CLEVELAND — Aside from a move to bolster the bullpen or perhaps a mega-aggressive trade to acquire Baltimore Orioles star Manny Machado, one area of need the Indians could address before the trade deadline is in the outfield.
But, for a number of reasons, many external or internal options might be blocked.
Michael Brantley has put up an All-Star caliber season in left field and can be comfortably written into the No. 2 spot in the lineup every day. Center field and right field have been somewhat of a mess, a revolving door without much consistency.
And, the current injury situation hasn’t helped things. Bradley Zimmer (right shoulder inflammation) and Lonnie Chisenhall (left calf strain) are both out for several weeks as a minimum. That leaves Greg Allen, Tyler Naquin, Brandon Guyer and Rajai Davis to man center field and right field every day.
The Indians could use an upgrade but their options are limited. The free-agent market is barren. The Orioles’ Adam Jones might be the biggest name available on a selling team, but his production has taken a significant downturn (101 wRC+, or about league average), he’s been borderline awful in center field (-18 defensive runs saved) and he’d be a rental, as he’s finishing up a six-year, $85.5 million deal this season.
As Indians president of operations Chris Antonetti outlined recently, the primary focus will be to add controllable assets who can remain in Cleveland beyond this year. That isn’t to say the Indians won’t go the route of adding a three-month rental, but other paths will first be explored to acquire players who can help the Indians through their contention window, which has a good chance to run through at least the 2020 or 2021 seasons.
Detroit Tigers right fielder Nick Castellanos could have a hefty price tag, as he still has a year of arbitration left, but even in a rebuilding state, would the Tigers deal such valuable asset within the division? It’s one of those weird unwritten rules that so many teams seem to follow, even in an instance in which a potential deal might fit so well for both clubs. Castellanos has been poor defensively (-11 DRS) but has been terrific at the plate, hitting .302 with an .865 OPS in the middle of the Tigers lineup this season.
Indians manager Terry Francona has repeatedly pointed out this year how important Guyer is to the club as the main offensive option in the outfield as a right-handed bat, and Davis’ impact comes from his legs. Castellanos would help to ease that burden, but a silly fear of helping a division foe might block any progress there.
The Cincinnati Reds might have two options. One is center fielder Billy Hamilton, a terrific defensive player who is also a terror on the bases and under club control through next season. But he hasn’t reached base consistently enough to let his speed impact the game as much as it could. Hamilton’s on-base percentage has hovered around .300 the last three seasons, so even though he’s as much fun to watch on the bases as any player in baseball, he hasn’t been on base very often.
The other option is Adam Duvall, who is under club control through 2021. He’s having a down year in some respects, hitting .204 with a .683 on-base percentage, well below his career average of .760, but his line-drive and hard-hit percentages are both up from 2017.
A couple of other secondary options remain, but the Indians certainly have a much higher number of quality candidates to bolster the bullpen than they do to help an outfield that has lacked offensive punch. Entering Saturday’s game, the Indians outfield had a collective fWAR of 1.9, 23rd in baseball, and its 88 wRC+ was 24th. Brantley this season has 1.3 fWAR by himself.
The biggest internal option is top prospect Francisco Mejia, a catcher by trade who the Indians have had splitting time in the outfield in an effort to find another avenue to get his bat to the major leagues.
Mejia, a switch-hitter, is known more for what he can do at the plate than behind it. This season, he’s hitting .279 with a .758 OPS for Triple-A Columbus. He’d be a valuable addition to the Indians lineup, but that’s contingent on him as least being serviceable in right field.
Promoting Mejia to bolster the lineup and seeing how he handles right field in the majors is also partly a possibly because of the American League Central, which has become the worst division in baseball and given the Indians a double-digit games lead. Without having to worry about a divisional race, the Indians could have more leeway to find out if Mejia can be their answer.
Thus far, the Indians say they haven’t seen enough from him during his time in right field to warrant a promotion. Mejia wants to remain primarily a catcher, and it sounds like he hasn’t yet bought into the idea of regularly playing right field as much as is needed, and that could be one of the reasons he’s taking right field in Columbus instead of Cleveland.
“He really wants to be a catcher,” Francona said of Mejia on Saturday. “I don’t disagree with that. But I think we’ve had moments where his heart isn’t in it as much as maybe (it could be). He still views himself as a catcher. And we’re trying to explain to him that, ‘Man, you may be a catcher next year, but you could be a starting right fielder.’
“So, we’re just not there, yet. I mean, I understand. It’s just, I don’t think it’s kind of come as maybe as fast as we hoped.”
If the Indians were to acquire Machado, or even the Reds’ Scooter Gennett, it’s also possible that Jason Kipnis could be moved to the outfield, as he was near the end of last season. Or, perhaps Mejia can make the required strides and embrace right field.
If the Indians are to address a need in the outfield without as many candidates as in the controllable reliever market, some creativity might be needed — or, they’ll have to jump on one of the few available external targets.
Ryan Lewis can be reached at
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