Please note this posting contains two positions.

Position Title: Amateur Scouting Fellow

Primary Purpose
The Indians Fellowship program is designed to accelerate the pace of development and impact for high-potential candidates. Fellowship roles are focused on complex challenges, developing new approaches, tools and techniques to meaningfully drive the organization forward.

The Cleveland Indians are seeking two Fellows to join their Amateur Scouting department. Each Fellow will work collaboratively with the amateur scouting staff. Fellows will operate as an extension of the front office staff and be a resource for scouts and Baseball Operations. Fellows will be expected to manage the collection of multiple data streams on amateur players to prepare the organization for acquisition opportunities.

The ideal candidate will be curious, creative, open-minded, and excited to work in a collaborative and rapidly-changing environment. The candidate will have exceptional interpersonal skills and execute the organization’s vision through passion, resourcefulness, curiosity and strategic thinking. They will take the initiative to perform research that advances the Indians’ procedures and philosophies, especially on the draft.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities
Baseball Technology:

• Operate bat/ball tracking technology and other sports science technology.
• Manage video process from all opportunities to assess players, including but not limited to games, workouts and events.
• Manage the corresponding data and video collection process.

Support Scouting Operations:

• Assist scouting staff with the organization and execution of the scouting process through thorough data collection.
• Assist scouting staff with player workouts.
• Assist scouting staff with various administrative and information-gathering tasks.
• Provide holistic player assessments.
• Understand and apply organizational philosophies to all phases of the scouting and information-gathering processes.

Role Requirements and Preferences
Education & Experience Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree
• Demonstrated passion for at least one of scouting, baseball analytics, sports science, hitting or pitching analysis and/or biomechanics, strength and conditioning, motor learning, or other baseball related field.

Skills:

• Organization: Ability to create, maintain and execute a schedule with precision and agility.
• Work Ethic: A relentless drive to collect more and better information.
• Passion: Demonstrate a clear passion for the game, teammates, the organization and learning.
• Resourcefulness: Utilize organizational resources to develop and understand organizational philosophies.
• Self-awareness: Understand your skillset, understand your biases, and recognize your areas of development.
• Strategic Thinking: Employ a problem-solving mindset and strategic thinking.

Job Requirements:

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Working knowledge of advanced baseball statistics and publicly available research.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office.
• This position will require travel to games, workouts, and events across the country.

Standard Requirements:

• Reads, speaks, comprehends and communicates English effectively in all communications.
• Represents the Cleveland Indians in a positive fashion to all business partners and the general public.
• Ability to develop and maintain successful working relationship with members of the Front Office.
• Ability to act according to the organizational values and service excellence at all times.
• Ability to work with multicultural populations and have a commitment to fairness and equality.
• Ability to walk, sit or stand for an entire shift.
• Ability to work extended days and hours, including holidays and weekends.
• Ability to move throughout all areas and levels of the Ballpark.
• Ability to work in a diverse and changing environment.
• Occasional physical activity such as lifting and carrying boxes up to 25 lbs.

To Apply
To apply, please complete the application, which can be found here.

Position Title: Baseball Operations Fellow

Primary Purpose
The Indians Fellowship program is designed to accelerate the pace of development and impact for high-potential candidates. Fellowship roles are focused on complex challenges, developing new approaches, tools and techniques to meaningfully drive the organization forward.

The Cleveland Indians are seeking multiple Fellows to join their Baseball Operations department. Each Fellow will work full-time with one of the Indians’ minor league affiliates and report to both the Player Development and Baseball Operations departments. Fellows will operate as an extension of the front office staff and be a resource for both players and coaches. Fellows will be expected to manage the collection of multiple data streams. Fellows will gain exposure across multiple departments and have access to and be encouraged to use a suite of internal, proprietary resources.

The ideal candidate will be curious, creative, open-minded, and excited to work in a collaborative environment. The candidate will have exceptional interpersonal skills and the ability to present complex topics to a wide range of audiences. They will take the initiative to perform research in the areas of their choosing that advances the Indians’ player development procedures and philosophies.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities
Baseball Technology:

• Operate bat/ball tracking technology and other sports science technology.
• Manage pre-game and in-game video process.
• Manage the corresponding data and video collection process and assist with interpretation.

Research and Development:

• Collaborate with coaching staff and player development staff to monitor player goals and player progress.
• Perform ad hoc research and analysis, both at the request of staff and independently.
• Communicate findings and insights to Minor League Coaches, Players, and Player Development and Baseball Operations Department.

