Trade Deadline Day - 2020

[xmasbuck]

Jason Lloyd has an interesting column in The Athletic which asks why this deal had to be made now as opposed to the waiting until the off-season and having Clevinger for the playoffs. He acknowledges that Naylor is an upgrade but suggests that we could have traded a prospect for an upgrade in left field and kept Clevinger through this season. It's the same question I asked yesterday.

Lloyd: Why did the Indians have to trade Mike Clevinger right now?

What about the return from this deal screams that it was something the Indians had to do right now? It's a weird move.

theathletic.com

from reading lloyd yesterday - and a couple others - they seem pretty convinced that "chicago" had more to with the timing of the trade than anyone's saying

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

Lots of good commentary. Zach Meisel had this on the Indians' grand strategy:

But this is the type of trade the Indians have attempted to master in recent years, swapping out a starter for pieces that will aid both their immediate and future causes. One National League front-office evaluator raved at the surplus value the Indians obtained, saying, “Cleveland crushed this.”

That surely has more to do with the future than the present, but that’s how the Indians operate. Over the last few years, they have transformed one of the oldest rosters in the league into one littered with youth. Their aim is to never rebuild, to never descend into the pit of misery that forces fans to focus more on hopes, wishes and minor-league box scores than tangible, big-league results. So even when it might make sense to address a present-day need — and their outfield was desperate for an upgrade — they always have an eye on the next few years....

Our Keith Law ranked Arias as the No. 7 prospect in the Padres’ system, with Miller at No. 9 and Cantillo at No. 13. And that’s for one of the top systems in the league, so individual rankings are all relative.

I might add that not only is our major league roster "littered with youth" (Carlos Santana and Ollie Perez being the obvious exceptions) but somebody pointed out that 9 of the top 12 prospects in our system are 21 or younger, according to one ranking.

These next five years should be fascinating to watch, especially after the Lindor trade brings in another wave.

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

from reading lloyd yesterday - and a couple others - they seem pretty convinced that "chicago" had more to with the timing of the trade than anyone's saying

Just to add that I read one theory that said there are a lot of buyers right now with so many teams in contention, making it a seller's market, but that could easily flip after the season when teams take stock of how much money they lost and start looking to move salary, resulting in a buyer's market. Perhaps the Indians felt this was the best time to maximize the return and whatever additional talent they got by moving Clevinger now was worth losing however many playoff starts he would have made.

If they decline Santana's $17.5 M option after the season they may be in a better position to bring him back if most teams are looking to cut salary as opposed to signing a 34-year-old first baseman for $15 M.

 

[NorthCoastBias]

Hadn't seen this posted anywhere, but Peter Gammons wrote an article about all the Padres' moves and was told this by a GM:

“The Indians got a deal they couldn’t have gotten elsewhere,” one GM said Monday noon. “Given their (Francisco) Lindor situation, they got a top shortstop prospect with 70 defense and an 80 arm, they got two young potential starting pitchers, a bat as well as one of the two or three best defensive catchers in the game. For two years of Clevinger, that’s a haul. When was the last time a team hasn’t had a winning season in a decade gave up that many good toolsy prospects?”

Also had this rundown of some guys the Tribe received:

One American League scouting guru comps Owen Miller to Mark Loretta. Cantillo was a skinny kid in Hawaii throwing 87 mph, but the Padres scouts worked him out and saw an uptick in velocity and had the acumen to project him to be 93-94 mph in time with a sound delivery and command; he’s almost there. Quantrill was a first-round pick, with the genes of his father Paul, one of the most dogged pitchers I’ve ever known.

Gammons: A.J. Preller and the Padres have been playing the long game

By taking his time and trusting in his scouts, the Padres' GM has built the team he wants — and has been planning for.

theathletic.com

 

[Urban]

It's pretty remarkable how many prospects San Diego has traded away in the last ~9 months yet their farm remains one of the best in baseball.

Seems like a position the Indians' farm could find themselves at in a couple of years.

 

[DerekG123]

It's pretty remarkable how many prospects San Diego has traded away in the last ~9 months yet their farm remains one of the best in baseball.

Seems like a position the Indians' farm could find themselves at in a couple of years.

I would prefer to be like the Dodgers East (without the money of course) where every prospect we throw out there becomes gold.

 

[CDAV45]

Lots of good commentary. Zach Meisel had this on the Indians' grand strategy:

But this is the type of trade the Indians have attempted to master in recent years, swapping out a starter for pieces that will aid both their immediate and future causes. One National League front-office evaluator raved at the surplus value the Indians obtained, saying, “Cleveland crushed this.”

That surely has more to do with the future than the present, but that’s how the Indians operate. Over the last few years, they have transformed one of the oldest rosters in the league into one littered with youth. Their aim is to never rebuild, to never descend into the pit of misery that forces fans to focus more on hopes, wishes and minor-league box scores than tangible, big-league results. So even when it might make sense to address a present-day need — and their outfield was desperate for an upgrade — they always have an eye on the next few years....

Our Keith Law ranked Arias as the No. 7 prospect in the Padres’ system, with Miller at No. 9 and Cantillo at No. 13. And that’s for one of the top systems in the league, so individual rankings are all relative.

I might add that not only is our major league roster "littered with youth" (Carlos Santana and Ollie Perez being the obvious exceptions) but somebody pointed out that 9 of the top 12 prospects in our system are 21 or younger, according to one ranking.

These next five years should be fascinating to watch, especially after the Lindor trade brings in another wave.

Wham, not only will the Lindor trade bring in another wave, but it will be the best wave yet. The question is, what do they target with the Lindor trade? I would have to say that OF prospects/players should be targeted. You can never have too much quality SP, but they may prefer to get a higher upside, younger prospect with the current rotation in place for years. We've discussed the need for a good C prospect that is near ready. I haven't looked into which teams would be good fits for a Lindor trade, but I will.

One thing is for sure, CA and MC have done a miraculous job in putting a quality product on the field with limited resources. The ballpark should be sold out every game when fans are able to return. Imagine what these 2 could do if that was the case.

 

[CDAV45]

It's pretty remarkable how many prospects San Diego has traded away in the last ~9 months yet their farm remains one of the best in baseball.

Seems like a position the Indians' farm could find themselves at in a couple of years.

Not really "remarkable". How many top 10 picks have they had in the last decade?