Tag Archives: Michael Bourn

INDIANS TRADE SWISHER AND BOURN TO THE BRAVES

INDIANS & ATLANTA BRAVES COMPLETE TRADE

CLEVELAND, OH – The Cleveland Indians today announced the following roster moves relative to the Major League roster:

Acquired INF CHRIS JOHNSON from the Atlanta Braves in exchange for OF MICHAEL BOURN, OF NICK SWISHER and cash.

Jason Kipnis, Michael Bourn and Mike Aviles talking before Practice 2-27-15

Johnson, 30, owns a career batting average of .280 (693-2478) with 139 doubles, 10 triples, 57 home runs and 308 RBI across seven Major League seasons with Arizona and Atlanta after debuting with Houston in 2009.  He finished second to Michael Cuddyer in the 2013 National League batting race, hitting a career-best .321 (165-514) with 34 2B, 12HR & 68 RBI and collected single-season career-bests that season in hits, doubles and runs (54).

The right-handed hitting, Ft. Myers, FL native missed most of this May with a fractured left hand and is batting .235 (36-153) with 7 doubles, 2 home runs and 11 RBI in 56 games.  He is hitting .323 (20-62) with an OPS of .747 against left-handed pitching this season and has appeared in 23 games at third base and 20 games at first base for the Braves. He owns a career batting average of .313 (201-642) off LHP with a .788 OPS.

Chris Johnson Career Stats

Year Team AVG G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS OBP SLG OPS
2009 Houston Astros .091 11 22 1 2 0 0 0 1 1 6 0 0 .130 .091 .221
2010 Houston Astros .308 94 341 40 105 22 2 11 52 15 91 3 0 .337 .481 .818
2011 Houston Astros .251 107 378 32 95 21 3 7 42 16 97 2 2 .291 .378 .669
2012 Houston Astros .279 92 341 36 95 21 3 8 41 23 92 4 1 .329 .428 .757
Arizona Diamondbacks .286 44 147 12 42 7 2 7 35 8 40 1 0 .321 .503 .824
2013 Atlanta Braves .321 142 514 54 165 34 0 12 68 29 116 0 0 .358 .457 .815
2014 Atlanta Braves .263 153 582 43 153 27 0 10 58 23 159 6 0 .292 .361 .653
2015 Atlanta Braves .235 56 153 12 36 7 0 2 11 7 49 2 1 .272 .322 .595
Major League Totals .280 699 2478 230 693 139 10 57 308 122 650 18 4 .316 .413 .729

 

Swisher spent nearly three seasons with Cleveland, hitting .228 (230-1010) with 51 2B, 2 3B, 32 HR and 113 RBI in 272 games.  Between two stints on the D.L. this year he has batted .198 (20-101) with 4 2B, 2 HR & 8 RBI in 30 games.

 

Bourn also spent nearly three seasons with the Indians, batting .257 (323-1258) with 50 2B, 17 3B, 9 HR, 97 RBI and 46 steals in 331 games. So far this season he has batted .246 (71-289) with 12 2B, 1 3B, 19 RBI and 13 stolen bases in 95 games in 2015.

 

—tribe—

 

INDIANS BASEBALL 2014 – THE POSITIVES and NEGATIVES

POSITIVES:

Michael Brantley swinging photo

MICHAEL BRANTLEY – He is your team MVP. With all due respect to Corey Kluber who we’ll talk about shortly, Brantley is an everyday player and he was the team’s most productive and consistent player from day one until the end of the season. He is the Indians MVP and he should get a lot of votes in the A.L. MVP race as well. I think Mike Trout will win the American League MVP over Victor Martinez, but hopefully Brantley will get the respect he deserves by being on most, if not all the ballots.  Here are his numbers:

.327 average – 200hits – 45doubles – 20home runs – 97rbi’s – 23stolen bases – 94runs

As good as those numbers are, it was  Brantley’s approach and his ability to handle the pressure of carrying this team offensively to keep them in the A.L. Wild Card race that was most impressive and can’t be over looked.

COREY KLUBER – One of the most dominate pitchers in Major League Baseball this season. Either he or Felix Hernandez will win the A.L. Cy Young award and the case you can make for Kluber is a strong one.Corey Kluber close up photo

18 wins – Tied for 1st in the American League

2.44 era – That was 2nd best in the A.L. behind “King Felix”

269 strikeouts – That also was 2nd best in the A.L., two behind David Price

235.2 innings pitched – That was 3rd best in the A.L.

Kluber has established himself as the “Ace” of this Indians staff and that’s a good thing moving forward for manager Terry Franco and Mickey Callaway.

