Cleveland Indians: Richie Shaffer is an Intriguing Addition

An upgrade for the Indians?

Despite Shaffer’s 2016 struggles, he is an upgrade for the Indians. As said, he replaces long-time Tribe farmhand Jesus Aguilar on the team’s 40-man roster. At first look, there may not seem a huge difference between the two right-handed sluggers. In fact, Aguilar has slightly better offensive numbers in the minors hitting .271/.348/.454 over the course of nine minor league seasons. His .802 OPS is 33 points higher than Shaffer’s (.769), so how exactly is Shaffer an upgrade?

Versatility is one of the biggest upgrades Shaffer provides over Aguilar.  As mentioned, Shaffer can play both third base, first base, and both corner outfield spots. Aguilar meanwhile is essentially a first baseman only. Sure Aguilar played a bit of left field early in his career, and dabbled at third base later, but ultimately both those experiments failed. Shaffer is also a better defender than Aguilar. While Aguilar is not a bad defensive first baseman, he falls short of Shaffer here as well.

The last thing that hurts Aguilar is the fact that he’s out of minor league options. Originally added to the 40-man roster before the 2014 season, Aguilar burned through all three of his options the last three seasons, amassing just 58 at-bats in 35 games.

He hit just .172/.234/.190 in those games and with Carlos Santana and Edwin Encarnacion in tow, Aguilar had no spot on the big league roster. Shaffer, on the other hand, has a pair of minor league options left allowing him to go to Triple-A this year and provide the Tribe with depth.