Cleveland Indians: Could A Familiar Face Be Brought Back?
By Ryan Rosko
How about bringing back a former member of the Cleveland Indians to help their bullpen? One popular Cleveland writer believes such a move would be worth looking into.
As the days go by, the Cleveland Indians’ options to help the bullpen are starting to dwindle. There has been no consistency in the bullpen, especially the back-end which makes the pursuit of a move that much more critical.
Regardless of the pitcherr — Bryan Shaw, Cody Allen, etc., quite a few of Cleveland’s relievers are struggling to the point that we may have never seen them pitch as bad as they have. Still there is time for them to make the adjustments, but that is no guarantee. If the Tribe are truly serious about improving the team, then a move(s) needs to be made sooner rather than later.
So, who could Cleveland get in the running for now? Earlier today, Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer mentioned the name of Philadelphia Phillies closer Jeanmar Gomez.
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The former Cleveland Indians pitcher has experience in multiple roles from being a starter early on in his career with Cleveland to now being a reliever over the last few seasons. Gomez is an intriguing option that Pluto mentioned. Gomez would give the Tribe versatility and is under contract for multiple seasons.
"I see him as a very good reliever who can help out Shaw as a set-up man for Allen. The 28-year-old Gomez won’t be a free agent until 2018."
It is very hard not to some degree still be in contention for a playoff spot now that MLB has two wild card spots in each league. With how bad Philadelphia has been and still is (not to mention the many prospects they will have to eventually play), Gomez could realistically be Cleveland’s answer.
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Making a deal for Gomez would be much easier than for some of the other relievers who are on the market. Besides, if Cleveland wants to give up one or two Double-A or Single-A prospects for Gomez, then the chances are greater for an agreement. Going that route seems to be the Cleveland Indians’ front office preferred route.
Cleveland was linked to Aroldis Chapman, formerly of the New York Yankees, but he was just traded to the Chicago Cubs. The Tribe also was interested in Yankees’ Andrew Miller, but NY is not trading him. Outside of those two players, most of the trade rumors have surrounded multiple Milwaukee Brewers relievers.
Gomez was given up to soon, but if he ends up being a legitimate option, how does the Cleveland Indians not trade for him? Sure, he is not a Miller or Chapman, but Gomez would provide an upgrade to the bullpen.
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Gomez easily could have been named Philly’s representative in the 2016 MLB All-Star game. This is Cleveland’s chance to make the necessarily moves. Hopefully they do not sit around and just watch.