In what amounts to a tacit admission that the Indians have no realistic chance of making the playoffs this year, the Tribe front office has sold the contracts of two of its outfielders to teams who expect to still be playing once the calendar turns to October.
On Tuesday evening, the Indians announced that they had traded outfielder David Murphy (left in the photo above) to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in exchange for Double-A shortstop Eric Stamets. Earlier today, the Indians traded outfielder/first baseman Brandon Moss to the St. Louis Cardinals for High Class-A pitching prospect Rob Kaminsky.
The Indians brought up Tyler Holt from AAA Columbus before yesterday’s game to take Murphy’s place on the 25-man roster. They have not yet announced who will take Moss’s place. Update: Lonnie Chisenhall has been called up from AAA Columbus.
In 84 games, Murphy batted .296 for the Tribe, with five home runs, 12 doubles, and 27 RBI. Moss led the team with 15 home runs, but his batting average over his 94 games with the Tribe was an anemic .217. Moss also led the Indians in strikeouts with 106, which meant he struck out 50% more often than the team’s second-place strikeout victim, Michael Bourn.
Neither Murphy, 33, nor Moss, 31, figured in any long-term plans the Indians had. Murphy’s contract was set to expire after the 2015 season, although the Indians did have a one-year option on him. Moss was arbitration eligible after the season (and likely due a raise), and was set to become a free agent after the 2016 season. Had the Tribe played better this season, it’s possible that the team may have picked up Murphy’s option for 2016. But the Tribe’s lackluster performance over the past two months (a .440 winning percentage since June 1) convinced the front office that 2015 was not going to be our year.
The line on Stamets seems to be that he’s good with the glove, but not so good at staying healthy. Injuries to his finger and his shoulder have kept him on the bench for parts of each of the past two seasons. And with a gent named Francisco Lindor on the varsity, it’s not likely that Stamets will ever become the everyday shortstop for the Indians. But there is always room on a major league roster for a good defensive middle infielder. I wouldn’t rule out seeing Stamets in a Tribe uniform in 2016. With nothing to lose, they might even call him up in September when the rosters expand, just to have a look-see.
The acquisition of Kaminsky seems to be a coup for the Tribe. Writing for CBS Sports, Mike Axisa said that “on paper, this is a heist for the Indians,” pointing out that Kaminsky “seems likely to be a consensus top 100 prospect in 2016.” It’s been said that when you think you have enough pitching, you need to go out and get some more. In trading the erratic, underproducing Moss for the 20-year-old Kaminsky, it appears that the Indians have taken that advice to heart.
obviously a disappointing season that many of us had high hopes for, but getting literally anything for these two guys has to be lauded as a coup.
it’s extremely frustrating to see folks that really have no conception of how a small market roster must be constructed whine the normal whines about these deals – “something something DOLAN IS CHEAP”. do these people really believe that retaining murphy and moss for the last 60 games is going to somehow drive us back into the meat of the hunt? murphy is a spare part and moss was painful to watch at the plate, and i’m glad to see them both go.
it is baffling to me that the average fan still refuses to understand that the cash-flush 90s teams were a product of an absolutely perfect storm of events that isn’t going to be duplicated any time soon given cleveland’s economy. this is how small market teams are constructed. criticizing these deals as having something to do with the dolans being cheap is beyond ridiculous.
Murphy was one of the best parts we had this year. I don’t understand people who so easily dismiss his contributions. Over achieving or not, he got it done on a team of players who more often than not, did not get it done. If our only problem was addressing this ‘spare part’, we would be in the playoffs.
no denying he played well, but it’s not like retaining him is the difference between us making the playoffs and not. there’s simply no point in holding on to a guy like that, given the money he’s owed and our position in the standings.
I thought that Moss was the one with the option year, not Murphy?… Regardless, it will be interesting to see how the Indians tackle the outfield situation this offseason, because right now on paper you have: Brantley, Bourn (eh) and Swisher (yech), and no starting caliber OFs in the minors at this moment that I’m aware of. (Bradley Zimmer just was promoted to AA Akron)
Just watched ‘Baseball Tonight’, and a few guys on the show tonight were in shock that the Indians received Kaminsky for Moss. They seemed to really like the kid.
I’m sorry to see Murphy go. One of the best averages on the team and he was a great guy/team mate. But, it is a business decision, though what we got for him meaningless IMO.
Moss, on the other hand, was a great deal. He was a huge hole in the lineup. He never materialized into the played they had hoped for. All those years in Oakland padded his stats.
Now, if we can fix the problem at first base. Maybe Lonnie can learn to play there.
You want to fix the problem with Santana at firstbase with Lonnie Chisenhall? That’s like replacing a car with a blown engine with a car with a blown transmission.
Moss hasn’t been the same player since his hip problems emerged last season. Over the end of last season and this season – coinciding with the injury – he’s basically a .200 hitter. He was having a helluva season in ’14 before the injury.
What else can we do? Trades are done. Santana isn’t the answer at first base offensive or defensively. Might as well find out what our options are right now since this season is done. Or do we wait for Swisher to come back and pray that his track record was an aberration and he will be the answer? And Lonnie is in one of his hitting spells. Take advantage of it.