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One year after pitcher Brady Aiken was unable to come to terms on a contract with the Houston Astros, who made him the No. 1 overall selection in the 2014 MLB draft, the 18-year-old lefty agreed to a deal Friday with the Cleveland Indians.  

According to MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian, the Tribe signed Aiken to an undisclosed contract after selecting him with the No. 17 overall pick in the 2015 draft.

Aiken’s fall in the draft is due to his recovery from Tommy John surgery, which means he won’t be back until 2016 at the earliest. He is still an elite talent, though, which is why Cleveland was willing to spend such an early pick on him.

Per Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle, Indians scouting director Brad Grant didn’t hesitate to roll the dice on a player of Aiken’s caliber:

Our scouts did a really good job and spent a lot of time evaluating Brady over the past two years. We’re very excited to have the opportunity to select a player as talented as Brady with the character of Brady as well. With Brady, we have a big 6’4″ left-handed starter, a player who’s up to 95 with his fastball, very good life to it, plus curveball, a feel for a slider, a changeup and a very, very good strike thrower. He has a lot of the delivery elements that we look for and we like and we look forward to partnering with Brady in the future.

As happy as Grant and the Indians are to have a potentially dominant pitcher in the fold, Aiken seems equally excited:

The San Diego native has a long road to recovery ahead of him, but many pitchers have been able to work their way back from Tommy John surgery and return to elite form in recent years.

When Aiken is healthy, he has big-time velocity and dominant stuff from the left side, which is why he was so coveted in the 2014 draft.

Cleveland is gambling to some degree by investing so heavily in an injured player, but his skill set is worth taking a chance on.

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter.

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The Cleveland Indians have called up top prospect Francisco Lindor, according to the team’s official Twitter account:

According to Baseball America, he was the top prospect in the Indians system in 2014 and the No. 9 overall prospect in the country. 

The shortstop has been playing for Cleveland’s Triple-A affiliate Columbus Clippers for the past two seasons. In 57 games this season, Lindor is batting .279 with two home runs and 22 RBI, per Baseball America. The Indians selected him eighth overall in the 2011 draft. 

According to Jim Massie of the Columbus Dispatch, Lindor was overjoyed upon hearing of his promotion:

The 21-year-old’s call-up comes at the perfect time for the Indians. With an offense that ranks 14th in runs scored and 19th in home runs, according to ESPN.com, the team is hoping that its top prospect can help give the offense a much-needed jolt at the plate. 

Bill Baer of Hardball Talk detailed how badly the team could use an infusion of talent at shortstop: “The last-place Indians could badly use some help at shortstop. The combination of Jose Ramirez and Mike Aviles wasn’t working out, as the Indians’ aggregate .527 OPS out of the shortstop position ranked second-worst in the American League.”

Lindor will be competing for playing time at shortstop with Mike Aviles, who is batting .277 with three home runs and eight RBI.

Ultimately, Lindor will hope that his skills will help him join fellow top prospects Kris Bryant and Joey Gallo in getting off to hot starts in their rookie season, while he figures to give the Indians the kind of talent infusion they’ve desperately needed at shortstop. 

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Kansas City Royals left-hander Jason Vargas has landed on the disabled list for the second time this season due to an elbow injury. 

Continue for updates. 

Vargas Strains Flexor Muscle

Saturday, June 13

According to the Royals’ official Twitter feed, Vargas has a left flexor strain, and the team will bring up Brandon Finnegan from Triple-A to take his spot:

Vargas missed three weeks in May with the same injury. Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star reported on May 8 that the injury can serve as a “precursor for Tommy John surgery” because the flexor muscle protects the ulnar collateral ligament, but he was able to return for three starts after coming off the DL. 

In his most recent outing on June 8, Vargas pitched well against the Minnesota Twins, with six shutout innings in a 3-1 win.  

