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Poll: Assessing The Indians’ Outfield Situation

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Early on in the 2018-2019 offseason, I wrote that the outfield was the Indians’ biggest area of need. That was hardly a unique opinion; many around the industry have surmised the same, and it’s fair to wonder whether the Tribe can confidently go toe to toe with some notable AL rivals if their outfield picture as currently constructed doesn’t change.

Since the time of the aforementioned post, the club has watched free agent Michael Brantley sign with the Astros, while fellow outfielder Rajai Davis inked a minor-league pact with the Mets. Cleveland did pad its outfield prospect depth a bit with the acquisition of Daniel Johnson (as a component of the Yan Gomes trade with the Nationals), though he hasn’t played above Double-A and realistically only projects as a fourth outfield type. And while some might consider newcomer Jake Bauers as someone who improves the outlook there, defensive concerns there make it much more likely he’ll fulfill a first base/DH role.

All this is to say that it seems quite likely that the Indians will bring at least one more notable player into the fold. The possibility they’ll stand pat and fill all three roles internally can’t be entirely eliminated, of course, but such an approach would be irresponsible from a club trying to capitalize on a weakening window of contention. A mix-and-match crew of fourth outfielder types won’t help the club make a serious postseason run, after all. The picture is even more bleak when looking beyond the near-term, as the club’s best bet for league-average production, Leonys Martin, is set to depart in free agency next winter.

There are still some notable outfielders available on the free agent market.  Keep in mind that any speculation about whether or not the Indians will sign a full-time outfielder must be met with the caveat that the club already went through an arduous effort to trim payroll this offseason, signifying some not-insignificant financial constraints in putting together the roster for 2019. That said, there are some interesting potential fits even in the wake of Andrew McCutchen and Brantley coming off the board.

The top free agent outfielder, Bryce Harper, is light years past being a realistic target for the small-market Indians. Beyond him, the next-best free agent outfielder available is A.J. Pollock. Any realistic pursuit of Pollock would probably involve some additional payroll maneuvering, but the Indians have shown a willingness to pony up, relatively speaking, for talented hitters in recent years (most notably Edwin Encarnacion). If Pollock’s contract ask comes down to four or even three years, he’d be an excellent fit for the Tribe. Marwin Gonzalez is the most talented alternative, and while he’d be paid at least in part for his defensive versatility, his projected contract could be palatable for the Tribe.

Looking at the lower tiers of the free agent market, the Indians could take a chance on the moderate upside of Nick Markakis or Adam Jones. Such a move could provide clubhouse intangibles in addition to a stable fixture at an outfield corner. On the whole, though, it would commit a disproportionate amount of the club’s available finances in order to make a marginal upgrade. Worth mentioning: with some bullpen issues to address, the payroll consequences of the options in free agency shouldn’t be overlooked.

The Indians have a much wider (and more efficient) array of options on the trade market. With excessive rotation depth and some interesting prospects on the farm, the Tribe has the unique ability to appeal to rebuilding clubs and fellow contenders alike. There’s certainly been no shortage of rumors involving the Indians and rival clubs with outfield depth.

The most serious rumblings to date have been centered around Dodgers prospect Alex Verdugo. The price would be a steep one, as the structures discussed would involve the Tribe sending two-time Cy Young Award-Winner Corey Kluber to Los Angeles for Verdugo and (presumably) other pieces. The Indians have also been connected to Reds prospects Nick Senzel and Taylor Trammel, though Cincinnati’s recent acquisition of Alex Wood might reduce their need for rotation pieces at this juncture.

The Phillies and Brewers are the only other teams who’ve been definitively connected to the Indians in trade rumors, though that doesn’t necessarily mean that other talks haven’t taken place. Speculatively speaking, rebuilding clubs like the Rangers (with whom the Indians recently discussed a trade involving Joey Gallo) could be interested in some of the Tribe’s high-ceiling talent in the lower minors.

The recap above being fairly comprehensive, we’ll turn the discussion over to the readers at this point. How do you think the Indians will address their outfield need? (poll link for app users)

Offseason Outlook: Cleveland Indians

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MLBTR is publishing Offseason Outlooks for all 30 teams.  Click here to read the other entries in this series.

