The Indians lost Grady Sizemore for the next 2-3 months due to his recent back surgery, but GM Chris Antonetti told reporters (including MLB.com's Jordan Bastian) that he likes the team's in-house replacements (Twitter link). Antonetti acknowledged that he'll have scouts watching other clubs in Spring Training for possible alternatives, however.
With Sizemore out, Michael Brantley will step in as the everyday center fielder with Shin-Soo Choo and various left field candidates flanking him. The Indians signed Fred Lewis, Felix Pie, and Ryan Spilborghs to minor league contracts this offseason and already have Ezequiel Carrera, Aaron Cunningham, and Shelley Duncan on the 40-man roster. Scouting other clubs following Sizemore's injury seems to be little more than due diligence.
I don’t know how fred lewis is doing (probably bad). i hope he is back on the giants (or the blue jays).
Not the blue jays. We already have Jose/ Thames/Rasums/Snider and Davis and Ben Fransisco … and adam lind lol. NO MORE OF’s
I think it’s the reds.
Interesting headline Indians, the Athletics are doing the exact same thing
Grady is such a fun player to watch, I was actually hoping the Nats would take a shot with him but he just gets injured too much. Hope he still has a chance to make an impact with the Indians because he is a game changer when healthy.
Almost seems like ages ago that this guy was on all the highlight reels making a great defensive play or cracking a homer. Sad, sad story.
I’m sure someone would easily trade for him, though at this point all they’ll get is a low level prospect.
Gerardo Parra?
Maybe for Santana
Looks to me as if the indians have cornered the market on the Land of misfit end of the road washed up major league players.
Manny Acta said they are going to fill the LF slot from within.
Better not ask the a’s, they’re really shallow when it comes to outfielders….
Rajai Davis?
I like it!
Yah I was thinking that too..
but Rajai hits lefties, and in late game situations you can stick him on first and he gets to third pretty easy.. reality is you aren’t going to get anything significant for him, so might as well keep him..
Plus if Rasmus gets injured, I’d hate to see Snider in CF
Yea, he isn’t a starting CF but an excellent backup option. Dude is amazingly fun to watch and sometimes extremely frustrating.
he has a career OBP of .350 vs lefties, (.304 vs righties)
he’s a great option to spell snider or thames vs tough lefty starters or late in games..
Probably beside R.H one of the best 3rd base stealer I’ve ever seen.
Must suck to be Trevor Crowe.
Playing baseball for a living? Yes that must certainly suck..
Not surprising, but extremely disappointing. I’ve always hoped that he’d have an opportunity to resume his career as a star, but if he doesn’t come back hitting like an $20MM player or spends another stint on the DL this year, I doubt anybody takes another chance at him next year.
How about a Soriano salary dump? He could play left field until Sizemore comes back and then serve as a right-handed alternative to Pronk, who always finds a way to injure himself anyway.
I just want him gone so badly.
Will the Pirates keep an eye out for a Burnett replacement?
Pun intended?
Hmmm, it sounds like, when you read it, something caught your eye!
4 years counting on 5
They came to an agreement on a one year deal, if I’m not mistaken.
They didn’t. They declined the option and resigned him to a one-year deal.
Still a mistake.
Because they are the Indians. They aren’t a big market team that can easily replace a player who isn’t producing right away. They just re-sign him and hope that he doesn’t get too many injuries and wait it out until they groom someone new to replace him. I mean, Sizemore is still a good player when he’s healthy and can produce.
I didn’t know the article was about Zumaya
of all the similes you had to pick… :O
I don’t know any team that does that if the player has defensive abilities.
For the most part, players are moved to less premium aka easier defensive positions because they can make it as a mlb quality CF, SS, 2B, C .