Sunday May 27th, 2012

Ryan Ritchey (Baseball Writer): The Cleveland Indians are off to a hot start for the second straight season. Last year it didn’t last… and the team ended up falling apart. What is going to happen this season? Will the pitching stay strong until the end of the season or fall off the map when it most counts? Asdrubal Cabrera has come down with a pulled hamstring in the past week and will be out. This could really end up affecting the team, or he could come back soon and be fine. The thing about a hamstring is that it can be a nagging injury, if it doesn’t fully heal properly. If I’m Manny Acta, I sit Cabrera until he is fully healthy.

To answer some of the above questions, I believe the starting pitching will last past the All-Star Break and the Cleveland Indians will have a shot at the AL Central crown. With Ubaldo Jimenez, Justin Masterson, and veteran Derek Lowe the Indians pitching staff is one of the best in its division.  Or at least it should be on paper. Derek Lowe with a 3.25 ERA and 6wins has been a horse for the Indians. The biggest surprise thus far for this team is Chris Perez, who has 16 saves in 17 chances. With a sweep of the Tigers this past week, the Indians made a statement in the American League Central. They are ready to show that least year was no fluke and that Cleveland is ready to return to the promised land. The MLB playoffs. With another Wild Card added this year, the Indians have to like their chances at postseason glory.

Many things have to happen for a team to win as many games as the Indians are winning right now. You need great pitching, timely hitting and a little bit of luck. Whatever the Indians are doing…let’s face it, it’s working! The Indians aren’t a team that relies on one person or one part of its game to win. This team is well rounded and can do many things well. The team is 6th in on base percentage but 18th in batting average in the majors for example, which tells me this team likes to take walks and win with a small-ball type of game. So far, so good. 

The Indian’s pitching mirrors its offense. Placing in the top-10 in quality starts shows that the Indians are getting good pitching performances, but still having to rely on strong run support to win games.  This is not a team that will win many 2-0 games. The bullpen is pitching very well though and if that continues, you can expect the Indians to stay atop the American League Central for awhile. Perez could end up saving over 40 games this season and send the Indians to the playoffs. Just like the Orioles, the Indians are relying on their pen heavily to start the year. 

The one thing that I believe the Cleveland Indians really need is another power bat. That is the main thing holding them back from being a great team. The only big bat they have in their current line-up is Carlos Santana, the catcher. Don’t get me wrong, he is a great power hitter but his legs and knees won’t last him late in the season. At the trade deadline, the Indians need to search for a big bat to say in contention come September. 

The last key ingredient for the success of the Indians is manager Manny Acta. Players have said he is a great manager to play for and is  well equipped to bring the best out of his players. If this is the case, he could end up winning manager of the year in the American League this season if the Indians make the postseason. It looks to me like he is getting the best out of his players so far this season. If Manny can keep the magic going and get that big bat into his line-up, the Indians are in great shape. Both in 2012 and moving towards the future. 

Ryan Ritchey is a Baseball Writer for MLB reports. I am a high school senior, play second base and plan on studying sports journalism in college. I am a huge fan of Barry Larkin and Brandon Phillips. Have been a baseball fan my whole life and have been writing about baseball since freshman year. You can reach me on Twitter(@Ryan13Ritchey)

Please e-mail us at: mlbreports@me.com with any questions and feedback.  You can follow us on Twitterand become a fan on Facebook.  To subscribe to our website and have the Daily Reports sent directly to your inbox, click here and follow the link at the top of our homepage.

Sunday May 27th, 2012

Sam Evans: Oakland Athletics prospect Michael Choice was drafted by the A’s 10^th overall in the 2010 MLB Amateur draft. Looking back at the pick, most of the players drafted before Choice have risen quicker through their respective systems, but Choice still looks like a nice selection by Billy Beane and his scouting department. Michael Choice has 70 grade power, so even though his tools are raw, it’s hard not to like a future All-Star.

