Cleveland Indians: Some impending decisions to be made

The offseason begins heating up right away for the Cleveland Indians as the team has several roster decisions to make in the next few days.

The MLB offseason officially began today and the Cleveland Indians already have some important decisions to make.

There is no time to rest when competing for a World Series championship.

Jordan Bastian shared the upcoming decisions to be made:

As he says, it would be a shock if the Indians didn’t retain Carlos Carrasco. That salary is a steal given his production and it was likely considered a guaranteed part of the 2019 budget without any second thought.

That leaves the team with a decision to be made on Brandon Guyer. The $3 million figure wouldn’t be much for most teams, but the Indians need to make every dollar count. And as it stands, there is no likely scenario in which Guyer would receive a starting role.

Bradley Zimmer, Tyler Naquin and Greg Allen are three cheap options who figure to receive a lot of playing time in 2019. And even if Michael Brantley is allowed to walk, the team could move someone like Jason Kipnis to the outfield. Or hopefully seek some outside upgrades. This is before knowing what Leonys Martin‘s status will be.

My prediction is that the team will not re-sign Guyer. He had his special moments back in 2016 but slashed .206/.300/.371 in 2018. If the goal is to compete for a championship, the team needs to go with the younger talents of Allen, Zimmer, Naquin and others.

Terry Francona loves his veterans but the front office will have to let Guyer walk and force some younger guys on the rise into the starting lineup. And if the goal is to seek outside help, not picking up Guyer’s option would be a logical first step.