Cleveland Indians: 3 prospects to watch for in return packages at deadline

Cleveland Indians: Prospects from contenders to watch should Tribe sell

A little less than four days remain between now and Major League Baseball’s July 30 trade deadline, and the Cleveland Indians experienced more of their first half struggles coming out of the All-Star break. The Tribe had an excellent opportunity with three series against teams above them in the American League standings, but managed to go just 4-6 in those games, digging their grave even deeper.

The wave of injuries Cleveland has been forced to endure has proved to be far more than the new young core was ready for. Tribe skipper Terry Francona has done an admirable job keeping the team around .500, but there’s only so much you can do without Shane Bieber and Aaron Civale pitching every fifth day, even with the recent success of Cal Quantrill and Triston McKenzie.

Cleveland is still somehow second in the Central, but things are bleak with the White Sox pulling further ahead and surprise teams Seattle and Toronto complicating the Wild Card race even more. All signs point towards the Tribe being sellers come Friday, but what’s uncertain is who the team would move beyond Cesar Hernandez.

The first major domino has fallen, with the San Diego Padres trading for Pittsburgh’s Adam Frazier and setting the market for this year’s deadline. The Padres certainly set the market for the 2021 deadline, so multiple teams could see one of their top five prospects on the move. If the Tribe starts fielding some calls from contenders around the league, here are some of the prospects the team should ask for in a return package.

Cleveland Indians Trade Target #1: Drew Waters, OF, Atlanta Braves

The Atlanta Braves are currently two games below .500 at 48-50, sitting just five games behind the Mets in the NL East. It’s possible Atlanta is having a bit of a playoff hangover after reaching the NLCS in 2020, but they’ve had their fair share of struggles in 2021, especially with pitching.

The biggest issue for Atlanta is the loss of budding superstar Ronald Acuna Jr, who tore his ACL in early July tracking down a fly ball in right field. The Braves have since acquired Joc Pederson from the Cubs to fill plug that leak, and that likely won’t be the only move made by Atlanta.

Should Atlanta call Cleveland to try and make a splash at the deadline and make a push for the division, Drew Waters is a name that has to be discussed at length. The Braves have quite a log jam in the outfield this year and beyond, having traded for Pederson rather than promoting top prospect Christian Pache to fill in for Acuna Jr. So, despite being the team’s No. 2 prospect Waters might be expendable.

Waters is a 22-year old outfield prospect, measuring at 6-foot-2 and 185 pounds, projecting as a strong corner outfielder with an above average bat. So far in 2021 Waters has slashed .256/.346/.439 in 56 games with Triple-A Gwinnett, logging 15 doubles and eight home runs. He does have a career 29.8% strikeout rate in the minors which is concerning, but at just 22 he has ample room and opportunity to grow.

No player in Cleveland is truly unavailable, so Waters will likely be the prize return for a particularly big fish. Regardless of how the Braves approach the deadline, Cleveland Indians General Manager Mike Chernoff wouldn’t be doing his job if he didn’t ask for Waters should Atlanta come calling. Waters’ circumstances are a bit more flexible than any other team’s No. 2 prospect in baseball, and the Tribe need an outfielder of his caliber.

Cleveland Indians Trade Target #2: Rafael Marchan, C, Philadelphia Phillies

Early reports out of eastern Pennsylvania are that the Philadelphia Phillies are going to be aggressive at the 2021 MLB trade deadline. General Manager Dave Dombrowski certainly has a history of that and the Phillies are in the hunt this season. Sitting at 49-49, Philadelphia is just four games back of the NL East leading Mets, so just how aggressive will Dombrowski be?

Cleveland’s No. 3 prospect is catcher Bo Naylor and No. 25 ranked prospect is catcher Bryan Lavastida. The issue is that neither of them has advanced beyond Double-A yet. Roberto Perez is arguably one of the most underrated players in baseball, at least defensively, and Austin Hedges is more of a band-aid. With veteran catchers Ryan Lavarnway and Wilson Ramos in Triple-A, the Tribe could use some advanced catching in their system going into 2022.

Rafael Marchan is Philadelphia’s No. 4 overall prospect, and at age 22 had two cups of coffee in the big leagues so far with respectable success in small sample sizes. He’s just 5-foot-9 and 170 pounds, but has incredible reviews in terms of his ability to play behind the dish paired with a reportedly high baseball IQ. Offensively there’s more power to develop in his frame, with just one home run in his four year pro career, but the average is coming along to pair with an 8% walk rate and a 12% strikeout rate.

With the Phillies having just signed JT Realmuto to a five-year contract extension it seems they are set at catcher barring an emergency. If the City of Brotherly Love reaches out to The Land then Marchan needs to be at the top of the demands list if Dombrowski is as serious as he claims to be.