The Indians endured the heartbreak of another early exit from the postseason in 2018, and they’re likely to suffer the mass exodus of nearly a dozen free agents. That, combined with several impending player salary increases, a shortage of top prospects, and the looming return to relevance of some rebuilding AL Central teams, poses some difficult questions about the Tribe’s contention window. They’ll enter the offseason foraging for creative (and budget-conscious) ways to address them.

Guaranteed Contracts

  • Edwin Encarnacion, 1B/DH: $25MM through 2019 (includes $5MM buyout on 2020 club option)
  • Corey Kluber, SP: $19MM through 2019 (includes $2MM in buyouts on 2020, 2021 club options)
  • Jason Kipnis, 2B/OF: $17MM through 2019 (includes $2.5MM buyout on 2020 club option)
  • Carlos Carrasco, SP: $10,412,500 through 2019 (includes $662.5K buyout on 2020 club option)
  • Yonder Alonso, 1B: $9MM through 2019 (includes $1MM buyout on 2020 vesting/club option)
  • Brad Hand, RP: $14.5MM through 2020 (includes $1MM buyout on 2021 club option)
  • Yan Gomes, C: $9MM through 2019 (includes $2MM in buyouts on 2020, 2021 club options)
  • Jose Ramirez, 2B/3B: $21MM through 2021 (includes $2MM option on 2022 club option)
  • Roberto Perez, C: $6.9MM through 2020 (includes $900K in buyouts on 2020, 2021 club options)
  • Dan Otero, RP: $1.4MM through 2019 (includes $100K buyout on 2020 club option)

Arbitration-Eligible Players (projections via MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz)

Free Agents

[Cleveland Indians Depth Chart | Cleveland Indians Payroll Outlook]

While the Indians have enjoyed a sustained run of dominance over the rest of the American League Central for the past three seasons, they’ve fallen short of a championship each year, and every time in a fashion more disappointing than the last. Three consecutive losses have bumped them from the playoffs all three times, and they’re now facing yet another club record payroll (north of $145MM) in a market too small in size to support such a figure.

Worse yet, that payroll estimate comes in spite of the very likely departures of several players who’ve been key contributors during the Tribe’s run of success, including Brantley, Allen, Miller and Chisenhall. The subtraction of those contracts from the books are more than negated by gargantuan expected arbitration raises for Bauer and Lindor, in combination with 10 players who are contractually guaranteed raises on their 2018 salaries. Put more simply, Cleveland is set to subtract talent while adding payroll.

It’s not as though there’s significant cavalry on its way from the farm, either. Four of the club’s five top prospects are still playing at Class A or below, and their highest-ranked outfield prospect (their biggest area of need) in the upper minors is Oscar Mercado, who sits at #15 on MLB Pipeline’s Indians prospect rankings. Only #1-ranked Triston McKenzie appears primed to make an impact in 2019, and the Tribe’s rotation already has five locks in the form of Kluber, Carrasco, Bauer, Mike Clevinger and Shane Bieber.

That’s perhaps a large part of the reason the Tribe is reportedly willing to listen to offers on Kluber and Carrasco this winter, in addition to some other pricey veterans. The logic behind it makes plenty of sense: if the Indians can deal from a strength by trading one of their top starters for a cheap, controllable outfielder who can help now, they’d receive some salary relief while improving their outlook further down the road, and all without greatly diminishing the strength of their 2019 ballclub. After all, McKenzie’s ceiling is nothing to scoff at, and without much divisional competition to worry about (again) in 2019, the club might be less concerned with its regular season starting five than it is with its postseason starting four. And one could certainly argue that there’s no better time to reap a generous return for a premium starting pitcher, given the number of pitching-needy contenders and relative dearth of alternatives on the trade market and in free agency.

Of course, with Kluber being a two-time Cy Young winner and one of the main faces of the franchise, it might be hard for fans to stomach losing him in an effort driven in part by a desire to shed salary. Meanwhile, trading Carrasco for even a player owed the league minimum would save the club less than eight figures next season, so while such a move could still help to fill a hole elsewhere on the roster, it wouldn’t go as far in the way of shedding financial obligations. These factors, along with the immense value each pitcher is expected to deliver on his contract in 2019 (and beyond), make it far from a sure thing that either will end up in a different uniform before Opening Day. Rather, the notion of the Tribe trading one of their top two arms should be seen only as one potential card in their hand as they work to solve a complicated roster puzzle headed into next year.

