Cleveland Sports Forum

Need a catcher? Three trade possibilities for Brewers' Jonathan Lucroy

David Schoenfield
ESPN Senior Writer

One of the more interesting names on the rumor mill is Milwaukee Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy. In fact, he might be the best player available; among position players believed potentially available, only Carlos Gonzalez of the Colorado Rockies has a higher WAR.

Lucroy is hitting .305/.362/.494, is known for his pitch-framing skills and has obviously bounced back from last season's injury issues. He's also attractive because of his team-friendly contract, which pays him just $4 million this season and $5.25 million in 2017. You'd be acquiring an All-Star catcher for the price of a mediocre middle reliever.

Jonathan Lucroy's ability to hit and low price tag make him an attractive target for contending teams needing an upgrade at catcher.

One concern that I've heard is that teams don't like to bring in catchers midseason, since he'd have to learn a new pitching staff. With Lucroy, that seems like less of an issue, given his intelligence. Still, there hasn't been a World Series champ this century who acquired a starting catcher during the season (the 2010 San Francisco Giants called up rookie Buster Posey in late May, although he'd at least worked with the staff in spring training) and the last World Series winner that didn't have a clear-cut No. 1 catcher would have been the New York Yankees in 1999, when Jorge Posada and Joe Girardi shared catching duties in the postseason.

So bringing in Lucroy would be an unusual move, and given his ability and salary, he'll cost a highly regarded prospect or two.

Cleveland Indians

Yan Gomes will miss about eight weeks with a separated shoulder, meaning an optimistic timetable would have him ready in late-September. The Indians love Gomes' defense and ability to handle a pitching staff, but his bat has been a big zero this year. Of players with 100 plate appearances, he's second-worst in OPS. It's one reason [its THE reason] why the Indians have the worst offense in the majors from their catchers (.168/.216/.297). They do have Roberto Perez, just activated from the DL, and he was league-average with the bat last year and is regarded as a strong defender. They'd also like to keep backup Chris Gimenez, who hasn't hit either but has become Trevor Bauer's personal catcher, a tandem the Indians are loathe to break up, given Bauer's strong season.

The Indians have survived punting offense from catcher, ranking third in the AL in runs, but the concern is that some of the hitters have played over their heads. Remarkably, even though Michael Brantley has played just 11 games, the Indians rank third in the majors in wOBA from their outfield. The speculation is that they could look for an outfield bat such as Jay Bruce or Josh Reddick to bet against likely regression from Tyler Naquin or Rajai Davis.

That makes sense, but so does adding a lefty or two for the bullpen. While Lucroy's salary fits in the Cleveland budget, I don't see them giving up a prospect such as Bradley Zimmer or Clint Frazier to get him. Most likely, look for them to add a reliever and maybe a guy like Reddick (Bruce's salary and lack of range in the outfield don't really fit here).

Texas Rangers

With Robinson Chirinos on the DL for much of the season, the Rangers have had to patch together the backstop position, relying on career backups such as Bobby Wilson and Bryan Holaday. But Chirinos is back and even homered twice Tuesday. Lucroy would certainly be an upgrade, and they have a talented farm system to deal from, but the more pressing concern is the starting rotation. Kyle Lohse, who had an ERA over 5.00 in Triple-A, started Tuesday and got hammered, and the Rangers' lead over the Astros has dwindled to 4.5 games. If the Rangers lacked faith in Chirinos, it seems they would have pursued Lucroy more fervently in the offseason. At this point, the focus is on pitching. How about Joey Gallo for Julio Teheran?

Boston Red Sox

The Red Sox have the best lineup in the majors, although they didn't get much from their catchers until the legend of Sandy Leon kicked in. He has hit .431 in his limited duty, but this is a guy who hit .184 last season. Do the Red Sox ride the hot hand? Do they eventually go with veteran Ryan Hanigan or give Christian Vazquez another chance? Or does Dave Dombrowski make another big splash? Not if the Brewers demand Yoan Moncada or Andrew Benintendi.

