Mike Clevinger Goes to San Diego in Blockbuster Deal
A year ago, Cleveland traded Trevor Bauer to Cincinnati, with the Padres also involved to complete the deal. A little over a year later, another very good pitcher is on the move and San Diego and Cleveland are again both involved. Mike Clevinger was sent home earlier this season after violating COVID-19 safety protocols and now he’s heading to San Diego for a monster haul, with Robert Murray reporting that Clevinger was on the move first. The full deal according to Ken Rosenthal is:
San Diego Receives:
- Mike Clevinger
- Greg Allen
- PTBNL
Cleveland Receives:
The headliner here is clearly Clevinger. The righty has been worth nearly nine wins over the last two seasons despite making just 21 starts last year due to a strained right back. He’s made just four starts this season due to the aforementioned COVID-19 protocol absence, with two duds sandwiched between two solid starts. In his last start, against Minnesota, he struck out six, walked one and gave up two runs over six solid innings. The Padres will have two more seasons of team control over Clevinger after this season, and even with healthy raises over the $4.1 million he would have made in a full season this year, he will not be a very highly-salaried player. Allen hasn’t hit in his time in the majors, but he is fast and can play multiple outfield positions.
For Cleveland, the deal looks to be more quantity than quality. Quantrill was a bigger name a few years ago, and has pitched mostly in relief this season. Naylor exhausted his rookie eligibility last year, and hasn’t hit well, but still possesses a ton of power. Arias is a 20-year-old shortstop with a solid glove who put up a decent season in High-A a year ago. Cantillo is a 20-year-old lefty who put up mostly good numbers in Low-A last season. Miller is a 23-year-old shortstop without a strong glove who put up decent in Double-A a year ago. Hedges is the lone veteran on the list, made expendable by the trades for Jason Castro and Austin Nola. He can’t hit, but is a very good receiver.
We will have more on this trade in a bit, but for now, Eric Longenhagen’s prospect report on the Padres has a lot of useful information on many of the names traded.
Craig Edwards can be found on twitter @craigjedwards.
These trades fascinate me. As a Braves fan, I compare the rumored ask from Atlanta to what San Diego actually paid. There’s a pretty big gap. I sometimes wonder if the perception that Atlanta must have a starter, ergo, desperation will lead to an overpay and Cleveland refused to come down off their price to Atlanta, but since they were committed to making a deal, they would lower the price to a different team. But who really knows?
It really doesn’t feel like Cleveland got much out of this deal at all
To be fair, there are like seven players going back so Cleveland has more balls in the lottery. It’s just that the jackpot is much, much lower.
I would argue it’s not that the return is bad per se because a lot of those players could become good, it’s that it’s a light return for Clevinger specifically because he is a stud.
Yeah – I’m not super impressed. The deal reads like the Indians traded Clevenger to the Padres in exchange for their 40 man roster crunch.
Didn’t feel like they got much when they traded Vinnie Pestano for Clevinger, either. Maybe Cleveland sees something in Quantrill and Cantillo that makes them thing they can turn these guys, instead of some other higher rates prospects, into the next Bieber/Plesac/Clevinger/Kluber/etc/etc. The Indians had the best rotation in baseball and none of the guys in it were top 100, other than maybe Bieber for a minute. Plesac wasn’t even on top 30 Cleveland prospect lists. The only highly rated prospect pitcher that the Indians had was Bauer, and he wasn’t ever really that good with them, except for 1.5 years or so.
Much more likely that the information that is leaked is purposeful and inflated to spur competing offers or to give GMs who fail to close the deal an out.
Certainly possible
What a steal for San Diego. As a Tigers fan, I feel like the headliners are Christin Stewart (Naylor), Daniel Norris (Quantrill) and Jake Rogers (Hedges) and some stuff. Huge win for SD.
I’m with everyone else here, including you. This is not a great deal for Cleveland. This is a guy who is a 4-win pitcher, a really nice playoff rotation pitcher. They must really have wanted him out of town.
To be fair, Naylor, Quantrill, and Hedges are likely not the best guys coming out of this deal. The prizes here are Owen Miller, who looks like a high-probability good-hitting middle infielder, and Joey Cantillo, who has a ton of vertical movement on his fastball. I don’t like Arias very much and he’s more in the “he could be something camp” for me (like Naylor).
No
Imo miller is the worst piece in the deal. His power numbers are vastly inflated playing in a big launching pad, Amarillo was one of most hitter friendly parks in all the minors. He’s a utility guy to me, if even that. Cantillo is the prize, as he’s a velo bump away from being a top 100 prospect. He has a filthy changeup already and throws strikes, plus has good movement on FB as you said.