Finnegan does have MLB experience, appearing in seven regular-season games last year and five so far in 2015. The Royals have used Finnegan as a starter and reliever in the minors, as he’s made five starts in nine appearances. He does give manager Ned Yost options to play with as he reworks his rotation without Vargas. 

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In a few weeks, the National League will face off against the American League at Cincinnati‘s Great American Ballpark in the MLB All-Star Game. The Midsummer Classic is not just an exhibition, since home-field advantage in the World Series is at stake. 

Common sense would say that with so much riding on that one game, each side would want their best players to be on the field. However, looking at the current leaderboard in the American League, that is not the case.

As of the latest update back on June 8, the Kansas City Royals have seven players—Salvador Perez, Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, Alcides Escobar, Alex Gordon, Lorenzo Cain and Kendrys Morales—who would start the All-Star Game if the voting concluded today.

The current voting system works like this: Fans around the country can go online and submit up to 35 ballots with the players of their choice. It doesn’t matter what the player’s stats are to that point; if the fan wants to vote for them, they can.

Over in Kansas City—a fanbase that is apparently rejuvenated after last year’s surprise run to the World Series—they are sending in their ballots in ridiculous volume.

Enough talk; let’s delve into the American League starting lineup if the voting ended today.

Salvador Perez is currently the leading vote-getter of anyone in the MLB, and he has more than double the votes of Oakland‘s Stephen Vogt, who sits in second place among catchers. But looking at the stats, Perez is nowhere near the best catcher in the league.

Perez has the fourth-highest wins above replacement (WAR) among AL catchers, trailing Vogt, Russell Martin and Brian McCann. Don’t like WAR? Okay, all three of the others have at least as many homers, better on-base percentages, better slugging percentages and higher wRC+ totals.

Verdict: Perez has not been the best catcher in the American League so far this year, but he has established himself as a solid backstop, so this is one of the lesser injustices that will be discussed. 

At first base, Eric Hosmer has accumulated the most votes. Yes, he is ahead of two-time MVP and former Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera. While that comes as quite a surprise looking at the two players’ overall bodies of work, the All-Star Game is not supposed to take career accomplishments into account, just the current season.

But Cabrera has been better than Hosmer in seemingly every aspect of the game. Cabrera has a higher WAR, more home runs, more RBI, a higher walk rate, a lower strikeout rate, a higher on-base percentage and a higher slugging percentage. 

Hosmer might not even be the second-best first baseman in the league. Mark Teixeira has more than twice as many home runs, more RBI, a higher slugging percentage, a higher walk rate, lower walk rate and a higher wRC+ total than Hosmer.

Verdict: Hosmer is having a breakout season and is finally starting to tap into his massive potential, but he is not the best first baseman in the American League. Cabrera is, and it is a joke that Hosmer has 500,000-plus more votes.

Alcides Escobar is leading the voting at shortstop and, like most of his fellow teammates, it is hard to make a case for him to truly be the best at his position. He does not lead the AL in any statistical category except the lowest strikeout percentage.

He currently sports a terrible .090 isolated power, which is found by subtracting the player’s batting average from his slugging percentage. Fellow shortstops Brad Miller, Xander Bogaerts and Marcus Semien all have been worth more wins than Escobar, per FanGraphs, confirming that Escobar really doesn’t deserve to start the Midsummer Classic.

Verdict: Escobar is not the best shortstop in the American League. But, like Perez, he is an alright choice because no other shortstop has really separated himself from the pack.

The hot corner is where the biggest travesty is happening. Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson possesses the second-highest WAR in all of baseball—he trails only the red-hot Bryce Harper—yet he finds himself behind Mike Moustakas by more than 1.7 million votes.

If the season ended today Donaldson would garner plenty of MVP consideration. Yet he can’t even start the All-Star Game? It is absurd, and I won’t even bother to break down the stats because Donaldson beats Moustakas in nearly every category.

Verdict: It’s a complete joke; Donaldson is a much better all-around player.

