Cleveland Indians: Joe Smith becomes the latest bullpen arm to leave town

Joe Smith will not be returning to the Cleveland Indians for the 2018 season after signing a two-year deal with the Houston Astros.

Cleveland Indians fans saw Bryan Shaw sign with the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday.

Then Shawn Armstrong was traded to the Seattle Mariners early on Wednesday.

This still left Joe Smith open for a possible return to the Indians, but alas, it will not be happening.

Smith is off to join the defending champions on a two-year deal after rejoining the Indians during the latter half of last season. It was his second stint with the Indians after spending the 2009-2013 seasons with the team.

Smith’s status was always up in the air but his departure leaves the Indians without two great arms from last year’s bullpen. Cody Allen and Andrew Miller are the two stars of the group, but Shaw and Smith provided some reliable veteran depth for Terry Francona.

There is surely a plan in place, I hope, but it is unfortunate the team wasn’t able to get a deal done with Smith or Shaw, although the latter never seemed a realistic option to return.

Armstrong being traded did open up a spot on the 40-man roster ahead of today’s Rule 5 Draft, so maybe part of the plan was to go after someone in the draft. If not, free agency remains an option.

The Indians may also choose to look within the organization for answers in the bullpen. Right now, the group features Allen, Miller, Tyler Olson, Nick Goody, Zach McAllister, Dan Otero and potentially Cody Anderson. Danny Salazar could also slide to the bullpen, but even his name has come up in trade rumors.

Carlos Santana remains the top target for the Indians, but the front office must be sure not to wait too long and avoid missing out on relievers just in the name of sitting on that money in the hopes of re-signing Santana.

Even if he goes elsewhere, that money can be applied to another first baseman, but it should not come at the expense of the bullpen.

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As I said, there surely has to be a plan in place, while having Miller and Allen should keep stress levels low. However, the Indians need to make a move before too many quality relievers get signed by other teams.