Sunday News and Notes: Offensive explosion

Last night's game

Indians score 17 runs in rout of Twins | indians.com

Cleveland Indians bury Twins early in 17-4 win - Let's Go Tribe

Cleveland Indians pound Ervin Santana, Minnesota Twins, 17-4, on 19 hits | cleveland.com

That was unexpected. The Indians not only score 17 runs, which is more runs than in all their games on last week's road trip, but most of that offense was provided by players who were either in AAA or in other organizations on July 31. Abraham Almonte, who had a .530 OPS with the Padres this season, went 4-for-4, including two doubles and a home run. Jose Ramirez, who was demoted earlier this season after a poor showing, was a home run short of hitting for the cycle. Jerry Sands, who was outrighted twice this season, hit the team's first grand slam of the season. The season is over, but that doesn't negate the enjoyment you get from games like this.

Indians News

Can Cleveland Indians grow new team from scorched earth? Rant of the week | cleveland.com

Hoynes is in my opinion being over dramatic in his use of terms. "Fire sale," at least in baseball terms, is when a team trades all of its good players in a short time period. While the Indians have traded a large number of players, the quality of players traded has been rather small. Brandon Moss is probably the best player the Indians traded, or at least the only player that would have been a major help in 2016. The rest were either pending free agents, bullpen specialists, or straight salary dumps. The Indians haven't traded any of their core players (including any of the top four starting pitchers), which is a much different situation from 2008-2009. I don't think Hoynes was trying to intimate that this was 2008-2009 all over again, though.

MLB.com 2015 Prospect Watch | MLB.com

The MLB.com's top 30 Tribe prospects has been updated. With Francisco Lindor in the majors, Bradley Zimmer moves to the #1 spot, with Clint Frazier, newcomer Rob Kaminsky, and 2015 first round pick Brady Aiken rounding up the top 4 spots. Tyler Naquin, who should make his MLB debut later this season, is #5.

MLB News

Blue Jays shut out Yanknees 6-0 | MLB.com

Toronto has made up 4.5 games in the standings over the last week, and now trail the Yankees by 2.5 games.

Mike Trout, 24, on pace to be one of MLB's greatest ever - MLB - SI.com

Just in case you haven't noticed.

Latest 25-man/40-man Roster

(click here to embiggen)

I fully expect each weekly roster to have at least a couple major changes from the previous week.

This week's moves:

August 3

2B Jason Kipnis placed on 15-day DL (shoulder)

LHP Kyle Crockett recalled from Columbus (AAA)

LHP Michael Roth optioned to Columbus (AAA)

IF Jose Ramirez recalled from Columbus (AAA)

August 5

LHP Michael Roth designated for assignment

OF Abraham Almonte added to roster and optioned to Columbus (AAA)

August 7

Traded CF Michael Bourn, 1B Nick Swisher and $11M to the Atlanta Braves for IF Chris Johnson

Sent LHP Michael Roth outright to Columbus (AAA)

August 8

Added IF Chris Johnson to 25-man roster

Placed RHP Cody Anderson on 15-day Disabled List (oblique)

Optioned OF Tyler Holt to Columbus (AAA)

Recalled OF Abraham Almonte from Columbus (AAA)

Recalled RHP Shawn Armstrong from Columbus (AAA)

Whew. The major move of the week was the Swisher/Bourn trade, and to fill Bourn's spot in the lineup the Indians initially went with Tyler Holt, but that changed yesterday when the Indians swapped Holt with Almonte. I'd expect Tyler Naquin to get a shot later in the season (maybe as soon as he's healthy). I don't think Chris Johnson is going to play everyday, especially with the Indians wanting to give Giovanny Urshela as much playing time as possible; he'll probably be in the lineup against left-handers, but not much against right-handers.

The Indians won't need a fifth starting pitcher until next weekend thanks to an off day tomorrow, so they'll have some time to plan out who will replace Cody Anderson. The obvious candidate would be Josh Tomlin, though he was rocked in his last start with Columbus (6.0 IP, 6 ER, 10 H).