53% of his at-bats as a left-handed hitter and 6.3% from the right side. This year he has been shifted nearly every at-bat as a lefty at 97.6%, and 40% as a righty. Making a purposeful effort to go to the opposite field to beat the shift makes sense in theory, but the application has been disastrous.

Jose Ramirez needs to get back to being Jose Ramirez. The unfortunate thing is, if and when he gets back to pulling the ball like crazy, the extreme shifts he sees will continue to tank his BABIP and batting average. If that means he actually hits home runs, though, I'll take that trade-off. It's also possible he's pressing a bit at the plate, trying to overcompensate for a really bad Indians lineup that is missing Francisco Lindor. His R+RBI totals aren't likely to come close to his 2018 totals considering how bad that lineup has been, and if he's not getting on base as much, his stolen base totals are going to come down as well. He's been an elite hitter for years though, so expect a bounce back in plate discipline and OBP.

Basically the article seems to agree with the theory the shift is in his head. As well as the crap lineup.

let's hope yesterday with a homer and a pair of walks is the end of the beginning for Ramirez

You got it Winnie!

Allen's catch:

https://www.mlb.com/indians/video/allen ... he-freight

We can afford a 040 hitter if he's that good on defense. At least as a part-timer and a sub.
Not quite the same with the lump at shortstop.

I keep on checking at Indians.com expecting the story:

The Cleveland Indians today announced that the contract of infielder Eric Stamets has been set on fire and Stamets has been issued a bus pass to anywhere he wants to travel in the United States on the condition that he stay at least 200 miles away from any stadium that the Indians are playing in this season.
Ryan Flaherty's contract has been purchased from Columbus and the 32 year infielder will join the team tonight in Seattle.
While playing in the majors for the first time in his distinguished career, Stamets hit a single, a double and struck out just over half of the times he stepped to the plate.
"It was a thrill to send Eric out there everyday," said Tribe manager Tito Francona. "He really gave it all he had, which admittedly wasn't much. But he certainly insured that our fans continued to wait anxiously for Francisco Lindor," out since the start of the season with a sprained ankle suffered while rehabbing from a strained calf. "We really don't know what to expect from Flaherty, but we know it can't be worse than Eric did."
Lindor starts his second rehab of the spring tonight in Columbus and the Indians have also optioned head trainer to the Clippers to keep an eye on Lindor's every step. If all goes well in his stay with the Clippers, Lindor should rejoin the Tribe on their return from their epic journey to the West Coast.

Alright, Civ, it has happened.

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#Indians transaction

INF Eric Stamets optioned to (AAA) Columbus

INF Mike Freeman promoted to Cleveland from (AAA) Columbus