It is no secret to common Cleveland Indians fans that the current version of the team has an abundance of outfielders. It is also no secret to serious Cleveland Indians fans that the abundance of outfielders is not just at the Major League level.
The abundance of players at the MLB level includes Michael Bourn, Michael Brantley, Brandon Moss, Nick Swisher, David Murphy, and Ryan Raburn. Although Mike Aviles can play outfield, he is not included in this group.
That’s six outfielders, for three spots, without counting Mike Aviles.
Say what you would like, but that outfield is more than a little bit overcrowded. This situation is not ideal for the Indians, especially with the crop of talent that is looming in the minor leagues. Within the next couple of seasons guys like Bradley Zimmer, Clint Frazier, James Ramsey, and Tyler Naquin will be more than ready to contribute in Cleveland. Not to mention, Tyler Holt, the Indians’ 2010 tenth round draft pick, is ready to be in Cleveland right now.
What must be done in order to make this situation become ideal for the Indians, you ask?
The obvious answer will unfortunately not happen, but that answer would be to cut ties with either Bourn or Swisher.
Michael Bourn has been playing a little bit better as of late, primarily since being moved out of the lead-off spot, however, his play does not warrant the $13.5 million that is owed to him this year. Quite frankly, if it were not for the extremely large and regrettable contract, I do not believe he would still be in a Tribe uniform.
Nick Swisher, on the other hand, has not been playing better as of late. I realize that recently he has not been playing much outfield, and has primarily been a designated hitter, but he is still in this group of players. The .208 batting average that we saw last year has been proven to not be a fluke, as thus far in the 2015 campaign we have seen Swish bat an abysmal .205. I know I am preaching to the choir when I say this, Indians fans, but a .260 On-base percentage does not warrant $15 million this year.
So, strictly due to financial reasons, those two will not be cut, or traded away from the Tribe, that is simply way too much money for the Indians to pay someone to not play for them, even as atrocious as they have been while playing for them.
This leads me to my next, and more realistic option to cut ties with, David Murphy.
While this season has been relatively kind to David Murphy in a platoon role, in my opinion that role could be filled by someone much younger, and with more upside than Murphy. I’m looking at you, Tyler Holt.
Sure, you could argue that with Murphy hitting .325, he deserves to stay on the team, and that is a realistic argument. The question I pose to that would be, what is David Murphy’s role on this team, and is it really necessary?
Murphy has been reduced to playing a couple times a week, and has been used primarily in pinch-hit duties recently. While every team does need someone in this role, the next question I pose is ‘Why David Murphy?’
Yes, he is hitting .325, but he also only has 114 at-bats.
Not to mention, the Indians also have another left-handed hitting right fielder in Brandon Moss, who in my opinion brings much more to the table than David Murphy. Moss, the Tribe leader in Home Runs, and one behind Michael Brantley for the lead in RBI, should be the everyday right fielder. Therefore, why is David Murphy needed?
The answer is simple.
He is not.
While there could be an argument made to cut ties with Rabrun as well, he has played well in the baseball world’s craziest phenomenon known as Odd-Year Raburn. The other thing helping Ryan Rayburn’s cause is that he is the only right-handed bat in the outfield.
The constant gripe Cleveland Indians fans have is the lack of right-handed bats that seem to elude our lineup. That is one of the main reasons that I would keep Raburn around. It does help that in his limited time he is hitting at a clip above .300, which is quite an improvement from hitting at the Mendoza line last year.
While that constant gripe of the lack of right handed bat in the Tribe lineup won’t be going away anytime soon, I would like to mention that fact that Tyler Holt, whom I mentioned earlier in this post, does in fact bat right handed.
I am not trying to say that Holt is the Tribe’s savior and elixir to their outfield problems, but, you have to start somewhere.
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