Domingo Santana - round 2

[Eye Black]

Indians starting RF Lonnie Chisenhall is headed to the DL with a right calf injury. It was also a right calf injury that caused him to miss a significant portion of the season last year. It appears they are going to bring Tyler Naquin back to the majors.

 

Maybe the Indians aren’t that into him, but it seems apparent Santana’s right-handed power bat would be an upgrade for the Indians current OF mix.

 

Nine games into the season, Santana is slugging .310 and has one extra base hit. Teams wary that he could repeat his 2017 are still wary.

Maybe they are indeed concerned about his ability to repeat his 2017, but I can’t imagine a slugging percentage based on 29 at-bats would move the needle much regarding that concern.

[pacopete4]

First it was his spring training strikeouts, now his slugging through 9 games. We sure do find negatives about players we have an axe for.

[JosephC]

I very much doubt that anyone would worry about Santana's slugging percentage with only 29 at-bats. If Santana goes out today and is 1/4 with a home run, the slugging percentage goes all the way from .310 to .394. The guy has legitimate pop in his bat and every evaluator would look at the current .034 ISO and know that isn't going to last.

[JosephC]

https://www.mlb.com/indians/news/indians-injury-updates-for-danny-salazar-more/c-271207550

 

No definitive time-table there but by the sound of it, I'd be surprised if Salazar is ready before the end of May which takes him off the list of possibilities. And that's a shame because a Santana + parts for Salazar + parts seemed like a perfect matchup.

 

So far Rajai Davis looks like he is no longer an MLB quality bat which I don't think is a big surprise to anyone (.231/.286/.308/.593). Bradley Zimmer is off to a terrible start (.167/.167/.167/.333) after not being very impressive at the plate last year during his first MLB go-around. Brandon Guyer looked like he might be a late-bloomer a few years ago but last year he slashed .236/.326/.327/.653 and is off to a .214/.214/.357/.571 start this year. I like Brantley and he'll hit if he stays healthy but that's a big question mark. I think Naquin should get a full opportunity to prove he can't do it and IMO they should already be giving consideration to bringing up Greg Allen. But for a team that should be a top contender, no question that their outfield situation is bad and they will probably have to be making some type of upgrade from outside the organization. However, with Zimmer struggling they may be forced to put him back in the minors. If so they will need another centerfielder. I think Keon Broxton may make more sense for them right now and he'd obviously come with a much cheaper price-tag.

[TURBO]

Package Broxton and Santana in a deal!

[bill hAll Star]

https://www.mlb.com/indians/news/indians-injury-updates-for-danny-salazar-more/c-271207550

 

No definitive time-table there but by the sound of it, I'd be surprised if Salazar is ready before the end of May which takes him off the list of possibilities. And that's a shame because a Santana + parts for Salazar + parts seemed like a perfect matchup.

 

So far Rajai Davis looks like he is no longer an MLB quality bat which I don't think is a big surprise to anyone (.231/.286/.308/.593). Bradley Zimmer is off to a terrible start (.167/.167/.167/.333) after not being very impressive at the plate last year during his first MLB go-around. Brandon Guyer looked like he might be a late-bloomer a few years ago but last year he slashed .236/.326/.327/.653 and is off to a .214/.214/.357/.571 start this year. I like Brantley and he'll hit if he stays healthy but that's a big question mark. I think Naquin should get a full opportunity to prove he can't do it and IMO they should already be giving consideration to bringing up Greg Allen. But for a team that should be a top contender, no question that their outfield situation is bad and they will probably have to be making some type of upgrade from outside the organization. However, with Zimmer struggling they may be forced to put him back in the minors. If so they will need another centerfielder. I think Keon Broxton may make more sense for them right now and he'd obviously come with a much cheaper price-tag.

 

They've been playing in 35 degree weather with winds gusting in in Cleveland the past 3 days plus out in some cavernous western ballparks before that. Nobody's bat has gotten going for Cleveland yet. They will.

 

I could see them being interested in 1 of the 2 players but I wouldn't chalk it up to this rough start just yet.

 

They won't be sending Zimmer down if they trade for Broxton. They'd be platooning them in CF as Broxton is a right-handed version of Zimmer.

[MadThinker88]

They've been playing in 35 degree weather with winds gusting in in Cleveland the past 3 days plus out in some cavernous western ballparks before that. Nobody's bat has gotten going for Cleveland yet. They will.

 

I could see them being interested in 1 of the 2 players but I wouldn't chalk it up to this rough start just yet.

 

They won't be sending Zimmer down if they trade for Broxton. They'd be platooning them in CF as Broxton is a right-handed version of Zimmer.

 

Thank you for noting how the weather has impacted the last 3 games. Before any deal is made, I could see the Tribe switching Greg Allen & Bradley Zimmer for at least a few weeks and I doubt that switch happens before April 20 (at the earliest).

 

The AL Central is not as competitive as the NL Central this season so the Tribe has some time to work thru internal options before having to look outside its organization.

[JohnBriggs12]

That catch the other night in St. Louis on a ball Santana normally always lets drop, was a hopeful sign but while he's making much better contact than he was this spring, he's got one extra base hit in 51 plate appearances. I think his defense for the most part looks improved. He must have gotten the message that he needs to pick it up to stay in the lineup. Hoping warmer weather gets his bat going.

[Fear The Chorizo]

It took awhile for Santana to find his power stroke last year, too. I agre that he's done a better job at making contact much more frequently. Not worried about extra base hits, or lack tgerof, thus far - they will come in bunches.

[Oxy]

Peanuts? A Bag of balls? Such a strange game.