The Cleveland Indians pulled one over on their intra-division rival Minnesota Twins by signing Eddie Rosario.
Rosario’s deal is for one year and is pending a physical exam.
The deal for Rosario came to fruition just hours after the Tribe pulled the trigger on signing former Gold Glove second baseman Cesar Hernandez.
Faithful readers of TribeDaily may be remember us mentioning Rosario as a key free agent target for the Tribe.
See that writeup here: 3 Potential Free Agent Targets For The Indians (tribedaily.com)
Here are three reasons why signing Rosario is a great thing for the Indians.
1. Eddie Rosario adds the Much-Needed Firepower for the Outfield
Eddie Rosario's hardest-thrown assist tracked by Statcast: 100.6 mph on Aug. 23, 2018
💪 pic.twitter.com/7d6lCZrMU0
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) January 30, 2021
All Tribe fans know that the Indians lineup has suffered poor offensive production from the outfield positions.
The Indians have used a platoon of players at all three outfield slots and that strategy did not pay off in the least.
In fact, the Tribe outfielders were dead last in the American League in terms of offense!
Most baseball executives were a bit shocked that the Twins decided to cut ties with the 29 year old slugger.
Tribe fans are thrilled that the left hand hitting outfielder fell in their lap.
Rosario is only 2 years removed from his best ever season (2019) where he hit 32 bombs, drove in 109 runs, and scored 91 runs.
The native Puerto Rican has plenty of years of good baseball left and the best may be yet to come.
Signing Rosario will enable the Tribe to compete for the AL Central title or at least a playoff berth via the Wild Card.
Hopefully, for all Indians fans, the front office will explore signing Rosario to a long-term deal.
2. Cleveland No Longer Has to Fear Rosario
The answer is Progressive Field. Eddie Rosario has hit 11 career home runs at Progressive Field, including this bomb off Tyler Clippard in 2019. https://t.co/eiPOhiZlIU pic.twitter.com/kl292WZnQn
— Brendan Campbell (@brendan_camp) January 30, 2021
What is the popular saying in baseball circles?
“If you can’t beat them, Buy them!”
That saying definitely applies in the Rosario case.
Eddie Rosario has been terrorizing the Cleveland Indians pitching staffs for 6 long years!
Tribe pitchers may even have nightmares about Rosario, as he has hit 22 homers in only 93 games against the Tribe!
Cleveland will play Minnesota a grand total of 19 times during the 2021 regular season.
Having Rosario hitting for the Tribe and not against them will give all fans in Cleveland a sigh of relief.
3. The Rosario Signing is a Gesture of Goodwill to Indians Fans
The Tribe front office made good on a promise by signing Rosario.
The Indians saved more than 30 million dollars by trading Lindor and Carrasco to the Mets.
Indians President Chris Antonetti said he would put some of that large payroll savings back into the Tribe roster.
Fans in Cleveland needed some good news and signing Rosario and Hernandez is a great start.
This goodwill gesture shows that the Indians front office is not just in “sell-only” mode.
Wrapping It Up
Were you impressed by the Cleveland Indians signing of Eddie Rosario?
One has to admit that Rosario adds some desperately needed power to the Indians lineup as well as much needed protection for Jose Ramirez.
Is it Spring Training yet?
We here at TribeDaily can hardly wait!
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