Our 3 Remaining Needs series skips over to the Cleveland-dominated American League Central, home to three of MLB’s least successful franchises in 2018. The Tribe still figure to have a stranglehold on the division, though the upstart Twins have kicked off the winter with a flurry of moves, and prospect-rich White Sox are shooting well beyond their typical free-agent moon. Here’s a look at the three most pressing needs for each team in the division (listed in order of 2018 finish) . . .
[Previous installments: NL West, NL East, NL Central, AL West]
Cleveland Indians
- Find an outfielder (or three). The Tribe probably don’t need to do anything this winter if their aim is simply to lock down a fourth straight division crown, but surely the title-starved club, rife with franchise icons on the infield and in the rotation, has set its sights a good deal higher. If so, they’ll need to fix their desolate outfield situation, which currently features some haphazard mix of Jordan Luplow, Jake Bauers, Leonys Martin, Greg Allen, and Tyler Naquin. Jason Kipnis could be an option as well, though the club has already swapped penciled-in third baseman Yandy Diaz for Bauers, which should force Jose Ramirez back to the hot corner and Kipnis – who suffered through a second consecutive subpar season in ’18 – back to second. The Indians saved about $18MM by dealing Yonder Alonso and Edwin Encarnacion, so this should be their first priority.
- Address the pen. Behind star-level closer Brad Hand, the Tribe pen is surprisingly thin. Tyler Olson, essentially a LOOGY at this point in his career, is otherwise the club’s highest-producing returner, with a 2.94 xFIP in just 29 IP. Stunningly, not a single other returning Indian reliever posted higher than 0.1 fWAR in 2018, with heralded midseason acquisition Adam Cimber posting a dreadful 3.15 K/9 over an identical 3.15 BB/9 in his stint with the club. Cleveland has long treasured bargain pickups in this area, and may again be left shuffling through the bin in search of help.
- Acquire a catcher. Recent deals have stripped the club of star prospect Francisco Mejia and the up-and-down Yan Gomes, leaving just a combination of Roberto Perez and Eric Haase behind the dish, each of whom project around replacement level. An upper-minors savior isn’t in the wings, so the club will likely be forced to look elsewhere for an upgrade.
Minnesota Twins
- Solidify the back end of the rotation. The Twins have gone all-in on righty power (Nelson Cruz, C.J. Cron, Jonathan Schoop) this winter, but have still yet to address a number of staff holes. A top end of Jose Berrios, Jake Odorizzi, and Kyle Gibson – plus a returning Michael Pineda – is a nice start, but three of the four are free agents after the season, and the club has little in the way of track record after that. Youngsters Stephen Gonsalves, Lewis Thorpe, and Fernando Romero could fill in eventually, but none appear poised to immediately lock down a role.
- Shore up the pen. Taylor Rogers quietly had one of MLB’s best relief seasons in 2018 (a dominant 54 FIP-) and Trevor May is a quality arm, but the Twins lack anything in the way of cohesion beyond that. Figureheads Addison Reed and Trevor Hildenberger struggled mightily with the long ball last year and, with the fickle nature of even longtime bullpen success stories, can hardly be counted on in the season to come. Lefty Andrew Vasquez deserves at least an early-season look after sporting minor league numbers that nearly defy belief, but the club would do well to hunt down two or three more proven performers in the back end.
- Don’t mess with Kepler. German-born Max Kepler has accrued nearly three full seasons’ worth of MLB at-bats in his young career and has yet to produce even a league-average line, but a closer look suggests there may be much more to come. Indeed, the 25-year-old quietly accumulated a solid 2.6 fWAR last season despite a balls-in-play average of just .236, and his plate-discipline profile (11.6 BB%/15.7 K%) stood as one of the AL’s best. Kepler earns plus defensive marks wherever he plays, and could be a breakout center-field candidate if Byron Buxton again sputters early in the season. Kepler is an apparently a sought-after commodity on the trade market this winter, but the man who Steamer projects to produce a 110 wRC+ (Brandon Nimmo, by comparison, is at 112) should have a long-term home in Minneapolis.
Detroit Tigers
- Find a taker for Nick Castellanos. Castellanos, 26, had his best offensive season last year, slashing .298/.354/.500 (130 wRC+) with a celestial 48% hard-hit rate. He’s entering the last year of team control, though, and would seem to have to have little on-field value for a rebuilding Tiger club; numerous teams are said to have had interest, but the price (somewhat oddly, given his defensive ineptitude) remains exorbitant.
- Continue to hunt for flip candidates. Thus far in the offseason, Detroit has signed Matt Moore, Tyson Ross, and Jordy Mercer, all of whom (but especially the former two) could have legitimate mid-season trade value if they unexpectedly return to form. Pickups of this ilk seem ideal for a Tiger team in flux; a few more, perhaps at multiple spots in the outfield and in the bullpen, could be an excellent jumpstart for the nascent rebuild.