The biggest gap in that puzzle, as we touched upon earlier, lies in the outfield. Brantley, who’s been a mainstay since his MLB debut in 2009, is set to test free agency for the first time in his career; reports say he’s almost certainly not returning to Cleveland. Cabrera, Davis and Guyer, likewise, are vulnerable to being signed by rival teams at this juncture. Martin, for whom they traded prior to the 2018 non-waiver deadline, is expected to make a full recovery from a life-threatening bacterial infection in time for opening day, but outside of him — assuming he is indeed able to get back to full health — the club’s options are extraordinarily fallible. Kipnis hasn’t had a productive offensive season since 2016. Greg Allen has played below replacement level thus far in 330 career plate appearances. Naquin’s career is full of ups and downs and there’s no telling whether he’ll completely rebound from his recent hip surgery. Former top prospect Bradley Zimmer limped offensively in 2018 and won’t return for quite some time due to a shoulder injury he suffered in Triple-A.

Outside of trading a starting pitcher, the Tribe would appear to have few ways to address their outfield need. They already swung a minor trade with the Pirates that netted them major-leaguer Jordan Luplow, though he’s more of a lottery ticket than an established, reliable piece. One possible avenue would be to cash in prospect capital for a talented corner outfield option; certainly MLB Pipeline’s #84 prospect Nolan Jones could get a conversation started for some solid targets. And with monetary funds largely tapped out as things stand at present, they’re highly unlikely to afford a reliable solution on the free agent market.

Then again, that financial outlook could easily change if the club is able to find a taker for some of their more expensive veterans. Encarnacion and Kipnis, for example, are both on the wrong side of the aging curve. The two combined for just 3.2 fWAR in 2018 but are owed a massive sum of $36.5MM for their services next season. Certainly neither player would be viewed as having any sort of surplus value on his respective salary — quite the contrary — and that’s without even considering the $7.5MM in total buyouts on the pair’s contract options for 2020. Still, either could provide a method of shedding salary if the right team were to show interest. Encarnacion has plenty of pop left in his bat, and could be a fit for a handful of American League clubs. Young OBP machine Yandy Diaz could perhaps step in and fill the DH opening should the parrot fly out of Cleveland. Kipnis, meanwhile, could theoretically be replaced with the addition or promotion of an infielder or outfielder, so there are plenty of options to fill his shoes. Certainly plenty of teams would be interested in bringing a league-average middle infielder into the fold.

Of course, the Tribe’s questions marks are not limited to the outfield. Perhaps an even more pressing issue is the club’s bullpen, which finished in the AL’s bottom three in ERA, FIP and fWAR, and has been ravaged by the free agent departures of Allen, Miller and Perez. Of the group set to return, only Hand finished 2018 with an ERA below 4.00. It’s worth mentioning that Salazar is somewhat of a wild card, but overall the outlook is bleak.

It’s unclear what viable options the club has in the way of improving its relief corps to the level necessary to compete with other powerhouse teams, but the “throw a bunch of spaghetti against the wall and see what sticks” method employed by the club in 2018 was a pronounced failure and hopefully won’t be employed again next season. The in-house group is likely to see some positive regression, of course, but creative methods of bringing in reinforcements are likely to be high on the club’s priority list.

While there are certainly plenty of issues to address for 2019, the long-term outlook brings an entirely different cornucopia of questions. While the Indians have a wide variety of high-end young talent locked up for the near future (Lindor, Ramirez, Clevinger and Hand all come to mind), those players will continue to get significantly more expensive over the next three seasons. During that time, their already-expensive veterans are more likely to decline than they are to repeat their recent performances, and unlike in years past they’ve got very few promising players under team control beyond the next three seasons. The AL Central won’t be a cakewalk forever; teams like the White Sox and Tigers are already past the initial teardown phases of their respective rebuilds and figure to be on the upswing in the coming seasons. All of a sudden, the Tribe is facing some very real longevity concerns, and it’s not unthinkable that they could make some creative moves this offseason as a means of addressing them.