Coaching Staff Support:

• Assist Minor League field staff with pre-game on-field activities.
• Assist Minor League field staff with Advance Scouting process.
• Assist affiliate staff with various administrative tasks.

Role Requirements and Preferences
Education & Experience Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree
• Demonstrated passion for at least one of scouting, baseball analytics, sports science, hitting or pitching analysis and/or biomechanics, strength and conditioning, motor learning, or other baseball related field.
• Conversational Spanish or better a plus

Skills:

• Organization: Ability to create, maintain and execute a schedule with precision and agility.
• Work Ethic: A relentless drive to collect more and better information.
• Passion: Demonstrate a clear passion for the game, teammates, the organization and learning.
• Resourcefulness: Utilize organizational resources to develop and understand organizational philosophies.
• Strategic Thinking: Employ a problem-solving mindset and strategic thinking.

Job Requirements:

• Experience with SQL and statistical software (i.e. R, Python, Stata, SAS) a plus.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Working knowledge of advanced baseball statistics and publicly available research.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office.
• This position will be based at an affiliate and will include travel to away games.

Standard Requirements:

• Reads, speaks, comprehends and communicates English effectively in all communications.
• Represents the Cleveland Indians in a positive fashion to all business partners and the general public.
• Ability to develop and maintain successful working relationship with members of the Front Office.
• Ability to act according to the organizational values and service excellence at all times.
• Ability to work with multicultural populations and have a commitment to fairness and equality.
• Ability to walk, sit or stand for an entire shift.
• Ability to work extended days and hours, including holidays and weekends.
• Ability to move throughout all areas and levels of the Ballpark.
• Ability to work in a diverse and changing environment.
• Occasional physical activity such as lifting and carrying boxes up to 25 lbs.

To Apply
To apply, please complete the application, which can be found here.

The content in this posting was created and provided solely by the Cleveland Indians.

At this time last year, the Cleveland Indians were coming off a disappointing exit from the playoffs after getting swept by the Astros in the Division Series. Michael Brantley was on his way out the door as a free agent, soon to join the team that had ousted him from the playoffs in October. His departure left a gaping hole on Cleveland’s roster with no obvious internal replacements. Signing a free-agent outfielder seemed like an obvious need, but no significant move came. The Indians entered the season with the outfield trio of Jake Bauers, Leonys Martín, and the husk of Carlos González. Reinforcements arrived as the season wore on; Yasiel Puig came over in a trade with Cincinnati, and Cleveland’s 12th-ranked prospect Oscar Mercado made his major league debut.

Cleveland’s outfield is in nearly the same state now as it was in early November last year. Puig is a free agent and they have Bauers, Mercado, and Greg Allen penciled in as their starting outfield trio. Luckily, it looks like Mercado can be a long-term solution in center field.

Originally drafted by the Cardinals as a glove-first shortstop out of high school in the second round of the 2013 draft, Mercado struggled to hit during his first few years as a professional. Over his first four seasons in the minors spanning three different levels, he posted a combined 79 wRC+. The Cardinals shifted him to center field in 2017 and he enjoyed a breakout year at the plate, posting a 114 wRC+ in Double-A. Here’s how Eric Longenhagen described Mercado’s improved approach prior to the 2018 season:

Mercado has embraced his modest, but viable, pull-side pop and his approach is largely geared for contact in that direction. This narrow approach caused his strikeout rate (a career 13% entering the season) to spike, but Mercado is making loud contact for the first time in his career.

Mercado was traded to Cleveland at the deadline in 2018 and made his major league debut in May of this year. Through the ebbs and flows of his rookie campaign, he thrived when he stuck with the pull-heavy approach that got him to the majors.

Beyond his initial success in May and June, Mercado’s wOBA looked intimately tied to his pull rate through the rest of the season. He really struggled in August when his pull rate fell to 32.5%, and he rebounded in September when he started pulling the ball almost half the time. Just look at his splits based on batted ball direction:

It isn’t surprising to see such a productive split when pulling the ball, but Mercado’s batted ball profile almost makes it too easy to understand why he is so successful when doing so. When hitting to the opposite field, his exit velocity plummets to 81 mph while his fly ball rate jumps up to 64%. The result is lazy fly balls to right field that are easily converted to outs. The same problem occurs when he hits the ball up the middle to a less-extreme degree. His bat just doesn’t have enough pop to support elevating the ball so often when he isn’t pulling it too.