You don’t like Miller? I don’t think he’s going to have real, major league game power, just enough to keep pitchers from challenging him. He’s going to make a lot of good contact and play in the middle infield and you really don’t have to be super awesome at either to be a 3 win player (that doesn’t mean he will be a 3 win player, just that he can be a league-average hitter and defender and because he plays shortstop he is still an above-average regular).
Personally not really, his K rate is solid but not elite for a prospect and his walk rates are poor for a prospect. Think he can fake SS or be a plus 2B but don’t think bat profiles as every day guy.
Miller’s ability to play SS is the crux. General consensus among serious prospect people seems to be that he can’t. Harder to get to 3 wins if you’re a 100-ish wRC+ stick with good-not-great defense at second.
I wish him all the best, though. Plenty of success stories from less likely sources.
Yeah see, that’s where I think he can stick. If he’s a league-average hitter (which I think he can do) and a league-average fielder at SS (which I think he can do) that’s a 3-win player. The same holds if he’s plus at 2nd and can hit at league average.
I just keep coming back to Erick Aybar, who was only marginally a better than average fielder and hitter, and kept putting up 3.5-4 win seasons. Miller can be worse than him and still be a starter.
.323 3 homers away from Amarillo.
Didn’t know of Owen Miller before today, but those AA numbers are promising. Along with your info about his solid glove, I like this trade a lot more for CLE with Miller in there than I did thinking it was basically Quantrill and Naylor.
Gabriel Arias is a much more valuable get than Owen Miller.
Sure, and Josh Naylor has 70 raw power. Both Naylor and Arias are involved in this trade, which makes them somewhat relevant, but not really relevant to my comment which was about Miller. What do you think of him? That’s what I would like to talk about.
At this point in time, he looks like a solid part-time player. He can fill in at SS and 2B, but his range and arm look best suited for 2B. Good makeup/work ethic, not super toolsy. Good approach at the plate, moved aggressively through the Padres system. I follow the Padres very closely and like him, but his current value is very replaceable.
Agree. Miller could fill in at short behind a flyball / strikeout pitcher, but he’s really a second baseman. Has an Eric Sogard vibe.
They are inflated, Padres moved from a very pitchers park (in San Antonio) to one of the biggest launching pads in Amarillo with wind consistently blowing out. Look at his big power splits
Seems like the Indians didn’t get a great haul here, Maybe having the Naylor Brothers (Josh and Bo) in a few years plays in our favor.
Looks like a quantity over quality return for the Tribe. This trade looks great for the Dads. That being said, CLE will probably somehow turn Cantillo into an ace with their pitching development.
I think it’s a decent deal for Cleveland. They have some current and upcoming holes that this trade can help them fill.
-Naylor will play OF this year and can switch to 1B next year if Cleveland decides not to pick up Carlos Santana’s option. Plus his numbers are much better on the road than at home. So maybe he’ll hit better than expected.
-Backup catcher has been a big issue this year for Cleveland so hopefully Hedges is an upgrade.
-Quantrill looks like a decent swingman and a definite upgrade over someone like Plutko.
-Cesar Hernandez is a free agent next year and Lindor the year after that. So acquiring an upper level middle infielder like Miller may help them plug one of those holes.
-Arias and Cantillo are further away so are more of wild cards but both definitely have talent.
So maybe there was no real headline player but there are lots of possibilities for Cleveland to get positive value out of this trade. Plus, they get tons of years of cheap player control…
To be fair to Cantillo – he’s a 45FV but on many websites preseason predictions of future top-100 prospects. He’s got a projectable body that hadn’t filled out yet and I think was topping out like 91-92mph, but he’s only 20 and there’s a lot to like if he throws harder. I dare say Cantillo now is more highly regarded than Clevinger was coming out of A+. I’m also drooling at what the Indians might do with Cantillo given how well they’ve developed pitchers with slower-than-fashionable fastballs but highly developed off-speed pitches.
They would be much better off putting Reyes in the outfield than Naylor.
At least Naylor has the possibility of hitting well enough to DH but its not clear he will.
Naylor has lost a ton of weight and is more mobile than Reyes, by a lot
How much is a ton? He was very, very heavy. And Reyes also lost weight too, I believe.
Naylor can hit a bit but he hits too many grounders to get to his power. I think he is a 270 hitter who can hit 20 but with some swing changes he could hit 30+.
