Cleveland Indians: The two winners of the Yan Gomes trade

The Cleveland Indians got some great players in exchange for Yan Gomes while the catcher gets to return to the biggest stage of all.

The Cleveland Indians moved on from Yan Gomes at the end of 2018 and got quite a nice return from the Washington Nationals.

The Indians received outfielder Daniel Johnson and pitcher Jefry Rodriguez. The latter saw some time in the majors this season while the former figures to be fighting for a starting job in 2020.

The Nationals got Gomes who appeared in 97 games, but performed below his career averages. Injuries factored in as well which led to Kurt Suzuki getting playing time over Gomes in both the regular season and the postseason.

From a talent standpoint the Indians appear to be the clear winners in this trade. Moving Gomes allowed Roberto Perez to get a full-time role and he responded with not only solid numbers on offense, but Gold Glove-worthy numbers on defense.

The trade also turned Gomes’ $7 million figure in 2019 into two cheap deals on players under team control for years to come. That money should not be a high figure for a professional sports franchise but so it goes with the Indians.

Yet the Indians aren’t the only winner in the trade. The other is Gomes himself.

The veteran catcher saw the Indians move on from him after six seasons and an All-Star year in 2018. He went to a team that looked well out of the playoff race after 50 games. Now he is playing in another World Series.

Some players go their whole career without ever reaching the World Series, let alone twice in four seasons. Being seen as a movable piece by one team allows Gomes to potentially play a huge role on the biggest stage in all of baseball. Good for him.

I will personally be rooting for both Gomes and his team in the World Series. The thought of even remotely cheering for the Houston Astros or New York Yankees hurts my soul.

It is nice that Indians fans can both be happy for Gomes and happy that he was traded for the players who came in return. Now those players just need to contribute to a future World Series run in Cleveland.