Why Asdrubal Should Stay

With the major league trading deadline coming in less than three weeks, the rumor mill has been very active, especially regarding the Cleveland Indians.

Most of the supposed deals have the Tribe getting pitching, since they rank 12th in the American League in ERA, and recently their bullpen has provided more ups and downs than the roller coasters at Cedar Point.

However, one that hit this week really shocked us. ESPN’s Buster Olney reported that Cleveland is talking to the St. Louis Cardinals about SS Asdrubal Cabrera, who is having a down year to this point in the season.

While the Cardinals have a lot of young pitching in their organization, this seems to be the kind of move that would be made if a team was out of the pennant race or in the off-season, not 2-1/2 games out as we approach the All-Star break.

This is true for several reasons. First, Cabrera isn’t hitting as well as he has in the past, meaning his market value is down. Here are the shortstop’s OPS over the last few years–

2009     799
2010     673
2011     792
2012     762
2013     722

His lifetime OPS is 752, so right now he is 30 points below his average season, and around 70 points behind his best seasons of ’09 and ’11. At 27 years old, he figures to still be capable of getting back to the 800 level.

Many people feel the Tribe can afford to deal the two-time all-star because of the availability of Mike Aviles, but that is poorly thought out for two reasons. Aviles is a much better hitter as a part-time player, hitting just .250 in his lone year as a regular in Boston last season. His career batting average is .275.

Also, who would replace Aviles on the bench? The Indians’ success this season has come in part because their bench is very strong, getting big production out of players like Aviles, Ryan Raburn, Jason Giambi, and Yan Gomes.

Who would take over Aviles’ role as the utility infielder? That’s a big question that GM Chris Antonetti has to think about.

A trade would make sense if the Tribe would be getting back a proven major league starting pitcher in return, but it doesn’t appear that would be the case. Most of the names involved are Shelby Miller, Trevor Rosenthal, Michael Wacha, and Carlos Martinez, all top 10 prospects for the Cardinals.

However, out of the four of them, Miller has the most experience, a total of 19 big league starts. As good as Miller is reported to be, there is no evidence that he will be a successful starter for a team in a race for the playoffs. Plus, his highest inning total in the minors is 151, meaning the Cleveland front office would want to limit his to around 175 for the season.

He has already thrown 104 on the season.

This trade would make a lot more sense in the winter. By then, prime prospect SS Francisco Lindor will have half a year at the AA level, meaning he could be promoted to the bigs sometime during the 2014 season.

The Indians could get away with a half-year of Aviles starting as short with Lindor taking over in the middle of the year. Don’t forget the Tribe has a plethora of middle infield players on the horizon, with SS Ronny Rodriguez playing at Akron now and maybe moving to Columbus soon.

Dealing a player like Cabrera for pitching help would make sense since the Tribe would be dealing from strength. Just not now with the team in contention.

That just doesn’t make sense.

Below the Radar Needs for Tribe

Our nation’s birthday arrived on the same date as the halfway point of the baseball season for the Cleveland Indians and the Tribe finished up the first half at 42-39, putting them on pace to win 84 games this season.

Based on the relative strength of the American League Central Division, finishing with that record could put them in the race all the way to the end of the season, because it’s doubtful the winner will be able to garner 90 wins for the campaign.

The main weaknesses of the Indians are pretty well-known, and we have touched on them several times in the past month. They need a right-handed hitter and another starting pitcher.

Fans know it, the front office knows it.

However, there are some other subtle moves the front office needs to make for the Indians to stay in contention.

The first is to have a legitimate utility infielder on the roster, meaning a guy who can play shortstop reasonably well.

Whether that means Jason Donald stays, who knows, but Manny Acta can’t continue to go through the rest of the season using Jack Hannahan, who has appeared in three major league games at the position (one this year), as his reserve for Asdrubal Cabrera.

And he needs a better defensive option at second base too. Jose Lopez made an all-star team at 2B in Seattle, but at the point in his career, he’s more suited to be a corner infielder.

The reason for a legitimate middle infield reserve is to give some rest to Cabrera and Jason Kipnis during the dog days after the all-star break, so they can be productive for a possible stretch run.

It is understandable that Acta doesn’t want to take either out of the lineup, but they can be used at the DH spot so they can hit and not be out on the field.

