The Bauer trade

The Twins did not make a trade Tuesday, the last full day before the trading deadline. Cleveland, now three games back of Minnesota, reportedly did -- a complex three-way deal that brought the Tribe bulk players and cost them Trevor Bauer, their most reliable starting pitcher. (Announcement expected today.)

The Trade.
Indians get: Franmil Reyes, Logan Allen, Yasiel Puig, Victor Nova, Scott Moss.

Reds get: Trevor Bauer.

Padres get: Taylor Trammell.

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 31, 2019

Puig and Reyes are right-hand hitting outfielders, although calling Reyes an outfielder is apparently a bit generous; the expectation is that Reyes will be mostly a designated hitter for Cleveland. Allen  is a left-handed pitcher who has struggled in his minimal major league time to date but is seen as a potential piece of a starting rotation; it's quite possible he'll be asked to fill the vacated rotation slot. Nova and Moss are minor leaguers who are unlikely to matter this season for Cleveland, alhtough Moss is in Double A.

It's quite obvious what Cleveland did: They traded from their strength -- starting pitching -- to shore up an obvious weakness -- their outfield hasn't hit. Puig and Reyes have combined for 49 homers this season.

Puig is the bigger name, but Reyes is the bigger bat. Puig's OPS+ with Cincinnati this year is 98, meaning that he's been slightly below league average at the dish. Reyes's OPS+ is 121. A good bit of the difference is that Cincinnati is a far better place to hit than is San Diego. But Puig is a good defensive outfielder.

Cleveland deepened its lineup with this trade. The Indians also weakened their rotation. Unless and until Corey Kubler or Carlos Carrasco return to the rotation and to form, Cleveland now has Mike Clevenger and a collection of young (but talented) staters who have never made it through a full season.

Conclusion: Cleveland got more for Bauer than the Blue Jays did for Marcus Stroman. But because they traded from their major league core to get Reyes and Puig, I'm not sure they actually got better for 2019.

Notes, quotes and comment

Aaron Slegers pitches in the College World Series. The
Twins fifth-round pick is 6-foot-10.

With the College World Series over, the Twins this week have largely wrapped up their draft signings.

Pitchers Ryan Eades (LSU, second round) and Aaron Slegers (Indiana, fifth round) signed shortly after their teams were eliminated in Omaha. Two other Indiana players drafted by the Twins, third baseman Dustin DeMuth (eighth round) and pitcher Ryan Halstead (26th round) have declared their intention to stay in school, but that may be a negotiating ploy.

The signing deadline is July 12.

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What an ugly doubleheader Friday between the Tribe and the White Sox. The first game was 19-10 Cleveland, with the two teams combing for more than 400 pitches total — 112 just to get the first nine outs. The White Sox alone threw 230 pitches in that game, the highest team total for nine innings in the pitch count era.

In the two games, the Indians had 28 runs and 33 hits, the Sox 18 runs and 26 hits. Cleveland pitcher Trevor Bauer, a prime prospect disposed of by Arizona during the offseason largely because the D-backs had tried of dealing with him, was so bizarre in his awful start (he pitched from the stretch throughout, even with no one on, and still paid no attention to the baserunners) that it was seriously suggested that the Tribe would send him back to A ball rather than Triple A.

Of course, things were already hideous on the South Side.  I'll talk more in Sunday's Pic of the Week post about the incredible dropped popup of Tuesday. In Hawk Harrelson's words: "You have got to be bleeping me."

On a different level of "you have got to be bleeping me," White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko reportedly had SIX pain-killer injections in his back the other day. Six. I'm no medico, but that sort of thing scares me.

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Miguel Sano hit a pair of home runs Friday night for New Britain; that gives him six since he moved up to Double A.

He started off slow when he hit Double A less than three weeks ago, and his batting average there is still only .236, but six dingers in 67 plate appearances (plus a double and two triples) ain't bad. It adds up to a .655 slugging percentage after 17 games.

Around the division: Cleveland Indians

Nick Swisher is coming off four
productive seasons as the Yankees
right fielder -- and four seasons
of poor hitting in the playoffs.

The Cleveland Indians were about as bad as the Minnesota Twins last year -- 68-94 losses, two games ahead of Minnesota in the standings, but with stats that, at least according to Bill James' Pythagorean Theorum, should have put them two games behind the Twins.

Their biggest move of this offseason has been a complex three-way trade (involving the Cincinnati Reds and Arizona Diamondbacks) highlighted for the Tribe by the loss outfielder Shin-Soo Choo and the acquisition of pitching prospect Trevor Bauer. They then plugged Choo's spot by signing free-agent outfielder Nick Swisher.

The trade itself is fascinating on several levels. Take Bauer, for example. He was the third overall pick in the loaded 2011 draft. He made it to the majors last season (four starts, which didn't go well). And the D'backs have soured on him. Bauer, 'tis said, insists on following his own training regimen and on calling his own game. Horrors.

Now, I'm not someone who has to deal with Bauer, and maybe he's an insubordinate jerk and impossible to get along with. He's also talented, and as the Twins can attest, true aces don't fall out of trees. I suspect that Bauer's adherence to long-toss and his ideas about what pitches to throw when are things the Diamondbacks would tolerate from a veteran but not a minor-leaguer, even one with his collegiate accomplishments.

Picking up Bauer has a good chance to be a real plus for the Indians.

Then there's Cincy's plans for Choo. Choo, 30, has been a right fielder, and not a notably effective one defensively. But the Reds -- who also sent center fielder Drew Stubbs to Cleveland in the trade -- apparently have him ticketed for center. An outfield of Ryan Ludwick, Choo and Jay Bruce should be prolific at the plate, but it's not likely to do the Reds pitchers many favors.

Swisher, who figures to fill Choo's spot in right (or could be installed at first base), may be testimony to what can happen when a corner outfielder is stretched out of his comfort zone. In his one season with the Chicago White Sox, Swisher played 70 games in center -- and had easily his worst season.

Swisher and Choo are roughly equivalent players. Swisher is a couple years older and pricier -- Choo is still in his arbitration years -- so one would prefer Choo. But for the difference, the Indians have added a potential ace and a usable center fielder.