- Add prospect depth. It’s been years – decades, maybe – since the Tiger farm churned out multiple big leaguers at a time, with the team instead preferring to assemble their best clubs through shrewd trades and lavish free-agent signings. Now, though, seems the perfect time to amass a burgeoning juggernaut on the farm; the club is off to a great start, with three of the league’s top-50 prospects in place, but strength in numbers will be the order of the next few seasons in Motown.
Chicago White Sox
- Sign one of (or both) Manny Machado and Bryce Harper. This remains a long shot, to be sure, but the talk in Chicagoland seems to be intensifying around each superstar. Whether the White Sox, who’ve never handed out a free-agent contract north of $70MM in club history, are willing to meet the respective enormous demands is unclear, but a seat at the table may be sufficient for the long-suffering fans on the Southside.
- Find guys who put the ball in play. The White Sox led baseball with a hard-to-believe 26.3 K% last year, and received meager ancillary benefit, with a mid-pack team ISO of just .160. Among regulars, only Jose Abreu had a strikeout percentage under 20%, which may well be a first in major-league history. A power-driven lineup makes sense in the homer-happy Guaranteed Rate Field, but it won’t mean much if the club continues to strike out at a historic collective pace.
- Find guys who keep the ball in play. Chicago’s 115 xFIP- was dead-last in MLB last year, aided in no small part by a league-worst 4.09 BB/9 and the tendency of its starters to deliver up the gopher ball. Head culprit James Shields is gone, but the club needs, urgently, to be on the scent of pitchers with a track record of limiting the home run. Perhaps no pitcher would be a better fit than Marcus Stroman (0.81 career HR/9), but others, like Gio Gonzalez, Mike Leake, Sonny Gray, and even perhaps Martin Perez, who was homer-allergic in his previous few seasons prior to last, would be excellent choices as well.
Kansas City Royals
- Scour the depths for pitching help. Kansas City’s pitching staff was, by any account, an unmitigated disaster last season, as the team’s hurlers struck out a mere 7.27 men per nine on the way to near-league-worst output. The team, oddly, has poured so much of its resources into finding high-contact offensive players, but seems thoroughly disinterested in identifying their inverse on the pitching staff. The 2018 Royals featured nine regular contributors who struck out seven or fewer men last season, none of whom received much help from the unit’s highest-priced contingent of Ian Kennedy and Danny Duffy. Put simply, the Royals need mound help wherever they can find it.
- Cash in peak-value assets. 30-year-old Whit Merrifield’s value will likely never be higher – fresh off a 5.2 fWAR season, the versatile IF/OF has already piqued the interest of a number of a clubs, all of whom have been informed that he likely is not available. Such a strategy seems unsound – Merrifield, after all, projects around league-average next season, would seem to have hit his zenith, and doesn’t figure to be a key cog in the next contending Royals club. Plus, there’s the troubling track record – it took Whit three tries to progress beyond Double-A, and another three to get past AAA. If a crater is on the horizon, Kansas City will certainly be kicking themselves in the seasons to come.
- Find regular at-bats for Brett Phillips and Jorge Soler. The two former top-50 prospects have seen their value slide precipitously over the last two seasons, but it’s certainly not time to give up on either yet. Alex Gordon and the newly-signed Billy Hamilton figure to take up two-thirds of the outfield slots, and team favorite Jorge Bonifacio is likely to contend at the other, but the non-contending Royals must find a way to get both of these players at least 400 plate appearances in 2019.
For Indians, I’d like to add: “Get a haul for Corey Kluber.”
Yeah, because if they don’t they’re really doomed. Do you read what you comment?
Honestly he isn’t really wrong. The team as constructed most likely wins the division but if you don’t fix the outfield and pen they aren’t going anywhere past that. Unless they have a couple break outs and find some cheap luck on the back end of the pen the best and probably only real way they do it is a Kluber trade.
The pitcher they got in the Gomes trade will most likely be in the pen, and dials it up into the upper 90’s. Salazar is throwing again (fingers crossed), and Goody and Anderson should be ready to go.
But yes, the outfield is underwhelming. Santana in LF?
Santana move too bad for OF. Indians likes defense for winning. Central bad but Twins are a surprise? Even Tigers are a surprise maybe? If no surprise, Indians win over weakers then big buy at deadline for a Miller 2.0 and a big corner bat, cheap rental.
My bet and recommend? Stay cheap in off season, win lots, against weakers. Then get cheap short Castellanos deadline rental.
It is January 2. The season starts in late March. The Indians have time to fix the outfield whether we trade a pitcher or not. I am going to wait until March before I really start to worry
Could be an option but one thing I have been thinking about recently is Yu Chang. He has been playing really well and might be ready for a chance at 3rd. Before Ramirez moved to 3rd he played left while Brantley was out and did a decent job. If he is willing to do it and Chang is ready that could fill an outfield spot and would have to be better defensively than Santana or Kipnis out there.
Remember, Francona put Santana in the OF before. Wouldn’t put it past him doing it again.