With an aggressive, high-contact approach at the plate, he should be able to leverage his elite sprint speed into more hits. But putting that many balls in the air when hitting to the right side really limits his opportunities to utilize his best tools. His 97th percentile sprint speed and his good contact rate seem like a fit for an approach that uses all fields, but his swing is geared towards pulling the ball to left. Perhaps there’s some middle ground between these two, but it might require making some adjustments to his swing.

Defensively, the former shortstop has excelled in the outfield. DRS thought he was the sixth-best center fielder in 2019 with nine runs saved. UZR was a little less impressed with just 2.8 runs saved, and Statcast’s defensive metrics back this up. He was five outs above average and his elite reaction time was the sixth-highest among all outfielders. Additionally, his elite sprint speed definitely helped him cover up some less-than-ideal routes.

Cleveland hasn’t had a regular full-time center fielder since Michael Bourn from 2013-2015. Nine different players have accumulated more than 100 innings in center since 2016. Mercado’s 1.7 WAR was the best mark posted by a Cleveland center fielder since Tyler Naquin’s rookie year in 2016. The Indians have plenty of fringe candidates to fill their outfield, as Allen, Bauers, Jordan Luplow, and Franmil Reyes all profile better as corner outfielders or fourth outfielders. Meanwhile, Naquin and Bradley Zimmer have unanswered health questions that will likely prevent them from taking a full-time job in 2020. Mercado’s defensive chops in center should allow him to provide everyday value and his bat shows enough promise to help him stick long-term. That’s one outfield spot down and two more to fill.

In the second of a six-part series — you can see the AL East here — I’ll be highlighting each team’s most notable free agents and how it could fill the resulting void on the roster. A player’s rank on our recently released Top 50 Free Agents list, along with Kiley McDaniel’s contract estimates from that exercise, are listed where relevant. In some cases, the team already has a capable replacement ready to step in. In others, it’s clear the team will either attempt to re-sign their player or look to the trade or free agent markets for help. The remaining cases are somewhere in between, with in-house candidates who might be the answer, but aren’t such obvious everyday players to keep the team from shopping around for better options.

Here’s a look at the American League Central.

Chicago White Sox | Depth Chart | Payroll

Jose Abreu, 1B/DH
FanGraphs Top 50 Free Agent Ranking: 44
Kiley McDaniel’s contract projection: 1 year, $11M

Andrew Vaughn, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2019 amateur draft and the White Sox’s first baseman of the future, isn’t likely to need much time down on the farm. But it’s rare that any prospect, even one as advanced at the plate as the 21-year-old Vaughn, doesn’t spend at least one full season in the minors. Therefore, the White Sox will require a stopgap at first base in 2020 and have already taken a necessary step to keeping Abreu around for at least one more season.

The 32-year-old was tendered a qualifying offer, which will hurt his value if he wants to test the free agent waters. He could just settle for the one-year, $17.8 million contract or work out a long-term deal that would ensure he’s around to mentor the next wave of prospects, which could include Vaughn, second baseman Nick Madrigal, and outfielders Luis Robert and Luis Alexander Basabe, all who could arrive during the next two seasons. Read the rest of this entry »

Position: Area Scout

Primary Purpose
Provide high-quality information on amateur players to prepare the organization for acquisition opportunities

Essential Responsibilities and Duties

• Relationships: Create and maintain strong relationships with players and their families, along with coaches and programs, to understand the player’s background and character.
• Evaluations: Provide player evaluations and rankings by using organization’s scouting principles
• Scheduling: Through preparation and prioritization, maximize opportunities for information collection
• Data Collection: Lead a thorough data collection effort on the player pool

How will they get it done?

• Info: Capture and document info quickly on players
• Communication: Consistently communicate with internal stakeholders to lead and execute the scouting process
• Teamwork: Commit to doing what’s best for the organization and acquiring the best players for the org

Leadership, Management, Development Responsibilities

• Management: Manage and lead a scouting process within the area on amateur players within a network around them
• Leadership: The organization will provide tools, resources and exposure for growth as an emerging leader
• Development Responsibilities: The organization offers resources dedicated to personal development through leaders, research and processes.

