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The 2020 Cleveland Indians

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He’s a free agent, I’m not considering him in a discussion of current assets.

Entirely possible they bring back he and Clippard. But just discussing folks under team control.

His 2020 option for $2.75m just vested Saturday night, as he made his 55th appearance. Bumps up to $3m at 60 appearances

Imagine he'll be back. Meisel just wrote an article that he still loves the game and has been really effective in Cleveland
 
He’s a free agent, I’m not considering him in a discussion of current assets.

Entirely possible they bring back he and Clippard. But just discussing folks under team control.

I see it’s already been addressed, but he has a vesting option for which he’s already reached the conditions.
 
2020 Opening Day Projection:

SS - Francisco Lindor (S)
LF - Oscar Mercado
3B - Jose Ramirez (S)
1B - Carlos Santana (S)
DH - Franmil Reyes
RF - Tyler Naquin (L)
C - Roberto Perez
2B - Yu Chang
CF - Bradley Zimmer (L)

Bench:
Kevin Plawecki
Jordan Luplow (starts vs. LHP)
Andrew Velazquez (S) (Utility)
Greg Allen (S) (2-3 starts per week)

SP - Corey Kluber
SP - Mike Clevenger
SP - Shane Bieber
SP - Carlos Carrasco
SP - Zach Plesac

CL - Brad Hand (L)
8 - James Karinchak
7 - Nick Wittgren
7 - Oliver Perez (L)
6 - Nick Goody
6 - Dan Otero
6 - Tyler Olsen (L)
Mop - Hunter Wood
 
I would not be surprised to see the Indians attempt to flip Kluber at the deadline next year. Offseason seems like they'd be selling at the wrong time.

With that said, I think the complexity of that CLE-SD-CIN is vastly overlooked. Trading away a great pitcher mid-season for at least 1 very good MLB caliber player is pretty difficult. It took the Reds buying while being far out of the playoff push to get that deal done.

Also, I definitely do not see Tyler Olson having a role on the Indians going forward with the new 3 batter minimum rule. Right handed hitters have been carving the guy up the last 2 seasons. I think there are better internal options, if the Indians elect to have 3 LHP in the bullpen.
 
He’s a free agent, I’m not considering him in a discussion of current assets.

Entirely possible they bring back he and Clippard. But just discussing folks under team control.
I have him with an option for 2020 that's vested once he reaches 55 appearances. He's already at 55 appearances. I expect him to hit 60, which increases the vested option to $3m next season.


Edit: I did not see this was already addressed on the second page :p was only reading page 1
 
2020 Opening Day Projection:

SS - Francisco Lindor (S)
LF - Oscar Mercado
3B - Jose Ramirez (S)
1B - Carlos Santana (S)
DH - Franmil Reyes
RF - Tyler Naquin (L)
C - Roberto Perez
2B - Yu Chang
CF - Bradley Zimmer (L)

Bench:
Kevin Plawecki
Jordan Luplow (starts vs. LHP)
Andrew Velazquez (S) (Utility)
Greg Allen (S) (2-3 starts per week)

SP - Corey Kluber
SP - Mike Clevenger
SP - Shane Bieber
SP - Carlos Carrasco
SP - Zach Plesac

CL - Brad Hand (L)
8 - James Karinchak
7 - Nick Wittgren
7 - Oliver Perez (L)
6 - Nick Goody
6 - Dan Otero
6 - Tyler Olsen (L)
Mop - Hunter Wood
This is nearly identical to what I'd have except take Otero/Olson out and insert Nelson/Clippard
 
2020 Lineup:

C - Roberto Perez
C - Kevin Plawecki
1B - Carlos Santana
SS - Francisco Lindor
IF - Jose Ramirez
OF - Jordan Luplow
OF - Tyler Naquin
DH - Franmil Reyes

These guys all seem like locks, lets move on to the rest.

IF - Yu Chang
IF - Christian Arroyo
IF - Mike Freeman
IF - Andrew Velazquez
IF/OF - Jake Bauers
1B/DH - Bobby Bradley
OF - Bradley Zimmer
OF - Oscar Mercado
OF - Greg Allen


In the OF, #ZimmerIfHealthy appears to be a lock. His swing looks re-tooled and ready. Oscar Mercado looks to be a lock as well, giving the Indians three legitimate CF guys along with Allen.

The question is, are there enough at-bats to go around? And do those at-bats have enough value to not seek a viable alternative.

Naquin and Luplow can platoon in the RF corner, Allen could split time with Mercado and Zimmer in LF and CF, respectively. Bauers could re-emerge as a candidate to play LF.

This is the most interesting competition heading into 2020 for me. All of them have viable skill sets to be above average big leaguers.


On the infield, it appears to be a question of what you want to do with Ramirez. Slide him to second, and figure out a platoon at 3B, or keep him at third and figure out a platoon at 2B.

This is a position where I think they’ll scour the free agent market looking for a low cost alternative to bridge a gap to Nolan Jones. Wouldn’t count out a return of Kipnis as well.

Daniel Johnson seems like an egregious omission here. He’s certainly not a lock to make the roster next season, but he will definitely be in the mix.
 
