The day that Cleveland Indians fans were dreading but knew was inevitable arrived on Thursday when the team traded the face of the franchise, shortstop Francisco Lindor and veteran pitcher Carlos Carrasco to the New York Mets for a four player package that included infielders Amed Rosario and Andres Gimenez.
Francisco Lindor had been the Indians star player and a home-grown one to boot.
In Lindor's six seasons in Cleveland, he made four All-Star teams, won two Silver Slugger awards, two Gold Gloves, and hit over thirty home runs three times.
Lindor didn't have his typical season in 2020 as he hit .258 with eight homers in the Covid shortened campaign, but at 27 Lindor is in his prime and should bounce back into his normal form in 2021.
Carlos Carrasco's placement in the swap came down to being able to save even more money and at 34 before the season starts and a record of health problems, the Indians forced him into any Lindor deal.
Carrasco isn't shot by any means and the Mets should be more than pleased to place him into the lower end of their rotation. Carrasco finished 3-4 last season for Cleveland in twelve starts with 82 strikeouts in 68 innings, sp as long as he can stay healthy, Carrasco can help the Mets .
Lindor was extremely popular with the fan base with his exuberant personality and will be extremely difficult to replace on and off the field as will Carrasco, who was the Indians nominee for the Roberto Clemente award for his off-field charity work.
I have to be honest, I winced when I was told of the deal and that it was the Mets that had won the Lindor lottery.
Nothing against the Mets, I don't really have an opinion on them, but they are a team that historically has overrated their prospects and any New York based team will always have players that are overhyped.
I was even less thrilled when I saw the actual return,
The Indians farm system strength is in pitchers and middle infielders with a lack of prospects in the outfield, so explain to me why the two cornerstones of the trade are middle infielders?
Amed Rosario hit pretty well in 2019 with a line of .287 15 homers, 72 RBI, and 19 steals.
The 25 year old Rosario also hit 30 doubles in 2019, but his numbers slipped in the year of Covid when hitting .252 and four homers in 147 plate appearances and the most concerning parts?
Rosario hit only three doubles and didn't steal a base.
The Mets had been rumored to be considering moving Rosario to centerfield to make space for Andres Gimenez as shortstop, but the Indians have been quoted as deciding to keep Rosario at shortstop and play Gimenez at second.
I'm not sure what the Indians long-term plans are, but that alignment may not last past 2021.
The 23 year old Gimenez made his major league debut for the Mets in 2020, hitting.283 with three homers and twelve RBI in 132 plate appearances with eight stolen bases.
The lefthanded hitting Gimenez is a contact hitter and doesn't project anything more than average power at best.
Gimenez is rated to have a plus glove and has drawn comparisons to Omar Vizquel as both are natives of Venezuela.
The other two players in the trade have barely played in a game in one case and not at all in another, so both players will start in the low minors, assuming that the teams of that level even play this season with the Covid situation.
Righthanded pitcher Josh Wolf was the Mets second round draft choice in 2019 as a high schooler from Texas.
The Mets bought Wolf out of a commitment to Texas A&M with a 2.15 million bonus and assigned him to the Gulf Coast League where Wolf would pitch eight innings before the end of the season.
At 6'3 and 170 pounds, Wolf is reported to have a mid 90s fastball with a plus curve, but is still quite raw.
Outfielder Isaiah Greene was the Mets second round pick in the 2020 draft and has yet to play a professional game.
The 6'1 Greene is a toolsy outfielder with excellent speed and defense, but his lefthanded bat didn't dominate in high school with his bat and was rated by scouts as an outfielder that isn't going to hit for power and will have to get by with his legs.
In other words, Greene will fit perfectly into the Indians outfield situation at any level.
I realize that the game has changed and huge prospect hauls for rental players (Lindor is a free agent at the end of the year) just aren't what they used to be.
However, the Indians could have used an outfielder and in the Indians top 10 prospects, only one is an outfielder (George Valera at 5), while they have three shortstops (Tyler Freeman 2, Gabriel Arias 6, and Brayan Rocchio at 8) and a second baseman (Aaron Bracho at 9) in the same list.
While an argument can be made that only Freeman could see Cleveland in 2021 and that would be during the season in a best case scenario and the Indians needed an immediate shortstop replacement for Lindor and a second base replacement for the departed Cesar Hernandez, I still wonder about how this plays out.
Rosario and Gimenez were considered top 30 prospects at one time, although never elite ones and I'm not sure that either become more than slightly above average with the bat.
Wolf is worth a chance on a power arm and Greene could grow into his frame and develop power, I suppose although few scouting reports seem to think so.
I could recite the arguments for a level playing field, but I'm as tired of writing them as you are of reading them, but I do know this- when you develop a charismatic young star that plays well with the media and fans- you try to keep him and the Dolans seem to have made a lukewarm effort at best.
For the first time, I can see a narrow path for the franchise to leave Cleveland.
It's a narrow path, as baseball still has to clean up its messes with Oakland and Tampa Bay and there isn't an abundance of cities seeking major league baseball currently other than an ownership group in Nashville.
Still, the lease at Jacobs/Progressive Field is up after the 2023 season and even though the Dolan family are Cleveland natives/residents, I'm not sure that the beating that they consistently take from the fans and media ( most of it deserved) isn't beginning to wear them down a bit.
I would still rate the chances as slim, but I wouldn't rank the chances at zero either.
As for me, I'll miss Francisco Lindor.
Lindor was my favorite Indian player in years and after a run of successful yet somewhat plain teams before Lindor's arrival- Lindor was a welcome addition to the Cleveland sports scene.
I always enjoyed meeting Francisco in the minors and he was always very nice to me (although someone out there had a different engagement with him then) with two interactions with Lindor ranking with some of my best graphing memories.
Players like Francisco Lindor don't grow on trees and when you do, you would like to think that you have a chance to keep them.
Sadly, for various reasons Indians fans will watch Francisco Lindor work his magic in the Big Apple...
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