Indians Outlook for 2011

The Indians' offseason really kicks off today. For all the buzz surrounding the key signing of Luke Carlin, it won't compare to the Indians signing players who aren't intended solely to wear a jersey number greater than 60 in spring training. Today may add a number of players to the Indians' shopping list, since it's the non-tender deadline -- an opportunity to buy players who other clubs are giving up early on or that they simply don't believe are worth the contracts that they'd have to be tendered.

Alas, only players fitting into the former category are likely to wash ashore in Cleveland. Players like Hideki Okajima and Matt Diaz are likely to get some form of actual money somewhere, they will just do so as free agents.

Thus far, the deadline has been relatively quiet -- Bobby Jenks is far and away the biggest name non-tendered, and it's a certainty he'll find work somewhere other than Ontario and Carnegie.

A number of the players who have already been non-tendered are former Indians themselves.

Ryan Church was, alas, one of the best draft picks the Indians have to show for the 2000s (14th round in 2000) and showed serious promise when he finally got a chance with the Nationals and Mets (after being traded for Scott Stewart), but concussions have stripped him of any and all usefulness. He's a reclamation project, and even among those, there are a lot better options.

Joe Inglett was non-tendered by the Brewers -- he too got his start in the Indians organization (8th round in 2000), but was waived after a season as a utility player. He is also very unlikely to be interesting to the Indians, his versatility is mostly limited to second base and the corner outfield spots.

Jose Veras was a very short-term Indian in 2008 when Mark Shapiro was trying everything with an arm in the imploding bullpen. He pitched 22 games for the Tribe after being purchased from the Yankees. The best thing that can be said for him is that his #2 comparable player on baseball-reference is Randy St. Claire, so perhaps Veras will have a stint as a pitching coach for a lousy major league team someday.

Of the players already non-tendered, the ones who would be most likely to fit with the Tribe are Edwin Encarnacion, Jose Lopez, and Matt Diaz. The Indians aren't likely to sign any of them, mind you, but Encarnacion is at least nominally a third baseman. That alone makes him worth considering, given that the would-be incumbent (Jayson Nix) isn't overwhelming.

Alas, Encarnacion has two big drawbacks. One is that he is likely to make more than a couple million in whatever deal he signs. He's a non-tender because his contract would call for him to make more than $4 million right now. Even assuming his price comes down, it'd still be at a level where he'd likely be too large a chunk of the Indians' meager payroll to justify. This is especially so since his second drawback is one that's all too familiar to Indians fans already -- defensive ineptitude. Unlike Nix, Encarnacion has only ever played third base in the majors, but that's not to say he plays it much better. If you have any doubts, type in "edwin encarnacion ghastly" into google. An impressive percentage of those hits are discussing his propensity for making key fielding and throwing errors. In general, his range is acceptable to good, but his throwing is atrocious. Given that although the Tribe's first baseman hit like the second coming of Ben Broussard, he didn't field like him, Encarnacion is a fit in name only. He'd make more sense with a big budget club like Philadelphia as an occasional starter in a corner infield spot.

Jose Lopez is better defensively (at least last year at third base), but comes with the cost of being incapable of drawing a walk or getting on base -- notching an unheard of career OBP under .300. I can't imagine he's the best option for any team, though if he could adapt to being a pinch hitter, his impatience would be a lot more excusable.

Diaz would make a lot of sense for the Indians, but I don't think they are acknowledging a need for a corner outfielder yet. I don't know why the Braves are so unsatisfied with Diaz after one bad season, but he's produced well in extended playing time. I'd like to see him come in and fill the Austin Kearns/Shelley Duncan role for the Indians, but I expect he'll go someplace to play as a platoon outfielder for a contender or just remain in Atlanta.