Brandon’s World: Only Time Will Tell On Mike Clevinger Deal For Indians
Last week, I opened up the column with the following paragraphs.
“To trade or not to trade?
That is the question Cleveland Indians President Chris Antonetti and General Manager Mike Chernoff must answer by Monday Aug. 31 at 4 p.m. EST.”
The answer turned out to be trade.
Monday morning, the team dealt starting pitcher Mike Clevinger and outfielder Greg Allen to the San Diego Padres for a boatload of players in return: Outfielder Josh Naylor; right-handed reliever Cal Quantrill; catcher Austin Hedges and three minor league prospects (shortstops Gabrial Arias and Owen Miller and left-handed starter Joey Cantillo).
The deal has gotten mixed reactions around the country. Adam the Bull, co-host of Bull and Fox on Cleveland’s 92.3 The Fan weekdays from 2 p.m. — 7 p.m., said the deal could be a great one down the line, but he doesn’t see how the move makes the Indians a better team for the 2020 postseason run.
Matt Ehalt, a digital editor for NBC Sports Regional Networks, named the Indians one of his “losers” from the trade deadline.
MLB.com correspondent Richard Justice called the trade a win for both teams.
In my opinion, I agree most with Justice when he wrote, “Trust the Indians. Trust the process.”
The Indians in my estimation are the best team in baseball when it comes to working deals at the deadline. Team President Chris Antonetti and General Manager Mike Chernoff always try to buy low and sell high. As mentioned in last week’s column, the team over the last four (now five) years has done a remarkable job at acquiring pieces that help them both now and in the future and while the Tribe didn’t necessarily get a big name back for Clevinger, they got a huge haul as mentioned above.
Naylor can help right now. He’s going to be the everyday left fielder for the Tribe, and for those of you who wanted a big bat that can hit, Naylor can do that when healthy. This season, he only played 18 games for San Diego due to injury, but he hit .278 in those games.
Qauntrill is an interesting player. This is only his second season in the big leagues. He’s 2–0 this season with a 2.33 Earned Run Average (ERA), 19.1 innings pitched and 20 strikeouts. He figures to be a key piece in the Indians pen for the postseason.
Hedges will be the backup catcher to Roberto Perez, something the Indians desperately needed as Sandy Leon and Beau Taylor did not cut it when Perez was out with injury. This season, the catcher is hitting .155, but he does have more Home runs and runs batted in (RBI’s) than Leon and Taylor combined (three dingers and six RBI’s compared to Leon and Taylor’s one dinger and 3 RBI’s).
Then, there’s the prospects. Arias was ranked the №7 prospect in the Padres organization, Cantillo №9 and Miller №11. Arias and Miller will develop alongside the Indians №2 prospect Tyler Freeman as they all try to become the air-apparent to Francisco Lindor when he bolts for free agency at the end of the 2021 campaign and Cantillo will look to become another dominant starting pitcher out of the Indians organization.
The bottom line is the Indians did not need Clevinger anymore and while the incident with him and Zach Plesac breaking COVID-19 protocols may have sped up his trade value, he was always expendable for the Tribe. Clevinger was only healthy in one of the five years he was with the big league club (2018) and with the development of youngsters Triston McKensie, Aaron Civale, Cy Young Award candidate Shane Beiber and Plesac to go along with Adam Plutko and Carlos Carrasco, Clevinger was the odd man out, and that’s why the Indians made the deal.
Often in sports, we immediately after a trade grade it and determine who “won” the trade but just as often, we don’t know who won the trade until year(S) (plural) down the line. Just look at the Indians trade history.
In 2008, the Indians traded star left-hander C.C. Sabathia to the Milwaukee Brewers for outfielder Matt LaPorta, pitchers Rob Bryson and Zach Jackson and a player to be named later. LaPorta was considered the “star” of the deal, yet flamed out in the majors and never was a big contributor for the Tribe, playing only four major league seasons, Bryson never made it to the major leagues and Jackson struggled with the Indians, only lasting two years, going 2–3 with a 6.11 ERA. The player to be named later turned out to be former All-Star outfielder Michael Brantley.
There’s numerous other examples of the Indians trading for former or current contributors to the success of the team recently, including Corey Kluber, Trevor Bauer, Carrasco and Clevinger.
The Indians are a World Series contender for the 2020 season, and they are in good shape going forward because of their ability to work trades, and who knows? The Clevinger trade might be the best trade the Indians ever make, or it could turn out to be a disaster, but one thing’s for sure: We won’t know until a couple years down the road.
Brandon Lewis is a columnist, radio show host and podcaster. Check out his podcast, Brandon’s World, here, and follow him on Twitter @real_bworld. Columns will be out every Friday!
