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Moves the Indians should make for the 2nd half

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Comes down to the roster construction... what makes the best 40 for the 2022 season and beyond.. Sometimes that's going to hurt.. and decisions are painful..

example (for illustrative purposes only): Only one LHP "should" be kept between Logan S Allen or Sam Hentges. Allen has nearly zero trade value.. while Hentges would be one of the top five picks in the rule V draft and would be kept by that club & lost to the tribe forever. Answer: Logan S is exposed to waivers.. If he doesn't have value to anyone else.. why would the Indians protect him?

From a quick overview.. there are 30 - 32 dead sure locks to the Indians' 40 man roster & 18 questions that are much more difficult than the one above.. Some of them will be heart rendering.. some heart breaking.. some inevitable..

A trade from depth for non-roster required players lessens the loss of the devils we know.. It's a temporary situation..
Both guys would be snapped up pretty quickly if we went the DFA route.

I anticipate both remaining on the 40 man until at least spring training. Unless they’re traded, of course.
 
There’s no way Hentges and Mejia are out of options. Guys are given three when they’re added to the 40-man, and this year would be the first time they’ve used one.

Hentges and Mejia were added to the 40 man roster in for the 19 season. They were optioned in 19, 20 and 21... That makes them out of options...


You usually are on top of something like that...

I don't remember the timing when Allen was added to the 40 man roster for the Padres. I know he pitched in 19, just don't remember if they optioned him out that season...
 
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Mejia, Hentges, and Allen all have 1 option remaining.

I wasn't sure if they would cause of the year they were added to the 40 man roster... That at least helps them development wise since they won't be 100% forced to be at the pro level..
 
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Mejia, Hentges, and Allen all have 1 option remaining.
Was that going into this year or will they go into next year with 1 option? Fangraphs shows them all having 1 option remaining, but that is considering pre-2021 season, so they would have no options going into next year.
 
Actually, the Columbus rotation next year looks quite formidable.

Lets say that TMac and Quantrill are in the Cleveland rotation.

The AAA rotation likely starts with Allen, Morgan, Hentges, Mejia, and maybe Stephan...all young, all with MLB experience...and all before any of the younger guys are thrown into the mix.

You can't hold the sudden and unexpected MLB exposure...for which most of them were not in any way prepared for...against them, but you can count the learning experiences as a plus.

What we are seeing most nights may not look pretty, but the lessons are those which can be learned in no other way...close to invaluable
I wouldn’t sleep on Cody Morris either…….
 
Was that going into this year or will they go into next year with 1 option? Fangraphs shows them all having 1 option remaining, but that is considering pre-2021 season, so they would have no options going into next year.

See that was my question mark...
 
Mejia, Hentges, and Allen all have 1 option remaining.
Rostering (40 man) can happen with a player who has options.. ie. can be optioned to the minors.. as long as they maintain a 40 man roster spot..
 
Rostering (40 man) can happen with a player who has options.. ie. can be optioned to the minors.. as long as they maintain a 40 man roster spot..

We know lol we were wondering how many options were left since they added them to the 40 man roster in 19...
 
Was that going into this year or will they go into next year with 1 option? Fangraphs shows them all having 1 option remaining, but that is considering pre-2021 season, so they would have no options going into next year.
I would guess that is correct Mo because their option this year has already been exercised.
 


Have to think the Indians will be in the market for a non-40 man prospect(s) in return here.
I'm not so sure about that. In order to trade within the division, there might have to be a sweetener.
 
Konnor Pilkington

Former 3rd rounder out of Miss. St.

Not bad.



There was one name, other than Micker Adolfo, that really excited me when the roster for the Birmingham Barons was released: Konnor Pilkington.
As someone who loves the college game and covers it as well, Pilkington is a name that I’m very familiar with.
The big lefty was a workhorse for the Mississippi State Bulldogs in his last two seasons there (2017-18). As a sophomore, he posted a 3.08 ERA in 108 innings with 111 strikeouts over 17 starts with a WHIP of 1.14. He got a hit around a bit more as a junior, but still managed to throw over 100 innings across 18 starts.

He’d certainly flashed the potential to become an innings-eating starter at the back of a big-league rotation.
Because of his struggles in his junior season, Pilkington fell to the third round, where the Chicago White Sox took him — signing him under-slot, at $650,000.

Despite being a college junior, Pilkington was 20 years old when the White Sox drafted him. The profile on him then was that he could have three solid or better pitches, with a fastball sitting in the low 90s to go along with a changeup and slider. Pilkington has the additional advantage of throwing from a three-quarter arm slot, which makes him really tough on lefties.

After being drafted, Pilkington threw 14 more innings during his pro debut, but he was clearly exhausted after the long college baseball season in which his Bulldogs made it all the way to the semifinals of the College World Series (losing to the eventual champions, Oregon State, led by the No. 1 pick in 2019, Adley Rutschman).

Pilkington came back in 2019 and showed why many think he can be a solid middle-rotation arm for a long time, throwing 129 innings in 25 starts with a 4.12 ERA across both Single-A levels.

Last year was obviously a lost year for just about every prospect. But whatever he did during that time off has helped, as he has a 2.76 ERA in seven starts and 32 2⁄3 innings for the Barons to start 2021, with 34 strikeouts and a WHIP of 0.888.

That’s still a very small sample size, but what I’ve seen from him is very encouraging. He’s pounding the strike zone and keeping hitters off-balance with a fastball that plays up because of his delivery and a plus-plus changeup.

Pilkington could be the next version of another current White Sox pitcher, Lance Lynn.

Lynn is 6´5´´, 270 pounds and Pilkington is 6´3´´, 230 pounds — both are big boys. One played at Ole Miss, the other at Mississippi State. And both profiled as innings eaters coming out of college, with a bulldog mentality on the mound.

That’s pretty much where the similarities end. Lynn is clearly the better prospect of the two, and features mainly a fastball, cutter, and sinker. But Pilkington could be Lynn-lite in terms of his ability to go to the post every five days, eat up some innings, and give you competitive frames.

Remember, he’s still just 23 years old and is pitching very well against competition almost two years older than him, on average. If he’s ever able to regain the velocity he had in college when he threw mid-to-upper 90s, we could see him turn into a top-of-the-rotation horse.

I’m glad to see him get out to a good start in 2021. I know the White Sox are going to be careful with all their pitchers, applying ample innings limits, but hopefully Pilkington continues to improve and show why he’s the best pitching prospect in the system nobody is talking about.
 

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