The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Kluber-for-Clase trade was a steal for Indians
Sometimes after trading players with the Indians, opposing general managers might be tempted to tap their pants pocket and roll up the left sleeve of their dress shirt to make sure they still have their wallet and wristwatch.
Indians president Chris Antonetti and general manager Mike Chernoff have a long record of coming out on the good end of trades when they ship established players to other teams. Emmanuel Clase is one of those legal steals.
On Dec. 15, 2019, the Indians traded two-time Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber to the Texas Rangers for outfielder Delino DeShields and Clase, a 21-year-old (at the time) relief pitcher with a 100 mph fastball. You think the Rangers might want a do-over on that one?
Kluber, 35, pitched only one inning for the Rangers in 2020 before an injury ended his season. He is fighting age and diminishing skills as a starter with the Yankees in 2021.
Clase is an ascending player. He walked to the mound with a 4-1 lead over Detroit in the top of the ninth inning April 9. He earned his first save with the Indians by getting two swinging strikeouts sandwiched around a weak groundout to second off the bat of Miguel Cabrera. Timidity is not part of Clase’s DNA.
“I love the way he attacks,” Indians manager Terry Francona said April 10 before game two of the three-game series with the Tigers at Progressive Field. “I made a comment in spring training that he may have thrown too many strikes. And if that’s a problem, we can deal with that. But no, he’s been fun to get to know. His future and present is really bright.”
Clase threw 14 pitches in the ninth inning against the Tigers. Eleven of them were thrown 100 MPH or faster. He doesn’t just overpower hitters. He ended the game by getting Nomar Mazara to whiff on a 92 MPH slider one pitch after Mazara fouled off a 100 MPH cutter.
“A lot goes into it before the actual at-bat — the location of the hitter at home plate, the bat they’re using, whether it’s a long one or short one, how much the bat will cover home plate,” Clase said through an interpreter when asked about his pitching strategy. “If I’m going to be working in or outside, so it’s a combination of things that determine what pitch I’m going to throw.”
Clase has now thrown 29 pitches 100 MPH or faster in three appearances in 2021. From 2008, the year pitch-tracking began, until Clase’s arrival, Indians pitchers threw a total of 14 pitches in triple figures.
If any player has a chip the size of a log on his shoulder, it is Emmanuel Clase. He was suspended for 80 games in 2020 (which turned out to be the whole 60-game season) for using PEDs. He was with the Indians only briefly in spring training of 2020 before he was banished.
Clase took his punishment without complaint or claiming innocence. So many cheaters say they didn’t realize they were putting something illegal in their bodies.
Clase returned to the Indians a more mature man and pitcher. He is determined to put 2020 behind him.
“It wasn’t easy,” he said. “I worked really hard to prepare for this. I was focusing to the point where I could compete and show the team what I could do.”
Whatever Clase did back home in the Dominican Republic while he was serving his suspension, and then back in Arizona at the Indians complex before spring training,
worked. He was throwing 100 MPH as soon as spring training began. His control was better. Now he, Nick Wittgren and James Karinchak are interchangeable parts at the back end of the bullpen.
“We didn’t get a chance to get to know him last spring real well,” Francona said. “Then he was gone and he was out in Arizona. This spring, he seems like a different person. He’s really embraced being a part of our team and our organization. Boy, he loves to fill up the strike zone. That’s a good thing.”
The Clase trade is just one of the recent deals that are still working in the Indians favor.
On July 31, 2019, the Indians traded Trevor Bauer to the Cincinnati Reds. Bauer had become a headache with his eccentricities, and the Indians knew they wouldn’t be able to afford him after 2020, anyway. Bauer won the 2020 Cy Young Award in the National League while with the Reds last season. One year later, he is pitching for the Dodgers.
Designated hitter Franmil Reyes and left-handed starter Logan Allen are the Indians’ bounty from that swap. The San Diego Padres sent Allen and Reyes to Cleveland as part of the three-team trade.
Reyes is under Tribe control until 2025. Allen doesn’t hit free agency until 2027. The Indians will continue to benefit from the Bauer trade four years after Bauer left Cincinnati.