The Indians struck a trade with the Tigers that will bring center fielder Leonys Martin to Cleveland for shortstop prospect Willi Castro as well as minor league righty Kyle Dowdy. The deal is now official.
This match makes quite a lot of sense on paper. The Indians, after all, are running away with things in the AL Central but had a clear need in the outfield. In particular, the team was missing a left-handed-hitting outfielder capable of playing center after watching Bradley Zimmer struggle and ultimately go down for the year with an injury. Martin will likely share time up the middle with veteran Rajai Davis, who hits from the right side. There’s not much left on Martin’s tab for the present season, as he’s earning just $1.75MM. He’ll also be controllable for 2019 via arbitration, so could represent a piece of the puzzle next year as well.
Though Martin’s .251/.321/.409 batting line is below average, it’s still the best work of his career to date. A left-handed batter, Martin is an ideal candidate for a platoon. He’s long been a defensive asset in center field, with strong metrics dating back to 2013.
On the other side of this swap, the Tigers had every reason to get what they could for Martin. While he could certainly have been retained, cashing him in now better fits the team’s priorities. Castro, a shortstop signed five years ago out of Puerto Rico, earned a 50 overall grade from MLB Pipeline. Currently at Double-A, Castro is a switch-hitter with an above average bat and a good chance to stick at shortstop, according to MLB Pipeline and Baseball America. The Tigers did well to sign Martin affordably in December, and then spin him into Castro several months later. Dowdy, a 25-year-old righty, began the year as a Double-A reliever, then jumped into the Triple-A rotation for the Toledo Mud Hens before a move back to Double-A.
Robert Murray of The Athletic broke the trade, with Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free-Press adding the Dowdy detail. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Hopefully this is not the only move the Tribe makes today.
Hopefully some other bullpen help at least for low level prospects
it will be. typical indians trade
Hopefully, this is not the only move the Tigers make today.
Terrible, another halfassed platoon player.
Good inter-division trade.
They are in the same division.
Intra-division
Yes it is
Nope.
I guess stein here has the inside scoop on the league moving the the Tigers and Indians out of the same division.
They are in the same division. Hence, this is not an inter-division trade.
That’s my bad. I should have caught that.
All good homie. I’m just having fun.
Big Stein wants an eggplant calzone!
Would’ve rather seen Castro move as part of a package for a bigger outfielder. Martin has a place on the postseason roster but won’t improve the offensive output much
You’d be surprised, he’s had good pop in his bat this year. He should be effective in a platoon with Davis.
All your shortstops are belong to us
this made me laugh more than it probably should have
It’s funny cause it’s true
world series here we come….
hahaha! How did you come up with this?! LOL good stuff!
As a Tribe fan this is a disappointment. I know the list of available outfielders was pretty uninspiring, but I guess the best things you can say about Martin is he can play CF, and he’s able-bodied at the moment.
This was probably the best they could get without giving up better prospects
He’s a very good fielding CF who hits just under to about league average and is controlled next season. Currently he is on pace for around 3 WAR. He is not someone to be overly disappointed adding
He can absolutely go get it in CF. He will be a huge upgrade defensively over Rajai Davis. He has also showed more plate discipline, drawing a lot more walks that people expected. He is no all star for sure, but he is someone who can help the Tribe. There were not a lot of good OF, especially CF on the open market.
So no dozier to Cleveland. Seattle step up
Not necessarily true. The Indians have no issues with putting Kipnis on the bench if need be.
Dozier to Seattle doesn’t make sense. Gordon showed he isn’t good in CF and you have Cano coming back in a few weeks.
But Cano is ineligible for post season if Seattle makes it.
I kind of thought Willi Castro had more value than an unpredictable 4th outfielder but that’s okay
To clarify: Martin is having a good year and I don’t mind getting him, but he’s still been too unpredictable in his career for me to have a lot of confidence here. Castro isn’t one of my favorite Indians prospects and he was blocked anyway, but I more expected him to be part of a bigger deal.
It’s also interesting that they’d insist on a 25 year old AA starter with an ERA over 5; he has really good peripherals so I’m assuming they see something that might be overlooked. That’s basically how they got Kluber so I guess stranger things have happened, but it’s still interesting.
