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Edwin Encarnacion makes the AL Cleveland’s to lose
Saturday’s Say Hey, Baseball includes Edwin Encarnacion’s impact on the AL, some other contenders for his talents, and the Rangers partying like it’s 2011.
Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
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The Indians are coming off their best season in half a century, coming within one game of winning the World Series. Now, just a few months later, they’ve gotten some company atop the perceived American League pecking order. The Red Sox and Astros, who both have strong young cores and added premium veteran talent this winter, have become favorites in some minds. Cleveland is doing what they can to prevent that. Earlier this week, they made a big, somewhat unexpected splash by signing Edwin Encarnacion to a three-year deal. It’s not unexpected because of their place on the marginal win curve — every win matters for them right now -- but rather because it’s such a change of pace from their usual roster construction strategy.
From Encarnacion’s perspective, it’s a bit of surprise things got to this point. He was supposed to be the prize of the market on the offensive side of things, with multiple big market clubs chasing him. Instead, he settled for a similar deal to Justin Turner’s. On the other hand, the slugger and the Indians are a perfect match, and Cleveland now finds themselves with a potent lineup. In addition to Encarnacion, they still have Francisco Lindor, Jose Ramirez and Carlos Santana. Plus, Michael Brantley should be coming back to give them yet another weapon they didn’t have for most of 2016.
To top everything off, they were able to build this lineup without dipping into their strong pitching staff. Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar weren’t going anywhere, but they still have Trevor Bauer and Josh Tomlin to make up a strong back of the rotation. Plus, Andrew Miller, Cody Allen, Bryan Shaw and Dan Otero are still among the strongest bullpen groups in the league. Boston and Houston figure to be strong competitors in the American League next season, but with Encarnacion in tow the Indians just reminded everyone the AL still goes through Cleveland.
- In another weird turn of events in the Encarnacion saga, Oakland was a legitimate contender for his services.
- The Orioles have been focused on Mark Trumbo, and they probably missed out on Encarnacion in the process.
- Meanwhile, Pittsburgh brought Ivan Nova back on another cheaper-than-expected deal. It’s a change in the organization’s course.
- Down in Atlanta, the Braves signed Ender Inciarte — one of the pieces from the Shelby Miller deal — to a six-year extension. It’s the gift Braves fans were waiting for.
- Extensions for center fielders are all the rage, so should the Dodgers look to lock up Joc Pederson?
- With 2016 coming to a close, let’s take a look back at the best instances of players playing out of position.
- The Rangers are looking to get the band back together, reportedly coming close to signing both Mike Napoli and Josh Hamilton.
- Speaking of Texas, Jurickson Profar could be an intriguing trade piece for them. Or, maybe he’s not. He’s a ridiculously hard player on which to place a value.
- To say Arizona’s season was disappointing would be an understatement. Fortunately, there’s reason for optimism among their entire rotation.
- The Yankees are looking at something of a bridge year in 2017, and they’ve already received some buy-low offers on Michael Pineda.
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