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CLEVELAND, Ohio – The MLB offseason has rarely been charged with breaking the speed limit. He moves forward in the slow lane, hitting the brakes every now and then just to be on the safe side.
The free agent market has been established. The options for 2021 have been exercised or declined. On Wednesday, the teams offered or refused contracts to all unsigned players aged six or under in the big leagues. Indian non-tenderers Tyler Naquin and Delino DeShields as well as right-hander Jefry Rodriguez. Shortstop Francisco Lindor, wide receiver Austin Hedges and right-hangers Phil Maton and Nick Wittgren have been offered contracts for 2021.
What will it take to get this thing on the fast lane? A Lindor trade would be a good start. Chris Antonetti, India’s president of baseball operations, was asked about the situation and many more on Thursday during a Zoom call with reporters.
Here’s how he handled the top 10 questions:
No. 1. Have you actively told the teams that you are buying Lindor and that the best deal will have it?
A. “I know this is a topic of concern to everyone, but we have never commented on trade rumors or speculation in the past and we will continue to refrain from doing so.
“It’s fair for people to speculate, but, again, I’m not going to go into saying ‘yes, no, maybe’ about a specific player or concept. I’m happy to talk about our approach to the offseason, but we’ll continue to refrain from talking about specific players. I understand the need to ask.
No. 2. Who will play second base with Cesar Hernandez a free agent?
A. “Well, Yu Chang is the one who obviously has major league experience and is the most natural player on our roster who could fit that role. We have a large number of minor league players who could potentially fill this role, but we won’t have a great idea of that until we get to spring training because a lot of those players don’t. not played competitively for over a year. . So trying to gauge exactly where they are in their development and willingness to contribute at the major league level is hard to say. But I think the Field will be a place in the offseason where we potentially look to add players to the mix.
No. 3. What are the short stops in the system that could help you next year?
A. Again, it’s a little hard to say as we missed a fair amount of time last year, but the most immediate options are from our 40-player roster. So Yu Chang, Gabriel Arias, Ernie Clement are all guys who are already on the 40 player list. And then Tyler Freeman, among that other group, is probably the most advanced of the other players. These are some of the options at the higher levels of our minor leagues.
# 4: Will you continue to experiment with third base prospect Nolan Jones at other positions due to Jose Ramirez being present at third?
A. “I think we will continue to explore positional flexibility for Nolan. We’ve seen this firsthand with other players where it’s hard to predict exactly where that opportunity will be in the big leagues. The more versatile players impact the major league team, the better. We’re not too far off Jose Ramirez’s transition to our Major League side as a left fielder, third baseman and shortstop as he played most of his time in the minor leagues as a second goal. So we’ve seen firsthand how valuable this versatility will be in creating an opportunity at the big league level.
“To Nolan’s credit he worked really hard, and I’ve shared that with the group in the past, he’s an amazing worker and a really good athlete from his youth. So we think he’ll be able to make the transition and play the outfield effectively for us if that’s where the opportunity presents itself.
# 5: do you have a specific payroll number in mind for 2021? Do you still need to reduce your payroll?
A. “We don’t have a specific number for payroll. As we all live in a very uncertain world, there are currently a lot of variables and we hope we will have more information over the next few weeks that will become a little clearer to us as to what we could be. able to do.
“I think what we’ll continue to try to do, and we talked about this even before the pandemic, is that we want to make sure that we are managing our roster and our finances in a way that gives us a chance to ” be sustainably competitive. We’ve been doing a series of moves for 18-24 months now that have been designed to do this and put us in a position today where we have a great future, we have a lot of good young major league players. We have a healthy agricultural system. So if there are any opportunities for us to build on that, we will explore it. “
# 6: How difficult was it not to bid on Naquin and DeShields?
A. “First and foremost, we want to express our deep gratitude for the contributions the two guys have made to the organization, both on and off the pitch. In Tyler’s case, we’ve been blessed with him for a very long time. He’s not only made meaningful and memorable contributions on the pitch, he’s part of the fabric of our clubhouse. And Delino, it’s hard to script a more difficult transition to an organization than the one he had to make last year and he really did it in a transparent way, despite really difficult circumstances. … all of this just means that we weren’t in a position at this point to commit to going through the arbitration process with them.
# 7: How do you see the state of the outfield, which totaled 11 home runs last season?
A. “We have a number of young outside players who we believe have the potential to really contribute. This has perhaps been one of the biggest impacts of last season, in that we were hoping that we would not only have major league opportunities but also minor leagues for this group of players to play. and play regularly. This information would help them in their development, but also allow us to make more informed decisions about them. Unfortunately, we didn’t have that. It was not the reality. We will therefore approach the offseason with a little less certainty than we had hoped. This is a group of players we still believe in and who we believe has a chance to contribute at the major league level.
# 8: is Oscar Mercado still in your plans for central field?
A. “Oscar is one of that group of guys who we hope can continue to grow in their development during the offseason and enter spring training next year, ready for a spot. We’ve all seen what he’s capable of and the performance he’s had at the major league level, so we know it’s in there and we continue to partner with Oscar to try and put him back on. the way to be a very good major. -league player. “
# 9: Did you mention a contract extension for Cy Young winner Shane Bieber?
A. “It will be a frustrating answer for the group, but consistent with how I have answered this question in the past. We will refrain from engaging in specific player conversations and contract negotiations. But I think Shane embodies everything we would want a Cleveland Indian to be in both the way they compete, the way they prepare, the way they lead on and off the pitch. Our hope and belief is that Shane will be here for a long time and we couldn’t be more excited that he is an anchor in our rotation for the foreseeable future.
10. Do you consider Josh Naylor to be an outfielder or a first baseman?
A. It could be either. I think a lot of it will depend on the right mix of players and so we’ll have to work on that. We think he’s capable at either of those two places and would be comfortable playing him on the pitch or at first base, depending on how we can build the best team with him. the group of players that we have.[[[[
A variety of Cleveland Indian face masks available online today. (Fanatics.com)
New Indian masks for sale: Here’s where you can purchase Cleveland Indian-themed face coverings for coronavirus protection, including a single mask ($ 14.99) and a 3-pack ($ 24.99). All MLB profits are donated to charity.
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