Cleveland Indians trade talk: Potential outfield targets
Outfield for the Cleveland Indians continues to be a work in progress, and one writer suggested these names as potential trade targets.
The Cleveland Indians continue to move farther away from first place in the AL Central, and the Tribe’s offense is a major reason why the team finds itself 7.0 games out of first place entering May 23.
MLB Trade Rumors writer Tim Dierkes explored the outfield market. The author threw out a lot of names, and while a couple options are intriguing, most of the names here just don’t seem realistic.
1. In left field, Dierkes listed the Mariners’ Domingo Santana as his top target, but concluded Seattle probably wouldn’t be “eager to trade him.”
2. His next name? Alex Gordon. The Kansas City vet looked washed up for much of the past three seasons, but he’s enjoying a re-birth this season, batting .296. He makes $20 million though. The Indians don’t want to take that on and the Royals aren’t exactly in a place to help with financials.
Plus, is two months of a decent Gordon enough to take that big a risk on? No way.
3. Former Red Adam Duvall is also on this list. No thanks. The Tribe has enough Adam Duvalls.
4. Diamondbacks outfielder Yasmany Thomas was also deemed a potential target, but he has a peculiar story. After belting 31 homers in 2016, Arizona gave him a six-year, $68.5 million contract. He hasn’t played in the big leagues since 2017, though!
Again, the Indians aren’t in the business of taking on money, so the Diamondbacks would have to help out move one of the most expensive players currently playing at the Triple-A level. He has 14 homers in 178 plate appearances with Arizona’s Class AAA affiliate.
5. Clint Frazier was also mentioned, and his name has been floated, here as well. I was ready to deal Shane Bieber for him during the offseason, now, I’m not so sure. Bieber looks like has what it takes to be an Ace and I’m not particularly fond of the idea of hand delivering him to the Yankees.
6. In right field, Dierkes mentioned the Orioles’ Trey Mancini.
Mancini is batting above .300 with a .901 OPS. He bats right handed and is under club control through the 2022 season. The Orioles will not be good anytime soon, so perhaps they use Mancini has a piece to add prospects.
7. The other intriguing name is Cardinals’ prospect Tyler O’Neill. He’s at Triple-A and just suffered an injury (day-to-day), but the Tribe has a recent history with St. Louis, acquiring Oscar Mercado in a low-profile deal last summer.
Like Mercado, O’Neill’s path to the big league is blocked by other players, for this year, anyway. St. Louis may be confronted with change come free agency, though, so a spot may open up in 2020.
O’Neill is a lifetime .256 hitter in the minors, and while he strikes out a lot, he has the ability to hit for power.
8. The Mariner’s Mitch Haniger name was also dripped, but as the writer points out, it will take a haul to land his his right-handed bat, which has already launched 12 homers this season.
9. Yasiel Puig and Nicholas Castellanos don’t fit the Tribe’s business model. The 2019 Indians show no signs of “going for it,” so these would not be the players to go out on a limb for.
10. Dierkes other names, Adam Eaton, hits from the left side. The Indians have a ton of help on that side, already. He currently has a WAR of 0.0. Would rather just see the young guys play.
11. Kansas City probably doesn’t want to trade Jorge Soler. He was once a highly regarded prospect with the Cubs. Unbelievable he’s in his sixth MLB campaign and has played over 100 games just once. He already has 11 homers. Kansas City would probably like to see what it has in one of the major pieces of the Wade Davis trade from a few years back.