Aug 31st deadline and September callups

Let's take a quick look at what the Indians have and need as we approach both Aug 31st (deadline to acquire players who will be eligible for the post-season) and Sep. 1st (active rosters can expand to 40 players).

First, our 40-man roster is currently full.   Any additions will mean that someone has to go.   Right now the only guy who is expendable is Kyle Crockett although a case could be made that Abe Almonte is no longer a viable part of this team.   While Adam Plutko and Shawn Morimando have not had great seasons, they are depth starters who shouldn't be jettisoned for some one-month wonder.

So what do we need that we can get in the next two days?  The answer is SPEED and, preferably, speed in an infielder.   We need to find a way to manufacture some runs when the HR hitters are not hitting HRs.    The problem is, no one is available.

We could get Brandon Phillips if we were sure he was going to be a positive in the clubhouse.   He might add a little speed and could allow us to shift Ramirez back to third and inject more offense. 

So that does it for the Aug 31st deadline.

What about September callus?

It's great when your AAA and AA teams suck because there is no reason to keep a particular guy down on the farm.   So here are my opinion on what we should do:

Sept. 1st - We call up Francisco Mejia and Tyler Naquin and activate Chisenhall (if he isn't already activated).   We activate Otero from the paternity list. 

Sept 10th - We activate Almonte, Brantley, Miller and Kipnis.  I think we should add Greg Allen to the 40-man roster and DFA Crockett.  I don't believe that Allen would add that much but I would like to see him on the ML roster for depth in case we want to have him as the 25th man on a playoff roster.  Again, as an outfielder, he is the exact opposite, position-wise, of what we need.   Obviously, however, there is no place for him if we get Phillips back. 

Morimando and Plutko didn't earn callups and while Ronny Rodriguez, Cole Sulser, Louis Head and Josh Martin have probably earned a cup of coffee, it won't be with the Indians due to the players we have and the fact our 40-man is full.  I would hope we would trade some of these guys to get Phillips, thus giving us an asset and giving these guys a chance to get a taste of the majors.

That's it.  Don't be surprised if not much exciting happens over the next week or so.  If we can just get Phillips and bring up Mejia, that would be exciting enough for me.