Cheap player control years only matters when the players are good.
This is a nice write up. And if this is the best way to frame the trade for Cleveland, it doesn’t look good to me.
Agree with you! The history of Cleveland developing pitchers goes without question. You can’t say any pitcher they pick up won’t help. They have an impeccable ability to develop unknown pitchers into solid performers. In addition, the Tribe has one of the top 3 farm systems in MLB. They make it a point to draft shortstops – many of them! They can convert them into playing other positions as their athletic ability is without question. Plus, Tito, Chernoff, and Antonelli have a strong history of solid trading. I have to give them the benefit of the doubt.
Kind of a meh return. If you deal a #2 starter type for THREE post season runs, you gotta get at least one elite piece right? Their outfield situation doesn’t really improve with this trade and they didn’t get an elite prospect they can say will take over a position either. Feels like other teams could have topped this in quality.
Also it feels like they could’ve just kept Clevinger and dealt him in the offseason for the same return. This wasn’t the type of return that caused Preller to wince at all. They could’ve even kept him until next deadline and got something not drastically different. Oh well.
Seems like everyone is ignoring the potential locker room problems that have lowered his trade value considerably.
Eh. He apologized and they welcomed him back and he was pitching. If it was that bad they would have kept him at the alternate site.
They brought him back to showcase him.
I just saw a (belated) report that several players threatened to opt-out if he came back early. Problem is, if they kept him down another week he’d lose a year to FA.
That wouod not have sat well with the player or the union.
Life of the party free spirits can be fun to have around but not in a pandemic.
Sounds like the team *had* to move him.
I think the question is whether the COVID-related locker room problems lowered his value in the eyes of Cleveland in particular (because he specifically offended his teammates in that organization) or lowered his value among all teams (because even a new team might look askance at him as a potential disruption). If only the former, then Cleveland had no reason to deal him for a lighter return–even if Cleveland didn’t want him, they could have asked another team to beat the Padres’ offer. But if the latter, then something like San Diego’s package might have been the best Cleveland could obtain from anyone.
If he pitches well for the Padres, it would be funny to see them turn around and trade him this offseason for 1-2 higher-end prospects.
Or if they flop next season and deal him at the deadline for better prospects. Would be hilarious and I could definitely see it happening.
Reminds me of the Yankees acquiring Chapman for next to nothing, then dealing him for Torres. Buy low, sell high.
Two interesting arms to add to the pitching factory of Cleveland. It takes some guts to trade Bauer, Kluber, and Clevinger all within 13 months, but they are still positioned well to be competitive. Addressing the current holes in the outfield with Naylor does feel a bit underwhelming however, but maybe this puts an end to the revolving door of the outfield and they can try to find a regular out there.
I wonder if Oscar Mercado’s struggles this year ultimately caused Clevinger’s trade. With a more stable outfield situation (as it seemed going into 2020 that Cleveland might have with Mercado playing full time), there would have been much less pressure to trade for OF help.
So you get the best pitcher in the AL last year – a guy under team control and paid way under market for 2.2 more years – for a package headlined by….a long reliever?
This is quite possibly the most lopsided trade since Vernon Wells’ albatross for a box of energy bars or whatever it was.
Horrid. Just absolutely horrid.
I think Cleveland did pretty well here, and I’m surprised the response is so negative.
As a Padre fan, it feels like we did move mostly spare parts. Spare parts with upside, yes, but not top talent.
My own personal ranking of “How much might the loss of this player hurt SD in the future, from most to least,” would go:
1. Quantrill. My gut says he’s the one CLE decided could be a Kluber.
2. Cantillo
3. Hedges
4. Arias
5. Naylor
6. Miller
I am really surprised at how many people think Quantrill is going to be the guy they will miss the most. He has put up #4 starter stats his entire minor and major league careerb with few standout skills, unlike guys like Kluber (who had tons of K’s in the minors) or Bieber (who was being lauded for maybe having the best command since Maddux). There’s a real chance they unlock more with Quantrill but being a Kluber is a tough sell.
Cantillo is a lot further away from the majors so it is possible he’s never as good as Quantrill, but I think he’s the only one except for Clevinger who has a shot at being a 6 or 7-win player like Kluber was someday.
A Kluber outcome is extreme even for pitching prospects who are universally acclaimed, but Cleveland has a track record of turning undervalued / unheralded arms into quality starting pitchers.
