Infielder Mike Freeman elected free agency today, the Indians announced. He had previously been outrighted. With his decision, Cleveland now has 6 open spots on their 40-man roster.
Freeman has been outrighted before by the Indians, but he found his way back regardless for the 2020 season. The 33-year-old veteran has never been a major-league regular, but he’s nonetheless a 5-year veteran having spent time with the Diamondbacks, Mariners, Dodgers, Cubs, and Indians.
His most prolific season came in 2019 with the Indians when he slashed .277/.362/.390 with 4 home runs across 213 plate appearances. He appeared in 24 games in 2020, though just 8 as a starter. He slashed .237/.302/.316 over 43 plate appearances.
The former 11th round pick of the Diamondbacks plays all over the diamond, with his value coming primarily via defensive prowess and versatility. He appeared everywhere in the infield as well as left field for the Indians over the past two seasons.
Not really good at baseball.
Which is why he is a professional
I agree he is not. If not for Indians feeling sorry for this guy (or he has something on the organization) no other team would have him. He like he just found himself on the roster and the indians were like.. eh can’t be arsed to release him, so let him stay.
he was a nice bench bat circa 2019
We know you’re not.
Interesting to me that the Indians cut him loose. I suspect maybe they’re anticipating keeping Lindor, if teams just aren’t going to be comfortable paying him that much. With Hernandez already ready gone, this leaves them without a lot of viable infield options. You’ve got Jose at 3rd, Chang as a utility IF, a few 1B options and… nothing else on the 40 aside from Lindor.
They were in love with Freeman like Michael Martinez. Why didn’t they cut him loose a few months ago and keep Christian Arroyo instead. Arroyo did well with the red sox and still has quite an upside. Oh and they let him go for nothing like Aguilar. This organization is in love with garbage.
Arroyo stunk, which is why he was sent to the alternate site, and MM was nowhere near as good or valuable as Freeman.
Freeman was brought into the fold to fill the void left by Abraham Almonte – cheap roster filler whose dream of ever achieving replacement level production never materializes. Btw, the Braves inexplicably signed Almonte about a week ago.
If the Indians weren’t contending for a playoff spot this year, it would make a lot more sense to give an extended look to a former prospect. Boston was in a much better position to give him a look. The Indians prioritized defense and flexibility with their bench spots.. makes sense for a contender.
He is a free man now.