Some items from around the AL East…
- When selling and acquiring notable players in trades over the years, the Rays have done well in acquiring low-level minor leaguers in these deals and developing them into valuable pieces, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Impressive young players and prospects like Daniel Robertson, Jake Bauers, Willy Adames, Lucius Fox, and Patrick Leonard weren’t the headline pieces in recent trades but they’re all big parts of the Rays’ future (and Robertson part of the present, hitting well in a utility role for Tampa this season). “There is less certainty with them, and their potential impact is further away,” president of baseball operations Matt Silverman said. “But if we do our homework well and they continue to develop, these players can be a big part of our long-term success. It’s where our patience and our long-term focus can really benefit us.”
- Joe Biagini pitched well in his first MLB start today, moving from the Blue Jays bullpen to the rotation to throw four innings of two-hit ball with only one unearned run allowed in Toronto’s 2-1 win over the Rays. The performance will earn Biagini another start, Sportsnet.ca’s Ben Nicholson-Smith writes, as the Jays continue to look for rotation help with J.A. Happ and Aaron Sanchez still on the DL. Sanchez could be ready to return on Sunday, Nicholson-Smith writes, and Mike Bolsinger could be in line for a spot start sometime this week.
- Do the Yankees have a better bullpen now than they did last year with Andrew Miller in the fold? George A. King III of the New York Post observes that with Adam Warren, Jonathan Holder and Tyler Clippard all pitching well, the Yankees have more depth in the pen to better bridge leads to Dellin Betances and Aroldis Chapman. The only “weak link” is Tommy Layne, King writes, who has a 9.45 ERA through his first 10 appearances (6 2/3 IP) of the season. If Layne continues to struggle, I would think the Yankees would target left-handed relief help at the deadline, since Chasen Shreve is the only other situational lefty available.
Layne was awesome last year. I would give it another month before considering a switch. Gotta love that 3/4 arm angle.
Watched Layne for a long time in Boston.. didn’t love anything about him. Almost dependable as a lefty specialist.
Tend to agree with Scott. There’s a reason the Sox let him go.
Okay but he had under a 4 era wen he left and he had under a 2 era wen he came to ny so u make no sense
If this is the case, then why did the Sox get rid of Andrew Miller? For the “lights-out” Rodriguez? Hardly.
Yanks also have lefties at Scranton(AAA team). They may look inside the organization first.
Adames was absolutely a headlining piece in the Price trade
Agreed. He certainly was the headiner
Maybe but he was still a low level prospect at the time. Drew Smyly was probably the main piece at the time.
It’s pretty clear Adames was an integral part of that trade.
I’d say the same about Lucius Fox and Daniel Robertson.
Robertson definitely was the headliner for the Rays
Who knew that Clippard was better than Miller? Maybe the Tigers would be willing to trade Justin Wilson? Chad Green for Wilson? Cessa for Wilson?
need a lot more than that and the tigers won’t give up their best bullpen arm when they are still in contention
Clippard rarely is great for entire seasons. He’s pretty good, but tends to wear down by mid-August. We’ll see.
Clippard better than Miller? Not quite.
Miller has a 0.00 ERA in 15 innings and 22 K this year.
Clippard has been great but he’s no Andrew Miller
Thanks for addressing that silly comment in what world is Clippard better than Andrew Miller, that would be none.
I think Miller is best bullpen guy out there at the moment. Also his attitude accounts for a ton of value because he doesn’t care when he pitches in a game and just wants to win and is lights out whenever he comes in. All pitchers should take a lesson from miller.