Indians add Rosario, keep Cesar Hernandez

   The Cleveland Indians have been shedding salary to the point of ridiculousness, but the team did unhinge their rusty wallet and spend a little bit as they retained a player that played well last season along with attempting to solve one of their perpetual sore spots in the outfield.

Former Twin Eddie Rosario was signed to a one year contract worth eight million.

Rosario hit .257 with 13 homers and 42 RBI in the sixty game season for Minnesota and although those numbers are solid, if not spectacular, on the Indians they would be Albert Belle-type numbers with the lack of production that they have received.

The 29-year-old played left field for the Twins and is expected to play in left for Cleveland where the Indians have had a gaping vacancy with players trying and failing to fill it for years.

Rosario hits lefthanded and has hit well for the Twins playing at Jacobs/Progressive Field through the year with a .353 average, eleven home runs, and an OPS over a thousand.

From 2017-19, Rosario hit 83 homers for the Twins and in 2019, Rosario hit a career-high 32 homers and 109 RBI, and honestly, I'm not sure why the market wasn't higher for Rosario.

He's probably a little below average defensively in left field, but not so awful that you wince when the ball is hit to him and while he's not a burner on the bases, Rosario isn't a clogger either.

This seems like a very good signing to me at reasonable pricing and has the potential to solve an outfield problem for a season- mainly because if Rosario hits as hoped for, he'll be off to a new location for 2022 as this team isn't going to pay him more!

As for Cesar Hernandez, the Indians were pleased with his play as the second baseman last season enough to re-sign him to a one year contract with a team option for 2022.

Hernandez will receive five million this season and six million if the team picks up the option for 2022.

The thirty-year-old Hernandez hit .283 with three homers last year for Cleveland and won his first Gold Glove at second base after shifting over from the National League.

This signing is fine and worked for both parties as the second baseman market was congested with free agents so Hernandez wasn't going to get much more than the Cleveland offer, and the Indians are able to keep a player that they were pleased with at an acceptable cost- which right now (and almost always) is the top issue with every player that they have or are considering adding.

Considering the Indians' budgetary problems, these might be the top additions of the winter.

Cleveland could add a reliever or two if the price is right but other than maybe that I don't see the Indians doing much more to add to the roster.