The Cleveland Indians filled one of their needs yesterday by acquiring 2B Josh Barfield from the San Diego Padres for 3B/1B Kevin Kouzmanoff and relief pitcher Andrew Brown. This deal is a good one for the Tribe from all different angles.
1). The team filled the second base need at an affordable price. Barfield was a rookie last year so he is not making a lot of money and cannot be a free agent for at least five years. Thus, Shapiro still has plenty of cash to spend on the bullpen and a righthanded bat for the middle of the lineup. The Tribe got a 2B arguably as good as anyone on the free agent market, but at a much better price.
2). Barfield is the youngest player in the deal. At 23 years old, Barfield has already played a full year in the major leagues. Kouzmanoff and Brown have never done that. The former Padre should still be at a point in his career where he has plenty of improvement to come, while Kouz will be at his peak years in the next two or three seasons. Barfield has started to make more contact as well. He whiffed over 100 times in the minors in 2005, but only 80 times at the big league level in 2006. He also can steal a base, as he pilfered 21 for San Diego last season.
3). They didn’t give up anyone really in their 2006 plans. Kouzmanoff had a tremendous minor league season in 2006, but was blocked by Andy Marte at 3B and Ryan Garko at 1B. Keep in mind that Kouz has had injury problems involving his back and hamstrings for the past two seasons. It’s one of the reasons he started last year at Class AA Akron. That’s one of the reasons the Indians made the deal for Marte was KK’s injury problems. Brown was a dark horse to be in the ’07 bullpen. He can throw hard, but has had control problems. He definitely wasn’t a favorite to win a job next season.
I have heard Barfield talked about as a guy who will hit perhaps in the #2 spot next season, but I don’t think that will be the case. Those comments are based on the second baseman’s stolen base numbers. His ability to get on base as of right now doesn’t merit hitting that high. He will probably be in the #7 or #8 slot for now, and if his plate discipline continues to improve, he could hit second. His defense is rated as good, not spectacular, so that should be an improvement from ’06 as well.
Reading some reports on Barfield, he is classified as a very good situational hitter (something the Tribe needs) and is a hard worker (something the Tribe covets). After the 2004 season, there was talk about moving him to LF because his defense didn’t measure up at second, and he worked very hard to improve his glove work and become a good 2B. Work ethic was the thing that attracted Shapiro to guys like Travis Hafner and Grady Sizemore.
I still feel the extra money the GM has will be spent on a bat. They want to fill two or three bullpen spot, but it has been said that at least one will be filled internally (Sipp or Lara?). Buster Olney has written that former Indian Justin Speier would be a perfect fit for the 2007 Indians. Either way, relief pitchers don’t cost the kind of money that Shapiro has to spend. A big bat does however.
This was a good first step in forming next year’s club. Here’s hoping more moves like this are to come.
KM
Cleveland Sports Perspective 