• Changing RCF's index page, please click on "Forums" to access the forums.

2019 Series #39 | Indians vs. Red Sox | August 12th, 13th, and 14th

Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Somebody mentioned the Bartolo trade... probably the best damn trade in my life regarding Indians, only if Brandon Phillips worked out. Grady, Cliff, Brandon... those were 3 building block players alone.

Then again you can say Casey Blake for Carlos Santana is the best trade in your life because look.
 
Somebody mentioned the Bartolo trade... probably the best damn trade in my life regarding Indians, only if Brandon Phillips worked out. Grady, Cliff, Brandon... those were 3 building block players alone.

Then again you can say Casey Blake for Carlos Santana is the best trade in your life because look.

All trades involving Jake Westbrook were also pretty great, IMO.
 
Indians have made a lot of good/great trades in the past twenty or so years:
  • Yan Gomes for Daniel Johnson and Jefry Rodriguez
    • Gomes has a .629 OPS for Washington this season
  • Yandy Diaz and Edwin Encarnacion for Carlos Santana and Jake Bauers
    • Diaz and Edwin are having nice years, but Santana has been a legitimate star and season savior and Bauers has solid potential
  • Yonder Alonso for Alex Call
    • Alonso has been horrid in Chicago, and while Call isn't any good in Akron, this trade saved us $8 million
  • Jordan Milbrath for Nick Wittgren
    • Milbrath is 28 years old and stuck in Double-A; Wittgren has been one of our better relievers
  • Trevor Bauer for Franmil Reyes, Logan Allen, Yasiel Puig, Scott Moss, Victor Nova
    • Bauer wasn't long for Cleveland, so we turned him into a young slugger who we control until 2025, a great rental in Puig, a top-100 pitching prospect in Logan Allen, and two other solid prospects
  • Yoiber Marquina for Nick Goody
    • Marquina is 23 years old and a converted catcher to reliever stuck in the rookie league; Goody has been great for the Tribe this season since recovering from injury
  • Ryder Ryan for Jay Bruce (rental)
  • Clint Frazier, Justus Sheffield, Ben Heller for Andrew Miller
    • We never ended up winning with Miller, but he was lights out in our World Series run; Frazier looks to be a good outfielder, but maybe not for the Yankees, Sheffield is with Seattle, and Heller is on the shelf
  • Nathan Lukes for Brandon Guyer
    • Lukes has a .620 OPS in Triple-A this year
  • Brandon Moss for Rob Kaminsky
    • Kaminsky isn't anything crazy special, but he's got a combined 2.68 ERA and 1.15 WHIP in Akron/CBus this year
  • Vinnie Pestano for Mike Clevinger
    • Pestano pitched 21.1 more innings in his career after the trade; Clevinger could win the Cy Young next season
  • Esmil Rogers for Yan Gomes and Mike Aviles
    • Gomes was an all-star and silver slugger for us and Aviles was a nice utility guy for a few years
  • Shin-Soo Choo, Jason Donald, Tony Sipp for Trevor Bauer, Bryan Shaw, Matt Albers, Drew Stubbs
    • We got the best player back in this trade and were able to fleece the Reds/Padres using him seven years later
  • Austin Kearns for Zach McAllister
    • Say what you want about him, but McAllister gave us a few quality seasons out of the bullpen
  • Jake Westbrook, Ryan Ludwick for Corey Kluber
    • Two Cy Youngs. Nuff said.
Here are a few trades still up in the air a bit:
  • Francisco Mejia for Brad Hand and Adam Cimber
    • Hand is a star and Cimber is a decent reliever, but Mejia is still young and oozing potential to be a star catcher
  • Erik Gonzalez, Dante Mendoza, and Tahnaj Thomas for Jordan Luplow and Max Moroff
    • Looks like we made out pretty well here, but Mendoza and Thomas are still really young and Moroff is garbage. Gonzalez hasn't played much at all this year and Luplow has been a lefty masher.
Trades where we lost in the end:
  • Gio Urshela to Toronto for a PTBNL
    • Urshela has a 3.0 WAR, .963 OPS, and 18 HR for New York this year
  • Willi Castro for Leonys Martin and Kyle Dowdy
    • Martin is currently out of baseball and Dowdy is complete garbage; Castro has had a nice year a Triple-A Toledo
  • Asdrubal Cabrera for Zach Walters
    • Pretty sure Cabby was due to walk at the end of the year anyways, but lord was Walters terrible
  • Drew Pomeranz, Alex White, Matt McBride for Ubaldo Jimenez
    • Honestly, nobody really ended up winning here, but Ubaldo was so bad and I hated him so much, I'm saying we lost
Those were just the trades made from 2010-2019. We win a lot, and don't lose often.
 
