All-Time Indians: Matt Lawton

Although his time in Cleveland was short, Matt Lawton wound up putting together some solid numbers while with the Indians. This may be a surprising statement to some as during his career, he was often made a scapegoat for the worst Indians teams in over a decade.

Lawton began his career with the Twins in 1995 after being drafted in the 13th round by Minnesota in 1991. While he displayed little power in the minor leagues, he joined in the home run fun early in his career, hitting 65 with the Twins from 1997 through 2001. Lawton had been the starting right fielder for the Twins during this whole period, but in 2001, he was traded to the Mets for Rick Reed, a below average starting pitcher.

He would stay in New York for only 48 games before being traded to Cleveland in a blockbuster deal of sorts. In the off-season between 2001 and 2002, Lawton was packaged with Alex Escobar, Jerrod Riggan, Earl Snyder and Billy Traber for Danny Peoples, Mike Bacsik and the Hall of Famer, Roberto Alomar. Most of those involved would do little with their new team, although Traber did throw a one hitter during his time with the Tribe. The Indians saved about $16M on Alomar, the biggest name in the deal and he provided just 0.4 WAR for the Mets before being traded to the White Sox where he was reunited with his brother.

The Indians were in the beginning of a down period in 2002 and it was this feeling that would mar Lawton’s Tribe career. In 2002, all the great hitters from the 1990’s were gone outside of Jim Thome and Omar Vizquel and Thome would leave at the end of the year. Despite Thome’s 52 home runs, the Indians finished more than 20 games out of first in the Central, their first finish more than five games out since 1993 when there were only two divisions in the AL.

As a mostly regular right fielder, Lawton played in 114 games and while he only batted .236, he was one of four Indians with at least 15 home runs and six with at least ten. He met or surpassed the 15 home run mark, 19 doubles, 50 RBI and 50 runs scored this and each of his seasons with Cleveland.

Two part time players, Chris Magruder and Karim Garcia were used in the outfield regularly during 2002, but in 2003, Lawton would move to left with Jody Gerut taking over the regular duties in right. Gerut was a much better fielder than Lawton and would be the Indians top hitter in 2003 as a rookie as almost the entire team was in transition. Lawton had similar numbers to his previous season, but did improve upon his average, raising it to .249.

The Indians won just 68 games in 2003, their worst season since 1987, but Lawton would drive a surprisingly optimistic season the following year. The primary reason for the change in success this year was the emergence of three great starting pitchers in C.C. Sabathia, Jake Westbrook and Cliff Lee, but Lawton did his share by leading the offense with 20 home runs, with 109 runs scored and 25 doubles, mostly out of the lead-off spot. For his efforts, he was one of five Indians All-Stars that year alongside Victor Martinez, Ronnie Belliard, Sabathia and Westbrook with the Indians top hitter, Travis Hafner, not even included in the group. Lawton also increased his average to .277 and stole 23 bases, more than doubling his total from his first two seasons.

Much of this success can be placed with the lineup following Lawton as 2004 was the first full year for Hafner and Martinez in addition to Coco Crisp, who helped Lawton defensive as well with his extreme range in center. The team’s 858 runs scored were the most since 2001 as there really was a complete turn around both offensively and on the mound. This would continue for a few years as the Indians nearly made the play-offs in 2005 and finished one game short of the World Series in 2007. Lawton, however, would be gone long before that.

A point in noting Lawton’s increased production numbers after adding pieces around him helps to show how talented he really was. Lawton never changed as a hitter, providing a combination of a little speed and a little power, only being held back by the fact that no one else supported him in the lineup. Even being part of just one above average team, Lawton still pushed out 50 home runs, 180 RBI, 231 runs and 41 steals in just three seasons placing him among the best left fielders in Indians history.

At the end of the 2004 season, Mark Shapiro moved Lawton and his last year of team control to the Pirates in exchange for Arthur Rhodes. This was essentially a positive move, although the Indians still only got one season out of the left handed reliever. Rhodes held a 2.08 ERA in 47 games before being traded again at the end of the 2005 season, this time to the Phillies for Jason Michaels. Lawton also wouldn’t be long for his new team as he was moved at the deadline in 2005 to the Cubs in exchange for his former teammate Jody Gerut. Gerut himself had been moved less than a month earlier to Chicago in exchange for Jason Dubois.

Lawton would be traded again in 2015, this time in a waiver move to the Yankees for Justin Berg just before becoming a free agent. Although he was signed by the Mariners out of free agency, he didn’t stay around there long either, getting released at the end of May. Although he played with four teams, Lawton only played two seasons after leaving Cleveland, mashing another 13 home runs and 30 doubles in 152 games.

He was one of the first players to test positive for steroids after Major League Baseball cracked down when he was suspended after the 2005 season. At the time, the suspension was just ten games and he completed this with the Mariners, playing just 11 games afterward before retiring from baseball for good.