Cleveland Sports Forum

indiand drafted him:

https://www.baseballamerica.com/players ... r-stephan/

6-5 250 pound RH lots of strikeouts 25 years old
pitched in AA in 2018 and 19 as a starter

Organization Prospect Rankings
Ranked New York Yankees #18 prospect in 2018BA
Ranked New York Yankees #20 prospect in 2019

Mets drafted:

10. New York Mets -- Luis Oviedo, RHP (Indians)
6-4 age 21
consider it a 1-1 trade of big right handers

26. Oakland A's -- Ka'ai Tom, OF (Indians)

great year hitting in AA and AAA in 2019 didn't appear on any rating lists
26 year old 5-9 OF who Indians didnt care much for

apparently the Indians roster moves did clear space

Ranked New York Yankees #20 prospect in 2019
Track Record: After beginning his college career as a reliever at Hill (Texas) JC, Stephan transferred to Arkansas and pitched in the rotation as a junior. His stuff ticked up with the Razorbacks, which led the Yankees to draft him with their third-round selection and sign him for $797.500. He began his first pro season at high Class A Tampa in 2018 before jumping to Double-A Trenton in late May.

Scouting Report: Stephan pitches primarily with a fastball and a slider, and worked hard in 2018 to improve his changeup. His fastball, which sits in the low-to-mid 90s, shows the type of riding life through the zone that the Yankees covet. He backs that pitch up with an above-average, sweeping slider that he uses to get strikeouts. His changeup needs more repetition, but the organization believes it can be solid-average with improvement. He delivers from a funky, low-slot delivery that adds deception. Stephan worked with pitching coordinator Scott Aldred this year to change his release point and help him stay on top of the baseball throughout his delivery.

The Future: There’s still a split camp about whether Stephan’s ultimate future is in the bullpen or as a starter. He’ll continue try to stay in the rotation back at Double-A Trenton in 2019.

in the 2020 prospect book, Stephan doesn't even appear on the 70-man Yankees minor league depth chart. He didn't seem to be that awful in 2019

Scouting Report: Stephan had bounced between high Class A and Double-A in 2018 and 2019 and showed decent command of a fastball-slider combination. His fastball typically works in the low-to-mid 90s and the slider has sweeper break. He delivers both pitches from a funky, lower slot which adds deception to his arsenal. His combination of deception and stuff should give hitters interesting looks out of the bullpen.

Not a Cimber replica I hope

and reports on who we lost:

26. Oakland A's -- Ka'ai Tom, OF (Indians)

Scouting Report: Tom is an undersized, 5-foot-9 outfielder who reached Triple-A in 2019 and was named MVP of the International League playoffs. He has a good lefthanded swing and drives the ball from line-to-line with surprising power for his size. He’s a fast runner who uses his legs to leg out doubles and triples more than steal bases, and he can adequately play all three outfield spots. Even Tom’s biggest champions don’t see him as an everyday player, but he does enough things well for scouts and coaches to see a potential fifth outfielder/pinch-hitter and runner type.

Sounds like he can do what Zimmer is supposed to be able to do, but can't

Scouting Report: Oviedo was one of the best prospects in the short-season New York-Penn league in 2018, but he slipped in 2019, when he struggled to repeat his delivery before a back injury ended his season that year in July. He's healthy now and pitching in relief in winter ball in Venezuela, with a fastball that's been up to 98 mph and showing feel for a curveball and slider. There's some good rebound potential here with Oviedo, who has a chance to stick around in a bullpen role this year for a non-competitive team, so this is a nice pickup by the Pirates.

I was definitely wrong......

If this was the biggest mistake in your life, you're doing pretty well!

Indians fans get a one-year reprieve. Spiders fans wait a little longer. I forgot that this club had other names before the Indians:
Blues, Broncos. I'd take the Blues but the Columbus hockey team sort of usurped that one. Browns are taken. Whites don't sound good politically and Blacks have a problem too. Yellows has undesired reference. How about the Green Sox? Sounds like they;re grass stained.

GREG ALLEN
OF, SAN DIEGO PADRES

Padres designated OF Greg Allen for assignment.

Speed and not much else.

Good guy, I understand. Maybe he'll make a good coach, minor league manager or college coach.
Then again the Padres are now really stocked with talent; there are probably some low-budget outfield-deprived teams that would give him a role; I can think of one.