All 30 big league clubs are waiting to see whether a 2020 season will be played at all, but assuming a season is able to take place in some capacity, the prolonged delay will impact some clubs more than others. We’ve already examined the potential effects for the Yankees, Angels, Phillies, Athletics and Twins. Today, we’ll turn to Minnesota’s likeliest challenger in the AL Central, the Indians.
For every roster, the hiatus most obviously affects injured players. The delay gives currently them more time to recover, and Cleveland has a few who fit that bill. That’s most notable for a pair of right-handed starters.
Veteran Carlos Carrasco had been nagged by inflammation in his throwing elbow during Spring Training. While Carrasco fortunately avoided structural damage, president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti had cast doubt on his chances of being ready for a March 26 Opening Day. Cleveland hadn’t provided a firm timetable for his projected return, but the issue seemed relatively minor. Presumably, the 33-year-old would now have a much better chance at being in the season-opening rotation if baseball resumes.
That’s also true of staff ace Mike Clevinger. The hard-throwing righty underwent knee surgery in mid-February, which was expected to sideline him for six to eight weeks. Nothing has trickled out on the status of his recovery since, but we’re in the middle of that timetable now. Assuming Clevinger’s progressing as had been expected, he seems likely to be ready to ramp back up if the season gets going.
It’s even possible we see hard-throwing righty Emmanuel Clase in the season-opening bullpen. That wasn’t true prior to the shutdown when Clase went down for eight to twelve weeks at the end of February with a strain in his back. Owner of a 100 MPH cutter, Clase was the primary return from the Rangers in the Corey Kluber deal (along with getting Kluber’s $17.5MM salary off the books). If healthy, he’ll likely be an integral part of Terry Francona’s relief unit.
That’s a trio of potential impact arms who could see a greater portion of the season for Cleveland than had been initially anticipated. And simply by introducing more randomness, a shortened season probably increases their odds of upsetting the reigning division champs in Minneapolis. Yet the threat of a cancelled season looms as large for the Indians as any team in MLB.
Enter Francisco Lindor. The face of the franchise is two years from free agency. If it never becomes possible for MLB to return in 2020, Lindor will pick up another year of service time by virtue of having logged a full year in 2019. Extension talks, which have never seemed all that likely to come to fruition, were tabled even before the MLB moratorium. A cancelled season would be one fewer year for Cleveland fans to ’enjoy’ the presence of one of the game’s most talented, charismatic players. Regardless of whether a season is played, Lindor’s name would surely be bandied around in trade rumors next offseason unless an extension is reached. Cleveland fans won’t want to hear it, but there’s now seemingly a possibility he’s played his final home game there.
Fortunately, much of the roster is under team control for 2021. If the 2020 season is ultimately cancelled, the Cleveland front office could bring back the entire starting rotation and eight members of the starting lineup, as projected by Roster Resource. (Only second baseman César Hernández, an offseason signee, isn’t controlled beyond this season). Yet Lindor’s status already looms large for the franchise; if the season were wiped away, it’d only become more pressing.
Postpones the inevitable.
Another year without a World Series Championship.
Brilliant, I’d rather that then cheat the game…
What a productive comment! You can say that about 29 other teams too.
I don’t know. Wouldn’t count them out with their rotation
Lindor has 100% played his last game there already if this season is cancelled.
They should have taken Verdugo and Downs when they had the chance.
It’s not cancelled.
He didn’t say it was cancelled he said if it’s cancelled, big difference.
Never believe in 100%
99%
why did mlb .com change the depth charts, they were much better before this sucks.
oh wow they did. im quite digusted.
It needs to be changed back for sure
Their prospect changes also got worse.
that’s also true
Oh man I hate that. There old depth charts were perfect.
I honestly think what the Indians are doing is brilliant. Get some young stars, trade them a year or two before they would walk, restock the farm, then develop those guys. They’re never favorites, but they’re also never out of the playoff hunt and not spending gobs of money like the Dodgers, Cubs, and Red Sox. That said, I prefer the White Sox’ approach of signing their young guys to extensions. It’s risky, but it keeps costs down and they get more years out of their top talent. If they merge the two approaches, it might be the optimal way for a small-market team (or a team that behaves as one) to remain relevant for a sustained period.
Since the 1990’s, the Cleveland Indians have been a leader in trying to sign their young guys to extensions. Jose Ramirez and Carlos Carrasco are two examples on the current team on young players signed to extensions. If fact Carrasco is on his second extension. They tried to get Lindor to sign,but they were unable to agree on a contract.
Lindor was alleged to have been offered a seven year, $ 107 MM deal as a second year arbitration eligible player.. & it was declined. This deal encompassed the remaining 5 years under team control and two additional free agent years. The deal would have taken him into his age 28 season.
Reviewing the deal, only projected in the 2021-2023 would Lindor have lost money while he would have gained in the previous four years. The net difference being a loss of approximately $ 16 MM if his projected pay for the entirety of the contract including the 2022 and 2023 season if his pay becomes or is equal to $ 27 MM he’s expected to achieve in his 2021 season with the Tribe as an arbitraion eligible player under the team control.
In short.. Lindor’s representation gave him and he followed poor advice. If his representation would have advised the opposite, he would have gained significant security while achieving higher pay.. It’s clear, risks were borne by Lindor.. and that’s a decision he has to live with..
Thoughts?..
I heard those exact same numbers and supposedly, Lindor countered at the time asking for another $10M in exchange (so, 7, $117M) for giving up those two free agent years and the Indians said no.
So they were very close, but since then, salaries have zoomed way past any chance the Indians have now to keep him.
I disagree with your premise – Lindor will be young enough as a FA now and playing a premium position that I think it’s highly likely he scores a 10- to 12-year deal.
As a 28-year old FA, he could have only gotten 7 or 8 tops.
He made a great decision to pass on that contract, though it is sad for the Indians and their fans.
Hmm….
I hadn’t heard of the counter, but, it seems appropriate..
As far as disagreeing with the age 28 season comment, my point was that Frankie Lindor would have been still young enough to win a massive long term contract, approximately 7 to 10 years in the 30 – 35 AAV range. Not with the Indians.. That’s the reality of the Indians baseball business..