Cleveland Indians: 2 players the Tribe shouldn't have let walk in free agency

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Tyler Naquin #30 of the Cleveland Indians (Photo by Ron Schwane/Getty Images) /

2 players the Cleveland Indians shouldn’t have let walk in free agency

The Cleveland Indians are known for not retaining talent at this point. Being a small market team, the club often trades away top talent that becomes too expensive rather than resigning players on hefty deals. That was the case this past offseason when the team parted ways with star shortstop Francisco Lindor. However, that hasn’t always been the case of late.

In other cases, the team has waited too long and watched talent walk out the door instead of being resigned. The way of the trade is what has kept the team competitive, but other times it just didn’t formulate for the organization to keep the talent they have or move them in a trade before the deal expires.

There’s pros and cons when this happens. The pro is that the team often gets more time with the player than when a trade goes down. To optimize trade value, the player is usually dealt a year or two before the deal expires, taking away time that could be spent in Cleveland. The con is that the club gets nothing in return for the player that ends up walking in free agency.

For a team like Cleveland, getting something in return for players is the lifeblood of the team. It’s how they stay competitive. However, resigning players would be even better. Keeping already developed talent in Cleveland could have solved a few of the team’s current problems long before they happened. Like the outfield.

Over the last handful of seasons the Cleveland Indians have let two outfielders walk that both could be big contributors on the current club based on what they are doing for other teams. While it might have cost a bit more to keep the players on the Tribe’s roster, it might have been worth it given the state of Cleveland’s current outfield.

Michael Brantley #23 of the Cleveland Indians (Photo by David Maxwell/Getty Images) /

Michael Brantley, Cleveland Indians, OF (2009-2018)

Following the 2018 season it wasn’t really a question on if Michael Brantley would get a big contract. The question was “Where?” Despite being injured for most of the Tribe’s World Series run in 2016, Brantley came back stronger than before, being an All-Star in 2017 and 2018 heading into free agency.

As for the Cleveland Indians at the time, they were coming off their third consecutive 90+ win season and were poised to return many of the key pieces. However, one piece that seemed out of the picture was Brantley.

The notoriously cheap front office wasn’t going to pay Brantley his deserved top dollar and instead they let him walk in free agency with nothing in return. Instead, Brantley signed with the team that eliminated the Tribe in the playoffs. In December of 2018, the Houston Astros inked Brantley to a two-year, $32 million deal.

In the grand scheme of sports, $16 million is reasonable for the talent of Brantley. While he had a fair share of injuries, his back-to-back All-Star appearances showed he was more than healthy. Since signing with Houston, he’s been an All-Star each year there’s been a vote, being 2019 and 2021. He’s also currently leading all of baseball in batting average with a mark of .329. That seems well worth $16 million.

Brantley signed essentially the same deal prior to this season to stay in Houston, being another two years for $32 million total. Meanwhile, the Cleveland Indians have been searching for any sort of stability in the outfield since the first game without Brantley. While the price was a bit higher than the front office is accustomed to spending, there’s no doubt Brantley would be a tremendous difference maker on this team.

Tyler Naquin #30 of the Cleveland Indians (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) /

Tyler Naquin, Cleveland Indians, OF (2016-2020)

Letting go of Michael Brantley had a somewhat understandable reason given the stance of the club when it comes to big deals. That wasn’t the case in the situation with Tyler Naquin. Naquin left Cleveland for the other team in Ohio, the Cincinnati Reds, on a deal that makes those around the Tribe scratch their heads for why he was let go.

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A first round pick by Cleveland in the 2012 MLB Draft, Naquin is still just 30-years old. Instead of reaching an arbitration deal with the Tribe, Naquin was granted free agency on Dec. 2 before signing with the Reds on Feb. 18. The deal with Cincy was for a whopping $1.5 million this year and with a year of arbitration remaining for next year as well.

That seems like a very reasonable price for an outfielder and one that the Tribe would gladly take right now. After all the injuries and trades, Naquin would have been a great piece to have retained, but hindsight is 20/20.

He’s not exactly hitting the cover off the ball this season, slashing .241/310/.417 with 17 doubles, 13 home runs and 57 RBI. However, those stats are a bit better than what Eddie Rosario offered the club for more than $5 million more before being traded to Atlanta for nothing more than a salary dump.

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