The Cleveland Indians needed to improve the bullpen in order to compete in the playoffs and they did that in a big way by sending their top prospect to the rebuilding San Diego Padres.
The Cleveland Indians and San Diego Padres are in two very different places on the proverbial win curve. The Padres are in the middle of a major rebuilding effort while the Indians are trying to get over the hump and win their first World Series since 1948. The Indians will coast into the playoffs with a division title, but an AL Central pennant isn’t what this franchise is after.
In order for the Indians to win the World Series they will have to go through some of the best teams in recent memory. The Indians’ front office realized that they would need to fill some major holes to match up with the Astros, Yankees or Red Sox in the postseason. That is why they went out and traded for two of the best available relievers, Brad Hand and Adam Cimber.
A year ago, the Indians had one of the greatest pitching staffs of all time, in no small part due to an excellent bullpen. This year, however has been a disaster for the Indians’ pen. The Indians bullpen has been one of the worst relief units in the game this year. They have actually been worth almost a full win below replacement, which is better only than the Mets and Royals. The bullpen also has the fewest innings pitched of any relief corps in baseball, which is good because the starting rotation has been excellent. Brad Hand and Adam Cimber will immediately become two of the best arms in the Indians’ bullpen.
More from Call to the Pen
- Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals
- Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
- Boston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ comment
- Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen
- 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals
The Pieces
Brad Hand has been one of the best left-handed relievers in baseball over the past three years. He will join the Indians as a compliment to Cody Allen and Andrew Miller at the back-end of the bullpen and will likely take Miller’s place next season. Miller will be a free agent at season’s end and will likely not remain with the club while Hand is under contract through at least 2020.
Like Miller, Brad Hand was originally a starter with the Marlins before finding dominance in a bullpen role. Hand doesn’t have the upside of peak Miller, but he will likely fill the same role. Brad Hand is a great piece to add to the Indians’ bullpen, but Cimber is equally important to this trade.
Adam Cimber is a huge acquisition for the Indians bullpen. Cimber is a submarine reliever who does a great job keeping the ball on the ground and in the ball park. Indians relievers rank dead last in home run rate allowed, so Cimber will help counter that. Cimber also does an excellent job at limiting walks. He has a 5.2% walk rate so far this season and has never had a rate higher than 6.6% in the minors.
I don’t fully believe in his sudden rise in strikeout numbers so to me the walk rate is his carrying skill. Cimber will also be under team control for five additional seasons after 2018 making him a potential building block for this pen going forward.
The Benefits
This move solidifies this once weak bullpen. At full strength the Indians will have Cody Allen closing games with Andrew Miller and Brad Hand taking on the high leverage situations. Adam Cimber will join an interesting group of Neil Ramirez, Tyler Olson and Oliver Perez for the middle innings which makes this bullpen much more formidable. Come playoff time when only four starting pitchers are necessary, a guy like Shane Bieber could be added to this group and give them yet another boost. With the Indians’ incredible rotation, the bullpen shouldn’t need to cover that many innings in the playoffs, but now those innings can be pitched by quality arms.
This also helps the Indians beyond this season. As mentioned before Hand is under contract through 2020 with a club option for 2021 and Cimber is under team control through 2023. This allows them to cheaply replace soon to be free agents, Cody Allen and Andrew Miller. The Indians will still have bullpen questions to answer next season but they have added two very good relievers for very little money. This will allow them to make the other necessary additions for the coming seasons. This is a move that will help the team capitalize on their contention window.
The Cost
The cost for this great addition was obviously very high. The Indians traded their number one prospect, Francisco Mejia, to the Padres. I am a big fan of Mejia as I laid out in an article earlier in the season. Mejia has a potential double-plus hit tool with excellent bat to ball skills and good bat speed. He also projects to have at least average power in the big leagues. Defense has, is and will always be the biggest question in Mejia’s profile.
Mejia is an unusually short, but athletic, catching prospect with an 80 grade arm. Mejia’s AAA framing numbers have actually been pretty good this season but most scouts don’t trust his receiving skills. The Indians didn’t have much confidence in him as a catcher either, keeping him blocked behind the plate with Yan Gomes and Roberto Perez. The Padres aren’t trying to win this season and have the ability to give Mejia the opportunity to work and develop as a defensive catcher. If Mejia can develop into just an average defender, then his offense could make him one of the best catchers in the game.
The Risks
There is major risk here for the Padres. If Mejia cannot develop as a catcher, then his defensive home will cloud his profile. The Indians have tried him at third base with very little success and he probably doesn’t have the foot speed to be very good in the outfield. There is even risk to Mejia’s offensive profile. While I love his bat, he has a very aggressive approach and doesn’t walk often. That is a good recipe for failure even with the great tools he has.
Even with these risks, this is still a great deal for the Padres. They were able to move two very volatile assets at the peak of their value for one of the best hitting prospects in the game. With relief pitchers there is always the risk of major injury or even a down turn in production. Sure the padres may should have gotten another lesser piece, but its hard to argue with a return that delivers such a high upside bat as Mejia.
This is a classic win-win trade for these two teams. The Indians get two pieces that will help them in the playoffs this season and for many seasons to come. The Padres get yet another high level prospect to add to their already elite group. From the Indians’ perspective, this is a steep price for a couple of relievers, but the Tribe didn’t really have much use for Mejia. They have two good defensive catchers that they clearly like and trust more than Mejia, which made him more valuable in a trade than on their team.
Next: Cimber could be most valuable part of trade
Only time will tell how this trade actually works out, but for now it seems like a great trade for both sides.