Indians have made a lot of good/great trades in the past twenty or so years:
  • Yan Gomes for Daniel Johnson and Jefry Rodriguez
    • Gomes has a .629 OPS for Washington this season
  • Yandy Diaz and Edwin Encarnacion for Carlos Santana and Jake Bauers
    • Diaz and Edwin are having nice years, but Santana has been a legitimate star and season savior and Bauers has solid potential
  • Yonder Alonso for Alex Call
    • Alonso has been horrid in Chicago, and while Call isn't any good in Akron, this trade saved us $8 million
  • Jordan Milbrath for Nick Wittgren
    • Milbrath is 28 years old and stuck in Double-A; Wittgren has been one of our better relievers
  • Trevor Bauer for Franmil Reyes, Logan Allen, Yasiel Puig, Scott Moss, Victor Nova
    • Bauer wasn't long for Cleveland, so we turned him into a young slugger who we control until 2025, a great rental in Puig, a top-100 pitching prospect in Logan Allen, and two other solid prospects
  • Yoiber Marquina for Nick Goody
    • Marquina is 23 years old and a converted catcher to reliever stuck in the rookie league; Goody has been great for the Tribe this season since recovering from injury
  • Ryder Ryan for Jay Bruce (rental)
  • Clint Frazier, Justus Sheffield, Ben Heller for Andrew Miller
    • We never ended up winning with Miller, but he was lights out in our World Series run; Frazier looks to be a good outfielder, but maybe not for the Yankees, Sheffield is with Seattle, and Heller is on the shelf
  • Nathan Lukes for Brandon Guyer
    • Lukes has a .620 OPS in Triple-A this year
  • Brandon Moss for Rob Kaminsky
    • Kaminsky isn't anything crazy special, but he's got a combined 2.68 ERA and 1.15 WHIP in Akron/CBus this year
  • Vinnie Pestano for Mike Clevinger
    • Pestano pitched 21.1 more innings in his career after the trade; Clevinger could win the Cy Young next season
  • Esmil Rogers for Yan Gomes and Mike Aviles
    • Gomes was an all-star and silver slugger for us and Aviles was a nice utility guy for a few years
  • Shin-Soo Choo, Jason Donald, Tony Sipp for Trevor Bauer, Bryan Shaw, Matt Albers, Drew Stubbs
    • We got the best player back in this trade and were able to fleece the Reds/Padres using him seven years later
  • Austin Kearns for Zach McAllister
    • Say what you want about him, but McAllister gave us a few quality seasons out of the bullpen
  • Jake Westbrook, Ryan Ludwick for Corey Kluber
    • Two Cy Youngs. Nuff said.
Here are a few trades still up in the air a bit:
  • Francisco Mejia for Brad Hand and Adam Cimber
    • Hand is a star and Cimber is a decent reliever, but Mejia is still young and oozing potential to be a star catcher
  • Erik Gonzalez, Dante Mendoza, and Tahnaj Thomas for Jordan Luplow and Max Moroff
    • Looks like we made out pretty well here, but Mendoza and Thomas are still really young and Moroff is garbage. Gonzalez hasn't played much at all this year and Luplow has been a lefty masher.
Trades where we lost in the end:
  • Gio Urshela to Toronto for a PTBNL
    • Urshela has a 3.0 WAR, .963 OPS, and 18 HR for New York this year
  • Willi Castro for Leonys Martin and Kyle Dowdy
    • Martin is currently out of baseball and Dowdy is complete garbage; Castro has had a nice year a Triple-A Toledo
  • Asdrubal Cabrera for Zach Walters
    • Pretty sure Cabby was due to walk at the end of the year anyways, but lord was Walters terrible
  • Drew Pomeranz, Alex White, Matt McBride for Ubaldo Jimenez
    • Honestly, nobody really ended up winning here, but Ubaldo was so bad and I hated him so much, I'm saying we lost
Those were just the trades made from 2010-2019. We win a lot, and don't lose often.

