Cleveland Indians: Signing Yonder Alonso provides production, flexibility
The Cleveland Indians responded to losing their former first baseman by signing one that gives them similar production and much more financial flexibility.
Plenty of Cleveland Indians fans were frustrated by the loss of long-time Indians first baseman Carlos Santana to the Philadelphia Phillies earlier this month. The Indians took one step toward rectifying that loss on Wednesday by signing Yonder Alonso.
Alonso
Few were more heralded as a first baseman in the draft than Alonso in the last 20-30 years. The native-born Cuban was originally drafted out of high school in Florida by the Minnesota Twins in the 16th round in 2005, but he chose to attend the University of Miami, where he was the 7th overall selection in the draft in 2008 by the Cincinnati Reds.
Alonso rose quickly to the major leagues, making his major league debut in 2010, and getting another brief look in 2011. He made Baseball America’s top 100 prospects list every season from the time he was drafted until the offseason following the 2011 season.
After 2011, Alonso was traded to San Diego. Petco Park ate up his power over the next four seasons, struggling with injury, but also hitting just 27 home runs in 439 games over the 4 seasons, but showing a good contact ability, hitting .271/.339/.386 with a 153/232 BB/K.
The Padres traded him to Oakland before 2016, and he worked with hitting coaches during the 2016 season on adjusting his swing to maximize launch angle. The breakthrough came in 2017, when he hit .266/.365/.501 with 38 home runs in 521 plate appearances, making the All-Star game.
He signed a contract on Wednesday evening that will guarantee him $16 million, paying him $7 million in 2018, $8 million in 2019, and $8 million in a vesting option for 2020 that has a $1 million buyout.
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Losing Santana
Even if he makes that third season, Alonso will cost the Indians $23 million. That is less than half the cost of Santana’s $60 million over the same time. While Santana is an elite defender at first, Alonso is also highly regarded defensively at first base as well.
That extra financial flexibility will allow the Indians to invest in further depth, but more importantly, it will give the team the flexibility to extend their window, as top relievers Cody Allen and Andrew Miller are free agents after 2018, and the additional funds not being paid to Santana could be used to retain one or both.
Additionally, young players like Francisco Lindor, Trevor Bauer, and Danny Salazar will be in arbitration after 2018, and that extra financial flexibility will allow retention of those players as well.
He may not be the same player, but signing Alonso may actually give Indians fans a longer opportunity to see an elite Indians squad in comparison to signing a more expensive option that could limit that same window to just 2018 or 2018-2019 before salary would need to be cut.
Alonso isn’t Santana, and that’s okay. He won’t need to be if the financial room that he gives the team allows them to give the Cleveland Indians more ability to get what they need midseason rather than having to shop at the bargain bin.