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You Be the Indians GM - 2020 Edition

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Steve_424

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Be as realistic as possible - we don't know what value free agents will have or how other GM's value players in trades, but we do know we're not trading for Mike Trout or signing Anthony Rendon.

I'll get us going.

1. Kipnis, Otero, and Salazar go, and trade Plawecki.

I'm also fine bringing Kipnis back if you get a significant upgrade in the OF, but I don't see that as likely. Otero can come back on a minor league deal, nothing more. I don't even care to see Salazar in Columbus - it's time to move on. Plawecki was a decent backup but I feel Haase can do what he did (maybe more) at lesser cost.

2. Trade with Baltimore to acquire Jonathan Villar and Mychael Givens.

Givens seems like the type of reliever the Indians could make really useful and would add a veteran to the staff. He's also under team control for two more seasons. Villar fills our hole at 2B and offers a one year stopgap until Nolan Jones is ready to join the Cleveland infield. He also provides another option at leadoff, allowing the Indians to move Lindor down in the order if they choose. He's got power, gets on base, and can steal bases as well. Neither player is useful to the Orioles' future plans, so I'm offering a package involving some but not all of Plutko, Chang, Bradley, etc - players who may have some value but don't fit our 2020 plans.

3. Re-sign Puig to a 1 or 2 year deal

You aren't beating the Astros with an outfield of Mercado and two platoons. If Puig is able to get more, I look elsewhere, but I think he fits the team well right now. He also seemed to get along well with Santana, Lindor, and Ramirez, which could help in getting the most out of him.

LINEUP

S-2B-Villar
R-CF-Mercado
S-SS-Lindor
S-1B-Santana
R-RF-Puig
S-3B-Ramirez
R-DH-Reyes
P-LF-Luplow and Zimmer, Bauers, or Johnson
R-C-Perez

ROTATION

Clevinger
Bieber
Kluber
Carrasco
Civale or Plesac

BULLPEN

Hand
Givens
Karinchak
Wittgren
Goody
Perez
Cimber
 
What's the percentage chance of resigning Puig?
 
What's the percentage chance of resigning Puig?

Admittedly don't think it'll happen but I do wonder if he hits the market, can't find a multi-year deal, and he and the Indians work something out for a year or two.
 
  1. Let Danny Salazar and Dan Otero walk; Salazar has a dead arm and Otero at age 35 looks washed up to me. His FIP has declined each of the past three seasons.
  2. Offer Jason Kipnis 1-year, $3.5 million with performance bonuses. I'm sure that somebody else is going to offer him more, but that's about the max I'd give him. For the sake of this discussion, I'm going to say that Kipnis signs elsewhere.
  3. Offer Yasiel Puig 1-year, $8-10 million. Again, I'm sure this will get outbid, but I'm not offering a negative fielder with an average OPS of around .800 more than that. For the sake of this discussion, I'll say Puig also isn't in Cleveland next season.
  4. I really like @Steve_424's idea of getting Villar and Givens, so I won't copy that. I'd like to explore a trade with San Diego (we've done a lot of deals with them lately) for Greg Garcia and Luis Perdomo. Not sure what the cost would be, but it wouldn't take any of our top prospects.
    1. Greg Garcia is a second basemen that would likely be the opening day starter. This season he slashed .248/.364/.354/.718 with a 1.4 WAR and a 1.7 UZR at 2B. His 14.2 BB% would have been one of the best marks on the Indians (Santana had a 15.7 BB% for comparison). Garcia also has pretty good wheels despite not stealing many bases, as he had a 4.31 home plate to 1B time. Francisco Lindor is a pretty good runner and has a 4.24 HP to 1B time for comparison.
    2. Perdomo would be brought in for bullpen depth. He also has starting experience and had a 3.60 FIP this season. He's not a world-beater, but he's solid and would be under team control through 2023.
  5. Finally, I would offer Corey Dickerson a 2-year, $25 million contract. Dickerson is a plus bat and very good in the outfield. He would slot in as our starting left fielder. Over the past three seasons, he has slashed .293/.330/.499/.828 and has decent home run pop (27 HR in 2017).
Opening Day Roster

