Cleveland Sports Forum

Seems would be a great time to bring him up.

Where else can he play? Is 3B a lost cause?

Cody Allen’s nearing franchise save record a lesson in reliability and humility

T.J. Zuppe Jun 29, 2018 10
ST.​ LOUIS —​ Jason Kipnis​ had barely established himself​ as a big leaguer​ in his first​ full​ season in​ the majors​​ when the Indians promoted the young, hard-throwing Cody Allen in July of 2012.

The pair, each eager to embrace a new era of Indians baseball, quickly became a representation of the Tribe’s young core.

Six years later, having witnessed the right-hander’s growth and accomplishments firsthand, Kipnis is as qualified as anyone to speak about the reliable bullpen arm — most notably, the reliever’s impending grasp of the franchise’s all-time saves record.

“Can’t believe that,” Kipnis joked to The Athletic. “With two pitches?”

Indeed. Despite the friendly ribbing, a 95 mph fastball and impressive 12-6 curveball have helped pave the way for Allen, who now sits just one save shy of tying Bob Wickman’s club record of 139.

Sure, in the age of expanded bullpen usage and increased emphasis of set-up men, maybe saves aren’t the sexy, glamorous stat they once were deemed to be. But beyond just being a byproduct of when a reliever pitches, they also speak to other reliable factors that offer peace of mind when a club is seeking the final three coveted outs.

“He’s remained healthy,” Kipnis said. “He’s remained consistent. No closer or reliever is going to go unscathed and not have some blown saves or anything like that. That just comes with it. But I think consistently, in and out, he has given us a good effort and good chance to win ballgames and has been a big part of some really good bullpens. It’s not surprising to see his number climbing toward the top.”

In some ways, the save outcome is a reflection of reliability — not just in the pitcher’s ability to successfully defend the lead, but also in their daily availability. Since the start of 2013, just two pitchers have accumulated more appearances than Allen’s 393. Just four have recorded more innings than Allen’s 377. That consistent ability to post nearly every night is at the forefront of Terry Francona’s appreciation.

“His consistency has been phenomenal,” Francona said. “From the time I’ve been here, he’s pitching in leverage situations. There hasn’t been a whole lot of easy games and he’s ready every night. That probably is the biggest thing.”

And don’t forget, Allen was putting out fires long before he officially became the team’s back-end stopper in 2014.

“He was so good at that,” Francona said. “I thought it prepared him for being a closer, the way he pitched early in his career.”

And yet, despite closing in on the honor, Allen remains modest toward it, deflecting the credit away from himself and heaping it on those who helped put him in position to accumulate the hefty save total.

“If it were a different manager that thought differently than Tito does, I probably wouldn’t be closing games out for the last couple of years,” Allen told The Athletic. “We’ve had one of the best, if not the best, relievers in baseball in this organization for the past two years (in Andrew Miller). … I think if you took a number of guys that have been on this team for the last five, six years and you just flip-flopped our roles, you’d be talking to them, not me. I don’t think it’s so much a testament to me as it is the units we’ve had down there.”

Still, it’s Allen’s name rising up the ranks.

Earlier this year, he passed Doug Jones (129) on the franchise’s all-time list. He’s also passed former Tribe closers Chris Perez (124), Jose Mesa (104) and Mike Jackson (94) over the years.

“There’s some really, really good names on that list,” Allen said. “And to be mentioned in the same breath as a few of those guys, it’s an honor. Bob Wickman played for a long time, a few All-Star Games, he had a lot of saves not in an Indians uniform. That guy put together a pretty good career. What did he play, 14-15 years? That’s not easy to do.”


Happy handshakes have been abundant throughout Cody Allen’s Indians career. (Jeff Curry/USA Today Sports)
Allen, a free agent at the end of the season, chooses to view his rise up the save ranks as a representative honor. He’ll accept it, appreciate it, and he certainly won’t take it lightly, but he refuses to pound his chest over it.

“The bullpens that I’ve been fortunate enough to be a part of, the teams that I’ve been fortunate enough to be a part of, and then, knock on wood, I’ve been healthy and blessed to stay on the field,” Allen said. “Those things (have been critical). And the one thing that I’ve been blessed with more than anything is being a part of great bullpens that either keep us in games, give us a chance to take leads late or hold a lead, so I have a chance to pitch that ninth inning. I think those things have me allowed me to be able to be in this situation often.”

There’s certainly some truth to Allen’s words.

