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The 29-year old left-hander was originally selected by the Royals with the 36th overall selection in the 2008 draft, but was part of the trade to the Rays for James Shields. Montgomery eventually found his way to the Cubs, and was a serviceable pitcher from 2016 to 2018, posting a 3.35 ERA between the rotation and the bullpen, and peaked in 2017 as a 2.2 WAR player, according to Baseball Reference.
Montgomery appears to be headed straight to the rotation where he’ll make his Royals debut on Friday in Cleveland, where he once recorded the final out in the 2016 World Series. If all goes well for Montgomery in the Royals rotation, I expect the Royals will be able to flip Montgomery once again for something of better value than Martin Maldonado. Worst case scenario, Montgomery eats innings as a 6th starter/swing man type in the big leagues until Brady Singer and the bunch are ready to roll.
MLB.com ranked the left-handed hitting Merrell as the #17 prospect in the organization, praising his speed and saying he could “wreak havoc on the basepaths.”
Thomas Harrigan of MLB.com wrote up the Maldonado trade.
Montgomery, meanwhile, heads to the Royals after spending parts of four seasons with the Cubs. The left-hander, who recorded the final out of the 2016 World Series as Chicago ended its 108-year championship drought, has two seasons of club control remaining after this one. He was originally selected by Kansas City with the 36th overall pick in the 2008 MLB Draft.
The second inning started with a flyout and a ground out, but a throwing error by third baseman Dennicher Carrasco proved to be the only base runner allowed by Bowlan. In the third, Bowlan got two ground outs and a strikeout of Brice Turang.
Ned Yost is in favor of more netting at big league stadiums, writes Jeffrey Flanagan.
“Extending the netting will help a lot,” Yost said. “But this has been going on for years and years and years. Seriously, and you hate to say it, with the popularity of cell phones, more people have gotten hit. They’re just not paying attention to every pitch like they did before. And it’s not everybody. Sometimes you just can’t move.
In 354.2 IP from 2016 through 2018, Mike Montgomery posted an ERA of 3.35 with a FIP of 3.94. He has 2 years of control after 2019. That is incredible value for a backup catcher. Don’t focus on the 27 innings out of CHC’s bullpen this year. There’s much better samples to look at.
— Alex Duvall (@duvy_013) July 16, 2019
And Kyle Zimmer debuted this year as well! Naturally he made it first - he was always expected to be a fast riser.
— Rany Jazayerli (@jazayerli) July 16, 2019
Moore is taking the idea of a rebuild too far; it doesn't mean literally rebuilding the same team you had last time
— Shaun Newkirk (@Shauncore) July 16, 2019
Dodgers utility man Chris Taylor broke his forearm and has landed on the 10-day IL.
With Taylor out, the Dodgers make some mild sense as a potential landing spot for Whit Merrifield. The current problem with that is Dodgers top prospect Gavin Lux has been raking at both AA and AAA this year and can probably play a solid second base. The Dodgers don’t really NEED to trade for Merrifield, even if it is an otherwise logical landing point. Maybe the Dodgers’ lack of recent World Series championships could make them a bit more urgent, but I wouldn’t hold my breath, because...
The Royals have Merrifield under contract through at least 2022, with a club option for 2023, so there is no pressing need to move him. The Royals can dictate the terms of a trade, and seem to have set the price high. If they are asking for MLB-ready players, that could also indicate they are eager to accelerate the rebuild, and may not be looking for higher risk, but potentially higher reward prospects.
Scherzer, Verlander, lead current Cy Young polls.
Injury updates on Trout, Contreras, others.
MLB expected to introduce advertising patches on uniforms in next three years.
Advertising patches would need the MLBPA’s approval and the current collective bargaining agreement does not expire until December 2021. That means the earliest we’ll see advertising patches in the big leagues is the 2022 season. NBA teamsaverage roughly $7 million per year through advertising patches.
Boeing 737 Max may be grounded for the year.
At least one person has died in a California explosion.
WATCH: Mom unknowingly throws out first pitch to Marine son.
On this day in history, in 1945, the “Manhattan Project” sees an explosive end.
Also, today is the 20th anniversary of the passing of JFK Jr.
Your song of the day is “Return of the Mack” by Mack Morrison because, well, you get it.