Cleveland Sports Forum

Doesn't sound like an Andrew Miller type deal.

Smith=Shaw

don't know what we traded to get him. Here's a little history:

Smith played five seasons in Cleveland from 2009-13 before leaving the club in free agency. The Cincinnati, Ohio, native went 18-11 with a 2.76 ERA in 271 innings for the Indians during his five-year stint with the club.

Cleveland previously acquired him back in 2008 as part of a three-team trade that sent Franklin Gutierrez, Mike Carp, Ezequiel Carrera, Endy Chavez, Maikel Cleto, Aaron Heilman and Jason Vargas to the Mariners and Sean Green, J.J. Putz and Jeremy Reed to the Mets. The Indians also acquired Luis Valbuena in the deal.

I think the only guy we traded in that deal was Guti. Carrera showed up in Cleveland later.
Maybe they'd like to pick up Valbuena again; he's become quite a slugger in recent years.

Think one of the players for Smith was double AA Pannone. It was posted on Tribe site then removed.

Indians acquired RHP Joe Smith from the Blue Jays for LHP Thomas Pannone and INF Samad Taylor.

Of course in August many guys pass through waivers unexpectedly and then become eligible for trade.

So phase 2 starts today.

BTW, Darvish DID end up going to the Dodgers

We had to give up my man Thomas Pannone and good looking young infielder Samad Taylor for Smith...

To make room on the 40 Perci Garner (local kid who grew up Tibe fan) was DFA'd.

Civ, I may need a tissue.

For those who don't follow the Minors folder, let me introduce you to one of my favorite pitching prospects ...

Thomas Pannone had the lowest ERA of any of our minor league starters. 1.96. (9th best in all of MiLB)

He was second in FIP, 2.55. (4th best in all of MiLB)

He was second in K per 9 IP. 9.8

He was 3rd in strikeouts with 120

He was 3rd in WHIP. 0.96

And 3rd in BB/K ratio. Striking out 4.29 to every walk.

He was the 2nd or 3rd best starting pitcher prospect in our organization behind Triston McKenzie in my worthless opinion... Along with Taylor, who is a darn fine looking prospect though just in low A NYPL. A lot to give up for an old righty reliever...

Don't get me wrong, I don't want to come across as a JoeZ here and whining about any youngster we trade. I would have given this and a little more for Hand. I would have given up a good bit more for Britton. And happily. I just think this might have been a little much for a 33 year old right handed set up guy. Which is not a big need.

Kind of cool, though, isn't it HB, to be among maybe a dozen people in North America who can I identify the two guys we traded, and know enough about them to feel bad about the deal?

It remains unclear what about Pannone keeps him off everyone's prospect lists, other than yours. He has been remarkably successful this year in Lynchburg and in Akron. He is a lefty which should work in his favor. He has super control, like Civale and Bieber. He is not a real hard thrower. For all the positives on him, I'll see what bluejays.com reports. And how BA now describes him in their Trade Central. They never responded to repeated queries from me on their Hot Prospect Chats. His name finally appeared there in their mid-season All Star team which they introduce as based on performance not prospect status.

Taylor has hit extremely well as a 19 year old in NYPL. He's playing 2nd base which suggests he has neither a strong arm nor great range.

A few years ago we traded a then-very successful 19 year old SS to the Cardinals, I think his name was Herrera, for Rpdfksjvlcvjhi. Nothing ever came of the kid we dealt.
A number of years farther back we dealt a teenager in rookie ball for another lefty, Bruce Ellingsen. In that case the kid, Pedro Guerrero, worked out. You never know

well to this point, the Blue Jays haven't bothered reporting on the trade on their site. More interested in dealing Liriano to the Astros

When forced, Baseball America will discuss any prospect traded:


BLUE JAYS ACQUIRE
Thomas Pannone, lhp
Age: 23

Pannone jumped on the national prospect radar this year when he opened the season with 33.1 consecutive scoreless innings at high Class A Lynchburg and Double-A Akron He’s continued to dominate throughout the year and has the ninth-lowest WHIP (0.955) and 10th-lowest ERA (1.96) in the minor leagues. Though his stuff isn’t eye-popping, Pannone has been successful at every level. He previously sat 86-88 mph but saw his velocity jump this season. He now sits comfortably 90-91 mph and uses a mid-70s slurvy breaking balls as his main secondary. Where Pannone excels is he works quickly, fills up the zone in all quadrants, and mixes and matches to keep hitters off-balance. He misses bats at a rate higher than his raw stuff would suggest (9.5 K/9 in his career), and has a chance to rise as a back-end starter.


Samad Taylor, 2b
Age: 18 [that's what they think; he actually reached 19 three weeks ago]

Taylor was a well-known amateur as a member of the various USA National Teams and an Area Codes Game standout. The Indians drafted him in the 10th round in 2016. Taylor is small at 5-10, 160 pounds but is quick and athletic. He takes smart at-bats and makes solid line-drive contact and is beginning to show burgeoning power. Defensively he has the reflexes and quick-twitch attributes to handle both middle infield positions, but his actions and arm are better suited for second base. Taylor is still learning to channel his plus speed into stolen bases, but has a solid foundation to work from.

[Sounds a pair of smart pickups]

civ ollilavad wrote:Kind of cool, though, isn't it HB, to be among maybe a dozen people in North America who can I identify the two guys we traded, and know enough about them to feel bad about the deal?

In addition, there is ONE front office, aside from the Tribe's, who knows Indians prospects very well. That would be Toronto's.

In general, relievers were the hot commodity this trade deadline, and the prices were high as a result. So high in fact that guys like Hand were priced that they weren't even dealt.

I don't get how Baltimore held on to Britton when they suck this year. Hand the same with SD.

Those guys could get injured now and their value plummets

Good point, TFIR. Matter of fact I heard on MLB Sirius radio this morning that Beane was probably going to trade Gray even though he didn't have to (was under control for more years) just for that reason. He was afraid he might get injured and value would plummet.

Civ, you may remember I posted a first hand report from a blogger at one of Pannone's starts. He was topping out at 94 that particular night. I think his ceiling is middle of rotation starter. I'm just a tad more optimistic about Pannone than BA, who I'm sure by now is embarrassed they never had him listed in their top 30. Pre or mid season.

As a homer for RI kids, I hope Pannone does well in the Jays organization. Usually I don't give a shit about kids that don't play for the Tribe anymore.

Until this year, he was nothing more than an organizational player. Made some adjustments in the off season that led to his success this season. Don't know what his ceiling is but I wish him luck.

Smith is just a bullpen arm that can eat some innings but in my opinion, is not a difference maker.

As Trump would say......SAD!

Pannone is [was] another one of our college kid strike-throwing inning-eaters with the bonus of being a lefty. Since we don't have any left handers in the major league rotation or anywhere on the horizon you'd think he would be someone that they would have wanted to hang onto. Merryweather, Civale and Bieber all rate above him on all lists -- Pannone didn't show up on the milb or mlb top 30 either