Other possibilities: Houston Astros, New York Mets.

Prediction: The Brewers don't swing a deal and wait until the offseason

Ask BA:
"This is kind of a new concept for the Indians: trading prospects to get an established veteran [well, let's just overlook Ubaldo Jiminez]. Is there anyone who you think the Indians will refuse to deal?"

Vincent Lara-Cinisomo: They wouldn't trade Lindor, clearly, but if you're talking prospects, I think, like with any club, there are few untouchables and more players who they'd prefer not to trade. I think they'd prefer not to trade Clint Frazier, but might be more amenable to trading Bradley Zimmer, especially with the emergence of Tyler Naquin. I think they'd prefer not to trade Brady Aiken, but with a Tommy John surgery already on his resume, his value is affected.

Was watching the A's last night and noticed Josh Reddick had crazy splits this year. .348 vs righties and .180 something vs lefties.

We know the guy has pop. Since he would not cost a major prospect, seems he is a fit, at least in my book.

Mostly a RF now, but has played LF in the past.

To me, an outfield of Reddick, Naquin and Chisenhall vs right handers is sounding good. We know the infield packs some punch.

Cleveland Indians have Terry Talkin how there are real prospects to trade for Jonathan Lucroy
Terry Pluto, The Plain Dealer
on July 23, 2016 at 8:30 AM


CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Let's start with the fact that Cleveland Indians president Chris Antonetti will make some type of deal near the August 1 trading deadline.

That's because he has always made a midseason deal since taking over the baseball operations in 2010.

His protege is Mike Chernoff, and the Indians general manager also is intimately involved in trade talks.


Let's also realize Antonetti is not afraid to make a big deal.

As the 2011 trade deadline approached, the Indians were 53-51 ... only 1 1/2 games behind the Detroit Tigers in the Central Division.

Antonetti traded four prospects -- three of them significant -- for pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez.

The deal didn't immediately pay off. The Indians finished 80-82 and the Tigers roared to a 95-67 record and the Central Division title.

Here's a look at that trade with Colorado:

1. Drew Pomeranz was the Tribe's 2010 first-round pick. He has a career 22-31 record with a 3.74 ERA. The lefty has battled some arm problems. He was in the bullpen for a time. He finally broke through this season with a 8-7 record and 2.43 for San Diego. He was just traded to Boston.

2. Alex White was the Tribe's 2009 first-round pick. He suffered an Adam Miller-type finger injury when still with the Tribe. Miller was a top Cleveland prospect in the middle 2000s before that injury. White then had major arm problems. His career big league record is 5-13 with a 6.03 ERA. He is no longer in professional baseball.

3. Joe Gardner was a third-round pick in 2009. He never made it past Class AA.

4. Matt McBride was a marginal prospect as an outfielder. He has a career .196 big league average in 192 at bats.

5. At the time of the deal, Baseball America ranked the Tribe's prospects this way: White (No. 2), Pomeranz (No. 4) and Gardner (No. 9). So Antonetti traded three of his top nine prospects for Jimenez.

6. I remember hating the Jimenez deal when it was announced. Three top pitching prospects for a guy whose career was trending in the wrong direction.
While Jimenez was up and down and all-over-the-place for the Tribe, he helped them to the 2013 wild card. The trade worked out for the Tribe.


THE BIG FREE AGENTS

Antonetti was the general manager when the Indians committed $104 million to sign Nick Swisher and Michael Bourn before the 2013 season. Antonetti knew it was risky. He knew both of those contracts could haunt him -- as they eventually did for a few years.

But Antonetti also knew that 2013 was a key season with Terry Francona coming in as manager. The Indians had lost at least 93 games in three of the previous four years.

Something had to change. Bourn, Swisher and Jimenez all helped the Indians to a 92-70 record in 2013. It paid off, at least in the short term.

