The Indians made few external improvements to their roster this off-season. The starting rotation, bullpen and defense were all generally the same players brought back from 2013 and 2014 with a few minor league upgrades. The biggest upgrade anywhere was Brandon Moss, the 2014 All-Star, added for AA second baseman Joey Wendle, a position that the Indians are still particularly deep.
The deal was essentially two seasons of an All-Star slugger for the early career of a somewhat promising middle infielder and seemed a fair one. There was no guarantee Wendle would ever become a Major Leaguer and the Indians would be paying Moss’ considerable arbitration eligible salary. While Wendle is playing fairly well for the AAA Nashville Sounds (.276/.313/.416) with 40 extra base hits and six steals, Moss was a complete disappointment in the Indians lineup, batting just .217/.288/.407 with 15 home runs and a team high 106 strike outs. His average was the lowest this season among all hitters with at least 60 at bats and with runners in scoring position that drops down to .182, further demonstrating the Indians struggles in scoring situations.
While this poor performance with runners on is very possibly just an issue of luck, rather than talent, it has gone on so long this year that the Indians are out of contention already in 2015, meaning they now had only one significant year of control of Moss, the 2016 season. With this in mind, the Indians decided not to wait and sent Moss to St. Louis this morning in exchange for Rob Kaminsky.
Moss should fit into the Cardinals line-up better than he did in Cleveland as he will not be as relied upon to be the number one RBI guy. While he will likely replace Matt Holliday (injured quad), who was having an excellent season, in the lineup, the Cardinals still have plenty of quality hitters around including former Indians Jhonny Peralta and Mark Reynolds in addition to Kolten Wong, Matt Carpenter and Jason Heyward. Where the Indians needed Moss to get on base more often and put the ball in play rather than just hitting a home run or striking out (121 of his 337 at bats), the Cardinals have enough talent around him that he will provide significant value by doing what he does best.
In exchange for Moss, the Indians received a very high level pitching prospect in Kaminsky. He was the Cardinals first round pick in 2013 (James Ramsey, who was acquired last season for Justin Masterson, was their first round pick in 2012) and is currently tearing apart hitters in Advanced A ball. While he is a low level prospect, he is something the Indians have little of, a high ceiling, left handed starting pitcher. He is also just 20 years old, yet already has a 2.15 ERA in his first 217.1 minor league innings. While his career K/9 of 7.7 is not quite up to the level of the Indians current rotation, his walk rate is low enough to be happy.
Like with the David Murphy trade, it is possible that the best part of this deal will be that it clears some of the outfield logjam away. Unfortunately, top AAA prospect Tyler Naquin, was injured last night when he crashed into the outfield wall, but there is still Tyler Holt, who was recalled when Murphy was traded and Ramsey in AAA, all who have some Major League potential. This could also allow the outfielder with true potential, Bradley Zimmer, to make the move to AAA later this year. Every single outfield option is a better defender than Moss and any move should lead to the end of Mike Aviles in left, although we could see some more Ryan Raburn in the field until the roster settles down.
For the moment, the Indians are recalling Lonnie Chisenhall from AAA to take the open roster spot and he will most likely be used as the regular DH against right handed pitchers, platooning there with Raburn. Of course, things could completely change again within the next 24 hours depending on any other trades the Indians make, but if no other deals are made, the Indians should be at least equal to the team they were before the deals.
This is more of the shrewd dealing we have grown to expect from Chris Antonetti. Assuming Chisenhall has improved as much as it seems he has in AAA (.280/.329/.420 since his demotion), he could be at least as valuable of a hitter as either Murphy or Moss and Holt is a significantly better defensive outfielder. In addition, the Indians have added a short stop and a left handed pitcher, the most recent of which was considered the third best prospect in one of the best farm systems in baseball. If it provides any solace, the Indians almost certainly would not have been able to get Kaminsky for Wendle, but thanks to the Holliday injury, a great opportunity presented itself and the Indians jumped on it. These may not seem to be the moves that Indians fans want to see, but they are best for an organization that has to give up on 2015 and work towards 2016.
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