Plenty of Questions on What the Indians Will Do Next with the Departure of Carlos Santana

By Nick Broulis Carlos Santana’s signing in Philadelphia has the Broulis Beat Report thinking about baseball as the snow and temperatures fall here in Canton,

By Nick Broulis

Carlos Santana’s signing in Philadelphia has the Broulis Beat Report thinking about baseball as the snow and temperatures fall here in Canton, Ohio.

The Phillies and first-basemen Carlos Santana agreed to a three-year, $60 million deal Friday. So, naturally that sparked some thoughts in my head. And not all of which even apply to Cleveland.

1. Why did the Phillies, with all their free cap space, sign Carlos Santana, when they could’ve signed Hosmer? I’m watching MLB network and all the talk is about how Philly has all this money. To me, it makes no sense in going after Santana, when they could’ve went after Eric Hosmer. Maybe they did and Hosmer said no? That’s my only guess.

2. Carlos improved his defense and was better defensively than I expected. My knock on Santana? He was never able to hit the ball the opposite way. As soon as Santana stepped to the plate, a shift was on. That’s not a good sign if you’re a hitter.

3. Carlos Santana’s 2016 stats among all MLB first-basemen: AVG: .259 (12th), OBP: .366 (8th), SLG: .498 (7th), OPS: .865 (8th), RUNS: 89 (9th), HITS: 151 (10th), HR: 34 (4th), RBI: 87 (12th), BB: 99 (4th), SO: 99 (23rd).

4. Now, here are Santana’s 2017 stats among all MLB first-basemen: AVG: .259 (14th), OBP: .363 (9th), SLG: .455 (17th), OPS: .818 (15th), RUNS: 90 (tied 7th), HITS: 148 (10th), HR: 23 (21st), RBI: 79 (13th), BB: 88 (5th), SO: 94 (Tied 26th).

5. I’m not here to say losing Santana is a great thing for Cleveland. Losing Santana isn��t a minor loss, but it’s not a major loss. The Indians can use Encarnacion there from time to time. People talk like Edwin has never played a day of his life at first-base. Edwin Encarnacion has started 401 games at first base. Am I saying he should be the Indians everyday starter at 1B, no. But come on people, it’s not like Edwin is completely incapable of playing the position.

6. Other options at first-base for Cleveland: Jay Bruce is still a F/A, but I don’t think he’ll end up here, unless he remains unsigned as time goes on, much like Edwin’s experience during his free agency. Michael Brantley, when he is healthy, is a possibility. Lonnie Chisenhall, Logan Morrison, Mike Napoli and Yandy Diaz. Regardless, first-base will likely see a few different faces in 2018. Notice some of those players aren’t even on the current Indians roster.

7. Despite reaction on social media, the Cleveland Indians are definitely not in a rebuild mode. Nor should they. The Tribe still has a top-notch starting rotation and, while the BP took a hit with the departures of Bryan Shaw (Colorado Rockies) and Joe Smith (Houston Astros), Cleveland has some good young arms that are ready to take advantage of Shaw and Smith signing elsewhere. Cody Anderson, Tyler Olson and Adam Plutko. Bullpen wise, Cleveland will have a healthy Andrew Miller back and even though he still scares me a little, Cody Allen saved 30 games out of 34 save situations.

8. Cleveland still has talent to win: Lonnie Chisenhall, Bradley Zimmer, Michael Brantley (Again, hopefully he is healthy and can stay healthy), Jason Kipnis (No, Cleveland hasn’t traded him yet), Francisco Lindor, Jose Ramirez, Edwin Encarnacion, Roberto Perez and Yan Gomez. I can add Gio Urshela, but he struggles at the plate. Gio is amazing defensively at third base. Yandy diaz needs to improve defensively and be more consistent at hitting. Cleveland has some other players, but you get my point.

9. Let’s remember the current status of the A.L. Central division. I’m going to predict that the Central is more than likely a two-team race. I see Detroit, Chicago and Kansas City all in rebuilding mode. That leaves Cleveland and Minnesota. I still give the Indians the edge over the Twins. Why? Minnesota still doesn’t have a pitching staff that is worth bragging about. I really hope the Twins don’t expect Fernando Rodney to close out games for them.

10. Cleveland has made one minor move in signing Melvin Upton Jr to a minor league deal. I also expect more moves to be made by Cleveland. I’m just not sure when.

11. I’ve heard a lot of people already crown the Yankees as the new beast of the American league. I’m not ready to do that just yet. Major league baseball is not the NBA, it’s very unpredictable. There is a huge difference between March-September baseball and October baseball. It’s been proven time and time again. Cleveland was a victim of that last year against New York. Two seasons ago, Texas got knocked out by another wild card team in the ALDS, the Toronto Blue Jays.

With all the moves that have been made and all the moves that have still yet to be made, I’m actually looking forward to baseball in 2018 more than I was in 2017. I’m anxious to see how Cleveland responds to getting knocked out in the American league division series. I’m curious to see if the Yankees will actually dominate as much as the nationally media thinks they will. Out of all the players that have, and will eventually sign or be traded to new teams, how well will they play? Who are the under the radar teams? Which teams will shock people? The Phillies, Pirates, Mets, Padres? How about Tampa Bay, Toronto or White Sox? Every year in baseball, there are, in total, about 10-12 teams that could possibly win the World Series.

There are more moves to come, but rest assure, I’m not handing the Yankees another title just because they acquired Stanton. Cleveland certainly isn’t in a rebuild mode. If anything, the 2018 season has a lot hanging over it with all of the players that will become free-agents in 2019. Bryce Harper, Adam Jones, Nelson Cruz, Adam Wainwright, Manny Machado, Josh Donaldson, Eduardo Escobar, Jose Iglesias, Yasiel Puig, Charlie Blackmon and Dallas Keuchel. The pressure will be on all these teams to figure out if they’ll be able to keep their players or if they’re better off trading them, knowing they won’t be able to resign them.