Cleveland Indians: 3 prospects Tribe can afford to move in deadline deals

Cleveland Indians No. 2 Prospect: Tyler Freeman, SS

Trading one of the team’s top prospects is never an easy decision to make, but in the case of the Cleveland Indians there’s a chance they could do just that. For a team that is trying to save both money and assets, Tyler Freeman has the potential to net a player in return by himself. Even if a package is needed in addition to Freeman, it shouldn’t include much.

The reason that Freeman is expendable despite being the club’s No. 2 prospect is his position. Being a middle infielder, Freeman is part of perhaps Cleveland’s biggest minor league strength. Cleveland has four middle infielders in the Top 10 prospects alone and a total of 12 in the Top 30.

The biggest question with Freeman is of the group, why him? Well, in the eyes of the organization he might have already been surpassed. Still in Double-A Akron, Freeman is now behind No. 6 prospect Gabriel Arias who is in Triple-A Columbus.

Between Arias, Andres Gimenez and Amed Rosario, the Tribe are relatively set in the middle infield for the next three years at least. Rosario’s contract will expire first and he will be under team control through the 2023 season. At that point, the next wave of No. 7 prospect Bryan Rocchio, No. 8 Aaron Bracho and No. 12 Carson Tucker should be on the brink of arriving.

While Freeman is playing really well in Akron, slashing .322/.376/.463 over 37 games, he’s fallen behind a bit in terms of progression. Given the depth of the position and the value of Freeman, he might draw the most interest of any prospect on the Tribe’s roster. If the right player could come to Cleveland in return, they might just agree to the deal.

Cleveland Indians No. 11 Prospect: Lenny Torres, RHP

Like middle infielders, the Cleveland Indians have plenty of pitchers on their current Top 30 prospect list and that doesn’t include any of the 19 they just selected in the 2021 MLB Draft. In total, the club has nine pitchers on the list, so why is Lenny Torres the one included on this list?

Of the nine pitchers, Torres is the fourth listed. The first one is Daniel Espino, a first round pick by the Tribe in 2019. It seems a little early to deal a 2019 first rounder, so Espino is probably safe. Next up is Ethan Hankins. Hankins has a projected ETA in Cleveland for 2022 and given the current state of the rotation it wouldn’t make sense to move a piece that could help that soon.

That brings us to Josh Wolf on the list. Wolf is a potential trade piece, but since he arrived to the Tribe in the Lindor trade the team hasn’t been able to really explore his potential. For that reason, Torres ends up as the most likely to be moved of the bunch.

A first round pick by the Tribe in the 2018 MLB Draft, albeit the 41st overall selection, Torres is currently with Lynchburg, Class-A. There he has totaled 38.1 innings with an ERA of 5.17. He’s also walked 25 while striking out just 38. Those aren’t great stats, so why would a team want him?

Well, just 20-years old Torres has already shown potential. In 2018 he maintained an ERA 1.76 in rookie ball while logging 12.9 strikeouts per nine. Unfortunately, he had to have Tommy John in May of 2019 which could be the cause of the inflated stats.

However, if there’s a team that likes his potential and thinks that he can return to his 98-mph fastball with time, then Cleveland has the flexibility and depth to move him.

Cleveland Indians No. 16 Prospect: Owen Miller, INF

Despite having played 18 games this season at the major league level, Owen Miller is still technically classified as a prospect and is No. 16 on the club’s list. While he hasn’t played too well in Cleveland, he has shown flashes in Triple-A. That paired with most of the same reasons as Tyler Freeman make Miller a decent trade candidate.

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Utility infielders are always appreciated in the game of baseball, especially ones that can also play the outfield. In the case of Cleveland, they almost have too many. The problem is that none of them are playing at a high level.

Whether it be Gio Urshela, Erik Gonzalez or someone else, the Tribe have always had versatile infielders. Now, they have a mixture of Miller, Ernie Clement and Yu Chang that can all do relatively the same thing, but none can get it going at the dish. While it might seem all bad, it could make trading one a bit easier.

Teams around the league need infield depth and Miller presents that. He also showcased early in the season at Triple-A that there is some talent in his bat as well. It just didn’t transfer to Cleveland with him.

If there’s a team that is in dire need of infield depth or that thinks they can help Miller figure out his bat in the bigs, then all of sudden he becomes very expendable to the Cleveland Indians. Clement and Chang can handle the depth duties for now and the aforementioned wave a young talent coming will soon arrive. Like Freeman, Miller could end up the odd man out.

If that’s the case, then moving him now for something worthwhile to help down the stretch seems like the best option for all parties involved. There’s even the chance he could be flipped for a younger prospect that projects a bit better into the team’s future.