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Last Night's Game: Indians 7, White Sox 0
Cleveland hits 3 homers vs. White Sox | MLB.com
Carlos Carrasco plays incredible encore in 7-0 victory - Let's Go Tribe
All sides of the equation were working last night. Carlos Carrasco threw eight shutout inning. The Indians hit for power (Encarnacion, Brantley, and Ramirez all went deep). And there were some fantastic defensive plays, most notably those by Jose Ramirez. The only starter not reach base was Francisco Lindor.
Tribe News
Jose Ramirez finds home at many positions | MLB.com
Versatility is hard to capture in terms of numbers, but it is still valuable. The Indians didn't miss a beat at second base while Jason Kipnis was out, and that was thanks to Jose Ramirez. And now that Kipnis is back, Ramirez is making plays at third base like he'd been there all month.
Lindor already has some lucrative endorsements, which means he's more able to bet on himself than other players in his situation. Superstars, like Lindor is becoming, can have just as much income from sponsorships than from his player salary, which is why this strategy makes a lot of sense. But there are examples of players who very much benefited from signing that long-term deal, as the article mentions.
Cleveland Indians have Terry Talkin' Yandy Diaz, player moves -- Terry Pluto | cleveland.com
One of the dominoes from the Diaz demotion is Giovanny Urshela, who has started at shortstop the last couple games in Columbus. Which moved Erik Gonzalez, the usual shortstop, to right field.
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The Tigers won yesterday in Minnesota, but they had to place JaCoby Jones on the Disabled List after getting hit in the face by a pitch. And before the game, they placed Miguel Cabrera on the DL.
Cuban OF Luis Robert cleared to sign with club | MLB.com
Robert is 19 years old. He's considered the best prospect available, and that's including all amateur players, so expect a bidding war. However, there are some teams that effectively can't sign him, as they are limited to only spending $300,000 per player signed (these include the Yankees, Cubs, Red Sox, Dodgers, and Blue Jays). The Indians could in theory make a bid for Robert, but they haven't been listed among the favorites.
If you are looking for a piece of MLB history for your collection, and have several million dollars just laying around, you could own the original National League constitution.