Archive for the 'AL Central' Category

Did the Phillies Give Cleveland Too Much?

Published
by
thesportsidiot
on July 30, 2009
in AL Central, Carlos Carrasco, Cleveland Indians, Cole Hamels, J.A. Happ, Joe Blanton, Kyle Drabek, MLB, MLB Prospects, NL East, Philadelphia Phillies and Roy Halladay
. 0 Comments
When the Phillies pulled the trigger on the Cliff Lee trade yesterday, the immediate thought was that Phillies GM Ruben Amaro had gotten over on the Tribe.  In acquiring Lee, the second best pitcher on the market behind Roy Halladay, the Phils added a Cy Young winning arm to their rotation, without giving up either J.A. Happ, Kyle Drabek, Michael Taylor or Dominic Brown.  Now that the dust has had a little bit of time to settle, it is time for a better breakdown of the deal.

Carlos Carrasco entered this season as the “co” number one prospect in the Phillies’ farm system with Dominic Brown being the other “co” number one guy.  Carrasco has seen his stock go down this season, as he has toiled away to a 5.18 this season, his first full season in AAA.  While his strikeouts are still there, he does have 112 of them in 114.2 innings, so are the hits and walks, to the tune of a 1.36 WHIP.  Carrasco, who is only 22 years old at this point, could still turn out to be a top line pitcher, but right now his cap is looking like a three in the rotation.

Jason Donald has recently been described as a future utility man in the Majors.  For your fourth ranked prospect, you hope for a better fate than that, and the Phillies used to hope he would supplant Jimmy Rollins at short.  Well, before this season even started those expectations had shifted towards the utility role, and after dude has raked to a .235 batting average this season you can guess where those expectations are at this point.  Maybe Donald, who is 24 years old, can turn it around in the batters box, but in order to do so he will have to stop striking out so much (he has 58 Ks in 234 at-bats, which projects out to over 150 over a full season in the Bigs).

Jason Knapp is 6′5″ of raw talent.  Dude can hit triple digits on the radar gun, has a decent changeup, a power slider and a breaking ball.  Problem is Knapp can not seem to develop a consistent delivery, which causes him to change planes and lose his command.  As things stand, Knapp is projected to be an overpowering set-up man in the Majors, and possibly a closer.  He is young as well, though, at only 18 years of age, so there is time to refine his approach and develop him into a starter if he is durable enough.

Lou Marson was the catcher of the future for the Phillies.  Through 63 games, the third ranked ranked prospect is hitting for a .294 average and a .751 OPS in AAA.  During a brief stint in the Majors, he hit .235 with a .644 OPS.  Like Donald, Marson has been missing too many pitches, as he does strikeout a bit too much.  Will Marson be a top tier catcher in the Majors at some point?  No one knows, but the 23 year old has talent to go with his professional approach. 

Those are the prospects being sent to Cleveland.  A probable utility man, a power bully, a future three in the rotation, and a catcher.  Well, they are giving up something else as well, as someone is going to lose a starting rotation spot. 

Who will Lee replace?  It will not be Joe Blanton or Cole Hamels.  Rodrigo Lopez is slated to lose his spot to Pedro Martinez.  That leaves us J.A. Happ and Jamie Moyer.  Word is that Happ will get sent to the bully, but with Happ being arguably the best pitcher for the Phillies so far this season that will put some strain on things with the fans if Moyer falters or Lee does not come in smoking.

So in the end, what the Phillies gave up for Lee is hard to quantify.  This entry will be added to the “featured posts” section for easy reference next year when we revisit this deal.

