By doing nothing, Indians win big at winter meetings
AL Central rivals weakened by deals
NATIONAL HARBOR, MD. Terry Francona is not at Major League Baseball’s winter meetings, still sidelined by hip replacement surgery that was postponed because of the Cleveland Indians’ run to Game 7 of the World Series.
And the Indians have been as quiet as any club at the annual bazaar, gauging the market for Edwin Encarnacion but mostly content to keep their pennant- winning core together.
Yet a case can be made that the Indians are the biggest winners this week — thanks to attrition around them in the American League Central.
Chris Sale, the most dominant lefthanded pitcher in the league, now will blow away hitters in the AL East after a trade to the Boston Red Sox that signals a significant rebuild for the Chicago White Sox. Adam Eaton, the White Sox’s speedy outfielder and leadoff man who posted a .362 on- base percentage over the last three seasons, was dealt Wednesday to the Washington Nationals for three prospects.
Kansas City Royals closer Wade Davis, the most effective AL reliever the last three years, was traded Wednesday to the Chicago Cubs and could begin a proces- sion of impending free agents the Royals might choose to deal.
And while the Detroit Tigers aren’t necessarily looking to rebuild, they are putting assets on the trade market; at the least, owner Mike Ilitch will not spend big as he has in previous years.
Meanwhile, the Indians return almost everyone from a 94- win team and see the power- hitting market sag a bit, which might make a reunion with 34- homer man Mike Napoli more realistic.
“It’s still the Indians on top, and they have a very good team and the vast majority is coming back,” Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. “Right now they are the cream of the Central Division, and it’s up to us to catch them.”
But many are retreating, rather than gearing up.
A Royals regression will be greeted quite warmly in Cleveland. The Royals are barely removed from a 95- win season and a World Series title in 2015, their second consecutive pennant- winning year. A long run of good health finally ended this year, when they sank to 81- 81, but their Serieswinning core remains.
The Royals received 24- year- old outfielder Jorge Soler from the Cubs, gaining a power- hitting talent with a propensity for strikeouts. His presence almost certainly ensures at least one trade to shed an outfielder.
That leaves the Indians, who fell one win shy of a title even without top starters Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar for September and most of the postseason. The club conceivably could get a boost from the return of outfielder Michael Brantley, and the vast majority of their key players are 30 or younger.
So while recovering from hip replacement is no easy task, it’s easy to envy Francona. At least he won’t see his team shipped out from underneath him.