We'll be there for him -- we have Robbie Grossman and Victor Reyes (basically for one spot).  Who would YOU drop? 

Traded to the Royals today for Jacob Condra-Bogan.

Worthy of a FAAB bid tonight in AL-Only formats.

Hey LVW - I read that in Votto's career 6,567 PA's he has never popped out to catcher, first base or the pitcher.

Is that true?

If so, that's freaking amazing.

Just launched HR #11 off Matt Harvey.

He's been on a tear.

2 HRs with a strong wind blowing in.

Four knocks yesterday to raise his slash stats to .267/.350/.402. Slashing .424/.525/.606 in his last ten games. But hasn't homered since June 25.

His Statcast averages on 264 balls in play (with the current MLB average):

Exit Velocity: 89.4 (88.6)

HR Distance: 407 (398)

Launch Angle: 9.9 (12.3)

Joined the club.

The bad thing about having nothing left to lose in ERA and WHIP?

Led by Brian Johnson (he seems to be still on the team -- how'd that happen?), the Moose pitching staff slogged through 12 1/3 IP yesterday, giving up one earned run (by Alex Cobb). 

No wins, so nothing gained.

And I did say earned runs. Johnson and Cobb between them gave up five unearned runs.

Gotta pick up your fielders, guys.

Baltimore Orioles – Zach Britton threw a scoreless inning for the Orioles yesterday, but he could be pitching for somebody else soon.  The Orioles want to get a deal done this weekend or early next week.  The Astros, Cubs, and Dodgers are among the teams interested in Britton.  Brad Brach would likely take over as closer if Britton is dealt, but Brach is also a trade candidate and the Orioles could turn to Mychal Givens or Tanner Scott if both are traded.

Hierarchy remains: Britton | Brach | Givens.

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Kevin McCarthy – Wily Peralta has pitched in two straight, including a 35 pitch outing on Friday.

Cleveland Indians — If you checked the Indians box score this morning, you may have been surprised to see Cody Allen threw 0.1 innings in the seventh inning of an eventual 16-3 blowout win.  We aren’t reading too much into this as manager Terry Francona said Allen needed to work on some things with his mechanics.  Despite Allen’s high ERA, Friday night was only his second blown save of the season and it also ended a streak of 15 consecutive saves converted.  We expect Francona to stay true to his word to use Allen as the primary closer but it will be worth monitoring if he continues to struggle with giving up home runs.

Hierarchy remains: Allen | Hand | Ramirez.

Just when we were revving our FAAB engines to claim Maurer today or tomorrow...

Kansas City Royals – Wily Peralta bounced back last night with a perfect inning for the save.  Peralta is three for three in save chances and is close to kicking the asterisk.

Hierarchy remains: *Peralta | McCarthy | Maurer.
* = closer-by-committee

The knee? Or did he just get fed up? His last 11 pitches missed.

And even with that, his WHIP is 0.93, his Rating is an other-worldly 0.72.

His 514 four-seam FB have averaged 99.2.

Thanks to Tommy Pham (and a lot of rainouts) the Oracles hit .316 yesterday. They also stole a base.

Others in the PCL will know Oracles have precious little else to brag about.

Today his Avg HR Distance is 392. Must have been quite a wallop.

With 2 bombs tonight he has made the 10 HR club.

Heating up at just the right time so the Pirates can get more value for him in a deadline deal.

The single-A player is 3B William Toffey, a 2017 4th-round pick.

Oakland bound. The return is 24 yo single-A player Bobby Wahl, 26 yo AAA reliever Bobby Wahl, international bonus money and, of course, salary relief.

Gsellman and Swarzak and Lugo are the names that the Monkey expects will get some action. 

Homered again today...

Still needs a team change.