Cleveland Indians: 4 impacts trade deadline moves have on 2022

1. Houston gets Phil Maton,  Yanier Diaz, Cleveland Indians get CF Myles Straw

The most noticeable change you’ll see comes in center field, as Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff made a deal for Houston center fielder Myles Straw.

He doesn’t have the numbers of other outfielders we would’ve liked to see Cleveland acquire (Ketel Marte), but he didn’t cost as much, either. Straw is batting .262 wit a .665 OPS and 17 stolen bases in 22 chances. He’s under club control through the 2025 campaign.

Antonetti said the Indians had tried to acquire Straw before and that the organization views him “…As a premium defender in center field and elite base runner…”

What it mean? Straw is your new everyday center fielder, according to the Akron Beacon Journal’s Ryan Lewis. The scribe noted that Harold Ramirez, Bradley Zimmer, Daniel Johnson and Oscar Mercado will compete for time at outfield spots (If your Zimmer and Mercado, you should probably be nervous).

It’s easy to crack wise on the Astros, but they certainly look for real this season. They produce good player and while Straw may not be the second coming of Kenny Lofton, he’s better at the dish than the 29-year-old Zimmer and the struggling Mercado.

As for Maton, I was astonished to see had 61 strikeouts in 41 innings. He had an ERA over 4.00, though, and that made a ton of sense. Let’s just say I was far from confident when Tito called for him out of the pen.