Goodbye Dr. Smooth

hello all and Happy New Year's Eve. as we're about to close the book on 2018, the time has come for me to finally say my goodbye to Michael Brantley. i don't want to, but i have to. i've written several goodbye blogs to former Cleveland Indians players in the past after they were traded or signed with another team as free agents, yet none were ever as hard for me to compose as this one. i'm still trying to accept the reality of how different everything's going to be next year and i'm simply not okay with it.😭

if you don't already know, Michael officially signed a two-year, $32 million deal with the Houston Astros on December 19. he parted ways with the Indians following a 10-year tenure because they weren't in a position to retain him. that was made clear five days after the World Series ended, on November 2, when they didn't even extend a one-year, $17.9 million qualifying offer to Michael, so he entered into free agency for the first time in his career. and it led him to the 'Stros.

Vote Brantley for MLB's 2018 All Star Game!

hello, Michael Brantley fans! get ready to input those captcha codes because it's time to once again vote for your 2018 MLB All Stars!⭐ the location for this year's game is Washington, D.C.!

photo courtesy of mlb.com

Michael has been an All Star twice now in his career. he was initially chosen to be an OF reserve for the American League team in 2014, marking his very first Midsummer Classic experience. Michael was also selected to the ASG a second time by his peers as an AL outfield reserve player last season. this is Michael's walk-year, meaning he will be a free agent at the end of 2018 and it's presumed that he won't be returning to the Tribe. so

Brantley Not Ranked in MLB Network's Top 10 Left Fielders Right Now

hello, baseball fans! MLB Network is currently in Week 3 of the Top 10 Right Now series where the best players at each position around the diamond are ranked. the 8th annual program has been airing on Saturdays this year, differing from Sundays a year ago and Thursdays in 2016. tonight, on January 27, the "Top 10 Right Now: Left Fielders" show premiered at 9 pm ET.

screenshot cropped from a video on m.mlb.com

host Brian Kenny was once again joined by analyst Eric Byrnes to reveal the Top 10 LFs presently in baseball going into the 2018 season, as determined by

Brantley Placed on 10-Day DL with Right Ankle Sprain (Take Two)

today, on August 9, the Cleveland Indians placed Michael Brantley on the 10-Day DL with a right ankle sprain. it was diagnosed as a mild sprain despite Michael's original fear of something more severe. the earliest eligibility date for his activation is August 19. this is the second time in less than two months that Michael has gone on the disabled list due to a sprained right ankle, and third time overall in 2017 that it's affected his ability to stay on the field.

photo courtesy of @SportsTimeOhio on twitter

Michael re-injured his ankle last night, on August 8, during the game versus the Colorado Rockies. in the top of the 5th inning, with the Indians trailing, 1-0, Mark Reynolds hit a fly ball to center field off Corey Kluber for the first out. Michael started to run over to center to back up Bradley Zimmer on the play and the next thing everyone knew, he was

Brantley Moved from Paternity List to 10-Day DL with Right Ankle Sprain

today, on June 19, the Cleveland Indians announced that Michael Brantley was removed from the Paternity List and placed on the 10-Day DL with a right ankle sprain, retroactive to June 16. he is eligible to return on June 26, as long as he receives clearance from the medical staff. this is Michael's first DL stint of the year.

screenshot cropped from a video on indians.com

Michael originally suffered a sprained right ankle in the game on

Brantley Placed on Paternity List

today, on June 16, the Cleveland Indians placed Michael Brantley on the Paternity List and recalled right-handed pitcher Adam Plutko from the Triple A Columbus Clippers to take his roster spot. a player can be absent from the team for up to three days once he's officially placed on this list.

Michael was not with the Tribe for their afternoon home game versus the Los Angeles Dodgers yesterday on June 15 because his wife, Melissa, began having contractions during the night. Terry Francona told the story of what happened in his postgame presser via a video on the FOX Sports Ohio youtube channel. "he had tried to line it up where she was gonna, whatever, at 4:30, however, induce i guess. but last night in the middle of the night, things started happening. so he texted me and i told him, i said, 'get, get over there with her.' you never want to miss something like that. or even go bat to at bat here and run over there. my goodness. he kinda deserves the right to be with his family and do that so... so we'll miss him for the weekend."

that means Michael will be gone for all four road games, including a doubleheader, against the Minnesota Twins. he is expected to rejoin the club on Monday, June 19 in Baltimore for the second leg of their trip, so said WTAM 1100 radio broadcaster Tom Hamilton.

Melissa gave birth to the new Brantley baby yesterday, a

Vote Brantley for MLB's 2017 All Star Game!

calling all Michael Brantley fans! i hope you're ready to get your vote on because it's now officially time to start picking the 2017 MLB All Stars!

photo courtesy of mlb.com

Michael's first, last, and only appearance so far in an MLB All Star Game occurred in 2014 when he was selected to the American League team as a reserve player. he was not chosen to be part of the 2015 contest, and of course we all know that the 2016 ASG ended up being out of the question for him. (though i did push hard for fans to vote for Michael prior to his shoulder setback!) but with his injury issues finally out of the way, we need to get Dr. Smooth on the squad representing the Cleveland Indians this year.

after his first month of the regular season, Michael is currently batting

Brantley Ranked 5th in MLB Network's Top 10 Left Fielders Right Now

it's that time again, baseball fans! time to rank the best of the best in Major League Baseball by position. MLB Network began airing their annual Top 10 lists last Sunday, which was oddly changed from Thursdays in past years, i might add. and tonight, on January 22 at 10 pm ET, their "Top 10 Right Now: Left Fielders" show premiered.