Rock You on’s Ejemp
This happens quite often, the talking heads proclaim the winner of a division before the season even begins. Well some times somebody comes out of nowhere and steals it from them… (Braves last year). Indians bullpen implodes… their starters are required to give 7 innings every start. They falter. The only offense they get is from Lindor and Ramirez. Someone gets a couple young players to step up and next thing you know the Indians are sitting at home in October.
The logical end to your thinking is simply to rebuild.
@Melchez,
The AL Central is notoriously weak.
I’ll believe the “talking heads” in this one.
The only sure thing in baseball is: “death, taxes, and the Indians winning their division.”
That’s what makes the decision to trade Kluber, especially difficult.
The Indians bullpen totally imploded last season and they still walked off with the division.
Red Sox had a garbage pen and all of them somehow became Mariano Rivera in the 2018 post season.
Yay! I agree with xabial on something! Are you a member of the bridge burner’s union? You have like 18 downvotes and 4 upvotes for a good comment.
He s an annoying teenager, and what today’s generation (falsly) call a troll.
Yay! I bet you are thrilled like the rest of his fan club that constantly will personally address him and puts him on a pedestal. Losers
@cubguy13
Wow, won WS in 2016 and yet, still so salty (?)
My patience was running thin as-is, insult me all you want, but to insult my fan-club, and we got problems, partner.
Yikes.
Hope you’re being sarcastic and don’t have a ridiculous ego.
They probably won’t trade him, not necessary at this point…..if someone over pays that’s a different situation (as it is with every player on every roster).
Whats LOOGY again? Lefty out of….???
left handed one out guy
I thought it meant lefty side-arm, like Randy Choate or Javier Lopez.
It’s what a person hocks up in the morning.
That’s one magic loogy
I see what you did there.
A second spitter?
As an Indians fan, I’m like the dog sitting in the fire meme… this is fine
I would not be opposed to moving more than just Castellanos in a trade. Shane Greene and Blaine Hardy can also head out of town in a trade. Should be all in for prospects.
I also posted in another thread about moving Matt Boyd – with Castellanos, but only if it brings back a top-60 positional prospect and a top-100 positional prospect (giving up one of the top 150 pitchers we’ve got stacking up down in the pipeline as well). The hardest guys to develop and fill in are positional players. This team needs to get away from drafting 100 fireball throwers every draft and start picking up catchers and guys up the middle. We don’t have a 1B, 2B, or SS in the minors that screams “possible star”. Only 40% of the pitchers are going to pan out, but you can fill in with FA (and trades) much more easily than positional guys…
Greene big swing possible return if wait for deadline and he has a lot of hot the season. I like him and Castellanos for a Indian, if Indians wait, like smart, then get em cheap at deadline. Rentals? Go for the gusto? My Tigers probably not winners soon.
I think you will see the Tigers draft bats now 8 of top 10 will be bats the top 4 could be 2 C & 2 SS so Tigers could land the Lefty Riley Greene OF with the 5th pick.
I like that Jung kid. Replace ol’ miggy, at the light end of the tunnel.
Royals assessment spot on, can’t see why they wouldn’t trade Whit. He’s a nice story and home town favorite and all, but he’s a late bloomer and by he time the royals are ready to compete again, he’ll be past his prime. Take these diamond in the rough unexpected finds like Merrifield and turn them into prospects for the next push. It’s the best you can do as a mid market team.
White Sox Rebuild will go nowhere as long as the players continue to strike out like that and the awful coaching staff continues to fail at teaching fundamentals. Hate to say it.
……and since Kenny Williams took over, defense is a place the hitters stand when the other team is up.
What part of tanking do White Sox fans not understand? The owner won’t spend money, so building from within is the only other option. Never mind the strikeouts—you honestly think the Sox were trying to do anything else with that pitching staff?
Rentalia is a great Manager but I can see some new coaches keep that pitching coach also
Ian Happ and Victor Caratini for Hand.
Shoot, they can have Almora instead.
Why would Cleveland trade Brad Hand, their closer, when they need bullpen help. That does not make sense for the Indians.
And why would they take on another halfassed backup catcher?
Why trade big league talent for a closer? Just sign a free agent, they have the money. Trade Happ, Almora and or Schwarber for a de Grom caliber pitcher or prospect.
Why would the Indians further deplete their bullpen and trade Hand? He’s legitimately the one reliever they have that can be relied on. Do people think about what they post?
Austin Hedges,Hunter Renfroe,Craig Stammen,Michel Baez,Josh Naylor to Cleveland for Corey Kluber.
No on Baez
I was thinking either him or Morejon to make it fair but teams might want guys closer to the majors.
Pads payed allot of money for morejon don’t think they give him up
@ Soldierofgod619;
So much garbage, so few roster spots.
The Indians finished 1st in their division by 13 games. The Padres finished last in their division by 25.5. The Indians are not about to trade a perennial Cy Young candidate – and 2-time award winner – for a last place teams junk.