Closers often get the bulk of the credit for the bullpen’s successes, but relievers that occupy the sixth, seventh and eighth innings might face even tougher obstacles than the final three outs. Over the past three years, we’ve seen Miller enter in the midst of high chaos, only to serve as the Grim Reaper, collecting the souls of several failed rally attempts.

But as Miller, Francona and several others have been quick to point out, it’s Allen’s reliability and durability in the final inning that has allowed the slider-slinging lefty to roam freely. If the Indians didn’t feel supremely confident in Allen, they’d be far more reluctant to use Miller earlier in games.

“If you can close out games when you have your good stuff and find ways to do it when you don’t have your great stuff, he’s been fantastic at that,” Kipnis said. “He competes. The moment never gets too big for him.”

And the saves are just a byproduct of those factors.

Since Francona’s arrival in Cleveland, Allen has contributed the 11th-most win probability of any reliever. He also ranks 11th in WAR, according to FanGraphs. Just 28 relievers own a lower ERA over that time (2.67), and the righty ranks 25th in FIP (2.95) and 15th in strikeout percentage (32.2).

Those things don’t happen by accident. They aren’t just a product of when he pitched or how good the group of relievers were around him. And they don’t just reflect being part of a good team. They speak to Allen’s consistency. They demonstrate his talent. And they certainly reflect his ability to avoid the typical volatility that accompanies relief careers.

“All of us at one point were trying to establish ourselves,” Kipnis said, “and now it’s cool that we’re coming up on all-time lists, whatever numbers they may be, it’s fun. It lets us know that while we have our heads down or trying to be the best players that we can, when we do come up to look up above water every now and then, we can see how far we’ve come.”

For Allen, that extends beyond just an impressive save total.

And while he may be quick to credit others for his success, his collection of stats speaks to more than just some good fortune.

“It will be a cool thing,” Allen said. “We’ve obviously got to get there first.”

He has yet to play a single game at 3rd this year, TFIR. They tried that in fall league but must not have went well. Seems to have been canned. They have been playing him in the OF though. 36 games at catcher this year. 22 in the OF.

On top of Brantley - Zimmer, Chiz, and Naquin all bat left handed. They are all battling for playing time. But they put Mejia in OF this year? We will probably see one or two of those lefties included in trade next month.

Allen and Mejia are both switch hitters.

Perez has been down right awful. I do not know why we can’t bring Mejia up to back up Gomes and DH against lefties. Makes no sense to allow a guy like Perez to stay in his way.

Yeah, but outfield seems to be the way to go for him - for now. Said it before if Schwarber can adjust to the outfield Mejia can since he's a much better athlete.

To me - (not saying I agree because I don't really know the insides of this issue) I feel the team wants Mejia to continue to get regular at bats - and right now that's in AAA. Most likely the team also feels pitchers love the receivers they have (Bauer seems to go well with Perez for example and Bauer is just scorching right now) and that's very important.

(Again, I am simply speculating their line of reasoning)

So I believe they are getting Mejia hot by continually using him - then will move him to the outfield sometime soon at the big league level.

OR they want him to get hot in AAA to increase his trade value (better be for something damn good if so).

If you believe that the Indians are involved in the Machado talks then you would have to believe that Mejia is part of that deal. I have a hard time believing that they are in those talks but the rumors persist.

You have 2 controllable catchers for the next few years.

Cleveland Indians 'exploring some things' on status of injured Danny Salazar

Updated 10:12 AM; Posted Jun 29, 7:48 PM


Right-hander Danny Salazar, who has not pitched an inning for the Indians this season because of a sore right shoulder, was an All-Star in 2016.

By Paul Hoynes, cleveland.com phoynes@cleveland.com
OAKLAND -- It appears the waiting game on Danny Salazar is over.

Manager Terry Francona said the team is ready to make a decision on Salazar's status and will have more information in the next couple of days. Salazar has been on the disabled list all season with a sore right shoulder.

Francona added that the Indians are "exploring some things."

"We are going to have some news here in the next couple of days," said Francona when asked about Salazar. "We're putting that together. It's a little premature, but we'll have some more information in the next couple of days.

"I'd really rather not say anything else. I'd rather get our information in order first, but we're exploring some things if that helps."

Salazar, 28, was an All-Star in 2016, but developed elbow and forearm problems in the second half of that season and has not been healthy since. He came to spring training this year with a sore right shoulder and has yet to pitch an inning at any level this season.

