Cleveland Indians: 5 potential in-house replacements for Francisco Lindor

The Cleveland Indians are expected to part ways with Francisco Lindor sometime in the next year, so who could be called on to replace him?

The 2020 season just concluded and the offseason has barely begun, but talk the surrounding the Cleveland Indians moving on from Francisco Lindor is already is mid-season form. There is still one more year of arbitration left before Lindor is able to negotiate his mammoth contract that is sure to result in his exit out of Cleveland.

Lindor leaving is sure to leave an insurmountable gap on the team offensively, defensively and in the clubhouse. Regardless, someone will have to attempt to fill the shoes of one of the game’s elite players.

The Indians have acquired a plethora of middle infield talent in their minor leagues in preparation of Lindor’s departure, but majority of the players aren’t ready for the majors just yet. In total, the Indians have nine middle infielders on their Top 30 prospect list.

There are other avenues that the club could take in trying to replace Lindor. The most obvious one would be the add a bridge-type player through free agency. This could be a serviceable player on a one or two year deal to fill the spot until the players in the minors are ready. Given that the Indians want to save money, a top level free agent is out of the question and even a middle tier one might be, too. This option would probably be a bare bones deal that wouldn’t bring much benefit.

The other option would be to make a trade, but that again would cost the team assets that they don’t want to part with. It would make more sense to use in-house prospects than to trade some away for a player that will leave sooner.

That leaves the most logical option to be to tap into the minor leagues. With so many high-potential players, the team could use multiple while figuring out which one works best. It will be nearly impossible to replace Francisco Lindor, but this is the team’s best option.