Bauer Brought Stability to Indians’ Starting Staff in 2016


Bob Toth | On 06, Dec 2016

The fluke finger injury sustained by Cleveland Indians starting pitcher Trevor Bauer prior to the start of the American League Championship Series with the Toronto Blue Jays garnered plenty of negative attention to the young right-handed starter, as his pinkie laceration became another blow to a rotation already down two of its top three starting pitchers.

Bauer’s injury may have changed how the ALCS played out, but the Indians remained victorious and the starter was able to return to his role for a pair of World Series starts. Although he was unable to bring home a win in either of those two outings, he did his part to give the Indians everything that he had left to try to bring a second championship to Cleveland, the center of the 2016 sports universe.

While Bauer became an easy target for backlash from fans for the unfortunate outcome of his atypical encounter with one of his drones and his willingness to address his critics on the social media platform Twitter, too many fans forgot the role that Bauer played in helping the Indians even get to the postseason in the first place.
Elsa/Getty Images

Elsa/Getty Images

Bauer was a surprise bump from the starting rotation at the end of spring training, when manager Terry Francona elected to go with Cody Anderson in the fourth spot and Josh Tomlin as his fifth man as the team departed from Goodyear, Arizona. By the numbers, Bauer may have had the best spring of the three, going 1-0 with a 2.14 ERA and 1.05 WHIP in six games, striking out 20 and walking five in 21 innings in camp.

Francona was clear when asked about the decision that Bauer would get a shot at some point. He got exactly that, even if it may have come earlier than those around the team might have hoped and expected.

Anderson got off to a rough start and was optioned to Triple-A before April ended after giving up 17 runs in his first 20 innings over four starts. Compounding that problem significantly, Carlos Carrasco suffered a sprained right hamstring two days before Anderson’s demotion while covering first base during a game on April 24 at Comerica Park in Detroit. Down two starters, Francona was able to turn to his exiled starter to fill one rotation void while using a young and inexperienced option from the minor leagues for the other, instead of relying on two unproven arms to hold together his rotation.

Bauer was 1-0 with a 4.76 ERA and a 1.59 WHIP in six games in relief prior to making his first start on April 30. He would remain in a starting role for the rest of the season, with the lone exception an underrated performance pitching on short rest in an emergency role during the 19-inning marathon game in Toronto on July 1. He took home the win in that outing, a 2-1 contest decided on a homer by Carlos Santana in the final frame that extended the Indians’ franchise record winning streak to 14 games.

While Bauer had some rough outings in relief (he gave up two runs in three of his six appearances), he looked good while getting stretched back out in the rotation. He logged three quality starts in five May outings, going 2-2, before putting together his best month of the season in June when he made six starts and went 3-0 with a 2.01 ERA and a 0.94 WHIP with 43 strikeouts and 12 walks in 44 2/3 innings. He matched a then-season high ten strikeouts in a 6-1 complete game win over Tampa Bay on June 22. He tacked on five innings of scoreless two-hit baseball in that 19-inning game on July 1, when he entered in the 15th inning of that game instead of making his scheduled start the next day.

Whether there was an adverse effect of his 83-pitch relief effort, his numbers spiked the wrong way through the rest of July and into his first start of August as he was tagged for 25 runs (22 earned) in 23 2/3 innings. But after his season-worst eight runs allowed in two and two-thirds innings against Minnesota on August 3, he gave the Indians five quality starts over his next six appearances, including a 13-strikeout performance against Toronto on August 19.
Pool/Getty Images

Pool/Getty Images

Bauer went 3-2 in the final month of the year, but he was aided some by 40 runs of support put up in his final six starts. He allowed at least three runs in every outing, including back-to-back six-run struggles against Chicago and Detroit in the middle of the month.

He finished the regular season with a winning record for the first time in his five big league seasons. In 35 games, he went 12-8 with a 4.26 ERA and 1.31 WHIP. In a career-high 190 innings, he struck out 168 (two short of his career-best set in 2015) and walked 70.

The late season injury to Corey Kluber and the losses of Carrasco and Danny Salazar put Bauer on the mound in Game 1 of the postseason for the Indians against the Boston Red Sox in the American League Division Series. He worked four and two-thirds innings, giving up solo runs in the first, third, and fifth before turning the game over to the Indians’ dominating bullpen. The Indians won that game and later swept the series.

