Links for Monday…
- The Indians are still checking around for a left fielder or center fielder, Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports tweets. They'd prefer a right-handed hitter to add balance to their lefty-heavy lineup.
- GM Neal Huntington told Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that the Pirates haven't thought of sending Pedro Alvarez to Triple-A following his Spring Training struggles. "He's going through a tough stretch right now,” Huntington said. “Are we going to be able to get him out of it? We believe we will."
- Bill Shaikin of the LA Times breaks down the three remaining bidders for the Dodgers and explains that MLB is expected to approve all three this week.
- Teams have asked about Everth Cabrera, but the Padres aren't inclined to trade him, Dan Hayes of the North County Times tweets.
That seems like a mistake by the Pirates. With Casey McGahee in the fold, they have the option to send Alvarez down to find his swing again. If he can’t find it by the end of ST, it makes no sense to keep him on the ML roster earning ML playing time while eroding his confidence.
He’s never had a problem hitting in the minors. At some point, he’s going to have to adjust to major league pitching. Sending him to AAA accomplishes nothing.
Another potential team to unload Darnell McDonald on 😉
“He’s going through a tough stretch right now,” Huntington said
Um, he’s been going through a tough stretch for over a year now…
Dear Indians,
Take Soriano, please.
Love,
101andCounting
The Angels have a right-handed left fielder available. The guy even used to play center field.
Do the Indians have an extra $24m in loose change rolling around somewhere?
They should probably start out with Pedro in AAA, he has major holes in his swing and will probably just be flailing around and losing his confidence in the majors. I’m a huge fan of Alvarez because he was the first player picked by the Huntington regime and I thought he’d be the next big bat, but he needs to figure some things out and I thought with McGahee coming in, he’d have time to do that in the minors. I also wouldn’t mind seeing Matt Hague getting some work at 1B to start the year, another player who may vastly outhit Pedro in the majors.
Neil believes Alvarez should be there opening day. I agree with him and also believe in the Easter Bunny.
The Cubs have good CF options they could trade in Marlon Byrd, Dave Sappelt, or Reed Johnson. Personally, I would like to see Byrd go so that Campana or perhaps even Mather could get a shot at center field.
I think Marlon Byrd is a perfect fit for the Indians. Yeah, I know he’s not a star or the guy that will put them over the top-but he is at least an average hitter and an average center fielder. The Indians don’t have that right now. They can use some of their bullpen/infield depth to bring in Marlon for the year.