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...
The Cleveland Indians needed a bat with the recent injuries to outfielders Michael Brantley and Lonnie Chisenhall and that need had to be addressed quickly.
The Indians were able to do so with a trade with the New York Mets for outfielder Jay Bruce.
Bruce is doing about what he traditionally does with an average of .258,29 homers,75 RBI and already more than 100 strikeouts.
Bruce was traded to the Mets during the 2016 season after spending his first seven seasons with the Cincinnati Reds and his next home run will be his fifth season with 30 home runs or more.
That means the Indians have added a big bat with power in their lineup and even if Brantley and Chisenhall return at full strength,Bruce will add pop to the lineup and might see time at DH.
Bruce has spent his career in the National League,so we'll see how he might handle being a DH and there's always the question of being in a new league.
Bruce looks to be a better fit at DH once injuries allow as several of the defensive metrics used in the game rate him as the worst defensive outfielder in the game.
Because the Indians picked up all of the remaining 2017 salary on Bruce's contract at three million,the Mets didn't get a highly rated prospect as Cleveland sent reliever Ryder Ryan to the Mets.
Ryan posted a 3-4 record with an ERA well over four with six saves at Low A Lake County.
Ryan was a 30th round pick from North Carolina in the 2016 draft and not considered a top prospect.
Give the Indians some credit,no matter what Bruce does-they added salary,picked up the entire contract and did it for the right reasons in not giving up even an average prospect.
Bruce is going to have be managed correctly with his defensive deficiencies,but this could be a nice addition for the playoffs as well as getting the Indians by when their injuries need help most...
The best big game pitcher of this era continued to dominate when the chips are down and when an unlikely hero (Conor Gillaspie?) crushed a ball into the seats in the ninth inning to give the San Francisco Giants a 3-0 win over the New York Mets in the wild card game in Flushing Meadow...
The Giants will travel to Chicago for game one of the NLDS Friday night..
Between the Giants advancing and the Indians in the American League,I'm looking forward to having some game coverage from baseball for a change!
Giant Steps
1) I posted this on Twitter,but I think it's worth repeating-there are quite a few pitchers that can be tossed into any debate for best pitcher in the game,but when your season is on the line-there is no pitcher better than Madison Bumgarner.
2) Another shutout in a big game and the Mets really didn't seriously threaten to score other than an leadoff double for the Mets in the bottom of the fifth by T.J.Rivera.
Rivera would be erased breaking to third on a grounder to Brandon Crawford and the Mets were never able to get a runner to third-let alone score..
3) Denard Span was thrown out stealing in the fourth inning on a throw that resulted in a high tag that I thought replays showed Span reached the bag before being touched.
If replay isn't going to correct things that were called wrong-I'll live with the old days of human error.
4) The Giants have had a history of late of unusual heroes in postseason play-Cody Ross,Marco Scutaro,Travis Ishikawa and now Conor Gillespie.
The original Giant farmhand had left the team in 2015 to the White Sox,but returned (Like Ishikawa) to play a utility role.
The Giants have used several players at third base this season,considering that and that Gillespie only once has hit double digits in homers,Conor Gillespie might have been pretty low on the non-Bumgarner list of potential heroes entering this game...
5) Quite impressed with the Mets young starter Noah Syndergaard in this one.
Syndergaard allowed two hits in seven innings,but walked three and showed a lack of command when pitching from the stretch,
After seven innings and 108 pitches later,the Mets pulled him,which leads to....
6) Pitch counts.I know I've occasionally made some scoffs at the number before,but if there is ever a time to let the horse run,wouldn't the playoffs be the time?
Syndergaard didn't seem to be struggling or tiring and yet Terry Collins stopped him at seven innings and 108 pitches.
One team believed in the numbers,the other in the player....
7) I still hate the wild card one game format.
This is the second time that the Giants won this game and there is little doubt that these games can be quite thrilling as both this one and the Baltimore-Toronto AL version was.
However,it still doesn't make them "fair",so lets offer a way to make it that way and do it that it still benefits you to win your division and avoid this altogether.
What about a best of three with the 4th seed having the option to host game one or games two and three?
Oh,time becomes an option,you say-with the playoffs already running into November.
Instead of skipping Monday,both leagues game ones are on that Monday,added wear and tear from travel.
Want to really add more,you could have game two the next day (more wear and tear) or (this will never fly) the possibility of a doubleheader on Wednesday (if needed) to decide the series.
Imagine the strategy and the wild card team would enter the postseason weakened as they should-winning your division would finally give you a tangible advantage....
8) Finally,as Robert Kennedy once uttered "it's on to Chicago and let's win there".
The Cubs with the best record in the league,but keep in mind the Giants had the best record in the league for the first half and might be one of the rare teams with Bumgarner,Cueto and Samardjza that can compete with the Cubs Jake Arrieta,Jon Lester and Kyle Hendricks in the starting rotation.
The Cubs are the better hitting team and deserve to be the favorite in this one,but don't count the Giants out.
