Buster Olney talks about how the 2008 trades are starting to pay dividends for the Tribe. Of course, no one at ESPN remembers CC Sabathia played for the Indians so this is erroneously labeled as the Cliff Lee trade. Edit: It isn't embedding for some reason. Here is the link.
That might already be the best package ever for Lee, though who knows if it's true and, well, I don't really know that much about the two guys.
I'm going to need some explanation on that. Also, Phelps has doubled, his 9th in Columbus. Entering today, his line was .353/.405/.574. Phelps is one of the 5 youngest guys on the Columbus roster, plays a premium defensive spot and has a cumulative 2010 MLE OPS of 811, 881 in Columbus. He's only 3 months older than Kipnis. I don't know when he becomes a legitimate prospect but I think it might've been yesterday.
He receives a $150,000 signing bonus as well as $200,000 which is for college if he ever decides to go to school. He's also scheduled to have TJ surgery right out of the gate.
Aside from the mysterious inclusion of Trevor Crowe, this is not a bad look ahead a few years through the Indians system.
Via Hoynes' twitter. No other details seem to be available. Brantley was hitting .315/.388/.407 in Columbus and went .353/.412/.480 in June.
Ordinarily I don't follow the Dominican Summer League too closely, but you have to be intrigued by this Oswell Munoz guy. He's 2-0 with a 2.20 ERA. He's pitched 32+ innings, given up 26 hits, with 0 walks and 41 strikeouts. He's a 19-year-old Venezuelan righthander. And it looks like he has some room to fill out: he's 6'5" tall and weighs 179 pounds. Wonder if he needs some dental work.
I would appreciate anyone's legitimate guess as to what Hafner's celebrity spokesperson fee is at this point.