The Indians needed to dump payroll and I think they did that masterfully. Yes, it cost them production in their lineup and YES, it made made it so they couldn't re-sign their big name free agents (and even some lesser ones who might have helped the team this year).
Still, they had a plan and they followed through on it.
So, if you exclude the trades that involved Gomes, Encarnacion and Alonso (and the resultant acquisition of Bauers, Santana, Johnson and Rodriguez and the loss of Yandy Diaz and Cole Sulser) here is what is left and my thoughts:
Chih-Wei Hu for Gionti Turne
Walter Lockett for Ignacio Feliz
Jordan Luplow and Max Moroff for Erik Gonzalez, Tahnaj Thomas and Dante Mendoza
In looking at these moves I still don't see the need for Lockett and Hu, especially given that we are signing relief pitchers. I also don't see the need for Luplow and we are about to find out how much we are going to miss Erik Gonzalez now that Lindor is likely to be out for awhile.
Look, I totally understand the salary dumps and the gamble that Diaz will not learn to hit for power and will be a less than adequate defender at third base. But I don't understand the other trades. We brought in a bunch of guys who hit .200 or so in the majors and lost prospects in doing it. None of that saved us any money. None of that made the 2019 Indians better.
I just don't get it and I hope it doesn't come back to bite us in the butt. Given that there are still good quality guys out there to be had on minor league deals, the panic jump for Hu, Lockett, Luplow and Moroff early in the off-season and even the dump of Gomes so early could lead us to be a weaker organization without strengthening the ML team this year.
As I have said many times, I just don't get those moves.
No comments:
Post a Comment