Clippers' Diaz is named IL rookie of year

Several teams asked about Yandy Diaz, but the Indians plan to keep the prospect. He has an excellent chance to make the team in 2017.

(PD photo)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Talking about the Cleveland Indians and their search for a slugger:

1. I would be very surprised if the Indians sign Edwin Encarnacion to anything longer than a two-year contract. He'll turn 34 on January 7. It's hard to imagine the Tribe going long-term on a player who is entering the danger zone of his career in terms of production in the next few years. The pain of signing a 32-year-old Nick Swisher to a four-year deal in 2013 has not been forgotten.

2. I also would be shocked if Encarnacion ended up with the Indians. That would indicate his value has really dropped. They are not going to pay anything close to what the Toronto DH is looking for. It may work out for Encarnacion, but he and his agent seem to have made a bad call when turning down a four-year, $80 million offer from Mark Shapiro and the Blue Jays. This is a year when there are a lot of power bats available via free agency.

3. Encarnacion belted 42 HR with 127 RBI while batting .263 (.886 OPS) for the Blue Jays last season. He did have 702 plate appearance as he played 160 games. He was at first base for 75 games, the rest at DH.

4. I've been told Encarnacion's defense is slipping. But fangraphs.com rated him the No. 7 fielding first baseman out of 19 in the American League. By comparison, Mike Napoli was No. 15. Carlos Santana rated a surprising No. 4.

5. Napoli's defense took a big drop. He was rated No. 4 in 2015. The Indians thought he'd be an upgrade at first over Santana, but most analytics services rated Santana as the better defender at first base in 2016.

6. Napoli did not receive a lot of interest at the MLB Winter Meetings, other than teams interested in signing him to a one-year deal. Napoli is 35 years old. He had the best season of his career: .239 (.800 OPS), 34 HR and 101 RBI. He set a team record with 194 strikeouts. His presence in the middle of the lineup was a huge help to Carlos Santana, who no longer felt the pressure of having to deliver homers as a cleanup hitter.

7. With Napoli batting fourth, Santana sometimes hit leadoff ... or No. 5. And he hit a career-high 34 homers. Some of it had to do with the addition of Napoli. The Indians know that. Just as they know Napoli is a major asset in the clubhouse. The last time the Indians had a right-handed batter with at least 30 HR in a season was Ellis Burks in 2002.

8. I mention all the good things about Napoli because it's easy to dwell on his awful finish. He batted .140 with 5 HR and 13 RBI in 114 plate appearances after September 1 in the regular season. The slump continued in the postseason, as he batted .179 with 1 HR and 3 RBI in 15 games.

9. So the temptation is to wonder if Napoli just had a long slump -- something he has done before -- or if age is catching up with him. That's why teams so far have been reluctant to offer more than a one-year deal. It's also why the Indians so far are holding to that contract position.

10. Mark Trumbo falls into the same class as Encarnacion. He is younger -- only 30. He is so-so at first base. But he also is very expensive, and the Indians are not going to play the big money/long contract game for a DH/1B player.

11. Chris Carter hit 41 HR last season for the Milwaukee Brewers. They didn't offer him a contract. It's hard to watch a player who led the National League with 206 strikeouts while batting .222. Over the last three years, Carter has averaged 34 HR, 82 RBI, 179 strikeouts while hitting .218 (.790 OPS). He ranked No. 15 defensively at first base in the National League, according to fangraphs.

12. Carter is probably a one-year, fall-back option for teams hoping to sign Encarnacion, Trumbo or Napoli. He is 30 and considered in his prime, but he is such an undisciplined hitter and a liability in the field.

13. The Texas Rangers lost Carlos Beltran (Houston), Ian Desmond (Colorado) and Mitch Moreland (Boston) via free agency. The Rangers will probably be destined for one of the three power hitters, unless they surprise and trade for a quality bat.

14. The Rangers still have former Indian Shin-Soo Choo. In 2014, he signed a seven-year, $130 million free agent contract with Texas. Since that deal, he's a .258 hitter (.758 OPS), averaging 14 HR and 48 RBI. He played only 48 games last season because of a broken forearm.

