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| Scott Barnes (Photo: IPI) |
Yesterday was the 40-man roster deadline for teams to add players from their minor league system that are up for roster protection from the Rule 5 Draft held every December. By adding a player to the 40-man roster it protects them from being selected in the Rule 5 Draft and all the other players that were not rostered are free to be selected in the draft.
Some of the decisions the Indians made were obvious, but most of them were puzzling. Here is a quick smorgasbord of thoughts on the decisions:
- First off, let’s get this one out of the way….it was a very obvious decision to roster Barnes. This was a slam dunk decision and was a given going in that they would roster him. He has Major League value as a starting pitcher and if not for tearing the ACL in his left knee in July he may have been a legit big league option to start this coming season. He will still be big league rotation depth this coming season, but will use the first half of the season mostly to get healthy and to work on things at Triple-A Columbus in order to set himself up for an opportunity in Cleveland. He has some good stuff as he consistently gets the ball up to 92-93 MPH and he has a very good changeup, and he has a funky hitch in is his delivery which helps create some deception. He is also viewed as more than a back of the rotation big league starter as the Indians and other clubs believe he has the potential to be a solid middle of the rotation starter in the near future, and if starting does not work out he could be a good lefty reliever in the bullpen.
- Moving on from Barnes, the rest of the roster additions were very surprising. With respect to the Indians and their decisions makers, I disagree with the adding of both Diaz and Salazar to the roster. And I mean that as no disrespect to both Diaz and Salazar either as I am always elated to see a minor league player achieve their goal to get on the 40-man roster as it is one of the first steps to get that coveted big league opportunity. But I have to wonder what the urgency was to get both of these players on the roster?
- Diaz is a good defender and switch hitter, but his bat is limited and while he does have Major League potential it is very limited as he does not figure to ever be an everyday player and at best may be a utility infielder. He also lacks some of the speed and overall athleticism a team sometimes wants in a utility infielder. Yes, he could conceivably play any infield position and play it well, but with his 6’4 and 180-pound frame and average speed he is not going to be a very useful late inning pinch running option off the bench, which is typically another value a utility player offers. In some ways, he is a lot like former Indians’ prospect Carlos Rivero who was actually rostered at this time two years ago (and removed less than 12 months later), but even though their performance in their careers to date have been similar he does not have the prospect pedigree Rivero had.
- Yes, the Indians are high on Diaz and some may say it is just them trying to validate the Branyan trade by making them look smart ending up with two 40-man players in Diaz and Ezequiel Carrera. But a player like Diaz is not hard to find in the minors. I do not see what the worry was that he may have been lost in the Rule 5 Draft, and even if he was lost he does not have the bat and extra tools to his game that would seem to help carry him on a Major League roster all season. Had he even survived on a roster all season, the Indians would lose at most, what, a Hector Luna type of player?
- The Indians essentially removed Luis Valbuena from the roster to add Diaz. For them to do that it does not say a lot about how the Indians view Valbuena. Both Diaz and Valbuena are fringe Major League players, and while this may come as a surprise...I would have rather held onto Valbuena instead of rostering Diaz. The Indians still had one option left on Valbuena for next season so they could have just stashed him away at Triple-A Columbus (like Diaz) as infield depth. I know a lot of people could no longer stand Valbuena, but he is a superior hitter to Diaz, which is saying a lot considering how awful he has performed at the Major League level the last two years. For as much of a slouch as Valbuena has been in the bigs, Diaz can’t touch Valbuena’s .895 combined OPS at Triple-A Columbus over the past three seasons. Although Diaz is a better defender, I don’t think it trumps the value Valbuena still brought as a more versatile and experienced player with a better bat and who has proven himself at the Triple-A level already. Boy, I never thought I would see the day I preferred Valbuena on the roster to another player.
- As for Salazar, he is a very talented pitcher and a guy the Indians have been high on for some time, and he was sensational in his return to the mound this summer and fall since coming back from Tommy John surgery in August of 2010. He only made a handful of appearances late in the year, but in eight combined appearances between rookie Arizona and Low-A Lake County he went 0-0 with a 3.07 ERA (14.2 IP, 14 H, 4 BB, 18 K). But where he really shined was in the Fall Instructional League where he made five appearances and had a 1.32 ERA (13.2 IP, 9 H, 1 BB, 13 K) and was up to 98 MPH with his fastball.
- Even still, the decision to roster Salazar is one I just do not get at all. He is still a pitcher who has never pitched above the Low-A level. That’s three levels of the minors below the big leagues he has never pitched in. Considering he is coming off of injury, pitched a limited amount of innings, and has so little experience in the higher levels of the minors I can’t think of why any team would pick him in the Rule 5 Draft. None. Sure, he is throwing harder and the scouts for other teams probably saw that this fall, but would he really have been selected in the Rule 5 Draft? I guess anything is possible as no one saw right-hander Jose Flores getting selected last year as the Mariners picked him up as a flier after he threw well in the 2010 playoffs. But man, it just seems like a big reach to add Salazar.
- If I had known the Indians would go this route, I would have rather just rostered Barnes and left an open spot on the roster because now they have very little roster flexibility. Very rarely will you ever see a team designate a player for assignment that they just added to the roster in the same offseason, so when perusing the Indians’ 40-man roster the next two players in line to remove to make space on it for a free agent/trade pickup would be outfielder Nick Weglarz and left-handed pitcher Kelvin De La Cruz. I’d rather keep both of those guys on the roster than Diaz or Salazar.
- I had predicted on Tuesday that I thought left-hander T.J. McFarland would be the second player rostered and if a third player was rostered it would be one of the right-handed relievers Rob Bryson or Bryce Stowell. I felt going in it was unlikely anyone but Barnes or McFarland would be rostered, but I guess I must have misread their feelings on McFarland (and I guess Diaz/Salazar). He best projects as a back of the rotation Major League starter which does is not a major concern to protect, but after rostering right-hander Zach McAllister last year and knowing how much they like McFarland and his sinker I felt he would be added because of his value as a starter or reliever down the road.
- Also, actions also speak louder than words. The fact the Indians rostered Salazar over guys like Stowell and Bryson shows they have more belief in Salazar as a prospect. That Salazar has been a grossly undervalued prospect while Stowell and Bryson may have been overvalued by others. I still believe the Indians value both Stowell and Bryson, but it is clear it is not as high as some thought it was. It also has to be a big blow for both Bryson and Stowell to get passed over like this. It looks like Bryson’s foot injury really hurt him in more ways than one this year, and whatever happened personally with Stowell must have really hurt his standing as well.
- With all that said above, I am not too worried about losing anyone in the Rule 5 Draft. Even if the Indians do lose a guy or two, I don't expect any of them to stick. So my perplexity on the moves is not who they rostered instead of someone else, it is that I think they rostered two guys they did not have to and may now maybe have to lose someone of more importance on the 40-man roster as a result (i.e. Weglarz).
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2 comments:
Perplexing.
As I said earlier, there are a lot of young players of almost the
same potential. No superstars; no busts; no sure things; just young players with downsides and upsides.
It had to be tough to get down to that 40 man roster.
Stowell still hurts a little. I know velocity is the most overrated part of pitching, but the people who overrate it sometimes give up power-hitting, right-handed hitting outfielders in exchange for it.
Was talking to an AL exec familiar with the Indians and he said (and I agreed) that the only guy who should have been rostered is Barnes. The other guys are players that there is just not a lot of worry to lose in Rule 5 and are fringe ML players at best.
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