Indians Need a Power Hitter for 2016

[buckeyefan]

Man, Schwarber's defense is awful. If he can't improve as a catcher I think a trade to the AL (Indians perhaps) could be in the cards.

 

[AZ_]

Man, Schwarber's defense is awful. If he can't improve as a catcher I think a trade to the AL (Indians perhaps) could be in the cards.

Yeah he should never catch again.

 

[buckeyefan]

Yeah he should never catch again.

That bad? Never actually watched him catch. Seeing Schwarber in the outfield was awful.

 

[AZ_]

That bad? Never actually watched him catch. Seeing Schwarber in the outfield was awful.

I'd be surprised if he ever caught again at the big league level.

He's a DH or 1B.

 

[JFT]

Yasiel Puig: Is He Worth Going After?

http://rcfsports.com/2015/10/22/yasiel-puig-is-he-worth-going-after/

 

[AZ_]

Molly Knight knows her shit.

Her opinions on the inner workings of the Dodgers clubhouse should hold a ton of merit.

 

[Ohio]

Hell ya I'd take Puig. Tito would get the best out of him.

Manny JR, anyone?

 

[AZ_]

That's an insult to Manny.

 

[macbdog]

Hell ya I'd take Puig. Tito would get the best out of him.

Manny JR, anyone?

I would say 'Wily Mo Pena Jr' but Wily is too young to have an adult junior.

 

[Steve_424]

I think most of us following the Indians this year would agree that we need at least one solid power hitter for this coming year. Will the owners support it and find one?

I hate lazy jabs at ownership like this one. Will they support it? If you mean giving $20 M per to a guy like Cespedes, they won't and they shouldn't. Will they support a trade? Of course, but it takes two to tango. Are you willing to give up Carrasco or Salazar? That's where most conversations will start. That's not to say they can't get one without giving up one of our stud SPs, but it's not like they can just go to Walgreens and pick one up, and finding a power hitter this offseason has very little to do with ownership.

 

[macbdog]

I hate lazy jabs at ownership like this one. Will they support it? If you mean giving $20 M per to a guy like Cespedes, they won't and they shouldn't. Will they support a trade? Of course, but it takes two to tango. Are you willing to give up Carrasco or Salazar? That's where most conversations will start. That's not to say they can't get one without giving up one of our stud SPs, but it's not like they can just go to Walgreens and pick one up, and finding a power hitter this offseason has very little to do with ownership.

Meanwhile the team with the best power in the AL pulled most of their pop off the trash heap (Jose Bautista, Encarnacion, Colabello, Smoak) while the vet who has anchored the Royals lineup is Kendrys Morales. The Indians can find some useable power out there while dumpster diving. It is harder to do now but can be done.

 

[BimboColesHair]

Meanwhile the team with the best power in the AL pulled most of their pop off the trash heap (Jose Bautista, Encarnacion, Colabello, Smoak) while the vet who has anchored the Royals lineup is Kendrys Morales. The Indians can find some useable power out there while dumpster diving. It is harder to do now but can be done.

Bingo...key is for that power not to regress the second they get off the plane at Hopkins.

 

[Steve_424]

Meanwhile the team with the best power in the AL pulled most of their pop off the trash heap (Jose Bautista, Encarnacion, Colabello, Smoak) while the vet who has anchored the Royals lineup is Kendrys Morales. The Indians can find some useable power out there while dumpster diving. It is harder to do now but can be done.

The Blue Jays gave up Scott Rolen for Encarnacion...hardly "trash". I don't see Morales as the "anchor" of the Royals either.

But if your point is that the Indians should simply acquire a player who will be average his first 6 seasons as a pro before busting out as the premier power hitter in the AL at age 29, out of nowhere, like Bautista, I'm fully in support of that.

 

[JFT]

I hate lazy jabs at ownership like this one. Will they support it? If you mean giving $20 M per to a guy like Cespedes, they won't and they shouldn't. Will they support a trade? Of course, but it takes two to tango. Are you willing to give up Carrasco or Salazar? That's where most conversations will start. That's not to say they can't get one without giving up one of our stud SPs, but it's not like they can just go to Walgreens and pick one up, and finding a power hitter this offseason has very little to do with ownership.

You don't have to spend any where near $20M to get a good power hitter. Already mentioned in this thread are reasonable trade options, such as Goldshmidt, Belt, Schwarber, Puig, etc.

As for lazy jabs, I should have explained more clearly that I think the owners are tired of paying up for the recent failed efforts by the likes of Swisher, Moss, Bourn, etc. so they may not support trading a very good pitcher like Carrasco or Salazar for someone who may or may not pan out.

And yes, ownership does have a huge say in whether the Indians spend money or not on acquiring new assets. It would be foolish to think otherwise as this is a business. They are simply not going to allow management to spend good money on failed players, especially with a new GM and the failed efforts of the recent past.

 

[Steve_424]

You don't have to spend any where near $20M to get a good power hitter. Already mentioned in this thread are reasonable trade options, such as Goldshmidt, Belt, Schwarber, Puig, etc.

As for lazy jabs, I should have explained more clearly that I think the owners are tired of paying up for the recent failed efforts by the likes of Swisher, Moss, Bourn, etc. so they may not support trading a very good pitcher like Carrasco or Salazar for someone who may or may not pan out.

And yes, ownership does have a huge say in whether the Indians spend money or not on acquiring new assets. It would be foolish to think otherwise as this is a business. They are simply not going to allow management to spend good money on failed players, especially with a new GM and the failed efforts of the recent past.

Here's the issue - we have no idea if those guys are available. Is Goldy "reasonable" to think of as a target? Paul Goldschmidt is an NL MVP candidate. It's doubtful Arizona is willing to deal him and if they were, it'd cost far more than Salazar or Carrasco. Kyle Schwarber has been talked about in trade rumors for the past week or so, but have the Cubs actually said or done anything to suggest they want to deal him? And if they do, you're going to pay a hefty sum - Salazar or Carrasco would be the starting point. Puig? We've talked about it on RCFsports.com, and the Dodgers have been rumored to be considering dealing him, but at what price? They know he has a huge upside too, and surely they're curious to see if his relationship with Mattingly (now gone) was part of the problem. That leaves Brandon Belt, who would surely be a nice pickup but, again, there's no indication that the Giants want to move him.

And that's my point. Sure, there are options out there. However, in every case we just discussed, the issue isn't taking on salary, it's the players that they'd have to give up to bring the hitter back. This is why I said it's lazy - fans scream and yell for the Dolans to spend because that's what Joe Cleveland does. The problem with that argument is that money isn't the issue in acquiring said player.

Listen, this offseason is a tough one for the Indians. They have the chips to get the impact bat everyone keeps talking about, but how far are they willing to go to get him?