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The MLB Daily Dish is a daily feature we're running here at MLBDD and rounds up roster-impacting news, rumors, and analysis. Have feedback or have something that should be shared? Hit us at @mlbdailydish on Twitter.
Good morning baseball fans!
The Cubs finally finished up the deal that netted them closer Aroldis Chapman, but it came at a pretty hefty price.
That overpay seemed to come at the right time, from our own Mike Bates.
And this move, to at MLBDD’s own Jen Mac Ramos, saw two teams value business and profit over character.
If the Dodgers can get Chris Sale, they are willing to include Julio Urias in a deal.
Fellow LA team, the Angels, are listening in on left-handed starter Hector Santiago.
After Chapman has been moved, the price for relievers may go up, especially for ones under control. For example, the Royals are asking for a bigger deal than the Yankees got for their closer, Wade Davis.
Looking at the metrics, is Odubel Herrera a good defensive center fielder?
In the end, all of this circles back to our original assumption about Herrera as a defensive outfielder: that being a recent convert to the position will result in him being a bit rough around the edges. At the risk of coming to a conclusion that’s a bit of a cop out, I think the truth about Herrera’s defense lies somewhere in between his 2015 and 2016 numbers. He’s demonstrated a remarkable natural ability at the position but also shown a frustrating inconsistency in realizing that ability. It’s also important to keep in mind that he’s just 24 years old and not even 18 months into his career as a center fielder. As a result, I find myself leaning on the optimistic side of things and seeing room for future growth and development as a defender in Herrera’s future.
Here is a roundup of news from around the National League West.
After moving Chapman, the Yankees are now shopping right-hander Ivan Nova.
More trade deadline previews, hot off the presses, with the Padres, the Rockies, and the Dodgers.
Despite the cutting up of jerseys, White Sox general manager Rick Hahn says that Chris Sale is still an asset to the team.
Twins prospect Max Kepler has found his power swing on the controller, but can it last?
Of his 10 home runs, four of them have below a .300 average on similar batted balls. This means that depending on park, elevation, and weather conditions these balls are most often caught for fly ball outs. On the other hand, five of his home runs have an average higher than .700, so more often than not those batted balls do become hits. Even though the typical averages of his batted ball types vary greatly, it sticks out that seven of Kepler’s 10 home runs have an expected HR percentage below 12 percent. Certainly we are in the infancy of using Statcast data to analyze batted balls, but it’s safe to say that some of these were not 'no doubters'.
All of this is not intended to discredit Max Kepler and claim his power is a mirage. His home runs are not all wall scrapers, and it’s absolutely possible that he will develop 25-30 home run power in the future. It’s simply to say that his pace right now appears unsustainable. He has only 209 plate appearances in the bigs, and pitchers will find his weaknesses. Kepler has been successful so far at doing what the scouts had said he must, turn those doubles into home runs, but based on how he’s hitting them right now, some of them will probably turn back into doubles.
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Today in Baseball History: In 1948, Babe Ruth makes his last public appearance at the premiere of the movie, The Babe Ruth Story. Three week later, he will die.