Why not try to get something out of Francisco Mejia? The Indians – with one of the better track records for developing players – bent over backwards and tried everything with Mejia. Never got any traction.
Kluber will very probably not be traded. And if for some reason he is, the Padres are about the last place he’ll be sent to.
He could be sent there, just not for that package. Start with gore and go from there, other wise keep Kluber and let’s play ball.
I am fairly new to commenting on this site, but Samuel, you are a provocateur, aren’t you. I think you know your comment is silly. The list laid out is anything but garbage. I am not saying Cleveland would accept such a deal, but I think there is a good shot they would. I don’t see any garbage on that list. Zero.
And “bent over backwards and tried everything with Mejia”? What are you talking about, his cup of coffee with them in 2017? He looks pretty good in the minors, maybe walking more would be nice, but good nonetheless.
Meija’s bat projects as a mlb bat. His catching skills were not as strong. They wanted him to take reps at 3B and outfield to get him to the majors sooner. He fought the moves off catcher, therefore only received a cup of coffee in the majors when a catching injury arose.
I don’t think Cleveland would accept the deal listed above. With some modifications they might. I think a deal with San Diego can be made. Recent reports have come out from Anthony Castrovince of MLB,com saying that it is unlikely that the Indians trade a pitcher unless they are “bowled over.” The deal above does not bowl me over.
San Diego, while having outfielders to spare, just don’t have one that gets me excited to have on the Indians. I do like their farm system, but we do need to get MLB ready help in any trade for any trade of a pitcher.
I hope that I stated my point in a nicer way.
That what I basically don’t get in terms of all those bashing the Hand trade. Mejia defensively is a major issue. His bat while being potentially mlb ready, looses so much value if moved off. He’s a guy you have to play everyday and hope he improves defensively, especially with Hosmer clogging 1st. With that said the learning curb it takes for mlb C is lengthy. Attitude wise the kid was disinterested in playing anything else. So the trade made sense especially for a team in win now mode.
With all that in mind the list provides you mehh players and is more so quantity over quality. Baez is a terrific prospect, but there’s a definite concern involved. Naylor is more so a throw in and is superfluous with Bradley and what they currently possess. Hedges defensively is a legitimate option, but leaves a ton to be desired offensively. With a guy like Maldonado on the market seems they can fill that same void. Renfroe sure has developed decently, but is there that much upside left? He’s better served as a comp piece. The package really is here are my spare parts for Kluber. If the Indians are trading Kluber it’s going to demand a better package than that quite honestly, and involves less question marks. That’s where the Padres are going to have to figure what track they are going to take. Are they going to try to win? If so the package is going to hurt and involve impact which may undermine the whole process. It feels like trying to jumpstart a winning course is the worse possible idea. They’ve already made a terrible mistake in signing Hosmer. Seems they’d be better off, getting their core situated and allowing to see who could fill around that core. Live on the Ace market next year when there’s a better idea of how the OF shakes out along with the young arms.
His only purpose in life is trolling. Nothing good or even halfway reasonable in his posts. Ever.
@hockeyjohn So what you are saying is you are also Samuel?
I am not Samuel. If you read my comments on other threads I am often disagreeing with Samuel. I rarely see things the same way as Samuel. I am more trusting of the Indians front office than he is. I am also much more realistic than Samuel is. .
Hosmer was just over paid like many will be this year I’m a Cub fan look at last year pitchers everyone other than Davis who was average to the Rockies they all sucked boil eggs
Sorry Manny and Bryce your both not worth 150 Millian for Five years
Pads already said that would be going after a pitcher but it won’t be Kluber.
I would bet Padres fans are glad you are not their GM. You just gave up 5-6 WAR off the MLB roster plus two good prospects. One of which is a top 50 prospect.
Just dial that back to Renfroe, Stammen, Naylor, and maybe the Padres MLB ready catching prospect Allen and that should do it.
Renfroe had a 2.4 WAR, 26 HR in 403 AB, an .805 OPS, and a 119 OPS+ last season. He has improved each season in the majors and has 4 more years of team control. That is a valuable commodity and a position the Indians need to fill. Naylor played most of last season in the OF, so he should be looked at as an OF for the Indians. Stammen would jump back in a familiar position as a set up man for Hand. Allen is probably the backup catcher in Cleveland to start the season. For contract control reasons he may start the season in AAA, but not for long. He can really hit.
Cleveland has their own catching prospect Eric Haase that will pair with Roberto Perez on Cleveland’s roster. The Indians value defense and Haase is much better defensively than Austin Allen so he is not needed in a trade. Stammen only has one year of control. Naylor profiles as a poor defender at first and in the outfield. Jake Bauers, who the Indians just acquired from Tampa Bay, profiles much better than Naylor and is a much higher rated prospect. Kluber is a 2 time Cy Young award winner with three years of control. That is much more valuable than Renfroe, Naylor, Stammen, and Austin Allen. Besides, recent reports are that Cleveland is not likely to trade a Kluber/Bauer unless overwhelmed by the trade package. Your package is very underwhelming.
