Cleveland Indians 2018-2019 Offseason Outlook

[Steve_424]

Some 2019 projections via BaseballReference.com:

Dietrich - .255/.333/.416/.749 with 14 HR and 51 RBI
Jones - .266/.307/..425/.731 with 19 HR and 62 RBI
CarGo - .267/.329/.446/.776 with 16 HR and 62 RBI
Span - .255/.323/.401/.725 with 11 HR and 48 RBI
Harrison - .259/.311/..392/.703 with 10 HR and 43 RBI
Marwin - .261/.329/.434/.763 with 17 HR and 68 RBI

Naquin - .266/.327/.419/.746 with 8 HR and 33 RBI
Luplow - ..228/.304/.397/.700 with 8 HR and 27 RBI
Allen - .254/.317/.375/.692 with 6 HR and 32 RBI + 15 steals
Martin - .236/.302/.382/.683 with 11 HR and 35 RBI

 

[sportscoach]

With the way the Indians organization is currently run, I'm not giving 30 year old Marwin Gonzalez a 4 year deal unless it is incredibly cheap. I'd give him 1-2 years for decent money however.

I figured that would be everyones response, but I almost feel he would be a fit long term as well for this roster since he plays everywhere defensively at average or above average and he is a guy on paper Francona loves to have. Though I doubt he would sign anywhere this off season for long term cause of the way the market has been, but we never know.

Some 2019 projections via BaseballReference.com:

Dietrich - .255/.333/.416/.749 with 14 HR and 51 RBI
Jones - .266/.307/..425/.731 with 19 HR and 62 RBI
CarGo - .267/.329/.446/.776 with 16 HR and 62 RBI
Span - .255/.323/.401/.725 with 11 HR and 48 RBI
Harrison - .259/.311/..392/.703 with 10 HR and 43 RBI
Marwin - .261/.329/.434/.763 with 17 HR and 68 RBI

Naquin - .266/.327/.419/.746 with 8 HR and 33 RBI
Luplow - ..228/.304/.397/.700 with 8 HR and 27 RBI
Allen - .254/.317/.375/.692 with 6 HR and 32 RBI + 15 steals
Martin - .236/.302/.382/.683 with 11 HR and 35 RBI

It;s still kind of strange in some ways how many solid free agents there are on the market right now. I don't think the player association is liking this at all since this is the second year in a row its been like this, but they cannot do much about it. I am hoping to see Harrison, Jones and even Marwin in camp. That would be amazing at the end of the day! Though I don't know if we have the extra cap for that.

 

[Stark]

Some 2019 projections via BaseballReference.com:

Dietrich - .255/.333/.416/.749 with 14 HR and 51 RBI
Jones - .266/.307/..425/.731 with 19 HR and 62 RBI
CarGo - .267/.329/.446/.776 with 16 HR and 62 RBI
Span - .255/.323/.401/.725 with 11 HR and 48 RBI
Harrison - .259/.311/..392/.703 with 10 HR and 43 RBI
Marwin - .261/.329/.434/.763 with 17 HR and 68 RBI

Naquin - .266/.327/.419/.746 with 8 HR and 33 RBI
Luplow - ..228/.304/.397/.700 with 8 HR and 27 RBI
Allen - .254/.317/.375/.692 with 6 HR and 32 RBI + 15 steals
Martin - .236/.302/.382/.683 with 11 HR and 35 RBI

I know this is only addressing one statline given here, but I feel like a full season of Naquin at-bats (450+) would give us more than 8 homers. He has some pretty solid natural power.

 

[sportscoach]

I know this is only addressing one statline given here, but I feel like a full season of Naquin at-bats (450+) would give us more than 8 homers. He has some pretty solid natural power.

Naquin had 14 in his rookie season in 321 at bats, so in all likelihood, even with a bad season in 450 at bats he won't hit less than 15 that way. Also I believe Luplow will have better numbers than that as well just mostly because he will be hitting against lefties even if he is a backup player plus he has always had abnormally high slugging percentage in the minors (lowest was .421, and at AAA it was .479). Greg Allen also had 6 BB to 11 SOs in the last 21 games he played, plus he had 21 stolen bases in 265 ABs. I doubt if he gets over 300 ABs with a .250+ average that he will get less than that, if anything he may get to the 30 mark if not 40 mark if he is the 4th OF. (He will pinch run/be a defensive replacement late game) Martin I don't think will hit less than .250 if he is healthy since he is a career .254 hitter against RH pitchers. He will be platooned next season since he has never hit lefties well.

Pretty much I don't agree with any of the baseball reference predictions at all for those guys.

 

[Derek]

I know this is only addressing one statline given here, but I feel like a full season of Naquin at-bats (450+) would give us more than 8 homers. He has some pretty solid natural power.

Disagree. His initial rookie surge was a fluke. He never hit for power before that, and hasn’t after.

