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1) MegaProps to DiPoto for being completely unconcerned about justifying himself on the Smith-Elias deal. When circumstances changed for him, and the landscape became different, DiPoto even flipped Miley back for a player who -- apples to apples Obviously -- comes off to be 50% of his original investment. He didn't even try to create plausible deniability. I love it.
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2) Just at a glance, Miranda:
- Is from Cuba
- Is very early in his career but is ML-ready
- Has a 92-95 fastball
- Has a slider with excellent speed delta (like, -12 MPH or something)
- Throws a third pitch, a split, a lot of the time, so is a 3-pitch guy
That reminds you of some recent Mariner, though Miranda is not 50 major league starts into his own player development.
Here's a visual look at a fairly Elias-like slider.
Actually, Dr. D has always been partial to quick lefties with three pitches and a split. Has been since Chuck Finley, and we tripled down on that when Jeff Fassero got here. The arsenal is visually appealing, is all we mean.
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3) NOT denying that Ariel Miranda :: Roenis Elias might not be Kyle Seager :: Dustin Ackley. Haven't even looked at Miranda beyond the 2 minutes to get the comments thread up. Presumably, DiPoto thinks Miranda::Elias IS a Seager-Ackley situation. He had at least four teams bidding on Miley, and DiPoto selected this as his favorite return.
So, Dr. D will duck his head and hope for a King Leonydas-level grok on JeDi's part. His first impression is that Miranda throws his pitches with more focused conviction than Elias did. Perhaps JeDi was thinking something along these lines. Dunno.
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4) Miranda is not in BaseballHQ's books on any level.
In AAA, Miranda was very, very consistent from one month to the next. As a starting pitcher, he fanned 8.0 men per nine, walked 2.5, gave up a mid-range 1.1 homers. This is dissimilar to Elias' pout-fest when he was in AAA.
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5) The M's website gives the rotation as Felix-Zeus-LeBLANC-Iwakuma-TBA, with Taijuan coming on strong and Karns to the DL. Perhaps in the last few hours here we'll haul in a TOR. 'twould be okay by SSI.
Wade LeBlanc, cool. I think I like him better now than after he made his big splash, like his chances to run a 110 ERA+ better. Never did think he was going to win 200 games from here :- ) but certainly wouldn't rule out his chances to win 50.
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6) The O's called up Miranda to relieve from the left side -- first outing, 2.0 IP, 0 BB, 4K, but four hits. Could be he'll make a difference in 7th innings when two lefty bats are coming up - or could be the M's will throw him a start before Taijuan gets here? Would love to get a look.
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7) Either DiPoto is doing his bosses a solid, clearing $$$ he didn't have to .... or else DiPoto has a salaried incoming later today. Would guess the former, but.... July 31 only comes once a year :- )
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Enjoy,
Dr D