TL;DR, just since 2010, we basically traded:

Vinnie Pestano, Shin-Soo Choo, Jason Donald, Tony Sipp, Esmil Rogers, Brandon Moss, Nathan Lukes, Yoiber Marquina, Jordan Milbrath, Austin Kearns, Yandy Diaz, and Edwin Encarnacion for...
  • Corey Kluber
  • Mike Clevinger
  • Carlos Santana
  • Franmil Reyes
  • Yasiel Puig
  • Daniel Johnson
  • Jefry Rodriguez
  • Nick Goody
  • Rob Kaminsky
  • Logan Allen
  • Mike Aviles
  • Nick Wittgren
  • Victor Cruz
  • Scott Moss
  • Bryan Shaw
  • Matt Albers
  • Drew Stubbs (traded for Josh Outman)
The only guys we traded on that list that did literally anything after we moved them are Choo, Diaz, and Edwin. The rest either never panned out or are washed and out of the league.

Meanwhile, we got a 2x Cy Young award winner, another Cy Young caliber candidate, an all-star first basemen in Santana, Reyes who could hit 40 homers next season, Puig, multiple MLB caliber relievers, and other legitimate MLB prospects like Allen, Johnson, and Cruz.
 
Indians have made a lot of good/great trades in the past twenty or so years:
  • Yan Gomes for Daniel Johnson and Jefry Rodriguez
    • Gomes has a .629 OPS for Washington this season
  • Yandy Diaz and Edwin Encarnacion for Carlos Santana and Jake Bauers
    • Diaz and Edwin are having nice years, but Santana has been a legitimate star and season savior and Bauers has solid potential
  • Yonder Alonso for Alex Call
    • Alonso has been horrid in Chicago, and while Call isn't any good in Akron, this trade saved us $8 million
  • Jordan Milbrath for Nick Wittgren
    • Milbrath is 28 years old and stuck in Double-A; Wittgren has been one of our better relievers
  • Trevor Bauer for Franmil Reyes, Logan Allen, Yasiel Puig, Scott Moss, Victor Nova
    • Bauer wasn't long for Cleveland, so we turned him into a young slugger who we control until 2025, a great rental in Puig, a top-100 pitching prospect in Logan Allen, and two other solid prospects
  • Yoiber Marquina for Nick Goody
    • Marquina is 23 years old and a converted catcher to reliever stuck in the rookie league; Goody has been great for the Tribe this season since recovering from injury
  • Ryder Ryan for Jay Bruce (rental)
  • Clint Frazier, Justus Sheffield, Ben Heller for Andrew Miller
    • We never ended up winning with Miller, but he was lights out in our World Series run; Frazier looks to be a good outfielder, but maybe not for the Yankees, Sheffield is with Seattle, and Heller is on the shelf
  • Nathan Lukes for Brandon Guyer
    • Lukes has a .620 OPS in Triple-A this year
  • Brandon Moss for Rob Kaminsky
    • Kaminsky isn't anything crazy special, but he's got a combined 2.68 ERA and 1.15 WHIP in Akron/CBus this year
  • Vinnie Pestano for Mike Clevinger
    • Pestano pitched 21.1 more innings in his career after the trade; Clevinger could win the Cy Young next season
  • Esmil Rogers for Yan Gomes and Mike Aviles
    • Gomes was an all-star and silver slugger for us and Aviles was a nice utility guy for a few years
  • Shin-Soo Choo, Jason Donald, Tony Sipp for Trevor Bauer, Bryan Shaw, Matt Albers, Drew Stubbs
    • We got the best player back in this trade and were able to fleece the Reds/Padres using him seven years later
  • Austin Kearns for Zach McAllister
    • Say what you want about him, but McAllister gave us a few quality seasons out of the bullpen
  • Jake Westbrook, Ryan Ludwick for Corey Kluber
    • Two Cy Youngs. Nuff said.
Here are a few trades still up in the air a bit:
  • Francisco Mejia for Brad Hand and Adam Cimber
    • Hand is a star and Cimber is a decent reliever, but Mejia is still young and oozing potential to be a star catcher
  • Erik Gonzalez, Dante Mendoza, and Tahnaj Thomas for Jordan Luplow and Max Moroff
    • Looks like we made out pretty well here, but Mendoza and Thomas are still really young and Moroff is garbage. Gonzalez hasn't played much at all this year and Luplow has been a lefty masher.
Trades where we lost in the end:
  • Gio Urshela to Toronto for a PTBNL
    • Urshela has a 3.0 WAR, .963 OPS, and 18 HR for New York this year
  • Willi Castro for Leonys Martin and Kyle Dowdy
    • Martin is currently out of baseball and Dowdy is complete garbage; Castro has had a nice year a Triple-A Toledo
  • Asdrubal Cabrera for Zach Walters
    • Pretty sure Cabby was due to walk at the end of the year anyways, but lord was Walters terrible
  • Drew Pomeranz, Alex White, Matt McBride for Ubaldo Jimenez
    • Honestly, nobody really ended up winning here, but Ubaldo was so bad and I hated him so much, I'm saying we lost
Those were just the trades made from 2010-2019. We win a lot, and don't lose often.
Honestly I don’t think we would have been able to get to the Wild Card game without Ubaldo pitching well down the stretch.
 