If the Indians need outfielders and catcher they can call up my padres and let’s make a deal
Allen in the minors for SD is interesting
I think the Royals will sign a significant arm for the rotation and thus make guys like Lopez, Lively, Fillmeyer, Oaks, Skoglund bullpen pieces. A losing record never stopped Dayton Moore from signing a starting pitcher. They also have their two rule 5 picks who will also probably be bullpen options.
I don’t see Merrifeild being traded, but if the Royals wanted to be hardcore they could release Gordon and put Whit in LF, then get a stopgap 2B until Lopez arrives.
In the outfield I see Goodwin as the starting right fielder and Bonifacio and Phillips as still having something to prove in the minor leagues plus each has an option remaining while Goodwin does not.
What the Royals seem to be going after is not just speed and defense but also a roster flexibility that will allow them to carry 12 pitchers all year.
@ baseballwarshipper;
I saw an interview with Ned from the Winter Meetings. When asked about moving Whit, he laughed and said other teams stopped calling Dayton when he emphatically said “NO!” as soon as they mentioned Whit’s name. Then Ned laughed again and asked why they should trade a .300 hitter (.367 OBP), that can play 2nd, CF, and LF, along with being a stolen base leader each year.
MLB is changing. One of a teams most valuable players today is a regular (or 2 or 3) that can play multiple positions to give a manager in-game options. To everything listed above, add that “Two-Hit Whit” is a great teammate, and along with Salvy and Alex are the team leaders. You build on your cornerstones. He’s a year older then Salvy, yet there’s no incessant drumbeat to trade a Catcher…..the most physical position that takes a toll on MLB players.
People have to move on. Whit isn’t going anywhere. The Royals rebuild is a measured professional one in which there is a style of baseball expected as opposed to strikeout, walk, or HR. It is not one where a bunch of prospects are accumulated, then thrown up against the wall with hopes that a handful somehow stick…..as I see happening with the White Sox, Phillies, and Padres. The object of a rebuild is not to have the most Top 100 prospects as measured by this years hot algorithms, but rather to develop a group of players that are trained to play their part on a winning team. Under Moore the Royals did it before. They’re doing it again.
I find this a bit odd. They are but accumulating players who are fast and can’t get on base, and pitchers who don’t strike anyone out. That might have been a wonderful blueprint for success in 1985, but it’s basically not remotely a winning strategy in 2019. I understand Yost has a “strategy” to steal 200 bases this year, or whatever, but having runners on base is what scores runs. I was happy to see KC win a couple years ago with a home-grown core of prospects that turned into good (for a while) MLB players, but Perez has become a bad hitter, Moustakas is a home-run or nothing guy (and a FA), Hosmer is gone (and isn’t really any good), Gordon is bad now, Hamilton is a defensive replacement and pinch-runner, Gore is a joke who can run, Mondesi struck out 77 times against 11 walks in around 300 PAs last season….the team lost 104 games in 2018 and don’t seem to have a plan to create…I don’t know – a bullpen or starting staff or an offense? Or a farm system?
This royals love by Samuel absolutely kills me. Buddy, they won 58 games. What impressed you about that? There’s no bullpen in sight and you have one potential long term mid rotation arm in your rotation. Everything else is junk and there’s nothing coming up for at least 2 years. This is blind love. The Royals “contact” approach led them to hit the least HRs in the ML last year. One would think for a “contact” approach to work they would have to be elite at making contact. Well they were the 11th “best” team as far as K goes. What they had last year was a team that yes, couldn’t hit HRS but also didn’t put the ball in play at anywhere near an elite clip. Style of play isn’t really even the issue with the royals at this point. It’s the lack of talent.
The royals are exactly where the orioles are except they have a great trade chip left on their major league team they won’t sell. I think the orioles farm is marginally better at this point but a deal for Merrifield would certainly flip that. They aren’t going to be good for Years. Idk if Moore thinks he can cobble a competitive team together out of a bunch of former busted top prospects and a makeshift rotation but color me pessimistic. The odds of ol Brett Phillips and Jorge Soler becoming Major lEague studs aren’t very good anymore. The odds of Billy Hamilton ever hitting a baseball don’t look so hot either. Sal Perez is not a star. He’s a nice catcher at this point and that’s about all. This isn’t a quick fix and I hope KC fans don’t buy that it can be.
The Royals are idiots for not dealing away guys like Perez and Whit. They can easily finish last without them. All they are doing is dooming their fandom to mediocrity at best. If they deal just those two players even, they could significantly jump start their rebuild. As it currently stands perhaps only the Orioles have a more dim future.
Marlins aren’t much better off either in an increasingly tough division. The royals only saving grace is their division is the worst in baseball.
@ jbigz12;
You seem to be an expert on how to rebuild an MLB team.
