May 22, 2013

Buster Olney: Carlos Quentin a “perfect fit” for Indians

June 6, 2012 by 18 Comments

The Cleveland Indians offense might best be described as mercurial. Or perhaps unorthodox is a more fitting word. The Indians don’t hit a ton of home runs, they don’t hit well for average,  they’re in the bottom half of the American League in most offensive categories.

Yet they’re 4th in OBP, 1st in walks, and 1st in stolen bases. They’re manufacturing runs and generally trying to get the job done. However, a power right handed bat would seemingly be the perfect pick up for this offense. ESPN’s Buster Olney agrees and says in his latest column that Carlos Quentin would be a great trade deadline pickup for the Tribe:

Cleveland Indians: He would be a perfect fit in so many ways; Quentin is a right-handed hitter, which the Indians need desperately. But it would not be the Indians’ way to give up prospects for a short-term fix.

He’s right about that last point. Sure, the Indians gave up two top level pitching prospects last year for Ubaldo Jimenez, but that was because the Indians were hoping Ubaldo was hitting his prime and would be in Cleveland for several years. Quentin, a free agent at the end of the season, is currently making $7.03 million this season. Giving up prospect(s) for a several month rental is indeed very un-Indians like. However, if the Indians are still battling for first place and Quentin is viewed as a player who can put the team over the top, who knows how desperate the team will get to make the postseason for the first time since 2007.

[Related: Indians 4 Tigers 2: It's a Ubaldo Sighting!]

Related Posts

Zemanta
Filed Under: Headlines Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,
  • Jack

    go get him

  • Andrew

    If the Indians are not in first place by the trade deadline, I wouldn’t do it.

  • http://twitter.com/Caff32 Caff

    With Hafner coming off the books this year as well as Sizemore, the possibility of extending Quentin if he were to be acquired and produce wouldn’t be very far fetched.  So it could be more than a few month rental and I think that would interest the Indians.

  • Hypno_Toad

    Quentin = Willingham 

    Could have saved the prospects and just signed him, but whatever. Get him.

  • mgbode

    agreement all around.

  • http://twitter.com/PEngle39 Phil Smith

    I’ve been saying it for the last three years, Carlos Quinton is the perfect fit for the Indians, it’s almost painfully obvious.

  • Sda4124

    Never gonna happen. It affects the bottom dollar to much
     

  • Sda4124

     effects sorry … I
    should proof read more :P

  • mgbode

    if it happens in July (around the halfway point), it’s $3.5mil.   that’s around the types of chances the FO seems willing to do.

    just depends on how much SD wants for him, really.

    (remember, we had budgeted a possible $9mil for Grady if he magically was healthy. well, he’s only getting $4mil, so if we really thought he could achieve his escalators, then Quentin should be in the budget)

  • Steve

    Carlos Quentin gets a lot less say in where he goes than Willingham (who is under contract for 3 years, not 1) did. As usual, Cleveland is going to have to overpay to get talent to come from out of town.

  • Sgktickarse

    I think we have to try and do it. If the price happens to be our next top two pitching prospects, whoever those now happen to be, then I would at least be hesitant since that worked so well last year. But holy cow do we need a strong RH bat in the middle of this lineup. 

  • Steve

    Taking a shot on a low batting average guy who is frequently nicked up? I think you’re the only person in town who has been shouting for that (not that you’re wrong).

  • maxfnmloans

    actually, you were right the first time. Here’s a handy mnemonic device for that one. Remember RAVEN

    Remember
    Affect
    Verb
    Effect
    Noun

    I know, it hurts me to say the word, but it is helpful.

  • Steve

    Not that Quentin couldn’t be a nice boost to the lineup, its the starting pitching, not the hitting, that needs the help, even with the recent injury bug. A lot of this is hidden in the fact that Progressive has recently become one of the more extreme pitcher’s parks in the game. One starter on this team has an ERA better than adjusted league average, which is right around 4.00 for this stadium. The offense has actually been slightly above average so far.

  • Hermie13

    Problem is he was on the White Sox who have been competing for division titles. Why would they trade him to a division rival? The answer is painfully obvious…

  • mgbode

    I agree.  Let’s start there.

    The difference is that pitching help we hope comes from within (Ubaldo and Masterson straightening out).   Hitting help in LF requires Sizemore getting healthy or making a deal (no OF of note in AAA).

  • NamedMyKidPrice

    Ive been trying my whole life to figure out which way to use those two words.  Word up Max

  • Hypno_Toad

    I’m not buying that. Willingham reportedly preferred to go to Cleveland over Minny. They gave him three years, we offered two. So if we could have just matched what he was getting elsewhere he would have came here. 

    My statement was that Quentin and WIllingham are basically the same player in terms of skill set, not necessarily contractual value or how much they’d want to be here.