Cliff Lee is a Philadelphia Phillie

Published
by
thesportsidiot
on July 29, 2009
in AL Central, Carlos Carrasco, Cleveland Indians, MLB, MLB Prospects, NL East and Philadelphia Phillies
. 1 Comment
It is official, the Philadelphia Phillies have added Cliff Lee, the defending AL Cy Young winner, to their starting rotation.  In a move that lets the Phillies keep both J.A. Happ and Kyle Drabek, the Phillies have added much needed depth and ability to their rotation.  Headed to Cleveland will be four prospects, Jason Knapp, Carlos Carrasco, Jason Donald and Lou Marson.  The Indians will also be sending outfielder Ben Francisco to the city of brotherly love.
Great move by the Phillies.  They get to add to the rotation without removing any key pieces from it, while holding onto most of their top prospects.  Cleveland, you have been robbed in this one.

Prior List Alerts

Published
by
thesportsidiot
on June 18, 2009
in AL Central, AL East, Dr. James Andrews, Erik Bedard, Fantasy Baseball, Jason Frasor, MLB, NL East, Philadelphia Phillies, Prior List, Raul Ibanez, Roy Halladay, Scott Downs and Toronto Blue Jays
. 0 Comments

Philadelphia Phillies Left-fielder Raul Ibanez has hit the 15 day Prior List, with a strained left groin.  MRI scheduled for today, so hopefully the extent will be known later this evening.

Also hitting the Prior List is Toronto Blue Jays closer Scott Downs with a sprained big toe.  Taking his place in the 9th should be Jason Frasor, who is a must grab and should be owned anyway (he was only owned in 25% of Yahoo leagues as of this morning).  Also landing on the Prior List is Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay, also of the 15 day variety.  Halladay’s stint is retroactive to the 13th, and he has been diagnosed with a mild groin strain.

Keeping with the theme, Erik Bedard hit the Prior List dated back to 8th with inflammation in his left shoulder.  He is going to visit with Dr. Andrews, which is about the worst news we could give you.  When more is known, we will pass it along.

Hat tip to RotoWorld.com for these Prior List updates.

Soria Back This Weekend?

Published
by
thesportsidiot
on May 20, 2009
in AL Central, Fantasy Baseball, Joakim Soria, Kansas City Royals, MLB and Prior List
. 0 Comments

Joakim Soria took his first steps towards returning from the Prior List yesterday.  Dude threw from flat ground, and basically just played catch for a while.  While it went well, with no reported issues yesterday, they want to wait until today to make any decisions on his next step.  He is eligible to come off the Prior List on Saturday, but I would not expect him back until next week sometime at the earliest.  He will need to get his arm ready to close again, and possibly work some rehab games to see how he feels.

Obviously, getting Soria back on your squad would be huge.  Dude is one of the top closers in all of baseball when he is healthy, but be careful with him this season.  His arm troubles worry us here at The Sports Idiot, as we have been high on Soria for a few years now.  Stay tuned.

Checkin in on Matt LaPorta

Published
by
thesportsidiot
on May 15, 2009
in AL Central, Cleveland Indians, Fantasy Baseball, MLB, MLB Prospects and Matt LaPorta
. 0 Comments

If you are one of the many who scooped up Matt LaPorta when he was called up, you have probably been pretty disappointed so far.  Fret not, young man (or old man or young woman or old woman), for LaPorta is starting to swing the bat well and show some patience at the plate.  Dude had his first multi-hit game in the Bigs yesterday, and he has a hit in each of his last four games.  LaPorta has also walked three times over that span while strikeing out twice.  Maybe he is figuring it out, and we certainly hope so since we not only told you to add him, but did so ourselves.

Soria Placed on the Prior List

Published
by
thesportsidiot
on May 11, 2009
in AL Central, Fantasy Baseball, Joakim Soria, Kansas City Royals, MLB and Prior List
. 0 Comments

Well it sure as hell took the Kansas City Royals long enough to figure out what we already knew, that Joakim Soria needed to hit the Prior List.  He was placed on the 15-Day version, retroactive to May 8th, due to soreness in his right shoulder.  The Royals will use a committee to close out games while he is gone.  Taking his place in the bully will be Sidney Ponson, who is getting bumped out of the rotation in favor of Luke Hochevar.  If I were you, I would igonore Hochevar completely, unless you have the guy starting against him, in which case you should start said dude.

