Cleveland Sports Forum

I heard hamstring

You're probably right, Peter. I just guessed knee cause I know he had a minor injury to that early this season against Rangers. I guessed maybe that was acting up again, but was a total guess.

I have to say, my feelings are not hurt that Brian Dozier got traded and is out of our division. I know he's having a down year but he has killed us through recent years.

Interesting:

Anthony Castrovince
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Silver lining to Indians’ struggles outside division is that they’re currently first in August waiver wire pecking order among the AL contenders. They got Jay Bruce in the waiver period last year.

Jordan Bastian
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Antonetti said they never got deep enough in any talks where a player with veto rights was asked to approve a trade. Translation: Cleveland did not get that far in dialogue for Adam Jones.

Bernie Pleskoff
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#Indians have acquired OF Oscar Mercado from the #STLCardinals. This is a nice addition. I saw him in the Arizona Fall League. Light and lean, but plenty fast with good athletic ability and baseball instincts. I don't know the price they paid for him.

Whoa. Nice. Mercado stole 50 bases in minors one year. Has hit over .280 last 2 years in minors. Has a little pop. Still only 23.

Cardinals traded Pham too, cause they have a logjam of OF'ers. Which begs the questions. Why did they want Capel in return?

Well, now we have a some competition for Zimmer and Allen for CF. Hopefully one of these guys will step up and take the job by the throat.

You could knock the bat out of Mercado's hands early in his minor league career. But he has actually developed into a decent looking player.

2017 SPR TEX AA 120 477 76 137 204 20 4 13 46 32 2 112 38 19 .287 .341 .428 .769 0.79
2018 MEM PCL AAA 100 382 73 109 156 21 1 8 42 36 0 64 31 8 .285 .351 .408 .759 0.87

Some videos of Mercado if you want to see our new CF prospect.

http://www.milb.com/search/media.jsp?player_id=640458

Oscar Mercado, 23, was a second-round pick by the Cardinals in 2013, and he's shown some improvement with the bat each year. He's hit .285/.351/.408 with Triple-A Memphis this year, and he's also stolen 31 bases in 39 attempts. There isn't much power here, but Mercado has the skill set to be a strong utility man that can play the outfield and also could help in the middle infield.

This is weird, outfield and infield?

So I looked it up - as recently as 2016 he played 81 games at shortstop!

In 2015 he played 106 games at shortstop in high A.

The scouting report on Mercado, from the MLB.com prospect list Hillbilly just posted in Minor Matters:

Scouting grades: Hit: 45 | Power: 40 | Run: 60 | Arm: 60 | Field: 60 | Overall: 45

In July 2016, Mercado was struggling to keep his average above .200 while playing shortstop for Palm Beach in the Class A Advanced Florida State League. The 2013 second-round pick was on the cusp of being a forgotten prospect when the decision was made to move him to center field. In 2017, he was a different player completely, leading the organization in steals, raising his batting average more than 60 points, playing well in the Arizona Fall League and earning a spot on the 40-man roster. [After a strong showing in Triple-A in 2018, the Cardinals dealt Mercado to Indians for Conner Capel and Jhon Torres at the July Trade Deadline.]

The move seemed to free his mind as he re-worked his swing and was able to focus on his offense. It came together rather quickly, with him making more consistent contact as a result of improved bat speed and much more extra-base authority than he'd ever shown previously. He does need to continue to refine his approach and get into hitter's counts more consistently, which would give him more opportunities to tap into that raw power. A plus runner with a plus arm, he has transitioned to center field seamlessly and is a plus defender who looks like he was meant to roam the outfield.

Mercado's renaissance was one of the best storylines in the Cardinals' farm system. He's knocking on the big league door after his bounceback season, with the chance to be an everyday center fielder if his approach continues to improve.

Whoa, we may have gotten a pretty nice under the radar pickup there.