I think the Giants ate going to win the world series again
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Wil Myers wil have his younger brother, Beau, pitching to him in the HR derbyComment -
- In another tweet from Crasnick, he describes the chances of the Braves trading Julio Teheran as “not likely” unless Atlanta significantly lowers its asking price before the deadline. Given that the Braves reportedly want more for Teheran than they received from the D’Backs in the already-infamous Shelby Miller trade, it’s not hard to see why teams are balking at such a huge asking price. (And it’s also clear why Atlanta would demand so much for a controllable young arm with ace potential.)
- Clayton Kershaw will miss at least one start after the All-Star break as the Dodgers’ ace is still recovering from his back injury. L.A. manager Dave Roberts lined up his post-All-Star break rotation for reporters (including MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick) and Kershaw wasn’t in the mix, as the star lefty just threw off a mound today for the first time since June 26. Early reports about his DL placement suggested Kershaw could miss up to a month, so while today’s news wasn’t necessarily a surprise, it’s possible he could return in the latter half of the 10-day road trip the Dodgers will face after the break.
- Speaking of NL West stars on the DL, Bruce Bochy provided some updates to the media (including Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News) about some notable Giants. Joe Panik is recovering well from concussion symptoms and could be back for the Giants’ series with the Red Sox that begins on July 19, while Hunter Pence could begin a minor league rehab assignment next week as he recovers from surgery to fix a torn hamstring. Matt Duffy’s strained Achilles tendon in his left foot is still causing him problems when he runs in a straight line, so his timeline is uncertain though Duffy can perform other baseball activities with no issues.
- Kenta Maeda exceeded the 100-inning plateau in his start today, thus unlocking another $250K bonus in his Dodgers contract (hat tip to ESPN.com’s Doug Padilla). Maeda is only guaranteed $3MM per season from 2016 through 2023, though he can collect significant bonuses based on innings pitched, starts and making the Opening Day roster. Thus far, Maeda has received an extra $1.65MM in bonuses this season. Even if he maxes out those bonuses over the eight years under contract, Maeda is already looking like a bargain for the Dodgers given how well he has pitched in his first MLB season.
- With today’s MLB Futures Game in mind, ESPN’s Jim Bowden (subscription required) details seven prospects from the game who could be trade chips at the deadline.
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Kenta Maeda should fire that agent that negotiated his deal.Comment -
José Fernández told me that if he faces David Ortiz he's going to groove three fastballs down the middle so he can hit a monster HR in his last All-Star Game!Comment -
Maeda def needs to renegotiate that deal.Comment -
Orlando Arcia, SS, Milwaukee Brewers (Triple-A Colorado Springs)
Arcia cemented his spot as the Brewers’ shortstop of the near future when he posted an .800 OPS with 25 stolen bases while playing most of the 2015 season as a 20 year-old in Double-A Biloxi. Now he’s on the verge of claiming that starting job before he reaches his 22nd birthday on August 4.
While Jonathan Villar’s breakout season (.806 OPS, 31 steals) has played a part in pushing back Arcia’s estimated time of arrival in Milwaukee—it wouldn’t have surprised anyone if he was called up in early May—the recent trade of Aaron Hill opens up third base for Villar while Arcia is putting the finishing touches on his Minor League career with eight hits in his last 20 at-bats, including three doubles, a triple, a homer and seven runs batted in.
Brewers Depth Chart
Andrew Benintendi, OF, Boston Red Sox (Double-A Portland)
The Red Sox have already patched up their bullpen by trading for Brad Ziegler, and they’re almost certain to acquire a starting pitcher before the non-waiver trade deadline on August 1 to shore up their shaky rotation. Their offense, meanwhile, is already the best in baseball and they could be even better once the Andrew Benintendi era begins.
I’m not certain that the 22-year-old Benintendi will be the first first-rounder (No. 7 overall) from the 2015 Draft to get the call to the big leagues—see Alex Bregman—but he shouldn’t be far behind. Coincidentally, Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski recently hinted that Benintendi is close and might not need a stop in Triple-A.
Since a promotion to Double-A in mid-May, the left-handed-hitting center fielder has an .844 OPS in 47 games, including a .310 batting average since a 2-for-19 start. He’ll man left field once he arrives in Boston with Brock Holt moving back into his valuable role as a super-utility man.
Red Sox Depth Chart
Alex Bregman, INF, Houston Astros (Triple-A Fresno)
If you watched the Futures Game on Sunday, you know that I’m not the only person that thinks Alex Bregman should be in the Majors by now, including Bregman, who declared, “I’m ready,” when asked on MLB Network what he wanted the world to know about him.
The 22-year-old continues to tear the cover off of the ball in Triple-A and obviously didn’t have any problems with the elite talent on the mound yesterday, as he was a home run shy of the cycle after just three at-bats. Opening a spot in the Houston’s lineup is really as simple as moving Luis Valbuena to first base and allowing A.J. Reed and Evan Gattis to platoon in the designated hitter spot—Gattis has an .802 OPS versus left-handed pitching and a .641 OPS versus right-handers.
The surging Astros will be fun to watch in the second half, especially with Bregman manning third base and hitting in the No. 2 spot between George Springer and Jose Altuve.