Goals/Objectives for the Position

• Player Pool: Cultivate a robust and well-rounded understanding of the player pool by using all available information and dynamically updating evaluations
• Org Philosophies: Learn and understand organizational philosophies to accurately assess what’s happening and why/how
• Feedback: Seek out feedback and use available resources to fuel development and increase understanding of players

Background
A demonstrated track record of curiosity and continuous improvement in the game, regardless of experience

Skills

• Baseball Acumen: An understanding of the evaluation process. A technical proficiency in player assessment
• Emotional Intelligence: Ability to manage emotions and time
• Communication: Clearly and concisely explain thoughts verbally and in writing
• Work Ethic: A relentless drive to collect more and better information
• Passion: Demonstrate a clear passion for the game, teammates, the organization and learning
• Resourcefulness: Utilize organizational resources to develop and understand organizational philosophies
• Self-awareness: Understand your skill set, understand your biases, recognize your areas of development
• Strategic Thinking: Employ a problem-solving mindset and strategic thinking

To Apply:
To apply, please complete the application, which can be found here.

The content in this posting was created and provided solely by the Cleveland Indians.

Please note, this posting contains multiple positions.

Position Title: Data Scientist

Department: Baseball Research & Development

Primary Purpose:
The Cleveland Indians are seeking a data scientist to join the team’s Baseball Research and Development group. The data scientist will use their machine learning expertise and the Indians proprietary data to develop statistical and machine learning models that support baseball operations decisions across all facets of the organization. This position will work closely with other members of the R&D department as well as key stakeholders across the organization to design and build cutting edge models and tools that help the Indians stay ahead of the competition. The ideal candidate will possess experience working with large data sets and advanced machine-learning models. Strong applicants will demonstrate curiosity, creativity, and the ability to learn new concepts.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities:

• Research, design, test, and deploy machine learning models to support all aspects of Baseball Operations
• Work with high-dimensional spatio-temporal data and other large data sets
• Share technical expertise with other members of department; communicate findings to Baseball Operations staff
• Maintain an understanding of emerging data science tools and research, as well as potential new data sources and technology options

Role Requirements and Preferences:

• Education & Experience Requirements
• Advanced degree and/or demonstrated work experience in a quantitative field (i.e. computer science, statistics, engineering, mathematics)
• Experience with a variety of modeling and statistical techniques, such as neural nets, deep learning, support vector machines, gradient boosting, adversarial learning, and computer vision
• Expertise with statistical programming languages (e.g. R, Python)
• Proficiency in a database language (e.g. SQL)

Preferred Experience:

• Experience with one or more ML libraries such as Tensorflow, Keras, scikit-learn, Theano, Spark MLib, H2O
• Experience creating data visualizations with tools such as ggplot, d3.js, Matplotlib and/or Tableau
• Experience working with baseball data
• Experience with computer vision, particularly image segmentation, object detection, and tracking algorithms

Standard Requirements:

• Reads, speaks, comprehends and communicates English effectively in all communications.
• Represents the Cleveland Indians in a positive fashion to all business partners and the general public.
• Ability to develop and maintain successful working relationship with members of the Front Office.
• Ability to act according to the organizational values and service excellence at all times.
• Ability to work with multicultural populations and have a commitment to fairness and equality.
• Ability to walk, sit or stand for an entire shift.
• Ability to work extended days and hours, including holidays and weekends.
• Ability to move throughout all areas and levels of the Ballpark.
• Ability to work in a diverse and changing environment.
• Occasional physical activity such as lifting and carrying boxes up to 25lbs.

To Apply:
To apply, please complete the application that can be found here.

Position Title: Sports Science Analyst

Department: Baseball Research & Development

Primary Purpose:
The Cleveland Indians are seeking an analyst to join the team’s Baseball Research and Development group with a focus on answering questions specific to sports science. The position will use data and statistics to provide research and analysis to support the Indians’ player development, medical, S&C, and sports science staff in helping Indians players perform at optimal levels. This individual will work closely with other analysts in the R&D department as well as sports science, player development, medical, strength & conditioning, and other staff members across the organization. The ideal candidate will possess a strong foundation in statistics and/or data science, the ability to effectively communicate findings to colleagues in non-technical roles, and a passion for learning more about baseball. Strong applicants will demonstrate curiosity, creativity, and the ability to learn new concepts.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities:

• Analyze and interpret baseball data with a focus on sports science
• Research, build, test, and deploy statistical models to support Baseball Operations
• Design and implement research studies to improve organizational knowledge in sports science
• Visualize data in concise, readable formats for non-technical staff members
• Communicate research findings to key stakeholders across the organization
• Work with sports science, strength & conditioning, and medical departments to capture player performance data
• Evaluate and recommend new data sources and technologies

