The Pittsburgh Pirates gained and therefore the Cleveland Indians lost outfielder Lonnie Chisenhall in a pre-winter meetings free agent signing.
Chisenhall signed a one year contract for 2.75 million with some incentives in the contract as well.
The 30 year old Chisenhall returns to the team that first drafted him, but was unable to ink him to a contract in 2006.
Three years later, the Indians would draft him in the first round and be able to sign him to a deal as a then third baseman before a move to right field after he had spent some time with the big club.
Chisenhall has spent most of the last two seasons dealing with calf injuries that saw him play in just 29 games last season after only playing in 82 in 2017.
Chisenhall did hit .321 in his cameo appearances, so that's something for the Pirates to consider, I suppose and the one year deal isn't oppressive in cost either.
Still with Pittsburgh signing Chisenhall to play right field while Gregory Polanco recovers from shoulder surgery that could keep Polanco on the sideline for much of the first half of the 2019 season has its risks.
Chisenhall's injury history is even worse than Polanco's and that's the real risk- hoping that Chisenhall can stay healthy enough to keep the position warm for the retuning Polanco and that will take either a change of fortune for Chisenhall or plenty of luck.
Lonnie Chisenhall was always a polarizing player for me.
I never thought that the production was anywhere near the hype for him among Indian fans and much like the prospect that he reminds me of (in prospect hype and skill level, not necessarily similar skills) Bradley Zimmer, Chisenhall gave Indians fans what they want to see.
If you saw a player with a developing bat and later in his tenure as an outfielder, possible plus defensive skills, Chisenhall could give an observer enough to believe that.
If you saw a player that was more streaky than consistent with the wood and a player that was even more inconsistent with the glove that he needed to change position, Chisenhall could back that position up as well.
Whether you were a fan of Chisenhall or not, the loss of him (well, he's been gone most of the last two years anyway) to an already questionable outfield situation doesn't help very much.
Michael Brantley didn't receive a qualifying offer from the Indians, journeymen Melky Cabrera and Rajai Davis are free agents and losing Chisenhall leaves these as the competitors for the outfield spots- Bradley Zimmer (will miss some of the season anyway), late-season acquisition Leonys Martin (who had an life-threatening illness that almost killed him), Greg Allen, Tyler Naquin, Jordan Luplow, who was recently traded for from the Pirates and another late-season addition at the AAA level Oscar Mercado from the Cardinals complete the current field.
I'm hoping that this group looks different before the trip to Arizona through trade, free agency or even another 4A type bat that may be needing a chance.
Just a hunch on my part, but keep an eye on the San Diego Padres, who have four young outfielders in Wil Myers, Franmil Reyes, Hunter Renfroe and Manuel Margot and play in a pitchers park- watch for a possible deal with the Padres, especially with Myers, who's more expensive and the Padres would likely prefer the other players who would come more cost-controlled (Cleveland would rather have the cheaper, long-term controlled players as well) than Myers.
I might be back later for some talk on the Cavaliers making the first of what's likely to be many trades this season and the boxing challenge kicks off early this week with a 6;30 Friday start from Australia.
No comments:
Post a Comment