In the outfield, Lorenzo Cain and Alex Gordon would start the All-Star Game along with Mike Trout. Cain has the most votes. To me, this is perfectly fine. Both Royal outfielders rank in the top seven in WAR, so it is understandable why they are toward the top of the leaderboard.

Verdict: While I think Adam Jones and Josh Reddick deserve some serious consideration, the outfield is just fine. 

The final position to decipher is designated hitter. The leader is—no surprise here—a Royal. It’s Kendrys Morales. Maybe there is not a huge crop from which to choose on the ballot since it’s hard to classify the position?

Well, Nelson Cruz is a DH option on the ballot. Cruz has been one of the best hitters in MLB to this point, and there is no way to even make a case for Morales.

Verdict: Similar to my third base verdict, refer to that one for further clarification. I won’t list the categories that Cruz beats Morales in because there are so many, including batting average, isolated power, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, wOBA and wRC+.

Finally, there are two instances even more ridiculous than the ones previously mentioned. Omar Infante is barely trailing Houston star Jose Altuve—who is currently in first place—despite sporting the worst OPS+ in the entire league, per Baseball-Reference.

And for the icing on the cake, Alex Rios, a Royal, is currently fourth in the standings for AL outfielders. Rios has only played 16 games in 2015.

Sixteen games!

It’s not like he has impressed in that limited action, either. He is hitting .220 with one homer and eight RBI.

If this was an exhibition game, this topic wouldn’t even need to be debated. Let the fans see who they want to start. But when the game comes with such huge ramifications—home-field advantage in the World Series—there is no excuse to not get the best players on the field.

Clearly, there is still time left to vote, and hopefully the Kansas City fans have already used up all of their votes, so there might not be seven Royals starting the game in July.

But the fact that it is even being considered is not good for the game of baseball, and it should certainly be changed.

All statistics courtesy of FanGraphs unless otherwise noted.

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Torii Hunter certainly got his money’s worth as he argued a call and was subsequently ejected during the Minnesota Twins‘ 7-2 defeat to the Kansas Royals on Wednesday night. Now, it’s really going to cost him.

Major League Baseball announced Friday that Hunter will be suspended for two games in addition to having to pay a fine, the amount of which wasn’t revealed.

MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger reported that Hunter will not appeal his suspension and will be active Tuesday vs. the Cardinals. Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press showed Minnesota’s lineup without Hunter:

Many baseball fans have already seen replays of Hunter’s meltdown. Disagreeing with a called third strike by umpire Mark Ripperger, the 39-year-old proceeded to throw his shin guard, elbow protector, batting gloves and jersey onto the field of play:

After the game, Hunter explained what set him off:

Although the whole situation was rather innocuous, it was inevitable that MLB would levy some sort of punishment, be it a suspension, fine or combination of the two.

ESPN’s Jim Bowden wondered, however, why Hunter got two games, while Seattle Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon didn’t receive any additional reprimand. McClendon was animated, to say the least, as he argued with umpires following an ejection earlier in the month:

Dropping the appeal will allow Hunter to get back on the field as soon as possible which will only benefit the Twins as they continue their quest for a postseason berth.

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As a kid, few things can rival the thrill of a catching a baseball at a live game.

That held true for this young fella in the first row as the Oakland Athletics visited the Detroit Tigers Tuesday night…well, at first.

This kid is a Tigers fan, perhaps the most passionate this world has ever seen. So as his pal hugged him, the poor lad’s euphoric joy plummeted to pure devastation when he realized that Ben Zobrist’s grand slam in the seventh inning gave the A’s a lead they would never relinquish.

Looks like there is, in fact, crying in baseball.

[Twitter]

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In case you hadn’t noticed, the Detroit Tigers offense has had its struggles this season.

Nobody anticipated this. Even with Victor Martinez on the shelf, a team boasting Miguel Cabrera, Yoenis Cespedes, J.D. Martinez and Ian Kinsler should be a run-scoring powerhouse. Right now they are languishing at 10th in the American League in runs per game (4.2).

