Cleveland Indians: Napoli, Davis Signings Give Indians Leverage

The Cleveland Indians progressed a little with their offseason additions, moving from minor-league caliber players to a couple of somewhat valuable veterans.

The bad news is that the Indians struck out on Todd Frazier. The really bad news is that he went to the White Sox. The really bad news comes when you see multiple experts say that the White Sox gave up nothing of value to get him. Why are the Republicans preparing for a convention where nobody wins? Because it’s in Cleveland.

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The Indians did sign two veterans of some value today. Mike Napoli and Rajai Davis are right-handed bats with some pop. While neither is the sort of core player that we hoped for, they will each provide three or four hundred professional at bats, which means that those at bats will not be going to the replacement level players the Indians have been acquiring like they came with coupons attached. With the caliber of bats the Indians have at the top of the lineup when fully healthy, sometimes just being able to eliminate holes at the bottom of the lineup is enough to improve the overall offense a good bit.

In the best case scenario, this allows the front office to avoid trading any of their top four starters unless a deal pops up that screams “playoffs.” Davis, Joey (I’m calling him Albert for old times sake) Butler, Abraham Almonte, and Lonnie Chisenhall can handle most of the outfield at-bats until Michael Brantley can play, and Napoli and Carlos Santana can share first base and DH; although Napoli’s numbers and age scream for a platoon partner, one suspects that the Indians did not pay him seven million just to hit against lefties when they could have had Ryan Raburn do it for three million.

So what we know by now is that the treasure trove that Arizona gave Atlanta for Shelby Miller was not enough to pry Carlos Carrasco or Danny Salazar away from the Indians. We also know that the Indians were not willing to give up three of their top fifteen prospects to get Frazier, because that is what the White Sox gave up, and since the Indians’ prospects are better than Chicago’s the Reds probably would have taken that offer from the Indians.

We know that he could have gotten Aaron Hicks, Mark Trumbo, or Adam Lind for peanuts and thought better of it. So we can look at this one of two ways:  Either Chris Antonetti is overvaluing his assets to such an extent that it has paralyzed him from making any moves, or he is displaying an exquisite amount of patience, knowing that eventually someone will get desperate enough to give him the parts that will put the Indians over the top.

Next: Indians sign Davis

We won’t know the answer until he makes his move, if he ever does. What today’s moves do for him, though, is buy him time. The Cubs, for example, might look at the Indians and think they are so desperate that they will give up Carrasco for Jorge Soler even up.  The Dodgers might feel the same about Yasiel Puig. Antonetti should not make either of those deals, given the market for elite pitching, but he might have been forced to do so if the alternative was starting the season with

Antonetti should not make either of those deals, given the market for elite pitching, but he might have been forced to do so if the alternative was starting the season with Collin Cowgill playing every day. With these signings, the Indians have enough weapons that they can wait for the Cubs to include Kyle Schwarber in their offer. If the Cubs say no, there are worse things than entering the season with four good starters. Having Napoli and Davis gives Antonetti the chops to walk away.

Turning either Carrasco or Salazar (or Trevor Bauer, if the stars align) into two impact hitters would require a level of poker playing that hasn’t been seen in Cleveland since the Bartolo Colon trade (not including the movie Draft Day). Even then, the Indians knew they had a sucker on the hook, so this would be even more impressive. At this point I am skeptical as to whether Antonetti can pull it off, but if he can be patient, so can I.