The Indians diagnosed Salazar with right shoulder impingement tendinitis. The diagnosis was confirmed by Dr. Keith Meister, team physician for the Texas Rangers, in May. Dr. Meister gave Salazar a PRP (platelet rich plasma) shot, but Salazar said the shoulder did not respond.


Salazar returned to Cleveland at the end of May. He received an MRI and returned to Goodyear, Ariz., to resume his throwing program.

Salazar, at one time, was the Tribe's No.1 pitching prospect. He made his big-league debut in 2013 and started the wild card game against Tampa Bay that year.

In 2015, Salazar went 14-10 with a 3.45 ERA. He had a fastball that clocked near 100 mph and a good change up. He struck out 195 in a career-high 185 innings.

Except for a strong first half in 2016 -- a first half that put him in the All-Star Game -- it's been all downhill since. Salazar is making $5 million this year.

View Comments (24)

I'll say the same thing to that that I say about trading Mejia for a set up man. Trading a guy who has a chance to be a very special catcher for a 2 month rental of any body would be stupid. .. Mejia looks to be a Victor Martinez type bat at catcher for years to come. Switch hitter like Victor too. But better athlete. Let's not be stupid.

TFIR :

Obviously you want your prospects to get regular at bats, but as I've explained before, you can do that now with Mejia with the big club.

He can start at catcher the days Gomes doesn't. And he can DH against lefties in place of Alfonso in lineup. (EE at 1st)

Just for example, the last week, the Indians have played 6 games the last 7 days. Roberto Perez started 3 of those 6 games. And a lefty started 2 of those 6 games.

Just just this past week, if Mejia was with the big club, he could have started 5 of the 6 games. -- Some weeks it may be 4, but you get the idea. He can get regular at bats, no problem. -- And at catcher, his regular position.

And I stress, I'm not advocating getting rid of Gomes who I feel is a good catcher. I'm advocating replacing Perez, who has been awful at the plate and defensively all season.

Again in last nights game he dropped the ball in transferring to throw while a guy was stealing. I have never in all my years seen a catcher have that problem like Perez has had this year. He has a rare form of the yips trying to throw.

And he is batting .147 this year. One. Forty. Seven.

And even if he wasn't really sucking at the plate, he is a lifetime .207 hitter. So not like he's just having an off year. He can go on a tear the next month, get up to his average, and still absolutely suck.

His calling card in past was his defense. But he doesn't even have that this year.

The only downside to replacing him is he has become Bauer's personal catcher. In years past I would be hesitant to mess with that. But now I feel like Bauer has turned into a pro and can handle it. He knows what he's doing out there. He doesn't need Crash Davis to watch out for him any more.

Machado would not be a 2 month rental. The Indians would only be making that type of trade with assurances that they were going to sign him long term. Lindors buddy.

Jerry Crasnick who for whatever reason seems to know a lot about what the Orioles organization is doing has said repeatedly that the Indians are in the mix for Machado.

Makes no sense for multiple reasons (money, free agency, has said he wants to remain at SS) but something is going on.

Bauer likes Perez. Other Tribe pitchers like throwing to Perez. He ain't going anywhere. His bat stinks but every once in a while, somebody hits a spot where he is swinging. May have to rename the Mendoza line to the Perez line.

If the outfielders could hit with power, we wouldn't even be talking about the catcher's bat.

Mejia is the trade piece, not Perez.

Mejia is the target, yes. Because Perez has no value. He’d simply be a DFA. Which begs the question, why do you think es worth standing in the way of a Mejia type prospect? Makes no sense at all.

Let’s give him to another club that knows how special he is so we can keep a guy who’s hitting a buck fifty.

Please.

Rusty, I do agree with you that we seem to be going after Machado. Lots of smoke there. If he and Linder are buddies and we think Frankie can talk him into staying and at 3rd there might be something to it.

We do have a lot of money coming off the books at years end. Miller and Allen make 25 mill combined alone. Let alone Brantley and others. Maybe they think they can sign him long term? If we could get rid of Kipnis’ salary it would help a lot but I don’t see how.

I wonder if we agreed to send some top prospects for the rentals of Machado and Britton if Orioles would be willing to take on Kip? Just spitballing. Like say, Mejia, McKenzie, Zimmer, And Kipnis for the rental of those two? (they are about to lose their CF’er too so bet they would like a guy like Zimmer or Allen?)