Things have been particularly bad in recent outings. During the first four days of their current West Coast road trip, the runs have been as dry as a teetotaller’s picnic—six in four games. Some quality pitching has enabled them to eke out a pair of victories in these outings. However, their offensive malaise cannot continue if they hope to keep pace in the crackerjack Central Division.

There is hope on the horizon for the beleaguered Tigers lineup. Uncharacteristically for this franchise, the player in mind is not a veteran on the trading block, but a prospect waiting in the wings.

Steven Moya is the man I refer to. The 6’7″ slugger has been tabbed as a player of the future by the Tigers for some time now. Tigers president/general manager Dave Dombrowski expressed his views on the 23-year-old last October to James Schmehl of MLive: “We love Steven Moya. … He’s a 35-home run, 100-plus hitting-type guy, and he plays solid defense and runs well for a big guy, too.”

Yep, Detroit’s No.1 prospect is the full package.

Dombrowski did not just pluck those numbers out of thin air. Last year with the Double-A Erie Seawolves, Moya set franchise records by uncorking 35 HR, 105 RBI and 286 total bases.

A September call-up for the first time last year, Moya had a chance of cracking the Tiger’s 25-man roster out of camp. But a poor spring (.125/.125/.250) had him heading back to the minors. Then, to rub salt into his wounds, he began the season late after sustaining a foot injury in early April.

Flip the calendar forward nearly two months, and things have changed significantly. After taking several weeks to find his groove, Moya is now raking at Triple-A Toledo.

Since May 12, he has hit .317 (19-for-60) and been on base in each of his 14 starts. During this time, Moya has plundered nine extra-base hits, including four home runs. One of these deep flies was also a game-winner against Buffalo on May 16.

Moya turning the corner may have come at just the right time for the Tigers. His hot bat could be the perfect fizz for Detroit’s un-carbonated offense.

Also beneficial is the fact that Moya bats from the left side. This would provide a nice complement to Detroit’s lineup, which is even more righty-dominant than normal with the absences of Martinez and Alex Avila. Center fielder Anthony Gose is currently the only everyday left-handed hitter on the Detroit team.

If promoted, Moya could slot in at No. 6 between J.D. Martinez and Nick Castellanos. This would not place too much burden on the youngster as he wets his feet in the big leagues.

Despite the documented upsides, Moya will come up with his warts. Last year he struck out 161 times at Double-A (31 percent) and has fanned another 50 times (31 percent) already in 2015.

The pitching will only get tougher in the majors, and Moya has shown no sign of lowering his strike out numbers. If given the chance now, his air-swing habits are unlikely to change in the short-to-medium term.

However, his immense talent and power may offset this issue. Many players are still productive and capable of helping their team win despite striking out a lot. Evan Gattis and George Springer of the Houston Astros are two cases in point.

Speaking last year to Lynn Henning of the Detroit News, Tigers manager Brad Ausmus recognised Moya’s flaws but also saw a silver lining:

It’s not uncommon for power hitters to swing and miss. But with experience, you hope his pitch-recognition goes up. I don’t think he’ll ever be Victor Martinez when putting the bat on the ball, but no one is. If he can make contact at the big-league level he’s going to hit some homers.

And the Tigers could certainly do with a few of those at the moment. What have they got to lose?

It could hardly get much worse on the offensive side than it is right now. If Moya fails, he can be sent back down for more seasoning and Detroit would go back to square one.

Whether it’s now or later, it’s just a matter of time before he does the business in Motown. Dombrowski seems ultra-confident of that: “If Moya‘s not a premium prospect, I don’t know who is. … I don’t know what damage he’ll end up doing this year, but I mean, this guy has unbelievable power,” he said to Anthony Fenech of Detroit Free Press.

We could be about to find out how much damage he can do. With the phone only an arm length away, Dombrowski’s hand may be just about to twitch.