Astros Depth Chart
Reynaldo Lopez, SP/RP, Washington Nationals (Triple-A Syracuse)/Alex Reyes, SP/RP, St. Louis Cardinals (Triple-A Memphis)
I’ve lumped Lopez and Reyes together since the theme here is very similar. They’re two of the best pitching prospects in the Minor Leagues, both with limited experience in the upper minors—Lopez has 14 Double-A starts and two Triple-A starts; Reyes has made eight Double-A starts and nine Triple-A starts—and still a lot of room to develop as starting pitchers. But most will agree that they could dominate in the Major Leagues right now in one-to-two inning relief stints.
At 22 and 21 years of age, respectively, Lopez and Reyes could find themselves in the thick of the 2016 playoff race and pitching in plenty of meaningful games. Both can hit 100 mph on the radar gun as starters—I wouldn’t be surprised to see 102 mph in games where they’re only needed for a few batters. And, most importantly, their respective organizations could each use some help in the bullpen.Comment -
Lopez and Reyes can bang the heatComment -
Stanton put on a displayComment -
Any good prop bets for tonights All Star game?
I like to take a stab at a run scored in the first inning +105Comment -
Giancarlo Stanton's record Derby causes Marlins marketing headache
Miami Marlins right fielder Giancarlo Stanton hit so many home runs on his way to winning the Home Run Derby on Monday night that he caused at least a temporary marketing nightmare for his team.
Earlier in the day, the Marlins sent an email to their fans advertising that "when Giancarlo homers, you score!"
The offer said that "each time G launches a home run out of Petco Park, we'll knock a percentage point off future Marlins tickets."
Stanton proceeded to launch 61 home runs, besting Bobby Abreu's 2005 record in the contest by 20 homers. His final competitor, Todd Frazier, also broke the record by one (42 home runs).
So did that mean that Marlins fans got 61 percent off future games?
Well, not exactly. Fans who clicked on the link, which activated after the contest, discovered they would get just 25 percent off on all seats for 35 specified future Marlins games.
A $26 seat becomes $20.
A $218 seat is $164.
With a 61 percent discount, a $26 seat would be $10.14. The $218 seat would be $85.02.
When reached Monday night, team president David Samson said that, although the terms were not specified in the initial email to fans, Major League Baseball Advanced Media, which runs team websites, sets a maximum on these type of offers at 25 percent.
"What Giancarlo did was so cool that we are working on an additional offer," Samson said. "We're thinking about picking a game and offering 61 percent off."
Some fans might argue that's what they thought they were guaranteed when the contest ended.Comment -
Royals had a great night at the all-star game .Comment -
That Yankees reliever is ridiculous, haven't seen him until all star game. That curve is filthy when he is 6'8 throwing 100 mph.Comment -
Yanks with nice bullpen for sure. We will see how much they trade away at the deadlineComment -
San Diego getting mad props for their ASG hosting. Great city.Comment -
I think the Yanks are more likely to trade Andrew Miller or Aroldis Chapman.
A lot of rumors out of Cleveland...Comment -
Let's hope Stanton doesn't follow up with 61 strikeouts shortly after All Star break.Comment -
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The Mets have seen their vaunted young rotation display its mortality this season, particularly with the loss of Matt Harvey, and have also suffered a number of injuries throughout the starting lineup — most notably, David Wright and Lucas Duda. Nevertheless, the team feels that another relief arm is its top need at the moment, according to Mike Puma of the New York Post.
New York’s National League entrant isn’t necessarily prioritizing a premium closer or setup man, per the report. Puma lists Ryan Buchter and Brad Hand of the Padres, Chris Withrow of the Braves and John Axford of the Athletics as plausible targets for the Mets. (For what it’s worth, the guess here is that Buchter would require quite a bit more than the other names, given his skyrocketing strikeout rate and lengthy, cheap control.)
The report also names Jeremy Jeffress as a possibility in the event that the Mets wish to pursue another club’s closer, although the asking price on Jeffress is said to be quite high. One name that GM Sandy Alderson and his staff did not pursue, according to Puma, was Fernando Rodney — who recently went from the Padres to the Marlins in an early July swap.
While some fans may prefer to see the Mets pursue some help for their ailing rotation, the club’s current plan is to use Logan Verrett in the rotation until Zack Wheeler is able to return to next month. Should Verrett falter, Puma lists Triple-A righty Gabriel Ynoa as an alternative option. Any further setbacks for Wheeler could also change the calculus.
Having already moved to shore things up in other areas, and having cashed in some notable trade chips during last season’s run, it’s not surprising to see attention move to the pen. The unit rates quite well by most measures, but that’s mostly driven by late-inning righties Jeurys Familia, Addison Reed and Hansel Robles, who are joined by southpaw Jerry Blevins to form a solid core. Beyond that foursome, though, the results have been uneven. Alderson was quite successful in rescuing Reed a summer ago, and may be on the lookout for another chance to harness a talented arm at a reasonable price.Comment -
Mets better find someone with speed that can hit for average too, they aren't going to win the WS by just hitting home runs. They need to be able to manufacture some runs without homers.Comment -
Who is going to break out in 2nd half of the season. Like Carlos Gonzales to show up bigComment -
I need my baseball fix Soon....
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