And why shouldn’t you be? Your credentials are that you’re an Orioles fan. Now, there’s a team……..
It’s very nice of you to straighten Dayton Moore and Ned Yost out. After all, they only built and took a team to the WS 2 years in a row….on a small market team budget….while posters on here kept looking at statistics and dismissing their accomplishments.
As for this “they only won 58 games” nonsense…….
The Royals are developing players. At least a dozen I saw improved their games as the year went along – many of whom were promoted to the team or acquired during the season. See, you have to watch the games in order to intelligently interpret statistics – such as W-L record.
As the players improved their games, the team improved their record. That sorrowful 58 win lot actually finished 20-14.
Go figure.
Ah yes, being a fan of my hometown team is somehow relevant to any baseball knowledge. Your guy Dayton let alone the talent walk out the door for nothing but a comp pick. In fact he doubled down on a clearly poor roster by trading one of your better prospects Esteury Ruiz and Matt Strahm for a robust return of Trevor Cahill, Ryan Buchter and Brandon Maurer. Of which you have none of those guys left. But, yeah lets give him a pass for all of that and not dealing any of his assets again. It’ll be a long wait in KC again. I’m used to that kind of poor management in Baltimore but I don’t sit by and clap my hands while it’s being done.
And BTW i said nothing of the royals championship winning teams and do not agree with David above on that part. Just because Moose, Gordon, Hos etc. aren’t very good anymore has nothing to do with what they were then. The Royals had one of the first elite bullpens and we’ve seen plenty of teams follow that mold. But, you know what that royals team had? Tons of Talent. Tons of guys who were top picks and yes were considered very highly by prospect evaluators. Don’t you know Moose, Gordon, Moose, Wade Davis etc. we’re all top prospects at one point in time? You had tons of in their prime talent at that time. This team does not have that. You might hit a homerun on Soler, Ohearn, or Phillips but is that going to make you any good? No you’d need to find 10 of those guys.
An “improving” Jorge Bonifacio is still Jorge bonifacio. The division is weak right now. I don’t mind the Royals targeting upper minor leaguers in trades but for god sake get as many as you can for what you have left. The Indians are so much better than the royals it isn’t even funny. Any window for another team in the Central to win it begins when Bauer and Kluber are gone. Those Royals championship teams didn’t face an in the prime rotation like CLE has now with two MVP candidates like Lindor and Ramirez. You had that talent, not Cleveland.
@samuelthetroll WTF are you talking about. “developing players”? The Royals have one of the worst farm systems in baseball and their MLB squad won 58 games. They are not getting better in 2019 without spending big dollars. Dollars they don’t have.
Their farm system has one good prospect. One. Brady Singer. Their #2 prospect would be #12 on the Yankees and would not make the top 20 on the best farm system in baseball. They have just one prospect that could see a taste of the majors in 2019 and eventually stick, Nicky Lopez. It goes downhill fast from there.
The next time the Royals could possibly be relevant is 2022. Dayton Moore knows that. That is why Whit WILL be traded. Whit’s value has peaked. He is 29. In his last seaason of pre-arb. Declining years start at 30, especially for guys like Whit that rely on speed. Moore is no dummy, so he will get all he can for Whit as soon as he can.
Duffy and Perez will also be jettisoned. The team will not be good during their contracts. If he had a snowballs chance in hades of moving Gordon or Kennedy they would be out the door as well.
I’m not so sure Moore will accept that. In his heart of hearts he may know it’s true but he hung onto everyone. The most notable player he jettisoned was Kelvin Herrera who was a FA at seasons end. Whit should absolutely be on the table right now but I wouldn’t bet Dayton Moore really will do it. Or Maybe he’s waiting for a couple of Royals fans like Sam up here to buy some season tickets first.
Oh man, this is a hot take (The Royals finished with a 20-14 record during the month when nobody they were playing was trying to win). The Royals are going to be terrible this year. They can’t get on base, at all. They have one excellent player in Merrifield. They are below average offensively at, literally, every other position on the field, by a lot. Their pitching is terrible; Brad Keller was a nice story as a rule 5 pick but how many pitchers survive with a 6.2 K/9 rate and 3.2 BB/9 rate for long? Not many, not in 2018. This is a really bad team. It will be a fun team for fantasy baseball owners, because steals are at such a premium in fantasy baseball and most teams don’t steal bases much anymore.
But you can’t steal first. The team has no pitching. If Yost is serious about running all the time, good ;luck with that. Giving up outs is a silly baseball strategy; even Gore, who is really fast, has only stolen bases at a 60% clip in his career.
Gore is 27/31 that is astronomically better than 60%. Mondesi could also be a good player he should at least be above average. None of that changes their outlook in the slightest though
The Royals went 25 & 31 down the stretch in August and September. While that .446 win percentage is an improvement from their 5 & 21 June, it is by no stretch of the imagination good.
The Royals will be fighting it out for the worst record in baseball with the Orioles in 2019 and probably in 2020. The next time you will hear Royals and possible contenders in the same sentence is 2022 at the earliest.