 

[jack hammill]

I figured that would be everyones response, but I almost feel he would be a fit long term as well for this roster since he plays everywhere defensively at average or above average and he is a guy on paper Francona loves to have. Though I doubt he would sign anywhere this off season for long term cause of the way the market has been, but we never know.




It;s still kind of strange in some ways how many solid free agents there are on the market right now. I don't think the player association is liking this at all since this is the second year in a row its been like this, but they cannot do much about it. I am hoping to see Harrison, Jones and even Marwin in camp. That would be amazing at the end of the day! Though I don't know if we have the extra cap for that.

So in years past ..ie: Thome, Manny and many others the players assoc set the market - now the agents again play hardball ..

Perhaps it's time to call the wambulance

I would wager Jones Marwin etc have had offers

 

[Steve_424]

So in years past ..ie: Thome, Manny and many others the players assoc set the market - now the agents again play hardball ..

Perhaps it's time to call the wambulance

I would wager Jones Marwin etc have had offers

At a minimum they all have minor league offers with major league guarantees if they make the squad.

 

[sportscoach]

At a minimum they all have minor league offers with major league guarantees if they make the squad.

I believe guys that he mentioned like Jones and Marwin, probably at one point this off season had some major league deals but they weren’t near either the years nor the pay that the players and their agents wanted at the end of the day. More than likely Jones had only one year offers around 5 mil while the most of the other OFs that actually signed got over 10 mil for multi seasons and Marwin was looking for 3-4 years at a 8-10 mil rate per season and only got one to two year deals about 6 or less per season. So now the offers haven’t gotten better and/or the best offers were taken off the table and waiting has hurt not helped the players. So hard to say who they are going to end up signing with and for how much now.

Disagree. His initial rookie surge was a fluke. He never hit for power before that, and hasn’t after.

I have a hunch though the surge actually was going to happen with him eventually mostly because his slg% was trending northwards. (.405 in 13 to .446 in 15) Also he had a tendency to hit a ton of doubles in the minors but when he got to the pros he hit less doubles and more HRs. He also dealt with injuries almost every single season and only was healthy in 13 and 16 and the other seasons missed time due to injuries. Baseball reference probably is right about the power since it’s 267 at bats with 8 HRs and not the 450 @Stark originally said.

 

[chuck0609]

Disagree. His initial rookie surge was a fluke. He never hit for power before that, and hasn’t after.

Agree and disagree. Facing the 4-5 starters for Detroit, KC, Minn and ChiW will inflate stats. I believe it does quite a bit for Lindor too, for example.
Give Naq 450 at bats with a steady diet of those guys and he’ll get into double digits.
Against 1-3 pitchers and form other divisions, I agree with you 100%.

 

[Amherstcavsfan]

I honestly would be shocked if Naquin slashed that well all season. I'd be even more shocked it he has anything above a .750 OPS

 

[sportscoach]

I honestly would be shocked if Naquin slashed that well all season. I'd be even more shocked it he has anything above a .750 OPS

Naquin will struggle to get above .750 unless he learns to honestly take more walks as well. In his good season he did strikeout 30% of the time so that plus the fact he struggled to hit the faster/harder fastballs, says why he did so well as a rookie. Usually players struggle with off speed and not fastballs, if I remember correctly he was the opposite, couldn't hit anything about 94 and up.

He should have a good season numbers wise, but that is mostly because he will play in limited days against guys he should hit well against. I really cannot see him any better than a 4th OF/platoon guy in the league, so pretty much an AAAA player.

Though honestly we need someone to repeat his 2016 season pretty badly. If he can do it, I am all for it! He did give us a spark that season that we truly needed so for that, we will always be thankful for him.

 

[Derek]

I honestly would be shocked if Naquin slashed that well all season. I'd be even more shocked it he has anything above a .750 OPS

I’d be surprised if he even cracked .700

No power, no plate discipline, and poor contact skills is a bad combo

 

[Real Deal]

Still can't believe Lindor and Jose are making 15 million together and the Dolan's still nickel and dime the roster. A MVP candidate is making 4 million... crazy ass shit, and they still cut costs.

You'd think they cash in a little bit. A little head scratching off season, but I'm pretty much accepting it now. Bauers, Naquin, Luplow, Leonys, Perez, I hope these other guys produce without Lindor for a little bit, because right now we are a good team in a bad division and nothing more.

Most likely expecting they spend a little bit at the deadline's. Letting the young players perform until then and see who is more fit for October.

 

[sjhughes]

Does anyone know Zimmers time table for a return? If it was posted already I apologize.

 

[BMAN]

Does anyone know Zimmers time table for a return? If it was posted already I apologize.

Sounds like he’s progressing well. Throwing 75 feet, batting cages. Said he will be ready for Spring Training, but not sure the Indians will push it.