Jordan Bastian @MLBastian
8 minutes ago
Francisco Mejia went 0-5 on May 24 to drop to a .178 average (.513 OPS). He’s hit .443 (1.167 OPS) in 116 PA since, including .500 (1.192) in 16 games since being in MLB for one day on June 11.

Here’s Francona, on reasons for Perez to remain the backup catcher over Mejia...

Hillbilly wrote:Jordan Bastian @MLBastian
8 minutes ago
Francisco Mejia went 0-5 on May 24 to drop to a .178 average (.513 OPS). He’s hit .443 (1.167 OPS) in 116 PA since, including .500 (1.192) in 16 games since being in MLB for one day on June 11.

Here’s Francona, on reasons for Perez to remain the backup catcher over Mejia...

And that's it right there. HB I am not saying at all I am disputing your logic I do see it. I just think it's pretty clear from Tito's comments ALL along he super values Gomes and Perez both. And I think, whether we agree or not, Mejia either plays outfield in Cleveland or gets traded.

Mejia has been moving around among catcher, left field and right field. Are they willing to drop Perez? Although he hasn't hit he is kind of Bauer's personal catcher with great results.

NEVER MIND: You already posted answers to that!

Ok, I am pretty sure HB wrote this article:

Indians Continue Prospect Trashing Trend with Latest on Francisco Mejia



Jordan Bastian reported earlier today these words from Indians manager Terry Francona on top prospect Francisco Mejia:

To me, that reads it doesn’t matter what Roberto Perez does, we will always prefer him over anyone else because he’s already under contract. To start breaking this down, maybe the most unimportant part is where Terry Francona talks about Mejia’s short call-up earlier in 2018 where he didn’t get a single at bat. This one game call-up on June 11th that came when Mejia was struggling actually came immediately after he had ended a ten game hitting streak that included two doubles, a triple and a home run where he raised his line from .178/.236/.276 to .216/.274/.337 and he has continue to improve from there, hitting .287/.336/.446 through June 29th.

Yes, Mejia has better numbers after that call up, but no, it had nothing to do with it. It is funny, however, that when they don’t want a young player up they claim that sitting on the bench in the majors will hurt his development, but when they do call him up and he has better numbers after it is because he sat on a major league bench.

More important is the idea that Perez is currently the better option. Mejia is a career .292/.345/.442 hitter in the minors and is nearing that this year despite a slow start. He has a quick bat that allows him to consistently make contact and is known for striking out extremely rarely, one of the reason he has so many extended hitting streak. In addition to the 10 gamer mentioned, he has his famous 50 game streak from his days in Lynchburg and currently has hits in 16 of 17 games with multiple hits in 8 consecutive games.

Perez, on the other hand, is hitting .141/.231/.228 this year and has a career line of .207/.300/.345. Francona is correct in noting that we shouldn’t focus on batting average, but a .300 OBP is terrible and a .231 is unacceptable. Among players with at least 100 PA in 2018, Perez ranks 351st of 355 qualifiers. Unlike average, OBP does matter. wRC+ also matters and Perez has a 26 where the league average is 100. You may say, “but what about defense,” however, so I will tell you about his defense.

With a 0.1 defense score, he is the 78th best catcher in the Majors this year. That means essentially you could take every MLB starter, every MLB bench catcher and the 17 best AAA catchers, then Perez would fit in, although I’m sure there are plenty of better catchers in AAA who don’t qualify because they haven’t hit the big leagues yet. Eric Haase and Mejia are certainly two. As far as base runners, he has been worth -2 runs, the second worst in baseball to Robinson Chirinos.

As far as more familiar metrics, he’s 77 of 84 qualifying catchers in field percentage (an extremely flawed stat for catchers because it includes strike outs as put outs) and has caught just 3 of 22 attempted base stealers while allowing two passed balls and 13 wild pitches. He is bad. He is historically bad in every single facet of the game. A 12 year old who can transfer the ball from his glove to his throwing hand without dropping it would be an improvement at times and this is the man who Francona places all his confidence in over the Indians top hitting prospect. Maybe he’s being hurt by his time on the bench and should be sent to AAA where he can play every day. Some guy named Terry Francona said “that’s not developing” and Perez could use some developing right now.