2B - Greg Garcia | L
LF - Corey Dickerson | L
SS - Francisco Lindor | S
1B - Carlos Santana | S
3B - Jose Ramirez | S
DH - Franmil Reyes | R
C - Roberto Perez | R
CF - Bradley Zimmer | L
RF - Oscar Mercado | R

UTL - Mike Freeman
UTL - Jordan Luplow
UTL - Greg Allen
UTL - Eric Hasse

SP - Mike Clevinger
SP - Shane Bieber
SP - Corey Kluber
SP - Carlos Carrasco
SP - Aaron Civale

RP - Luis Perdomo
RP - James Karinchak
RP - Oliver Perez
RP - Nick Goody
RP - Nick Wittgren
RP - Adam Cimber
CP - Brad Hand
 
  1. Let Danny Salazar and Dan Otero walk; Salazar has a dead arm and Otero at age 35 looks washed up to me. His FIP has declined each of the past three seasons.
  2. Offer Jason Kipnis 1-year, $3.5 million with performance bonuses. I'm sure that somebody else is going to offer him more, but that's about the max I'd give him. For the sake of this discussion, I'm going to say that Kipnis signs elsewhere.
  3. Offer Yasiel Puig 1-year, $8-10 million. Again, I'm sure this will get outbid, but I'm not offering a negative fielder with an average OPS of around .800 more than that. For the sake of this discussion, I'll say Puig also isn't in Cleveland next season.
  4. I really like @Steve_424's idea of getting Villar and Givens, so I won't copy that. I'd like to explore a trade with San Diego (we've done a lot of deals with them lately) for Greg Garcia and Luis Perdomo. Not sure what the cost would be, but it wouldn't take any of our top prospects.
    1. Greg Garcia is a second basemen that would likely be the opening day starter. This season he slashed .248/.364/.354/.718 with a 1.4 WAR and a 1.7 UZR at 2B. His 14.2 BB% would have been one of the best marks on the Indians (Santana had a 15.7 BB% for comparison). Garcia also has pretty good wheels despite not stealing many bases, as he had a 4.31 home plate to 1B time. Francisco Lindor is a pretty good runner and has a 4.24 HP to 1B time for comparison.
    2. Perdomo would be brought in for bullpen depth. He also has starting experience and had a 3.60 FIP this season. He's not a world-beater, but he's solid and would be under team control through 2023.
  5. Finally, I would offer Corey Dickerson a 2-year, $25 million contract. Dickerson is a plus bat and very good in the outfield. He would slot in as our starting left fielder. Over the past three seasons, he has slashed .293/.330/.499/.828 and has decent home run pop (27 HR in 2017).
Opening Day Roster

2B - Greg Garcia | L
LF - Corey Dickerson | L
SS - Francisco Lindor | S
1B - Carlos Santana | S
3B - Jose Ramirez | S
DH - Franmil Reyes | R
C - Roberto Perez | R
CF - Bradley Zimmer | L
RF - Oscar Mercado | R

UTL - Mike Freeman
UTL - Jordan Luplow
UTL - Greg Allen
UTL - Eric Hasse

SP - Mike Clevinger
SP - Shane Bieber
SP - Corey Kluber
SP - Carlos Carrasco
SP - Aaron Civale

RP - Luis Perdomo
RP - James Karinchak
RP - Oliver Perez
RP - Nick Goody
RP - Nick Wittgren
RP - Adam Cimber
CP - Brad Hand

Dickerson could be a great fit here.
 
The obvious positions to potentially address are 2B/3B and a reliable #2 bullpen arm to bridge to Hand. Karinchak could certainty fill that role and trying to address that need in free agency would be a mistake. I'm comfortable with where the OF is, especially if the plan is for Reyes to see time out there.

I like the idea of Todd Frazier on a 1 year deal at ~$10m and making a trade with Baltimore for Givens. Frazier keeps a spot warm in the IF for 2020 and provides plus power and great leadership. Givens brings a blazing fastball that the bullpen is lacking.