LaPorta Gets First Hit, First Homer

Published
by
thesportsidiot
on May 5, 2009
in AL Central, Cleveland Indians, Fantasy Baseball, MLB, MLB Prospects and Matt LaPorta
. 0 Comments

Last night in Toronto Matt LaPorta made his second big league start.  This one went much better than his first.  In the seventh inning, LaPorta drilled his first MLB homer, which also happened to be his first MLB hit.  He was then pinch-hit for in the ninth inning, to give him the following line for last night:

1/3, one hit, one run scored, one homer, two runs batted in

Not bad for his second day on the job.  He should be starting again tonight, will he also be starting in your fantasy league?  He will be in mine.

LaPorta’s Debut One to Forget

Published
by
thesportsidiot
on May 4, 2009
in AL Central, Cleveland Indians, Fantasy Baseball, Luis Valbuena, MLB, MLB Prospects and Matt LaPorta
. 0 Comments

Matt LaPorta made his major league debut yesterday against Justin Verlander and the Detroit Tigers. How did it go? Not so well, by any standards. Dude was hitless in his four at-bats, and struck out looking not once, but twice while leaving four runners stranded. For some reason Indians Manager Eric Wedge liked what he saw, as he had this to say in regards to both LaPorta and Luis Valbuena:

“If I didn’t want them to hit against Verlander in that situation, I wouldn’t have started them against him,” he said. “They both had good at-bats, but didn’t get anything out of them.”

Does this change my view of LaPorta? Not at all. Reason being Verlander is a rightie, and as I said on Saturday, LaPorta rakes against lefties. It is too bad that he had to make his debut against a rightie, but that should take some of the jitters out of the way for today when he gets to face Brian Tallet in Toronto. So are you going to start LaPorta today or wait for his breakout game? He will be starting for both of my cellar dwelling teams.

Valbuena went 2/3 in his debut, striking out once and drawing a walk.

Soria Back in Action

Published
by
thesportsidiot
on May 2, 2009
in AL Central, Fantasy Baseball, Joakim Soria, Kansas City Royals and MLB
. 0 Comments

After sitting out since April 13th with a sore shoulder, Joakim Soria is finally ready to close again.  No more wasted roster spot.  Soria has become one of the most dominant closers in the game, so get him back in your lineup ASAP.

Matt LaPorta Called Up – Updated?

Published
by
thesportsidiot
on May 2, 2009
in AL Central, Cleveland Indians, Fantasy Baseball, Luis Valbuena, MLB, MLB Prospects and Matt LaPorta
. 0 Comments

The day Cleveland Indians fans have been waiting for since they saw the Tride deal CC Sabathia to the Brewers last year has finally arrived.  After Friday night’s game, they made a few roster moves, designating Tony Graffanino for assignment, and calling up Josh Barfield, Luis Valbuena and some dude named Matt LaPorta.

LaPorta was pegged by Baseball America as the 26th best prospect in the Majors.  I think he is better than that, but who am I to question BA?  LaPorta provides some flexibility as he can play first base or left field.  He will be serving in a platoon role in the beginning, facing lefties but sitting against righties.  David Dellucci, who was activated on Friday himself, will see the time against right-handed pitchers.  The good news here is that the Tribe will face back to back left-handers on Monday and Tuesday.

What will LaPorta bring to the table?  According to BA, he brings “above average” offense as either a one bagger or in the outfield.  He can hit for power, but he does not have great speed.  Matt also does not strike out too much, with only ten so far in 75 at-bats in AAA.  So he should help with average, OPS (if your leagues uses OPS, which mine always do), RBI, and HR counts.  He is worth a spot on your roster even in a platoon role.  You may want to give Josh Anderson a look as his platoon partner.  That is exactly the strategy I am about to implement.

Ignore Barfield, but keep an eye on Valbuena.  Valbuena, a two bagger, makes good contact with the ball and works counts well.  He has limited power, but decent speed, so he could help out across the board.

Update

Gangi has some good stuff up about LaPorta.  Check it out here.