The hottest team in baseball resides right here in Cleveland, Ohio. The Indians have rolled off 10 straight wins, and currently sit atop the American League Central Division by five games over the Kansas City Royals.
There shouldn’t be any doubt that president Chris Antonetti and GM Mike Chernoff should be sellers when the major league trade deadline hits at the end of July.
What should the Indians be focusing on?
Many people want Cleveland to get a bat, believing the offensive surge that has occurred over the last month is not sustainable.
We believe the focus should be on the bullpen, because Terry Francona seems to trust only Bryan Shaw and Cody Allen when he has a lead late in games, and both of those guys have some warts that are troublesome.
Shaw has been prone to the long ball, and Allen goes through periods where he struggles to throw strikes.
As a result, Francona is letting his starters go longer into games than normal, something may not be a big deal one or two times through the rotation, but if the Indians are going to make a run in the post season, they need to monitor the workload of the starting pitchers.
We have already seen Tito and Mickey Callaway push back Danny Salazar earlier in the month, and Corey Kluber got an extra day as well.
Most of the speculation regarding getting help either in the bullpen and/or in the lineup centers on giving up prospects, as that is what most teams are looking for.
If you are going to push to go deep into the playoffs, you can’t deal people currently on the roster. You need to add to the squad, not move people around.
So, eliminate the speculation on dealing Trevor Bauer and Lonnie Chisenhall. Tyler Naquin may be expendable, because he could still get sent back to minors when Abraham Almonte is activated.
We wouldn’t do that, but the Indians might.
So, what prospects are expendable?
If the Indians are going to make a big splash, they would like have to give up one of their two prime outfield prospects, Bradley Zimmer or Clint Frazier. Right now, Frazier is the brighter star, having a better season in Akron.
The other guy people talk about is Bobby Bradley, the slugging first baseman at Class A Lynchburg. Bradley has contact issues, but when he connects, the ball goes a long, long way. The talent evaluators with the Tribe have to decide whether or not Bradley will ever be more than the next Russell Branyan.
If they don’t think so, he could be a very popular piece in making a major move.
The Tribe also has some starting pitching in reserve, guys who could contribute to a major league team as early as next year.
We’ve already seen Mike Clevinger, but there is also Adam Plutko, Ryan Merritt, Shawn Morimando, and in the lower levels of the minors, you have Julian Merryweather and Justus Sheffield.
And don’t forget C Francisco Mejia, just promoted to Lynchburg and the Tribe’s representative in The Futures’ Game.
If the Indians receive a player they would control for 2017 and perhaps 2018, they may be willing to move a top line prospect. However, it would be very difficult to move Zimmer and Frazier, two guys who could be starters as early as next year, for a two month rental.
The farm system is finally producing, and if the Indians play it right, they could be the team to beat in the Central Division for the next 4-5 seasons.
Besides the prospects, they have Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez, both under 23-years-old playing everyday.
Antonetti and Chernoff have plenty of ammunition to go out and get an impact player without giving up on the future.
They can deal from organization depth. It’s been a long time since the Indians could say that.
MW
Cleveland Sports Perspective 