lhslep134;1684074 wrote:I love the trade. He's a left handed power hitter who loves to pull the ball and we have a short RF. He had a WRC+ of 148 in the 1st half last year, being named an All-Star. Just needs to stay healthy, but he could be a legit middle of the power bat. And all we did was give up a player at a crowded minor league postion, middle infield.

We have a short right field? Based on what exactly?

Footwedge;1684175 wrote:Only problem with landing Moss...don't we enough left handed hitters on this team? Also hoping they can move Swisher.

The market is bare for RH bats, especially with power, which Moss can hit for.


Bourn-L CF
Kipnis-L 2B
Brantley-L *Hit .307 off LHP last year. LF
Santana- S 1B/DH
Moss- L RF/DH/1B
Gomes- R C/DH- Would love to give him some more days off behind the plate but keep his bat in the lineup.
Chiz- L 3B
Swisher-S DH/1B
Ramirez- S SS

Moss hit 40 points better vs lefties last year. Not sure if that is fluke or not. I know Bourn, Kipnis and Chisenhall are much worse vs LHP. Brantley is a little worse but still over .300 so I don't worry about him.

I don't think lefties will kill us this year if Moss hits better off them. Gomes rakes lefties. Hit .331 off lefties. Santana hit .271 vs LHP and just .212 vs RHP last year.

Jose Ramirez hit .291 off LHP last year and just .247 vs RHP.
Swisher is 20 points higher vs LHP in his career as well.

Hell, we might feast off lefties this year. Bring em on.

Footwedge;1684176 wrote:We have a short right field? Based on what exactly?

I don't want to confuse you with the exact math, so I'll simplify it by saying The Jake's right field wall is in the bottom third amongst MLB stadiums, only 6 stadiums have a smaller right field porch.

I'm pretty happy with the trade...Tribe has a plethora of middle infield prospects, and using one to get a power bat is a no brainer. Some questions about Moss's health, however....I'm sure the deal is pending him passing a physical.

Hot stove really heating up and the A's are more involved.

The White Sox pick up Jeff Samardzjia for Marcus Siemen and a couple prospects, including Genoa, Ohio native Chris Bassitt.

Samardzjia logged a 2.99 ERA combined for the Cubs and A's last year and was an All Star, despite just a 7-13 record. Struck out over 200 and walked only 43. Run support was tough to come by for him last year, I would expect his W/L record to improve based on run support but his overall stats to be a bit worse, with a full season in the AL.

Hard not to get excited reading things like this:

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/cleveland-indians-oakland-athletics-brandon-moss-trade/

lhslep134;1684199 wrote:I don't want to confuse you with the exact math, so I'll simplify it by saying The Jake's right field wall is in the bottom third amongst MLB stadiums, only 6 stadiums have a smaller right field porch.

So the dimensions are less friendly to right handed pull hitters at the Jake. Is that it Einstein? You've outdone yourself. Hard to do...but congrats...you did it once again.

Moss could be a good find, but again, it's stupid to add another left handed bat. Contrary to what some of the denser people think around here, there is no advantage dimension wise at Progressive field...left or right. If they want a real advantage, then move the fence in right field in 20 feet or so and make it a true porch, similar to what you see in Yankee stadium.

TBone14;1684427 wrote:Hot stove really heating up and the A's are more involved.

The White Sox pick up Jeff Samardzjia for Marcus Siemen and a couple prospects, including Genoa, Ohio native Chris Bassitt.

Samardzjia logged a 2.99 ERA combined for the Cubs and A's last year and was an All Star, despite just a 7-13 record. Struck out over 200 and walked only 43. Run support was tough to come by for him last year, I would expect his W/L record to improve based on run support but his overall stats to be a bit worse, with a full season in the AL.

Except for how that was a hoax. I read that ESPN got fooled by a fake Rosenthal twitter account.

Tribe showing interest in Upton...

like_that;1684491 wrote:Tribe showing interest in Upton...

Who doesn't like Kate?

Heretic;1684481 wrote:Except for how that was a hoax. I read that ESPN got fooled by a fake Rosenthal twitter account.

Really? New outlets are still reporting it as true with new articles posted as late as 30 minutes ago.

TBone14;1684546 wrote:Really? New outlets are still reporting it as true with new articles posted as late as 30 minutes ago.

Yeah, I'm seeing that too. Unless there were rumors and someone hoaxed it as real before anything actually happened, but then it did become real.

Footwedge;1684476 wrote:Moss could be a good find, but again, it's stupid to add another left handed bat. Contrary to what some of the denser people think around here, there is no advantage dimension wise at Progressive field...left or right. If they want a real advantage, then move the fence in right field in 20 feet or so and make it a true porch, similar to what you see in Yankee stadium.

I agree. No advantage to lefties at Progressive. 325 down line then out to a typical right center gap. Certainly not a home run paradise.

I broke down the Tribe lineup a bit yesterday...without knowing what might be done with Swisher at this point. With the emergence of Gomes and switch hitting regulars Santana and Ramirez, along with Brantley hitting over .300 vs lefties, there is no cause for concern with another lefty in the lineup. In fact, Moss hit better of off lefties last year and his number in his career are nearly identical batting average wise vs LHP and RHP.

Footwedge;1684476 wrote:Moss could be a good find, but again, it's stupid to add another left handed bat. Contrary to what some of the denser people think around here, there is no advantage dimension wise at Progressive field...left or right. If they want a real advantage, then move the fence in right field in 20 feet or so and make it a true porch, similar to what you see in Yankee stadium.

