Last Night's Game
Aaron Brooks allows one run in Oakland debut | indians.com
Cleveland Indians bats remain mostly silent in 5-1 loss to Athletics - Let's Go Tribe
Cleveland Indians fall, 5-1, to Aaron Brooks and Oakland Athletics | cleveland.com
The story was familiar to those of us who have followed this club: starting pitcher good but not great, offense muzzled, team loses. Last night it was Aaron Brooks, who until this past week was a member of the Kansas City organization, who stifled the Tribe bats. Sometimes the Indians don't score runs despite amassing enough hits to score runs, but last night they didn't get many hits either. The Indians had five total hits on the night, with the only extra-base hit a Lonnie Chisenhall home run.
Indians News
Lonnie Chisenhall looking good in return engagement: Cleveland Indians notes | cleveland.com
One bright spot last was Lonnie Chisenhall, who has returned to Cleveland in the wake of the Moss and Murphy trades. He's going to be tried in the outfield, and the early returns are promising. He dealt with several difficult plays well in right field, and made a strong throw to nab a runner at the plate. He has the physical tools to be at least an average fielder in an outfield corner, so perhaps the move down the defensive spectrum will help him at the plate. Hey, it worked for Alex Gordon.
MLB News
Astros' Carlos Correa posts first 2-HR game | MLB.com
Carlos Correa, who was first pick in the 2012 draft, has had no problems with the majors, hitting .299/.345/.571 with 12 home runs in his first 46 major-league games
Jim Callis: Ranking the best traded prospects | MLB.com
This past week was a throwback of sorts, in that a lot of top prospects changed hands in deadline deals. That hasn't been the case recently, as teams had gotten very stingy with trading prospects for short-term help. Daniel Norris, who went to Detroit in the David Price, is the top prospect on the list, and Price is a free agent at the end of the season. Rob Kaminsky, who Callis thinks is a future No. 3 starter, was ranked as the 9th best prospect dealt, which tells you something about the quality of prospects traded this week.
Latest 25-man/40-man roster
Yeah, there were a ton of moves made this past week. Here's a quick breakdown:
Added to the 40-man roster
Michael Roth (Columbus)
Jerry Sands (Columbus)
Abraham Almonte (trade from San Diego for Scrabble)
Josh Tomlin (activated from 60-day DL)
Jayson Aquino (purchased from Pittsburgh)
Departed from 40-man roster
Brandon Moss (traded to St. Louis)
David Murphy (traded to LA Angels)
Marc Rzepczynski (traded to San Diego)
Toru Murata (outrighted)
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In addition, Lonnie Chisenhall and Tyler Holt, both already on the 40-man roster, were recalled from Columbus. I don't think this is the end of the roster tweaking, especially with Nick Swisher's rehab assignment coming to a close later this week.
*embiggen is a neologism coined in a Simpsons episode. I use it because it's funny, not because I like to mangle the English language. It literally is the only time I do this, and I am disinterested in any further explanation.