YAN GOMES – From not being on the roster at the beginning of last year, to the Indians every day catcher and one of its most productive offensive players this year! Nobody on this Tribe roster has made a greater transformation into an every day contributor more than “Yanimal”, and at a very important position. He ended up 2nd on the team in home runs (21), 3rd on the team in rbi’s (74) and was 3rd on the team amongst everyday players in batting average at (.278). Add in his ability to call games and his above average defensive and strong arm behind the plate, and the Indians are set for a number of years behind the dish with the 27 year old Gomes.

LONNIE CHISENHALL – The former first round pick back in 2008 finally lived up to some of that potential with his best year in the “Bigs”. Playing in 142 games, meaning Terry Francona let him face lefties this year, “Lonnie Baseball” put up very respectable numbers, hitting (.280) which was good for 2nd on the team. He also went deep 13 times and drove in 59 runs. It’s a start in the right direction. He needs to improve on those offensive numbers next year, and get much better with the glove at 3rd base, as he led the team in errors with 18, but all-in-all, a positive year for Chisenhall.

CODY ALLEN – Despite blowing some saves, and yes they were key saves down the stretch, for the most part Allen proved he has the stuff to be a closer in the big leagues. He was 24-28 in save opportunities taking over for John Axford during the season. He also posted a minuscule 2.07 earned run average in 69.2 innings of work. I love the fact that he’s a strike out pitcher at the back end too, racking up 91 K’s this season. The experience he got this year, including the blown saves in pressure situations is only going to help him become a better closer next year.

CARLOS CARRASCO – From starter, to long man, and then back to starter again, Carrasco’s performance down the stretch when given the ball every fifth day helped keep the Indians in the Wild Card race. This is what the Tribe’s front office was expecting from him when they acquired him back in the Cliff Lee trade with the Phillies in 2009. He finished the year (8-7, 2.55era) but in the last two months of the season Carrasco was outstanding  posting a (5-3) record with a minute 1.70 era. Now if he can pick up next year where he finished this year, then he and Kluber will give the Indians starting staff a nice 1-2 punch in 2015.

HONORABLE MENTION: Brian Shaw, T.J House, Marc Rzepczynski, Carlos Santana, Scott Atchison, David Murphy

 

NEGATIVES:

TEAM DEFENSE – The Indians were the worst fielding team in all of baseball, committing 116 errors. When you don’t have a juggernaut offense and have trouble scoring runs you can’t give away extra outs like the Indians did consistently in 2014. That has to get better somehow for the team to be a serious playoff contender next year.

Nick SwisherNICK SWISHER – Overpaid, underperforming, injured and he’ll be 34 in November. Not a good recipe for success. A guy making over $14 million dollars a year has to play in more than 97 games, hit better than (.208) and strike out less than the 111 times he did this year in just 360 at bats. His leadership and enthusiastic attitude are great in the clubhouse, but what he’s doing on the field is killing this team. I’m not expecting him to hit (.300), but he needs to provide some power and run production in the middle of the order. Here’s the problem though, I don’t know if he’s capable of doing that. He’s on the back nine of his career. The Indians front office may have to accept him for who he is and let him play out his contract, or maybe they can deal him if someone is willing to take chance on him.

JASON KIPNIS – After having an all-star season in 2013 and signing a 6-year/$52.5 million dollar contract in the off season, Kipnis came out and had an extremely disappointing 2014 season. He hit just (.240 – 6hr – 41rbi’s).  As one of the cornerstone members of this team for the distant future, Kipnis needs to reevaluate himself and come back next year and be a productive top of the order player for the Indians to be in the playoff hunt.

MICHAEL BOURN – Like the Indians other big money free agent signing last year, Nick Swisher, Bourn has been a disappointment so far. You expect your leadoff hitter to get on base and cause havoc. That’s hard to do when your on base percentage is only (.314). Bourn was supposed to set the table for this offense, steal bases (only 10 this year) and score runs (only 57 this year), he’s done none of that. Looking like another waste of money so far and not getting any younger (he’ll be 32 in December), the Indians front office may have to think about Bourn the same way they will be thinking about Swisher this off season, can they trade him?

RYAN RABURN – Like Kipnis, here’s a guy who got a contract extension in the offseason and then totally tanked during the season. The Indians needed his rat handed bat this year and he failed to deliver, hitting just (.200) with 4 home runs and 22 runs batted in. And let’s not forget his adventures in the outfield catching and throwing the baseball. They didn’t pay him a ton of money like Kipnis, Bourn or Swisher, but he was expected to do much more and failed miserably.

Asdrubal Cabrera PhotoASDRUBAL CABRERA and JUSTIN MASTERSON – Both players were expected to be major contributors in their walk years and ended up choking when the contract pressure was on and thus the Indians made the right move in dealing  both of them before the trade deadline. While Kluber stepped up and became the ace of this staff that Masterson couldn’t be, the shortstop position is still a big question mark. Fansisco Lindor is the heir apparent there, but will he be ready in 2015?