Bauer’s finger injury prior to the start of the ALCS against Toronto pushed him back to a Game 3 start, but his sutured finger instead bled all over the Rogers Centre mound. He left after just two-thirds of an inning and Cleveland’s bullpen allowed just two runs over the next eight and one-thirds innings in a 4-2 win to put the Indians up 3-0 in a series clinched two games later.

He started Game 2 of the World Series at Progressive Field in a tough matchup with Chicago’s Jake Arrieta. Bauer left with two outs in the fourth with 87 pitches thrown and two runs allowed as the Indians fell 5-1 to tie the series at one. He returned to the mound on short rest for Game 5 and took his second loss of the series as he allowed three runs (all in the fourth inning) on six hits with seven strikeouts and no walks over four innings of work. He was the final Indians pitcher to work in the series when he emerged in relief in the tenth inning of Game 7, getting a strikeout and a flyout to keep it a two-run game.

In the off chance that the Indians look to deal from strength in the offseason to supplement their 2017 roster, Bauer could be a valuable trade piece for the club. The team has several young arms who saw time in Cleveland in a variety of roles (right-handers Anderson, Mike Clevinger, and Adam Plutko, and left-handers Ryan Merritt and Shawn Morimando) who could slot in in the back end of their rotation for next season. Bauer will turn 26 in January and is not set to hit free agency until the completion of the 2020 season, but he is also due for a raise in arbitration this winter.

If the Indians instead elect to hold their starting deck together, the hard-throwing Bauer would be expected back in his fourth spot in the rotation behind Kluber, Carrasco, and Salazar and ahead of Tomlin, giving the Indians a strong starting staff to defend their American League pennant.

Photo: Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

bupkus last winter included Davis and Napoli
bupkus at the trade deadline was Miller and Guyer
bupkus at the waiver deadline was Crisp.
just for show of course. didn't get us anywhere.
all those executive of the year awards were just insider lovefests.

They got quite lucky to get to the 7th game of the WS and with an injured pitching staff. They did not have top shelf talent at least in the outfield. They have a payroll that is about 3rd lowest in MLB. They have a new investor. Dolan I guess finally got some stooge to replace me and my ilk and they got 7th game WS extra money in the bank. If they are ever going to pay up for anything it would be now!

It was indeed all luck and no talent that reached the 7th game of the world series. Miller and Allen and Shaw have no prospects of being any good in the pen in 2017. The starters are a bunch of stiffs. Their defense is vastly overrated. Lucky if we can beat out the Twins and finish 2nd in the Central.

So not just did Tito and Miller redefine what makes a superstar reliever, Roberto Perez redefined what makes a super-catcher:

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. -- The Minnesota Twins signed Jason Castro to a three-year, $24.5 million deal in November in spite of a rough history as a hitter, and at least partly because Castro has been one of the dominant catchers in pitch-framing statistics, which theoretically reflects the ability to present pitches to umpires in a way that makes them look like strikes.

Castro ranked fifth among all catchers last season in one pitch-framing metric, as compiled by Catcher Report, after finishing in the top 10 the year before. During the postseason, Cleveland catcher Roberto Perez seemingly turned borderline pitches from Corey Kluber, Josh Tomlin, Ryan Merritt and other Indians pitchers into strikes, a performance thought to have made the difference for the Indians as they advanced to Game 7 of the World Series.

Pitch-framing is a skill that teams have increasingly sought and paid for, and more and more, teams give evaluation demerits to catchers who don’t rate highly. Matt Wieters is seemingly one catcher who has been hurt by this, after finishing low in these metrics.

There are few ideal free-agent opportunities, but for the Indians, Edwin Encarnacion is as close as it gets: Zack Meisel
on December 07, 2016 at 10:55 AM, updated December 07, 2016 at 12:43 PM


CLEVELAND, Ohio -- As is customary, Dave Dombrowski completed the seismic swap of the winter meetings when his Red Sox acquired southpaw Chris Sale on Tuesday.

After the deal was final and Boston had morphed into the American League's most formidable favorite, Boston's president of baseball operations told reporters: "When you have a chance to win, you want to give yourself every opportunity to do so."

The Dodgers are no stranger to making off-season splashes, either. Their president, Andrew Friedman, told reporters Tuesday: "If you do what you rationally want to do, you will finish third on every free agent."

