That left veteran first baseman Yonder Alonso as the odd man out from a playing perspective (Santana switch-hits) and from a financial one (Alonso makes eight million in 2019 and has a makeable 2020 option if Alonso stays healthy in 2019 triggered by total plate appearances), so it was a natural fit for the Indians to move Alonso.
The mild surprise was the destination for the veteran- the division rival Chicago White Sox, who not only have a bevy of young talent, both in the bigs and near it, but also are reported to be prepared to make a big charge at free agents Bryce Harper and/or Manny Machado in a final attempt to bring a championship to aging owner Jerry Reinsdorf.
Alonso in a side note that I didn't know before this trade is Manny Machado's brother in law, so could that play into this trade?
If so, it's a small factor as I doubt that anyone pays nine million for a player in the hopes that his brother in law will sign with you.
The 31-year-old (turns 32 shortly after opening day) signed a two-year deal last winter as the Indians attempted to replace (ironically enough) Carlos Santana after Santana signed with the Phillies and the return was a mixed bag.
Alonso, who was one of the players mentioned most as gaining from the then-new "Launch Angle" craze in 2017 with a career-high 28 homers after a previous high of nine, maintained his power as he hit 23 homers for the Tribe.
However, he only collected 19 other extra-base hits (all doubles), struck out a career-high 123 times and continued to not hit lefthanded pitchers well (,223 and 4 homers), so he'll need to be platooned.
The signing of Alonso was far from a flop, but I wouldn't say that he replaced the production of Santana either and with making nine million for 2019 and an option that could be activated with Alonso staying healthy, it makes sense for the Indians, who always look to strain money from the skim, to try to save those dollars.
Still, being able to stash that cash away does have one huge benefit- the Indians may have managed to save enough money in trading Yonder Alonso and Edwin Encarnacion (and the six million that they are receiving from Seattle doesn't hurt either) that they may not feel compelled to be forced to trade either Corey Kluber or Trevor Bauer for financial reasons, although they still could for baseball reasons as the outfield is still a problem zone even with the addition of Jake Bauers.
Of course, when you trade a player making that kind of salary and you want the new team to pay all of that, the return will never be as strong as it would be if you were willing to pay some of that total and it wasn't this time either as the White Sox traded minor league outfielder Alex Call to the Tribe.
Call was the White Sox third rounder in 2016 from Ball State and the 24-year-old played for High A Winston-Salem and AA Birmingham last season, hitting a combined .248 with 12 homers in 123 games at the two stops.
In other words, Alex Call is another outfielder that seems to fit the Indians template-average power, mildly above-average speed and often a college draftee.
Call's ceiling would see him in Cleveland eventually, but with the impact of the Tyler Naquin types that have populated the system for years.
Again, you cannot expect an elite prospect when the other team is eating the entire contract, so whatever Call does in Cleveland is a bonus.
I'd expect Call to be assigned to AA Akron.
A side note- what is this team's aversion to developing power hitting outfielders?
They haven't drafted one near the bigs since Clint Frazier (Will Benson has been drafted, but being at Low A, I'm not counting him yet), haven't developed one since trading for Grady Sizemore, who started in High A with the Indians organization and haven't drafted/developed one since Manny Ramirez!!!
Here is a list of just first round outfielders (including sandwich picks) picked by the Indians since 2000.
I know there is more to developing players than just first rounders, but for reference.
2001: Mike Conroy
2003: Brad Snyder
2005: Trevor Crowe
John Drennan
2012: Tyler Naquin
2013: Clint Frazier
2014: Bradley Zimmer
Mike Papi
2016: Will Benson
Back later with the WBO super middleweight title on the line between Gilberto Ramirez and Jesse Hart.
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