Cleveland Indians: Power Ranking the Position Players

10. Abraham Almonte (Disclaimer: Ranking Pre-Suspension)

Almonte was the Indians big name acquisition of the trade deadline last year, as they netted him when they traded Marc Rzepczynski to the Dan Diego Padres. Almonte produced in the majors last year and earned the right to start almost every game in September and October. Now Almonte had never produced like that before in his career, so it will be interesting to see if that success carries over into this year. Almonte will probably settle into being the Indians fourth outfielder.  However, Almonte is unfortunately now suspended 80 games after failing a drug test for performance enhancing drugs…

9. Roberto Perez

Perez is a boom or bust hitter. Last year, he had 7 home runs among his 42 hits. Yes, that’s right 16 PERCENT OF HIS HITS WERE HOME RUNS. Now while that is an amazing stat, it should also be noted that he had 42 hits in 148 at-bats, which is a .228 average. Perez has the ability to knock the ball into the parking lot anytime that he steps into the box, but sometimes it seems like that’s all that he wants to do. Perez was decent behind the plate filling in for Yan Gomes last year, and look for the him alleviate Gomes behind the dish every once and a while.

8. Rajai Davis

The Indians signed 36-year-old Rajai Davis this offseason to bring some spark in both the field and on the base-paths, which is something that I think they needed. Last year, Davis was responsible for the Injury that hampered Yan Gomes all year, so with him and Joey Butler on the team, the Indians 2015 season has come full circle. Davis had a productive 2015 for the Detroit Tigers and look for him to be efficient this year for the Indians. 

7. Lonnie Chisenhall

Lonnie Chisenhall is an enigma. He started the season at third, hit .209, got sent down to AAA, got recalled on July 30th, and hit .288. Another big difference in this is that he was playing right field. Chisenhall routinely made exceptional plays in right, including this amazing catch (fun fact, this person who robbed this hit from was none other than Rajai Davis, sensing a trend here?) If Chisenhall can carry over his comfort into 2016, then the sky is the limit for him.

6. Mike Napoli

Mike Napoli continues the Indians trend of signing a power hitting first baseman in the offseason (for reference see: Reynolds, Mark, Moss, Brandon.) The big right-hander has always hit for power, as shown 2011 when he hit 30 home runs. He hit 18 total in 2015, which would have been good for second on the Indians in 2015. Napoli will probably be the starting first baseman, which will move Carlos Santana to DH. 

Next: The Top Five Position Players