Cleveland Indians: Tribe were finalists for Lorenzo Cain

The Cleveland Indians haven’t made many moves this offseason, but it’s not for a lack of effort on the front office’s part.

It was reported this morning that the Indians felt they had a good chance of signing OF Lorenzo Cain. The Tribe made a three year offer to Cain, hoping to sign him to a shorter term deal similar to what they did with Edwin Encarnacion.

The Cleveland Indians are quite familiar with Cain, having played against him for the past several years as a member of the Kansas City Royals. So it makes some sense that they would have interest in signing him. He would represent a clear upgrade to the team’s outfield situation.

However, Cain received several four year offers and signed for five years with the Milwaukee Brewers.

How close were the Indians to signing Cain?

For this front office to believe they had a legitimate chance of signing Cain, knowing that he was offered longer deals elsewhere, they would have to have offered a higher average annual value than anyone else.

Also, this offer, according to Paul Hoynes, was going to be contingent on the Indians clearing payroll space. GM Mike Chernoff was working diligently on completing some sort of trade to make room for Cain. It’s possible he felt there was still plenty of time to work out a deal, but then the Brewers pulled off the Christian Yelich trade.

It’s clear the Brewers had the same sort of contingency on a deal with Cain, needing to acquire Yelich before inking Cain to a contract. It wasn’t even an hour after the news broke that Yelich was headed to Milwaukee before the Cain announcement was made. This gave the Indians almost no time to get a trade done and convince Cain to join the Cleveland Indians.

Who did the potential trade involve?

There hasn’t been any confirmation but Jason Kipnis would be an obvious candidate. Cain signed for an AAV of $16 million and Kipnis is owed $13.6 million in 2018. With payroll close to being tapped out, moving a contract like Kipnis’ would be necessary to sign someone like Cain.

Danny Salazar is also pointed out as a trade candidate. However, he is only owed $5 million this year, so clearing just his contract may not have done enough to clear room for Cain.

What do the Indians do now?

Even after losing the Lorenzo Cain sweepstakes to the Brewers, Milwaukee could be the same team they need to talk to. After adding Cain, they have an even bigger abundance of outfielders than before, and need to move someone before Opening Day. Domingo Santana and Keon Broxton are the two odd men out right now. The Brewers make a good trade fit on paper right now.

The Tribe went hard after Cain, clearly in search of outfield help, but it’s unknown if they will still be searching near the top of the free agent class. J.D. Martinez has been a rumored fit for the Cleveland Indians but they will need to clear serious payroll space to add him.

The argument can be made about the need to make an outfield addition, but playing at the top of the free agent market doesn’t appear to be something fans should anticipate the team doing anymore.

If any big free agent is going to sign with the Indians, we will need to see a trade happen first. That will need to be the next move the Indians make. Encarnacion’s contract has had a major effect on the team’s offseason plan for 2018. If his contract wasn’t on the books, competing for Lorenzo Cain would have been a much easier task.

Next: Trevor Bauer going to be even better

Fans may be upset that the team hasn’t done much this offseason, but there is still plenty to happen. There are over 100 unsigned free agents and there’s going to be ton of action prior to Spring Training.