The Indians are at least opening the door to the possibility of utilizing Carlos Santana in left field when the World Series moves to Wrigley Field and takes the DH off of the table, as Paul Hoynes of the Plain Dealer reports. It doesn’t seem as if there are any clear plans to play him there — he hasn’t roamed the outfield grass since the minors — but the team is getting him some reps just in case. Even if Cleveland won’t start Santana in left just in order to get his and Mike Napoli’s bats into the same lineup, it’s not impossible to imagine a late-game substitution scenario that calls for such a bold move.
Here’s more from Cleveland with the fall classic set to get underway:
- How exactly did World Series Game 1 starter Corey Kluber end up with the Indians? Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch compiles something of an oral history of the 2010 trade that brought the relatively unknown righty to Cleveland. With the Padres and Cardinals each looking for veteran assets, the Indians were able to facilitate their needs by taking Kluber. Then-Cleveland GM Chris Antonetti said at the time that he preferred not to be on the prospect end of such trades, though certainly that move helped set up the team’s current run — which included a deal that sent young talent out for the player who’s the subject of the next bullet.
- We’ve increasingly heard chatter — as is typical this time of year — about how postseason teams can serve as a model for other organizations in the ensuing winter. While I’d argue that the value of premium relief arms seems worth paying attention to, it does seem curious to hear discussion of whether teams could look to emulate the specific pen usage of roving Indians out-machine Andrew Miller. That approach isn’t likely to carry over into the regular season, Russell Carleton of Baseball Prospectus suggests (subscription required — and recommended) in a detailed and interesting analysis. Relievers are simply not as effective when they re-appear for a second inning of work, Carleton finds, and managers rightly need to be more judicious in deploying their most valuable relief-pitching-innings — those handled by their best relievers — over the course of a long season. Unless and until some team decides to really push the boundaries of how much of an innings workload a reliever can handle, he says, we’ll likely continue to see a lot of one-inning relievers in relatively well-defined roles (for the bulk of the year, at least).
- When the Indians went and got Miller, it sent a meaningful message to the team’s players, second baseman Jason Kipnis tells MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian (Twitter link). But it came at a real price that could end up hurting down the line — as is the nature of deadline deals (see Kluber, Corey). Jon Heyman of Fan Rag reports that Cleveland offered much more than any other team to grab Miller. But that was what it took to pry him loose, since the Yankees were under no obligation to swing a deal for a player with two more seasons of control remaining. With the Giants unwilling to move Joe Panik and the Nationals not interested in boosting their offer of young pitching talent, New York would’ve held pat had the Indians not offered up a prospect package made up of outfielder Clint Frazier, southpaw Justus Sheffield, and right-handers Ben Heller and J.P. Feyereisen.
- Before getting that deal done, of course, the Indians had a pact in place for catcher Jonathan Lucroy that only fell through when he exercised his no-trade protection to nix it. As ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick reports, Lucroy doesn’t regret utilizing the clause — even with the Indians now in the World Series. The veteran receiver landed in a good spot, helping the Rangers lock up an AL West title, and he’s not interested in revisiting things now. “I’m not worried about it at all,” he said. “It’s over with and in the past.”
Who knows, if the Yankees hadn’t traded Miller, maybe they would be in the World Series this year instead of the Indians?
They wouldn’t have made the playoffs still. Miller wasn’t adding 5 wins own his own.
And unless Gary Sanchez carried the team through the playoffs, I don’t see them having enough hitting or pitching.
Lol that’s a little to optimistic
He alone wouldn’t have but the whole sell off might have cost 5 wins with chapman and Miller and beltran that might have been the 5 wins you talk about ( for the record I liked the Yankees retooling move)
But they said that they were still trying to contend after the deadline. You don’t trade guys like Chapman and Miller if you are trying to contend.
They definitely could have gotten a Wild Card spot if they had kept Miller, Chapman and Beltran at the deadline. But they are much better off for the future this way.
Completely agree I’m a fan of sell offs if you think your team will have a better chance to win it all eventually why wallow in mediocrity while not all teams can do it and not all the time it has its benefits for the future of your franchise I still say a smart move in the long run just saying it cost them a wild card spot
Why not have Napoli catch and have Santana play 1B, it’s not like Napoli hasn’t done that before
If you want to argue that, Santana was a full time catcher until 2013 coinciding with the emergence of Gomes, who is hitting .500 with an ops of 1.250 in the playoffs in his young career. So why would you take him out?
Santana was a better catcher than Napoli. I think he was moved from behind the plate for injury reasons, as Napoli was.
Napoli has bad knees, he said himself when the Indians were plagued by injuries earlier in the season he couldn’t handle more than a couple innings at catcher.
Bad knees and also dealt with a shoulder issue that bugged him since his time in the Angels minor league system.
So sick of having to say this, but this shows how Indians fans really pay attention. Napoli has bad HIPS! He can’t catch anymore!!
have fun watching the series from your home, lucroy!!!
Lucroy checks bank account.
Has fun watching series.
Doesn’t pay state income taxes in Texa$
But if he owns a home there he pays higher property taxes that go into bonds to maintain the state’s infrastructure.
He would have made same amount on either team.
We don’t really know why Lucroy didn’t want to come to Cleveland, of course.
There was an extensive ESPN article about why Lucroy didn’t come to Cleveland, well written and in depth, google it
Lucroy made an economical choice for next offseason. The Indians couldn’t guarantee him a starting spot next season and they refused to waive his option. Considering how good his option is even if the Indians couldn’t find him a starting role they would have demanded a pretty high price for a guy on a one year deal on the trade market.
Considering he was traded to a team that was favored as highly as Cleveland to reach the WS I’d say he’s perfectly happy with his gamble.
The Tribe made a great deal for Miller, regardless of whether Frazier becomes a star or not for the Yanks. They aren’t even in the WS without him, and if they wanted to, they could flip him in the offseason for a prospect package that is as good, if not better than what they gave up. Especially in light of what he’s done down the stretch and in the playoffs.
In fact, if I’m Antonetti, I’m seriously thinking about doing just that – parlaying Miller into a huge package to restock the farm at the Winter Meetings. Rule of thumb is to always deal relief pitching when the value is high because it is so volatile.
I see that trade with Yankees as one of those rare win/wins for both teams (pending Frazier being as good as everyone thinks he is).
Makes sense.
The problem with trading Miller away is that the Indians don’t have a dependable Lefty to replace him with in the bullpen.
I could see the Indians trading him away next season if they aren’t in first place in June or July.
Not just Frazier: Justus Sheffield as well.
The Miller deal reminds me of the Cespedes deal in ’15. Both guys got their teams into the playoffs and were key to advancing to the WS. Frazier may turn into a stud and Fulmer already looks like a TOR star….but you make those trades 10 out of 10 times for a shot at a WS. Miller’s value is sky high right now, so win or lose the WS…they need to at least consider what they could get for him in the off-season. I hope the Tribe can succeed where the Mets fell short.
Why would the Indians trade Miller? Their window to contend extends beyond just this season. He makes that team a lot better.