Snake Bytes: 07/29 - Tik Tok

Diamondbacks News

[DBacks.com] Takeaways: Escobar dealt for prospects

Steve Gilbert and his takeaways:

On Hummel, Hazen said the D-Backs were drawn to “The defensive versatility.”

Hazen pretty much admitted that they hardly knew anything about Ciprian other than that “He’s a toolsy kid”.

[AZ Central] Diamondbacks trade Eduardo Escobar to Brewers for two prospects

Piecoro writes: “An executive with a rival club who is familiar with Hummel likes the return for the Diamondbacks.”

If your enemy is happy with what you got, you should not be happy with what you got.

[Arizona Sports] Madison Bumgarner wins pitching duel as D-backs edge Rangers

There was a duel and the Diamondbacks beat an other bad team. Joey Gallo was pulled right before the game because he will be a Yankee. Tyler Clippard made Diamondbacks’ fans in DC happy after notching his first save in his first official appearance as a D-Back after being activated from the 60-day IL.

If you want some quality reading about the match, check out Keegan’s recap.

[AZ Central] Diamondbacks release injury-prone pitcher Jon Duplantier

The star of Jon Duplantier’s bright future has long faded away. Injury after injury, as ridiculous as cutting your finger while shaving, have halted Duplantier’s career so far. After giving up 19 runs in 13 MLB appearances and yet another injury (lat strain) while pitching in the minors, Duplantier was cut short to avoid placing him on the 60-day IL (and give him major league time and money). The D-Backs might sign him back on a minor league contract unless the player thinks he has a better chance somewhere else.

Around The MLB

[CBS Sports] Texas Rangers sign Jack Leiter as No. 2 overall pick reportedly gets $7.9 million bonus

Jack Leiter has signed with the Rangers for what is probably the biggest bonus of this 2021 draft class. Before him it was Jackson Jobe’s $6.9 million with the Detroit Tigers. That makes the offer Jordan Lawlar reportedly might get not bad at all (what are we talking about when kids make millions just for signing).

[CBS Sports] How the New York Mets messed up with the Kumar Rocker draft selection

Kumar Rocker was for a long time the favourite in the 2021 draft class to go number 1 overall until he gave up bombs, lost some velocity and struggled at the end of the season. The Mets picked him at 10 and were supposed to sign him for a $6.0 million bonus until a physical threw in some concerns and now Steve Cohen thinks $340 million for Francisco Lindor is less risky than $6.0 million for a draft prospect and tries to talk the signing bonus down.

[CBS Sports] Can the U.S. win baseball gold for the second time?

Some of us care and some of us don’t. I care and I don’t care. Is that possible? Sure it is. I will follow Olympics Baseball closely but will I watch a game? Probably not. Are you just like me? Then you should know the USA is not a favourite to win gold on the Olympics in baseball. CBS Sports tells you all you need to know on this baseball olympics.

[MLB Trade Rumors] Brusdar Graterol Drawing Trade Interest

It’s all rumours and a couple of actual trades. I could spam the entire bytes with possible trades, but we have our own post for that. The article link I provide is actually of a website dedicated to this, to trade rumours. So, lots of possibilities to discuss your take on it. Why this one then? Brusdar Graterol being available for trade is remarkable. He has been an interesting reliever for the Dodgers with plenty of years of control left. He has had quite some success with a big sinker, but is apparently available to address “other areas” that are ready for improvement.

[Sports Illustrated] Starling Marte Trade Is a Fun, Win-Win Deal for Both the A’s and Marlins

I think the Marlins actually got quite an interesting piece in Jesus Luzardo. Some media call him a “reliever”, but that would be just as fair as calling Caleb Smith a “reliever”. On the other hand, the A’s get half a year of Starling Marte for a former top prospect who apparently needed a change.

Edit: in an earlier version I incorrectly informed that Marte could get a QO at the end of the season, but that is not possible with mid-season trades.

Across The Pacific

[Olympics] Host Japan opens Tokyo Games baseball tourney with dramatic win

Top favourite Japan got a scare as they achieved a narrow win over the Dominican Republic in the ninth inning. D-Back minor leaguer Luis Castillo pitched a scoreless seventh in relief and would have gotten the win were it not for his colleague Jhan Mariñez to blow the save and the game after allowing Japan to walk it off allowing 3 runs on 4 hits.

[Olympics] Extra innings win for South Korea against Israel

Former MLB-pitcher Oh got the win in extra innings after South Korea had to go 10 innings to beat Israel.

The USA will make its debut on the 2020 Olympics tomorrow with Joe Ryan starting against Israel.