Indians Bargain Shopping

The Cleveland Indians are in search of a starting pitcher but have a major problem, they have no money to do so. So what does that mean? They can’t take chances with a big league contract, they’ve got to offer minor league deals and make a player earn his contract. According to Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, they’ve even had to take that route with some well named pitchers.

That brings us to free agents Kevin Millwood and Bruce Chen. The Indians have talked to agent Scott Boras about both starters. (The Plain Dealer)

Does anyone really think these two would sign minor league deals? Especially when their agents are Scott Boras? I don’t.

If I had to put my money on either player doing so it would be Millwood. Reason being, he’s 36 and had an atrocious season with the Baltimore Orioles. In 2010, Kevin went 4-16 with a 5.10 ERA, allowing 30 homers.

Now, Chen on the other hand had an exceptional season for the Kansas City Royals. Wait, did I really say Chen had an exceptional season?? Well, exceptional by his standards. In 2010, he went 12-7 with a 4.17 ERA. His other numbers, 3.7 BB and 8.7 hits per nine innings weren’t the greatest but he overcame that. I have my doubts that he can do it again but with Boras in charge and those numbers, I don’t see how a minor league deal happens.

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So let’s see the Indians are shopping smart they’re trying to get their monies worth. With their financial situation they need to do so BUT they’re doing so with the wrong guys and the wrong agent. What they need to do is find players that really want to reside in Cleveland, Ohio. If they find any pitchers like that then they’ll get guys who would take a minor league deal.

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Tags: Bruce Chen, Cleveland Indians, Kevin Millwood, MLB