This is nearly identical to what I'd have except take Otero/Olson out and insert Nelson/Clippard

I’m highly confident that Civale will be in the rotation to start the season if he’s healthy. I think he’ll end up edging out Plesac for the final spot.
 
Daniel Johnson seems like an egregious omission here. He’s certainly not a lock to make the roster next season, but he will definitely be in the mix.

Who does he beat out though? The 5 guys listed are all firmly ahead of him in their roles until proven otherwise.

I’m highly confident that Civale will be in the rotation to start the season if he’s healthy. I think he’ll end up edging out Plesac for the final spot.

While they profile similarly, I have more confidence in Plesac to develop into a reliable back-end starter than I do Civale
 
It is hard to see Daniel Johnson truly being in the mix without an injury or unforeseen roster moves. Both of which are certainly possible with Naquin & Zimmer and with the OF getting pretty crowded at this level.

Mercado had a really impressive Spring Training but wasn't really ever seriously in the running to make the Opening Day roster.

Since then, the OF has grown stronger/more established. Luplow and Naquin, based on their success this season, certainly appear to have a spot on the team. Mercado, while inconsistent lately, should have a relatively firm grasp on a spot as well. Zimmer IF healthy has the fast track for a spot because of his plus defense and speed. As a reserve OF, Greg Allen, a speedy switch hitter who can play all positions, would probably be seen as more valuable than Johnson who is probably going to be limited to a corner and looks on track to be a platoon hitter. And then there is Bauers.
 
It is hard to see Daniel Johnson truly being in the mix without an injury or unforeseen roster moves. Both of which are certainly possible with Naquin & Zimmer and with the OF getting pretty crowded at this level.

Mercado had a really impressive Spring Training but wasn't really ever seriously in the running to make the Opening Day roster.

Since then, the OF has grown stronger/more established. Luplow and Naquin, based on their success this season, certainly appear to have a spot on the team. Mercado, while inconsistent lately, should have a relatively firm grasp on a spot as well. Zimmer IF healthy has the fast track for a spot because of his plus defense and speed. As a reserve OF, Greg Allen, a speedy switch hitter who can play all positions, would probably be seen as more valuable than Johnson who is probably going to be limited to a corner and looks on track to be a platoon hitter. And then there is Bauers.

I was a big Daniel Johnson supporter earlier in the year, but I don't think he makes the opening roster out of camp next season. I think he gets a shot next year after injuries occur. With Zimmer/Naquin, someone's probably getting hurt. Also, if Greg Allen regresses he could be a candidate for demotion. DJ and Bauers are probably the first men up next season.
 
Very thorough, and I mostly agree. Just a few nits I'd like to pick.

Picking up Otero's option, let alone having him as a pre-emptive lock to make the team, is a bit outrageous to me.

Clippard has 100% earned a MLB contract with his performance this year.

McKenzie will start in AA, zero chance they back track him to Lynchburg after he's already pitched a large chunk of games for Akron.

This part isn't a nit-pick, just an opinion, but I don't think Bauers has an edge of Zimmer at all in the race to make the 25 man next year. If I had to guess, I think we'd head into next year with Mercado in left, Zimmer in center, and Naquin in right with Luplow and Allen off the bench.

I figured you weren't just nit-picking but having an honest discussion. This is a super early look so I'd rather have someone disagree to be honest.

I am personally leaning towards not keeping Otero, but I have a hunch the brass want to keep Otero and his price of 1.5 mil is better than the price of a reliever on the market. I just feel if they do pick up the option on him, he is a lock to start the season on the team because of the way he is in the club house as well. Sincerely I would rather go with Sandlin in his place in the bullpen, so I am going with Francona liking his veterans here.

Clippard on paper has earned a MLB contract, but at his age and the fact bullpen guys have not had a good time in free agency the last few years, he may not get a major league deal. His track record the last few seasons is a work horse of the pen with middle of the road ERA and FIP etc. Baseball logic says pay the man, but the market isn't in his favor, so the teams that would pay him probably aren't going to be contenders.

The reason why I stated McKenzie may start at A+ isnt because talent wise he shouldn't be at AA or higher, its because he has lost a full season. I am only looking at 2-3 starts area just like a rehab stint kind of thing, but if healthy, I plan on after that AA and if he is back to preforming well, getting to AAA by mid summer in a sense. Either way makes sense to me, so if he starts at AA then so be it, I don't mind being wrong here.

That OF honestly looks like a big open competition to me and that should be a good thing. We will have the best 4-5 OF guys coming out of spring training and talent that is badly itching to get on the team as well. It should be a very good mix of an OF, though Mercado I only like in CF, since he seems to do poorly still in the corners, but I am taking a guess at it to be honest. Any of the guys stated make sense.

@AZ_ I know its not a big deal, but I am pretty positive Plutko is out of options and with the other arms having I believe better talent than him overall, I don't see him making the roster next season. I personally feel Morgan can replace his production in a sense in the depth chart.
 
Mercado has dipped significantly with the book now out on him, Allen hasn't been much better in August.

The role is out there for Johnson.

Is it necessarily the book being out for him? Or moreso him being in a slump & coming back down to earth after a hot 6 week stretch to start his career?

Mercado.PNG
 

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