Does a Rolling Tribe Gather Moss?

The Indians are obviously looking for an upgrade at the DH spot in the lineup, first kicking the tires on Chase Headley, then Kendrys Morales and they are now rumored to be interested in the Oakland Athletics Brandon Moss. It won’t be hard to improve over the Indians performance at DH in 2014 as Nick Swisher posted one of the worst batting lines in recent history (.208/.278/.331), but what will be hard (as stated before) is finding room on the roster for another poor/limited use fielder or moving Swisher.

Whether or not it will be feasible, the first thing to look at is what the Indians would be looking to add with Moss. Moss is 31 (just two years younger than Swisher), but due to limited use over his first seven seasons with Boston, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Oakland, he will be entering into just his second year of arbitration in 2015. This means essentially that he will be under team control for two more years for a relatively low price. Moss has only three legitimate full seasons under his belt (2009, 2013 and 2014) and seems to be just coming into his prime now, late in his baseball career. In the past season he saw his first All-Star appearance and with the A’s he has now hit more than 20 home runs in each of the past three seasons. Below are his last three seasons compared to Nick Swisher’s age 28-31 campaigns.

The two are actually offer a close comparison in all aspects, including position. While primarily a first baseman, Moss has played considerable time in the outfield in both left and right with spot appearances at third base and center field. With a solid defensive first baseman in Carlos Santana, Moss would most likely play DH or right field with the Indians. While he hasn’t played as much in the outfield, he appears to be much more comfortable there, saving 8.5 runs over the average outfielder over his career (4.5 UZR/150 according to FanGraphs.com) compared to a -13.1 career UZR (-11.3 UZR/150) at first base.

As always his worth to the Indians will depend on what the team has to give up to retain his services. The Indians have strong Major League depth at starting pitching, relief and in the middle of the infield and minor league depth in the bullpen, middle infield and outfield, but the Athletics often make difficult trade partners. Billy Beane is famous for being a shrewd dealer, almost always getting more than he gives up (this past season notwithstanding). If Oakland is to give up as talented player as Moss (2.3 WAR per season since 2012), you can bet that Beane will be expecting a major haul in return. Whether this means someone already expected to be great, like Danny Salazar, or some lesser known prospect, there are few greater talent evaluators in the world than Beane, meaning the Indians brass will have to think long and hard about any players demanded by the Athletics.

When it comes down to it, Moss is similar to the player the Indians thought they were going to get with Swisher, only for less money. While he is only under team control for two more seasons, this could be a good thing as the Indians are finding out with Swisher now (they wish his contract was only for two years). There is no question Moss would be a solid addition to the Indians lineup both offensively and even defensively and the Indians are doing what they should looking into improving by any means possible.