Roster moves in the next two days

[Enjoy Terror]

Saw that ol' Garrett Cleavinger and Yermin Mercedes got selected by the Phils and ChiSox. Former O's farmhands. Good for them.

[wildcard]

1 hour ago, sportsfan8703 said:

Lots of guys getting DFAd. Anyone from other clubs we should be interested in?

Drew Gagnon

https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=gagnon001and

[DirtyBird]

23 minutes ago, wildcard said:

Drew Gagnon

https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=gagnon001and

But, he stinks

[wildcard]

9 minutes ago, DirtyBird said:

But, he stinks

Based on what?  35 IP in the MLB.

1) He is a starter

2) In the International League in 2019  he had  a 2.33 ERA, 1.071 WHIP in 15 starts

3) In 2018. 4.57 ERA,  27 starts,  157 IP  167 K 1.230  in a AAA hitters league the PCL.

Sounds like Wojo to me. A good candidate for a cheap stop gap starter.

[eddie83]

Here is a list of every teams Top 30 prospects and who were eligible to be protected. 

https://www.mlb.com/amp/news/top-prospects-eligible-for-rule-5-draft.html?__twitter_impression=true

[Pushmonkey]

On first look it looks like a lot of outfielders were left unprotected. 

[Luke-OH]

Here's a series of brief notes on the DFAed players with significant team control remaining. In order of preference for the Orioles...(top 5 would be a clear back of the 40 man upgrade IMO, although Cotton and Greene are projects rather than immediate improvements)

Luis Escobar

23yo, mid 90s, overpronated fastball with big horizontal, makings of two quality but low spin offspeed pitches

Montana DuRapau

27yo super premium spin guy, 4 pitch 5'11" righty, needs to use curveball more, better.

Jharel Cotton

27yo 5 pitch former top prospect, led by a elite changeup, been injured, reclaimation project, maybe in the pen

Justin Shafer

27yo, solid pitch mix including above avg spin mid 90s FB, slider, hard cutter (90mph), rare change. Strikethrower, but lacks command

Conner Greene

24yo righty, big stuff, mid-rotation or late inning, has never been able to throw enough strikes

Nick Dini

26yo Bat first catcher, but not an everyday bat. fringe average catch and throw, questionable framing, better than Wynns maybe

Drew Gagnon

29yo super low spin 4S FB, uses it up when he shouldn't, good changeup. Could be useful, limited upside

Williams Jerez

27yo Mid-90s lefty, low spin FB, that he elevates and gets crushed, quality split, and a usable slider, poor command

Taylor Guerrieri

26yo with premium curveball spin and solid command who lost the zone in 2019.

Nestor Cortes Jr

24yo command and deception lefty, good k/bb, flyball pitcher hurt by juiced ball

CD Pelham

24yo hard throwing lefty reliever, has t100, couldn't throw strikes in 2019

Arnaldo Hernandez

23yo righty, good changeup, hasn't been used in relief, doesn't work as a starter

Dario Agrazal

24yo blah command based sinkerballer without a strikeout pitch

Jorge Bonifacio

26yo plus run, fringe average glove COF, hit a little, but not enough

Nick Martini

29yo LF with some bat control but without LF power

[sportsfan8703]

Cotton gave up 28 HR in 129 mlb IP, and that was before the juiced ball. Also, OPACY. 

[Luke-OH]

1 hour ago, sportsfan8703 said:

Cotton gave up 28 HR in 129 mlb IP, and that was before the juiced ball. Also, OPACY. 

Yeah, it's not a performance pick. He's a really talented arm that had one bad season in the majors and then got hurt. 

[POR]

Luis Oviedo and Jose Fermin are a couple of interesting Indian prospects that were left unprotected.  Both are very young and years away from contributing, but talented upside.

Oviedo will be 20 in May.  He was really hyped up as a prospect going into 2019 and had a disappointing year.  Here is a scouting report from Prospects Live from October 2018.

5. Luis Oviedo, RHP

Age: 19 (5/15/99)

Highest Level: A

57 IP, 2.05 ERA, 2.76 FIP, 10.58 K/9, 2.68 BB/9, .189 AVG. - A-/A

Oviedo proved to be too much for the NYPL despite being two years younger than the average pitcher in the league. The projectable 6-foot-4 Venezuelan made nine starts in the NYPL striking out 61 in 48 innings before making two starts in the Midwest League to end his season. Oviedo has a fastball with life that sits 92-94 that he commands well. He gets great extension and can reach back a little more and pull down 96-97 when he needs it. Oviedo throws a curveball and a slider, and each projects as average or better. His changeup will likely be his best secondary pitch though. It can be firm at times but he sets it up well and it has good tumbling action to it. Oviedo had two mediocre runs through rookie ball, but really put it together in 2018. We could have a future number-two starter here if one of the breaking balls finds another gear. ETA: 2022.

https://www.prospectslive.com/lists/2018/10/23/cleveland-indians-top-30-prospects

He was not throwing as hard in 2019 and did not pitch after July 17th.

Fermin is more steady than spectacular.  He gets overlooked with the Indians stockpile of middle infielders.  However, he think he is a starting 2nd baseman in 3 or 4 years.  Fermin will be 21 in March and should be in High A.

If either of these players are selected, it would be a waste of a roster spot in 2020 and not be getting the game action in 2020 would not be great for their development, but they could be useful players down the road.  

[sportsfan8703]

3 hours ago, Luke-OH said:

Yeah, it's not a performance pick. He's a really talented arm that had one bad season in the majors and then got hurt. 

Thanks for putting together the above list. It seems that that first few starters, like you pointed out, would be upgrades over the bottom of the 40 man, but are they upgrades over Brooks and Ynoa?  Not to debate the DFA of Brooks and Ynoa, but to point out that Elias apparently didn’t want to carry a similar player on the 40 man all offseason. 

The good thing here is that every time someone signs a FA there will have to be a corresponding DFA. That’s where I’d really like to see Elias start making some small upgrades. 

[Roll Tide]

Just saw that Fenter and Sedlock were left off the 40 man and exposed  to the Rule 5. (Per Roch)

[DirtyBird]

2 minutes ago, Roll Tide said:

Just saw that Fenter and Sedlock were left off the 40 man and exposed  to the Rule 5. (Per Roch)

That is true. Work back in this thread for discussion.

[sportsfan8703]

37 minutes ago, Roll Tide said:

Just saw that Fenter and Sedlock were left off the 40 man and exposed  to the Rule 5. (Per Roch)

Here’s something to help you catch up. Credit to Weams for posting this link in another thread. Here’s all the top 30 guys protected/not protected for each team,

https://www.mlb.com/news/top-prospects-eligible-for-rule-5-draft

[Aristotelian]

Is that the same Nestor Cortes we picked in 2017? Is it really possible for a guy to get picked in the Rule 5 twice? We should do it just for the novelty.