Chris Antonetti, Cleveland's front-office architect, has collected a handful of awards this off-season for his assembling of a World Series roster on a stingy budget. He can probably produce a thought-provoking quote of his own about being aggressive on the trade front when the time is right. The Indians wrangled reliever Andrew Miller away from the Yankees last summer. They tried to pry catcher Jonathan Lucroy from the Brewers.

Now, it's time to redirect that focus toward free agency and Edwin Encarnacion. The number of suitors for the powerful slugger continues to dwindle. Boston instead scooped up Mitch Moreland for its first-base vacancy. The Yankees turned to 37-year-old Matt Holliday on a one-year commitment. The Blue Jays preferred a pairing of Kendrys Morales and Steve Pearce. The Astros opted for Carlos Beltran, who will become a quadragenarian a few weeks into next season.

The Indians are sitting, waiting, considering whether to stalk their prey. And, if so, when do they pounce? This wouldn't be an inexpensive decision. This would shove ownership out of its comfort zone and defy what Paul Dolan and perhaps even Antonetti rationally want to do.

But, as Dombrowski noted, you want to give yourself every chance to win. Is there a better fit out there in the wild than the guy who has slugged 193 home runs over the last five seasons?

Indians, Encarnacion have discussed a deal

If Encarnacion were to sign with Cleveland -- and the two sides have gotten the awkward introductions out of the way -- he would likely loosen Nick Swisher's grip on the largest free-agent contract in franchise history. Swisher signed a four-year, $56 million pact with the Tribe before the 2013 season. Encarnacion reportedly scoffed at a four-year, $80 million offer from Toronto.

That, however, was when Encarnacion had leverage. The Indians are hoping to swing that pendulum their way, with few teams even displaying interest in the 33-year-old and with a glut of first baseman/designated hitter types still hanging in the free-agency balance.

One report Wednesday morning indicated that no team had even extended a three-year, $60 million offer to Encarnacion.

The Indians have long occupied a position near the bottom of the league in payroll. That might not change, even with an influx of postseason revenue, a new minority owner, an increase in season-ticket sales and a galvanized fan base. Still, can't the team afford one significant addition? If this isn't the time for a bit of financial flexibility, when is?
Encarnacion launches walk-off homer in 11th

The Tribe players signed to long-term deals -- Jason Kipnis, Corey Kluber, Michael Brantley, Yan Gomes, Carlos Carrasco, Carlos Santana and Josh Tomlin -- will receive raises totaling about $15 million next season. The Indians are projected to spend about $15 million more on their arbitration-eligible players than they did last winter. They're also on the hook for Andrew Miller's full-season salary ($9 million).

That said, they are no longer shipping rolls of quarters to Atlanta for taking on the Dead Weight Duo of Swisher and Michael Bourn. Mike Napoli and Rajai Davis are off the books (for now), which saves about $17 million. Santana's $12 million deal will expire at the end of next season.

And, again, the Indians have a new investor, a bounty of postseason cash and fans desperate to see the franchise fashion together another '90s-like run.

Encarnacion would figure to exceed Napoli's production by quite a bit. He's a year younger, has a better track record and didn't fall off the face of the planet in September and October. He's been an All-Star in three of the last four seasons. He matched his career high with 42 home runs in 2016, when he posted a .263/.357/.529 slash line.



Is Napoli or Encarnacion the better fit?

Over the last five years, Encarnacion has averaged 145 games, 39 homers, 110 RBI, 29 doubles and a .912 OPS. He has been worth 20.3 WAR over that span, including 3.9 last season (Napoli was worth 1.0 WAR last season).

If there's one worry with Encarnacion, it's that his strikeout rate jumped in 2016. He typically hovered around 15 percent in the past. Last season, it spiked to 19.7 percent. Of course, Napoli struck out in 30.1 percent of his plate appearances.

Would you rather sign Napoli for two years at $14 million per year, or Encarnacion for three years at $20 million? It's not even worthy of a debate, really.

Encarnacion is more of a sure thing than Napoli or Chris Carter or Adam Lind. That should alleviate some of the discomfort the front office might feel about handing out such a pricey contract.

Sometimes, it's necessary to escape that comfort zone for the sake of winning. The Indians did it when they obtained Miller. Will they do it with Encarnacion?