Stats in this article are courtesy of milb.com

Hit me up on Twitter: @jdunc1979

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Jeremy Guthrie probably wishes he didn’t have to work on Memorial Day like most other Americans. 

The Kansas City Royals starting pitcher was absolutely rocked Monday against the New York Yankees, giving up an unbelievable 11 runs while recording just three outs. That put him in the history books for all of the wrong reasons, according to MLB Stat of the Day on Twitter:

It also put his performance among some of the worst pitching displays of all time, per Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports:

Yes, Guthrie would probably have much preferred to be grilling and enjoying a beer Monday. Instead, he gave up a two-run homer to Chase Headley, a three-run shot to Brian McCann and another three-run homer to Brett Gardner in the first inning alone. Stephen Drew followed up with yet another three-run bomb in the second inning, which led to Guthrie’s early departure.

Guthrie has certainly had an up-and-down season even before Monday’s debacle. As Lee Judge of the Kansas City Star noted, he went 1-2 with an ERA of 6.52 over his first five starts before reversing course, going 3-0 with an ERA of 1.96 in his three starts leading up to Monday. 

As Judge noted, Guthrie has struggled at times with the difference in velocity between his fastball and changeup. When he’s struggled, he’s tended to throw those pitches at about the same speed, allowing hitters to adjust to that velocity. 

Whatever the case was Monday, the Yankees certainly had no issue identifying Guthrie’s pitches and teeing off on them. Guthrie and the Royals will simply be hoping he can put this brutal start behind him and regain the form he was showing in the three starts prior to Monday’s shellacking.   

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Detroit Tigers designated hitter Victor Martinez was placed on the 15-day disabled list Tuesday with inflammation in his left knee.  

Continue for updates.

Martinez Heads to DL with Knee Inflammation

Tuesday, May 19

The Tigers’ official PR Twitter feed reported that Martinez was placed on the 15-day DL with inflammation in his left knee.

Currently there is no timeline for Martinez to return, per James Schmehl of MLive.com. Manager Brad Ausmus further discussed the injury, per Jason Beck of MLB.com:”Victor Martinez had a cortisone shot Thursday. Felt good running Monday, but hitting obviously wasn’t any better.”

Ausmus added that Martinez did not want to go on the DL, and the decision wasn’t up to him, per Matthew B. Mowery. 

Martinez is one of the best pure hitters in baseball, and the Tigers can ill afford to lose him for an extended period of time. He hit .335 during the 2014 season with 32 home runs, 103 RBI and a .409 on-base percentage.

Martinez finished second in the American League MVP voting and won the Silver Slugger award for American League designated hitters.

Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post noted why a slugger like Martinez is even more valuable in today’s game with dominant pitching:

But there’s a more wide-angle reason the Tigers are making that commitment to a player headed into his late 30s who just set career highs in homers, on-base percentage and slugging percentage (by more than 50 points). Look at offense throughout baseball, at how it’s dwindling away, and consider where a player of Martinez’s abilities and accomplishments fits now. Heck, consider where he might fit four years from now, even if his abilities diminish some with age.

Martinez is a source of production in the middle of the lineup that is nearly impossible to replace, from his ability to get on base to the power and the run-scoring opportunities he generates. What’s more, he provides protection for Miguel Cabrera by hitting behind him in the lineup, which forces opposing pitchers to pick their poison.

Detroit has title aspirations this season, but the one-two punch of Cabrera and Martinez is a major reason why. If Martinez is not in the lineup, players such as Yoenis Cespedes or J.D. Martinez will have to increase their production to provide that protection for Cabrera and cash in on RBI opportunities that would have otherwise gone to the 36-year-old.

Detroit’s strong pitching staff will be under more pressure as well if the offense struggles without Martinez as an anchor.

Martinez is one of the most important players on the Tigers roster, and any championship hopes they have may depend on his ability to return to full health.

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Baseball offseasons are made for hope and optimism.

