Cleveland Indians 2018-2019 Offseason Outlook

[sportscoach]

Where does that leave Yandy?

Not sure he’s ever really been a 3B, but I think he has a role vs LHP or in LF perhaps?

Yandy did play some first last season, so it's hard to say, but I think they are going to have Chang compete with Yandy to make the team out of spring training.

I feel Yandy is too productive of a hitter not to be on the roster next season somewhere everyday. If they feel he can productively play 1st base, they will move EE/Alonso so he can play everyday over there. If he had a true position then he would have been on the 18 roster.

Yandy hits both sides of the plate actually really well, so I don't see why they would platoon him. I think its can he play a position at least an average level while hitting for a bit more power.

 

[Alpoe]

View: https://twitter.com/MaxWildstein/status/1062812643420000256


Not sure who Wildstein is but it's news worthy

Florian isn't going to help this year, so Andujar and a reliever better be put in that deal. I think Tito would never sign off on a deal without Andujar in there, especially giving up his boy Kluber. This guy wants to win as bad as anyone.

 

[Kevalier]

Florian isn't going to help this year, so Andujar and a reliever better be put in that deal. I think Tito would never sign off on a deal without Andujar in there, especially giving up his boy Kluber. This guy wants to win as bad as anyone.

The type of return the Tribe expects for Kluber has been reported to be along the lines of the Sale and Archer deals. Any deal with the Yankees would have to start with either Torres or Andujar and include other strong pieces like Sheffield, Frazier, etc.

 

[Alpoe]

The type of return the Tribe expects for Kluber has been reported to be along the lines of the Sale and Archer deals. Any deal with the Yankees would have to start with either Torres or Andujar and include other strong pieces like Sheffield, Frazier, etc.

Yea if the indians got that type of a deal, that would be awfully impressive. I believe for sure that Carrasco and Kluber are their two top choices in the trade market. They could probably get Paxson for a little less, but Kluber and Cookie have better track records over the years with performance and durability. I mean outside of our guys getting hit by line-drives, they have had no arm issues whatsoever.

 

[JayDD1972]

Ok, so if AZ's source is correct and they sign Machado, we trade them Kluber for Andujar and those two prospects, we win the Central and have to play the Yankees in the Playoffs, I just dont like the sounds of that. The Yankees are hot after Corbin to. I know Kluber has had a couple bad postseasons, but he's still a great pitcher. If we were in firesale mode I could care less, but our goal is to win the WS, trading him to the Yankees does not help us get ther, imo.

 

[bob2the2nd]

Ok, so if AZ's source is correct and they sign Machado, we trade them Kluber for Andujar and those two prospects, we win the Central and have to play the Yankees in the Playoffs, I just dont like the sounds of that. The Yankees are hot after Corbin to. I know Kluber has had a couple bad postseasons, but he's still a great pitcher. If we were in firesale mode I could care less, but our goal is to win the WS, trading him to the Yankees does not help us get ther, imo.

The group that wants to trade Kluber to the Yankees reminds me of the group that kept saying how much more fun the Cavs would be to watch without lebron.

 

[Derek]

That would make Andujar a prime trade candidate. Interesting...

Not necessarily with Gregorius done for the year

 

[JDailey23]

Let’s say we don’t trade Kluber to the Yanks, infact, we keep him. We win the Central and play the Yanks/Bosox/Stros in the playoffs.
I don’t see what the difference is other than we have a very good young player in the lineup and still have a great, younger, rotation.
What’s the difference? Maybe a better future??

Ok, so if AZ's source is correct and they sign Machado, we trade them Kluber for Andujar and those two prospects, we win the Central and have to play the Yankees in the Playoffs, I just dont like the sounds of that. The Yankees are hot after Corbin to. I know Kluber has had a couple bad postseasons, but he's still a great pitcher. If we were in firesale mode I could care less, but our goal is to win the WS, trading him to the Yankees does not help us get ther, imo.

 

[Kevalier]

Not necessarily with Gregorius done for the year

That’s a fair point, as no one has any clue when to expect him to return to action. The Machado to Yankees train is gaining steam, so we’ll see how it affects the rest of their roster.

 

[Derek]

That’s a fair point, as no one has any clue when to expect him to return to action. The Machado to Yankees train is gaining steam, so we’ll see how it affects the rest of their roster.

It's Tommy John surgery, he's expected back in 2020

 

[Urban]

Kluber was still great last year. With that said, from June on, Carrasco, Clevinger, and Bauer (when he was out there) were all better. Not saying any decisions should be made off of a 4 month sample, but trading one of those guys and retooling elsewhere isn't going to sink this team at a position of such depth.

The division is awful and the goal is to win come October, but I would be a bit concerned in the event that one of Bauer-Cookie-Clev misses significant time in the regular season and now your rotation is say Bauer-Clev-Bieber-Plutko-AAA star with a shaky bullpen behind them. We saw the difference between losing a Cy Young caliber pitcher last year and having him replaced with a AAAA caliber starter.

It all depends on the return and how the Indians view the remainder of Kluber's trajectory going forward.

 

[Steve_424]

The group that wants to trade Kluber to the Yankees reminds me of the group that kept saying how much more fun the Cavs would be to watch without lebron.

LeBron didn't look mediocre in consecutive postseasons (and this comes from someone who loves Kluber on this team)

 

[JMoneyYourHoney]

LeBron didn't look mediocre in consecutive postseasons (and this comes from someone who loves Kluber on this team)

Let's call it like it is, Kluber wasn't "mediocre" the last two postseasons....he was downright embarrassing, arguably the worst starter in the playoffs.

I still love the guy though and concede that his '16 run was absolute filth. I'd rather keep him but the fact is that the Indians can't stand pat; they need to make moves and Kluber probably makes the most sense. I would make attaching Kipnis a condition of any Kluber trade, though.

 

[AZ_]

Can anyone make an actual case that bad starts in 2017 and 2018 would be indicative of bad postseason starts in 2019?

No? Okay, didn’t think so.

 

[JMoneyYourHoney]

Can anyone make an actual case that bad starts in 2017 and 2018 would be indicative of bad postseason starts in 2019?

No? Okay, didn’t think so.

I didn't say that Kluber would theoretically suck in '19 because he was miserable the past 2 years; he was utterly dominant in '16 and that certainly didn't carry over into '17 and '18.

I was using the logic that many in this thread abide by (and which the Indians are evidently using by exploring the option) that if a retool is necessary, Kluber makes a lot of sense, for various reasons that several posters have already enumerated.

If you're conceding that Kluber was "bad" in '17 and '18 (huge gasp), then you're actually agreeing with ONE of the points I made in my previous post. I made zero correlations to Kluber's previous starts and a hypothetical '19 scenario. Nestled somewhere in that post is a remark I made about wanting to keep him, go back and try to find it.