Cleveland Indians: 5 players whose futures are doomed with Cleveland

Roberto Perez, C, Cleveland Indians

This one gets a bit more difficult to say for certain what will happen moving forward with Roberto Perez. When healthy, he’s a tremendous defensive asset for the Cleveland Indians with an unmatched baseball IQ for navigating a lineup. However, those moments have been few and far between over the last two seasons.

Perez had a big 2019 campaign, but missed just about half of the 2020 season, playing just 32 games. This year has been a similar story, playing only 34 games due to an injury riddled year. Considering that he has a club option, that could allow the organization to make some changes if they so desire.

A $7 million mark for a catcher that has been often injured doesn’t seem like a great business plan. Perez could come back healthy, but even when healthy he isn’t putting up numbers that warrant that price. And that goes for any team, not just the frugal Cleveland front office.

At this moment, Perez is doomed in Cleveland purely based off his price tag. Now, he could opt to return on a cheaper deal as a free agent, but even that is up in the air. If the club thinks that there are better options for offensive production available, either internally or externally, exploring those possibilities might be the preferred option.