Cleveland Indians: Five 2018 spring training predictions
By Ryan Rosko
Buyer beware with Yonder Alonso
Cleveland could have kept Carlos Santana as their starting 1B or at the very worst put Brantley there. Instead, they went with the veteran free agent bargain route by signing Yonder Alonso.
Now, a move like this isn’t out of the ordinary for the Indians’ organization. Alonso is coming off of his best season in his career with the Oakland A’s and Seattle Mariners, having accumulated a slash line of .266/.365/..501/.866 with 28 home runs and 67 RBI.
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Could 2017 be a starting of things for Alonso? I’m hoping it is a sign of things to come.
Of course, that may be the case, but I am saying no it won’t be a thing to come in 2018. It took Alonso eight seasons to get to double-digit home for the first time in 2017, which is also the same amount of time to achieve his highest RBI total despite playing in 97 or more games in five MLB seasons.
It’s not that Alonso is a bad player, but he simply can’t put together an impressive season together. Instead, his career has been filled with career highs in various stats while diminishing numbers in others during the same season.
Ease up on expecting similar numbers to 2017. With that in mind, Alonso will ride the momentum from 2017 through spring training and into the regular season. Once there, it won’t be too long before some are disappointed by his production.
History doesn’t lie, which is why I call Alonso’s 2017 season an outlier. Although Cleveland signed him to a very reasonable deal, expect more of the numbers from the past. It won’t be long before some start wishing for Santana to be back at first again.