It took them 31 years to get back to the playoffs last time and took Moore 8 seasons after he took over as GM to get them there, so maybe I am being overly optimistic when I say 2022. Maybe I should have said 2025.
The Royals division is the only thing that gives them a shot by 2022. I’m an orioles fan and I know it’s just not realistic to see this team be competitive until 2022 and that’s an optimistic time frame. At least the Royals don’t have to deal w two spending behomeths like NY and Boston. In addition to the Rays who are ran soundly and the Jays currently have the best prospect in baseball. The good news for KC fans is that the tigers and white Sox aren’t good but they’re further along in their rebuilds. The Twins are a tweener team. They’re certainly better than the rest of the division but I don’t think they’re good enough to make it anywhere. If the Royals decided to make the right moves like trade Merrifield, Perez etc they have a much easier path to success.
Sorry; wasn’t clear; because Gore is only used as a pinch-runner, he has had 46 times on first base to try to steal, and he has stolen 27 bases in that time. That means he steals 59% of the times he’s on base. I realize now I should have clarified.
It would be wise for the White Sox to sign Harper & make a trade for a starter with some of the assets they have acquired. The Central can be won by a team other than Cleveland. If Cleveland trades on of their starters then they should trade for Greinke and/or Robbie Ray. If they signed Harper & got both those pitchers, they could easily compete in 2019 to win the Central.
They have a bigger need at SS/3B. Sign Machado.
Dodgers could use a stopgap catcher/backup alongside Barnes, so White Sox should send Castillo packing. Take anything in return!
Then sign Grandal. He is an above average catcher who benefits the young pitching staff. Since Grandal refused a qualifying offer, then look to sign Pollock to a shorter term/higher AAV deal which would then only cost a 3rd rounder.
Then add Machado! and a bullpen guy…..easy peazy
if by the trade deadline they are within reach of competing for the division, then Sox could make a trade for a starter after seeing how the current prospects are developing and where they have movable pieces in the system.
Rebuilding teams only trade from positions where they have depth. That said, it’s too early to trade quality players. The Sox need to develop a core of talent for the big league roster first. That could take a few more years, if they’re lucky.
Reading Fangraphs prospect reviews…. The prospect that the Indians traded the Pirates (Thomas) for Luplow slid into the Pirates’ pretty decent system at #12. Add in Erick Gonzalez …and I think the Indians really like Luplow and think he is a legit option in the COF.
I really like Thomas; he’s several years away, but he has massive upside if he keeps developing. His numbers were skewed over a bad outing or two, and if I remember correctly he wasn’t even a pitcher when he first signed. Gonzalez is a good guy to have on a bench too, and the other piece they got is at least a lottery ticket.
So I agree, and I think the Indians must think really highly of Luplow. I usually try to trust their judgment with guys like this, because they have a good track record.
Tahnaj Thomas.. a young fireballing RHP.. He has a chance to become special. He has some work to do, but, who doesn’t?. Thomas has only been on the mound for two seasons. Prior to that, he was a SS. He has the athleticism to repeat his delivery.. and will need it to develop the kind of control that is needed to succeed at the highest levels. .In 2018.. he started doing that. by cutting his walk rate in half…. Pirates scouts are seeing what the Indians saw when they signed this guy as FA.. We’ll see..
108 K’s in 69.1 IP for Andrew Vazquez?! Damn!
I could see the Indians and Padres making a smaller deal than Kluber. The Padres have a surplus of cost controlled corner outfielders and the Indians have an extra starter or two.
Hunter Renfroe for Shane Bieber?
Maybe the Indians could consider moving Greg Allen, as he is more of a centerfield option than the corner piece they need.
I do not see Cleveland moving Bieber as he is cost controlled and has years of control. A small market team, like the Indians, has to retain as many of the younger, cheaper assets as they can to contend. Carrasco, Clevinger, and Bieber will likely lead their staff in 2021 and beyond. Besides, the Padres have a lot of top 100 pitching prospects coming. Why do they need Bieber?
I think the Reds are a better fit. They can’t get free agent pitchers to sign there, so they need to trade. Winkler, Puig and a couple prospects for Kluber.
Puig, with one year of control and his price tag, is not what the Indians are looking for. I do not see him in any potential trade with the Reds.
Hopefully Triston McKenzie will be part of that too
Man, just looking at the Royals’ disastrous 2018 season. As a team, they batted 245/305/392. Their starting left fielder batted 570 times, hit 12 homers and batted 245/324/370. Their starting center fielders combined for a 275 OBP. Their starting catcher had a 274 OBP. Their starting shortstop hit 231/279/313….and they’re doubling down on this low-OBP/speed strategy in 2019. Amazing. Whit Merrifield is a tremendous player, but he’s going to need a lot more help if this team is going to lose less than 100 games in 2019.
CLE: RP
MIN: RP
KCR: SP
CHI: SP
DET; Find a buyer for Jordan Zommermann, not for Nicholas Castellanos..
