The Dominoes Begin to Fall

By: Jamie Renner 

So I woke up this morning to Cesar Hernandez being traded to the rival White Sox and while I am sad, Cesar was never a part of our future. Look, he was a great leader and a great lead off bat but this season was a down year for him in terms of batting average, OBP, OPS+, and while his home runs were a nice addition to the struggling offense, we all knew something was going to happen. We all knew that at some point the Indians had to make a move and get good, valued prospects with the talent we already have and figure out what these young guys are all about. I do not think this will be the last move the Indians make today or by the deadline and I hope that it’s not. 

I think Amed Rosario, Roberto Perez, Nick Wittgren, and a bunch of rule 5 prospects are going to be moved. They may not be moved at this trade deadline, but come the offseason some players are going to be long gone. 

I never question the Indians front office because they are truly the best in the business and know exactly what to do under any circumstances. What I continue to be baffled by is the insane amount of rule 5 players we have that either need to be added, traded, or cut. They just acquired a prospect who is rule 5 eligible this offseason and I am just annoyed as hell by it. We continue to dig ourselves into a hole that does not have a positive solution to it. Like I said, I do not think this is the only move the club makes, I hope something gets done soon. 

But who did we get? His name is Konnor Pilkington and he is a left handed pitcher out of Mississippi State (Hail state baby!), who is pretty underrated. Already in double A ball at 23 years old with a 3.48 ERA, he was noted by Jake Mastroianni of SBNation southside Sox, as being one of the most underrated pitching prospects in the White Sox system. As a Mississippi state baseball fan, I absolutely love this kid and I know he has the talent to be a legit 3-5 starter for the Tribe in about 2 years. His past numbers are not beautiful by any means and he may end up being a bullpen arm at worst. But I have faith in the pitching factory. 

Now what the Cleveland Indians need to do is figure out who is going to play second base. Owen Miller, Tyler Freeman, Andres Giminez, Richard Palacios, the other 40 middle infielders we have…. That will eventually be another decision we need to figure out. 

I already can hear the complaining “He is not even one of the White Sox's top 30 prospects, we got screwed.” First off, the top 30 prospect lists are assorted differently for each team, not all farm systems are the same and thus not all top 30 lists are organized the same. A top 30 prospect in the Cleveland Indians system would barely crack Tampa Bay’s list. It is all about how strong your farm system is and how well your organization is at developing highly talented players. Not to mention, it also helps if your organization has good international signings/ MLB drafts that determine your farm systems strengths. 

Patience my friends, good things are coming. 8.5/10 trade in my book.