There’s been plenty of speculation about what position Jason Kipnis will play next season (and what team he’ll be playing it for), but Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that the Indians plan to move him back to second base. The move will also push 2017 AL MVP finalist Jose Ramirez back to third base, where he earned an All-Star nod last season.
Kipnis battled injuries through most of last year and didn’t get much going offensively even when he was on the field, as evidenced by his .232/.291/.414 batting line and 82 wRC+. When Kip returned from a DL stint in mid-September (his third of the season), Ramirez’ fantastic defensive play had him firmly entrenched at Kipnis’ natural position. In order to get his bat in the lineup, the Indians deployed Kipnis in center field to replace Bradley Zimmer, who was out for the season with a hand injury.
With Zimmer projected to return to health well before spring training, and Ramirez offering a fantastic up-the-middle defensive combo with All-Star shortstop Francisco Lindor, Kipnis seemed to be lacking a clear role on the team, such to the point that over 50% of MLBTR readers thought that the Tribe ought to trade him during the offseason. Trade rumors never gained much momentum, however. The Mets were weakly connected to Kipnis at one point, but there was always healthy amount of skepticism over whether the two teams could actually reach an agreement.
For the time being, it seems that the Indians will solve a seemingly complex issue with the simplest solution. After all, Kipnis is only a year removed from consecutive 5-WAR seasons. Notably, those seasons were a strong rebound from Kipnis’ last subpar campaign in 2014, so there’s plenty of reason to believe he’ll be able to bounce back again in his age 31 season. In any event, banking on better offensive production from Kipnis seems like a better option than relying on an offensive breakout from Yandy Diaz or Giovanny Urshela at third base, or hoping that top prospect Francisco Mejia can successfully shift to the hot corner with limited experience.
While we can’t rule anything out with certainty, this news seems to take Kipnis off the trading block. Teams looking for second base help must turn to trade market options such as Starlin Castro or Cesar Hernandez or else explore a thin free agent market at the position, which includes Neil Walker, Eduardo Nunez and Howie Kendrick. The news also increases the already-strong likelihood that Mejia will open the season in the minor leagues.
w o w s u c h a s u r p r i s e a m i r i t e
I was confused reading the title of the article thinking the same thing haha. I think the actual news here is that it looks like Cleveland is not trying to trade him now.
I’m not sure why they were ever trying to trade him at all. Though as a Mets fan I wasn’t complaining.
The actual news is that Kipnis is moving back to second base. He played center last year.
Good! I’d rather have Kipnis at 2B than Urshela/Diaz at 3B to start the season. If Kipnis doesn’t bounce back, then give Diaz a chance.
Diaz has still has options so send him down to work on his swing
Right, and if Kipnis does bounce back and the other guys are performing in AAA, ypu could always deal him at the deadline, and probably get more.
Their other options all have potential, but none of them are really banging the door down offensively.
I wonder what Jeff Todd thinks about all of this.
Or Chris Rose.
Or, Uncle Pete.
I have faith in Cleveland’s brass but this seems like a bad move. I like Kip but Jose far outclasses him at second base. With Urshela and Erik Gonzalez out of options, and Yandy Diaz on the verge of being big league talent, you can suffice to say that one or both of them could be out of a roster spot. Neither can really hit but they both have outstanding defensive capabilities.
I like the INF of Moustakas-Lindor-Ramirez-Alonso more
Diaz never really showed me much in the bigs when it came to defense. he was ok I guess, urshela obviously the better of the 2. but we need the offense in the line up, Diaz/urshela don’t have it
But Diaz hit for a lot of singles in the minors, surely that potential translates to a starting spot on a World Series contender.
Kipnis is way over played for his ability. If they could have unloaded his contract, that would have been a smart move.
His contract right now is 2 years/28m with a club option for 2020. Not exactly an albatross.
Albatross, no. But still over payed for a .268 hitter, that’s also an average fielder.
I dunno, you can’t get even an average starting player for 2/28 on the free agent market.
I think he still has some value on that deal.
He was a very good player in 2016, I don’t know what you’re talking about, other than in your head, you want to bury him. He’s worth allowing a mulligan to, as long as he goes back to being good again.
Career averages point to him being a solid to good player. Just not worth 28m over 2 years to a team with a better option at 2nd. And desperately could use that money on a right fielder.
Batting average isn’t a good stat when assessing a player
Are they really thinking about asking Mejia to play third?
Hard to imagine moving a prospect off catcher unless he can’t hack it there defensively.
No,I believe it was just a away to get him at bats without catching in the AFL..
He’s a decent catcher now with an absolute hose for an arm,he just needs experience there,he’s only 22..
From the games I saw I thought his arm was overrated. I also think Cleveland deals a catcher to make room for him.
I recall Russell Martin being tried at short with the pirates after already have a GG at catcher. Versatility is encouraged.
K
If he has a solid first half they should trade him. last thing they want is for him to continue to play the way he did in 2017. If he does continue his play from 2017 his value will go down the toilet
If he is playing well, and let us assume that the Indians have clinched the AL Central by July 4th, then there is no way the Tribe will break up the winning team. If he is playing poorly they won’t be able to give him away. Kipnis is an Indian for all of 2018.
He wasn’t a big part of the team last year and they did just fine. The Indians will be taking some major losses over the next year or two unless they open the check book. This is more so for long term planning
Exactly!
Yep, let’s do everything we can to slow down Yandy’s progression. Sheesh.
LOL!
Why do you even bother replying to me anymore, since those replies are all the same?
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thaddeus_Kosciusko_Bridge
Biggest news of the offseason!
What offseason?
Well played sir.
Seems like the Indians are likely to have some playing time in the outfield for Ramirez or Kipnis, too. That’s really their weakest spot.
They still need a first baseman.
Damn nevermind forgot about Alonso
Alonso and Encarnacion will semi-platoon. at first.
How much did Encarnacion play first last year? Is it really worth platooning them?
He’ll probably play first against a few lefties since Alonso struggles against them
In addition to Castro and Hernandez, pretty sure the A’s would make Lowrie available, with Barreto and Pinder right there.
Also Royals 2B,Panik maybe,Brad Miller and so on available.
Kipnis for Harvey. Would have been a blockbuster 2 years ago.
Why haven’t the redsox resign Nunez yet with pedroia basically only good for half a season at this point! Come on!
Even Howie Kendrick would be a good signing for BOS given his ability to play 2B, 3B and OF, and he can hit. Probably would cost much on a 1 year deal.