Role Requirements and Preferences

Education & Experience Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree or demonstrated work experience in a quantitative field such as statistics, mathematics, computer science, operations research, economics, or data science
• Demonstrated ability to solve problems in a data-driven way
• Creativity to brainstorm new avenues of research
• Demonstrated passion for baseball analytics and/or sports science.
• Proficiency in at least one statistical programming language (e.g. R, Python)
• Proficiency in a database language (e.g. SQL)
• Ability to communicate research findings and other technical concepts to non-technical audiences

Preferred Experience:

• Working knowledge of advanced baseball statistics and publicly available research
• Advanced degree in a quantitative field
• Experience working with baseball data
• Experience with data visualization
• Experience with experimental design and/or causal inference

Standard Requirements:

• Reads, speaks, comprehends and communicates English effectively in all communications.
• Represents the Cleveland Indians in a positive fashion to all business partners and the general public.
• Ability to develop and maintain successful working relationship with members of the Front Office.
• Ability to act according to the organizational values and service excellence at all times.
• Ability to work with multicultural populations and have a commitment to fairness and equality.
• Ability to walk, sit or stand for an entire shift.
• Ability to work extended days and hours, including holidays and weekends.
• Ability to move throughout all areas and levels of the Ballpark.
• Ability to work in a diverse and changing environment.
• Occasional physical activity such as lifting and carrying boxes up to 25lbs.

To Apply:
To apply, please complete the application that can be found here.

The content in this posting was created and provided solely by the Cleveland Indians.

This is the fourth installment of this year’s Team Entropy series, my recurring look not only at the races for the remaining playoff spots but the potential for end-of-season chaos in the form of down-to-the-wire suspense and even tiebreakers. Ideally, we want more ties than the men’s department at Macy’s. If you’re new to this, please read the introduction here.

The final weekend of the 2019 season is upon us, and while five of the divisions and all of the super-complicated tiebreaker scenarios are off the table, with three games to play, each league has multiple scenarios that could result in at least one tiebreaker game. Seven hundred or so words is worth a picture, so first, behold this:

Read the rest of this entry »

With just over a week to go in the regular season, Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole are running neck and neck as favorites for the American League Cy Young award. Verlander leads the league in innings (212) and ERA (2.50). Cole has the lead in strikeouts with 302 with Verlander 19 behind. Even after accounting for Verlander’s 34 homers, his 3.28 FIP is still one of the best marks in the league. On Cole’s side are the strikeouts, a league-leading 2.78 FIP and a 6.7 WAR half a win clear of Verlander. Several other pitchers, like Charlie Morton and Lance Lynn, boast strong resumes, and with five slots on voters’ ballots, many pitchers will receive down-ballot consideration worthy of discussion.

While awards voting is a mostly objective process, when trying to differentiate between a group of very good pitchers, personal preferences are likely to play into the selections. When voters rely on particular stats, be it FIP, ERA, or some other metric, they are making decisions about the importance of defense, park, opponent, and how much talent a big league pitcher is expected to exhibit when it comes to contact quality. Before we get to all of those issues, let’s identify the candidates. There’s a fairly clear top seven among AL starting pitchers (Liam Hendriks might deserve some consideration as well) with Eduardo Rodriguez also included due to his rank based on Baseball-Reference’s WAR.

Here are the eight pitchers under consideration, with some traditional and more advanced statistics:

A look above shows Gerrit Cole leading in the more advanced statistics, with Verlander gaining the nod from traditional metrics, and Lance Lynn and Charlie Morton sort of splitting the difference between the two Astros. Shane Bieber and Lucas Giolito are a bit behind, with Giolito unable to add anything to his file after being shut down for the season. Mike Minor’s case is made by his low ERA combined with his difficult park, as his strikeouts and walks lag behind the other candidates. Eduardo Rodriguez is the poor man’s version of Minor.

If we looked at FanGraphs WAR, we’d see Cole as the leader due to his incredible strikeout rate and ability to limit homers, at least somewhat. Though he has a 20-inning deficit compared to Verlander, the strikeouts and homers make enough of a difference for Cole to take the day. Verlander and Lynn are in a dead heat when it comes to WAR, with the huge difference in home runs balancing Verlander’s lead in strikeouts and walks and Lynn’s more difficult park in which to keep balls in the field of play. Comparing Lynn to Morton, we see Morton with the homer advantage, but the innings deficit, combined with Tampa Bay being a hard park to homer in, gives Lynn the edge. Read the rest of this entry »

On September 19, 2018, Carlos Santana was in the Phillies’ lineup, playing third base. It was an experiment that sparked speculation about his role in Philadelphia going forward. After all, he had just signed a three-year, $60 million contract. But after Rhys Hoskins had one of the worst defensive seasons by a left fielder this decade, it was clear that Santana’s usage would need to be adjusted. Having him play first — thus relegating Hoskins to the outfield — would not work long term, especially for a team trying to contend.

