Cleveland Indians: Potential replacements at first base for Carlos Santana

With Carlos Santana signing with the Kansas City Royals, the Cleveland Indians will need to find a replacement, but who are their in-house options?

The Winter Meetings began with a blow to the Cleveland Indians. While it was expected that Carlos Santana would sign somewhere other than Cleveland this offseason, him striking a deal within the AL Central with the Kansas City Royals leaves a more bitter taste.

Now, the front office of the Cleveland Indians will be tasked with once again finding a replacement for Santana. The last time he left the Tribe brought in Yonder Alonso, but given the drive to save money there is a high expectation that the new first baseman in Cleveland will be an in-house replacement.

Luckily, the Indians will have multiple options to test out at first, whether it be a rising prospect, a player that could change positions or someone looking for another chance. It will be difficult to replace Santana statistically, especially in the walk department, but Cleveland can experiment with the players at hand to see who fills the shoes the best.

At the moment, there are four players that could easily slide into the role at first base. Three of the four have major league experience while the other has been asked to learn the position in hopes of making his debut in the big leagues.

Santana was known for drawing walks, doing so 47 times during the 2020 season which led the American League. However, his slash line dipped this past season down to .199/.349/.350. Both his average and slugging percentage were career-lows, making it seem like the Indians let him go at just the right time.

While it might have been the right time, the Tribe still need to have someone lined up to take over the position. With that being said, who steps up as the first baseman for the Cleveland Indians during the 2021 season and moving forward for the club?

Bobby Bradley

Currently the No. 13 prospect in the Cleveland Indians’ organization, Bobby Bradley has appeared to be the player in waiting at the first base position. He ripped apart pitchers at the Triple-A level during the 2019 season before having a brief stint in Cleveland before the season ended. Despite that, he didn’t play in any games for the Indians during the 2020 season.

Bradley played in 15 games for the Tribe during the 2020 season, a very small sample size. In those 15 games he slashed just .178/.245/.356, but aside from his OBP, those aren’t too far off from what Carlos Santana did in 2020. He also knocked five doubles and a home run. However, where he thrived was in Triple-A that season.

Playing 107 games for the Columbus Clippers in 2019, Bradley crushed 33 home runs with the addition of 23 doubles, all while slashing .264/.344/.567. If those are the numbers that become the norm for Bradley, then he should very easily settle in at the major league level.

The concern could be his fielding. While with the Indians in 2019 he committed two errors over 37 innings at first base for a .951 fielding percentage. However, that number was higher over a more full season with Columbus at .988. Regardless, he seems like the easiest choice to take over at first, at least for the time being.

Nolan Jones

The wild card of the entire Cleveland Indians offseason, Nolan Jones could be a dark horse to take over the first base vacancy. A third baseman, Jones is blocked by Jose Ramirez at the major league level. Because of this, the Tribe asked their No. 1 prospect to play first base and outfield during the offseason in hopes of finding him a spot on the 2021 roster.

Jones would be far from the first third baseman to shift over to first for the Cleveland Indians after Jim Thome did so between the 1996 and 1997 seasons. Up until the shift in 1997, Thome had played third base almost exclusive through the minors and majors, with the exception of 40 games at shortstop during his rookie ball days. As for Jones, he’s following the same path having never played anything other than third since joining the Cleveland Indians organization, with the exception of five games at short during rookie ball.

This isn’t to say that Nolan Jones will turn into Jim Thome. Comparing any player to a Hall of Famer before they see an MLB pitch is unfair, but it rather verifies that the move is possible. The only issue for Jones is that he will be behind the eight ball in regards to the others vying for the spot. They will have had more opportunities to improve their craft, but given Jones’ upside and the drive to get him in the lineup, the Indians might be willing to sacrifice polished play for potential.

Jake Bauers

After struggling to settle in with the Indians during the 2019 season, a door might have just opened for Jake Bauers to have a role during the 2021 season. Bauers played 117 games with the Tribe during the 2019 season, spending time at first base and in left field, but didn’t see any playing time during the shortened 2020 campaign.

With Santana now gone, Bauers will be given the chance to step up to become the team’s first baseman. During the 2019 season he played 31 games at first, totaling 213 innings at the position. Over that span he committed just two errors for a .990 fielding percentage. Those numbers are rather consistent over his major league career as well.

In total, Bauers has 839 2/3 innings played at first between his time in Tampa and Cleveland. He only has seven errors at the position for a .991 career fielding percentage at first base.

His offense could use some improvement, but has shown flashes while his defense has been impressive. If anything, Bauers could make his way onto the roster as a defensive first baseman to use in later innings and maybe spot starts here and there if he can’t prove to be an everyday player.