Of course, even if they made next to no major moves from this point through spring training, they’re a contender in every sense of the word. Their rotation remains one of the best in baseball, and they have two of the game’s best young position-player talents in Lindor and Ramirez. The path to a fourth consecutive AL Central Championship doesn’t have much in the way of serious obstructions, so any and all acquisitions the Indians make this winter will simply culminate in slight statistical improvements upon their postseason odds. While they aren’t likely to enter next October as favorites, they’ll have a chance, and as we saw with the 2016 club, sometimes an outside shot can carry a team a long way.

The recently (and unofficially) extended Mike Chernoff has a wide variety of issues to address this offseason, but he’s also got a wide variety of options at his disposal and a relatively low floor as far as overall competitive makeup. There will be some suspense as far as who might stay or go, however, and that very aspect of the club’s offseason outlook means that there will be several interesting storylines to follow. Tribe fans will certainly have an entertaining winter ahead of them in that regard.

Quick Hits: Harper, Donaldson, Wong

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In a piece for the Sports Info Solutions blog, Mark Simon digs deep to try and find an explanation for Bryce Harper’s poor defensive ratings; he’s cost the Nationals 25 runs with his performance in the field, per Defensive Runs Saved. Simon notes that Harper ranks second-worst among all MLB position players in that metric, having played well below average both in right and center field. Simon objectively examines the categories in which the All-Star slugger has performed below his historical norms, such as range rating, deterrent value from his throwing arm, and the routes he’s taken to fly balls. Of course, defensive statistics are widely thought of as more subjective than most offensive stats, so it remains to be seen just how much any of these numbers will actually impact Harper’s value on the free agent market this offseason. As Simon notes, he’s certainly quelled mid-season concerns about his offensive capabilities by tattooing baseballs to the tune of a 1.004 OPS since the All-Star break. It will be interesting to see how Harper’s suitors factor his defensive performance into their offers over the course of the winter.

And now a pair of notes related to infielders…

  • Jordan Bastian of MLB.com provides the highlights from a recent press Q&A with Josh Donaldson. Among the most interesting parts of the interview is Donaldson’s credit to NFL wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald for referring soft-tissue expert Dr. Josh Sandell to him. The third baseman also noted that he made some dietary changes during his recovery from injury, and discussed how he feels hitting-wise. “I’ve felt better,” said Donaldson. “I haven’t had much of the results to look for, but I feel like I’ve hit some balls hard. As long as my approach and how I’m seeing the ball — my pitch recognition — is up to par, and I’m hitting the ball solid, there’s not much more I can ask for from that.” The “Bringer of Rain” owns a .811 OPS in a small sample with the Indians as he attempts to help his new club get back to the World Series, all while making his bid for a big free agent payday.
  • Though Cardinals infielder Kolten Wong left Friday’s game early due to cramping, Joe Trezza of MLB.com tweets that he’ll likely be available off the bench today, per manager Mike Shildt. Shildt is reportedly “very hopeful” that Wong can return to the starting lineup tomorrow. That’s in line with good news about the situation coming out of the Cardinals’ camp- the club believes that the cramping was due to dehydration, not a hamstring strain. Wong’s in the midst of the best season of his career by fWAR, having reached base in a third of his plate appearances while playing excellent defense in 869 2/3 innings at the keystone for St. Louis.

 

Poll: Grading the Josh Donaldson Trade

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Perhaps the most significant trade that took place on the day of the August postseason eligibility trade deadline was the one that sent Josh Donaldson to the Indians. The former AL MVP has endured an injury-plagued season owing to his shoulder and calf, but made it back to the field on a rehab assignment just in time to be put through trade waivers and ultimately sent to Cleveland in exchange for salary relief and a player to be named later.

