Your 2019 Cleveland Indians

[EdMonix11]

His K and BB rates would suggest otherwise, in addition to his speed and defense.

Slotting him into LF vs RHP, Bauers getting 2-3 starts a week at 1B/DH.

It’s not like Luplow can play everyday, nor is their anyone else worthy of the DH role.

Doesn’t really make sense NOT to have either he or Bradley come up and get meaningful time.

I don’t really disagree with what you’re saying at all except I don't see them taking everyday AB's away from Bauers. They've given him this long to figure things out so why scale back his AB's after he's turned a corner?

I mean, to add another young guy to the OF...... It's tough because all the young guys need everyday AB's and Tito made it pretty clear the organization wants the young guys playing in the field too. With that in mind, I think Johnson makes more sense than Bradley in that he's more positionally flexible and you can move the pieces around a bit on a day to day basis.

I like Johnson a lot. I think he’d be okay in the bigs right now but I also think he has some things he could work on in the minors too. I guess I just don't think it's the worst thing in the world to let him ripen in AAA for little bit and let the dust settle a bit in Cleveland. Everyone is talking about moving this guy here and that guy there. It feels unnecessarily rushed and kinda ill fitting.

I said it in a previous post, I think this move sets them up to acquire a power bat to DH more so than calling up another young guy but that's just my opinion....

 

[bigfoot5415]

Can someone explain to me how someone so well thought of like Mercado made his way here? Seems like a hell of a player to just be dumped.

 

[sportscoach]

Can someone explain to me how someone so well thought of like Mercado made his way here? Seems like a hell of a player to just be dumped.

Easiest well to explain Mercado is the fact, he was drafted in the second round as a SS by the Cardinals and did very poorly his first couple of seasons in the minors he essentially lost his top 30 status with the organization. He made the transition to OF in their organization, and played better so they added him to their 40 man roster to be protected from the rule 5 draft. Now they had depth at OF so they could afford to trade him, and they essentially took the trade the Indians offered of Jhon Torres and Conor Capel.

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Torres is their 5th ranked prospect and Capel is their 16th ranked prospect and both look like they could hit the pros at some point. So in the end the Cardinals actually may have a chance to win that trade, but I feel with Mercado essentially getting the chance to get to the pros and a change of attitude over the last season or so when it comes to certain aspects of baseball (aka maturing mentally) and at a position the Indians didn't have any RH bats nor depth in, he had his chance and was able to make the best of it.

To make the story short, high prospect who had the wrong attitude out of the gates, who got changed positions. Cardinals didnt need him right now, and liked the offer of two younger players with good potential the Indians offered, so they let him go. Mercado made the most of his potential with a new attitude, new position and a new club.

 

[chuck0609]

5 out on July 17th. Yes there is a hard part of the schedule approaching, but the Twins are hardly playing inspired ball and are a bad play last Friday night from being 4 up instead of 5.
Theyre playing .500 ball over the past 40 or so games.
They’re coming back to earth.

 

[AZ_]

I don’t really disagree with what you’re saying at all except I don't see them taking everyday AB's away from Bauers. They've given him this long to figure things out so why scale back his AB's after he's turned a corner?

I mean, to add another young guy to the OF...... It's tough because all the young guys need everyday AB's and Tito made it pretty clear the organization wants the young guys playing in the field too. With that in mind, I think Johnson makes more sense than Bradley in that he's more positionally flexible and you can move the pieces around a bit on a day to day basis.

I like Johnson a lot. I think he’d be okay in the bigs right now but I also think he has some things he could work on in the minors too. I guess I just don't think it's the worst thing in the world to let him ripen in AAA for little bit and let the dust settle a bit in Cleveland. Everyone is talking about moving this guy here and that guy there. It feels unnecessarily rushed and kinda ill fitting.

I said it in a previous post, I think this move sets them up to acquire a power bat to DH more so than calling up another young guy but that's just my opinion....

I think where we disagree is in whether or not this team will add a bat.

Without one, Johnson fits in fine. Giving him a two week trial until we find out doesn’t really take ABs away from anyone except maybe Luplow vs RHP.

Vs RHP:
LF - Jet Johnson
CF - Oscar Mercado
RF - Tyler Naquin
DH/1B - Carlos Santana
DH/1B - Jake Bauers

 

[Out of the Rafters at the Q]

If we're talking about shelling our resources for a DH upgrade over Bauers, I'm not sure Domingo Santana is that much of an upgrade over Bauers.

If we're saying that, for some unknown reason, we want below average defenders playing in the OF, we have a fundamental disagreement there.

 

[daddywags]

I vote against adding any short term "fix" this year. To me this is setting up well as a year that begins the transition process from the old guard to the new guard. Done well, and with some luck, we won't have to bottom out for several years in order to accomplish that transition. It's a credit to the organization that they are able even to try such a feat IMO.

 

[NorthCoastBias]

 

[EdMonix11]

If we're talking about shelling our resources for a DH upgrade over Bauers, I'm not sure Domingo Santana is that much of an upgrade over Bauers.

If we're saying that, for some unknown reason, we want below average defenders playing in the OF, we have a fundamental disagreement there.

Right now I think the best lineup would be:

LF- Jake Bauers
CF- Oscar Mercado
RF- Tyler Naquin/Jordan Luplow
1B- Carlos Santana
DH- (Trade)

As for the trade deadline, I think ideally the Indians are both buyers and sellers but that's a topic for another thread. Anyways, I think the Indians need to grab a bat at the deadline. Whether it's Castellanos or Mancini or Dietrich or Puig or Domingo Santana or Jose Abreu or whomever else, there's plenty of options. It really helps that it's a corner heavy market right now so I don't think any of them would be too cost prohibitive prospect-wise....

 

[bushwick_bill]

Twins lost.

 

[KluberSociety]

Bradley 0-5, 4 K. Johnson up to .321. I think at the very least Johnson should be considered further up the pipeline if they were to make a move, mainly letting Santana and Bauers split time at DH/1B. But I don't see the need to rush that.

Here's to hoping Bobby figures things out quickly but I've had enough of that experiment for a while.

 

[David.]

24-10 in the last 34

 

[The Wizard of Moz]

Plane just touched down in Cleveland. Going to my first Tribe game since game 7 against the Cubs. Have been looking forward to this for weeks and can’t wait for the game. One of the things I miss most about living in Ohio is Tribe games in the summer

 

[sportscoach]

If we're talking about shelling our resources for a DH upgrade over Bauers, I'm not sure Domingo Santana is that much of an upgrade over Bauers.

If we're saying that, for some unknown reason, we want below average defenders playing in the OF, we have a fundamental disagreement there.

I feel we need someone else on the roster from the right side to be honest. So adding Santana wouldn't be a bad idea for the lineup since he does have pretty good power and fits that 4 hole slot style of guy we are missing. I just probably wouldn't give up too much for him since he is really a DH who can play some field, but I wouldn't trust him there.

 

[sportscoach]

Bradley 0-5, 4 K. Johnson up to .321. I think at the very least Johnson should be considered further up the pipeline if they were to make a move, mainly letting Santana and Bauers split time at DH/1B. But I don't see the need to rush that.

Here's to hoping Bobby figures things out quickly but I've had enough of that experiment for a while.

I think it really depends on the trade deadline if we see Johnson or not. i really would like a right handed bat in this lineup to be honest. So I feel we need to go get another RH bat which doesnt leave Johnson anywhere on the roster to play every day.