Cleveland Indians: Five replacements for Marlon Byrd
Now that Marlon Byrd is suspended for the rest of the season, who can the Cleveland Indians get to replace him?
Cleveland is more focused on the Cavaliers right now as they get set to try and win the city’s first title since the 1950s (#believeland). Their baseball team took a hit yesterday as veteran outfielder Marlon Byrd was suspended for the next 162 games for failing his second test for PEDs.
Byrd was a little over replacement level for the Tribe so far this season. He was hitting .270/.326/.452 with five homers and 19 RBI in 34 games.
Right now, the Indians outfield consists of Rajai Davis, Jose Ramirez and Lonnie Chisenhall, the latter two being former infielders. Michael Brantley probably isn’t walking through that door anytime soon.
The AL Central right now is up for grabs. Everyone but the Twins are right there and it may be whoever makes that big addition will be the team to take the division and make the playoffs.
The Indians aren’t usually super aggressive in terms of dealing prospects for rentals. They want to try and hang on to their stable and hopefully use them for the roster instead of as chips. For example, they got Brandon Moss before last season, but then flipped him before the deadline once the team wasn’t in contention.
So where do the Indians go? Who can they get to replace Byrd and help improve their outfield production? Here are some options they just may consider.
Next: The most likely option
The Indians brought back Naquin to the roster after the suspension of Byrd. It was the logical choice and probably the safest and best move over Collin Cowgill, Michael Martinez and Joey Butler.
Naquin was the Indians’ first round pick back in 2012. Naquin just turned 25 and hit .317 in 27 games with the big club earlier this season.
Naquin doesn’t have a lot of pop. He hit just one homer last season in AA, but he had an average of .348. Once he moved up to AAA, he hit six in 50 games, but saw his average drop into the .280s. He was hitting .286 in his AAA stint this year.
If the Indians are going to want a contact guy at the bottom of their order, then Naquin may be the way to go. They don’t need to trade anyone for him. He’s already on the 40-man roster and right there for him to be used.
Naquin is a center fielder and his defense can give the Indians a chance to move Davis to left.
Next: The veteran slugger
This would be a different kind of move for the Indians. They don’t necessarily go for this kind of guy, but Carlos Beltran could be a nice addition to their lineup. Beltran has the kind of bat where if he gets hot, he can carry an offense for stretches.
He’s a veteran presence, who has done all sorts of damage throughout his career in the postseason. Another plus, Beltran can be dealt to Cleveland without his consent.
Beltran would give the Indians depth and options in right field and DH. Mike Napoli and Carlos Santana are hitting in the .220s with power, while Beltran is hitting around 40 points higher. He’s also a .280 career hitter against lefties which would give the Indians the ability to play him in right and then sit Lonnie Chisenhall.
Beltran’s contract is expiring, so the Indians wouldn’t have to make a long-term commitment to the aging slugger.
If the Yankees are to put Beltran out on the trade block (and they should) there will be competition for his services. Maybe even from the division rival Royals, who bought Johnny Cueto and Ben Zobrist on expiring deals last season and it ended up helping them win a World Series.
Next: An old friend
Talk about bringing that old thing back. Coco Crisp has been a tad under replacement level this season. He has a complicated vesting option for next year based on plate appearances and games played that the Indians can certainly avoid paying.
Crisp won’t cost the Indians that much to get though.
He improved his average in May to .258 and is hitting .270 with a .747 OPS.
If the Indians don’t think Naquin is ready, or if they don’t want to use Cowgill or Butler and they want to look outside the organization for a veteran guy that won’t cost as much as Beltran would, then maybe they bring Coco back.
He is hitting .282 against lefties, so he could give the Indians a platoon option with Chisenhall who only has 11 plate appearances against lefties this year.
Is Crisp ideal? Certainly not. He’s getting towards the end of his career and has had a ton of injury problems. But as I said, if the Indians don’t trust their kids and don’t like their other 40-man roster options and other, higher profile names get too costly, then this could be a route they end up going to give them a little bit of depth.
Next: The youngster
The Braves have moved everyone off their team in a tanking effort unlike any other in recent memory. Inciarte came in the package that sent Shelby Miller out the Diamondbacks (that’s worked out so far). The 25-year-old hasn’t played much this year because of injuries, but it is certainly possible that they could flip him again before the deadline.
The Braves have acted like the Statue of Liberty when it comes to young pitching. They want it all and then to figure it out later. The Indians have some arms they could maybe part with in Trevor Bauer, Mike Clevinger or Rob Kaminsky that could entice the Braves to move their young outfielder.
In Inciarte, they get a young outfielder they can build with, stick at the top of the order and in center field. He put up a career year last year with a 5.3 WAR and is someone who can play all three positions in the outfield for the club.
The Indians can put Inciarte at the top of the order (even though Carlos Santana has been good there) or at the bottom to act like a second leadoff hitter.
Next: The top prospect
Teams have promoted prospects from AA before. The Mets did it with Michael Conforto last season. Would it be the craziest idea for the Indians to promote Clint Frazier from AA to the majors?
Probably not this second, but in a month, if he continues to produce like he has been, it may be the best option for the Indians.
Frazier is off to a great start in AA, hitting .311 with a .937 OPS. He’s continuing to cut down on his strikeouts, striking out a 19.7 percent clip which is down 10 percent from two years ago.
His OBP of .400 is the highest it has been throughout his professional career. It just may be the light bulb is starting to click for the 21-year-old and is showing the promise of why the Indians drafted him out of high school with their first pick in 2013.
Next: 6/1 Minor League News & Notes
For the Indians, I would like to see them be more aggressive and try and land Beltran. What I think will happen is that Naquin will be the answer for a couple of weeks and then Frazier will be brought up to see what he can do.