Santana’s brief stay in Philadelphia was mixed. He drew walks in 16.2% of his plate appearances, hit for power at about his then-career-average, and was about average defensively. With that information, you’d probably think that Santana had a good year, but reality was different. He was BABIP’d to death; no qualified hitter in 2018 posted a lower BABIP than Santana’s .231. His slash sat at .229/.352/.414 with a 108 wRC+, a decent-yet-unspectacular season. He also made headlines this past March when it was reported that, near the end of the 2018 season, he had smashed a clubhouse TV after witnessing his now-former teammates playing Fortnite during games.

The Phillies went on to have a memorable offseason, to say the least. They signed Bryce Harper, Andrew McCutchen, David Robertson. They traded for J.T. Realmuto and Jean Segura. Once all of the dust settled, Carlos Santana was no longer wearing red and white pinstripes. The seemingly tumultuous relationship lasted one season. Santana was back in Cleveland, the same place where he had spent the first eight seasons of his major league career. Read the rest of this entry »

The Cleveland Indians front office places a high value on organizational culture. From the lowest rungs of the minors to the big leagues, they want their managers, coaches, and players to embrace both a collaborative process and a forward-thinking mindset. For that reason, they also highly value leadership skills. Luke Carlin, a 38-year-old former big-league catcher with a Bachelor of Science degree from Northeastern University, possesses those attributes in spades.

Carlin has managed in the Cleveland system for each of the past four seasons, most recently the Lake County Captains in the Low-A Midwest League. He’s viewed by many as a future major league coach or manager, and his interpersonal skills, paired with an unquenchable thirst for knowledge — analytics-based and otherwise — is a big reasons why. In a nutshell, he exemplifies what one might dub, “The Cleveland Way.”

Carlin shared his thoughts on leadership and teaching following the conclusion of the Captains’ season.

———

Luke Carlin: “To me, managing and player development go hand in hand. I’m passionate about teaching, and it’s an awesome feeling when you have a clubhouse firing on all cylinders and pulling in the same direction. When you’re trying to earn the trust of the team, it’s not just interpersonal skills; it’s also a bunch of content-based stuff. Can you get the guys better? Can you help them develop? I think that really clicks within the information-rich environment that players today are coming up in.

“I’m finishing my master’s right now, at Northeastern, in organizational leadership. And it’s not just leadership theory, but also organizational-behavior theory and team dynamics. Piggyback that with what I’m learning here with the Indians. There are biomechanics, motor learning, teaching-and-coaching pedagogy… we’re basically trying to create a recipe to where we can interact with the people around us, and do a better job of developing high-performance than everyone else. Read the rest of this entry »

September call-ups, both high-profile and totally innocuous, have been trickling in over the transaction wire for the last several days. As always, there are some who will have real impact on the playoff race and some who are interesting for the purposes of player evaluation, like your usual spare lefty reliever and catcher (by far the most common types of September additions). Some teams with no new names at all. Below I’ve compiled notes on every player brought up by an American League team since the start of the month, no matter how inconsequential; I’ve slipped some rehabbers and August 31 acquisitions in here, too. It’s a primer for you to get (re)acquainted with players who might impact the playoff race or the seasons to come. (The National League’s complement can be found here.)

Contenders’ Reinforcements

Houston Astros– OF Kyle Tucker, C Garrett Stubbs, RHP Josh James, RHP Jose Urquidy

Kiley and I have Tucker projected as an above-average regular, ranked 15th overall among prospects in baseball. I have no idea what kind of playing time he might get this month. Stubbs (24th in the org) has begun playing a little bit of second base and outfield. A part time, multi-positional role might help keep his tiny frame from breaking down, and enable Houston to get his long-performing bat in the lineup, as well as create flexibility on other parts of the roster.

James was 94-97 in rehab outings before he returned, then reached 99 on Monday. Urquidy projects as a strike-throwing fifth starter.

New York Yankees– OF Clint Frazier, RHP Jonathan Loaisiga, RHP Ryan Dull, RHP Chance Adams, LHP Tyler Lyons, INF Brenny Escanio (prospect)

I think it’s likely Frazier, who many scouts/teams continue to think has everyday ability, gets traded this offseason, both because he’s part of a crowded outfield/DH mix and because he and the org don’t seem to be a great fit. Read the rest of this entry »