The Guardians got unceremoniously swept by the Rays. Now, they play Tito and the Cincinnati Reds.
Let’s see what Stephen Vogt had to say after the game:
It’s just… every pitcher does this to them, Stephen. The Twins bullpen… which
is bad… shut them down for five innings. They have a problem.
Aside from facing Joe Ryan’s dead arm, when have you “shown we can be a really good offense”?
The Guardians’ second round pick, Logan Schmidt, announced on Instagram that he will not be signing with Cleveland. Sounds like there was a late agent change and Cleveland gambled they could still get him to sign… and lost. It’s not good, but they do at least get the 60th pick in next year’s draft. People say next year’s draft is deeper, but no one really knows anything at this point. I do think it’s quite a risk for Schmidt to bet on himself to the tune of turning down a professional career start at $1.7 million in a career where the injury risks are so high, but more power to him, I guess.
Paul Hoynes was given the Baseball Writers’ Career Excellence Award at the Hall of Fame this weekend. Hoynes is clearly a good guy and I feel happy for him and his family. He’s been at this for a long time. Now, I have read his columns for 30+ years and I don’t particularly enjoy his writing and find he takes a lot of shortcuts in it. However, he is often willing to ask tough questions in interviews, so that last piece pushes me over the line to being happy he received an award that clearly meant a lot to him.
Zack Meisel of the Athletic shared what he is hearing about the Guardians trade deadline plans. Sounds like almost all activity will happen right at the end of the deadline period on August 3rd, but so far the Guardians sound like they are trying to acquire a hitter (and trade Bo Naylor for a lotto ticket prospect). Meisel also took part in a cool piece about a three-team trade involving the Indians in 2012 where Cleveland acquired Trevor Bauer.
AROUND MLB:
Twins and White Sox destroyed their opponents, but the Royals beat the Tigers. Decision time for the Tigers on trading Skubal or not is soon approaching.