Andrew Miller's contract with the Cleveland Indians looks like chump change in the new reliever market
By Zack Meisel, cleveland.com
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on December 08, 2016 at 4:30 PM, updated December 08, 2016 at 5:02 PM


CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Aroldis Chapman's new deal with the Yankees will reportedly pay him $15 million per season for the next five years.

Throw in a hefty signing bonus and the average annual value of his contract is worth $17.2 million per year.

That's nearly twice what Andrew Miller will earn with the Indians in 2017 and 2018.

Miller demonstrated to the baseball universe in October how valuable a lockdown reliever can be. Now, his talented colleagues are securing paychecks that reflect that worth. In turn, Miller's deal -- originally granted to him by the Yankees prior to the 2015 campaign -- looks like a bargain.

Truth is, the Indians got a steal.

Just look at some of the salaries and the players who earn -- that term is used loosely for certain guys -- those wages.

We'll call this a game of "Guess the Salary."

Name: Brett Cecil

Age: 30

Numbers: 3.93 ERA, 36 2/3 innings in 54 appearances, 39 hits allowed, 45 strikeouts, 2.90 ERA the last four years.

A. Two years, $8 million

B. Two years, $12 million

C. Three years, $16.5 million

D. Four years, $30.5 million

Name: Joaquin Benoit

Age: 39

Numbers: 2.81 ERA, 48 innings in 51 appearances, 37 hits allowed, 52 strikeouts, 2.15 ERA the last four years.

A. One year, $4 million

B. One year, $7.5 million

C. Two years, $6 million

D. Two years, $9 million

Name: Jesse Chavez

Age: 33

Numbers: 4.43 ERA, 67 innings, 71 hits allowed, 63 strikeouts, 3.94 ERA the last four years (47 of 159 outings as a starter), 5.99 ERA the first five years of his career.

A. One year, $1.5 million

B. One year, $2.5 million

C. One year, $3.5 million

D. One year, $5.75 million

Name: Marc Rzepczynski

Age: 31

Numbers: 2.64 ERA, 47 2/3 innings in 70 appearances, 46 hits and 29 walks allowed, 46 strikeouts, 3.45 ERA the last four years.

A. One year, $2 million

B. One year, $3 million

C. Two years, $5 million

D. Two years, $11 million

Name: Mark Melancon

Age: 31

Numbers: 1.64 ERA, 71 1/3 innings, 52 hits allowed, 65 strikeouts, 1.80 ERA the last four years.

A. Three years, $21 million

B. Three years, $30 million

C. Four years, $44 million

D. Four years, $62 million

Answers: D, B, D, D, D

Kenley Jansen, who could wind up with the Marlins, Dodgers or Nationals, seems to be in line for a long-term deal similar to the one Chapman signed with New York. The 29 year old owns a 2.19 ERA over the last four years, with 396 strikeouts in 263 innings.

Andrew Miller makes hitters fall to the ground

Andrew Miller makes hitters fall to the ground

Mark Lowe, who signed a two-year, $11 million contract with Detroit prior to last season, logged a 7.11 ERA in 54 outings for the Tigers.

Drew Storen earned $8.4 million last season while compiling a 5.23 ERA for Toronto and Seattle.

Kansas City paid Joakim Soria $7 million last season to post a 4.05 ERA and 1.46 WHIP. They'll pay him $8 million in 2017 and $9 million in 2018.

The Angels received a 6.45 ERA across 26 outings from Huston Street in exchange for $8 million in 2016. They'll pay the veteran $9 million in 2017.
The Indians appreciate the efforts of Andrew Miller

What would Miller command on the open market? He boasts a 1.93 ERA over the last four years, with 374 strikeouts and only 133 hits allowed in 229 innings. The 31-year-old totaled nine walks and 123 strikeouts (boldfaced because, well, duh) in 74 1/3 innings during the 2016 regular season, to go along with a 1.45 ERA.

Want him to pitch the ninth and fill the traditional "closer" role? He went 36-for-38 in save opportunities with the Yankees in 2015.

Want him to pitch in the situations that carry the highest leverage and importance? He posted a 1.55 ERA and 0.55 WHIP with the Tribe last summer. Not to mention, he owns a 0.98 ERA in 16 career playoff outings.

With Miller, bullpen roles were made to be broken

With Miller, bullpen roles were made to be broken

What would be a fair free-agent contract for Miller? Five years, $75 million? As much as or more than what Chapman received?

That's a conversation for November 2018.