At the beginning of the 2018 season, it would have seemed unfathomable that the Jays would get so little value as a result of Donaldson’s departure. Few expected them to seriously contend amidst a division that features the Red Sox and Yankees, but if they had been competitive enough to keep Donaldson through season’s end, most would have bet heavily on an outcome in which he’d receive and reject a qualifying offer. That would have netted the Jays a first-round pick had he signed for $50MM or more elsewhere, a scenario that the majority of baseball enthusiasts also would have put money on. And certainly if you’d have told a pundit back in March that Toronto would fall out of competition by late July, they’d have been wondering which team gave up a top prospect in order to acquire him ahead of the non-waiver trade deadline.

The actual outcome was an awful bout of bad fortune for both Donaldson and the Jays, of course. He only stayed on the field enough to accrue 159 plate appearances, and his performance was inconsistent with his track record. Most readers of MLBTR will by now recognize .234/.333/.423 as Donaldson’s batting line so far in 2018, a far cry from the numbers he’d previously put up over the course of his tenure in Canada.

In no small part due to those factors, the receipt of a qualifying offer that once seemed a foregone conclusion for the 33-year-old became a decision clouded with doubt across the industry. The club certainly faced serious risk had they kept the slugger. A full return to form would have made it worth issuing him a one-year contract approaching $20MM, but a poor or even average performance would have forced the Blue Jays with a difficult choice: let their star third baseman walk for nothing or make him an exorbitant offer and thereby risk both a payroll albatross and 2019 roster crunch involving Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Evidently, the Jays decided that the Tribe’s offer to pay $1.3MM of his remaining salary and fork over a young player presented a better alternative to taking such a risk. Reportedly, they’ll receive right-hander Julian Merryweather, who ranked as the club’s 15th-best prospect headed into the season prior to undergoing Tommy John surgery. One could certainly argue that Merryweather holds more upside and less risk than a late-first-round pick in next year’s draft, but his recent injury would make that a tough sell.

For that reason, some fans and reporters have chided the Jays for “giving Donaldson away”. That’s not literally the case, as anyone who wanted the three-time All-Star could have simply claimed him on waivers; all 29 rival teams opted to pass on that front). Still, one could look at the scenario as Toronto paying the Indians over $2MM to take Donaldson off their hands (though they’d have to assume that Merryweather has no value).

On the other hand, it’s perhaps a positive thing that the Jays were able to get Donaldson back on the field in time to reap any value at all from him. Though he’s absolutely raked during his rehab assignment in Cleveland, Toronto could have very easily watched Donaldson re-injure himself and thus been criticized by some fans for keeping him through September.

What do you think? How do you rate this trade from the Blue Jays’ perspective? (Poll link for app users)

Indians Designate Evan Marshall

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Amidst a flurry of September 1st moves, the Indians announced that they’ve opted to designated right-hander Evan Marshall for assignment in order to make room for fellow righty Jon Edwards, whose contract has been selected from Triple-A Columbus.

Marshall, 28, was part of the Tribe’s infamous early-season bullpen shuffle as the club sorted through a host of relievers in order to find some semblance of stability in a bullpen that was then one of the worst in baseball. Of course, Marshall was more a part of the problem than he was a part of the solution for the Indians, as he allowed six earned runs in seven innings for the MLB club. He also walked a quartet of hitters during that time.

There was a reason the Cleveland organization gave him a look, though. His track record at Triple-A was nearly flawless; Marshall posted a sparkling 2.51 FIP across 24 innings with the Columbus Clippers, with an ERA that came out to less than half that figure. However, they apparently didn’t feel it would be worth the opportunity to allow him to sort things out in the majors during September, and he’ll now be available for another club to take a chance on as active roster allotments expand to 40.

August 31st Trade Deadline Recap

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A flurry of activity came yesterday in advance of the deadline to acquire postseason-eligible players via trade. In case you weren’t able to keep track of it all, here’s a roundup of the swaps made by MLB organizations on August 31st, 2018, sorted by the team on the acquiring end of the major-leaguer involved.

AL West

AL Central

  • The Indians acquired Josh Donaldson from the Blue Jays. Toronto will send $2.7MM to Cleveland as well, and they’ll get back a player to be named later, the quality of which will be dependent upon how Donaldson’s health situation progresses.