Signing both of those free agents for $104 million is the kind of move that can lead to a young executive being fired. By 2014, the contracts had backfired.

Antonetti and Chernoff then put together a trade with Atlanta's John Hart to clear the roster of Bourn and Swisher.

My point is that Antonetti is not afraid of risks.

TRADING FOR LUCROY

The Indians public stance is they are pleased with catchers Roberto Perez and Chris Gimenez. Their main goal is to help the bullpen.

But I take the Jonathan Lucroy rumors seriously.

The Brewers plan to trade their catcher somewhere as they search for prospects. Here's what makes Lucroy attractive to the Tribe:

1. He's batting .305 (.854 OPS) with 12 HR. He's a career .285 hitter. He's throwing out 38 percent of stealing base runners. He's an All-Star catcher who fills two needs -- an excellent receiver and a right-handed bat with some pop.

2. He's making $4 million this season and has a team option for $5.25 million in 2017. So he is not just a rental for the rest of 2016.

3. Yan Gomes did sign a long-term deal, but it's not excessive in the early seasons. Gomes is making $2.5 million this season. In 2017, it rises to $4.5 million. So the Tribe could have Lucroy and Gomes as catchers next year -- the total payroll slightly less than $10 million. That is not expensive in modern baseball.

4. The rest of Gomes contract is: $6 million (2018), $7 million (2019) and $9 million with $1 million guaranteed (2020). Maybe Milwaukee would want Gomes in return, counting on a bounce-back for the 29-year-old.

5. My point is Gomes should not be a barrier for this trade.

6. Milwaukee also has three good relievers -- Will Smith, Tyler Thornburg and Jeremy Jeffress. None of them can be a free agent before 2020. So it's easy to see how this could become a bigger deal -- Lucroy and a reliever.

7. The price would be high in terms of prospects. We keep hearing about prized outfielders Brad Zimmer and Clint Frazier being targeted by other teams. But the Indians have so much more. They really do have prospects to trade.

8. Mike Clevinger is 9-1 with a 2.82 ERA at Class AAA Columbus. Teams love to find pitchers who are legitimate prospects for a starting rotation. Lefty Justus Sheffield is only 20. Scouts love him. He is 7-4 with a 3.53 ERA at Class A Lynchburg.

9. Erik Gonzalez is now with the Tribe. He is an excellent middle infield prospect, and the Tribe is loaded at second and short with Jason Kipnis, Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez. The Indians believe Gonzalez can be an elite defensive shortstop.

10. At Columbus, Yandy Diaz is batting .328 with 4 HR and 23 RBI. In the last 10 games, he's hitting .429. He's a Cuban who was signed by the Tribe in 2014 and has quickly climbed the minor league ladder. He is playing the outfield now, but is a natural third baseman.

11. Also at Columbus is Gio Urshela. He is a superb defensive third baseman. He had a miserable start to the season, but is batting .372 in the last 10 games. On the year, Urshela is up to .255 (.627 OPS) with 6 HR and 31 RBI. Obviously, the Indians need a third baseman to replace Juan Uribe. They have two viable candidates in Diaz and Urshela. They could trade one.

12. Scouts are enamored with the power of Bobby Bradley, who is batting .262 (.869 OPS) with 17 HR and 70 RBI at the age of 20. He is at Class A Lynchburg. Also at Lynchburg, catcher Francisco Mejia is batting .345 with 8 HR and 61 RBI.

13. Antonetti and Chernoff want to keep all these guys -- but they do have players to trade. That's why I believe the talks with Milwaukee have potential, as do other trade talks. The Indians have enough prospects in the farm system (including some I didn't mention at the lower levels) to put together an enticing package as part of a bold trade

Antonetti and Chernoff want to keep all these guys

Well, yeah of course. But we have a surplus which does the team any good only if some it is traded for what we lack, so I doubt they are refusing to move anyone. I am good with a package of Zimmer, Gonzalez and one among Sheffield-Cody Anderson-hopefully not Clevinger, for the kind of return they're talking about. That would mean trading our current No. 2, No. 9 and No. 6 prospects. That's a lot but we can afford it.