For now, the Indians will pay him his $9 million per season and sit back and watch as other teams dish out wads of cash for run-of-the-mill relievers.

•Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet tweets that many in the industry still consider the Rangers to be the most logical landing spot for free agent Edwin Encarnacion. Texas reportedly feels that it doesn’t have the financial means to fit Encarnacion into the budget, but GM Jon Daniels and his staff have certainly made some creative value plays for free agents whose markets have crumbled a bit in the past.

•The Blue Jays continue to monitor and stay in touch with free agent first baseman/designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion, according to FanRag’s Jon Heyman. Encarnacion’s preference is to re-sign with the Jays, but he’s talking less with them than he is with other teams, per Heyman. Notably, Toronto general manager Ross Atkins expressed pessimism Wednesday about re-upping Encarnacion. While the 33-year-old’s market has seemingly shrunk in the past week, agent Paul Kinzer isn’t worried that Encarnacion will have difficulty securing a sizable contract – whether with the Jays or another team. “Not only is he the best player in this class, he’s one of the best in baseball,” Kinzer told Heyman. “We’re going to be fine. He and I are patient. He’s good” (Twitter links here).

Unless some other teams comes out of no where, the Cleveland Indians are the only logical option left for Encarnacion.

Encarnacion overplayed his hand in free agency and should have never turned down the four-year, $80 million contract the Blue Jays offered him earlier this offseason. A majority of teams, maybe with the exception of the Angels, don’t give multi-year deals to guys over 30.

In Cleveland Indians rumors, the Tribe may find slugger Edwin Encarnacion falling into their laps as rival teams shy away from shelling out more money in free agency.

Toronto Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins said he doesn’t see a way in which Edwin Encarnacion returns to the Rogers Centre. Everything’s bigger in Texas, except for the Rangers’ payroll. Texas said it doesn’t have the cash to sign him, either. Colorado just gave $70 million to Ian Desmond.

What’s it all mean?
Teams saw Encarnacion, 34, as a player who wanted to be a $20 million per season player and moved on. Carlos Beltran went to the Astros on a one-year deal. Matt Holiday became a Yankee. Mitch Moreland went to the Red Sox. Steve Pearce and Kendrys Morales signed with Toronto.

Nobody even wants to give Encarnacion three years at $60 million, according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale.

Encarnacion appears to be in no rush to sign a contract, even though his market collapsed.

The longer this plays out, the more likely it is that Encarnacion will sign a one-year contract, so that he can try free agency again next season.

Encarnacion needs to look no farther than Desmond, who turned down $100 million with the Rangers last offseason. Desmond rebounded nicely, getting $70 million with the Rockies.

Additionally, the Indians may be willing to overpay for at least one year of Encarnacion, because of their influx of World Series money, as well as the addition of a limited partner.

CIV: I posted the entirety of that story in the General Folder yesterday.

I love it when these guys overplay their hand and end up with a lot less than they could have had if they didn't listen to their slimeball agents.

BA highlights "scouts view" on select Rule 5 picks.

Best Transformation

Indians lefthander Hoby Milner (taken from the Phillies) turned himself into a prospect with a pretty dramatic change. Milner was a fringy pitcher from a very conventional delivery, but by dropping down sidearm he actually gained a tick on his fastball (it’s now 88-91 mph) and his sweepy slider is now a much tougher look against lefthanded hitters. He’s a specialist, but one who now has a plausible big league future, according to two scouts.

and the bad news:


Last Pick, Best Prognosis?

Orioles outfielder Anthony Santander (selected from the Indians) was the last player taken in the major league phase of the Rule 5 draft. But a scout who saw him in the Carolina League thought he might have been the best pick of the Rule 5.

“He showed pop from both sides and barreled up everything that I saw. It was a quality approach for sure. He just looked comfortable in the box and had a plan. He didn’t panic when he was down in the count. He caught up to plus velocity on the inside part of the plate. The defense is kind of scary. He’s not Manny Ramirez in left but he covers about as much ground as you or I. The main thing that stood out though was the approach and feel for the strike zone. He’s a big leaguer,” said a scout.

I find it hard to believe the O's will keep Santander on the 25 man roster for the year. The kid spent 3 years in low A(why?) and last year only played high A. If he was that good, Tribe could have found a spot on the 40. Tribe may take him back, if offered, or work out a trade.