Cleveland Indians: What To Do With Yandy Diaz When Jason Kipnis Returns?

The Cleveland Indians will soon have a tough decision to make with their roster.

Second baseman Jason Kipnis has started his path back to Cleveland, Ohio by facing real live pitching for the Akron Rubber Ducks. As he works his way back to the Cleveland Indians’ lineup, there is a question that manager Terry Francona is going to have to tackle head on.

What exactly do you do with third baseman Yandy Diaz once Kipnis comes back? There are a few options, listed in no particular order:

1. Keep Diaz at third

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This isn’t crazy, as Diaz has addressed the lingering questions about his glove by looking steady and confident at the hot corner. According to baseball-reference.com, Diaz is hitting .211. While the batting average isn’t great, he is putting together solid at-bats.

If Diaz stays at third, that means Jose Ramirez can provide some reinforcements in the outfield, particularly in right. While outfielders Tyler Naquin and Michael Brantley have looked good, Abraham Almonte has one hit on the year and Brandon Guyer is not a full time player.

Putting Ramirez in right would give Francona a near every day lineup for the outfield instead of a platoon heavy group that forces the bench to carry too many outfield gloves.

2. Move Diaz to the outfield

While Diaz has started more games at third in the minors than any other single position, he has played more games in the corner outfield spots combined than any other position.

His experience in right field would address the similar problems addressed by moving Ramirez out there, while still giving the Tribe a guy that can move to the infield if needed.

Although Diaz has been good defensively, few would argue that Ramirez at third isn’t a defensive upgrade.

3. Move Diaz to the utility role

This means two things. First, UT man Michael Martinez would likely be bumped off the 25-man roster. While we all applaud the hustle and versatility, his age and lack of upside mean he is the odd man out.

Diaz can play both corner outfield spots, third base, and second base. He has played short, but that isn’t necessary with Ramirez and Francisco Lindor on the roster. The move to the bench also means Diaz would not see every day at-bats. His positional versatility and ability to put together really good at-bats would make him an upgrade on the bench over Martinez.

4. Send Diaz back to Columbus

This option makes Tribe fans bristle. Diaz is major league ready, even if he hasn’t caught fire yet at the plate. He’s better than Martinez and offers the same level of positional versatility as the veteran.

However, as mentioned above, Diaz won’t get every day at-bats if he is sitting the bench. With that in mind, a trip down to AAA-Columbus wouldn’t be the worst thing ever. He could play all over the field there and would be the first man called up in case of another injury.

Sending Diaz down to Columbus also doesn’t disrupt the balance of the roster, with Kipnis simply replacing Diaz as another infielder and Martinez remaining a super-sub off the bench.

5. Free up a roster spot with a trade

This is 100% crazy, irrational, and unlikely. Still, given the platoon based logjam in the outfield and Diaz’s importance to the organization, could general manager Mike Chernoff make a trade to free up a big league spot for Diaz?

It’s difficult to say, as it would be difficult to value a guy like Guyer or Almonte on another team. Right fielder Lonnie Chisenhall isn’t likely to go anywhere, given the faith Francona has in him after the move to the outfield jump started his career.

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Chisenhall’s own impending return complicates things further as someone in the outfield is going to be the odd man out anyways. It’s so early in the year that there isn’t much of a trade market out there yet. It also would be difficult to move any of the members of the outfield group without a major injury to a corner outfielder at the big league level elsewhere.

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