Bauer Play

Trevor Bauer made headlines on Sunday for chucking a ball over the center field wall.
Good move Trev...

On Tuesday, the Indians tossed him about 250 miles to the south and west, to Cincinnati. Here’s the breakdown of Tuesday night’s noisy three-team trade:


The Reds get: Trevor Bauer (3.79 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 185 strikeouts in 156 2/3 innings this season)
The Indians get: Franmil Reyes, Yasiel Puig, 22-year-old lefty Logan Allen, minor league 3B Victor Nova and left-handed pitching prospect Scott Moss
The Padres get: OF prospect Taylor Trammell


As for the fantasy fallout, Bauer goes from the surging Indians to the sub-.500 Reds — and will now have to contend with Great American Ball Park — but he’s going to hold value regardless due to the massive strikeout numbers (his 185 K’s trail only Gerrit Cole, Chris Sale, Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander — who struck out 13 Indians hitters on Tuesday). For what it’s worth, Bauer struggled in Cincinnati a couple times earlier in his career, but gave up just one earned run in seven innings with nine strikeouts at Great American Ball Park a few weeks ago — his first time pitching there since 2015.
Reyes and Puig join an Indians lineup that certainly had room for upgrades (Jake Bauers is sporting a .691 OPS in 340 at-bats, while Greg Allen — carrying a .677 OPS — has been getting regular playing time lately as well). Reyes has hit just .253, but has 27 home runs, while Puig heads to Cleveland with a .252 average, 22 homers, 61 RBI and 13 steals. He also comes to town facing a possible suspension after getting ejected in the wake of a wild benches-clearing brawl on Tuesday night.
In Cincinnati, Josh VanMeter (three home runs in his last six games, 35 percent rostered in Yahoo leagues) sees his stock continue to rise with the departure of Puig, while Phillip Ervin (.357 average in just 84 at-bats) is a name to watch as well.
As for Trammell — who’s headed from Cincy to San Diego — the 21-year-old was the 35th overall pick in 2016 and remains a prospect with a lot of upside, but has hit just .236 with six home runs and 17 steals in 318 at-bats at Double-A during a disappointing 2019 campaign.

Hectic Day in Tampa Bay

The Rays didn’t make any trades on Tuesday, but they did have an eventful day that warrants its own paragraph. On the trade front, Craig Mish of Sirius XM reports that the team is interested in dealing for Mets closer Edwin Diaz (more on him in a second). In lineup-related news, Avisail Garcia (illness) returned and hit his 14th home run, while Tommy Pham (hand) was initially set to return before the Rays scratched him as a late precautionary move. In the midst of all of this, Travis d’Arnaud drilled his eighth homer of July, and 13th on the season, while Emilio Pagan picked up his eighth save despite allowing three hits in 1 1/3 innings. Tampa Bay also got some discouraging news on Brandon Lowe (shin), who is still limited in workouts — with no timetable for a return. In the final notable Rays development from Tuesday, Brendan McKay (3.72 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 18 strikeouts in 19 1/3 big league innings) could get the call to start on Thursday.

Syndergaard Sendoff? 

In what may or may not have been his final start for the Mets, Noah Syndergaard put on quite a show, racking up a season-high 11 strikeouts while allowing just one unearned run in 7 1/3 innings against the White Sox (giving Thor a 2.77 ERA over his last eight starts). Then the aforementioned Edwin Diaz continued his erratic season as he blew his fifth save, pushing his ERA back up to 5.05 in the process. There is legitimately no telling what Brodie Van Wagenen and the Mets will do, but Syndergaard did tell reporters late Tuesday evening that he doesn't believe he'll be traded prior to Wednesday's 4pm ET deadline.

Duvall is Balling

Adam Duvall was miserable last season — a .195 average in 384 at-bats — but he piled up some monster numbers in Triple-A this year (29 homers, 84 RBI), and on Tuesday, he went 4-for-5 and homered twice against the Nationals, giving him three dingers in four games since getting called up to Atlanta. With Nick Markakis out 6-8 weeks with a broken wrist, Duvall (8 percent rostered in Yahoo leagues) is set for regular at-bats, assuming the Braves don’t acquire another outfielder prior to the deadline. The 30-year-old had back-to-back 30-plus homer seasons for the Reds in 2016 and 2017 prior to his 2018 meltdown.

AL Quick Hits: DJ LeMahieu (groin) was not in the lineup, but is reportedly feeling better. ... Ken Giles received a cortisone shot in his right elbow. ... The White Sox activated Tim Anderson, who had been out over a month with a high ankle sprain. ... Adalberto Mondesi (shoulder) took grounders and hit off a tee. ... Spencer Turnbull (back) threw 3 2/3 innings with seven strikeouts in a minor league rehab start. ... Dwight Smith Jr. (calf) landed on the 10-day IL. ... Jon Morosi of MLB Network reports that Trey Mancini has drawn interest from the Astros, Rangers and Rays. ... Brett Gardner (knee) believes he’ll be ready to return on Friday. ... Khris Davis homered for the first time since June 18, and Matt Olson hit a walk-off homer off Josh Hader in the 10th inning. ... Danny Salazar (shoulder) is set to make his season debut on Thursday against the Astros, while Corey Kluber (arm) will throw a simulated game Saturday. ... Luis Severino (lat) is getting close to mound work. ... Gary Sanchez (groin) has been doing light hitting and running. ... Freddy Galvis (back) returned to the starting lineup and went 2-for-5 with two RBI, while Bo Bichette went 2-for-4 with a walk as Toronto's leadoff hitter. Also for the Blue Jays, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit homer No. 11 (a grand slam) and drove in five. … C.J. Cron has been cleared for a minor league rehab assignment. ... Ramon Laureano (shin) is undergoing an MRI. .and now on the IL.. Yoan Moncada is day-to-day with a tight hamstring. ... Luke Voit will undergo an MRI after leaving with a core muscle injury. (HBP)… Sean Manaea (shoulder) struck out eight batters in six innings during a rehab start for Triple-A Las Vegas.


NL Quick Hits: The Cubs acquired David Phelps from the Blue Jays. ... Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that the Pirates are “listening more actively” on closer Felipe Vazquez. ... Mark Feinsand of MLB.com was told by a source that it’s “doubtful” that the Giants trade Madison Bumgarner. ... Marcell Ozuna (finger) started a minor league rehab assignment on Tuesday at Triple-A. ... Paul Goldschmidt homered for the seventh time in his last eight games, giving him 25 on the season. … Pablo Lopez (shoulder) will make another rehab start on Friday at Double-A. ... David Hernandez (shoulder) is expected to return Wednesday. ... Matt Carpenter (foot) will resume his minor league rehab assignment this week at Triple-A. ... Cole Hamels (oblique) will throw a bullpen on Wednesday. ... Charlie Blackmon (back) is expected to avoid the IL. ... Ross Stripling (neck) threw without pain Tuesday, but won’t make his scheduled start on Sunday. ... Garrett Cooper is day-to-day with a tight left hamstring. … Archie Bradley picked up his first save of the season for the closer-by-committee Diamondbacks. … Pedro Strop (neck) has been placed on the 10-day IL. ... Drew Smyly threw seven shutout innings for the Phillies, who are also sending Zach Eflin to the bullpen as a result of the Jason Vargas acquisition. … Trade candidate Corey Dickerson went 3-for-4 with two homers and five RBI.