Cleveland Indians: Who Will Replace Abraham Almonte In Center Field?
Cleveland Indians outfielder Abraham Almonte was suspended 80 games Friday for a violation of the league’s drug policy. Who will take his spot as the team’s Opening Day center fielder?
Cleveland Indians outfielder Abraham Almonte has been suspended 80 games for a violation of MLB’s drug policy. Almonte was projected to be the team’s opening day center fielder, that won’t be the case anymore.
The Indians released the follow statement regarding the suspension.
"“We were disappointed to learn of the suspension of Abraham Almonte for violating Major League Baseball’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. We fully support Major League Baseball’s policy and its efforts to eliminate performance-enhancing drugs from our game.”"
Almonte was acquired midseason last year by the Cleveland Indians in a deal with the San Diego Padres. His suspension makes the already murky outfield situation even more unclear. All-Star left fielder Michael Brantley is still recovering from offseason shoulder surgery.
Almonte hit .250 with five home runs and 24 RBIs last season, he filled in nicely as the Tribe’s starting center fielder the second half of the season. So, who will replace him? Possible solutions include Tyler Naquin, Zach Walters, Rajai Davis and Will Venable, who was just signed Friday.
Naquin, 24, was a first round pick for the Cleveland Indians in 2012. In 2015 he hit .300 with seven home runs and 27 RBIs in 327 at-bats during split time with Double-A Akron and Triple-A Columbus. He has no big league experience and little to no power at the plate. Naming Naquin the Opening Day centerfielder would be a considerable risk for manager Terry Francona.
Walters, 26, was acquired by the Tribe in 2014 in a trade with the Washington Nationals. He’s split time between Triple-A Columbus and the big league club during his time with the organization. In 42 games with the Indians over the course of the 2014 and 2015 Walters hit .161 with seven home runs and 15 RBIs in 118 at-bats. Barring injury, there’s little to no chance he will be on the Opening Day roster. In his 118 at-bats with the Tribe he has struck out a whopping 47 times. Probably not what Francona wants in his lineup.
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That leaves Davis, 35, and Venable, 33, as possible solutions. Davis hit .258 with eight home runs and 30 RBIs last season with the Detroit Tigers, and Venable hit .244 with six home runs and 33 RBIs in time with the Texas Rangers and Padres. The team will pay the two a combined $6.75 million in 2016.
Davis and Venable are extremely similar in terms of production at the plate, it doesn’t make a difference to me who plays over the other. Davis bats right-handed and Venable hits from the left side of the plate, the Tribe’s lefty heavy lineup could give Davis the upper-hand. The money spent on the two is almost a waste at this point, though. Almonte’s suspension really throws the team’s front office for a loop.
Wouldn’t that $6.75 million have been better spent on a player like Austin Jackson? Last week it was rumored the team was in talks with the serviceable center fielder, but nothing came of it. Will Almonte’s absence force the team to take another look? Or will they consider Davis and Venable viable solutions to the team’s outfield situation and save money? Knowing the Dolans it will probably be the latter.
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I would hate to think the team passed on Jackson because of their confidence in Almonte.