Of course, this type of trashing prospects who were only doing their best is nothing new. Now, Francisco Lindor gets the Perez treatment (although he actually deserves it) and if someone were to mention bringing up Yu-Cheng Chang or Eric Stamets, Francona would certainly throw a fit. However, back in 2015 (you know the year that Lindor came in 2nd in the Rookie of the Year vote and would have won a Gold Glove had he been on the team long enough to qualify), Chris Antonetti said this, again to Jordan Bastian:

Antonetti said Lindor still has a “litany of things” to work on with Columbus before potentially getting the call to the Majors. The GM also said he does not believe that Lindor is dealing with any frustration over wondering what else he has to do in order to earn a promotion.

Like Mejia this year, Lindor had been seriously considered to start the season with the team in 2015 and struggled offensively in April. However, he had completely turned things around by May, but was somehow “not ready” until the super two deadline had passed and the Indians were sure they wouldn’t lose a year of control due to service time. What a coincidence that Lindor went from a litany of things to work on to a 4.6 WAR player in the exact same amount of time that it took to keep him away from an extra year of arbitration eligibility. It’s almost as if the Indians intentionally kept him down a couple months longer than they had to so they could control him longer for less money. No. A team would never do that. Never.

But sometimes they might lie a little. Remember Jesus Aguilar? If you listen to BurningRiverRadio or follow me on twitter @BurningRiverBB you certainly could never forget him with the constant reminders. He’s currently in the running to be on the 2018 NL All-Star team (although Freddie Freeman is deservedly leading in votes) and 5th in WAR among all MLB 1B. For comparison, Carlos Santana is 13th and Yonder Alonso is 15th. He has 19 home runs and has been worth more both offensively and defensively than Joey Votto. While there are probably better quotes, I like this one from Francona about Aguilar. After saying “I think we’re looking for a way to get him here,” he went on with this as told to T.J. Zuppe:

For the near future we’d really like to watch him (Aguilar) play, Francona said. Especially with the lefties coming up, it seemed like a great time to get him here.

That extended look in 2015 lasted three games. They must have really wanted to see him as, after he had two hits and a HBP in three games (starting July 24th), he was sent back to AAA and didn’t get into another MLB game until September 30th. He had four hits in four games to end the year and had tremendous numbers in AAA, so you would expect him to deserve to start the 2016 season in the Majors. Instead, the Indians signed Francona’s old friend Mike Napoli, pushing him to third on the depth chart.

As Napoli floundered down the stretch (as old men do when playing in more games than ever before in their career), he hit .184/.309/.297 after August 12th. You would think this would be the moment to bring up the first baseman of the future, especially one burning minor league options and being paid the salary of a member of the 40 man roster. Instead, the Indians gave Napoli 149 games at 1B and DH, Santana 156, Aguilar 9, Chisenhall 4 and Chris Gimenez 4. Aguilar played just 9 games in the majors in 2016 and, while he didn’t play well, how could you expect him to after being pushed down to his eyes in mud all season? This was his final minor league option season and the Indians had to see what he had, lose him in 2017 or keep him on the 25 man as an unknown and they chose to lose him. The Brewers are pretty happy they picked that option.

While I could dote on Aguilar forever, he’s gone. Yandy Diaz is still here. Diaz was trashed defensively heading into 2017 when he was in the mix as the Indians utility man. In a similar position to Mejia this year, the Indians had asked Diaz, who was naturally a third baseman, to try the outfield in an effort to get to the big leagues quicker. While not adept there, Diaz was always considered a plus defender at third until the Indians own front office came out against him. In the big leagues, however, things looked different as he made 5 out of 5 plays considered even (50% chance to make, 50% chance to miss), 3 of 5 plays considered likely and 96.6% of plays considered routine. He didn’t get a long enough chance to get significant defensive numbers, but these certainly aren’t horrible. This season, however, with Erik Gonzalez out of options, Yandy has essentially been forgotten and his .291/.424/.377 line in AAA completely ignored.

Of course, Gonzalez was himself a victim to prospect ignoring. He hit AAA in 2015, but was not given the primary utility role until this season, when he had to be given a bench spot or be lost altogether. The Indians instead ran through multiple extremely subpar seasons of Mike Aviles and Michael Martinez. Giovanny Urshela, who was recently DFA’d by the Indians, then the Blue Jays, was also used in such a role in 2017, although he got the silent treatment in 2016 when he didn’t play a single game in the majors after having a nice 2015.