Quantrill was also contributing to the Padres this year (171 ERA+). Losing him is a blow to the current bullpen, plus he could spot start. Put his current and possible future production together, I stand by my valuation.
They traded one of the best pitchers in baseball and didn’t get anybody with elite skills back. This is significantly worse than the returns for Sale, Quintana, and Archer in my opinion – and he’s a better pitcher than the latter two. Maybe it’s just me, but I would never take quantity over quality when trading elite assets.
He’s nearly 30, rarely healthy, and everyone knew Cleveland was motivated to sell because of locker room issues. He’s pitched more than 120 innings exactly once in his career, his best two years coincide with exceptional weakness in the AL Central, and 2020 has been a little mixed under the hood. He’s a 3.0-4.0 fWAR pitcher with baggage.
I suspect people are underestimating Quantrill and what Cleveland could make of him; underestimating Josh Naylor’s hit tool and raw power; and underestimating how smoothly Miller, a 3rd-round pick, is moving through the minors. Cantillo and Arias are scratch-offs to me.
good take
“didn’t get anybody with elite skills back” –You don’t know this. When the Padres traded Corey Kluber for Ryan Ludwick, they didn’t think they were trading anyone with elite skills. But they were
Let’s not forget the CC Sabathia trade. Matt Laporta had “elite skills” but was a complete bust. Yet the trade worked out for Cleveland because a lowly-regarded PTBNL later turned into a star. That PTBNL was Michael Brantley who wasn’t even one of Milwaukee’s top 30 prospects.
I think this will probably work out ok for Cleveland, I like Quantrill a lot there was about a 2 month period last year where he was one of the best starters in the NL, then the wheels came off, but I have to think Cleveland can turn him into an above average SP. Arias is a borderline Top 100 prospect, very skilled defensively and bat took a huge step forward at 19(although it could be a Cal League mirage that’s the risk), Naylor is just a professional hitter he just needs to be left alone for 500 ABs and he’ll be fine. Miller seems like a super utility starter kit, and Cantillo will be a top prospect if he can a tick or two to his fastball and now he’s in the right place for that to happen. Hedges sucks I’m glad I won’t ever have to watch him bat again.
As a twins fan I like this deal. CLE can keep dealing their good right now pitchers for future value. Once these prospects get good lindor and Ramirez will be out of town!
Ramirez is going nowhere.
Not with his contract.
Bauer, Kluber, and Clevinger were all signed for multiple seasons at below market salaries when Cleveland traded them.
Wrong.
Bauer has been going year to year and refused long term deals on principle.
Clevinger did the same: the two years of control are arbitration years.
And Kluber had two options that *seemed* below market based on his peak but based on his age and health history looked too rich for Cleveland. They were right.
Cleveland isn’t the Giants, keeping guys around past their expiration date out of nostalgia. They can’t afford it.
Ramirez is good, cheap, and the contract only goes to his early 30’s. He has to decline a lot to make the contract too rich.
Their top prospect is nominally a 3B but he’s moving to LF because he’s not displacing Ramirez.
No player is untouchable but based on all that it is going to take a Tatis-type prospect to pry Ramirez out of 3B. And tbat isn’t going to happen. Those are black swan trades.
Could Cleveland have gotten better in the OF elsewhere without trading Clevinger (or trading Clevinger for another OF or something else entirely)? It’s not exactly the best year to need an OF but how much does Naylor really move the needle for them this season? He hasn’t been great in his career, but I guess he does have better splits on the road, albeit in a small sample (and still just a career .172 road ISO). Better for the long term which is important to Cleveland, and I like the prospects they got, but they could have maybe landed a similar OF to Naylor and saved a Clev trade for something else (or get a better prospect from SD instead of Naylor). I don’t hate the trade for Cleeland, but when they said that they needed to improve for this season in a Clev trade, getting Naylor, Hedges and Quantrill isn’t exactly what I had in mind.
The trade is odd.
Cleveland’s recent trades, despite the money, have been about getting near term help.
There is good value in the package in the form of prospects and “change of scenery” types, but no clear immediate help.
Could be they know something about Naylor or Quantrill or or Hedges or maybe they’re prepping a followup deal. Or maybe they’re really soured on Clevinger. Behavior aside, his medical history isn’t the best.
Going into the season they moved Kluber, essentially betting on Civale. Maybe this time they’re betting on Plesac and/or McKenzie.
Still, its odd that they got all those bodies and the OF doesn’t look much better.
Anybody know where Nolan Jones is?
Just a thought: what might Brad Hand bring in?