Michael Choice was born in 1989 in Forth Worth, Texas. Being a young Texan outfielder with power projection, it must be pretty difficult to go unnoticed out high school. Nonetheless, Choice was under the radar coming out of high school and he eventually ended up at the University of Texas-Arlington. At Texas-Arlington, Choice began to turn some heads. In three college seasons, or 175 games, Choice hit thirty-four homers and had a batting average over .375 in all three years.  His junior year at Texas-Arlington, in 2010, Choice drew seventy-six walks and he only struck out fifty-four times.

Coming into the draft, Choice was considered by most as a top fifteen prospect, so the A’s selecting him at #10 didn’t surprise many. The player that went before Choice, Karsten Whitson did not sign. The player that went after Choice, Deck McGuire, is a little overrated in my opinion, but he has reached Double-A already in the Toronto organization.

Michael Choice is about 6’0’’ 210 pounds. He hits from the right side of the plate, and he’s considered a great athlete, by all measures. The 70 power grade (on the 20-80 scale) has been casually given to Choice by the majority of scouts. His defense is considered decent but most see him playing right field in the end.

Michael Choice may be a fairly speedy outfielder right now, but I think his speed will disappear in a couple of years. My reasoning behind this is that he has a large frame, and as he naturally gets stronger and adds weight over the next couple of years, he is going to lose speed. However, many big-bodied corner outfielders have proven that a large corner outfielder can cover just as much ground as one with a smaller frame. Jay Bruce is a big corner outfielder that plays good outfield defense that comes to mind.

In 2011, Choice’s first full season in the minors, he proved that other aspects of his game are farther along than we thought. Not only did Choice hit for power, but he also drew walks at a good rate, and hit for a solid average. In 118 games at High-A, Choice hit thirty homers, had an 11.3 BB%, and batted .285. All of a sudden, Choice rose to the top of most Oakland prospect rankings.

In 2012, I think the Athletics are making a somewhat aggressive move by starting Choice at Double-A. He still has a lot of areas he can improve in his game, and I would have liked to see him get half of a season at High-A to continue to work on those areas of development. Not to mention, the Athletics currently have a logjam in their outfield in the upper minors and majors. With Oakland not planning on contending anytime soon, there is no reason to rush Choice.

The other side of this argument is that Choice is twenty-two years old. He wasn’t drafted out of high school, and he put up great numbers in the lower minors, so why shouldn’t he deserve a promotion? I tend to side with the first argument just because I think Choice is still pretty raw, and he probably could have improved his strikeout rate, and plate approach, if he spent another year at High-A.

Speaking of plate approach, Choice is very interesting when it comes to strikeouts and walks. Despite his tremendous walk rates (he has never posted a BB% under 11 in the minors), Choice has problems with containing his number of strikeouts. He can get out in front of pitches, and he has a lot of swing and miss in his swing.

I’m not actually that worried about Choice and his strikeout issues in the future. Almost every prospect that has 70 power is going to have some swing and miss in their swing. While it would be nice to see Choice cut down on the strikeouts, it is not critical for his success at the major league level. However, if Choice turns into the next Delmon Young, and his projected power never really comes into play at the major league level, he’ll be in a lot of trouble.

In 2012, Choice is hitting .250/.338/.328 in just forty-six games. Even though that makes his season look disappointing, he really has not been as bad as the numbers suggest. His walk and strikeout rates are in-line with his career totals, and it’s just too early in the season to make a judgment on his success. Apparently, the Oakland minor league coaches are working with Choice on making some adjustments to his swing that they see necessary. While it’s not a good idea to mess with his swing too much, if they can get Choice on track for major league success by making minor adjustments, that is big news.

Overall, I think Choice is going to hit about .270 with thirty homers per year in the majors. With the right coaches and staff around him, the A’s should be able to turn this twenty-two year old into a superstar. The tools are there, now Choice just has to continue to display them. Looking back at the 2010 draft, it is still too early to form a conclusion, but Choice looks like a solid pick for an Oakland organization deprived of enough talented young position players.