If the goal is for Reyes to get time in the OF, there could potentially be quite a few more opportunities for the utility IF to get some semi-regular playing time if the DH spot is utilized properly. In that case, I wouldn't be opposed to seeing Christian Arroyo on the roster instead of Freeman, despite a solid 2019 from Freeman

SP (5)- Clevinger, Bieber, Kluber, Cookie, Civale
RP (8)- Hand, Givens, Karinchak, Goody, Wittgren, O Perez, Cimber, Wood
IF (7)- Perez, Plawecki, Santana, J Ramirez, Lindor, Frazier, Freeman
OF (5)- Mercado, Luplow, Zimmer, Reyes, Bauers
 
If I'm GM, I'm trying to get Brett Gardner and Todd Frazier here on 1-year deals. Gardner had a good season, but the Yankees have a glutton of outfielders. He's coming off a 1 yr 7.5M and Frazier is coming off a 2 y 17M.

I'm also looking at pre-arb extensions for Bieber and Clevinger.

Lineup:
1. Gardner - LF
2. Ramirez - 2B
3. Lindor - SS
4. Santana - 1B
5. Reyes - DH
6. Mercado - RF
7. Frazier - 3B
8. Zimmer - CF
9. Perez - C

Bench:
Luplow (platoon with Zimmer/slide Mercado to CF)
Plawecki
Freeman
Allen

Rotation:
1. Bieber
2. Clevinger
3. Carrasco
4. Kluber
5. Civale

Bullpen:
Hand
Karinchak
Cimber
Goody
Clippard
Wittgren
Nelson
Perez
 
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If I'm GM, I'm trying to get Brett Gardner and Todd Frazier here on 1-year deals. Gardner had a good season, but the Yankees have a glutton of outfielders. He's coming off a 1 yr 7.5M and Frazier is coming off a 2 y 17M.

I'm also looking at pre-arb extensions for Bieber and Clevinger.

Lineup:
1. Gardner - LF
2. Ramirez - 2B
3. Lindor - SS
4. Santana - 1B
5. Reyes - DH
6. Mercado - RF
7. Frazier - 3B
8. Zimmer - CF
9. Perez - C

Bench:
Luplow (platoon with Zimmer/slide Mercado to CF)
Plawecki
Freeman

Rotation:
1. Bieber
2. Clevinger
3. Carrasco
4. Kluber
5. Civale

Bullpen:
Hand
Karinchak
Cimber
Goody
Clippard
Wittgren
Nelson

I would be interested in bringing back Clippard as well. I assume the interest is mutual after he gave the org. some high praise a few weeks back. Just didn't have him making the cut at the $3-4m he probably demands with my hypothetical trade and the other sub $1m relievers the Indians have.

Gardner would be a great fit as well. Even though the Yankees have a lot of OFs, I still think they'd want to bring him back. And if they do move on, I wonder if he'd just be looking for the fattest paycheck at his age.
 
Hey Derek - A couple of items.
a) rosters in 2020 are 26 players until Sept (when it only expands to 28.
b) Your missing OPerez in the bullpen (at least to start the season). His contract vested for 2020 & I have to believe Tito would hold onto & use OPerez at least for a while before ineffectiveness (& Kyle Nelson dicing up AAA batters) forces a change..
 
I get rid of Lindor.... I go get Nelson Cruz...
 
Hey Derek - A couple of items.
a) rosters in 2020 are 26 players until Sept (when it only expands to 28.
b) Your missing OPerez in the bullpen (at least to start the season). His contract vested for 2020 & I have to believe Tito would hold onto & use OPerez at least for a while before ineffectiveness (& Kyle Nelson dicing up AAA batters) forces a change..
Perez is my 26th then. Easy enough.
 
Derek,
With Perez I'm counting only 25..
13 total pitchers w/ Perez (which is the max # of pitchers allowed)
12 position players (9 man lineup & 3 person bench)

Who is the 26th player???
 
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