I'd be fine with losing both Clevinger, Zimmer, and a smaller piece or two if it brought us back a good bat and a good lefty reliever.

Report: Indians have best offer for Chapman

Bruce Levine of WSCR-AM and 670thescore.com reports that the Indians "have the best names on the table" for Aroldis Chapman.
Previous reports have had both the Nationals and Cubs out in front in the sweepstakes for Chapman. There's also been a "mystery team" floated. In other words, welcome to the trade deadline. The Indians already have a capable closer in Cody Allen, but adding Chapman would bolster their bullpen for a possible playoff run.
Source: Bruce Levine on TwitterJul 24 - 1:58 PM

would we rather deal the "best names" for Chapman or for a hitter and a lefty?

Too many Cody Allen meltdowns. Chapman would fit.

I'll take Miller if Chapman is headed to Chicago.

Cody is pretty lousy in tie games.

On Monday, multiple sources are reporting that the Cubs have agreed to trade Gleyber Torres, the No. 27 prospect in the Baseball America Midseason Top 100, as part of a four-player package (that also includes Adam Warren, Billy McKinney and Rashad Crawford) to land Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman. As of 1 p.m. on Monday the trade was not yet official

There's an unknowing added benefit to the Cubs and the Red Sox trading premium prospects. In doing so, they have made life more difficult for other contenders looking to help their rosters at the trade deadline—it’s isn’t the primary reason they paid the price to make the deal. But the market has now been set for top-end relievers and mid-rotation starters. Neither the Red Sox or the Cubs is paying that price only to keep other teams from making moves. But if that is a secondary effect of the deals, it’s a significant added bonus for them.

In trading Espinoza, ranked 15th in the Midseason Top 100, for Pomeranz, the Red Sox have set the price for what appears to be a very thin starting pitching trade market. A team looking to acquire Rich Hill or another mid-level starter now knows that the price to land a starter begins with top-level prospect talent. A package of non-Top 100 prospects will pale too much in comparison to what the Red Sox gave up.

The same can be said for the reliever market. If a little less than a half season of Chapman lands a four-player package that includes a Top 30 prospect, the cost of Andrew Miller or Wade Davis should be significantly higher considering their additional years of team control.

That leaves other contenders facing a difficult decision. Do you pay a dear price in prospects for top talent, knowing that the cost is significantly higher than it has appeared to be in recent years? Do you instead try to shop in the bargain bin, acquiring second-tier big league help at a lower but still pricey cost? Or do you just sit out what appears to some teams to be a distorted market?

None of those options seem appealing for other contenders. It is possible that if other teams choose to balk at current prices, the cost of big league help could dip just before the deadline. But it’s going to be hard for any selling team with similar talent to accept a price significantly lower than the Red Sox’s and Cubs’ packages

It's official. And who do the Yankees get:


In Torres, the Yankees are getting the Cubs’ top prospect, as ranked in this year’s Midseason Top 10. He also ranked No. 27 on this year’s Midseason Top 100 list. Torres is exactly the type of player teams covet—a young shortstop who can hit and hit for power. He also fits right in to the Yankees’ current covey of shortstops, including No. 1 prospect Jorge Mateo, as well as Tyler Wade, Wilkerman Garcia, Abiatal Avelino, Thairo Estrada, Hoy Jun Park and Kyle Holder splashed throughout the system.

At just 19 years old, Torres recovered from a rough April to hit .302/.379/.468 since then at high Class A Myrtle Beach with 18 doubles, eight home runs, 39 RBIs and 18 stolen bases. He began the season as the second-youngest player in the Carolina League behind only Frederick third baseman Jomar Reyes. He opened the season focused on hitting for more power instead of just letting it come naturally, and as a result got pull-happy and starting cheating on fastballs. Once he reverted to his former approach, he began using the whole field again and success returned. He got a $1.7 million bonus from the Cubs in 2013 when the team blew past its international bonus allotment.