The bullpen was fine so if Quantrill goes there and Karinchak takes over as closer…
We’ll know soon enough, I guess.
Trading Hand and trusting Karinchak, who is absolutely unhittable, is just the kind of move that wins championships.
Then again, keeping both and adding Quantrill isn’t bad.
😀
The Tribe has pitching galore in the minors. Jones was going to play at Akron (AA) this year. Since there isn’t any MiLB he is at Lake County playing intrasquad games – or whatever else they do every day.
Thisnis the advantage of having so many prospects. The Padres still have a lot of prospects and a strong farm system after all these trades. Had a team like the White Sox made just this Clevinger deal with all these 40’s and 45’s, they would have practically emptied out the farm system since their system is top heavy and most of the top end talent is either already in Chicago or considered untouchable.
Yep, Padres still have their top 4 prospects after all these moves
And they gave up a better prospect for Austin Nola than they did for Mike Clevinger. Like what
I get the feeling we’re missing something. My money would be on a personal or locker room issue with Clevinger that pushed CLE to move him asap.
Or his medicals.
Or both,he hasn’t responded well at all to his recent knee surgery and we all know about the issue with lying to his teammates.
Another good point. He does have a history of medical issues. His delivery is effective, but not smooth. We don’t know how his health and arm, and back, and shoulder will hold up in the near future. The Tribe look like geniuses right now after trading Kluber. Even though Classe got caught with PEDs, he will be back in 2021. How about him and Karinchak in the bullpen? Two relievers who can top out over 100 MPH? That’s pretty damn good.
This is a good point – and not sure we will know the answer anytime soon. He and Bauer were good friends. They fed off each other. But we don’t know the level of their impact in the Club House. Bauer’s “play doh” antics saw him get shipped out – now Clevinger. Tito always says – it’s about the team and nothing else.
Why does nobody even mention the Indians are in 1st place AND have a better record than the Padres? And it’s not like they are doing it with smoke and mirrors in some juggernaut division. The Sox and Twins are right there but the Indians have a decent shot to win the division (44.1%) and a 98.7% chance (per FanGraphs) to at least get into the playoffs. So this was not a great time to do a salary dump of a very good SP to add organizational depth when all we need is a little more offense to go deep into the playoffs. Now if they lose in the 1st round, they can use that as a good reason to dump Lindor, Ramirez, and Bieber to start their full rebuild and roll with a 20 million dollar payroll to make the owner happy.
I think most people realize they were using it as an excuse to trade Clevinger when in reality they just were being cheap and didn’t want to pay his moderately expensive arbitration raises.
Would Clevinger have even pitched in the first round of the playoffs for Cleveland? Depends on if he fixes himself. He’s dealing with a leg injury, or at least recovery from a leg injury. Bieber, Civale, Plesac, Carrasco have been better than him this year.
Fair point.
A lot hinges on Plesac and McKenzie.
Lindor is a $30M FA in waiting. He is leaving no matter what. Only question is when.
But Ramirez and Bieber aren’t going anywhere.
Cleveland is playing on the cheap to *avoId* a teardown.
And the upper farm is in pretty good shape for 21, 22, 23. Go check the Cleveland farm report and their ETAs.
Odds are the Twins go rebuild before the Spiders. 😉
If we didn’t have Tito, Chernoff, and Antonelli to temper decisions, I am convinced Dolan would absolutely scuttle this entire franchise.
What would an equivalent deal from Atlanta look like? Ynoa/Waters/Davidson/Camargo?
I assume one of Kyle Wright or Toussaint would be in the mix.
Both are better than Quantrill imo
It’s hard because Atlanta’s system after the CFers and Cs is mostly arms, and the guy most analogous to Owen Miller (Shewmake) is almost universally considered a better prospect than Miller (some think it’s a big gap). A lot of the guys going back to Cleveland are FV40+’s, but all but one of Atlanta’s are arms. And then also there’s no one quite like Quantrill on the Braves’ active roster–Ynoa is an interesting comparison but he’s not as good.
Just on pure value, it is something probably like Davidson (Cantillo), Wright (Naylor, probably both are FV40+ at this point), Shuster (Miller), Michael Harris (Arias), Camargo (Hedges). and…Muller (Quantrill)? Maybe?
