Whether or not you like the Indians trade of four prospects to the Colorado Rockies for right-handed starting pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez, you have to admit this was a bold move by Tribe GM Chris Antonetti.
However, giving up four prospects, including the top two pitching prospects in the organization, is the type of deal that could come back to burn this organization in the next few years, but it does fit in with the new Dolan philosophy.
Last year, the ownership told the fans that the best we could hope for in Cleveland was to contend every few years. With several of the Indians better players’ contracts coming up in 2013 (Hafner, Cabrera, Choo), the management decided the window of opportunity would be closing in the next two and a half seasons.
So, they are putting all the eggs in their basket right now.
The opposite view is that with Drew Pomerantz and Alex White, along with Lonnie Chisenhall and Jason Kipnis, the Indians would have a very good opportunity to be in the mix for a division title for the next five years or so.
Which is why it seems Antonetti gave up too much to get the 27-year-old righty, who won 19 games for Colorado last season.
We know Jimenez is a better pitcher outside of Coors Field, at least this year. His ERA at home was 5.55 vs. 3.38 on the road. Opponents are hitting just .183 away from the Rocky Mountains, but .310 at Coors.
For his career though, his ERA is roughly the same (3.67 at home, 3.65 on the road). To be fair, he has held opposition hitters to a .216 average on the road vs. .245 at home.
The other unanswered question is why Jimenez has lost some velocity off his fastball this season. He is undergoing a physical today, and if it comes up clean, then perhaps it’s a mechanical issue, and Tim Belcher can restore his overpowering fastball.
Dealing one of the top pitchers, either White or Pomerantz, would have seemed sufficient here. Of course, the Rockies wanted more, but the Indians wanted, and probably should have got more for the two Cy Young Award winners they traded.
In addition, the Tribe is throwing in Joe Gardner, a sinkerball specialist, who is also a top ten prospect for Cleveland. That means three top ten prospects for Jimenez. That’s quite a price to pay for someone who is 6-9 on the season, even though he did win 19 a year ago.
Yes, if he can regain his form of the past couple of years, Jimenez will help form a very good starting rotation which will include Justin Masterson, Josh Tomlin, Carlos Carrasco, and hopefully a stable Fausto Carmona. That would be one of the better starting fives in the AL, especially with Masterson showing his dominance this season.
There is depth in Jeanmar Gomez, Zack McAllister, and David Huff as well, but those guys are all more back of the rotation guys.
Antonetti did make a great move in dealing Orlando Cabrera to the Giants for OF prospect Thomas Neal. Neal is one of San Francisco’s top prospects, and prior to this season has shown some pop in his bat. He could be in the outfield mix next season.
Here’s hoping Jimenez can regain the velocity of his heater, and dealing potential for real production at the big league level works out.
Still with the way the pitching staff has performed this year, if you are going to deal top prospects, it should have been for a bat. That’s what the 2011 Cleveland Indians need.
They may get one today, yet, but it’s unlikely to be an impact move.
MW
Cleveland Sports Perspective 