A Breakdown of the Massive 8-Player Trade of Indians Pitcher Mike Clevinger to San Diego

The Mike Clevinger sweepstakes is over, as the man called “Sunshine” will be getting plenty of it in his new home - with the San Diego Padres.

Reports Monday morning state that the Indians and Padres, who have now agreed to five trades in the last 25 months, have struck yet another deal for the Indians number two starter.

The return for the Indians includes six players.

Outfielder Josh Naylor, who is the big brother of Indians 2018 first-round pick Bo Naylor, righty pitcher Cal Quantrill catcher Austin Hedges will all likely join the team right away.

Prospects lefty pitcher Joey Cantillo, shortstop Owen Miller and shortstop Gabriel Arias all will be heading to the Tribe’s alternate training site.

The Indians also send outfielder Greg Allen to San Diego, as well as a player to be named later.

Quintrill was a 26th round pick of the New York Yankees back in 2013, and hsa made one start for the Padres this season, and overall is 2-0 with a 2.60 ERA.

Last season in 16 starts with San Diego he was 6-8 with a 5.16 ERA. Quantrill is a big thrower, listed at 6’3″ and 208 pounds. His fastball sits between 94 and 96 MPH. He throws what many say is a “sinking fastball.”

He also throws a changeup, curve and slider. He is the son of Paul Quintrill, who spend 14 seasons in the big leagues as a reliever.

Quintrill had Tommy John surgery back in 2015.

In 18 games this season with the Padres, Naylor is hitting .278 with one homer and four runs batted in.

Last season in 94 games he hit .249 with eight homers and 32 runs batted in. He was the first-round pick of the Miami Marlins back in 2015.

Naylor is 5’11, 250 pounds, and was at one point the Padres first basemen of the future. That changed when San Diego inked Eric Hosmer, and Naylor made the switch to the outfield, a position the Indians sorely need.

He had a hard time getting playing time with the Padres, something that shouldn’t be a problem with the Indians if he can produce.

In 29 games with the Padres this season, Hedges is hitting .158 with three homers and six runs batted in.

He’s walked six times and struck out 18. He hit .176 in 102 games a season ago with the Padres, with 11 homers and 36 RBI.

The 28-year-old was the Padres second-round pick back in 2011. He is inked till 2023.

Arias was listed as the team’s number seven prospect entering the 2020 season.

The 20-year-old shortstop played at the Padres class A team a season ago, and was impressive, hitting .302 with 17 homers and 75 RBI.

He played well in eight Cactus League games this spring, hitting .308 and playing well on the defense.

Lefty thrower Cantillo pitched in A ball for the Padres a season ago going 9-3 with a 1.93 ERA in 19 starts.

He was the 16th round pick of the Padres back in 2017, and is just 20 years old and has plenty of upside potential.

Cantillo was listed as the club’s number nine prospect entering the 2020 season.

In an article back on July 30th on MLB.com talking about Cantillo making the fast track to the big leagues, the pitcher said that his fastball is better than what people might think.

“My fastball plays a lot higher than its velocity,” Cantillo said. “Some people see that 90 or the 92 or the 89 and they think, ‘Hey his fastball doesn’t really play, he doesn’t get a lot of swings and misses with it,’ but it’s actually the opposite.”

Right now 20-year-old’s fastball is sitting in the low 90’s, and he also throws a changeup and curveball.

Miller is 23 years old, and was a third-round pick of the Padres back in the 2018 MLB Draft out of Illinois State.

In 130 games at AA ball in 2019 he hit .290 with 13 homers and 68 runs batted in with five stolen bases.

The Padres had him penciled in at second base, but he also could wind up playing shortstop.

Miller was part of the Padres 60-man summer camp roster this past summer.

On the other side, Greg Allen spent the last four seasons with the Tribe dating back to 2017, and in 220 Major League games hit .239 with eight homers and 57 runs batted in.

He made plenty of trips back and forth to AAA Columbus over the last year, but was getting some reps in the outfield recently, possibly to showcase him to be dealt.

Allen was a 6th round pick of the Indians back in the 2014 season.

Clevinger in 88 starts with the Indians was 42-22 overall with an ERA of 3.20. He came to the Indians for pitcher Vinny Pestano in a deal with the Los Angeles Angels back in August of 2014.

He started 10 games with the Indians in 2016, and by 2017 was part of the rotation, going 12-6 with a 3.11 ERA in 21 starts.

He’s not due to hit free agency till 2023, so the Padres have a front line starter who will be with them for a couple seasons.

Now that the deal is done and the Indians know the haul they got in return, they can turn the page and start to formulate their roster for the rest of the regular season.

Naylor will get chances in the outfield right away, while there’s a good chance that the team will give the backup catcher job to Hedges and dump current backup Sandy Leon.

Quantrill could slide into the rotation, or there’s a chance he could start with the Indians out of the pen.

Right now the team minus Clevinger has a rotation that looks like this - Shane Bieber, Carlos Carrasco, Tristan McKenzie, Aaron Civale, and either Quantrill or Adam Plutko.

There’s also a chance the team brings back Zach Plesac from the team’s alternate team site in Lake County.

Where Plesac fits in the rotation remains to be seen.

While all this is fluid, one thing that is certain is that the Indians are not afraid to deal starting pitching, having now dealt three starters in the last 13 months in Clevinger, Trevor Bauer and Corey Kluber.