The Indians are interested in recently non-tendered sluggers Pedro Alvarez and Chris Carter, reports Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Were the Tribe to agree to a deal with either player, the team would view him primarily as a designated hitter, per Hoynes’ report.
As Hoynes notes, Cleveland has not deployed a full-time designated hitter since the days of Travis Hafner, with manager Terry Francona’s tendency having been to utilize the DH spot as a means of resting regulars and playing matchups against opposing pitchers. Bringing either free agent into the mix would add some thump to a team that ranked 22nd in the Majors in home runs last season (141). Production from the DH spot wasn’t a problem for Cleveland last season, but much of the offense they received came from a platoon of Ryan Raburn and David Murphy, neither of whom remains with the club.
While both Alvarez and Carter could technically see occasional action at first base should Carlos Santana need a breather or fall to an injury, each is a defensive liability. Alvarez committed 23 errors in just over 900 innings at first base last season and posted Ultimate Zone Rating and Defensive Runs Saved marks of -14. Carter was better than Alvarez in a similar sample of innings, though he was decisively below average.
From a platoon perspective, the right-handed Carter has the far more balanced splits of the two. While he’d provide solid power production versus both righties and lefties, he typically strikes out more than Alvarez and hits for a lower average.
The left-handed Alvarez is a better hitter when holding the platoon advantage than Carter is versus pitchers of either handedness. He’s best deployed with a platoon partner (career 68 wRC+ vs. LHP), though that of course would mean dedicating two roster spots to the DH situation, and Cleveland already declined to bring back a strong right-handed platoon bat in the form of Raburn. Then again, Chris Johnson is already on the roster and could be utilized to form a solid platoon with Alvarez.
While both players have their flaws, either would add an element of game-changing power to the Cleveland lineup that currently isn’t present. Alvarez ranks 11th in the Majors in home runs dating back to 2012 (111), while Carter checks in at 15th (106). Both players have a 35-homer season to their credit, making them two of just 27 players in all of Major League Baseball to have reached that mark in that four-year span.
I would be in favor of this, but only because I’m a Pirates fan who wants to make sure Pedro doesn’t come back.
In all seriousness, for all of his flaws, Alvarez can possibly find great success as a DH in the AL, and I hope he does. His struggles never came across as being from a lack of effort. It was just time for a change, both for him and Pittsburgh. Lefty power hitters have had success in Cleveland before, and he could too.
The Indians are well on their way to platooning the whole damn team.
So are the Indians relying on players who need to switch off and the on between the players who absolutely suck and the players that really deserve a ring? Lmao rn
I wouldn’t mind having Alvarez DH for my team
Get both and playton both OMG what a bat in the DH spot for Cleveland who will be tough next year behind K C
…….because the Tribe misses the contributions that Nick Swisher and Travis Hafner made striking out over the last 10 years.
True (funny) story: the Indians installed a game for the kids in their stadium last year where you could run a 90 foot sprint to 1st base and be timed against the actual baserunning times of Cleveland players. As a completely out of shape 39-year old, I jumped in there and raced (virtually) against Nick Swisher. Beat him by 0.06 seconds….LOL
Don’t forget Jim Thome. Oh, and wasn’t Hafner getting mvp votes not that long ago? Power hitters are very valuable right now, and Cleveland would be wise to grab one as their team was in the bottom third on the mlb in strikeouts as well as home runs.
Not to take anything away from you, but speed is a more natural thing than effort level. I’m sure certain players give it their all everytime they hit the ball but you can only run so fast. Also it depends on how they are timing it. As in are they timing it as they hit the ball and you’re in a set position to run? Swinging and hitting the ball to shifting to running down the line is a lot harder than being set to run.
Would be a good fit. One to Cleveland, the other to Tampa.
Get Alvarez, not Carter he strikes out far far too much. Alvarez won’t kill every rally he comes up in the middle of.
i wish pedro well and hope he goes to cleveland. whatever you do, do not allow him in the stadium with a mitt. dh only, when you guys try him, think of this post. would cutoff hits to second, not charge hits to him. oh and if he throws, that is a thing of beauty for the opposing team. if they decide to give 3rd a shot, they need to equip the seats behind first with mitts or better yet, nets like behind home.
I hope the Angels sign Alvarez. He could DH and bat between Trout/Pujols
Alvarez has a swing custom made for Camden Yards.