Those five months between the end of the World Series and Opening Day help dissolve any ugly memories and bad tastes that exist from the previous season. And when that fall and winter are filled with a team making blockbuster moves to improve for the following season, the hype and expectations soar.

That was the case for the Chicago White Sox, a team that used the trade and free-agent markets to bolster its roster during the offseason. They added big names at key positions to the point that they were expected to contend for an American League Wild Card berth at the very least.

After getting off to a disappointing 8-14 start, the White Sox are finally living up to their billing. They have won six consecutive games—a 10^th-inning walk-off against the Cleveland Indians on Monday was the latest triumph—to creep above the .500 mark for the first time this season. The stretch has also made them relevant again in the AL Central, where they trail the Kansas City Royals by 4.5 games.

#WhiteSox last won six straight late in 2013. This streak comes at a little more important of a time.

— Dan Hayes (@CSNHayes) May 19, 2015

The franchise lost 99 games in 2013, their worst year since a 106-loss season in 1970. It saw a 10-game improvement last season, and much more was expected in 2015 after the team traded for Jeff Samardzija to strengthen the rotation, signed elite free-agent reliever David Robertson as well as Adam LaRoche and Melky Cabrera to lengthen their lineup over the offseason.

“Once you get players like that, the excitement is there,” manager Robin Ventura told CSN Chicago in January. “For me, it doesn’t feel any different. I think everybody acts like it’s going to be a different thing, but in the end it just means there’s higher expectations, which are great.”

The start to the season certainly was not.

Through the first 22 games, the offense was abysmal. It batted .242/.296/.341 and scored 70 runs (3.2 runs per game).

The pitching was just as bad in that time frame. The staff racked up a brutal 4.56 ERA, and the rotation was worse at 5.50.

Those numbers culminated with a 13-3 loss in Minnesota and a five-game losing streak that dropped the White Sox seven games out of first place and six games below .500. That led general manager Rick Hahn to hold a pregame dugout press conference two days later.

“We’re all accountable for where we sit right now,” Hahn told reporters. “That starts with the players, it goes to the coaches and Robin and myself and the front office.

Hahn continued: “This team is far, far better than what we’ve seen the last few days. … We need to be better than that. Based on the rotation we put together, based upon this lineup, we feel there are far, far better days ahead.”

That Q&A session looks like a premonition looking back. Starting that day, the White Sox have been on an impressive run of 10 wins in 13 games with the first five wins of their six-game streak coming on the road. The offense is scoring 4.9 runs a game and the pitching staff has a more respectable 3.85 ERA.

The run has pushed their record to 18-17 as the offseason makeover is finally paying off. LaRoche has 13 walks, seven RBIs, a .463 OBP and .878 OPS in May. Cabrera has 16 hits, eight RBIs and seven walks in the month. In that time, Samardzija, while still struggling to find a consistent groove, is 2-0 and Robertson has a 1.93 ERA and 10 strikeouts in 9.1 innings.

Just as important is ace Chris Sale’s last two starts. After compiling a 5.93 ERA in his first five, Sale has thrown 16 innings and allowed three runs in his last two outings, including an eight-inning, one-run gem Monday to outduel Cleveland ace Corey Kluber.

“I wouldn’t even say it’s a turnaround, you know?” Adam Eaton told CSN Chicago’s postgame coverage after Monday’s sixth straight win. “It takes a while for teams to jell together, especially with a lot of the new faces we have here. It takes a while, and it’s a learning process. We want to play good baseball [through] June, July, August and into October.

“We’re coming along as a team and learning each other. Hopefully we’ll have more of this going forward.”

While the White Sox might not be as prolific as this recent winning streak, they certainly did not appear to be as bad as their start based on player track records. But runs have a way of correcting themselves, which we’ve seen this month.

Now the White Sox have to sustain the success and become a loud voice in the AL Central through the summer, just like the offseason hype billed them to be.

All quotes, unless otherwise specified, have been acquired first-hand by Anthony Witrado. Follow Anthony on Twitter @awitrado and talk baseball here.

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