Tigers needs…. good lord, how can you only choose 3?
I’d change the Twins rotation one to “front of the rotation” instead of “back.” They have like 5-6 guys who can fill in the five spot. What they don’t have is a guy who is better than Berrios/Gibson to deepen that rotation and provide the biggest boost. That’d have to be done via trade though. Probably won’t happen.
Like the Kepler note, absolutely agree. Also agree they need 2-3 BP guys.
Agreed. Amazing how most of the sites have Pineda as just automatically “back” as a middle level SP after TJ and meniscus surgeries over the last 2 years.
NO aces out there to sign. Don’t think the Twins would mortgage minor league system in a trade for a Kluber type starter. They have to do something though….Gio on Free agency or trade for Strailey?
Bullpen should be the priority, but I agree. Don’t be getting a starter unless they’re a game changer.
Now that Merrified is 30, Royals deciding they aren’t going to deal him is absurd. He’s not part of the future but can help build the future with a deal. The Royals current situation screams trade him and they should. We’re seeing some, not all, players hit 30 years old and the decline begins. Now is the time to capitalize on your asset.
Yeah, I have absolutely no idea why they won’t trade him. He’s an immensely valuable asset that could either help them scrape across a few more meaningless wins, or he could bring a few prospects to help in the rebuild.
But I agree in that his age (even if he was a late bloomer) is a concern. He’s already getting older and his game relies a lot on speed, which rarely ages well.
Exactly. Given the logjam of 2B still available plus certain teams in-need of players with the ability to move around the diamond, this seems like a no-brainer. They are in the best position right now and probably couldn’t be much stronger than this.
Since you’re an Indians fan, Chaney, would he be a good fit on-paper with this current squad?
The Indians outfield is a smoldering dumpster fire right now. If the FO decides not to address it I would not doubt for a second that the Twins could win the central. Let’s not forget in 2017 the Twins competed in the division until September and last year they had a down year. Look out Tribe… you caused this mess.
Surprised that they didn’t kick the tires on Domingo Santana before Milwaukee traded him to Seattle.
I think they are waiting for the post Harper outfield market to shake out, that and they seem to plan on moving Kipnis to the outfield with Luplow/Allen.
Look out Tribe…just because the twins have added a few bats doesn’t mean they’re going to be pushing the Indians. I do agree about the dumpster fire in the outfield and I still think they trade Kluber (Dodgers are still the best fit). One thing the FO is very good at is identifying players in trades that make an impact. Kluber, Bauer, Carrasco, Gomes, Brantley, we’re all trades where the players were not MLB established. The bullpen arms they have acquired may have an impact, but they will need one more established player to compliment Salazar, Cimber, and Hand. As for the outfield, they still need help. Again, FA pool does not extend the window. Trade Kluber to the dodgers and get Verdugo (with others), add in one solid FA OF to make a short term impact. As for catching, Perez and haase are fine. We need depth and you can find that anywhere. In fact, you will see Haase as the starter by mid season.
As a Twins fan, Royals are where the Twins were 9 years ago. By focusing on contact, speed, and defense, they’re ignoring the changes in baseball over the last 10 years. They won a world series that way, but I doubt that happens again. You’ve gotta be able to strike teams out and hit baseballs out of the park too.
Indians are still the class of the division, but outside of Hand may have one of the worst bullpens in baseball and the outfield is full of question marks. I know it’s frustrating but trading Kluber is your best bet to keeping your window open. Take it from a fan of the 2000s Twins. Part of the reason our window closed was that we essentially went for it in 2009 and 2010. There was nothing left. It’s 2019 now and we’re still trying to recover. In retrospect, you will regret it if your window closes without a championship title.
White Sox are building it the right way. I would give it another year before going all in though.
Don’t sleep on Detroit long-term. It’s going to be a long rebuild, but I like what they’re doing.
And of course my Twins. I’m content with the rotation (for now). It’s not Cleveland’s, but it also isn’t bottom 10. The offense should be solid. It’s time to get some relievers. Rogers and May are a good start (I think they could be the next Miller/Allen combo, don’t @ me). I think Allen himself would be a nice addition or maybe Robertson. Beyond that, Reed and Hildenberger provide depth. At that point, we’ve got a lot of minor league relievers with talent. Let’s see what they’ve got. Should be a fun year
Agreed with everything you have said. Well thought out and unlike the writer of the piece, you truly know the AL Central.
I think this is a really well-thought and unbiased analysis, and this is coming from an Indians fan.
Nick Markakis goes to the Mets since Cespedes will be out the whole year
Possibly idea, might be a bad one…
Cleveland signs Lemahieu IF the asking price drops end of January and he’s still available. That means Kipnis plays OF and that means a potential OF rotation for the Indians.
He’s a similar hitter to Brantley. He could hit in the #2 slot behind Santana and in front of Jose and Frankie. I just don’t see them doing this!