AL East

  • The Yankees took Adeiny Hechavarria off the Pirates’ hands in exchange for a player to be named later or cash considerations. It’s not yet known how much cash the Bucs will chip in to help pay the ~$1MM still owed to Hechavarria.
  • The Yankees also pried Andrew McCutchen from the Giants. San Francisco gets infield prospect Abiatal Avelino and right-handed pitching prospect Juan De Paula.

NL West

NL Central

NL East

  • (No trades)

Quick Hits: Allen, Holliday, Cease

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Last night, Indians reliever Cody Allen’s year-long struggles continued as he blew a save against the cellar-dwelling Royals. Allen’s latest collapse on the mound, during which he gave up back-to-back homers to a pair of rookies, prompted Paul Hoynes of the Plain Dealer to address whether or not the newly-acquired Brad Hand ought to be given the full-time closer job. While Hoynes does more spitballing than actual answering of the question, he does quote manager Terry Francona at one point, who says that “I’ll sit down and talk to him again because we need him. We can’t run from Cody. We need him really bad to win. So we’ll visit a little bit.” From my perspective, Allen may not only be pitching himself out of his “closer” job, but also out of a potential qualifying offer at season’s end, which he seemed a near lock to warrant at the outset of the 2018 season. That’d be bad news for a small-market Cleveland ballclub that would surely like to be rewarded for his departure with a compensatory draft pick.

A couple of items from elsewhere around the league…

  • 38-year-old Matt Holliday’s return to the Rockies became official last night, as he played left field against the Padres last night. After lingering on the free agent market all last winter in hopes of securing a major-league contract, Holliday recently joined the Rockies on a minor league pact and demolished Triple-A pitching en route to a call-up to help the MLB club, as Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post details in his latest piece. “I’m here to help the team in any way possible,” Holliday said of his return to the majors. “I’m just here to be part of the team and do everything I can to impact the team, as best I can.” The seven-time All-Star feels as though he’s in excellent shape, in part thanks to his tune-up in the minors. For his part, manager Bud Black is happy to have both Holliday’s playing ability and leadership in the fold as the team pushes for a playoff berth.
  • The White Sox have opted to shut down one of their top pitching prospects for the season, James Fegan of The Athletic reports via Twitter.  However, the decision isn’t related to any sort of injury. Rather, Dylan Cease has simply reached an innings threshold that the organization doesn’t wish to push him past. The 22-year-old right-hander has tossed 124 innings combined between Chicago’s High-A and Double-A affiliates, which exceeds his career high workload by about 30. Cease hasn’t faced much resistance in his ascension, posting a 1.72 ERA with Double-A Birmingham this season while racking up a whopping 78 strikeouts in just 52 1/3 innings pitched.

Minor MLB Transactions: 8/4/18

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We’ll use this post to keep track of some minor transactions throughout the day…

Latest…

  • The Tigers have made their second minor deal of the day, this time acquiring righty Eric Villanueva from the Mets in exchange for cash considerations, Woodbery tweets. Villanueva, 20, had been with the Mets since they chose him out of Puerto Rico in the 30th round of the 2016 draft. During his time with the Mets, Villaneuva worked at the Rookie level and struggled to a 5.14 ERA with unsightly strikeout and walk rates (5.1 K/9, 11.2 BB/9) across 40 1/3 innings.