Francona has said many times that he prefers veteran players in bench roles as young players need to play every day to develop and aren’t reliable in a bench role, but what about players who have a future as a bench player? Erik Gonzalez has certainly both been successful this year in a limited role and doesn’t seem to need more developing. In any event, his lack of options makes further development in AAA impossible.

So now, the Indians are burning option years of Mejia, Diaz and more as they “are not ready” despite overwhelming evidence stating they are. Even if they aren’t really ready for the majors now, will they ever be? Diaz will be 27 in August. By 27, most MLB greats have had a few MLB seasons under their belts and are hitting their prime. By 30, they are hitting their decline. If Diaz isn’t ready right now, why not give up on him completely? Mejia is only 22, but what more could he possibly prove in AAA that he hasn’t already.

The Indians are so in love with Yan Gomes and Perez that they knew they wouldn’t want Mejia at catcher in 2018, but that he’d be ready, so they tried him at third in the 2017 AFL. After an extremely short try out, they said it was no good and asked him to play the outfield. He’s done this as well, playing 22 of 58 games in the field in the outfield.

This brings up another lie or at least misleading statement from Francona. His comments on Mejia playing outfield make it seem like Mejia has refused to play there, but he has played nearly half his games in the grass. If he has stated a preference for catcher, that is certainly not something worth punishment. He has played 366 games behind the plate already in his minor league career and was signed as a catcher.

Francona has shown so much loyalty to his active MLB players that he simply doesn’t care about the opinions of minor leaguers or where they are best suited to play. He moved Tony Wolters from second to catcher on a whim, but largely due to Jason Kipnis being entrenched at second. With both Kipnis and Jose Ramirez now in place, Yandy Diaz was asked to play outfield.

When Mejia was asked to play third, it was during the Kipnis to center experiment, but when that obviously wasn’t going to work, Mejia was asked to play outfield instead. Maybe it wasn’t the 10 games at third base that proved Mejia couldn’t play there but the fact that Kipnis was going back to second and Ramirez back to third.

I’m not saying Mejia should have stayed at third (the experiment never should have been attempted), but he certainly didn’t get a long enough look there to learn anything. The same is true in the outfield. How could he possibly have learned the outfield well enough in 22 games to do so in the majors? How could he if he played three seasons there? Tyler Naquin has played 460 games in the outfield in his pro career and is still terrible. He’s also naturally suited for the position and much faster than Mejia. The only reason for Mejia to play one minute in the outfield is deference to Gomes and Perez.

Francisco Lindor was arguably the Indians best prospect since Manny Ramirez. The Indians knew that the moment they drafted him and he became their number one prospect. He was always amazing in the minors and obviously ready for the majors at the beginning of 2015, but they trashed him in the press and held him back until super two passed (let’s see if he remembers that as well as the Gold Glove and Rookie of the Year it cost him when extension talks start).

Now, Mejia is the team’s top offensive prospect and he is getting even worse treatment. Do not believe for one second that he isn’t ready. He was hitting Major League pitching back in 2017 when he hit .421/.450/.789 in MLB spring training including two home runs. He has also been a fine if not exemplary catcher with an extremely strong throwing arm. He is as ready as he will ever be. Terry Francona is lying to you and he has many times before. He will do anything to protect his current players, including insulting his future players.

What makes this particularly disconcerting is its two faced nature. The Indians want you to love their young players, including their prospects. As soon as a Lindor or Naquin makes it big, they become huge areas for marketing. Yet, they constantly speak ill of current prospects, be it Lindor, Diaz, Aguilar, Mejia or others.

Even if they don’t outright talk them down, they push them behind. Adam Plutko had great seasons in 2015 and 2016 and despite Josh Tomlin having a terrible 2017, he didn’t get a shot in the rotation until 2018 and it took injuries to Danny Salazar, Ryan Merritt and Cody Anderson to make it happen.

Tomlin is even worse this year and somehow remains on the team over many more talented options in the minors, including at least one, Kieran Lovegrove, who will be a minor league free agent at the end of the season if not added to the 40 man roster.

He only has a 1.45 ERA and 44 strike outs through 37.1 innings with a fastball nearing 100 MPH, so he probably isn’t ready either. Much better to stick with Tomlin because he signed a three year contract. We all know the most important aspect of a baseball player on the field is the contract he signed years ago.

Hey, at least they can't be accused of pumping up prospect values for a trade!!

As far as the contract thing goes, it's hard to argue contracts give a player a leg up. Then again, the Indians are far, far from unique in that practice.