I’m going on a small tangent here…I didn’t realize Dowdy is already in AAA too. I doubt the Indians would ask for him in a trade unless they saw something no one else did, which is kind of an exciting thought.
Martin is still unpredictable but I’ll take an approximately average bat because it’s way better than the rest of their non-Brantley outfield. Plus he plays good defense.
Castro could be an everyday shortstop but he’s still pretty raw and he wasn’t gonna have a chance in Cleveland anyway. So I’ll take it.
I’ll take it too, it’s just that I really want an exciting player in a trade.
Lots of free agents to be in the current bullpen. Maybe they’re going to switch Dowdy to a reliever?
Wish he was a right handed bat, but a good trade for Tribe, Castro was blocked here but he could be a good major leaguer. Don’t know much about the pitcher.
If this ends up being the Indians only move today then they did absolutely nothing of value. How is Martin any different from Rajai Davis?
He bats lefty lol
Production wise he is Rajai Davis. Our goal is to make our outfield better… not get more of the same players.
Except Martin is worth 1.8 bWAR this season and Davis is worth 0.4.
He’s an upgrade to what else they have, Allen looks overmatched at times and they don’t have anything else viable at Columbus (no Brandon Barnes is not a viable option). And the list of available guys really did not seem too much better. Maybe playing on a contender will up Martin’s game a bit.
Can you spell P-L-A-T-O-O-N?
Plitune
Yes, and I can say it, too.
overpay.
Agreed
Agree
It doesn’t look pretty but Martin is an upgrade. He’s hit better than Davis, Melky, Guyer, and Allen(although that’s not saying much). He also plays CF well with a UZR 7.1 and 3 DRS.
I assume that the Indians just needed a 4th outfielder.
Tribe fans are never happy Martin is currently a 1.8 WAR player and a above average fielder in CF out the gate Martin is the 2nd best outfielder on the Indians day
That’s still not saying much. It’s a long way down to #3.
They have a major need for a corner outfielder also but for the love of god there has to be someone controlable available out there that is better than Gallo swing for the fence guy who K’s at a almost 40% rate.
Trading for Dozier and moving Kipnis to right field to platoon may be a win win Cabera may be the best option as the #5 or 6 outfielder to platoon in RF with Kipnis. I’m also over KIpnis it just sucks that he is not a moveable piece any more with the outragous contract he has over the next couple of years.
I’m happy with it. It doesn’t seem very exciting but he’s an upgrade over a couple of their outfielders
Plus he is controlable for the next 3 years if Naquin and Zimmer continue to keep getting hurt
Martin can be kept for one more year thru arbitration. He has a great throwing arm. Would be nice to see Gerber or Stewart called up,now.
One would think that would be the case. Jones is not ready to be the every day CF, not by a long stretch and please tell me he’s not going to platoon with Mahtook
Gerber up according to mlive.
Who has the worst OF in MLB?
The first paragraph is confusing. Makes it sound like the Tribe is trading 2 players.
I was gonna say the same thing
“Running away with the Central Division”
That’s laughable when they are the only team barely over .500.
Which means that they’re running away with the division. It’s not saying how good they are, it’s saying how big their division lead is.
If this is our only move, there won’t be a need to purchase $200 playoff tickets. I’ll stay home and watch. The Indians have been interested in every player listed on this site and ended up with this pathetic trade.
I agree 100%. It’s frustrating. We’re not adjusting my for Harper but give us Gallo or the since trades Dozier.
Auto correct sucks. We’re not asking for Harper..
And the Tigers bring up Mikie Mahtook again, right? Yaaaawwwwwwwn.
I’d have rather dealt Greg Allen to them than Castro who is young and has enough upside the logjam might be clear in time for him in 5he majors. And the pitcher they got back to me looks like an eventual bullpen arm and another McAllister.
tigertom0210, check my above post……Gerber up per mlive.
This is the biggest trade in the history of the long history of the Detroit Tiger franchise. Tiger officials consulted with Jim Campbell and Sparky Anderson who both adamantly approved the trade of the Tigers top player.Victor was almost a part of the trade, but he was deemed way to important. Kirk Gibson will have the new player live with him and move to Double A to supervise him