Indians sign Carlos Gonzalez

I've been critical of the Cleveland Indians outfield situation and their apparent tolerance of an outfield that lacked power and much of a track record.

The Indians attempted to address the outfield with the signing of Carlos Gonzalez, formerly of Colorado to a one year contract valued at two million dollars and some incentives and should add some needed skills to an Indian outfield in need of them.

The 33-year-old Gonzalez batted .276 with 16 homers and 64 RBI for the Rockies in 2018 and plays one of the better defensive games as a right fielder as well.
Gonzalez carries little risk at the price that the Indians are paying and considering their need at this point, Gonzalez seems like a potential bargain.

Before we get too excited, keep in mind that Gonzalez is 33, his numbers have dropped over the last two seasons and his split stats have always been heavily slanted towards being a player that has consistently hit better at Coors Field than on the road.
The lefthanded swinging Gonzalez doesn't hit lefthanders well and the Indians needed a righthanded power bat far more than a lefthanded one, but as Terry Francona noted- the Indians need hitters period.

The Indians outfield of Tyler Naquin, Leonys Martin, Greg Allen, Jake Bauers and now Gonzalez are all lefthanded batters and I've never been a believer in Bradley Zimmer, so putting a lot of hopes into his return from shoulder surgery later this season seems to be hopes that are doomed to disappoint, so look for Oscar Mercado, who looks headed to AAA Columbus to be back in Cleveland quickly in the event of injuries or team need.
Mercado was acquired from St.Louis last season at the trade deadline, has impressed at spring training and hits from the right side of the plate, which as noted is a desperate need for the Wahoos.

The Indians are desperate for outfield power.
Carlos Gonzalez comes fairly inexpensively for a player of his background so I can see the signing making sense for Cleveland.
Still, he is a player that seems to be slipping, has never been a player that thrived outside Denver and hasn't hit lefthanded pitching well, so all of those are concerns, but in the end, Cleveland had to take the risk because desperate teams are forced to.