He’s put in hard work with the Cubs’ defensive coaches over the past couple of years and has made himself into a reliable defender at shortstop with a chance to be a little more than that if he sticks at the position in the long-term.


Myrtle Beach (CAR) HiA .275 94 356 62 98 23 3 9 47 42 87 19 .359 .433


Adam Warren, rhp
Age: 28

For Warren, this deal represents a homecoming after an eight-month move into the Cubs’ system. He was part of the deal that brought infielder Starlin Castro to New York in the offseason, shipped to the Cubs along with infielder Brendan Ryan, but faltered with his new team. Developed by the Yankees after they drafted him out North Carolina in 2009, Warren rose to prominence with the Yankees last year as a valuable swingman who could start, go multiple innings in relief or work one inning as more of a traditional setup role.

With the Cubs this year, Warren was stuck in a relief role but had fallen out of favor and had been optioned to Triple-A twice this year in an effort to stretch him out into a starter’s role once again. With the Yankees, he’ll likely return to the swing role, or he could slot in to the seventh inning with Dellin Betances moving to the eighth inning and Andrew Miller shifting into Chapman’s vacated closer’s role. His starting experience also gives the Yankees the option of sliding him into the rotation if they decide to deal one of their current rotation pieces such as Nathan Eovaldi, Michael Pineda or Ivan Nova.

Iowa (PCL) AAA 0 0 4.15 2 2 0 0 9 6 4 4 1 4 6
Chicago (NL) MAJ 3 2 5.14 29 1 0 0 35 30 24 20 7 19 27
[A pretty insignificant piece of the package, it appears]

Billy McKinney, of
Age: 21

A little bit of McKinney’s prospect shine has come off over the past two seasons with Double-A Tennessee, but as a 21-year-old there’s still plenty to like. He was originally drafted by the A’s in 2013, then was swapped to the Cubs along with Addison Russell as part of the freight for righthanders Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel as the A’s made a push toward a deep run into October that never materialized. McKinney’s value is in his bat, but right now he looks like his profile is stuck somewhere between center field and a corner.

He lacks the defensive chops to be a natural center fielder and the impact power to fit in either right or left field. He’s also had issues hitting lefthanded pitching over the last two seasons. Scouts who have seen him, however, say there’s more raw power than what shows up in games. He’s got feel to hit, though, and is currently sporting an on-base percentage of .355 despite his struggles.
Tennessee (SL) AA .252 88 298 37 75 12 3 1 31 47 68 2 .355 .322 [that's ONE home run] Sounds like a very unvaluable player

Rashad Crawford, of
Age: 22

Crawford is exactly the type of a player a team should target as the final player in a multi-player deal. An 11th-rounder out of Jonesboro, Ga. in 2012, Crawford has climbed very slowly through the minors, not reaching full-season ball until 2015.
Crawford was a multi-sport star in high school whose hitting needed lot of work. He tried switch-hitting but now is exclusively a lefthanded hitter. He’s actually hit lefthanders better than righthanders this season.
That slow track means that Crawford will be Rule 5 Draft-eligible at the end of the season, which is a factor in letting him go in a trade. Crawford is an excellent defensive center fielder with plus-plus speed. He’s made progress as a hitter, but there are still significant questions over whether he will ever hit enough to be a regular. His more-likely role at the big league level would be as a backup outfielder, but his tools give him a chance to be more than that. .324 .383 in High A. [Kind of like Greg Allen but doesn't hit nearly as well]

So the Yankees get a very promising SS one year younger than Chang, playing at the same level, and hitting with less power.
A middle career middle reliever/back of the rotation starter who at age 28 is still rotating back and forth to AAA.
A once-promising CF who can't hit.
A slowly developing corner OF at the same level as Santander, but a year older, and hitting much worse.

Quite a package.

Truly disgusting that we wouldn't beat that package.