Indians: At this rate the Tribe overpaid for Eddie Rosario

Eddie Rosario is being overpaid by the Indians this season.

It’s hard to say that Eddie Rosario is having a good season for the Indians. He’s only batting .203, with a .258 OBP and an OPS of just .580. That may not be bad, on its own, especially since hitters in the Major’s are declining in talent. Just look around the league, the “best” hitters aren’t hitting in the mid .300’s anymore. That’s a sign that batting talent is declining, and that hitting philosophies need to change to keep up with the rise of better pitching.

Of the Indians, Rosario is seventh in walks, sixth in batting average, seventh in home runs, and third in RBI’s.

That’d all be well and good if he were Josh Naylor or Jordan Luplow and getting paid average rates. The problem is that he’s one of the highest-paid hitters on the roster. Many fans demand the Indians to over-pay in free agency to sign guys like Rosario, but if this is what the fans are going to get from Rosario for the year, then that’s only going to continue to detour the franchise from doing just that.

Big money but better prospects?

Rosario has not earned his contract by any stretch of the imagination, and if some Triple-A prospects break out of the back, it wouldn’t be too far out of the box to think that Rosario could be benched. His production isn’t great, and just because he’s third on the team in RBI’s doesn’t mean that’s impressive.

It means the team as a whole isn’t impressive at scoring runs.

The Indians really are only now opting to make changes, having sent struggling shortstop Andres Gimenez down to Triple-A Columbus, which means there’s a spot in the lineup. Many are expecting Owen Miller, who’s batting .455 in 14 games so far this year, to be called up to replace him.

If Rosario continues to struggle, the Tribe may bring back up Bradley Zimmer or Nolan Jones (or even Miller, who’s playing left field at times in Columbus) to replace Rosario in the lineup and send him to the bench. It’s unlikely the Tribe will release him, but if the team finds players who perform better, a trade may not be out of the equation. The Tribe does have a history of trading away “names” who get signed to one-year deals (Austin Kearns, Mark Reynolds). So it’s not out of the realm of possibility that Rosario does get moved if he continues to struggle and (that’s important) the younger players step up and out-perform him.

Hopefully, Rosario improves his play, as he does have some real power that can help the team.