It is impossible to value this trade without recognizing the Indians economic realities. They are forced to play the game under the same restrictions as Tampa Bay has to. Exchanging a valuable resource when his value is high and hoping that the return pans out is how they operate. The known pieces that the Indians received are not empty uniforms and might provide help now. As for the future, I am going against the grain here by taking the Indians side in this deal. The Indians apparent genius at taking non-prospects and turning them into Corey Kluber, Aaron Civale, or Zach Plesac is reason enough. Kluber is a great example. He was so lightly regarded by the industry that Baseball Prospectus actually called him a left-hander in the 2011 Annual. The young players come from a very strong minor league system and would have been much higher in virtually any other. The Indians, constrained as they are, get years of controllable talent at a cost that they can afford. There is no question that the Padres got a player that should help them as they strive to contend immediately and dealt from a position of strength. There is a possibility, quite strong i think, that both teams will be happy in a few years
Or he pulls a hammy and Allen ends up helping the most of tge two. 😀
Baseball on the field is hard to predict.
Very good assessment of this trade.
I like this assessment and analogy. Indians and Rays are perpetually in develop-and-deal mode, got to keep filling the farm funnel.
Interesting further thoughts: https://baseballanalyzed.com/2020/08/28/philadelphia-improve-at-closer/
Interesting article indeed.
Apparently the bad blood in the dugout got serious.
Plesac broke rules but he owned it right away; Clevinger played dumb *after* Plesac was sent off and rode in a plane with the team.
Explains why they rushed McKenzie.
I expect the kid will be on a short leash but they now have two long guys to use him as an opener.
It’s just a month, anyway.
And a crap shoot afterwards.
Cantillo has Talent and is only 20, struck out a lot of guys but he is rule 5 eligible after 21 and has not played above high A.
The lost minor league season really hurts his value, I can’t see him being really mlb ready after no real milb season.
Thus it made sense for the padres to trade him before losing him to rule 5 after next season.
Can the indians get him at least bp ready after next season?
Back in 18 the Indians moved a bunch of low minors talent for “lesser” high minors players. Some have panned, some haven’t. The guys likely to get crunched are the AAAA guys. That’s why Allen got moved. Bauers is on the clock.
There’s room on the 40 for the kids.
My negative feeling about this trade on the Indians side is that they didn’t receive a hitter back that makes up for what they lose in trading Clevinger,so it hurts them for this season.
This is a trade that could have been made in the off season considering all the parts that are involved.So why make it now unless there is something we don’t know about?
Quantrill is an arm the Tribe has liked since he was drafted,I’m sure they think they can develop into a MOR starter,but he’s a fifth starter or set up arm in their bullpen right now.
Hedges is Roberto Perez with more speed,better than Sandy Leon. but not by much.
Arias and Miller are very interesting prospects at positions where the Indians farm system is already loaded
Cantillo is a lefty who has promise down the road.
But the trade hinges on Naylor,he is the only possible difference maker involved in the trade from the Tribe’s side.I see a DH who has power and a mediocre hit tool, not a difference maker.
The Padres get a pitcher who when he’s healthy and in the groove is as good as anyone pitching today.
And they have him for three post seasons,possibly.
Greg Allen is a 5th outfielder with a good glove and good speed.
Matt Waldron(the rumored PTBNL) is a college pitcher who ate up short season A in 2019
Advantage Padres,no doubt about it.At least based on what we know.
Based on what we know is the question, not the answer, to this trade. Of course Clevenger is a proven commodity, but still a pitcher and one who has been injured. He only made 21 starts in 2019. Arias might turn into Lindor, Naylor into Nelson Cruz, Quantrill and/or Cantillo, transformed by the Indian magic, into Bieber, Miller has hit and with power. The Indians have a better than remote chance of hitting a home run here while the Padres have only one chance.
The Padres have the home run in their pocket in Clevinger,all he has to do is pitch.
The Indians have a whole lot of at bats but a lot of maybes.For this season, at the very least and more than likely the Indians lose this trade.
Right.
But he doesn’t always suit up.
All pitchers come with a caveat and for starters the caveat is bigger; even minor dings cost them 2-3 starts.
If he’s healthy is “Yay! Clevinger!” if not it’s “All we got is a fifth OF?”
All or nothing.
Hopefully it’s the former but don’t ignore the latter; before the pandemic he was scheduled to miss two months and he’s been good, not great since.
Well, I guess this makes up for the absurd price they paid for Nola. That said, if I find $100 on the ground, it doesn’t mean I should rip up the $50 in my pocket to make up for it.
It’s not a good sign that he has a 5+ FIP this year AND Cleveland was willing to accept an offer that seems underwhelming. Maybe he’s fine, but this is a sign that maybe he’s not.