Looking through the free agent pool and the rosters and prospects for every team in baseball, I came up with a list of potential targets for Cleveland to acquire to help fix their OF problem, focusing primarily on RFers and favoring RH hitters to help balance our lineup.
There were certain players who I rejected outright
Fernando Tatis Jr. - too expensive (salary and cost in prospects/ML players), too many potential issues
Juan Soto - too expensive (in salary and cost in prospects/ML players), relegated to LF, one year rental, hits left handed
Cody Bellinger - too expensive as a free agent, hits left-handed
Anthony Santander - One year rental.
Alex Verdugo - One year rental for league average production
Tyler O'Neill - One year rental, injured a lot, mostly LF
Lourdes Gurriel - LF, one year rental
One year rentals will never allow us to recover in prospects what we had to pay for them. Guys who are too expensive or are not specifically rightfielders would make us have to do other things that would weaken the team.
So, given those guys being out of the picture, here are some names and thoughts about them:
FREE AGENTS
Shohei Ohtani LH DH - So this is a post about corner outfielders and the first thing is I do is blow up the damn paradigm by talking about a DH and one that makes our lineup even more LH-leaning than it is now. However, there are some advantages here. If healthy, he adds power and some speed to the lineup and protection for Ramirez. No matter his handedness, you can't beat that. Plus, it eliminates a lot of the pressure to go out and add a RH powerhitting RFer. This allows us to cast a wider net in the search for OF production including settling for a platoon of Brennan and one of JRod/Gonzo/Noel. In the meantime, Ohtani rehabs with some of the best staff at that in the majors and builds his equity for a mega contract as a 2-way player in 2025. The only other compounding issue here is that Ohtani will likely be offered a qualifying offer. That means, based on the new CBA, that we would lose our 2nd round pick next June as our 1st round pick and CB-A pick would be protected. If we sign him for one year ay less than $45 million, the Angels would not get an additional pick.
Teoscar Hernandez
Adam Duvall
Tommy Pham
Hunter Renfroe
Jorge Soler
Cost - Ohtani would be way expensive but it makes sense. Hernandez will be near the top of the OF FA class so will be way overpaid in years and dollars based on his 2023 production. Duvall, Pham and Renfroe should be reasonably priced on a 1- to 2-year deal. Soler has a player option in Miami and, if he turns down what would amount to a $16 million options, is expensive and may be a liability in RF. All of these guys except Ohtani hit right-handed and can play RF. Ohtani and Soler may be offered a qualifying offer meaning we would lose a 2nd round pick in 2024 for signing them. I would not sign any of these guys if it cost us a draft pick.
PLAYERS UNDER CONTROL BY ANOTHER TEAM
Cheap Trades - Minor Leaguers/Beginning major leaguers
Jorge Barrosa - Arizona - AAA Switch hitter - 2 options remaining
Alexander Canario - Cubs - AAA - Out of minor league options
Tyler Gentry - KC - AAA
Everson Perriera - NYY - 2 minor league options left
Cost - All of these guys can slot into RF or CF and all are either switch hitters or hit right handed. I don't think any of these guys would cost us more than Tena or Martinez and each could be a stop gap in the outfield until mid-season when DeLauter and Valera might be ready. If it was me I would bring in Barrosa as I think Arzona might be the easiest team to deal with in this group.
Expensive Trades - Major Leaguers with track records
Luis Robert - 4 years of control
Brian Reynolds - 4 years of control
Jordan Walker - 5 years of control
Lane Thomas - 2 years of control
Randy Arozerana - 3 years of control
Austin Hayes - 2 years of control
Cost - In one word: prohibitive. Obviously Hayes would be the cheapest but I can't see trading prospects of 2 years of ML average production, even if that production is much better than what we had last year. That is a fools bet based on giving up prospects based on the DIFFERENCE of our past production vs what Hayes would bring. Not a good way to trade, IMO. Luis Robert is a pipedream but it is possible that the White Sox are going to hard core rebuild and replacing Straw with Robert gives the ability to try a rookie in RF or go with a RHH rookie/Brennan platoon hoping that one of the two will take over the job and play full-time. Reynolds is a switch hitter and is used to playing on teams that are not that great. Jordan Walker had a -0.1 WAR this year and so might be the cheapest. Thomas is likely to be expensive but maybe we could afford him as he likely won't be in Washington when they return to competitiveness.
So let's look at my estimate of what each would cost (you can substitute Williams for each time I mention Bibee. If we trade Bibee or Williams we would not be able to trade Beiber as we wouldn't have enough starting pitching:
Robert - Bibee, Cantillo, Freeman and DeLauter
Walker - Bibee (we might be able to pry Adam Kloffenstein from them to make up for the loss of Bibee and the fact that Walker was actually below league average, overall, this year, with a WAR of -0.1)
Reynolds - This may be the least likely trade but if Pittsburgh were to be convinced they would likely need to receive Bibee, Manzardo or DeLauter and Brito in return.
Thomas - Bibee, Freeman and Brito
Arozerena - Bibee and Martinez
Hayes - Beiber and Martinez
SUMMARY
So, there you have it. If the Guardians are to get the power hitter they want they are going to have to pay the piper, so to speak. The free agent market looks thin but I could see them grabbing Pham and making the minor trade for Barrosa. I could also see them going after one of the bigger trade chips. I would rather they not bring in Hayes as I think the upgrade would not be significant. Arozearena is a cut above Hayes but still not my first choice if we were going all in on an outfielder. Any of the other ones would be better. If you bring in Robert you could take a flyer on JRod, Noel or Gonzo in a RF platton with Brennan and then get what you can for Straw as Robert provides a lot of power you were looking for in RF. It is even possible that Robert slides over to RF, leaving Straw in center and then letting Brennan and JRod fight over the backup OF spot.
Probably some of you have come up with similar wish lists but I think this is what it might cost to get the guy(s) we want.
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