The 2015 Cleveland Indians

[Real Deal]

Well done.

 

[Ohio]

Well this off season just became a lot more interesting.

 

[Urban]

Swisher for Johnson straight up would've been a decent enough deal for us because we can actually get some use out of Johnson.

The fact that we unloaded Bourn too makes it a home run. I know Bourn has been better but are we missing something here?

 

[EdMonix11]

I mean... Johnson hit .321/12 HR/68 RBI in 2013. He was a very good hitter.

Has a .313 career avg. vs. lefties. Can't hit righties to save his life. Good platoon player. If he can play 3B, he can certainly play 1B or a COF position.

 

[bigfoot5415]

How much is Johnson owed over his contract compared to what we were paying for those two? I get that we shed some money next year, but wasnt 2016 the final year on Swisher & Bourn's deals?

 

[AMC]

We didn't give up a single prospect and unloaded our 2 worst contracts by a long shot...FIRE SHAPIRO AND ANTONETTI!!!!!

Relax on the sarcasm. You realize this front office is the one who signed the guys we had to dump, right?

They are about 50% on the moves they've made in their tenure. I don't think they should be fired, but they aren't Pat Gillick.

 

[CavsFinals2016]

$10MM in cash

 

[CavsRules]

$10M?

That's a nice chunk of change. $5M per player, just to take them off our hands.

 

[BimboColesHair]

Relax on the sarcasm. You realize this front office is the one who signed the guys we had to dump, right?

They are about 50% on the moves they've made in their tenure. I don't think they should be fired, but they aren't Pat Gillick.

No one could predict Swisher to implode like he did after putting up a 3.6 WAR his 1st year with us using an offensive style that ages well...same goes for Bourn, who was lauded as a steal due to the amount we signed him for vs the amount he was asking for all winter long, not to mention he was coming off of a 6 WAR, All-Star season in his prime at the time of his signing. Just didn't work out, but it got us to the playoffs 1 year and won us 85 games while being in playoff contention for the majority of the season another one.

It's a huge win that they didn't have to give up a prospect to clear these deals off of the books. Huge win, regardless if they were the ones who signed them or not.

 

[MirORich]

$10M?

That's a nice chunk of change. $5M per player, just to take them off our hands.

Won't a lot of that be just covering the remainder of their 2015 salaries?

The big saving is next year: Johnson 7.5 million + maybe 3-4 million left over of the 10 we paid equals about 10-11 million.

Swisher and Bourne were due 29 million combined

 

[CBBI]

Unless my math is totally screwed up here, the Indians save a decent amount of cash even with the 10M kicked in.

Swisher: approx 5M still owed 2015, 15M in 2016
Bourn: approx 4.5M still owed 2015, 14M in 2016
Total: 38.5M

Johnson: approx 2M still owed 2015, 7.5M in 2016, 9M in 2017, 1M buyout in 2018
Total: 19.5M

Kick in 10M from the Indians and they still come out about 9-10M ahead in the deal.

 

[WUJU]

Guys, I am baseball novice. Can anyone give an overview of the guy we got?

 

[AZ_]

Breaking down what this all means:

Chris Johnson is owed about $17.5M over the next two seasons ($7.5 in 16, $9 in 17, $1M buyout 18)

Bourn is due $14M and Swisher is due $15M next season.

With the Indians sending out $10M in addition to the two players (in lieu of prospects), the Indians save about $2M over the life of this deal and free up $11.5M in 2016.

Johnson isn't wholly terrible, especially vs. lefties. The Indians have the opportunity to put him in a strict platoon role.

CJ platoon splits (2014-2015):

2014 (195AB) - .395/.435/.553 (.988) - .570 OPS vs. RHP
2015 (62AB) - .323/.344/.403 (.747) - .488 OPS vs. RHP

* Johnson spent the month of May on the DL with a broken hand, which has obviously had some carry-over effect.

He can be passable at 1B and 3B, and I wouldn't be surprised to see the Indians try him in the OF as well.

What it means for 2016:

By speading out the life of Johnson's deal over two years instead of paying Swisher and Bourn in 2016, the Indians have freed up $11.5M to attack the off-season this year.

Overall, it's a salary swap that gives the Indians vastly more flexibility to reboot and build a viable lineup for next season.

 

[CBBI]

Breaking down what this all means:

Chris Johnson is owed about $17.5M over the next two seasons ($7.5 in 16, $9 in 17, $1M buyout 18)

Bourn is due $14M and Swisher is due $15M next season.

With the Indians sending out $10M in addition to the two players (in lieu of prospects), the Indians save about $2M over the life of this deal and free up $11.5M in 2016.

Are you factoring in what the three players are respectively still owed in 2015? My quick math has Bourn/Swisher making about 7.5M more than Johnson over the rest of this season, assuming not all of their contracts have been paid out yet.

 

[bigfoot5415]

Breaking down what this all means:

Chris Johnson is owed about $17.5M over the next two seasons ($7.5 in 16, $9 in 17, $1M buyout 18)

Bourn is due $14M and Swisher is due $15M next season.

With the Indians sending out $10M in addition to the two players (in lieu of prospects), the Indians save about $2M over the life of this deal and free up $11.5M in 2016.

Johnson isn't wholly terrible, especially vs. lefties. The Indians have the opportunity to put him in a strict platoon role.

CJ platoon splits (2014-2015):

2014 (195AB) - .395/.435/.553 (.988) - .570 OPS vs. RHP
2015 (62AB) - .323/.344/.403 (.747) - .488 OPS vs. RHP

* Johnson spent the month of May on the DL with a broken hand, which has obviously had some carry-over effect.

He can be passable at 1B and 3B, and I wouldn't be surprised to see the Indians try him in the OF as well.

What it means for 2016:

By speading out the life of Johnson's deal over two years instead of paying Swisher and Bourn in 2016, the Indians have freed up $11.5M to attack the off-season this year.

Overall, it's a salary swap that gives the Indians vastly more flexibility to reboot and build a viable lineup for next season.

What about their vested options in 2017?