Recent transactions or should I say International Trade

a 3-way deal: we send one to Korea and get one from Japan.


Signed: RHP Stephen Fife (Seibu (Japan))
Released: RHP Lisalverto Bonilla so that he could sign with Samsung in Korea.

As I am sure you all recall, Fife started 10 games for the Dodgers in 2013 and was a solid 4-4 3.86 although his WHIP topped 1.5.
Must have been injured in 2014, since his career [domestic and foreign] workload since then has been only 112 innings over 4 years.

civ ollilavad wrote:As I am sure you all recall, Fife started 10 games for the Dodgers in 2013 and was a solid 4-4 3.86 although his WHIP topped 1.5.
Must have been injured in 2014, since his career [domestic and foreign] workload since then has been only 112 innings over 4 years.

Who is going to be the first to refer to him as Barney?

I think it was you,

Anyone going to Goodyear to look in on these kids? If so, I can suggest a few I'd like reports on.

My long-awaited Baseball America Prospect Handbook arrived in the mail. As a subscriber I get a super special bonus, a list of the "31st prospects" on each time. Tribe Super Slugger Eric Haase is our 31st man. Excerpts from his writeup include:

He looked be more org player than prospect for much of his pro career until he broke out in 2017 with AA Akron. As Mejia's backup he hit 27 home runs and all Indians minor leaguers with a 578 slugging average He had long shown strength in his swing but made some changes after the 2016 season to improve the launch angle and better tap into his raw power. His strikeout rate of 30 pct remainder steady following his mechanical adjustment and he set a career high for walk rate [11.6 pct]

Defensively Haase is still something of a question mark. He caught only 108 games total in the last two years because of injury and playing behind Mejia. He earns praise for his receiving but still needs to show he can handle the rigors and responsibility of catching for a full season.

He'll get more opportunities behind the plate in 2018 either at AAA paired with Mejia or back at Akron for a 3rd year.

ERIC HAASE 5-10 180 AGE 27 Bats R Throws R

Just making the cut into the regular Top 30 list .... This is about where I'd expect Juan Hillman to find himself after his terrible 2017. But he falls off the list completely.. Here we find one of our recent International signings: Marcos Gonzalez, age 18, SS, rated a pretty high ceiling of "50" on the 20 - 80 scale but of course the chances of reaching that level are "extreme". [Prospects rated as high as No. 5 on the list get that same ceiling score.]

6-0 160 Bats R Throws R
Gonzalez ranked No. 27 in the 2016 international signing class was one of the top performers in the Dominican Prospect League leading up to his signing for $250000. He carried that performance over to 2017 in his pro debut in Dominican Summer League
Gonzalez has a chance to have above average tools acorss the board and gets the most out of his tools thanks to his steady play and advanced baseball IQ He has a good feel for the barrel and does a good job of controlling the strike zone even drawing more walks than strikeouts in his debut. His swing is ore geared toward line drives in the gaps but he has a chance to grow into more power as he physically matures. He has average speed and above average arm strength
He already has good defensive instincts and soft hands giving him a chance to stick at SS. He ill make his U.S debut in 2018 in the Arizona League

2017: 274/371/321 13 steals 4 CS 31 BB 28 K

FYI, the two kids who we liked who the Tribe swapped for Joe Smith: LHP Tom Pannone and 2B Samad Taylor don't make the BlueJays top 30.

Neither are the 2 swapped in 2016 for Brandon Guyer: OF Nathan Lukes who comes close and RHP Jhonleider Salinas who doesn't show up anywhere on the Rays depth chart which shows 23 other RHPs ahead of him.

Quite a different pair of pitchers are rated at No. 28 and No, 28, although both are 22 years old that's about all they have in common

28 Brady Aiken 6-4 205 lefty, 1st round pick by Indians previously No. 1 pick overall but unsigned
29 Eli Morgan 5-10 190 righty 8th round pick

in 2017, Aiken's ERA 4.77 WHIP 1.78 K/BB 89/101 His fastball which once was at 97 dropped into the low 90s and control "abandoned him" but still has good secondary pitches: both a curve and changeup
in 2017 Morgan ERA 1.03 WHIP 0.94 K/BB 58/9 His fastball improved as a pro to 93 mph setting up an excellent changeup.
Both are projected to start for Lynchburg this summer.

Working my way up the list, no 27 is Gavin Collins, formerly a catcher, mostly played 3rd his first two pro seasons, but may end up at 1st due to below average hands and athleticism. Has good plate discipline, although his K's rose from about 20% to 30% after promotion to Lynchburg.
BA expects him to debut in Akron this year despite only 80 games in Class A.

No. 26 Ryan Merritt will never impress for his stuff but has plus control; his ceiling is a back end starter, an he will always have to be fine with his command to succeed. His ceiling is "40".

My understanding of the 20-80 scale is where 20 is find another profession and 80 is hall-of-fame territory. 50 is average. Is "40" ceiling well below average?

Civ, my wife & I were just talking last night about getting out of town a few days to Arizona. Weather has been brutal here. We just got like 16 inches of snow from Thursday thru Sunday. It was 10 below when I left work this morning. Winter here is long. We get sick of it and get out of town here & there.

We have made a couple trips to Vegas lately so we were thinking about spring training in Goodyear. (only a few places you can get quick cheap non-stop flights out of Great Falls, MT this time of year. Vegas and Phoenix are two)

Of course I'll let you know if we go. I'm not so sure though. Weird, she actually brought it up and I'm the one on the fence. Have taken a lot of time away from work this winter already.

23-25 are infielders of modest talents, all rated 45 ceiling, all with "high risk" of reaching the ceiling.

23 is Tyler Krieger age 24 Has been limited to 2nd base since an injury in college. Had a lousy 2017 225/303/337 in Akron, but they expect him to try Columbus in 2018
24 if Ernie Clement age 22 by opening day Has played SS and CF in college but guess what, he's best at 2nd base. Has "speed, instincts and bat-to-ball skills" which could make him a big league utility player. He should skip Lake County and start in Lynchburg. [Personally his lack of power and his meager walk totals [6 in 180 AB] suggest he won't get anywhere near Cleveland, but what do I know.]
25 is Mark Mathias age 23. Injured most of last year after prior injury in 2014. Shoulder. Could be a utility IF, best at 2nd. How about that for an exciting ceiling.

If you want warm weather, you should have tried Northeast Ohio: temps in the 60s yesterday and today. Baseball weather. No snow in the forecast until March 5.