15. Choo is now 34, and he has four years and $82 million left on his contract. Tribe president Chris Antonetti made an outstanding trade after the 2012 season involving Choo, who was shipped to the Cincinnati Reds. The Tribe still has Trevor Bauer and Bryan Shaw remaining from that trade. Choo spent a year with the Reds, then left for Texas via free agency.

16. I've heard Justin Morneau mentioned in connection with the Indians. It would not be as cleanup hitter to replace Napoli. Rather, it would be as another veteran bat for Terry Francona to use a few games each week. Morneau was coming off major elbow surgery, and he played only 58 games for the Chicago White Sox last season: .261 (.731 OPS), 6 HR and 25 RBI. He didn't join the team until June.

17. The lefty hitting Morneau is 35. He probably is mostly a DH at this point in his career. He has battled neck problems and other injuries. From 2014-16, he batted .304 (.822 OPS), averaging 9 HR and 41 RBI in 280 at bats per season.

18. The Indians have expressed some casual interest in Trevor Plouffe, a third baseman who also can play first. He batted .247 (.727 OPS) with 22 HR and 80 RBI for the Twins last season. He also seems to be the kind of player who can thrive when managed by Francona.

19. The Indians received several trade offers for Yandy Diaz, who is the best candidate to be the Tyler Naquin of 2017. Diaz batted .318 (.854 OPS) with 9 HR and 58 RBI, splitting last season between Class AA Akron and Class AAA Columbus. The 24-year-old is hitting .356 in Venezuela. His minor league stats are more impressive than what Naquin brought to the Majors. He plays some third base and outfield. The Tribe believes Diaz is a big-league ready hitter.

20. The Tribe remains interested in bringing back Rajai Davis on a one-year contract. The 36-year-old stolen base champ wants a two-year deal. So far, no teams are interested in him at that price.





ABOUT THE YANKEES

When I was writing "The Inside Story of how the Tribe Traded for Andrew Miller," I was warned that Aroldis Chapman would end up back with the New York Yankees.

New York general manager Brian Cashman traded Miller to the Tribe for four prospects. He also traded Chapman to the Chicago Cubs for four more prospects.

In the story, I mentioned the strong possibility of Chapman returning to the Yankees.

That happened during the Winter Meetings, the Cuban lefty signing a stunning five-year, $86 million deal.

Here are some details:

An $11 million signing bonus, $15 million per season for five years.

A full no-trade clause in the first three seasons.

A no-trade clause to some West Coast teams for all five seasons.

He can opt out of the contract after three seasons.

We have never seen anything close to this lucrative a contract for a relief pitcher.

The 28-year-old Chapman has an astounding arm. His average fastball was 100.4 mph last season. With the Yankees and Cubs, he had a 4-1 record, 1.55 ERA and was 36-of-39 in saves.

Chapman has a suspension for domestic violence in his background.

In the postseason, he allowed six earned runs in 15 2/3 innings. He was good, but not great. He blew three saves.

Rajai Davis also hammered that memorable home run off Chapman in Game 7 of the World Series.

Having watched Miller and Chapman in the postseason, I much prefer Miller. Suddenly, the Tribe lefty's contract ($9 million annually in 2017 and 2018) looks very modest.

Miller allowed three runs in 19 1/3 postseason innings, two of them were in his final appearance. The Indians had used him a lot, and he was clearly tired.

I bring this up because last weekend I wrote about how the new Baseball Basic Agreement will do virtually nothing to stop the major market teams from spending big. It was basically a status quo deal.

The Yankees proved the point by signing Chapman. They didn't even have to give up a draft pick.

Meanwhile, Indians closer Cody Allen has thrown 14 scoreless postseason innings in his career. He was 6-of-6 in save situations.

During the regular season, Allen was 32-of-35 in saves with a 2.51 ERA. He is an outstanding reliever.

The Allen/Miller combo is a major reason the Indians reached the World Series. They allowed only three runs in 33 postseason innings.

While Allen will pocket some serious cash because he's eligible for arbitration, he can't be a free agent until after the 2018 season -- the same for Miller.