***Today’s feature was prepared by our Baseball Writer, Sam Evans.  We highly encourage you to leave your comments and feedback at the bottom of the page and share in the discussion with our readers.  You can also follow Sam on Twitter***

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Friday, May.25/2012

Its Travel Blog Friday:

Chuck Booth(Baseball Writer and- @chuckbooth3024 on twitter)-Renting cars in all 27 MLB cities is an expensive proposition.   Some of the bigger cities can charge from $50-$90 per weekday for just your run of the mill economy car.  Throughout my travels in the last 5 years I have discovered many new ways to combat such prices.  Earlier this year, I stumbled upon the latest nugget that I will share for you here.  Air Miles is a Canadian reward that people have been collecting up here since 1991.  It is designated with many of sponsors in order to collect Miles to redeem them for various redemptions.  Most of the time these rewards are personalized to the cardholder themselves.  I found a rare exception.

I learned that Canadians can transfer Air Miles, (in exchange for car rental redemptions towards USA Residents in any of the USA Airports.)  Not only that, but the Canadian cardholder doesn’t even need be present as part of the rental.  The rates are start at 230 Air Miles for an economy car, 250 Air Miles for a compact and 310 for a Full-Size Car.  The only state that the rental rates are cheaper belong in Florida where the economy car rental goes for only 175 Air Miles for an economy car, 200 for a compact rental and 250 for Full-Size Car.  The daily rate of the car rental in each airport is covered, the only thing that you would be responsible for are the taxes.  I will give you an example.  I rented a car in San Francisco Airport that carried a daily rate of $49.99, but was about $77 after taxes.  I used 230 Air Miles to redeem for the free day, all that was left was about $27 in taxes once the redemption was made.

Since most of our readers hail from the USA, I will tell you how to bypass the fact that while you can’t take advantage of the program being for a Canadian collector, you can still take advantage of this car redemption.

Option #1- If you know a Canadian who has collected Air Miles, and is willing to part with some of their Miles, they can call up 1-888-247-6453 and go through the process of redeeming Miles for you.  They will be allowed to put your name on the car rental at any of the airports.  All you have to do is to show up at the Airport with the same identification that they have stated your name to be.  If your friend really trusts you, they can even give you their 4 digit pin code and you can call in for the redemption yourself.  The category of redemption is travel and the operator will prompt you into the category of car rentals.

Option #2- Again, you can sign up for your own Air Miles Card here providing you use an address of a permanent Canadian Resident.  A card will be issued to that house.  You never even need to use the card for these car rentals.  Once the redemption is made, Air Miles sends a confirmation e-mail to you and the impending car rental at the given Airport Location.  You will still need to have your Canadian resident earn the subsequent Air Miles needed in order for that redemption.  Additionally, you may receive 100 Free Air Miles  by signing up for a e-coupon Notification subscription by Safeway Grocery here .  You can even use your American 10 digit Safeway Card in order to sign up but make sure you use your friends Canadian address on the form.  Just make sure when you sign up for your card that you choose the ‘Dream Reward’ as your reward preference and not the ‘Cash Reward.’  Okay, so you have signed up and received 100 Air Miles for free.  This leaves you just 130 Air Miles short for a car rental.   This is where you can talk with your Canadian friend about having them help you collect those extra Air Miles.  Routinely, I can collect 130 Air Miles at Safeway in Canada, by spending about $30-$40.

If you do use this offer in the USA Airports, you are guaranteed to have National/Alamo as the car rental company at.  Again, this company has separated itself as the premier rental car company by its excellent customer service, brand new fleet and exceptional benefits as a valued member of their rewards program.  What I love most about National/Alamo, is that they never charge you a dime over your total car rental in forms of a credit card deposit.  If your free rental car costs $10 for the day after the taxes, that is all they will take for an authorization.  Also, National/Alamo still recognized me as an Executive Elite Member of National’s Emerald Club while I redeemed these free days. I am always given the royal treatment and for this I am grateful.  It really makes me feel great to be recognized as a person that rents from this company for 365 days a year.

