I could rant until the cows come home about the Indians 5 errors today (YES 5 ERRORS, UGH), but I won't do that. Being no-hit is bad enough, although I will say that Ervin Santana is a great pitcher and Mike Hegan repeatedly said on the radio broadcast that he'd never seen Santana pitch so well. However, we've got to play good fundamental baseball if we want to make it to the playoffs. This division is weak, and if we get back to playing good ball again, we'll be just fine. But this team is definitely flawed right now.
But this post is supposed to be about trade possibilities, so I'll get to that now. A lot has been written by a lot of different people about who the Indians could trade for but I'd like to talk about who I'm willing to trade. It looks like Carlos Beltran is not going to be one of those people we could acquire, but based off of the report that the Indians were willing to take on Beltran's salary and give up a "good player," I'd be surprised if we didn't make a deal by the deadline. Colby Rasmus (LH outfielder) is also off the board as he's been traded to the Blue Jays. So, that leaves BJ Upton, Hiroki Kuroda, Ryan Ludwick, Coco Crisp, and I believe Aaron Harang as players the Indians are maybe considering. At least from most reports. (UPDATE: Apparently, the Indians are in on Ubaldo Jimenez too, and are strong contenders to land him. Me likey.)
So let's get to it, who would I not mind the Indians trading?
Well, unless they're offering up one of the best players in the league, we better not give up Kipnis, Chisenhall, White or Pomerantz. These guys are huge keys to our future, especially since we have drafted so poorly from the 90s until really '08, when we drafted Chisenhall in the 1st round. I know GM Chris Antonetti has said that no player is "untouchable" but honestly, I don't think those guys are going anywhere.
That brings us to the next level of prospects that we have, and I think we have some really good ones. We have a three headed monster of B-level starters in Jenmar Gomez, Zach McAllister and David Huff. All three of those guys have had great years at AAA, and I'd be more than willing to trade two of them -- if not all three for the right deal (*Ahem* BJ Upton). I know we need starters and Huff is currently in the rotation and has pitched quite well in his two starts, but I just don't think he factors into the rotation in 2012 and beyond.
Think about it, the first three spots in the rotation are locked up for next year -- Masterson, Tomlin and Carrasco. Even though he's not coming back in the rotation this year, Alex White would appear to at least be penciled in for the 4th spot. And then you have Fausto Carmona for the 5th spot. You'd have to expect that Drew Pomerantz would follow a similar tract to that of White and find himself in the rotation too by mid-season, and at that point you have to get rid of somebody (probably Carmona...). Of course, you need starting pitching depth, but as long as you've got one of Huff/Gomez/McAllister, for next year, I think we'll be alright. So that's why I'd say we can trade at least two of those guys and be alright.
For infielders, I'd say we could stand to lose Cord Phelps, Luis Valbuena and -- this one might surprise you -- Matt LaPorta. Phelps has had a pretty good year in AAA, but he's a second baseman -- hello Jason Kipnis. He was sort of being groomed to be a utility player, but his defense looked abysmal in his stint in the majors earlier this season. We also have Jason Donald down in AAA, also being groomed to be a utility player. Because Donald is more proven at the major league level, I'd say Phelps is expendable (but, Donald is too by that same token).
If you looked at any of the games the Indians played against Minnesota last week and saw Valbuena play in the outfield (which was an incredible emergency situation) you know why he's expendable. He's actually had a great year in AAA, so if someone wants a LH second baseman, then they can have him. I'm sure of that.
Now, Matt LaPorta. If anybody wants him, I'd say that they can have him. I don't even care about getting a first baseman back. Here's the deal, Carlos Santana has been really bad behind the dish lately, and -- as Hammy said on the radio today -- it's getting harder to let Sweet Lou Marson sit on the bench when he's a much better defensive catcher. When LaPorta was on the DL earlier in the year, Santana mostly played first base while Marson caught and I just don't think Santana has been as comfortable back there since then. So, since LaPorta has only hit .238 with 9 HR and 35 RBI this season, and only plays average defense, I think we could stand to trade the former '07 first round draft pick. He just can't seem to put it together up here, and at this point I would rather have Santana at first and Lou Marson behind the plate every day.
So that's what I think. Hopefully we will see the Indians make a move int he next few days. Who they'll get, I'm not really sure, but I'm hoping for BJ Upton. The fact that we'd have him under contrat for next year makes him a very attractive player to me. We will see Tribe fans.
~MAS
No comments:
Post a Comment