screenshot cropped from a video on m.mlb.com

Brian Kenny, who was joined by Eric Byrnes, hosted the reveal of this year's Top 10 Left Field players currently in baseball going into the 2017 season as ranked by MLB Network's Shredder. an analytic methodology known as The Shredder, which operates without emotion or bias, assembles these rankings based on

Brantley Ranked 4th in Baseball Tonight's Top 10 Left Fielders

now that Baseball Tonight's Top 100 list is complete, it's time for them to name their annual Top 10 players at each position going into the 2016 season. once again, the way in which this was revealed differs from last year.

today, on March 25, ESPN's Baseball Tonight unveiled all of their Top 10s in one day and at the same time online. the panel of MLB writers, analysts, and contributors who ranked the Top 100 also ranked the Top 10s, and some players who didn't make the Top 100 list did make it onto their respective position lists. my blog, however, is solely going to focus on the Top 10 Left Fielders.

this year, BBTN ranked Michael as the 4th best left fielder going into 2016. last year, he was ranked as the best left fielder going into 2015. so clearly their opinion of Michael has gone down, most likely due to the shoulder injury he suffered towards the end of the season. (although, if you've been keeping up with all my Brantley update blogs, then you already know there's now a chance that Michael could open the season with the Tribe.) whatever the reason, i disagree immensely.

here is BBTN's entire Top 10 LF list, featuring both American and National League players:

Brantley Ranked 80th in Baseball Tonight's Top 100 Players

i wasn't expecting Baseball Tonight to start its Top 100 countdown so soon. usually, they do that over two days at the end of spring training, both online and in a TV special. now, the Top 100 reveal is taking place over 10 days, from March 15-24. every morning, a new set of 10 players, beginning with #100-91, is posted on ESPN.com. and when it's time for the Top 10 to be announced on March 24, that will occur on a special edition of Baseball Tonight at 10 pm EST on ESPN2 and WatchESPN.

much like the change in the publication of this list, the way in which it was constituted differs from last year as well. a panel of 70 ESPN experts (vs. 60 previously), including MLB writers, analysts, and contributors, was polled in February and March after being given a list of more than 350 MLB players (vs. 600 last year). these experts evaluated the players by assigning them a number from 0 to 10 based on player projections for 2016.

a year ago, Michael Brantley made his debut on this list when he ranked 43rd on BBTN's Top 100. knowing that Michael's 2015 season was not as strong as his All Star 2014 season, and knowing that projections don't take into account the fact that Michael played hurt a lot in 2015 (which consequently hindered some of his stats), i presumed Michael wouldn't top last year's rank.

so where does Michael fall on this list?

Brantley Ranked 1st in MLB Network's Top 10 Left Fielders Right Now

hello again, Brantley fans! for the past 2 Thursdays, MLB Network has been airing their annual Top 10 lists, and tonight, on January 28 at 10 pm EST, it was time for their "Top 10 Right Now: Left Fielders" show.

photo courtesy of @MLBNetwork on twitter

with hosts Brian Kenny and Cliff Floyd, the Top 10 left field players currently in baseball going into the 2016 season were ranked by MLB Network's Shredder. an analytic methodology going by the name of The Shredder, who operates unbiased and without emotion, compiles rankings based on a player's recent performance and projections for the player's upcoming season. keep in mind that baseball analysts and fans disagree with The Shredder quite often, so this isn't a list to get too worked up about if you dislike the rankings. but it's fun to debate why The Shredder is right or wrong anyway.

before this particular Top 10 even aired, i had concerns about where Michael would place. i felt like

Brantley Ranked 43rd in Baseball Tonight's Top 100 Players

as promised, ESPN's Baseball Tonight unveiled their Top 100 Players going into 2015 on March 30 and 31. the players ranked 100-51 were revealed on the afternoon of March 30 online, while the players ranked 50-26 were revealed online in the afternoon today on March 31. and later tonight, an ESPN2 special, airing at 8 pm EST, will be announcing the Top 25 players.

unfortunately, in what came as a complete shock to me, i did not have to wait for the 8 o'clock show to find out where Michael placed on the list because

Brantley Ranked 1st in Baseball Tonight's Top 10 Left Fielders

today, on March 23, ESPN's Baseball Tonight revealed their Top 10 left fielders going into 2015. not normally one to care much about ESPN rankings, i figured i would post this on my blog anyways because it's great for Michael.

a panel of MLB writers, analysts, and contributors were put together by ESPN to rank the Top 100 MLB players heading into 2015. a list of more than 300 players was provided to over 60 ESPN experts, who were polled in February and March. that list was narrowed down to the Top 100 based on how well the experts felt the players would perform, on a scale of 0 to 10, in 2015. those results will be announced on March 30 and 31 on a special edition of Baseball Tonight at 8 pm EST on ESPN2. i am very interested in seeing where Michael ranks on that list.

until then however, Baseball Tonight is revealing their Top 10 lists of each position around the diamond. today they kicked it off with the Top 10 left, center, and right fielders, but i am only going to cover the Top 10 left fielders here.

Brantley Ranked 3rd in MLB Network's Top 10 Left Fielders Right Now

tonight, on January 22 at 10 pm EST, MLB Network aired a show entitled "Top 10 Right Now: Left Fielders." it ranked the top 10 left field players currently in baseball going into 2015 according to MLB Network's Shredder. The Shredder takes many statistical factors into consideration and operates without bias when compiling these rankings, much to the dismay of a lot of fans. needless to say, this isn't a list worth taking too seriously one way or the other.

photo courtesy of @MLBNetwork twitter

even though Michael spent time in both left and center field last year, i knew he would be in this Top 10 list, and because of his stats from 2014, i assumed that he would probably place near the top. however,