The last thing to talk about is the one-way airport drop fee waiver option that is available within the States of California and Florida.  If you rent from any Airport in these 2 states, you are allowed to drop off the car in any of the states other Airports.  Meaning you can pick up a car in San Francisco’s International Airport (SFO) and drop it off in San Jose (SJC), Oakland (OAK), Sacramento (SMF), San Diego (SAN), Los Angeles Airports: (LAX, SNA, LGB or ONT) and you will not be charged the high price of  a one-way drop fee(provided it is within the 24 hour time limit.)  The same rule applies in Florida in conjunction with the cheapest price of 175 Air Miles for an economy rental car out of any airport.  This is by far the best value and perk out of this car rental deal.  There are 7 MLB cities in these 2 states, and not having to drive back to a city in which you came from saves invaluable time, money and effort.

So network your Canadian friends right now and make plans to visit MLB Parks.  If you need any additional information on this matter, email me at booth7629@gmail.com and I would be happy to discuss the rules and regulations with you on this deal.  If you live in Canada, this is the best redemption you could possibly use with your Air Miles in terms of value.

 ***Thank you to our Baseball Writer- Douglas “Chuck” Booth for preparing today’s feature on MLB reports.  To learn more about “The Fastest 30 Ballgames” and Chuck Booth, you can follow Chuck on Twitter (@ChuckBooth3024) and you can also follow Chuck’s website for his successful Guinness Book of World Record Bid to see all 30 MLB Park in 23 days click here  or on the 30 MLB Parks in 23 days GWR tracker at the Reports click here. To Purchase or read about “The Fastest 30 Ballgames Book please click here . ***

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Thursday May 24, 2012 

Ryan Ritchey (Baseball Writer): Jesus Montero is not a guy that gets a lot of attention because he plays for Seattle, but he did get my attention. Montero is one of the better players in the American League and he is going to continue to show his excellence throughout the rest of this season. Montero came to Seattle from the Yankees in exchange for Michael Pineda, who is done for the year…and maybe longer. The big question is whether the Mariners got the better part of the deal. No one will know the answer to this question for at least another couple of years. But as of right now, I believe they did. This is why. 

Montero, who should be moved from the catcher position in the next couple of seasons to either first base or DH, will be more durable than Pineda, who is coming off surgery. As long as Montero stays relatively healthy, he will be the kind of player who can hit 25 homers every season. We are just a month and a half into the season and the young slugger already has 6. Not putting too much pressure on him but he is on my fantasy team. So he better produce! His RBI numbers will be down though as he plays on a team with terrible overall offensive production, including an inability to score runs. 

The other big question that comes along with Montero is his strikeout to walk ratio. With 38 strikeouts to only 9 walks so far this season, the Mariners should be a little alarmed. With that many strikeouts he is not helping out the team very much as far as getting on base consistently. You can be a 25 homer guy but if your average is around .24o for the season with an OBP under .300, that isn’t a very good overall season. Any general manager is going to want a guy that can hit for average, power and take the occasional walk. A player that does day-in and day-out is Joey Votto and he just got a great contract from the Reds. Production pays off for everyone in the long run.

For Montero to get that big contract one day and to get Seattle into the playoffs as soon as possible, he is going to need to produce and show he can put the ball in play consistently. Nothing against the Mariners, but reality is that this not the team a big time hitter normally chooses to play on from his initiative. Montero if he evolves as a player, could one day end up in Boston to replace Ortiz when he retires. But that is just my opinion. For now, Montero is a player to watch out for. He could do very big things in the near future. The Mariners are counting on Montero to fill the shoes of their current franchise player, Ichiro Suzuki as he prepares for retirement likely one day soon. Until then, Montero will need to grow and develop into the player that the Mariners and the rest of the baseball world think that he can be.

