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

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.