"Collin's a guy we've liked for quite a while," said Chris Antonetti

Love those 5 year-old scouting reports

Before my time, but I remember the seating chart.

Before "(Whistle) Mabel, Black Label!"

Alvarez as full time DH would work for me (although another left handed bat):

Cleveland Indians have interest in free-agent sluggers Pedro Alvarez, Chris Carter


CLEVELAND, Ohio – Yes, the Indians are interested in Chris Carter and Pedro Alvarez. They not only have interest, but can offer everyday at-bats to the defensively challenged home run hitters.

Free agency is usually not the Tribe's cup of tea, but with Carter and Alvarez being non-tendered Wednesday night by Houston and Pittsburgh, respectively, it's easy to see how the parties could get together.

Alvarez, 29, can rejoin the free agent market after 2016. So a one-year deal with the Tribe, where he could concentrate on hitting from the DH spot and forget about playing third or first base, could put him in an enviable position going into the 2017 season.

Carter, 28, is a free agent at the moment, but if the Indians should sign him, they'd be able to control him for the next three years when he'd be eligible for free agency following the 2018 season.

The Indians for the last three years under manager Terry Francona have operated without a fulltime DH. For position players who need a day off or are nursing an injury it's been a haven. It gives Francona a chance to play matchup as well with the opposing pitcher. A commitment to Alvarez or Carter would mean the Indians would have their first fulltime DH since Travis Hafner's tenure.

Alvarez, who made $5.75 million last year, was projected to make $8.1 million in arbitration this offseason.

Last season he hit .243 (106-for-437) with 18 doubles, 27 homers and 77 RBI. He struck out 131 times, drew 48 walks and posted a .787 OPS. Alvarez was the second player taken in the 2008 draft and had his best year in 2013 when he hit .233 (130-for-558) with 36 homers and 100 RBI. Alvarez, 6-3 and 250 pounds, led the NL in homers and strikeouts with 186 that season.

The left-handed hitting Alvarez, in parts of six years with the Pirates, hit .236 with 131 homers and 401 RBI.

Defensively, he played 124 games at first base last season and made 23 errors. On Fangraphs, he posted a -5 in defensive runs saved. Alvarez made 29 errors in 2014, 25 of them at third base.

Carter, a right-handed hitter, hit .199 (78-for-391) with 25 homers and 64 RBI in 129 games for the Astros this year. Thirty nine percent of his at-bats (151-for-391) ended in strikeouts and he was benched for a period of time.

In his three years with the Astros, Carter hit 90 homers and struck out 545 times in 1,401 at-bats. Carter's best year came in 2015 when he hit .237 with 37 homers and 88 RBI.

Carter, 6-4 and 250 pounds, made $4.175 million last season. He was projected to make $5.6 million in arbitration.

Fangraphs ranked Carter at -2 in defensive runs saved in 2015. He made eight errors at first base.

The presence of Carter or Alvarez could allow the Indians to move Carlos Santana out of the cleanup spot. Alvarez and Carter, however, because of their high strikeout rates usually hit between fifth and seventh last season.

Interest of course does not automatically result in a signed contract. The Pirates and Astros tried to trade Alvarez and Carter before the non-tender deadline, but found no takers. If the Indians were set on either player, they could have settled the issue with a trade.

Now all it will take is money to bring either of them to Cleveland. We'll see how that works.

Carlos Carrasco - S - Indians


Jesse Rogers of ESPN speculates that the Cubs could explore trading for Carlos Carrasco as they continue to upgrade their starting rotation.

It's believed that the Cubs are still in the market for another starting pitcher, even after agreeing to a deal with John Lackey on Friday. The Cubs expressed interest in Carrasco before July's trade deadline and would certainly be interested should the Indians make him available via trade this winter.

Just reporter speculation.

That said, the Cubs are the kind of team with lots of good young hitters, RH power bats too, that at least would match up with what the Indians value.

But the price on Carrasco would have to be sky high.

Now all it will take is money to bring either of them to Cleveland. We'll see how that works.

According to ESPN's Jayson Stark, the Indians are doing "a lot of listening" on Carlos Carrasco, Danny Salazar and Trevor Bauer.

Stark suggested the Indians could deal one of their top starters at the Winter Meetings. "They could trade one of these guys and maybe bring back a haul," said one anonymous AL executive. The same exec said Cleveland isn't likely to "sell low" on either Carraco or Salazar.

That makes Bauer the Wild Card of the group. Given that starting pitching is the team's biggest strength, it's hard to picture the Indians making a move unless they're blown away by an offer.

Brett Lawrie - 3B - Athletics

According to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle, the Indians, Tigers, and White Sox have expressed interest in trading for A's infielder Brett Lawrie.

Slusser wrote last month that the Athletics are likely to deal Lawrie this winter following the acquisition of Jed Lowrie, and there appears to be a nice market developing for the 25-year-old. Danny Valencia may also be on the block for Oakland.

Lawrie batted just .260/.299/.407 in 2015 and rated poorly on defense, but he does have some attractive tools and two more years of club control.

I don't see the importance of "an everyday DH" but I'll accept a RH bat that also fans a lot.

I also am sure the Indians are doing plenty of "listening" to offers for our young pitchers, but question if they're doing much talking back. I hesitate to deal any of the three young arms that I can think all could be big stars, but do we have some useful depth in the rotation with Anderson and I guess Tomlin major league capable; and Mike Clevinger might be a real major league candidate too.

Paul Hoynes says he heard from "someone close to situation" that Brantley may be out until June.

Peter Gammons says he heard he may be out until July or August.

Indians deny it and say he'll be back in April or May.

Want to bet it's at least July?

Now there is talk of trading Roberto Perez as we have signed some stiff backup catchers. I hope not, I really like Perez.

I hesitate to deal any of the three young arms that I can think all could be big stars, but do we have some useful depth in the rotation with Anderson and I guess Tomlin major league capable

One of the things about a trade, is that to get a real impact player you have to trade someone that's gonna hurt. No one wants to get hurt, but sometimes you have to.

So yes, they could all 3 be big stars. That's why you trade for a bat that fits that exact same description.\

And yes, what we saw from Anderson and Tomlin sort of help hedge the bet a little.

On MLB network they showed last year's numbers for the Tribe. Near the top in every category regarding starting pitching. And the very bottom of the hitting categories.

And what did that get us? 81-80

So pitching may be important, but yeah you still have to actually score runs too. And that kind of disparity between pitching and offense shows a team out of balance. In this case, way out of balance.

A trade is necessary. Of some sort.

No!
Dolan could actually pay market rate and buy a free agent!

Its getting pretty close to time to raise up the white flag true and proud!

Rajai Davis - OF - Tigers

Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that the Indians are discussing a one-year contract with an option with Rajai Davis.
Davis would certainly be a fit, as the Indians have a hole in center field and also will need a left fielder for a while with Michael Brantley recovering from shoulder surgery.

The speedster batted .258/.306/.440 with eight homers and 18 steals across 370 plate appearances for the Tigers this past season.