Ryan Ritchey is a Baseball Writer for MLB reports. I am a high school senior, play second base and plan on studying sports journalism in college. I am a huge fan of Barry Larkin and Brandon Phillips. Have been a baseball fan my whole life and have been writing about baseball since freshman year. You can reach me on Twitter(@Ryan13Ritchey)

Please e-mail us at: mlbreports@me.com with any questions and feedback.  You can follow us on Twitterand become a fan on Facebook.  To subscribe to our website and have the Daily Reports sent directly to your inbox, click here and follow the link at the top of our homepage.

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Thursday May 24th, 2012

Bernie Olshansky: This season was all set up to finally be the year that the Royals would have a good chance to contend. The division became less competitive than normal with the White Sox losing Mark Buehrle and manager Ozzie Guillen, the Twins not making any big moves in the offseason besides signing Josh Willingham, and a second wild card being added to increase the possibility of making the playoffs. Royals’ fans have long waited for the team to make the playoffs as they have only had a winning record once since 1993. This year, the Royals have no shortage of hitting with young stars Eric Hosmer (first base)—who is struggling as of late but is showing signs of coming around, and third baseman, Mike Moustakas who is hitting .285. The Royals also have a strong outfield with Alex Gordon and veteran Jeff Francouer. Prospect Wil Myers, who was just promoted to Triple A, may offer more strength in the future, and Billy Butler, hitting .301 is the designated hitter. With a strong bullpen and hitting lineup beside the slumping Hosmer, right now the only weakness for the Royals is their starting pitching. Presently, Felipe Paulino is an exception with a 1.93 ERA, but it is doubtful that he will keep up his performance.

The team made an effort to better its pitching staff this winter by trading Melky Cabrera (201 hits last year) for Jonathan Sanchez. Sanchez has been disappointing to say the least, making only six starts, going 1-2 with a 6.75 ERA. This move was made to bolster an already weak rotation that consisted of Bruce Chen, Luke Hochevar, Felipe Paulino, Luis Mendoza, and Danny Duffy. Duffy recently learned he would have to undergo Tommy John surgery and miss the rest of the season, and Sanchez went down with a biceps injury after six starts. Joakim Soria, the slated closer at the beginning of the season, also had Tommy John surgery (his second), so offseason pickup Jonathan Broxton took over as the closer. Although the Royals have promising prospects developing in the minors like pitchers Mike Montgomery and John Lamb who will undoubtedly excel in the future, they should make a move if they want to contend in the present—or at least have a winning season.

In order to produce a winning ball club, the Royals should consider a trade similar to the Cabrera deal, but instead of receiving a risky pitcher like Sanchez the Royals should look for an ace. One unlikely but interesting option would be to go after a pitcher like Cole Hamels. With his contract up at the end of this year and the Phillies with enough pitching as it is, he could be a great addition in transforming the Royals pitching staff. The Royals might be able to take advantage of the Phillies’ situation with Ryan Howard’s injury by trading Billy Butler, or dealing outfielder Wil Myers. The only problem with signing a guy like Cole Hamels would be the difficulty of resigning him for next year. Another possible option would be Roy Oswalt. At the beginning of this year, he expressed his desire to play for half a season, and he wanted to be close to his home in Mississippi. This would be a major gamble for the Royals due to his age, but with the current pitching situation, almost anything would be an improvement.

Once Eric Hosmer starts hitting and the offense begins firing on all cylinders, the Royals should be in a better place. However, at some point the starting pitching will have to tighten up and allow the offense an opportunity to outscore the opponent. With the bullpen as solid as it is, the only major change the Royals need to make in order to succeed is improving the starting staff.

***Today’s feature was prepared by Bernie Olshanksy, MLB reports Intern.  We highly encourage you to leave your comments and feedback at the bottom of the page and share in the discussion with our readers.  You can also follow Bernie on Twitter (@BernieOlshansky)***

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