TBone14;1684553 wrote:I agree. No advantage to lefties at Progressive. 325 down line then out to a typical right center gap. Certainly not a home run paradise.

I broke down the Tribe lineup a bit yesterday...without knowing what might be done with Swisher at this point. With the emergence of Gomes and switch hitting regulars Santana and Ramirez, along with Brantley hitting over .300 vs lefties, there is no cause for concern with another lefty in the lineup. In fact, Moss hit better of off lefties last year and his number in his career are nearly identical batting average wise vs LHP and RHP.

. Fans wanted the Indians to add a right-handed hitter, but Moss bats left-handed. Antonetti loves left-handed hitters because he feels they better fit Progressive Field's dimensions.The power stats over the last three years offer convincing evidence of those beliefs.
"Also, 70 percent of the pitching (in the big leagues) is right-handed," said Antonetti. "The thing we continually focus on is how we score more runs and prevent runs. That's the equation we're focused on.
"We felt Brandon significantly impacts our ability to score runs. So the acquisition made sense in that light."

http://www.cleveland.com/tribe/index.ssf/2014/12/ten_quick_hits_from_cleveland.html Straight from the horse's mouth. I'll take his word over yours.

Also, Moss likes hitting in Cleveland. http://www.foxsports.com/ohio/story/brandon-moss-trade-progressive-field-cleveland-indians-120814

It certainly wouldn't have to do with our right field though...

lhslep134;1684561 wrote:

http://www.cleveland.com/tribe/index.ssf/2014/12/ten_quick_hits_from_cleveland.html Straight from the horse's mouth. I'll take his word over yours.

Also, Moss likes hitting in Cleveland. http://www.foxsports.com/ohio/story/brandon-moss-trade-progressive-field-cleveland-indians-120814

It certainly wouldn't have to do with our right field though...

From Rotogrinders:

Progressive Field Home Run data

Right handed hitters- 2.88%
Left handed hitters- 2.8 %

So right handed hitters hit a higher % of balls out of Progressive Field.

https://rotogrinders.com/pages/Ballpark_Factors-49556

Slugging percentage is a better indicator of the power numbers Antonetti is talking about than HR%

.396 LHB, .388 RHB

Either way it's close

Its not so much what RH do vs LH at Progressive Field.

I see it more as what they do at Progressive vs other parks. Seems like more HRs to LF vs other parks where as RF is more even.

But, that has no data or anything behind it from my perspective. Just basing it off my observations.

lhslep134;1684617 wrote:Slugging percentage is a better indicator of the power numbers Antonetti is talking about than HR%

.396 LHB, .388 RHB

Either way it's close

I don't think the numbers are significant enough to conclude that Progressive Field is some left handed hitters paradise. They are normal dimensions...the only help is that line drives can get out without having to get over the tall wall in left.

Either way, the Tribe needed some extra pop in the middle of lineup. Moss has that potential and the Tribe gave up basically nothing. Hip surgery isn't great news...maybe the A's know something we don't? If he loses his power...he is worthless because he doesn't hit for average, doesn't walk a lot and strikes out a ton.

TBone14;1684553 wrote:I agree. No advantage to lefties at Progressive. 325 down line then out to a typical right center gap. Certainly not a home run paradise.

I broke down the Tribe lineup a bit yesterday...without knowing what might be done with Swisher at this point. With the emergence of Gomes and switch hitting regulars Santana and Ramirez, along with Brantley hitting over .300 vs lefties, there is no cause for concern with another lefty in the lineup. In fact, Moss hit better of off lefties last year and his number in his career are nearly identical batting average wise vs LHP and RHP.

Thx for the in depth take on Ross on his splits. I don't know how any lefty can hit lefties better than righties because it defies the laws of physics. Now it's time to move Swisher out of town. Something has to be in the works in the tribe landing a guy that is so eerily similar to Swisher...when Swisher was actually producing a little bit.

Need to go a little easier on lhshemp though. The little fella carries dull knives in his belt if you know what I'm sayin.

Geez...quitcherbitchin....we needed a power bat and we got one. It's not like the team will spend tons of money on free agents and RH power hitters are not a dime a dozen. If Moss is healthy, this is a coup.

like_that;1684491 wrote:Tribe showing interest in Upton...

Would love to put upton in this lineup.

Laley23;1684622 wrote:Its not so much what RH do vs LH at Progressive Field.

I see it more as what they do at Progressive vs other parks. Seems like more HRs to LF vs other parks where as RF is more even.

Exactly. If they took my point for RH vs LH at Progressive instead of LH at Progressive vs LH at other MLB ballparks then they're idiots.

Then again, it only seems like dumbwedge took it that way so I'm not surprised.

Tigers trade Porcello to Boston. Get Cespedes and others in return.
Dombroski has also officially announced they will not be pursuing Scherzer.

Tigers are likely going to land a pitcher from the Reds. The Reds are shopping Latos and Leake. Miami is the favorite for Latos and Detroit the favorite for Leake, from what I have seen.

The AL is going to be brutal this year. Could be one of the best divisions in baseball this year.

Too bad Swisher and Bourn are eating up so much payroll.

I see the Padres today picked up Kemp for a reasonable price, and got the Dodgers to kick in enough money that he is ostensibly a 5/75 guy for the Padres now financially.

That is the kind of deal the Tribe should have been looking to make but can't because of Brohio and Bourn.