Cleveland Indians: Upgrading the Tribe Offense

Cleveland Indians Look to Add Power at the Winter Meetings

It is a well-known truth: the Cleveland Indians need offensive help. Given this knowledge, it should come as no surprise that Jordan Bastian of MLB.com writes that upgrading the offense will be the Indians’ biggest goal at the Winter Meetings. The Meetings, which begin Monday, put all of baseball’s top executives in one place; and, as one would imagine, this lays the groundwork for most of the major off-season trades.

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In a separate piece, Bastian writes that the Tribe could target sluggers Pedro Alvarez and Chris Carter, both of whom have been non-tendered. While both players certainly bring a lot of power to the table, they also struggle in other areas. Both players have defensive questions, and the Indians would probably employ them in a full-time designated hitter role. This would mean that Carlos Santana, who also possesses a questionable glove, would be left at first base for the majority of his playing time.

Also on the offensive outlook, Merritt Rohlfing continues his search for offense. In the fifth installment of his series, which is worth a full read, he investigates Carlos Gonzalez and what he might bring to the Cleveland Indians. He lists his power as a major plus, but Merritt also concedes that much of this power has come at the hitter-friendly Coors Field. While park-adjusted statistics, such as weight runs created plus, liked his work last year, it is still difficult to know exactly what the Indians would be getting in a potential trade. Other obstacles to a trade are Gonzalez’s defense, which has been subpar since 2011, and his contract.

Finally, Nicholas D. Blazek examined the trade to acquire Collin Cowgill from the Los Angeles Angels. As he notes, Cowgill, a lifetime .236-hitter, is not exactly the ideal target for a team looking to add offense. The 29-year-old’s calling card is his defense, which nearly every metric ranks as above average. The right-handed batter also brings speed and base-running prowess to the table. All in all, this trade will likely net the Indians a decent center fielder for a relatively small investment, but do not expect this guy to solve the offensive woes.

More from around the AL Central:

Cleveland Indians Search for Offense: Carlos Gonzalez – Wahoo’s on First

Cleveland Indians Acquire Collin Cowgill – Wahoo’s on First

Atkins Leaves Indians to Take GM Job in Toronto – MLB.com

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