 

FRONT OFFICE – Mark Shapiro and Chris Antonetti failed in their assessment of their own talent, thinking that the players on the current roster would improve enough to where they didn’t need to make any major offseason moves after qualifying for the playoffs a year ago. That ended up costing the Indians a playoff spot, as they missed getting into the post-season by just 3 games. A big right handed bat and more is needed on offense as they head into the 2015 season. They can’t afford to sit idly by and expect that everything will improve from within again.

INDIANS INJURY NEWS ON NICK SWISHER, DAVID MURPHY AND MICHAEL BOURN

Here’s the latest injury updates on three Indians players –

Nick Swisher

NICK SWISHER (right knee soreness): Was examined by Dr. Rick Parker yesterday at the Cleveland Clinic after recurrence of right knee pain.  Currently gathering more information and seeking additional opinions on present condition before diagnosis and plan of care are administered.

 

DAVID MURPHY (right oblique strain): MRI yesterday confirmed a strained right oblique. Expected to return to Major League game action in 4-to-5 weeks.

 

MICHAEL BOURN (left hamstring strain): Currently tolerating planned rehab assignment without issue. Scheduled for 9.0 innings tonight in AAA Columbus.

 

LBJ AND THE CAVS, HOME FIELD ADVANATGE FOR THE TRIBE AND MANZIEL VS GORDON

If you’re a LeBron James fan and you’re hoping he might return to Cleveland in the off season, the only chance, and it’s a small one, the Cavs have off possibly getting LBJ to think about leaving Miami this off season and considering the Cavaliers in free agency is, if the Heat lose to the Spurs in the NBA Finals. This would nullify LeBron and the Heat a chance of going for a four-peat next year.  So if you want LeBron back, you’re thinking – Go Spurs Go!

Having said that, I picked the Heat to win the title at the beginning of the season, then again at the start of the playoffs and I’m sticking with them in 6 games over the Spurs. However I will be pulling for Timmy, Manu and Tony to exact their revenge after giving away the title last year.

The Cavs have talked with at least four head coaching candidates in Adrian Griffin, Tyronn Lue, Alvin Gentry and Lionel Hollins. Griffin and Lue are the hot, young assistants looking for their first chance to be a head coach in the NBA, while gentry and Hollins are the older, retreads if you will, who have had some success as head coaches in the NBA, but have never made it past the conference finals. It’ll be interesting to see which way new Cavs G.M. David Griffin and owner Dan Gilbert want to go.

Not sure who the clubhouse leader is, but keep this in mind. Gentry was with David Griffin in Phoenix and has some ties to Dan Gilbert when Gentry was with the Pistons.

But I’ve heard that Adrian Griffin had a very good interview and Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau has given him a ringing endorsement. Lue is respected throughout the league and has learned from one of the best head coaches in the league in Doc Rivers over the last 5 years.

My choice is still Fred Hoiberg from Iowa St., but sources tell me “The Mayor” is leaning towards staying in the college game for now, but I’m not ruling him out just yet.

Other names could pop up and we’ve probably missed some names of coaches they have at least made a phone call to. As David Griffin told us at his press conference, they’re in no hurry to name their coach because they want to make sure in their eyes, they get the right coach, not the first coach.

In case you were wondering my top three draft picks are 1-Andrew Wiggins, 2-Joel Embiid and 3-Jabari Parker. I’ve heard the Cavs top three are 1-Joel Embiid, 2-Andrew Wiggins and 3-Jabari Parker. Embiid is number one on the Cavs list pending a team physical and battery of tests on that questionable back of his.

After getting swept in Chicago by the White Sox, the Indians answered with a huge bounce back series sweep this weekend over the Rockies,  capped off by Michael Bourn’s walk-off 2-run homer on Sunday. The Tribe now with an A.L. best (18-11) home record with three more games left at Progressive Field this week against the Red Sox.

As for the Browns, sounds like his trips to Vegas and L.A. haven’t hurt Johnny Manziel’s performance on the practice field. While he hasn’t been perfect, he’s performed well from what I’ve been told. So I’ll say it today, like I did a week or so ago, chill out and judge the kid based on what he does on the field.

If you want to judge a player for his stupidity off the field then judge Josh Gordon. Gordon is just flat out stupid. Do you not want to play in the NFL? You’re waiting on the results of your appeal with the league involving a drug test and then you go and get a ticket for speeding with supposedly, allegedly marijuana in the car belonging to your friends. That’s just flat out STUPID! The Browns have to seriously consider just cutting ties with Gordon regardless of how talented he is on the field!