Earlier…

  • The Yankees have acquired infielder Gio Urshela from the Blue Jays in exchange for cash considerations; Conor Foley of the Scranton Times-Tribune was first to take note of the transaction, and the move has since been announced by both organizations. The Jays designated Urshela for assignment on June 26th, about seven weeks after they claimed him off waivers from the Indians. The 26-year-old is widely known for his highlight-reel defensive plays, although he’s also error-prone on the big stage; Urshela made four errors while with Cleveland during last year’s ALDS. His tepid bat has been what’s really held him back, though. Urshela’s career batting line is .225/.274/.315 across 499 plate appearances with Cleveland and Toronto.
  • The Indians announced that they’ve traded right-hander George Kontos to the Yankees in exchange for cash considerations; the Yankees in turn announced that the veteran has assigned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre. The 33-year-old has pitched in parts of every MLB season since 2011, though he’s never shuffled around the league quite this much. Kontos began 2018 with the Pirates before being shipped to Cleveland, and will now head to his third team of the year. He’s earned himself a 4.68 ERA across 25 innings thus far, and his FIP (5.93) suggests he’s been lucky to attain even that mediocre mark. However, if he can return to the form of the 3.12 ERA hurler he’s been across his career on average, he could yet prove a useful piece for the Bombers.
  • The Tigers have acquired righty Christian Binford from the Orioles in exchange for cash considerations, per Evan Woodbery of MLive. Across 12 appearances this season (seven starts) with the O’s Double-A affiliate, Binford has pitched to a 4.95 ERA. While he’s walked just 1.28 batters per nine innings, he’s only managed to strike out a measly 5.59. However, his 4.35 xFIP suggests that he’s been slightly unlucky in terms of fly balls going for home runs. While Binford has remained at Double-A all season, he’s seen time at the minors’ highest level in each of the past two years (while with the Royals organization). In fact, prior to this season, the 25-year-old had never known any other organization outside of Kansas City, who selected him in the 30th round of the 2011 draft.

Indians Pursued Ian Kinsler Trade

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Among many notes of interest in his deadline run-down (subscription link), Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic writes that the Indians made a run at Ian Kinsler before the Angels instead sent him to the Red Sox.

That move would have bumped incumbent second baseman Jason Kipnis into the outfield mix and perhaps precluded the Indians’ eventual acquisition of Leonys Martin. As things stand, the Cleveland organization still seems a plausible buyer of infield help on the August trade market (particularly considering Kipnis has hit a paltry .200/.217/.311 so far since the All-Star break), though they’re also likely to explore additional outfield upgrades as well.

With MVP candidate Jose Ramirez being a perfectly capable second baseman, the news that the Tribe pursued Kinsler implies that they might also be open to potential third base upgrades; the club was already known to be heavily in on Manny Machado before he was shipped to the Dodgers. That could include the likes of Josh Donaldson, should he return to health before the end of August. It’s worth noting that the Indians also have third baseman Yandy Diaz waiting in the minor-league wings, though his defense has a malignant impact on his value.

Then again, it could simply be that the Tribe saw Kinsler as a significant enough upgrade to pursue him ahead of most available outfield options. That being said, outside of Donaldson the outfield options who could potentially be had in August are far more interesting than any of the infield options who might clear waivers. Andrew McCutchen, Kole Calhoun and Avisail Garcia are some of the names who the Indians might be willing to pursue were they to stick with Kipnis at his natural position, though that’s simply my own speculation.

Placed On DL: Rua, Perdomo, Naquin

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Here are a few players to hit the disabled list today…

  • Rangers outfielder Ryan Rua has been placed on the DL with back spasms, the club has announced; they’ve recalled center fielder Delino DeShields to take his spot on the roster. Rua’s been worse than a replacement level player this year, according to both Fangraphs and Baseball Reference, hitting a meager .194/.223/.371 across 132 plate appearances. He’s struck out in exactly a third of his plate appearances while drawing just five walks in that span.
  • The Padres announced that Luis Perdomo is going back on the disabled list due to a strained right shoulder, while left-hander Jose Castillo will activated from the DL in the same transaction. Perdomo allowed six earned runs in just 2 1/3 innings in his most recent start, and the former Rule 5 Draft selection has endured an ugly season to date. The right-hander has barely averaged four innings per start, walking nearly five batters per nine innings while posting a 7.94 ERA for the Friars. It’s surely a disappointing development for a San Diego ballclub that’s been very patient with him in his development since holding him on their active roster for the entire 2016 season.
  • The Indians’ outfield woes continue, with Tyler Naquin becoming the latest player to hit the disabled list. Naquin’s been dealing with a hip injury, as was earlier reported, so the official move comes as little surprise. Right-hander Adam Plutko will be recalled in his place, as tonight’s scheduled starter Mike Clevinger is dealing with a minor illness and may have to miss his start. Naquin’s been only marginally above replacement and sports a .264/.295/.356 slash line, but he was one of few options in the Tribe outfield worth playing and they’ll now likely be intensifying their search for a viable replacement for Lonnie Chisenhall.
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