The Cleveland Indians put the final touches on their 40 man roster today by making a series of roster moves, mostly made to protect prospects for the Rule 5 Draft at the Winter Meetings.
In order to make room for four minor leaguers, the Tribe designated righthanded pitcher Dylan Baker and southpaw Kyle Crockett for assignment.
Crockett will catch on someplace else we believe, because he will be useful as a situational lefty out of the bullpen. He was called up less than a year after he was drafted and had a 1.80 ERA in 43 games as a rookie.
But he never really had Terry Francona’s confidence going forward and this past season, made just four appearances with the big club.
We understand many people think the Tribe made a mistake here, but if the pitcher doesn’t have the confidence of the manager and pitching coach, it’s best that he moves on.
Baker has battled arm problems for years and has pitched just 74 innings since the end of the 2013 season. Our guess is the Indians will sign him to a minor league contract this winter.
The Indians added right handed starter Julian Merryweather (7-9, 5.32 ERA at Akron and Columbus in ’17) and a trio of shortstop prospects: Eric Stamets, Yu-Cheng Chang, and Willi Castro.
Stamets came over from the Angels in 2015 for David Murphy as a good glove, no hit middle infielder, but he has developed power in recent years, hitting 16 homers in the minors last season, after not hitting over seven in any season prior to 2017.
Chang, just 22, hit 24 home runs last season with a .220 batting average (774 OPS). He struck out 134 times a year ago, so he needs to make more contact and get on base more going forward.
Castro will turn 21 next season and played at Class A Lynchburg in ’17, hitting .290 with a 761 OPS and a career high 11 dingers. He has been one of the younger players in the league in which he has played throughout his career.
Cleveland also claimed infielder Rob Refsnyder on waivers from Toronto. Refsnyder was highly regarded by the Yankees as he advanced through the system, and actually started the Wild Card game for the Yanks in 2015.
However, he has never gotten more than 152 at bats in a season at the big league level, hitting .250 with a 637 OPS.
His AAA numbers are pretty good though, with a .294 batting average and a 799 OPS. He’s a patient hitter, a second baseman by trade with experience in LF and RF. We all know how Francona values versatility and he now has another player he can use in a variety of ways.
He also attended the University of Arizona like Tito.
It’s an under the radar move that could pay big dividends in the 2018 season.
Now, with three weeks until the Winter Meetings, the focus for the organization will shift to signing one of their key free agents, either Carlos Santana or Jay Bruce, and making some trades to get the roster ready for ’18.
With a core of the talented Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez and one of the best pitching staffs in the game, the Tribe is certainly the favorite to win the AL Central next season.
But keep an eye on guys like Merryweather, Castro, and Refsnyder.
MW
Cleveland Sports Perspective 