Keeping two of the most productive bats fresh is a must do for the skipper, and he can’t do it without having someone who can play solid defense at 2B and SS. On that basis, Donald needs to stay on the roster.

The other need is to strengthen the bullpen so that Acta doesn’t have to use the trio of Joe Smith, Vinnie Pestano, and Chris Perez in every game the Tribe has a chance to win.

These three are a major key to the Indians’ success, and keeping them fresh into September and perhaps October is very important.

Perhaps one piece is already in place in Esmil Rogers. Rogers arrived in Cleveland after compiling a 8.06 ERA in Colorado, but in nine games with the Tribe, he’s allowed just two earned runs in 11-1/3 innings, striking out 15 hitters and walking just one.

More help could come from veteran left-hander Rafael Perez, assuming he can return from the disabled list. Perez could give Acta someone he is comfortable with against the tough left-handed batters which populate the American League.

Right now with Tony Sipp and Nick Hagadone struggling, the manager would rather use one of his righties in that role, and sometimes that’s not fair to those pitchers.

These smaller scale moves are just as important as getting the right-handed stick and starting pitchers because it keeps the players who constitute the strengths of this team fresh, and at top performance.

They may not be the flashy, high impact moves, but taking care of these problems definitely help the ballclub.

Acta Shorthanded With His Bench

With the Cleveland Indians struggling since their sweep of the Detroit Tigers, the weaknesses fans have been concerned about all year have started to raise their ugly heads.

The starting pitching has been the main culprit, as in those nine games (the Tribe has gone 2-7 in those contests) only Derek Lowe’s performance against Minnesota in which he pitched 6-2/3 innings and allowed one run, can be considered very good.

The struggles of the starters has forced the Indians to play from behind quite a bit, and with their lack of power, that is not a good situation.

The Tribe is 8-18 in games they haven’t hit a home run. More to the point, they are 20-7 when they do hit one over the wall.

The Twins’ series was a perfect example. Friday night, Lonnie Chisenhall and Jason Kipnis went deep in a Cleveland win. There were no round trippers the rest of the weekend, and the Indians dropped the final two games of the weekend.

And of course, the last problem area to show up again is the problem the Tribe has against southpaws. Scott Diamond started for the Twins Sunday afternoon, and the Cleveland bats took a nap, losing 6-3.

However, the roster construction doesn’t do Manny Acta any favors. Right now, there are two players on the pines who are there because they play a certain position. That is their only qualification for being on the team.

Aaron Cunningham is here because he can play CF if something happened to Michael Brantley, and Juan Diaz is on the roster because he can play shortstop.

GM Chris Antonetti hasn’t been able to develop or acquire a legitimate fourth outfielder or a utility infielder.

That is troublesome because it doesn’t give the skipper a lot of flexibility.

Neither player has shown he can hit, particularly with the limited at bats they receive, and on a team that has difficulties hitting left-handed pitching, that’s tough to digest.

Cunningham can play all three outfield spots, but there has to be someone within the organization that can provide better hitting and has the ability to play centerfield.

The same is true for Diaz at SS, although he is here because the guy whose job he has, Jason Donald, didn’t hit, and is having trouble defensively at short in Columbus.

The problem is Acta cannot have any confidence putting either of these guys in a lineup when needed. And if that’s the case, a change needs to be made.

The same problem is occurring in the bullpen with lefty Tony Sipp. The reliever has done a good job the past few years, but this year is struggling.

He came in Saturday with the team trailing 5-4 to face two left-handed hitters, Ben Revere and Joe Mauer. A single and a home run later, the score was 7-4.

This isn’t to bury Sipp, but he needs to go back to the minors to work on getting back to where he was in 2010 and 2011.

Right now, it is doubtful that Acta can find any situation in which to use him except in a blowout situation.

That’s not fair to the manager.

Most major league managers need a 25 man roster to work with, especially those who pilot small to mid-market teams.

Right now, Manny Acta has a 22 man team because his roster is littered with players like the three mentioned.

Maybe Acta’s the one who wants these guys, but that’s doubtful.

The front office needs to upgrade this roster, and the sooner they do it, the better the Indians can hang in the race to win the AL Central.