Tribe Search for Outfielders Spans Far and Wide

The Indians have many areas where people think improvements are needed. Recently, Michael Brantley’s shoulder surgery increased the need for improvement in the outfield.

This past season, the Indians touted an outfield that consisted of Brantley, and a rotating cast of other interchangeable players that includes at times names such as Michael Bourn, Ryan Raburn, David Murphy, Abraham Almonte, Brandon Moss, Nick Swisher, Jose Ramirez, Mike Aviles, and Lonnie Chisenhall. Simply put, outside of Brantley, the Tribe outfield was a mess for the better part of the 2015 season.

The Indians need to make an upgrade in the outfield; there is no doubting that. Almonte is a serviceable outfielder, preferably the fourth in a good outfield. Chisenhall transitioned very nicely into a solid right fielder, although more consistency and a larger sample size would be desired from the former Tribe first round draft pick.

The talk of trading for an outfielder has been rampant among rumor mills so far this off-season, with the candidates primarily being Brett Gardner and Yasiel PuigPersonally, neither of these options particularly interest me, especially with both of them likely requiring giving a starter such as Carlos Carrasco or Danny Salazar in return.

The Indians best option to fix their outfield issue certainly could be free agency, the only issue with this is that the front office has already admitted they do not plan on being big players. Not being a big player is one thing, especially using the small market excuse that the Indians love to hide behind, but there are a variety of mid-level talents that could help out in Cleveland’s outfield.

Of course, the top-line talents such as Yoenis Cespedes, Jason Heyward, and Alex Gordon won’t be making their way to Cleveland, but that doesn’t mean others such as Denard Span and Austin Jackson can’t come fill the gaping hole in the Indians outfield.

Last season, Span spent some of his days patrolling the outfield in Washington DC. Span only played in 61 games for the Nationals due to a hip injury that plagued him throughout much of the season. When healthy, Span can be a very effective outfielder as well as top of the lineup hitter. In 2014, his last healthy season, Span slashed .302/.355/.416 in 147 names and even earned a spot on a few MVP ballots, finishing 19th.

If Denard Span could come into the 2016 season healthy, he should be able to bounce back and return to a level near his past performances. He also should be a player in the price range of the Indians.

Tribe fans know Austin Jackson fairly well after he spent the better part of four seasons with the Detroit Tigers before being shipped off to Seattle as part of a three-team trade that brought David Price to the Motor City in 2014. Jackson spent time last season in both Seattle and on the north side of Chicago, with the Cubs. The center fielder had solid numbers in the Pacific Northwest before being shipped off in August. For Seattle, Jackson slashed .272/.312/.387 in 107 games for the club. His numbers did drop off in Chicago, but his sample size was also extremely small, as he was limited to only 79 plate appearances. The bright side to Jackson is that he has primarily been a center fielder throughout his career and that is the primary place of need in Cleveland at the moment.

Jackson, much like Span, should be very affordable for the Indians. Indians’ fans have seen how free agent signings have gone in the past. There is no telling whether or not these two will happen, if they will go poorly, or if they would be great moves. I don’t have the answers to those questions, no one does. The answer I have is that no move at all would be a bad move.

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