The Cleveland Indians have promoted shortstop Francisco Lindor to the Major Leagues, they announced yesterday.
Cleveland is following the trend in promoting their top prospects to the Major Leagues, as Carlos Correa and Byron Buxton have both been brought up in the last week. The Indians need all the help they can get in the left side of their infield. The Indians' starting shortstop, Jose Ramirez, is not even in the big leagues anymore, as he posted a .487 OPS (38 OPS+) in the 170 plate appearances that the team gave him. In Ramirez's place, the team has played Mike Aviles at short, but he hasn't been stellar, hitting to a .736 OPS (106 OPS+) in 134 plate appearances. With perhaps the second-best shortstop prospect in the minors (behind Correa), the Indians felt the pressure to bring Lindor to the big leagues. Prior to the season, Lindor was a consensus top-10 prospect amongst the rankings from Baseball America, MLB.com, and Baseball Prospectus, with MLB.com and Baseball Prospectus having him the highest at No. 4. He was picked by the Indians with the 8th overall pick in the 2011 MLB Draft out of a Florida High School. At 21-years-old, Lindor is an average 5.9 years younger than his counterparts in the Triple-A International League, and still managed to hit for a .279/.346/.398/.745 line with two homers and 22 runs batted in over 259 plate appearances. Here's the scouting report on Lindor from MLB.com: Lindor is an elite defensive shortstop, considered by many scouts to be the best defender in the Minor Leagues. He makes difficult plays seem routine thanks to his strong arm, impressive range and flashy glove work. At the plate, Lindor consistently squares balls up and hits line drives to all fields. Power isn't a big part of his game, but he has the feel for hitting and the stength to drive balls out when given the opportunity."
With the Indians currently in 4th place in the AL Central, they can only hope that Lindor can change their current fortunes.
--Devan Fink
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The Minnesota Twins will promote outfielder Byron Buxton from Double-A before tomorrow's game.
Buxton, once a consensus No. 1 overall prospect by Baseball America, MLB.com, and Baseball Prospectus, was rated the second-best prospect by Baseball America prior to this season (and still first by MLB and Baseball Prospectus). With the Twins trying to maintain a postseason spot, they felt the pressure to promote Buxton to win more games, similar to how the Astros promoted Carlos Correa to hold their AL West lead. Considering the Twins' current center fielder, Aaron Hicks, has a 67 OPS+, the decision to hold Buxton in the minors became harder to justify, considering his .283/.351/.489/.840 line with six homers and 37 runs batted in over 268 plate appearances. Minnesota selected Buxton with the second overall pick in the 2012 MLB Draft out of a Georgia High School and he has progressively moved the minor leagues, but now will be skipping Triple-A on his way to the Major Leagues. Here's the scouting report on Buxton from MLB.com: When he's 100 percent, Buxton is the epitome of the five-tool player. He has a simple, quick swing that generates a ton of bat speed. His power, which often doesn't come until later in development, has already started showing up in games, and there's more in the tank there. He has as much speed as anyone in the Minors and he's a skilled baserunner to boot. He's a plus defender in center field, using his speed for outstanding range, while also possessing a cannon for an arm."
Buxton was in the midst of a 10-game hitting streak prior to this call-up, hitting .421/.489/.500.
"For me to (get the news) in front of teammates and coaches was an unbelievable moment," Buxton said via Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. I’m very, very excited right now." --Devan Fink The first round of the 2015 MLB Draft is currently going on. Here are the latest picks that have occurred...
The Houston Astros have announced their promotion of top shortstop prospect Carlos Correa.
Correa, 20, was the first overall pick in the 2012 MLB Draft out of the Puerto Rico Baseball Academy. He was ranked as the 4th best prospect in baseball by Baseball America coming into this season. He's continued to perform up to his high expectations. Despite being almost seven years younger than the average Triple-A player, Correa has managed to slash a .266/.336/.447/.783 line with three homers and 11 runs batted in coming into today. On the season, Correa has spent time in both Double- and Triple-A, and owns a much better .332/.404/.602/1.006 line over 240 plate appearances. From MLB.com: "Correa combines outstanding tools and athleticism with a preternatural feel for the game. He's a gifted hitter, capable of hitting for both power and average. He covers the plate well and consistently makes hard contact." The call-up of Correa has to be exciting for Astros fans. Knowing the saber-savvy front office led by general manager Jeff Luhnow, they would not want Correa's MLB service time clock to start unless they felt he was completely ready for the Majors. This "premature" call-up, per se, is due to the Houston's great start. The club is 34-24 and leads the American League West by three and a half games. The team wants to hold that division, and calling up Correa could help them do just that. ""We want to keep our division lead and we want to win this division," Luhnow said (via Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle). "We think [Correa is] a big part of what we can do." The Astros have received a lot of pressure to promote Correa because they are playing meaningful games for the first time since at least 2010. Starting shortstop Jed Lowrie tore a ligament in his right thumb and is out at least until the All-Star break. Marwin Gonzalez (63 OPS+) and Jonathan Villar (100 OPS+) have been filling in at short and have been below or at league average offensively. Why waste your starting shortstop position when you already have the shortstop of the future down in Triple-A? Carlos Correa, it's your turn. --Devan Fink
Right-handed relief pitcher Rafael Soriano is still a free agent. Just recently, Soriano fired his agent Scott Boras and hired Octagon to represent him to try to get him a contract for the rest of the season, with Boras never really stimulating a market for him.
Octagon announced on Twitter that Soriano would be holding a throwing session for teams on June 11 in the Dominican Republic. According to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports, the Cardinals, Blue Jays, and Cubs are three teams that are interesting in Soriano, calling the Cardinals a "surprise entry" into the mix. The Blue Jays have had previous reported interest in Soriano and want to see what his price tag is now that he's changed agents. Out of pure speculation, Heyman also mentions the Dodgers and Mariners as two teams that could be fits for Soriano, as he notes that it's unknown if either team has truly looked into him as an option for their respective bullpens. The Yankees are another team that has been connected to Soriano, considering they have needed a right-handed reliever. New York has five lefties out of the bullpen. Soriano, 35, has had a successful career as a closer over the past five seasons, and served in that role with the Nationals over the last two. He pitched well last year, going 4-1 with a 3.19 ERA and 32 saves, but in the second half of the season Soriano imploded, pitching to a 6.48 ERA en route to the loss of the closer's job. --Devan Fink |
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