Honestly I don’t think we would have been able to get to the Wild Card game without Ubaldo pitching well down the stretch.

Ubaldo was a force that September:

4-0
1.09 ERA
1.01 WHIP
51 K
41.1 IP

Definitely his best month as an Indian.
 
I was thinking about going. I usually buy a cheap ticket, hang out in the corner for an inning or two. Then find seats on first base side and watch rest of game.

You sir know how to Progressive Field. Those $15 district tickets are great
 
Austin Kearns for Zach McAllister
  • Say what you want about him, but McAllister gave us a few quality seasons out of the bullpen
Not only that, Austin Kearns was a spring training invite that year. Wasn't supposed to make the team. But he did, had a good first half, and we were able to flip him.
 
I'm a bit younger than most of the guys that post in here, so I never really got to see Thome/Belle/Manny just mash on those 90s teams. My first ever slugger I saw on the Indians that I remember watching a ton of was Travis Hafner. I still remember that season where he hit 42 HR and hit 6 grand slams before missing all of September and having his career ruined after getting nailed in the face.

Hafner's 2006 campaign was pretty awesome.

.308 BA, .439 OBP, .659 SLG, 1.097 OPS, 42 HR, 117 RBI, 31 2B, 100 BB, 100 R, 5.9 WAR,

If he would've played 150 games at that pace (played 152 next season), he would've roughly finished with 49 HR, 136 RBI, 36 2B, 116 BB, 116 R, 6.9 WAR.

That was the year that Morneau robbed a bunch of guys of MVP, so if Hafner would've put up 50 HR, he probably could have snagged it.
I honestly didnt remember his season being quite that monstrous. So thats the season Beuhrle hit him in the face? I cant believe thats been 13 years ago already.
 
I honestly didnt remember his season being quite that monstrous. So thats the season Beuhrle hit him in the face? I cant believe thats been 13 years ago already.

Yep, six grand slams that year too. I thought he was going to challenge Thome's single season franchise HR record until he got smoked in the face.


Jim Donovan on the call for that granny for some reason, pretty cool to hear.
 
Man, those jerseys were so fucking sick imo
 
Yep, six grand slams that year too. I thought he was going to challenge Thome's single season franchise HR record until he got smoked in the face.


Jim Donovan on the call for that granny for some reason, pretty cool to hear.
Hafner didnt quite hit those Thome bombs but his were pretty much no-doubters too. This wasnt the year he hit for the cycle was it?
 
Hafner didnt quite hit those Thome bombs but his were pretty much no-doubters too. This wasnt the year he hit for the cycle was it?

That was 2003 against Minnesota if I remember correctly.
 

Rubber Rim Job Podcast Video

Episode 3-13: "Backup Bash Brothers"

Rubber Rim Job Podcast Spotify

Episode 3:11: "Clipping Bucks."
Top